One Hit Wonder (16 page)

“Yes, it was a surprise.” She smiled, then looked at Audrey and said, “I’ve been waiting for your call.”

“I’ve called — several times.”

“Did you?” Jennifer pulled her cell out of her wristlet bag over the table. “Oh, it’s off. The battery is messed up, it keeps running out.”

“Jennifer I’ve got to say, I’m disappointed. I expected more efficiency from you. Do not let it happen again.” John said coldly.

“Of course not. I’m sorry, Audrey.” Jennifer’s face matched the color of her dress.

The infamous party took place on a uncharacteristically murky night for Los Angeles in the house of Ryan Correll. One of Hollywood’s rich-turned-celebrity by their superb job of making complete asses of themselves in front of a fair share of paparazzi. Ryan’s headlines could pay the salaries of TMZ’s employees, but he was not your average never-had-to-work-a-day-in-his-life millionaire. He was also the son of a media mogul who had been one of the founders of the movie industry — not the classy black-and-white movies, but the two-hundred-plus-million opening weekend kind. He was also a violent and self-righteous prick known for losing his temper easily. He’d had many dealings with the law and, currently, was stripped of his right to drive by the third DUI his father wasn’t able to make go away. Thus, the parties now happened in his house on the Hollywood Hills, a place that made the Playboy Mansion look like an elementary school playground.

“Do we have to go?” She wound her fingers into John’s hair and tightened the grip of her legs around his waist.

“Not really, but Matt and Tyler are expecting us.” He bit her knee hard enough to make her let out a soft squeal and turned himself around to be atop her. She arched her back and let her thoughts race out of her mind.

They arrived at the party after midnight, and soon spotted Matt and Tyler talking to a group of people near a spectacular infinity pool. Not long after joining them, Matt and Tyler excused themselves to go get drinks and never came back. It took only a few minutes of listening to the three men and the woman in the group to realize why. Considering the looks of the other guests, she wondered why these — accountants — were even invited; hints were that Ryan had to invite some people from the studio to justify the party to his father as a business event.

Nearly half an hour passed, Audrey had color-coordinated the other guests, rearranged the furniture, and followed the trajectory of a fake lotus flower floating in the pool — twice.

“I haven’t seen Kevin all night and I really need to catch him before he leaves.” She stood up.

John gave her a pleading look, but before he could ask her not to leave him she was already walking away. She felt evil, but if John came, those people might follow and she couldn’t stand them a minute longer.

She walked through the house. A considerable number of people was still at the party, but in the huge house they seemed sparse, mostly everyone scattered in small groups propping themselves against walls with red eyes, droopy eyelids, and low murmurs.

She toured the main level of the house, but there was no sign of Kevin. So she followed the long curving stairs to the second floor, trailing her fingers over the minimalistic paintings on the stairway. The house was decorated with sleek furniture and modern art; no family pictures to be seen. The accountants had mentioned when Ryan’s parents moved to Santa Monica, they took their antique furniture and expensive works of art with them. She guessed Ryan must have posed a danger to their precious belongings, and everything was replaced with simple lines and bold colors. Yet, by the looks of it, they’d spent an obscene amount of money Ryan-proofing the place.

The first door at the top of the stairs led to a large master suite with a king size bed and a sitting area with a full couch, chaise lounge, chair, and TV. Three people sat on the couch, Ryan on the chaise, and two others on the floor.

Ryan turned his head toward her and slurred after a moment of silence, “Hey, come in gorgeous.”

She walked toward them slowly, moving toward the center of the sitting area to have a good view of everyone.

“I was looking for — ” She stopped when she saw a head of dirty blond locks hovering two inches from a coffee table. “Kevin?”

He lifted his head, but not before he inhaled the white powder laid on the table. “Hey, sexy.”

She didn’t think he recognized her at first; he must have taken her for one of the girls with whom he shared this new-found interest, but as his head bobbled back and forth with his glazed eyes fixed at her, he seemed to remember.

“Audrey … I was … .” He couldn’t articulate.

