Hollywood Wives - the New Generation (26 page)

'It happens in the movie business,' she replied. 'How many times
have
you
called
me
from the studio to say you won't
be home until midnight?'

'That's true, Taylor. However, I'm not happy about you being out by
yourself. Have they got a car and driver for you?'

'Of course, Larry,' she said, savouring the words. 'I'm the
star
of this movie.'

'Hmm…' he said. 'I'm still uncertain about you accepting the role.'

'Why?'

'You have a reputation to maintain.'

'
What
reputation?' she said scornfully. 'I'm married to
you
,
so anything I do should be acceptable.'

'Would you like me to visit the set one day?'

He was backing down, which pleased her. 'Do you have time?' she said.

'I'll make time.'

'Now don't forget, tomorrow night is Norio and Kyndra's anniversary
party, so in case I'm working late, be
sure
to have your
secretary remind you. I'll join you at their house as soon as I can.'

'Does this mean you'll be working late
every
night?' he
asked, not sounding at all happy.

'No, darling,' she said smoothly. 'However, you know I can't leave
whenever I feel like it. I have to be responsible.'

'I understand that, Taylor, and I've been thinking.'

'About what?'

'When you get home tonight we should talk about your project. I
might have come up with an answer for you.'

'What kind of answer?'

'How about
I
find you a
writer to work on the script?'

'You mean you'd get involved?'

'It's what you've always wanted me to do, isn't it?'

'Yes, Larry, that's exactly right.' Taylor clicked off her phone, a
triumphant smile playing across her lips. At
last
Larry was
getting involved.

And about time too.

Nicci hadn't been to a rave in a long time. It occurred to her that
since she'd been engaged to Evan, she hadn't done much of anything
except cater to her future husband.

What happened to me
? she thought, as she danced and jumped
and yelled like a crazy person, sweat pouring off her body as she
totally gave herself up to the blaring sounds - all inhibitions out the
window.
I used to be a free spirit who did whatever I wanted
whenever I felt like it. Then I got engaged, and suddenly I turned into
a mini Hollywood wife. Holy shit
!

She was stoned. What with the grass at home, the sake in the
restaurant, vodka in the car on the way to the rave, and Ecstasy when
she'd got there, she was very, very wasted. It didn't matter. She
wanted
to be stoned. She didn't care to think about Evan and his duplicity.

All she wanted was to hang loose, get wild, zone out. And she was
doing that with Brian, who was way more fun than she'd ever imagined.
He was manic and out there. He was interesting and funny and great. He
was…
Jesus
! She almost fell as the room began spinning around
and around, and she knew she'd better lie down or she'd throw up.

She was giddy and disoriented until Brian grabbed her, and then she
started laughing uncontrollably.

'You've… got… great… teeth,' she managed. 'I get off on your teeth.
Cool teeth!'

He was laughing too as he pulled her over to the side. They were
both laughing hysterically and she didn't feel sick any more, and then
the room was taking off again, and the music was louder than ever, and
Brian suddenly pinned her against the wall and began kissing her, his
insistent tongue pushing into her mouth.

She could not remember kissing Evan like this. Brian's kisses were
better than sex. It was like
so
hot that she almost came.

She closed her eyes. Somewhere in the back of her head she knew she
shouldn't be doing this. It didn't matter, nothing mattered. There
was
no tomorrow.
Today is tomorrow. Tomorrow is today
.

What the fuck! She didn't have a care in sight.

Monday was an exceptionally long day, they didn't finish until ten.
When Montana invited her for a drink, Taylor decided she had no reason
to rush home. Larry was probably in bed watching all the political
programmes he enjoyed, while her adrenaline was in overdrive. There was
no way she could sleep.

'Where did you have in mind?' she asked.

'We usually hang out at my favourite Mexican bar,' Montana replied.
'Sonja's coming. I think it would be helpful for you and she to get
together before tomorrow when we shoot the love scene. Sorry about
getting to the love scene so early, although sometimes it works out
better that way.'

