Laying Low in Hollywood (19 page)

                           
CHAPTER 22

   The next morning I arrived on the ice before anyone else.  I was working on some new footwork and I wanted to skate alone for a while.  I loved being on the ice in the morning before anyone else got there, it was quiet in the chilly, echoing rink and the ice was still smooth and unmarred.  There was no music, no voices, no one else there to intrude on my thoughts, no producers, no cameramen.  It was exquisite!

   I was worried about my team, especially Ron.  I hoped that Ron could pull himself out of this depression and make a comeback.  It wouldn’t be so bad if my team just totally sucked anyway, then at least, I knew there wasn’t even a chance.  But Ron had it in him, I knew he did.  He was a champion on the football field, and I knew now, that he had the drive to be a champion in anything he put his mind to.  Unfortunately, his own wife had damaged him, his heart was broken.  I didn’t know if Ron would recover himself in time to save our team in this competition.  Broken hearts just didn’t heal overnight.

   I hoped to completely blow the judges out of the water with this week’s routine.  This week we would be adding the final required element, a throw jump, which made me glad that I had a female professional skater on my team, someone who had a bit of experience with jumps in general.  It would be hard to take someone with basically no skating experience and tell them that their partner was going to throw them across the ice.

   I’d had a difficult time selecting the music for 80’s week.  I graduated from high school in the 80’s so I was emotionally attached to a lot of the music.  It brought back a lot of good, and a lot of bad memories for me.  Finally, I chose a song that I loved for a lot of different reasons.  The song was, “In a Big Country” by the band, Big Country. 

   I was drawn to the song because it was fast moving, it was unique, and the band was Scottish.  So of course, the music had a unique Scottish flavor to it.  My father was Scottish, which would supposedly make me half Scottish, that is, if you didn’t listen to the whispers that I was most likely the bastard child of some Hollywood actor.  Still, I felt a bit of a connection to the music and I felt like I could make the music work for us.

   My idea for the costumes was to dress Ron and Elena in black, 80’s style spandex outfits that were trimmed in black watch plaid.  I was excited about this program, if I could just get Ron to perform in the caliber I knew he was capable of, we might just walk away with first place this week!

   I skated alone in the vast, echoing rink for about an hour, soon Ron and Elena arrived on the ice.  I explained my plans for our program.  Ron seemed okay with everything, but Elena was frowning and rolling her eyes.

   “I want to skate to Michael Jackson,” she whined.

   “Everyone will be skating to Michael Jackson and Madonna, and stuff like that!  I want us to stand out.  We need to do something unexpected and memorable,” I told her.

   “Oooh, what about Cyndi Lauper?” cried Elena excitedly.

   “No!” I told her, now I was rolling my eyes. 

   Elena pouted for a little while, but after a while it seemed as if she was finally getting into our program.  Ron seemed to be doing a little better, though I was still a bit worried.  Our big element, the throw jump was very important, I hoped he could focus enough to get it down.  I really didn’t want Elena to get injured.             

   I planned to have them do a throw toe loop, but Elena had her heart set on a throw double axel.  I shook my head dismissively.  Elena was getting caught up in the big illusion here.

   I almost broke out in hysterical laughter, when she brought it up.  Elena and Ron were not really pairs skaters.  They were two athletes, from two very different sports that were brought together for a reality TV series.  I thought that trying anything too advanced was an accident waiting to happen, Elena was not a pairs skater, so she had no experience with throw jumps.  I just thought it would be best if we didn’t try to overdo it!

   The week seemed to fly by quickly and my team was doing much better than I had expected.  Ron was still not one hundred percent, but at least, he was not the zombie he had been last week. 

   I had taught Ron and Elena the throw toe loop and it looked as if they would have it perfected before we taped on Wednesday.

   When I arrived on the ice Monday morning, Ron and Elena were already busily running through their program.  Elena had really gotten into the music and was pouring her heart and soul into this program.

   I smiled as I watched them, as a team, they had come so far, it was truly amazing to watch them skate together and realize that Ron had never ice skated at all, before he came on this show.

   The big throw jump was coming up and I held my breath as they skated around the ice gaining speed.  My eyes were wide as Elena got herself in position to do an axel and before I knew it, Ron had flung her into the air and she was spinning above the ice in a double axel.  I stood there with my mouth gaping open in shock, in an instant, she landed it gracefully and they both skated gracefully to their ending.

   “Holy crap!” I cried, completely oblivious to the fact that Javier was right there with his camera trained on me, in an effort to get my reaction to their jump. 

   Ron and Elena were both breathing heavily and smiling broadly at me as I skated out to them on the ice.

   “I can’t believe it, that was incredible!” I cried throwing my arms around Elena.

   “You are surprised?” she asked, beaming up at me.

   “Hell yes, I’m surprised,” I cried, going to Ron and hugging him briefly.  He squeezed me hard, but I pulled myself from his arms uncomfortably, then I stood there staring at them both in shock.

   “You two did this on your own?” I asked.

   “Elena wanted to try it, she said we could win with this jump,” said Ron.

   “Well I seriously doubt any other team has a throw double axel.  I can’t believe you guys got it down so fast!”  I was still completely in shock.  If Elena had been a pairs skater previously, I could believe it, but this was something completely out of her comfort zone.  I was so proud of both of them!

