Hollywood Divorces / Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (12 page)

Once they entered the house, Larry was swamped by a sea of old friends and acquaintances.

Alone, Taylor walked around the large comfortable house, wondering how long Larry would want to stay. Kids and animals seemed to be everywhere. This was not the sort of party she was used to. This was her past, and that’s where she wanted it to remain.

She glanced over at Larry. He seemed quite at ease, talking to people as if they were his equals. He simply didn’t realize how important and famous he was.

Round tables were set out in the garden, and there was
a long buffet trestle, stacks of plastic plates, knives and forks, and a pile of paper napkins. Isaac and some of his friends had begun working the barbecue.

‘Why don’t you sit down?’ Taylor said, finding Larry. ‘And I’ll fetch you a plate.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ he replied. ‘We’ll all pitch in.’

He stood in line beside his wife, grinning broadly, waiting for his hamburger and hot dog like everyone else.

‘
We
should entertain like this,’ he said. ‘Our dinners are getting too fancy.’

‘You think so?’ she said, recalling their last dinner, which had been impeccably catered by Spago. Nothing wrong with
that.

Larry nodded. ‘This is more down-home and friendly,’ he said. ‘I’m talking to a lot of people I haven’t seen in years, and I like it.’

‘Whatever you want, darling,’ Taylor murmured. She wasn’t about to argue with him here.

Isaac came over, dragging another couple. The man was in his fifties, nice-looking with a vaguely familiar air about him. His wife was a short, plump woman with a big gummy smile.

‘Say hello to my friends, the Rocks,’ Isaac said, flashing his ‘I could’ve been a big star’ smile. ‘Their son, Oliver, recently sold a spec script for a million bucks. How do you like
that
?’

Taylor was quite speechless. She didn’t like it at all.

B
y the time their first guests arrived, Nicci was happily stoned, the chef was busy doing his thing in the kitchen, the flowers had arrived and were safely on the table, and Evan was still on the phone.

‘Honey,’ she called sweetly, buzzing him in his office at the back of the house, ‘people are arriving. Can you get off the phone, please?’

‘Not now,’ he snapped. ‘How many times do I have to tell you I’m in the middle of an emergency?’

If it’s such a freaking emergency
, she thought,
how come Brian isn’t by your side helping
?

Actually, she was well aware that Evan was the one who took care of all the business details, while Brian handled the artistic side. Although surely an insane director fell more into the category of artists than business?

She took a quick peek in the kitchen. The annoying chef was balanced on a stool reading her latest copy of
Talk
magazine; an empty bottle of beer stood on the counter in front of him. No food in sight.

‘Everything under control?’ she asked, trying to sound like an experienced hostess used to dealing with staff.

‘Nine o’clock,’ he said, winking.

‘Shouldn’t you be…doing something?’

‘Nine o’clock, sweetbuns,’ he repeated, barely glancing at her.

She backed out of the kitchen with a horrible gut feeling that he was a total fuck-up.

Saffron was the first to arrive, dragging her date behind her. He was not exactly what Nicci had expected. Rather than a studly young actor, he was a forty-something, surly, long-haired Latino, in a scuffed brown leather jacket, red Tee, and tight jeans that showed off all his best assets.

Hmm…Nicci thought.
Maybe that’s the attraction. There has to be
some
reason why Saffron’s always attracted to older guys.

‘Meet Ramone,’ Saffron said, exotic in a flowing antique coat over cobalt blue satin pants and a sequined tube top, her dark skin gleaming. ‘My new best friend.’

‘Hi, new best friend,’ Nicci said, trying not to stare at his crotch.

His answer was a nod. A man of few words.

‘The bar’s over there, go fix yourself a drink,’ Nicci said, pointing him in the right direction. She turned to Saffron. ‘Evan’ll be out in a minute–he’s on the phone.’

‘Place is lookin’ good, girl,’ Saffron proclaimed, checking everything out. ‘How many people you got coming?’

‘Brian and whatever date he drags with him. A couple of friends of Evan’s, and uh…I guess that’s it.’

‘Quite a stud, huh?’ Saffron said, indicating Ramone at the bar.

‘If you say so,’ Nicci answered evenly. There was no arguing with Saffron when she thought a guy was hot. ‘Trust me, he’s a stud,’ Saffron said, all pleased with herself. ‘I’m sure you eyeballed the package?’

‘Couldn’t miss it.’

Saffron chuckled and hitched up her top. ‘I may be getting veree,
veree
lucky later.’

‘Oh, and I forgot–my mom might drop by,’ Nicci said. ‘But that’s highly unlikely.’

‘Lissa?’

‘No,’ Nicci said caustically. ‘I have another mom I keep in a closet somewhere.
Of course
it’s Lissa, you retard.’

‘Why would
she
come
here?
’ Saffron said, not looking happy.

‘Because I invited her.’

‘
You
invited your mom?’

‘Anything wrong with that?’

Saffron rolled her eyes. ‘Can you
imagine
if I had Kyndra to one of
my
dinner parties?’