'I made a movie with Charlie Dollar once,' Taylor reminisced. 'I
only had a small role, but the first time I met him I was naked in bed
- watched over by a crew of seventy. I was mortified!'

'I presume that was before Larry,' Montana said drily.

'Way before,' Taylor said, laughing at the memory.

'How does Larry feel about you doing
my
movie?' Montana
asked curiously.

'I make my own decisions.'

'Glad to hear it,' Montana said. 'Nothing worse than a man telling
you what to do. I've had a few of those in my time. Believe me, they
don't last long around me.'

'I can imagine,' Taylor murmured, thinking that she wasn't calling
Larry to tell him she was going for a drink. Even though he'd said he
was prepared to talk about her project, it could wait.

This way he might sweat a little, wonder what she was up to. He was
way too secure in their relationship.

'I could kill him,' Lissa said, tight-lipped.

'Calm down,' Michael said, although he could understand how she felt.

'
You
calm down,' she responded, getting up and pacing
around the room. 'I'd like to kill the son-of-a-bitch! How
dare
he get on television and say all those terrible things about me?' She
turned to him with an appealing expression. 'You
know
they're
not true - don't you, Michael?'

'Of course I do,' he said, wanting nothing more than to hold her in
his arms and comfort her.

'Yes,' she worried, 'but the public are likely to believe him, and
then the tabloids will pick it up. Oh, God! I'll be vilified
everywhere.'

'I'm telling you, Lissa,' he said, trying to placate her, 'this'll
go away.
You're
the famous one in the family, he's just the
jerk who wants to get his face on TV. You gotta let it go.'

'I'm calling my lawyer immediately,' she said, a determined jut to
her chin.

'There's nothing you can do now.'

'Yes, there is, there has to be.'

Michael couldn't take his eyes off her, she was so goddamn beautiful
and womanly. He knew that if he stayed he was going to find himself in
deep trouble. He
wanted
to stay and comfort her, and yet he
knew the smart thing was to get out while he could. Becoming involved
with Lissa Roman would be a bad move. She'd use him and discard him.
She was a movie star, she wouldn't even realize she was doing it.

'I gotta be going,' he said, getting up.

She turned on him, blue eyes flashing. 'Why are you always taking
off on me?' she demanded. 'Do
you
think I'm a self-obsessed
bitch like Gregg says?'

'Don't be crazy.'

'I'm not being crazy, Michael, but all you seem to do is run.'

'Hey, listen,' he said, 'I'm trying to keep this on some kind of
level here.'

'What does
that
mean?'

'You and I are messing with each other's minds, Lissa,' he said,
staring at her with an intense expression.

She narrowed her eyes. 'What the
hell
are you talking
about?'

'I'm not a good candidate for Rebound Man,' he muttered.

'Is
that
what you think?' she said angrily. 'That I'm so
mad at my soon-to-be ex that I'm looking for a
Rebound
Man?
Don't flatter yourself, I'm not looking for anything -
especially
not a man.'

'Let's not get into this, Lissa. We live in two different worlds,
and I'm not the kinda guy who'd fit into
yours.'

'Are you saying that because I'm famous we can't hang out?'

'No, I'm saying that if I stayed, it could be dangerous for both of
us.'

She gave him a long, steady look. 'Dangerous, Michael?'

'You know what I mean,' he said, realizing that he wanted to kiss
her more than he'd ever wanted to do anything else. She was standing
there before him, vulnerable, angry, gorgeous. And yet… something held
him back.

Get out
, his inner voice warned.
You're not
boyfriend-of-the-star material. Get the fuck out while you still can
.

'You should phone your lawyer and decide what to do tomorrow,' he
said gruffly. 'I'll call you in the morning.'

She stared at him for a moment, her diamond blue eyes turning into
ice cold chips. 'Fine,' she said coolly. Lissa was not used to being
rejected, and that's exactly what she felt he was doing.

'Thanks for dinner,' he said. 'The lasagna was sensational.'

'My pleasure,' she said, her voice an icy blast. 'Oh,' she added,
'and by the way, don't forget to send a bill.'

