Hearts' Desires (2 page)

The tall, lean figure of Vance van Sorel formed a dark si
l
houette against the afternoon light flooding through the wi
n
dow. He carelessly stuffed more items into the travel bag.
C
a
rolyn would explode if she saw this
, he thought but thank God his wife was still at whatever meeting! Next the script was tossed in the suitcase. Another crappy one, he thought, still
full of anger against his agent.
He had given it only a superf
i
cial look so far. A girl and a boy - first love mushy romance stuff!
Everything was crap in comparison to the role of George Washington
, a part
he had wanted
so
badly
and missed!
             
This is bullshit
!
How could
that
damned
Harker
snatch this part!?
He must have
sucked up to the producer
big time
!

             
Moreover, Vance knew perfectly well that the only reason he got
this
part in - what was the title … Hearts’ Desires, yes! -
were his language skills. It had been a last minute casting, and he had been the only actor within range able to speak with the required accent without weeks of training.

             
I should’ve turned it down!
They could’ve taken any m
o
ron with a weird tongue flap! Who would know the difference anyway?!

             
However, then there would have been no reason to leave L.A. as soon as possible! And he was dying to go! No way did he want to miss this little opportunity to get as far away as possible from ev
e
rything! Vance heard the front door open, and a moment later the familiar pattern of steps on the stai
r
case. Carolyn. He had hoped to be gone when she returned!
             
“Vance, I have to talk to you!”
Ah… she had just discovered his jacket thrown over the sid
e
board in the second floor! He sighed and continued to pack.
             
“Vance?”
             
“In here.”
Carolyn stormed into the room, a flame of anger as red as her low cut dress. The style didn’t suit her well, making her diet-stressed body seem even thinner.

             
“Don’t treat me as if I was your housemaid!” she hissed.
He
rolled his eyes, neither
in the mood for a fight nor having enough time to
deal with
this.
She
tossed
a tabloid magazine on top of his bag. Vance glanced
at
it. The page she had opened showed him next to a young woman. He tried to say
something, but Carolyn was faster in spitting out all her g
a
thered fury.
             
“
Did you forget you're not 25 anymore
?! Do you honestly b
e
lieve these chicks hook up with you because you are the ‘sexiest man in Hollywood’ or
something
?!? You
are making
a fool out of you AND of me!”
             
“You make a fool out of yourself!” He flipped the mag
a
zine aside and started closing his shirt. “She’s the new assi
s
tant of my agent, for Christ’s sake!”
             
“Ah, the assistant!
So it just happens all the assistants, secr
e
taries and so on are long-legged, blond-haired sluts?! You think I’m totally stupid, don’t you?”
             
“I have no time to think about what you may think, C
a
rolyn,” he answered and started to browse through various drawers. “Just phone Jeremy. – Where the hell are my cig
a
rettes?”
             
“In the trash bin!
Your doc told you to quit smoking! - And why are you packing?
             
“Because I’m flying to South Africa for the filming of this... forgot the title. You know this romantic thing
with
Cartwright.”
Just
the kind of movie I feel
like doing
right now, really,
he continued in his thoughts
,
angry with himself and the whole world.

             
Carolyn’s features changed from anger to suspicion within a second. “You told me they were starting to film a month from now…”
             
“They pushed up the schedule, because the assistant director is going on maternity leave. I got the info this mor
n
ing.” He snatched his passport and the sunglasses.
             
“Why didn’t you call me?”
             
“I tried.”
             
“You tried? One time, five seconds, right?”
             
“Your secretary said you were in a
very important
meeting
with some British clients. You had given orders not to be di
s
turbed by anyone. I assumed I counted among the “anyone” in this case.”
             
“Oh I’m SORRY I have work SOMETIMES!” she shouted.
So she was in that particular mood again!

             
“Contrary to me, I know
,”
he said, before she could vent it. They had been through similar arguments often enough to fore
s
tall each other. “I
vege
out the whole time!”
             
“This has nothing to do with your
job!”
             
“No? It looks just that way, though!”

             
“Only with your way to deal with priorities!”
She raised her voice even higher and clenched her fists. “You were glad not to reach me, weren’t you?! You hoped
you wouldn’t reach me!”

             
Vance sighed and closed his bag. Then he grabbed his beloved old leather hat, rescued out of the trash bin quite
a few
times
a
l
ready
. “I have to go!”

             
“With that piece of junk?”
Carolyn gestured to the hat, which just was the icing on the cake of her anger. “You’ll look like a h
o
bo!”

He didn’t reply to anything, but hastened past her out of the door.
             
“When will you come back? “
             
Already on the stairs he answered: “I’ll call you.”
             
