Hollywood Divorces / Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (56 page)

‘That’s terrible!’ Isabelle exclaimed.

‘Yes, especially as he did it outside my house,’ Serena added.

‘How did he do it?’ Isabelle asked, bug-eyed with curiosity.

‘He set himself on fire.’

‘Oh, my Lord!’ Isabelle shrieked.

‘I know it’s early,’ Lola said, yawning, ‘but I’ve got to get some sleep.’

‘You go on up,’ Isabelle said, still enthralled with all the stories. ‘I’ll stay here and keep Serena company.’

‘That’s okay,’ Serena said. ‘I should be getting to bed myself. It’s been nice talking to you two. Isabelle, you’re so kind. And, Lola, I’m glad we’ve had this chance to get together. Whenever we see each other it’s always kiss-kiss and “What a great dress.” There’s never time for anything meaningful.’

Lola nodded. She hadn’t expected to like Serena, and she did. It was a pleasant surprise.

Later, back in her sister’s room, Isabelle couldn’t stop talking. She was filled with excitement. ‘Wait till the girls hear about
this
,’ she announced.

‘What girls?’ Lola asked, dilligently removing her makeup.

‘My girlfriends.’

‘You shouldn’t repeat anything you’ve heard here today,’ Lola warned sternly. ‘Serena was telling us things in confidence.’

‘I won’t repeat
everything
.’

‘You shouldn’t repeat
anything
.’

‘If I wanted to,’ Isabelle said slyly, ‘I could call up the tabloids and make myself five hundred dollars. They pay cash, you know.’

Interesting that Isabelle knew the going price. Lola couldn’t help wondering if that was where some of the stories about
her
had come from.

Would her sister really do such a thing? Hmm…she wouldn’t put it past her.

‘Okay, now I’ve absolutely got to get some sleep,’ she said, climbing into bed. ‘Why don’t you go to your room and watch TV?’

‘I think I’ll take a walk around,’ Isabelle said, bursting with adrenaline. ‘See who else I can find to talk to.’

‘No, go to bed,’ Lola ordered. ‘You’re here for a rest. You told me that you never get any sleep, what with the boys waking you every day at six. Take advantage of your time here.’

Reluctantly Isabelle left.

As soon as she was sure her sister had gone, Lola reached for the phone and called Tony again. He was on her mind big-time, and she couldn’t wait to hear his voice. ‘Hi,’ she murmured.

‘You again,’ he said.

‘Who is she, Tony?’

He gave a low chuckle. ‘I wondered how long it would take you.’

‘Tell me who she is, then you can tell me when you’re getting rid of her.’

‘She’s a beautiful eighteen-year-old Puerto Rican singer, an’ I love her.’

‘Get real, Tony. We both know who you love,’ Lola said scornfully. ‘I’ll be back soon. Prepare yourself.’

She put down the phone. He didn’t fool her. Tony Alvarez. Lola Sanchez. They belonged together.

Linc rolled in around seven in the morning, bleary-eyed and dishevelled. By this time Shelby had got over her feelings of regret that she hadn’t stayed with him. She was now angry. ‘Where were you?’ she demanded, tight-lipped.

‘I’m gonna get the third degree, am I?’ he said, collapsing on the bed. ‘I wanna sleep. Wake me when it’s time to go to the airport.’

‘I asked where you were, Linc.’

He closed his eyes, managing a fake snore.

She could smell the booze a mile away. It was wafting from his pores. Damn! She hoped that when he awoke he had the mother of all hangovers.

She went into the bathroom and slammed the door. Linc Blackwood was
not
going to ruin her triumph. She had a hit movie, amazing personal reviews, and now it was her time to shine.

Sydney airport was deserted. Cat hurried straight to the Qantas desk and booked a ticket on the next plane to L.A. Unfortunately it didn’t depart for another five hours. Upset, angry and disillusioned, she checked into a nearby hotel.

The whole deal was such a fucking cliché. Surprise husband. Discover he’s been playing on the side. Walk out.

Only it hadn’t happened that way. He’d slept with her
before
she’d discovered his infidelity. What an
asshole
!

She needed a shower. He could’ve caught something from that girl, and he hadn’t even bothered taking a shower before sleeping with
her
. Yuck!

She felt let down, used and dirty. Bastard! Did he honestly think she would forgive him?

No fucking way
.

It was all surreal. Two years of total togetherness and now this.