Her legs weakened as color drained off her face. She didn’t think a broken heart could be so heavy, but hers had fallen on the floor like a ball of lead. Her eyes skimmed the rest of the stoned faces and settled on Ryan’s, staring at her with a grim expression. On impulse, she stepped toward the table, where a small silver tray still held half a dozen lines of cocaine, and slapped her hand down on the edge of it, watching as the people around her flung their hands up to ward off the spinning tray.

“What the fuck did you do, bitch?” Ryan jumped off his seat.

The cloud of white powder coated the furniture like dust.

“Fuck off,” she said, leaning down toward Kevin.

Ryan grabbed her arm, and with his other hand slapped her face. Audrey shrieked and fell into the people sitting on the couch with a split lower lip.

“Come on, man.” Kevin got up and pushed Ryan back with a hand on his chest, but Ryan pushed his hand down and threw a punch that made Kevin fly backwards over the chair onto the floor.

“You bastard!” She got up and punched his face, but it didn’t phase him. Ryan grabbed her wrists and threw her back on the couch, vacated by the people who were already leaving the room.

“You cunt. You wasted two grand of good stuff,” Ryan said, sitting on her and holding her arms.

She tried to fight him off, but he was too strong. He must have weighed over two hundred pounds, and she could barely move. His grip on her wrists was so violent it burned when she struggled, as if she’d been handcuffed with fire.

“You’ll have to pay me back somehow.” His eyes were fixed on her panting chest, and he adjusted himself so that his cock pressed against her hips.

“Fuck you,” Audrey snarled.

Kevin had curled himself in a fetal position, absorbed into a narcotic stupor, while Ryan rubbed himself against her so hard the buckle of his belt chafed her skin through her dress. She kicked and struggled, but he didn’t budge. He leaned in and licked her neck.

“Get off me.” Tears of anger and disgust formed in her eyes.

The next instant, Ryan flew off her and landed on the floor clear across the room.

“Are you okay?” John asked, helping her sit up. Before she could answer, he’d walked toward Ryan, who was just getting to his feet, and punched him. Ryan tripped over the corner of the bed and fell again, John kicked him on the stomach, grabbed his head, and slammed it on the floor.

“John, stop. You’ll kill him.”

He looked at the bloodied carpet, Ryan was already unconscious. Several people had been drawn by the commotion, including Matt and Tyler.

Audrey got up and went to Kevin.

“Call the police,” John ordered Matt.

“No,” said Audrey.

John looked at her, confused.

“It is not going to do us any good. Look at Kevin, he’ll get in trouble.”

They looked at Kevin’s fluttering eyes.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Tyler, helping Kevin up. Matt grabbed Kevin’s other arm and they walked him out.

John hugged Audrey, and his eyes welled up as he gently touched her swollen lip. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

She placed her hand on top of his and said, very quietly, “take me away from here.”

• • •

The shower hit Audrey harder than usual, her body ached and the cut on her lip stung as water ran over it. The skin on her wrists and her belly were grazed red. Her hips were sore. It really sucked to be a woman; a punch to Ryan’s face with all her might didn’t do more than tickle him. I should learn krav maga. Audrey smiled at the thought, then wept bitterly.

She palmed the condensation off the mirror, staring at herself, and let the towel wrapped around her fall on the floor. Above the sink, the reflection of her naked body stood still like a bronze torso on white marble. For the first time, she saw it as an object. Not someone, but something that could be groped by any asshole as long as his strength surpassed hers. It could be violated. Broken. She lifted her hands and cupped her breasts. Then, she heard the door of the bedroom open and quickly grabbed the towel from her feet and wrapped herself again.

John must have seen something awful in her face, because after gingerly entering the room, he was by her side in a split second. She pushed him away with her fists clenched on his chest, but he didn’t let go. He held her tight and sobs overtook her. They sat on the floor, their backs against the sink, still for a long while.

“You should try to get some sleep.” He said softly into her hair after she calmed down.

“No, I want to see Kevin.”

“He’s out. Passed out on the couch.”

Audrey knew sleeping was impossible; adrenaline still ran in her veins like a lizard on hot asphalt. She put on a nightgown and a robe and they moved to the living room. She looked at Kevin sprawled on the couch and felt sad for her friend.

The sun was rising and the first morning light started to sweep into the apartment. Audrey poured herself a cup of coffee and sat with Matt and Tyler at the table.

