Laying Low in Hollywood (7 page)

    I frowned when he said that.  I hated to be judgmental, I didn’t know her at all, but she sounded incredibly shallow to me.

   “I guess she doesn’t care that you could hurt yourself skating, since you’ve never done this before,” I was frowning, I had never met the woman, but I didn’t like her at all.

   “She cares I guess, she just worries about the girls, she wants them to have a good life,” he said, shrugging.

   I nodded at him half heartedly.  He loved her, he obviously couldn’t see her for the gold digger that she was.

   “What about your soon to be ex-husband?  What does he think about you jetting off to L.A. to be in some silly reality TV show?” asked Ron.

   “He really doesn’t care what I do.  When I came home from the Cup of China months ago, he was already gone.  He was already shacking up with his twenty seven year old secretary,” I told him with a little shrug.

   “Holy crap!  That totally blows!” he exclaimed, staring at me in shock.

   “It was a shock, I thought that Greg and I would be together forever, like my grandparents, but I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.  That’s why I’m trying something different, moving on with my life,” I told him.

   “Here’s to your new life,” he said, raising his glass to me and flashing me another stunning smile.  I tried to ignore the way it seemed to make my heart race nervously.

   “To my new life, and your new career,” I said, raising my glass to him.

   Ron and I had a nice lunch, we spent a lot of time talking and laughing.  We had a lot in common, so we ended up spending more than three hours there at the restaurant, having lunch.  I really hadn’t given it a second thought.  Ron was a nice guy and the two of us seemed to get along well enough.  We had mostly talked about skating and the show, I thought I might as well get to know him.  The two of us were going to be working quite closely together over the next several months.  How was I to know that having what appeared to be an intimate lunch with Ron, would be a serious error in judgement that would change Hollywood’s view of me forever?

Chapter 7

    I returned to my fully furnished luxury condo on North Vista street that afternoon, completely unaware of how ridiculously naive I was.  I had already stirred up a huge scandal and I didn’t even know it! 

   At quarter after five the next morning, I stepped out of the shower to the sound of my cell phone ringing urgently from the bedroom.  It was Jorge.  He told me that I needed to meet with him urgently, but he wouldn’t elaborate as to why.  I made coffee, poured it into a to-go cup and drove to his office, so I could meet with him before my seven a.m. ice time with Ron and Elena.  When I walked into Jorge’s office I was slightly taken aback by the icy glare he flashed at me.  He was obviously furious with me, and I had no idea why.

   “Would you like to explain this to me?” he asked, slapping a newspaper down on the desk in front of me.

   I picked up the paper and stared at it blankly.  The front page had a large color picture of Ron and I at the restaurant, our glasses raised, mid toast.  The headlines shouted out the nasty rumor, like unexpected kick in the gut.
Sports commentator Ron Brannon runs wild in Hollywood with reality TV Co Star Lane Jensen
, the headline screamed out. 

   I cringed in shock, I felt incredibly stupid that I had so quickly forgotten everything I had learned about Hollywood from my own mother.  Someone was always watching...I knew that. I dropped the newspaper back on his desk, distastefully.  I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to read the accompanying article, it was obviously nothing but speculation.

   “Jorge, this is nothing but horse shit!  Ron and I just went out to lunch...it was nothing,” I cried, though my heart was already pounding, guiltily.

   “Hmmm.  It doesn’t look like nothing.  In fact, it looks rather intimate.  It couldn’t have possibly been a team lunch, where was Elena?” asked Jorge, raising his eyebrows at me.

   “It was a spur of the moment thing.  Elena had already left, she was bored, she couldn’t wait to get out of there!” I cried, rolling my eyes miserably.

   “Ron Brannon is married!  I will not have my new show at the center of some adulterous scandal.  Whatever the two of you have, I want you to end it now.  I’m completely serious!” boomed Jorge, the anger seemed to be oozing from every pore of his body.  I was actually frightened that I had already lost my lucrative new position.

   “Jorge, I’m sorry about how this looks, I guess I forgot how it is in Hollywood.  I promise, I won’t make the same mistake again.”

   “Listen Lane, perhaps this is nothing, but the press is always looking for something.  We cannot give them the tiniest bit of fuel for their fire,” said Jorge, I sighed and shook my head miserably.

   “Think about it Lane, you are essentially single, he, on the other hand, is not.  As far as the media is concerned you are a hot divorcee on the prowl, though I am not sure that the media is aware that you are going through a divorce yet.  But I am quite sure it is only a matter of time before they figure it out, when they do, these kind of intimate little lunches are only going to look that much more suspicious.”