‘You don’t
have
dinner parties.’

‘No, but I might.’

‘And if you did, what would be wrong with Kyndra showing up?’

‘For God’s sake, get it together, girl. There’s
no way
you can cut loose with a
mother
around.’

‘Sure you can if your mom is Kyndra or Lissa. They’re both way cool.’

‘Don’t you get it?’ Saffron said irritably. ‘All the attention gets focused on
them. They
become the dinner party, and
we
become invisible.’

‘Oops! Hadn’t thought of that.’

‘You see my date over there, the one fixing himself half a bottle of Scotch at the bar? You think
he
’ll pay attention to
me
if Lissa Roman walks in? Forget about it.’

‘Sorry, I didn’t think.’

‘No, you didn’t,’ Saffron said bad-temperedly.

‘The thing is,’ Nicci explained, lowering her voice, ‘Lissa’s having a hard time.’

‘Yeah,’ Saffron drawled sarcastically. ‘It must be
real
hard being such an
enormous
movie star, with your CDs selling up the kazoo, and millions of people worshipping your fine ass. Man, I should have it so tough.’

‘You don’t understand,’ Nicci said patiently. ‘She’s going through a personal crisis.’

‘Another one!’ Saffron exclaimed. ‘Jesus, Lissa and her marital shit suck.’

‘I didn’t
say
it was marital shit,’ Nicci responded, annoyed that Saffron was getting into something that wasn’t her business. ‘And keep it down, I’m not supposed to tell anyone.’

‘Whatever.’ Saffron sighed. ‘Maybe she won’t show.’

Nicci resented Saffron not wanting Lissa there, although she understood her attitude only too well. Having a famous mother was definitely no walk in the park.

Fact of life. Most people were star fucks.

Fact of life. Most people would kick you out of the way to cosy up to a star.

Before she could give it any further thought, Brian strolled in with a zaftig redhead clinging to his arm. Nicci checked her out, she looked as if she’d recently strayed from the grotto at the
Playboy
mansion with her huge fake boobs, cut-out white dress, which could easily double as a swimsuit, and vacant expression.

‘Hey, Nic,’ Brian said, noncommittal as usual. ‘Meet Luba.’

‘Hi, Luba,’ Nicci said, trying to muster some enthusiasm, although she disliked the girl on sight.

‘Luba’s Russian,’ Brian offered. ‘Doesn’t speak English, so don’t bother.’

What was it about Brian Richter that got her adrenaline pumping? Was it his mussed-up hair? Bedroom eyes? Hard body? No. It was the whole damn package.

‘Then how do
you
communicate?’ she asked politely.

‘How do you
think?
’ he replied, squeezing Luba’s tiny waist. ‘Where’s Evan?’

‘On the phone, where he’s been all day dealing with some kind of director thing.’

‘Yeah, that’s right,’ Brian said disinterestedly. ‘Our director, it turns out, is a major fuckhead. I warned Evan about him. As usual he refused to listen.’

‘I thought you were partners,’ Nicci said. ‘Shouldn’t you be
helping
Evan deal with it? It’s quite obviously some kind of crisis.’

‘I let him handle the difficult shit.’

‘Big of you,’ she said sarcastically.

‘It’s his deal,’ he said, raking her up and down with his sleepy eyes. ‘
Sexy
dress, Nic. Didn’t realize you had a body as well as a mouth.’

‘You’re so rude,’ she said, frowning, although she got off on the compliment.

‘Never seen you in a dress before,’ he remarked.

‘You’ll be seeing me in my wedding dress soon enough,’ she said crisply.

He leaned towards her. ‘Do I smell the faint aroma of my favourite smoke?’

‘You do.’

‘Hmm…you mean Evan allows you to smoke pot? He’s always bitching when
I
do it.’

‘That’s the difference between us,’ Nicci said defiantly. ‘Evan doesn’t tell me what to do about anything.’

‘That’
ll all change when you’re married to old Uptight. All you gotta do is wait.’

She tried not to gaze into his bedroom eyes.
This is silly,
she thought,
a schoolgirl crush. It’s Evan I love.
‘How come you two don’t get along, and yet you still work together?’ she asked.

‘Get off my case, Nic,’ he snapped. ‘If you’ve got a joint stashed somewhere, let’s go smoke it. If not, I’m into the vodka.’

‘What about Luba?’ Nicci asked, indicating his date. ‘Is she coming too?’

‘I can’t take her
everywhere
I go,’ he said, straight-faced.

‘Then let’s dump her,’ Nicci said, feeling a tad mean, but so what?

They deposited Luba with Saffron and Ramone at the bar.

‘Where you goin’?’ Saffron asked.

‘We’ll be right back,’ Nicci promised.

Brian followed her into the bedroom. She opened her bedside drawer, reached in the back and handed him a rolled joint.

‘You’re more down than I thought,’ he said, lighting up.

‘What
did
you think–that I was uptight?’ she countered.

‘Not uptight,’ he answered casually. ‘Just a kid.’

‘Thanks!’

