The Denver Cereal (26 page)

“
I met him skiing on
Copper Mountain,” Valerie said. “I was twelve.”

“
Oooh,” the man said.
“Well, he’s a big boy now.”

He reached to squeeze
Mike’s leg, and Mike slapped his hand away. When Ramon lifted
Mike’s shirt to ogle his flat stomach, Mike stepped
back.

“
You must take your
clothing off,” the man lisped.

“
No,” Mike
said.

Mike backed away. Ramon
took a step toward him. Mike stalked out the back door toward his
studio. He heard Ramon and Valerie laugh the entire way across the
garden.

~~~~~~~~

Sandy and Aden stood
together in close, companionable silence. Sandy shifted from foot
to foot. Her familiar draw to Aden made her even more
uncomfortable. She was about to leave when she saw Jill step off
the hospital elevator.

“
Thanks for talking to
me,” Aden said. “I better get back up there.”

“
There’s Jill,” Sandy
said. “Hey. I thought I’d have to pry you away.”

“
They took Jacob to get
his neck surgery today. He told me to go shopping.
I . . . I think I should stay here,
but . . .”

“
Ah, shit,” Aden
said.

“
Jacob said to tell you to
check your Blackberry,” Jill said. “I packed up the
computers.”

Jill gave Aden his
computer bag. Aden dug out his Blackberry from the front
pocket.

“
Excuse me,” Aden said. He
stepped away from Jill and Sandy to read his daily list from
Jacob.

“
Heya, Aden,

Here’s your
list:

1. Take the girls
   shopping.
   

2. Tell them about Val’s
   party next week. Make sure they both get
   something . . . nice. ;)
   

3. Have fun
   tonight.
   

Oh, and the sites? They’re
ready to start again tomorrow morning so don’t have too much fun
tonight. You’ll need to cover for me tomorrow.

-- J”

Aden curled his lip. Even
in the hospital, Jacob Marlowe managed to disrupt Aden's drinking
plans.

The next email was from
Blane, their assistant, with confirmation from every site manager
that the sites would start up tomorrow morning at 5 a.m.

The last email from Jacob
said, “Get the ring box back from Jill.”

Shaking his head, Aden
wandered to Sandy and Jill. Jill was holding the box out to
Sandy.

“
May I have that?” Aden
asked.

“
But . . .
but . . .”

Aden opened the ring box
to show Jill that it was empty. He raised an eyebrow and laughed at
her shocked face.

“
You play with the
Marlowe, you’ve got to expect a little intrigue.”

“
But he asked me
and . . . I . . .”

“
Did you say yes?” Aden
asked.

“
I . . .”

“
When you’re ready to say
yes, there will be a ring in this box. At least I hope
so.”

Aden made an “It’s my ass
if it’s not” face. Jill and Sandy laughed. He bowed slightly in his
best butler imitation.

“
Mr. Jacob has asked me to
take you ladies shopping. He would like me to invite you to a fete
at the Castle hosted by Miss Valerie in a week’s time.”

“
What?” Sandy
asked.

“
Val’s having a party with
all her Hollywood friends. She wants to celebrate Jake’s survival
and introduce Mike to her friends. Jake wanted to invite Jill as
his date. He thought Jill would feel more comfortable if her
friends were there.”

“
Oh . . .
We would mix with Hollywood people . . .
But . . .” Jill bit the inside of her
lip.

“
Good thing you’re taking
us shopping,” Sandy said. “You buying?”

“
Mr. Jacob,” Aden
said.

“
Great. Jill? Will you
call Tanesha and Heather?”

While Jill dialed her cell
phone, Sandy looked at Aden.

“
How old are
you?”

“
38. You?”

“
26.”

“
Is that a
problem?”

Sandy shook her head. “I’m
really sorry. I should have asked,
but . . .”

“
I understand,” Aden
said.

“
Do you still want
to . . .?”

“
I have to coach soccer at
five but I’m otherwise free today. You?”

“
I work from two to eight,
but . . .”

“
Perfect,” Aden said.
“What if we shop this morning and I’ll take you to dinner
tonight?”

Sandy blushed, smiled, and
nodded.

~~~~~~~~

“
Honey, please,” Valerie
pleaded. “I want you to share all of my life. That means you have
to look the part.”

Mike looked at her and
sagged. He followed her to the main level of the house. A severe,
matronly woman stood in the middle of the main Castle living room.
The complete opposite of the flamboyant Ramon, she arched a
penciled eyebrow at Mike then shook her head.

“
Neeooo.” She annunciated
her “no” as if she were Pepé Le Pew.

Mike raised his eyebrows
at her. Not sure of what to do, he held his hand out to the woman.
“I’m Mike.”

The woman looked at Mike’s
paint-stained hand and crossed her arms.

“
You cannot take
this . . . this . . . creature out in
public,” the woman said.

“
What?” Valerie asked.
“Why?”

“
He
is . . . too old, too hairy, and
too . . .” The woman made a disgusted
face.

“
But Wes is
sixty-seven-years-old. Mike’s only thirty-two-years-old,” Valerie
said.

“
Wesford takes care of his
skin. What products do you use on your face?” the woman
asked.

“
Um.” Mike felt like he
was answering a trick question. “My face?”

“
You see, completely
unworkable.” The woman sneered at Mike. Looking at Val, she said,
“Why is it that you left Wes? He was the perfect companion for you.
Tall, thin like you are . . . not
so . . . beefy hillbilly.”