    “It wasn’t like that at all.  It was just lunch, we were just trying to get to know each other.  I realize he’s married Jorge...I just forgot about the media.” I was rolling my eyes.

   Jorge gave me a sly smile.  “What do you expect?  I mean, you are gorgeous, of course, he’s attractive.  What usually happens when two attractive people have to work very closely together?  It happens all the time in Hollywood.  You know, co stars hooking up in real life, when they have been filming a movie together.  Think about it, the two of you are going to be working closely together for the next four months.  It only stands to reason that the press is going to try to link the two of you, they are going to monitor every moment the two of you spend together and dissect it,” said Jorge.

   I rolled my eyes.  “It was nothing,” I snapped.  I was tired of talking about this, I may have been a tiny bit attracted to Ron, but I was sure he didn’t feel the same way about me, the man was obviously happily married!

   “Lane my darling, don’t be angry with me.  I’m not the enemy here.  I realize that this little lunch date was nothing, but we’ve only just begun here, comprende? 

   I want you to be strong and make sure it stays nothing.  You and Mr. gorgeous muscular body, are going to be spending a lot of time together, he is going to be lonely, you’re going to be lonely.  Shit happens Lane.  I realize that Ron is very attractive and charming, but the only reason he is even doing this show, is because his wife is a freaking spending machine.

   He does well enough, but obviously he needed more money to keep her supported in the lifestyle she thinks she deserves.  If she, for one moment, even suspects that he’s screwing around on her, she’ll divorce his ass and freakin clean him out!” said Jorge, eyeing me seriously.

   “I realize that Jorge!  I’m not a home wrecker, I promise, it’s nothing.” I told him, looking away guiltily and shaking my head.

   “I mean it Lane, if Brannon gets caught screwing around on this broad, I don’t want it to be with you.  Brannon can get laid anywhere, I realize he’s loaded with testosterone and...”

   “Jorge, really...” I snapped.

   “Okay, okay.  So, how’s the skating coming?” he asked, flashing me a sly smile.  My mouth suddenly dropped open in shock.  One look at his amused smile and I was suddenly angry.  I was getting the sneaky feeling that my team, who was supposedly assigned to me randomly, was a huge set up.  The network was making a huge joke at my expense, I was suddenly sure of it!

   “You set me up!” I cried, staring at him in shock.

   “No I did not!  Honestly Lane, you truly got the luck of the draw, but all the other contestants did claim to be able to skate some.  Poor Ron had never even put on skates before,” said Jorge, with a satisfied giggle.

   “You better get your jollies now Jorge, by the time I get done with Ron, you won’t be able to tell he was a mere novice when we began the season,” I told him, indignantly.

   “I certainly did get my jollies watching the most recent clips of your practice, though several of Ron’s falls were so bad, they jarred me to the core,” said Jorge, with a grimace.

   “Well I’m sure he’s feeling the pain today,” I told him, with a little smile.  I had to giggle when I thought about it, poor Ron, he had spent so much time sprawled on the ice, his butt was probably one big bruise!

   “If anyone can teach him to skate, it’s you.  I have full confidence in you,” said Jorge, smiling at me.

   “Thanks, that really inspires me,” I told him, shaking my head miserably.

Chapter 8

   When I finally arrived at the ice rink, I was excited to see that Ron and Elena were already on the ice, working on their stroking together.  I stood back and watched them for a few minutes, just so I could see how they interacted when they thought that no one else was watching.  It was almost a comical sight, Ron was so huge and clumsy, yet Elena was so small, she was struggling to keep him upright and shouting at him, what I could only hope, were helpful hints...in Russian.

   They were actually gliding pretty naturally, as long as they traveled in a relatively straight line.  Ron hadn’t mastered crossovers yet, so when they hit the corners the two of them seemed to flounder around the curve, completely out of control, Elena’s tiny body trying to steer Ron’s large, completely out of control body.

   After they had completed the turn at the opposite end of the rink and lived to tell about it, I started to head to the edge of the ice.  I paused when I saw that Elena had turned and was skating backwards in front of Ron now.  She was shouting commands to him in Russian.  He was definitely skating a bit better, though it seemed as if his skates were still hell bent on traveling in opposite directions.  He reminded me a bit, of the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.

   Elena continued to call out commands in Russian, even though I was pretty sure that Ron didn’t speak a word of Russian.  Even I, had no idea what she was about to have him try.