Down on the street, Vance waited for a free cab to pass by. Of course, it would’ve been
smarter
to
call
one
from the house
at this hour of the day – but
that
would’ve meant
sta
y
ing
in the house with Carolyn longer.
             

             
I’m running away from my own house
he thought and could not help
a wry
grin
.
Just perfect!
The problem was
,
C
a
rolyn was right. He
was
indeed
avoiding her
. Not because he had several mistresses to entertain, but simply because he was so tired of the constant fights with her! He did not even
know when it started that every exchange of words with C
a
rolyn ended in dissent. No,
that
was not right… it did not ‘end’. It started in dissent, and ended in outrage, if there was enough time. He mused, the only reason they weren’t d
i
vorced yet was that they did not spend the necessary time t
o
gether to manage the formalities. There was a cab! Good!
The cab stopped and
he
slipped into
the
back seat
.
             
“To the airport, please. But stop over there
at the kiosk
first, I need some cigarettes!”
Lauren Bastian turned to the left and
then
to the right in front of the mirror, checking every movement,
evaluating
her outfit’s and appearance’s impact from every angle. The dark eye shadow cast a mysterious look over her light-blue iris and worked well with her thick, wavy black hair. Perfect! Maybe a little overdressed for a 26-hour-intercontinental flight! Howe
v
er, it could never be wrong to look appealing. This was one of her fundamental truths. And this was her long-awaited chance in the business, and nothing, abs
o
lutely nothing would get in her way now! She had worked her ass off the past five years with dozens of crappy mini-roles and little model parts. Now her time had come! She
leaned
to
wards
the mi
r
ror as close as she could and smiled her most seductive killer smile.

             
“I will make it. I swear I will make it!” she whispered to herself. Then, she took her bags and left the room, stepping carefully with her stiletto-heels. Behind her, she could hear her landlady rumble something about not emptied garbage cans. Hopefully, her days at this place were numbered. Soon, she would move! Yes! To Santa Monica! Or better, to Beverly Hills!
The elegant arc shaped construction supporting the tower of the Los Angeles airport came into view. The external lights
just came on. Vance liked the sight – not only because it was that beautiful, almost futuristic, but because it was the sign of freedom, of getting away…

             
The cab reached the terminal, and Vance climbed out, still smoking, contrary to the policies of the L.A.-cabs. The driver had mentioned something, but he
had
silenced him with a huge tip. Now he felt already much better. The doctor should just leave him alone! What was a long life worth when you couldn’t have at least a little fun?! And weren’t his expe
c
tations set low enough, for that matter?!
             
At the entrance of the airport, Vance spotted an acquai
n
tance and waved.
“Hi, Jake!
You’re with us again?” He took his bags, wanted to walk over to the other man. But a young voice behind him held him back.
             
“Mister Van Sorel?
Uhm
… Sorry… Please, would you give me an autograph?”

The boy, perhaps 12, had red spots in his face
from the
e
x
citement.
             
Man, I’m not the President
, Vance thought, and searched for a pen. “Do you have something to write on?” He tried hard not to lose his cigarette while speaking.
             
“Please!” The kid stared at him full of adoration and handed over a schoolbook.
Vance scribbled his autograph without paying much attention.
             
“Thank you, Sir! That’s so great meeting you!”

A woman, perhaps the mother of the youngster, called out for him, but the boy did not react. “You were so great in ‘Ten Days’! I saw it six times! That was cool, how you took
scarface
out! I
wanna
be an actor, too! That’s so cool! I have already won a contest
at
school
!”
             
             
“You want to be an actor? Prepare yourself for half a lif
e
time waiting inline. Not cool at all! And one day, when you’re asking yourself why the heck I’m still waiting here, you’ll rea
l
ize you can only play the grandpa of the young hero
you wanted to play
!”
             
The boy blinked irritated. “Uh... Yes…”
             
“Go and get yourself a decent job!”
Vance threw the butt on the ground, took his bags and caught up with Jake
Bertoni
, a short, squat man almost half his size.
             
“Didn’t know you were in business again, old fellow!”
             
The other man laughed. His whole round body seemed to v
i
brate. “Don’t you think I’m the best camera assistant in the world?! – And…Well, my ex-wife is a bit expensive… it gets more expensive every time, you know!”
             
Vance shook his head in disbelief and grinned. How good old Jake, looking like the
stereotypical
Italian pizza baker, managed to be such a womanizer eluded him completely. But Jake was a wonderful friend, the very rare sort, here in Holl
y
wood in particular.
             
“Hey man, why do you look at me like that?!”
Jake blurted in played anger. “I just need exciting challenges! And women are the most exciting challenge the good Lord has invented! – By the way, you weren’t very nice to that kid just now!”