Her mother had always warned her that men were not to be trusted. Could it be that her much-married mother was right?

She felt like such a fool. Why had she thought Jump was different? Why had she trusted him?

He must be pretty stupid, too, because he’d actually admitted it, confirmed he’d screwed someone else–and that was it for Cat. Jackass!

Fortunately she didn’t have to go back to their New York loft and all the memories. She had an apartment waiting for her in L.A., and Jump was not part of it. She’d settle into her new place, and when she felt like it, she’d fly to New York, pack up all her things, and that would be
it
.

One divorce coming up.

F
irst thing the next morning, Lola phoned Otto to check on his progress regarding the Matt situation.

‘He’s out, gone, packed up and left,’ Otto assured her.

Lola clutched the phone to her ear. ‘Are you
sure?
’

‘I personally escorted him off the premises.’

‘What happened? Tell me everything.’

‘I informed him that we had to have an urgent meeting, then I went over to the house and laid it out.’

‘You told him about the extra money he was getting on top of the pre-nup if he signs a paper agreeing not to sell his story?’

‘Yes, Lola.’

‘Was he upset?’

‘I would say so. He doesn’t seem to think there’s anything wrong between the two of you.’

‘Did he ask why I had
you
do it?’

‘It’s done. He’s out of the house. I’m having the locks changed now.’

‘Why? Do you think he’ll come back?’

‘No, I think he’ll go away, but eventually he wants to see you to find out what went wrong.’

‘No way,’ she said vehemently. ‘I’ll be cordial if I bump into him, but I don’t care to see him.’

‘Fine.’

‘Thank you, Otto, I appreciate it.’

‘I’m glad, Lola, because it wasn’t easy.’

‘Well, I guess the only
easy
part is the enormous bill you send me every month,’ she said succinctly.

Before Otto could reply, she hung up the phone feeling deliciously free. Now she could go home with no worries. And yet she wouldn’t mind staying at the spa for a couple of extra days. It was relaxing and she was enjoying being pampered and waited on by all the various beauticians in residence, people who were totally dedicated to caring for their perfection-hungry clients.

Besides, it was a treat for Isabelle and, much as her sister got on her nerves, Lola
did
love her, and it was fun to see her so caught up in it all. Isabelle was in heaven, for not only had she befriended Serena Lake, she’d also managed to strike up a conversation with the TV star Petra Flynn.

Lola stayed well away from that one. It was okay to be friendly with a fellow movie star, but Petra was TV, and Lola considered that beneath her.

She went downstairs for her scheduled seaweed wrap, meeting up with Isabelle in the treatment room. They lay naked on beds side by side as their bodies were brushed with a thick gooey liquid, then wrapped in filmy, leaf-like sheets.

‘I feel like a seaweed
tamale
.’ Isabelle giggled. ‘This is so
bad
!’

‘Enjoy it,’ Lola said, wriggling her toes.

‘Oh, I am!’ Isabelle exclaimed. ‘By the way, what happened to your pubes? You’ve hardly got any left. It looks loco.’

‘I had a Brazilian wax,’ Lola answered casually. ‘You should try it. Your bush is almost as big as the hair on your head.’

‘That’s so rude!’ Isabelle said, blushing.

‘But true,’ Lola insisted.

‘Armando likes it that way.’

‘He does?’

‘Oh, yes,’ Isabelle boasted. ‘Armando is a
real
man, he enjoys a
real
woman.’

Hmm
, Lola thought,
nothing like sneaking in a quick jab against me
. ‘I’m sure he does,’ she said cheerfully. ‘That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try it. Surprise him. It’s a definite turn-on.’

‘You think?’ Isabelle said, quite tempted to do something bold and daring.

‘I’m sure they do it here. Say yes and I’ll treat you.’

‘Well…’ Isabelle said hesitantly.

‘Do it!’ Lola insisted. ‘Live dangerously for once.’

‘Okay,’ Isabelle said, secretly pleased. Why not? She, too, could look like a movie star.

Shelby attempted to wake Linc half an hour before they were due to depart from the hotel. Even though she was shaking him hard, he was difficult to rouse.

‘Get up,’ she said, continuing to shake his shoulder. ‘We have to leave for the airport.’

Fortunately there was nothing in the morning papers about her troubled husband. She was dying to question him, find out where he’d been. On the other hand, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

‘Aw, Jesus!’ he groaned, surfacing slowly. ‘My head’s
killing
me. I can’t get on a fucking plane like this. I’m sick, sweetie, really sick.’