   As they clumsily rounded the next corner, Elena did a little spin, then she attempted to get back into step with Ron.  Like I said, Ron hadn’t mastered crossovers and unfortunately, he really didn’t have much of a rhythm, so he caught the back of Elena’s blade with his skate, and both Elena and Ron went down hard on the ice.

   Elena jumped up from the ice and glared down at Ron angrily. “Nyet!” she cried, shaking her head furiously at him.

   I skated over to them, shaking my head in amusement.  I was trying hard to suppress my laughter, I didn’t want them to think I was making fun of them.  I just thought the entire scene was unbelievably cute! 

   Elena spun around to face me, with her hands on her hips. She glared at me angrily, upset that Ron had brought her down on her bum.  I offered a hand to Ron and hauled him up off the ice.  He was giving me an embarrassed smile.  I gave him a wry smile and a little shrug, I had no expectations of him, at this point.  My team could only give me, what they could give me.

   “Theese ees eensane!” Elena cried angrily, stomping over to stand in front of me.

   “Elena, please have patience, it is only our second day,” I pleaded with her.

   “Heee eezz beeg and clumzeee...like ox.  Heee eeez bad.  We never ween,” she snapped, folding her arms over her chest and assessing me haughtily.

   “He will get better, in fact, he’s already gotten better.  We just need to practice,” I told her.

   “Nyet, I weel queet!” she pouted, with a shake of her blonde ponytail toward the cameraman, who was filming us, from just steps away.

   I frowned, she was providing drama for the cameraman, either on her own, or prompted, I wasn’t sure which.  I rolled my eyes miserably and went with it.

   “Please don’t quit Elena, I need you on my team.  Things will get better, I promise,” I pleaded earnestly.

   “You skate weeth heem.  I skate alone,” snapped Elena, and with that, she turned and skated away from us.

   I stood there numbly with my mouth gaping open as she skated away.  I was shocked and infuriated!  She was acting like the spoiled little princess I had left behind in Colorado Springs.  The big difference between Elena and the spoiled little princess I had left behind in Colorado Springs, was that the spoiled little princess was just fourteen, so there was, at least, a tiny bit of hope that she, might outgrow it!

   I skated slowly over to Ron, who was eyeing me warily.

  “Well, I thought that my days of working with adolescents were behind me, obviously I was wrong.  Mr. Brannon, will you skate with me?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at him playfully.

   “Okay, but people are going to talk,” he said, giving me a slightly seductive smile.

   I bit my lower lip in a sincere effort to concentrate.  I was suddenly single after more than twenty years of marriage, and Ron Brannon was way too good looking for his own good.  I could only hope that he wouldn’t be flirting with me a lot.  I was only human.

   “Umm...I’m sorry about that Ron.  When we went out to lunch, well...I should have realized...we’re in Hollywood...”

   “I’m kidding, it’s not your fault, it was I, who asked you to lunch.  I had forgotten how sneaky the media can be, I’ve been on the dark side for so long.  I completely forgot what it’s like to be the scrutinee,” he told me with a smile.

   “The scrutinee?” I asked, staring at him blankly.  It was a sincere effort for me to focus on the conversation and not just stare at him like a complete idiot.  His smile seemed to light up the entire arena.  I was completely mesmerized by it, besides, he was flirting with me!

   “Sure, if your not the scrutinizer, you’re the scrutinee.  Take it from me, it’s much better to be the scrutinizer,” he said, with a little shrug.

   “I can only imagine, I guess I’ve been mostly the scrutinizer myself, with my students,” I told him with a little smile.

   “I guess that’s what we both do for a living, huh?” he said, smiling back at me.  My heart was suddenly pounding crazily and I was struggling to fight off a feeling of giddiness that was overtaking my body.  I silently reprimanded myself.  I was a grown woman for God’s sake, not a teenager.  Ron Brannon is married, I told myself, no matter how charming he is.

   “Let’s get to work,” I told him, taking his right arm and wrapping it around my waist and taking his left hand in mine. 

   “All right, head up, back straight.  Keep your knees slightly bent at all times.  Imagine that your knees are shock absorbers, absorbing all the impact as you skate,” I told him, as we took a tentative glide forward. 

   We began to skate slowly down the length of the ice.  I was showing him how to match his strides to mine, which wasn’t all that hard for us, I was tall and I had long legs.  It would be much harder for him to shorten his stride to Elena’s. 

   When we approached the corner, I tried to help him with his crossovers.

   “Okay Ron, we’re going to make the turn now, shift your weight to your left and lean a bit, bring your right skate up off the ice, we’re going to place it slightly in front of our left foot and across, slowly now,” I told him.

