Laying Low in Hollywood (18 page)

   “No I can’t believe it,” I told him.  I had my theories about Jenae, but I kept my mouth shut, it wasn’t what Ron needed to hear right now.

   “You’re right, it really hurts.  Even though I saw it coming, it hurts,” he said, his eyes were glassy, like he might start crying.

   I was torn, should I hug him, because he needed the support right now, or would that be a bad thing?  I was standing there chewing on my lower lip nervously.  I had no idea how to comfort him.

  “Ron...I’m sorry...” I said, my voice quivered with emotion.  I could feel his pain.  I could still feel the pain of my own divorce, though I would never let anyone see that pain, this late in the game.  I had cried enough tears over Greg.

   “Don’t be sorry.  I only wish I could be as strong as you were over your own divorce,” he said.

   “I wasn’t strong, just because I don’t let people see my pain doesn’t mean that it didn’t hurt me, it hurt, it still hurts,” I told him.

   “Thank you for caring,” said Ron, he kissed my hand and then he skated out onto the ice.  I sighed, I knew that he couldn’t talk about it anymore.  Maybe it would be good for us to get to work, and maybe that would help him to keep his mind off of his pain.

   I put my skates on and in a few minutes I had joined Ron and Elena on the ice.  This week would be hard, we had to squeeze in all the required elements, a lift, a pairs spin, side by side spins and now the death spiral.  We also had to bring out the personality of the TV show theme I had selected.  That was the beauty of this show, my team got to play different characters every week, and they were actually good at it!

  Our practice went well, but I could tell Ron was somewhere else, he wasn’t focused, and his drive in life seemed to be completely gone. 

   We worked hard all week.  Technically, the program looked fine, artistically, our team had lost our spark.  The fire that Ron usually infused into our program was gone. 

   Wednesday finally rolled around, and I was worried.  Our last practice had went well, but the program seemed lifeless.  I had just created the most stunning program of my career, but my lethargic team couldn’t do it justice.

   I wasn’t sure what I could do to save my team from spiraling into Ron’s depression, but I felt like I needed to do something.  This program had everything we needed to take first place this week, except for Ron’s personality.  It was gone!

   Jorge had arrived to pick me up at the rink, he was standing on the side of the ice frowning as I skated over to him.

   “Lane, I hate to see you slip from the top spot to the last, but your team kind of blows right now, they are completely lifeless,” said Jorge as I approached him.

   “Ron’s depressed, what can I do?” I asked shrugging.

    “Hmmm, desperate times call for desperate measures.     Do you think it would it help, if you had sex with him?” asked Jorge, he was struggling to hide the smile that was creeping across his lips.  I fought the urge to roll my eyes, Jorge was messing with me.

   “It might make his mood better, though he’d be so completely spent, he’d be unable to perform on the ice tonight,” I joked, stifling a little giggle.

   “Yes, you’re right.  I seriously doubt he’d be able to walk, let alone skate,” said Jorge, giving me a sly smile.

   I cracked up.  He started laughing too.

   “Why is it that men seem to think that having sex will solve all their problems?” I laughed.

   “It’s not that we feel it will solve all our problems, but it sure as hell makes us forget about them for a little while. You know, the brain becomes completely useless when all the blood in your body heads straight to the wanker,” laughed Jorge.

  “Well, that explains a lot.  I’m glad we had this conversation,” I told him blandly.

   “Anything for you my dear,” said Jorge, flashing me a sly smile.

                            
CHAPTER 20

   That evening was the taping of the week’s show.  I was nervous.  Our practice today had been fair, but my team was lacking the personality I knew we needed to stay in this competition.  We were slated to skate last, which could be good, or it could be bad, at this point, I wasn’t sure which. 

   I hoped that maybe if my team was forced to watch all the performances before theirs, they would be a bit more inspired to put their heart and soul into this performance.

   First up was team Evans, they did a cute routine to the music from “I Dream of Jeannie”.  They nailed all the elements and the female counterpart at least, completely blew me away. 

   The night seemed to drag on with all sorts of tiresome theme songs, I personally, would have never picked for my team to skate to.  Team Muramsatsu put in a good performance with their song from “Hawaii 5-0”.  Finally our team was up, I was so nervous I could barely breathe.