'A bill?' he said, frowning, because he knew she was now trying to
piss him off.

'For your services.'

'You have us on retainer, Lissa.'

'Sorry, I forgot. It's all inclusive, isn't it?'

'Don't take your shitty husband's remarks out on me,' he said, still
frowning.

'We'll talk about it some other time, Michael,' she said brusquely.
'I'm tired. See yourself out,' and she marched out of the room.

He walked outside, got in his car and drove off.

The moment he hit the street he was angry at himself.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why hadn't he stayed around when
she obviously needed a friend?

Because she'll hurt me. Because that's what women I care about
always do.

And Michael was through with being hurt. He'd suffered enough
betrayals to last a lifetime.

Taylor soon found out that drinking with the girls was a revelation.
Sonja Lucerne was a fine actress who had once played leading-lady roles
until she'd got too old for the Hollywood
they-gotta-be-in-their-twenties scene. Like Meryl Streep and Glenn
Close before her, she'd kept her dignity, was incredibly talented, and
still looked wonderful.

'It's such a pleasure to meet you,' Taylor said, finding herself
somewhat in awe. 'I've always admired your work.'

'So
you're
my little tootsie in this film, huh?' Sonja
drawled in a deep husky voice. She was a pointy-faced woman with a mass
of red hair, piercing eyes and high cheekbones.

'
Nobody's
a tootsie in one of my films,' Montana said,
ordering a tequila straight up.

'It's a fine script,' Sonja said, playing with one of her many gold
bangles. 'You'll love working with Montana.'

'I know I will,' Taylor said enthusiastically.

'Montana knows how to treat women,' Sonja offered. 'Male directors
simply don't understand us, hard as they try.'

'I'm into that,' Taylor agreed. 'Although, of course, my husband—'

'He doesn't get it either, darling,' Sonja interrupted, waving a
dismissive hand. 'I saw his last film. His leading man was
sixty-something, while his leading lady was a twenty-something twinkie.
You should talk to him. He seems smart, and he's certainly talented
enough.'

Taylor had never thought about it before, but Sonja was right -
Larry did the conventional thing and usually cast an older male star
with a much younger actress. It was time he changed that. 'Listen,' she
said ruefully, 'he won't even cast
me
in one of his movies,
that's how much influence I have.'

Sonja gave her a penetrating stare. 'You'd be surprised what kind of
influence women have over the men they live with. The trick is to exert
that power. If you play the woman you
think
they want you to
be, nothing ever changes. If you become strong, you'll make
him
stronger because of it.
That's
when things change.'

'Hmm…' Taylor said.

'It always amazes me how accepting women are at being treated
badly,' Montana said, joining in. 'Especially in this town. How many
couples do you see where the husband is some old goat, and his wife is
a two or three decades younger beauty?'

'Everywhere I go,' Taylor said.

'And yet,' Montana continued, 'they play the charade that it's true
love and everything is perfect. And because the husbands get away with
it,
that's
, what they end up putting on the screen - old men,
young women.'

'Exactly!' Sonja said.

'But what they're really doing is reflecting their own lives,'
Montana said, downing her tequila in one fast gulp. 'Then, of course,
when they see an older
woman
with a younger
man
,
it's "Oh dear, isn't that shocking!" '

'You're so right,' Taylor agreed.

'Of course I'm right,' Montana said forcefully. 'That's why I make
cable movies and not theatrical blockbusters, because the men in this
town are frightened of my ideas, which is okay with me because I get to
do exactly what I want. For instance, this film we're making now is
about two women in a meaningful relationship - nothing wrong with that,
only you won't see it on the big screen. Too threatening for the
Hollywood boys. The only time
they
want to see two women
together is when they're making out in a soft-porno flick.'

Taylor nodded, her eyes gleaming. This was not the kind of
conversation she was used to and she loved it. Female power - both
women exuded it. She felt privileged to be in their company.

On Tuesday morning Nicci couldn't open her eyes. She could barely
breathe, let alone anything else. Gradually, she surfaced, only to find
that she was surfacing in an unfamiliar bed.