She had no sympathy for him. ‘I packed your stuff,’ she said coldly. ‘I left out the sweatsuit you always travel in.’

‘Gee, thanks, honey,’ he said, reaching out for her.

She moved away. Obviously he’d put the
USA Today
piece to rest, and was in a better frame of mind toward her. It didn’t make any difference, she was still mad.

He got up and went noisily into the bathroom. Soon she heard the shower running.

Did he honestly think she was going to excuse his behaviour as usual? Was that the way this was supposed to go?

No. She was too angry. This time he had to learn a lesson and check himself into rehab.

He emerged from the bathroom, a towel knotted casually around his waist. ‘I still feel like shit,’ he complained, in case she hadn’t got it the first time.

‘Take a couple of aspirin,’ she suggested.

‘That’s very sympathetic.’

She gave him a long, cool look. ‘Since when did you imagine I was sympathetic to a hangover?’

‘Oh, Christ,’ he said, yawning. ‘Here we go.’

She decided that ignoring him was better than getting into another fight, so she finished packing, then called down to the concierge to send up a bell boy to collect their luggage.

Outside the hotel there were quite a few photographers waiting, plus a gathering of fans.

Linc put his arm round her, smiling his movie-star smile for the cameras, his bloodshot eyes safely hidden behind extra-dark glasses.

The crowd was delighted. Shelby Cheney and Linc Blackwood. A movie-star couple sent to thrill.

The fans waved and cheered enthusiastically as the driver and doorman loaded their suitcases into the car.

They rode to the airport in silence. Half-way there Linc fell asleep, snoring the rest of the way. When they arrived there were more photographers waiting, and several airport personnel ready to whisk them to the VIP lounge.

Once there, Linc settled into a comfortable chair.

‘I’ll be right back,’ Shelby said.

‘Where you going, sweetie?’ he asked, like a small kid about to be abandoned by his mother.

‘I want to buy magazines and a book to read on the plane.’

‘You’re going to read?’ he said in his best little-boy-lost voice. ‘You’re not planning on cuddling up with your husband?’

Here came the turn-around.
I need you, I want you, I love you, you’re everything to me
. Linc Blackwood could go from being mean and nasty to the most needy man in the world. Only this time she wasn’t falling for it. This time she was too disappointed in him to care.

‘Can I get
you
anything?’ she asked politely.

‘C’mon, sweetheart,’ he said, almost pleading. ‘Quit with the cold treatment. You know I can’t help the way I am.’

‘That’s just it, Linc, you
can
.’

‘No, sweetie,’ he protested, reaching for her hand. ‘I’m weak that way. You
know
why.’

Damn. He was playing the vulnerable card. Sober and sorry, Linc was extremely difficult to resist.

Matt Seel had never suffered from a shortage of girls. Ever since he was a teenage jock they’d always been available to him. And not dogs, pretty ones, because he was tall and blond and athletic. A professional tennis player with a big cock and a ready smile. Women were never a problem. In fact, he usually couldn’t get rid of them.

Then he met Lola Sanchez and everything changed. She was so different. A sexy and exotic temptress who had the ability to transport him to another world. In bed she was an angel
and
a devil. She had tricks he’d never known existed.
She was perfectly capable of taking him to heaven and back again. Before long he’d fallen deeply in lust.

So when her lawyer turned up at the house and informed him he had to get out, he simply couldn’t believe it. ‘Lola’s doing this to me?’ he said, completely shocked.

‘Miss Sanchez is being very generous,’ Otto Landstrom informed him. ‘Not only is she living up to the pre-nuptial you signed, but she also wants to give you a bonus cheque, contingent on you not selling your story.’

‘
She
’s dumping
me?
’ Matt exclaimed. He’d never been dumped by a girl in his life. Tall, blond and athletic meant always doing the dumping himself. ‘I gave up everything for Lola,’ he said. ‘I gave up my tennis career. No pre-nup will cover that.’

‘Let’s not forget that you signed in all good faith,’ Otto said smoothly. ‘The pre-nuptial will hold up in any court you care to take it to. If you’re difficult, you can forget about the extra bonus. However, if you co-operate, you’ll get the money
and
Lola’s friendship. I’m sure that’s worth something.’

‘When is she coming back?’

‘It doesn’t matter when, she wants you out today.’

This was a further shock.