   We trained hard for the rest of our practice and I left that morning more confident that we wouldn’t be going home this week.

   I spent the afternoon out by the pool, Jorge was in meetings all day, so I had the whole house to myself, it was very relaxing.

   Jorge arrived home at five thirty and announced that we  would be having guests for dinner.  I rolled my eyes and grimaced painfully, so much for having a nice, relaxing evening.

   “Don’t worry, no need to dress up, it’s a pool party, it’s just casual,” said Jorge, giving me a sly smile.

   I frowned, I wasn’t sure who would be coming, but I was certain I would much rather go to bed early.   Instead, I would be trying to entertain whatever tiresome guests Jorge had invited over for the evening.

   At almost seven on the dot, the doorbell rang and Ed stepped into the foyer to answer it.  I was wearing a casual sundress and was standing behind him as he answered the door.

   “Good evening Mr. Brannon,” said Ed, gesturing for him to come in.

   I could only stand there and stare at him in shock.  Ron had brought a bottle of wine, which he handed to me, but I was still too stunned to say anything as I took the bottle from his hands.

   “Wow, this place is great.  I really appreciate the invite,” said Ron casually, as he followed Ed into the main part of the house, while I trailed along behind them numbly.

   “Mr. Brannon, welcome,” said Jorge, greeting him cordially and shaking his hand.

    “Please, call me Ron,” said Ron.

   “Okay, please call me Jorge,” said Jorge, flashing him a cordial smile.
              I was just staring at them both numbly.  I struggled to draw in a deep breath, as my mind raced crazily.  I couldn’t believe Jorge had done this, I was aghast.

   My heart was racing nervously and I was suddenly feeling very dizzy.  I was shaking my head, completely bewildered, Jorge had set me up.  He had told me that he felt his house was a safe place for Ron and I to hook up.  How stupid was I?  I had never believed he would actually pursue it.

   “May I have a word with you Jorge?” I asked, when I had finally recovered my voice.  I was giving him a fake smile, trying to disguise how horrified I was by the entire situation.

   “Certainly, please excuse us Ron,” said Jorge, giving him a gracious smile.  I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

Jorge led me into the study and carefully closed the doors behind us.

   “Is there a problem my love?” he asked, flashing me a fake smile.

   “What do you think you are doing?” I cried.

   “My darling Lane.  I am not doing anything.  I am waiting for you to do it yourself.  You see, I am a scientist, a chemist, if you will.  I am simply bringing the volatile ingredients together, to see how they interact, when they are not being subjected to the mundane pressures of taking part in a reality TV series,” said Jorge, giving me a sly smile.

   “I’m not going to sleep with him Jorge, you’re wasting your time!” I cried, shaking my head miserably.

    “Why not?” he asked, assessing me haughtily.

    “It’s not the right time,” I snapped.

   “And you believe the right time will be after you lose the competition?” he asked, a sly smile lingered on his lips.

   “I believe the right time would be after his divorce is final,” I said.

   “Good God Lane, why wait?  You want him, he wants you.  I can’t see any reason to put it off.  No one will ever know.  Believe me, it will do wonders for his attitude, which in turn, will do wonders for my show,” said Jorge.

   “Prostitution is illegal in the state of California,” I snapped angrily. 

   “Well, don’t let him slip any money into your thong and I believe all is well,” said Jorge, almost giggling.

   “It’s a bad idea Jorge,” I told him shaking my head miserably.

   “It is not a bad idea, it’s a fabulous idea!  If you could only see how splendid the two of you are together.  There is so much restrained passion between the two of you.  I only wish I could have the two of you skate together on an episode of the show, that would be hot.  In fact, I get the impression that  performance would be so steamy, the entire audience might have an orgasm,” said Jorge, giving me a sly smile.

   “Oh Jorge,” I cried, shaking my head miserably.

    The doorbell rang, and I was momentarily diverted.

   “Oh good, that’s Elena.  See, you’ve got me all wrong darling.  I simply invited your team over for a little team bonding,” said Jorge, flashing me an evil smile.

   I sighed.  I felt like this was part of the reality show, because I had definitely been outwitted!

   Elena was obviously very excited to be there at Jorge’s house.  Of course, Elena had big Hollywood aspirations and unfortunately, she thought that by sleeping with Jorge, she could attain those aspirations.  Of course, she didn’t realize that Jorge was gay.

   It was not a big dinner party, Elena and Ron were our only guests.  We had a nice, Hawaiian themed dinner on the patio.  Elena and Jorge dominated most of the conversation, though I did talk a little bit about our upcoming performance.
             

   After dinner, we lounged around on the patio until Jorge suggested that he give Elena a tour of his house.  She was very excited as she strolled away with him.  I almost giggled aloud.  I was certain that Jorge was giving me space, he was so sure that Ron needed to get laid.  Though, I was afraid that Jorge was the only one in danger of getting laid tonight.

   An uncomfortable silence had fallen over Ron and I.  He knew how I felt about the situation and the alone time was making us both uncomfortable.  The air in the hills was very still tonight, and a smothering mugginess was enveloping the patio area.  It was very uncomfortable just sitting there with Ron, not really knowing what to say to him.