Secrets (10 page)

And this is now, Mel said in a soft voice after they sat down, commenting on the stares they'd gotten on their way in, can you imagine what it could be like a year from now, with everyone in America watching you on Manhattan?

She smiled noncommittally, torturing him, a cat with her prey, and she loved it. He ordered champagne, and they quickly graduated to dry martinis, followed by an excellent dinner. He was remarkably able at tossing the conversational ball with her, and they talked about everything but the show, until he could stand it no longer.

You have to admit, I've been very good. I haven't even asked for your reaction. But I can't stand the suspense anymore, Sabina. What did you think? He looked like a small boy for a minute and she leaned closer to him and smiled, looking him in the eye.

I loved it.

He waited for more but she said nothing.

That's it? He looked disappointed.

It's perfect. Just as perfect as you said.

But? ' He could already tell she wasn't going to do it, and he was bitterly disappointed. The part was so perfect for her, and she was too blind and stubborn to see it.

But what?

It's perfect but'?

But nothing. She looked perfectly calm.

Sabina Quarles he gently grabbed both her wrists and looked deep into her green eyes will you please tell me what you're saying, you are driving me crazy.

She threw back her head and laughed. She loved it. She was torturing him and she knew it, but it was all in good fun. She knew it was only foreplay.

Are you going to do Manhattan or not?

Of course I am. I'd be crazy to turn it down ' do you really think I'm that stupid? She looked at him as though it had been obvious from the start and he looked as though he would have liked to strangle her, and then suddenly he threw his arms around her and kissed her. Interested stares made due note of the gesture, and he signaled the waiter and was about to ask for champagne when she stopped him and spoke to him in a low voice that only he could hear. Why not go to my place for a drink to celebrate? He looked at her for a moment and then nodded and asked the waiter for the check, and a few minutes later he was leading her out the door to the waiting 600. He still couldn't believe what he had heard. He felt like a little boy having won the grand prize. Sabina Quarles was going to star in Manhattan.

I still can't believe it, Sabina. You're wonderful! You're terrific!

Thank you, Mr. Wechsler, so is your script. The first one anyway. The others had better be just as good. But they both knew they would be. Mel hired only the best writers, and in this case, he was even more anxious for a great show than he usually was. This was Manhattan.

She looked just as beautiful as she had when they walked into L'Orangerie, and he drove quickly to where she lived. When they arrived at her apartment the doorman greeted them both and they went upstairs. Mel sat down on the couch, still feeling a holiday air, and Sabina went to get one of the two bottles of champagne she always kept on ice, in the event of a special occasion. And this was, a very special one. It was the beginning of a whole new life for her and they both knew it.

She brought in the bottle and two glasses and Mel opened it as the cork flew through the air and he turned to her with a smile. I can't tell you how pleased I am, Sabina. It's going to be a wonderful show.

She smiled at him, looking deep into his eyes. I know I'm going to love it. But she wasn't speaking only of the show, and he felt the thrill that he got every time he looked at her. He had seen a lot of women come and go in his life, since his wife had died, but none quite like Sabina.

He poured their champagne and toasted her. To you, Sabina ' and Eloise Martin. Eloise Martin was the character she was going to play, and Sabina had never looked lovelier as she took a sip of champagne and then quietly watched him. She felt a powerful attraction to the man, and sensed that it was mutual. It was going to be a very interesting show for Sabina in a number of ways. Not just the part ' but Mel ' He reminded her that she would be leaving for Paris in about a month, for fittings with Fran+oois Brac, and Sabina smiled with delight. She suddenly had a lot to look forward to. Have you been to Paris before?

Once. A long time ago. Actually, I was there on location. Will we be filming any of the episodes there?

I don't think so. Although maybe the second year ' There's room for almost anything in a format like that, and we're always open to suggestion. She liked everything he was saying to her, but even more than that, she liked the way he looked at her, as though he cared about her, more than anyone had in years. It touched her, and she reached out and touched his hand with her own.

I'm grateful for the opportunity, Mel. I know that sounds corny, but I am' . The words were in sharp contrast to Sabina's image as a self-possessed star, but she knew just how lucky she was to get a part like that, at her age. And he was right. A part like that, on a series like Manhattan, could make her the biggest star in the country. It was a hell of a big break to get at the age of forty-five, no matter how good her plastic surgeon was, or what kind of shape she was in. She was damn lucky and she knew it. And she knew it was all thanks to Mel, and she wanted him to know that.

Don't thank me, Sabina. I wouldn't be here if you weren't someone very special. You'll be good for the show. But they both knew it was more than that, and before he could say anything more, she leaned forward and kissed him. It was a gentle kiss at first, but it was rapidly warmed by the passion she felt, and the fact that he took her in his arms and held her fast. His grip was strong, and his lips pressed hard against hers, and she was breathless when she pulled away at last. She said nothing but the look in her eyes said it all, as he kissed her again, and then stood up with a look of regret. But he knew his limits, and he had already reached them. Another kiss like that and he would have torn off the white satin dress, and he didn't think he should do that.

I think it's time for me to go. He smiled down at her with a tender look that warmed her heart.

Any special reason?

He laughed softly in the dim light of her apartment. A very good one. You're driving me crazy, Miss Quarles. And if I'm expected to behave myself, I'd better go, before I attack the star of my new show.

She smiled in the catlike way that drove him to distraction. I thought we were going to celebrate.

I thought we had.

I thought we were just beginning to. She gently pulled him down next to her again and nestled close to him, and then suddenly he laughed.

I don't want to be accused of using the casting couch. I want it known right here and now that you've already accepted the part, Sabina Quarles, and this is purely a celebration.