‘Be out in two hours,’ Otto said, waving a cheque in front of Matt’s face, ‘and this is yours, but only if you sign right here.’ He proffered a letter of intent.

Matt realized that the only smart thing to do was to go along with the programme, even though he knew he should run it by a lawyer. But he didn’t have one at the present time and, anyway, what was he
supposed
to do? Turn down a very generous settlement? Plus Lola had a fiery temper: it wouldn’t be wise to piss her off.

‘Why is she doing this to me?’ he asked.

Otto shrugged. ‘Lola’s a movie star, she does what she wants.’

That made sense. Lola always did what she wanted. She’d never treated him as an equal, or worried about his opinion. Unlike her mother and sisters, who were always sweet to him.

He went upstairs and packed his belongings. He used her best suitcases, the new set of Louis Vuitton she’d got for free.

Screw
her
! She wanted him out. What a cold piece of work she’d turned out to be.

He returned downstairs, accepted the cheque, signed the letter, and took off in Lola’s new Bentley.

One of these days Lola would get what she deserved, and he wouldn’t be sorry.

The apartment Cat had rented in L.A. was light and spacious, located in a high-rise building overlooking the city. Sparsely furnished, it was all she needed for a six-month stay in L.A. The moment she arrived she missed the New York loft she shared with Jump, and she especially missed all her stuff. She felt secure having her possessions around her–books, manuscripts, CDs, DVDs and favourite paintings she’d picked up at street markets. A bare apartment with nothing personal was not going to work for her.

She was putting on a brave face, although on the inside she was breaking up. Life without Jump would be a challenge. He’d saved her from herself, got her off drugs and straightened her out. Since that time they’d done everything together, and now she was alone. There was no way she cared to drift back into her bad old ways simply because she was by herself. Going through her L.A. phone book she was dismayed to realize that most of her friends who resided in the City of Angels were pals from her drug
days. Reconnecting with them could turn out to be fatal. Not that she was contemplating returning to her old ways: she was wise enough to realize that temptation was always dangerous.

Nobody to call. Nothing to do. Hire a freaking lawyer, that’s what she
should
do.

She called the Zandack office and asked for Merrill. He was still in London. Then she requested Jonas. He was in London with the boss. Naturally.

It was all too depressing, alone in L.A. with nothing to do and no one to call. She sent out for pizza, switched on the small TV, and fell asleep watching a mindless reality show about ten pathetic women vying for the love of some stupid, preening jerk.

Getting dragged into the drama of Petra Flynn’s upcoming divorce was inevitable. Once Isabelle was on the case there was no stopping her. After befriending Serena, she went after Petra big-time. Now here they were–a cosy quartet. Soon Petra, Serena, Isabelle and Lola were taking every meal together, setting out on long hikes and monopolizing the jazzercize class.

Lola wasn’t sure how it had happened, although she had to admit that she was enjoying herself. Since she’d become a star, girlfriends were a thing of the past. She was too busy, and the women she came in contact with lived in another reality. Now, here were these two famous women she could relate to. And they were fun to be around–even though Serena was moping about her lost lover, and Petra was livid about her abusive soon-to-be ex.

On their last night at the spa, after a couple of bottles of red wine–smuggled in by one of Petra’s handlers–Lola finally let loose and revealed all. ‘Guess what?’ she
announced. ‘While I’m here, I had my lawyer tell my husband to get out.’

‘Get out of what?’ Isabelle asked, still an innocent in the ways of movie stars–even after three days of concentrated boot camp.

‘You did?’ Petra said, getting it immediately. She was an impossibly doll-like twenty-five year old, with amazing implants, scads of white-blonde curls and a pouty face. She ruled late-night TV with her sexy hit series where she played a female billionaire who fought crime–usually undercover in the skimpiest of outfits.

‘Yup,’ Lola said. ‘Just like that. It was easy. My lawyer took care of it.’

‘Who’s your lawyer?’ Serena enquired.

‘Is he cute?’ Petra asked. ‘I only like dealing with cute lawyers since I seem to spend half my time with them.’

Lola would hardly describe Otto as cute, although his bald, polished head
was
quite intriguing.

‘Take care of
what?
’ Isabelle asked, still not getting it.

‘She’s divorcing him, silly,’ said Petra, pouring herself another glass of wine.

‘Yes,’ Serena said. ‘And apparently she’s doing it the easy way.’

‘You’re divorcing Matt?’ Isabelle said, totally shocked. ‘
Why?
’