   We both shifted our weight to our left foot and began to lean into the turn, Ron picked up his right skate to do the crossover, but he didn’t have a lot of control yet, the front of his blade caught the back of mine and suddenly we were both laying in a pile on the ice.

   He had flipped over completely and was laying on top of me.  I was laughing as I struggled to push him off of me, he was heavy!  He floundered around on the ice for a few moments, then he finally managed to scramble to his feet.  It was so hilarious, I could only lay there on the ice and laugh.  Maurice had skated over with his camera and was panning in close, capturing our embarrassment for all of America to see.  I was still laughing hysterically.

   “Oh my God, are you okay?  Did I hurt you?” cried Ron.  He started to skate toward me, I scrambled to my feet quickly.  I knew he hadn’t mastered stopping yet, and I really didn’t want him on top of me again!

   “I’m thinking that crossovers are maybe something you should work on alone,” I told him with a sly smile.

   “Really are you okay?” he asked, anxiously.  I felt bad, he looked worried. 

   “Didn’t your football coach teach you anything?” I asked.

   “Huh?”

   “Rule number one, never tackle your coach.  Rule number two, no cooler full of Gatorade on my head when we win,” I told him with a little laugh.

   He laughed.  “Seriously, are you sure you’re okay?  I fell right on top of you,” he said, his voice was filled with concern.

   “I was a professional skater Ron, this is not the first time I’ve fallen on the ice,” I told him with a smile.  Ron smiled back at me, then he gave me a serious look.

  “What were you like, back when you were a professional skater?” he asked, looking into my eyes, mesmerizing me once again.

   I shook my head in an effort to shake off the spell he was casting over me.  No moment was ever private, I could see Maurice filming us out of the corner of my eye.  I sighed miserably.

   “I was pretty much the same person I am now, except I was younger and prettier...probably stupider too,” I told him with a little smile.

   “I can’t imagine you being any prettier.  Did you have to fend off the guys with a stick?” he asked, giving me a sly smile.

   My heart was suddenly pounding again as he looked down into my eyes, and that smile...well, it was too bad that Mr. Brannon was married, because if he wasn’t, I just might have to flirt with him.  I took a deep breath and tried to focus. 

   “That’s what I had a partner for,” I told him with a little wink.  I silently berated myself, okay, so I slipped up a little bit.  No more flirting, from here on out.

  He smiled at me and I slowly started to skate backwards away from him.

   “All right, back to work.  We need to work on your crossovers Mr. Brannon, you’re going to follow me, and you are going to do them all on your own, come on, skate this way!”  I called to him as I skated away.

   Soon he was following me as I attempted to help him with his crossovers at each corner.  I skated backwards in front of him, telling him what to do, he followed and attempted to do as I said. 

   The first three turns resulted in serious wipe outs.  I felt bad for him, but I was glad that he wasn’t taking me down with him each time.  I had old injuries too and I really didn’t want to get hurt.

   By the fourth turn, he had actually started to get it.  He was very shaky, but his skates were under control and he didn’t fall.  After about half an hour of him following me around the rink, I actually felt brave enough to skate with him and help him with his stroking.

   I was actually enjoying skating with him, as we glided around the rink.  It was the first time in quite a while, I had skated with a man who was anywhere near my age.  I was used to working with up and coming skaters, most of them were just nearing adulthood.

   Ron was very strong, which was going to help me immensely with his training.  I could feel the strength in his body as we skated around the rink together.  His muscular strength was the one thing, I hoped would be in my favor.

   “You’re doing much better today, I’m quite impressed,” I told him, as we made another pass around the ice.

   “I’ve been practicing,” he told me proudly.

   “When did you practice?” I asked, completely surprised.

   “I came back to the rink last night and practiced for three hours,” he told me proudly.

   “Don’t your feet hurt?” I exclaimed, three hours was way too much, especially, on skates that hadn’t been broken in yet.

    “Like I said, I can work through the pain,” he told me.

    I stopped skating and turned to look him in the eye.  He was so stunned with my abrupt halt, he stumbled, then he did a desperate little dance, to avoid falling.  He was able to avert disaster this time, but just barely. I bit my lip to hide the smile that almost automatically came to my lips.  This big, intimidating looking guy, was completely lost on skates.  It took all the concentration he had, just to remain upright. 

   I folded my arms across my chest and gave him my most serious glare.  I didn’t want him skating without me, at least, not this early in the game.  It would be too easy for him to get hurt, he didn’t know what he was doing, he needed guidance.  I didn’t want to be eliminated from the competition before it even began!