   My team was announced and they skated to the center of the ice.  Ron looked incredibly handsome in his chaps and gun belt. The wardrobe department had done a fabulous job with Elena’s costume.  She was dressed in a red saloon girl dress, with feathers in her hair, they had even given her fish net stockings and they had covered her skates with black boot covers that looked like old fashioned button up shoes.  Elena was loving her character this week and she was totally into playing up her role.  Ron had flashed the cameras a fake smile when he arrived on the ice, but his face had been expressionless ever since.

   The music started and I was nearly holding my breath in anticipation.  Elena was doing fabulous as she hammed her way through the program, Ron, on the other hand, looked like a zombie.  He was doing all the moves, but his body was void of any emotion, it was completely obvious, he was merely going through the motions.  I sighed miserably as I watched, I had built all kinds of fun dance steps into the routine so that they could have fun with it, but Ron seemed to be a million miles away.

   Technically, the only glitch came right before our lift.  I had went all out this week and taught them a real pairs lift.  Pairs lifts are harder than ice dance lifts as the man needs to be strong enough to lift the woman over his head.  Ron was getting so much better on skates and Elena was so tiny, I figured it would be no problem for my team.  They had done quite well with the advanced lift in practice, but still, I was anxious, any misstep on the ice could be dangerous for Elena!

   Ron was supposed to reach down and pull Elena through his legs, then there were a few connecting steps and they would do a lasso lift, which would lift Elena high above the ice, above Ron’s head. 

   Ron pulled Elena through his legs, but then it seemed as if he had forgotten the connecting steps, he fumbled across the ice for a few seconds, then he did manage to get Elena up into the lasso lift, but Ron brought her down so quickly, I feared the lift hadn’t lasted the required two seconds that would actually give us credit for the move.

   Finally, the program was over and Ron and Elena were taking their bows.  They skated over to me and I hugged them both half heartedly.  I was trying hard to conceal my disappointment, but I was sure there was a good possibility that my team was going home tonight.

   The three of us huddled in the “kiss and cry” area waiting for our scores.  Elena was mumbling harsh words in Russian.  Luckily, neither Ron nor I knew exactly what she was saying, but her displeasure with the performance was evident!

   The judges made a few positive comments about the technical difficulty of our routine and the choreography, what they all seemed to agree on, was that our program lacked the fire and personality that we had shown in all our other performances.  We received a disappointing score of one eight and two sevens.  I was much too nervous to remember the other teams scores, so I wasn’t sure if we were doomed, or not.

   Moments later, all the couples were brought to the ice for the judge’s decision.  I could barely breathe, I was so nervous.  The announcement was made and I was so stunned I couldn’t even absorb which team had been eliminated, I only knew that it hadn’t been my team, we had been spared!

   I watched numbly as team Biermann returned to the ice to take their final bows.  When I saw the male counterpart of the team skate out in his white Captain’s uniform I suddenly remembered.  This was the team that had done a really lame program to the theme from “The Love Boat”.

   I sighed in relief, as the house lights came back up and everyone seemed to be scattering for the night.  We had made it through one more week, but if we gave another performance like that one, I seriously doubted we’d be able to hang on for another week.

   I socialized with a few people I knew as I wound my way through the crowd.  I finally found myself in a quiet corner of the arena, where I could just hang back and watch everyone else as they interacted.  Elena and Ron were still on the ice socializing with the other remaining couples.  Jorge was standing near the judges box, having a very animated conversation with a few of the judges and some network executives.

   I had to smile to myself.  I loved to watch how people interacted.  Hollywood was never short on interesting interactions.  Everyone had an angle, it seemed.

   Before I knew it, our camera man Javier had found me.  He was training his camera on me, and giving me a sly smile.

   “What did you think about your team’s performance tonight?  I believe that Hal Luther called it lackluster,” said Javier.

   “That’s exactly what I would call it.  Luckily we were not eliminated tonight and we will have a chance to redeem ourselves.  I’m hoping to reclaim the top spot next week,” I told him with an enthusiasm that wasn’t quite genuine.  My face didn’t betray what my heart feared deep inside.  Ron had been hurt deeply, his heart was broken.  I wasn’t sure that Ron could be snapped out of his funk by next week, let alone by the end of the season.  I was sincerely hoping that my team wasn’t done in this competition.