So stated, Mr. Wechsler.

All right then. He kissed her again, and this time the heat of passion was his as she seemed to melt into his arms and he could feel the satin of her dress come away from her flesh beneath his fingers, and a moment later she stood before him, statuesque and perfect, in all her naked splendor, reflected from every angle by the two mirrored walls in the room. She was remarkable-looking, and taking his hand, she beckoned toward the bedroom. But as he followed her, it was the last time that night that Sabina led the way. From the moment they reached her bed, it was Mel who took over, leading her to heights she had long since forgotten and never dreamed of feeling again. It was a night of passion worthy of the two most important people of Manhattan. The producer, and the star.

It was after Labor Day when Zack Taylor finally returned from Greece, looking tanned and very debonair in the new clothes he'd had made in London. He looked more like a polo player on holiday than a movie star. He had the aura of the upper classes about him, which had always been part of his appeal, and which was part of what made him so perfect for Manhattan. He had been away for three months, after finishing a film, but he was happy to be back in Bel Air. He had a beautiful home there, and, like everyone else, a house in Malibu, and he owned several racehorses, which he kept in Del Mar near San Diego. He was a man of many pursuits and numerous passions. And he was intrigued as he listened to Mel. He liked the sound of the show, and he especially liked the idea of Sabina Quarles. He had worked with her once before, and although she wasn't a big star, he knew she worked hard and performed well, and having her on the show still left him top billing.

He ran a hand across his slightly wavy hair, grayed at the temple in recent years, and smiled at Mel. They had been having lunch at the Hillcrest Country Club. I'm curious to read the script, Mel. If it's as good as you say, you've got a very big winner. But then again, you always do.

Thank you, Zack. He smiled and told him about Bill Warwick, and about the other actors and actresses he had in mind for the show. There were two in particular he wanted to pin down, but Sabina and Bill were the only sure ones. And the network is behind us all the way. He always worked with the same one, and he had no problem with them. They knew that anything Mel did was a sure thing, and so did Zack. And he had no quarrel with doing TV. He liked doing television in fact, and he welcomed the idea of an important series. He knew how valuable it was in terms of the numbers of viewers who would see him. It was a point Sabina had only recently acknowledged. But Zack had liked doing TV for years.

Mel handed Zack a script, just as he had Sabina two weeks before, and he felt certain that Zack would be as impressed as they all were. Impressed and excited and anxious to get going on the show.

I'll call you tomorrow, Mel. Zack never fooled around, never played games, never played Hollywood, and Mel had always liked that about him. I have nothing to do tonight, and I'll give it a good read and tell you what I think in the morning.

I appreciate it, Zack. I think you'll like it.

I can't see how I could do otherwise, after all you've said. The two men exchanged a smile and Mel wondered about him, as he had before. Zachary Taylor was a likable man, and someone he would have wanted to be friends with, yet there was always a discreet distance, an invisible wall. He never seemed to get close to anyone, and Mel wondered why. Perhaps he was shy, or just very reserved. It was difficult to believe, given his enormous success. But Mel had no idea who his friends were.

The two men parted company outside, and Zack climbed into a convertible dark blue Corniche that was waiting for him outside. It was a fabulous-looking car, and he looked even more so, in his blazer and open blue shirt driving off toward Bel Air, with a last wave at Mel, as two women pointed and screeched, having recognized him at the wheel. And just wait till next year, ladies, Mel thought to himself with a smile as he got into the 600 and went back to the office.

There was a message waiting for him from Sabina, and he smiled to himself as he looked at it. They had been together almost every night for two weeks and she had awoken a passion in him that he had never known before. They were dining together again that night. And he enjoyed showing her off, although they had decided to cool it. They were staying home for a while. He didn't think it was wise to let on publicly that they were having an affair. It was all right for the producer to take out his big star, but more than that would create problems for her with the rest of the cast when they started shooting.

And he was still at his desk that afternoon, when Sabina answered the intercom in her apartment. The doorman said there was a package for her and only she could sign for it, which she did, with a questioning air, as a man handed her a robin's-eggblue box tied with white satin ribbon. She signed the stub, and closed the door, wondering who it was from, and she saw the lettering TIFFANY as she took the ribbon off. And suddenly she wondered if it was from Mel. She opened the box, and gave a startled gasp as a heavy diamond bracelet emerged. She put it on and it fit perfectly, but it was a remarkable piece of work, and she was so startled she could barely read the card, which said only Welcome to Manhattan.

Jane Adams felt as though life had ended for her with the last day on the set of Our Secret Sorrows. There seemed to be nothing left to live for anymore, and once the children were back in school, it was so depressing she could hardly stand it. She read novels, lay by the pool, let Jack push her around constantly and make all the unreasonable demands he chose, as he had for twenty years, and she didn't give a damn. About anything. And she refused to read any of the scripts or go to any of the auditions her agent mentioned to her. There was no point. There was nothing available on any current daytime soap, he had checked them all out, and she couldn't do prime time TV, even if she could get a part. There was no way she could keep it from Jack if she did that.

And she was furious when her agent mailed her the script to Manhattan. He sent it right to the house, and Jack could have opened it just as easily as she had.

Do you know what he'd do to me for that, Lou?

What? He really couldn't imagine that the guy was as uptight as Jane said. No one was. Not in Lou Thurman's world.

He'd divorce me.

Read it anyway. It's terrific, and you don't know what I had to go through to get it.

Why? What's so special about it? She sounded unhappy and bored and irritable with him, as she had for weeks. Once she had stopped crying about the lost part, she had gotten bitchy. But he knew how unhappy she was and what a crisis it was for her to lose a part she'd had for almost eleven years. It would have been rough on anyone.