He took a long slow drag, inhaling deeply. ‘How come you
wanna
get married? Especially to Evan.’

‘I love him,’ she answered simply. ‘Is that a good enough reason?’

‘Nope,’ he said, passing her the joint and squinting slightly. ‘You need more than that.’

She took a hit. ‘Why are you saying this to me?’ she asked, determined to find out why he didn’t seem to like her.

‘’Cause I know my brother, and you two are
not
a fit.’

‘I’m glad to hear your opinion, Brian,’ she said, taking a second hit and almost choking. ‘It’s very special to me. But we
are
getting married, whether
you
approve or not.’

‘Hey, no skin off mine,’ he said, as she handed him back the joint. ‘Here’s to wedded bliss,’ he said, once more inhaling deeply. ‘Now I’d better return to my scintillating date. She’s probably pining for me.’

‘Is that what they do, Brian?’

He grinned and shrugged. ‘Not my fault they fall all over me.’

Jesus, he was conceited!

‘Anyway, thanks for your good wishes,’ Nicci said stiffly, adding under her breath as he left the room, ‘and fuck you too.’

As soon as he’d gone, she hurried into the bathroom, brushed her teeth, then went into Evan’s office, where he was just putting down the phone.

‘Everyone’s here,’ she said, hoping he wouldn’t notice she was stoned. ‘Well, almost everyone, ’cause that other couple you invited hasn’t arrived yet, and since I don’t know them anyway, you’d better come out.’

‘Jeez!’ Evan said, running a hand through his spiky hair. ‘Dealing with directors is getting to be worse than dealing with actors.’

‘Did you solve everything?’ she asked, playing Miss Considerate Wife-to-be to the hilt.

‘I hope so,’ he said, getting up.

‘It’s like the United Nations out in the living room,’ she said, speaking too fast, but unable to stop herself. ‘Brian’s with a Russian hooker who doesn’t understand English. Saffy’s dragged along some old Puerto Rican actor stud, and
I
’m playing perfect hostess trying to make everyone happy.’

Evan gave her a long, appraising stare. ‘Have I seen that dress before?’ he asked.

‘I don’t get to wear it much. It was a present from my mom.’

‘It’s pretty sexy. Are you sure this motley group deserve it?’

‘I didn’t wear it for
them
. I wore it for you.’

‘She
always
knows what to say.’

‘Exactly like you.’

‘About those shoes,’ he said. ‘You know I hate it when you’re taller than me.’

‘Live with it for once,’ she purred, snaking her arms around his waist. ‘And later, if you’re
very, very
good, I’ll wear the shoes and nothing else.’

Dinner was a total disaster. Obviously drunk, the so-called chef served an almost inedible limp Caesar salad, followed by steak so tough a dog would have a hard time eating it.

Evan had marched into the kitchen, paid him off and thrown him out. Then they’d sent out for pizza.

Now Eminem blared on the stereo, his misogynist lyrics and mesmerizing beat assaulting the room.

‘What’s that music?’ Evan asked, not happy with Nicci’s choice.

‘You don’t like it?’ she asked.

‘It’s crap.’

‘Everything’s crap to you tonight,’ she responded. ‘The wine’s crap, the dinner’s crap. It’s not
my
fault the chef turned out to be a falling-down drunk.’

‘Who recommended him anyway?’

She shrugged. ‘Somebody at my kickboxing class.’

‘Somebody who’s not your friend.’

Fortunately she was too stoned to care that Evan was criticizing her and that their first dinner party was a dud.

Talk about a mismatched group! Ramone was a surly loser, barely speaking to anyone–including Saffron; Luba sat stiffly next to Brian, silent and sulky, huge tits dominating the table. And the other couple Evan invited had failed to turn up. They were the fortunate ones.

‘How about putting on some blues or soul?’ Saffron suggested, biting into a slice of mushroom and tomato pizza. ‘I’m not into this rap deal.’

‘Thank you,’ Evan said pompously, ‘At least
someone’
s got ears.’

Nicci and Brian exchanged a look. He mouthed, ‘I like it.’

She grinned and mouthed back, ‘So do I!’

And then, with perfect timing as usual, Lissa arrived.

Ramone almost fell off his chair when he saw who it was. Evan immediately jumped up and fussed around her as if she was the President. Saffron scowled.

Nothing like a star to get the evening going.

‘We’ve almost finished dinner,’ Nicci said.

‘Don’t worry, I’ve already eaten,’ Lissa replied graciously, sexy and sleek in black silk pants and a halter top, her platinum hair loose around her shoulders. ‘Thought I’d drop by and say hello.’

‘And we’re very pleased you did,’ Evan said, offering her his chair. ‘It’s always a pleasure to welcome my future mother-in-law.’

‘Don’t call me that,’ Lissa said coolly. ‘It sounds so comedic.’

Saffron grimaced at Nicci behind her back. ‘Told you so,’ she muttered.

‘Lissa Roman,’ Ramone said reverently, addressing her directly as if they were old friends. ‘Your fine videos–they kick ass like a mule.’