“Are you okay?” Matt asked gently.

To comfort everyone, she mustered a faint smile. “Yes, of course. I am worried about Kevin. I never would have imagined he was so out of control.”

“A lot makes sense now,” Tyler said, without lifting his eyes from his mug.

When Kevin finally sat up on the couch, after waking up as slowly as someone regaining consciousness after a coma, he looked at his friends surrounding him. John was leaning against the fireplace’s mantel, Matt and Audrey sat on the chairs across from the couch and Tyler stood between the living room and dining room. He glanced at them but didn’t say a word.

“What is going on, man?” Tyler finally broke the stomach-churning silence in the room.

“What are you talking about?” Kevin said, leaning back in the couch, apparently, hoping nonchalance would help him.

“Please, Kevin. I think we deserve more than this,” Audrey said.

They lapsed into silence again; no one knew how to start this conversation. They were in shock, as if they had just released a jammed seatbelt in a car accident and crawled out seconds before it exploded.

“You make it sound like you guys never partied before.” Kevin crossed his hands cockily behind his head.

Audrey shook her head, disappointed.

John walked toward him with angry steps, grabbed him by the arm, pulled him off the couch toward her chair, and said, “Look at her, you son of a bitch. Does it look like she had fun at the party?”

Kevin looked at Audrey’s swollen lip. Her bruised wrists rested on her lap, she tried to conceal the marks of Ryan’s grip by pulling her sleeves down. He blinked hard and he said, “I’m so sorry.”

She offered him her hand, he took it and nestled his head against her lap. For once, she saw in Kevin’s face traces of the genuine feelings often hidden underneath jokes and the sarcasm.

“I never meant to hurt you,” he said, softly. “Any of you.”

They moved to the kitchen and Kevin told them how he’d gotten involved with drugs. John had toasted waffles for everyone, Matt and Tyler were eating at the kitchen counter, and Kevin was drinking his second glass of orange juice.

“I was going out with Jess,” Kevin said.

They all looked at each other confused — no one remembered who the hell Jess was.

“One of the models from the Elle spread, geez.” Kevin rolled his eyes. “Remember, we all met afterwards at O’Maley’s for drinks?” He looked at Matt and Tyler, waiting for confirmation. They shrugged.

“Has it been this long? That deal was over four months ago,” John said.

“It didn’t start that night, but the next time we went out it was just me and her. A date, you know? We went back to her apartment and that’s when she offered me some.” Kevin lifted his eyes, everyone in the room seemed half-dazed trying to make sense of this. Matt nodded absently, starting to look like a bobble head doll.

“We were making out on the bed and things were heating up, so she stops and pulls the drugs from her night stand, lays it out, rolls a dollar bill, and snorts it. And then she handed it to me — so casually. When she saw my hesitation, she said it would make it for the best fuck I’ve ever had.”

“What an idiot,” Tyler said.

“I liked her!” Kevin looked at John and Audrey as if searching for sympathy.

“Anyways, when I still hesitated, she said I was being judgmental. So I did it. And I continued doing it for the, uh, couple of weeks we went out. She introduced me to Ryan, and I started to get it from him. You can guess the rest.”

“Do you owe him?” John asked.

“No — I dunno, maybe … two grand.” He looked down.

“You don’t fucking owe that prick a thing,” Audrey said, standing from her chair and pointing her finger at him.

Kevin had assured them he wasn’t an addict, and promised he could stop whenever he wanted, starting then.

“Atlantis wants you off the band.” John said, matter-of-factly.

Audrey could feel Matt and Tyler stiffen, as if they had looked into Medusa’s eyes. Kevin, however, let out a soft snort as if the mere thought of it was a blasphemy.

“I can’t disagree with them.” John shook his head and walked toward the coffee pot. “You’ve done nothing but partying and — apparently — get high. They are tired of it and so am I.”

This time, Kevin seemed upset by what he heard. He looked around the room, then tilted his head down as a schoolboy being scolded by his basketball coach in front of the team.

“They can’t do that. We have a contract.” He muttered.

“Yes, we do. Atlantis contracted us to do a job and you’re making it impossible.”