                           
CHAPTER 21

   I had been anticipating that the ride home in the limo with Jorge would be tense, he was disappointed with my team’s performance and he was displeased with me, as if I had any control over the emotional health of my team members.

  “Your teams’ program was very frustrating to watch tonight.  I’ve seen what they can do, but tonight’s performance  was just pallid and lifeless.  I know that Brannon is upset over his wife’s shenanigans, but you need to reel him in and get him back on track, or you are going to lose this competition,” snapped Jorge, shaking his head miserably.

  “Thank you for telling me that Jorge, I truly had no idea,” I told him, my voice was laced with sarcasm.  I wish I could control people’s emotions, but unfortunately I could not.

   “I am sorry Lane, but you have a talent, a talent that could take your team all the way to the finals.  Your programs are so magical and they always blow everyone away, when performed properly, that is.”

   “I don’t know what to do Jorge, I’m not sure that Ron can get over this.  He’s in pain, I’m getting the feeling he’s going to be worthless for the rest of this competition.  Jenae really hurt him, the only reason he even came on the show is because his soon to be, ex-wife coerced him.  He was doing it for Jenae and the girls, now he has no motivation to perform, he’s only here because of the contract he signed,” I told Jorge, shaking my head miserably.

   “You’re going to have to give him that motivation.  Isn’t that what coaches do, inspire and motivate?  I’m beginning to think that maybe I was wrong to forbid you to hook up with him, maybe...”

   “No Jorge, under the circumstances, I think it’s a bad idea,” I told him.

   “No, it’s a fabulous idea, think about it, he’s been attracted to you since day one.  I mean really, what raises a guy’s spirit more than...”

    “Jorge please, I may be your employee, but I’m not some sort of trollop you can call up and use for favors at your discretion!” I cried.

   “Lane, a trollop or a whore would pay favors to many men, but I am only asking you to do something I well know you already want to do.  You forget...I saw the video.  Believe me, I am well aware that the two of you were merely seconds away from it becoming pornography, thus making the video footage way out of my price range.

   I know you’re attracted to him, what’s the big deal?  I know I forbid you to see him, but under the circumstances, waiting to consummate your relationship could possibly ruin your chances to win this competition.  I mean why wait, to do what you’re going to do in seven weeks anyway?  I am quite certain if we could do this discreetly enough, maybe no one would even catch on.”

   “I
f
w
e
could do this?” I cried.

   “Well I wouldn’t be physically involved, of course, but I could help in the planning.  It would have to be very discreet, Hollywood seems to notice everything.  Maybe if I had him over to the house for dinner one evening.  You could just bang him there, no one would even know.”

   “I could just bang him there?  No one would even know?” I cried, glaring at Jorge, as if he were insane.  “Have you lost your flipping mind?  First of all, I am not a prostitute, I will not be plotting any seduction of Ron with you, the man who all of Hollywood is convinced is my lover.

   Secondly, this is Hollywood, you’re fooling yourself if you don’t realize that everyone is going to know the actual moment anything happens between the two of us!  The big deal is that he is not divorced yet, and I am.  Besides the obvious scandal, which would be bad enough.  I refuse to give Jenae any fuel for her lawyers to use against Ron,” I snapped.

   “Lane, I just think...”

  “No Jorge, just let it go.  Let me handle this,” I snapped.

   “That’s the problem, you’re not handling it.  Last week you were at the top, but your team is teetering on the edge now.  This week could be your last week, if you don’t do something!”

   “Jorge, I want to win, but I cannot jeopardize his reputation and his entire life, just to win this competition.  I’m afraid of the repercussions, he has his daughters.  He loves them.  I don’t know what he would do if Jenae tried to keep them from him.”

   “Here’s an idea, maybe if we had him over here for dinner tomorrow night, I could...”

    “I swear to God Jorge, I’m going to...” I made a fist and gave him a threatening glare.

   “Sorry, sorry, I’ll shut up,” said Jorge when he saw that I was finally losing my cool.

   I rolled my eyes.  I was beginning to hate my life here in Hollywood.  I hated how everyone knew everyone else’s business.  I really hated how I had become nothing but a pawn in the business!  I sighed and shook my head miserably, I didn’t know why I was here, I didn’t belong in Hollywood.