“
Sounds like you don’t
need me anymore,” Mike said. “Val, honey, I’m going back to my
studio. Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

The woman’s harping voice
drifted through the kitchen. Standing at the garden door, Mike had
his fill. Turning in place, he stormed back to the living room. The
woman waved her finger in Val’s face while Valerie wept.

“
Get out of my house,” he
said to the woman. “You have no right to come in here and say
anything — to me or to my wife. You certainly don’t know me. You
can’t know Val if you talk to her like this.”

He picked up the woman’s
bag and threw it out the side Castle door. He held the door and
pointed for her to go.

The woman looked from
Valerie to Mike.

“
You have ruined your
career,” she said.

“
I don’t care,” Valerie
said. “Please leave.”

With a smug “I told you
so” look, the woman marched out the door. Mike scooped up Valerie
and held her until she stopped crying.

“
We’ll figure something
out,” he whispered into her hair.

“
I don’t care if I ever
act again,” she said.

“
Oh, honey, we don’t live
like that. You love acting. You can do what you love. We just have
to figure out how to make it happen.”

Valerie nodded and wiped
her tears.

“
Who’s next?” Mike
said.

“
I have a facial
appointment. I thought I’d leave you with her,
but . . . I forgot how awful she can
be . . . “

Mike held her face between
his big hands. His eyes caressed her beautiful face, then he kissed
her lips.

“
I love you, Val. Whatever
you need is fine. You like that Ramon guy.. um, person. Why don’t
we talk to him tonight?”

Valerie gave him a watery
smile and nodded. He walked her through the tunnels to her Mustang.
Valerie clung to him before getting in the car. He waited until she
was down the street before he went back to the house.

Laughing, he made his way
back to his studio. Then panic set in.

He’d waited a lifetime to
be with Val. What if he wasn’t right for her life? He was going to
lose Valerie because he was too hairy-beefy-hillbilly. There was no
way to fix any of those things.

Right?

He said, “No matter what”

Jill thought she knew
everything there was to know about Sandy. They had been best
friends since Sandy converted to Catholicism and Jill made it home
from Costa Rica. They shared every trial, every tribulation, and
every triumph.

But Jill had never seen
Sandy in love, or even in like, for that matter. In fact, Jill was
certain Sandy would never let any man get close to her. Certainly
not after what her “real” dad did to her on his
weekends.

Standing in front of a
dressing room mirror at Nordstrom, Jill felt a stab of intense
jealousy. Sandy and that cutie Aden had flirted and chatted the
entire way to the mall. They weren’t ignoring her. They were just
consumed with each other.

As fast as Jill’s jealousy
came, it disappeared, leaving her strong desire for Sandy’s
happiness in its wake. Like Galadriel in that ring movie, Jill felt
like she had passed a test — The Girlfriend Jealousy
Test.

Jill wanted Sandy to be
happy. Period.

She squinted at herself in
the mirror. She had to talk to Aden. But what should she
say?

Should she tell him about
Sandy’s prick father? No.

She could tell him Sandy
was only promiscuous to keep people away. Yeah, that’s not going to
work. But if she didn’t tell him, Sandy would push it, sleep with
him, and then dump him like she did every other man. Crap. Jill
wrinkled her nose in the mirror.

Coming out of the dressing
room, she saw Aden shake his head at Sandy. He gave her another
skirt. Sandy wagged her eyebrows at Jill when she went into the
dressing room. This was Jill’s chance.

“
You like Sandy a lot,”
Jill said. She sat next to him.

Aden’s head jerked to look
at Jill.

“
Is it that
obvious?”

“
Yeah.” Jill smiled at
Aden. “Go really slow.”

Jill said it in such a low
voice that she wasn’t sure Aden even heard her. Aden made no
indication he heard anything. Instead, he stood to greet Sandy as
she came from the dressing room. Jill joined him. Together they
encouraged Sandy to get something a little more Hollywood and a
little less Hollywood Boulevard.

Sandy laughed and pulled
Jill into the dressing room with her.

“
Well, what do you think?”
Sandy asked.

“
About the
skirt?”

“
Aden. He’s the guy from
the gym that I . . .”

“
I remember.” Jill took
the skirt from Sandy and put it on an hanger. “I think he’s great!
I’ve told you that for years and years. Did you find out about his
wife?”

“
He’s divorced. Like you
told me, it was just some jealous girl,” Sandy said. She pulled her
jeans up. “You don’t think he’s too old for me?”

“
I’ve never thought he was
too old for you, Sandy,” Jill said. “I liked him when you talked
about working out with him. Now that I’ve met him, I really like
him. He’s smart and funny and cute. I love his smile, and he smiles
at you . . .a lot.”

“
What would Tanesha and
Heather say?”

“
They’ll say what they
always say,” Jill said.

Together they said, “How
big is his dick?” They laughed.

Sandy picked up her purse
and then impulsively hugged Jill.

“
Thanks,” Sandy
said.

“
Just go for it,” Jill
said. “You’ve always been really happy around him. You seem really
happy today. Why not just enjoy that?”

Sandy nodded.

Watching Sandy greet Aden,
Jill smiled to herself. Her little plan worked.

Sandy let Aden hold her
hand when they walked through the mall. Sandy even did something
unheard of — she let him buy them coffee at Starbucks. Sandy never
let a man buy something for her. Period.

When Aden dropped them at
Denver Health, Sandy asked if he might take her to work. While Jill
waved, Sandy made funny faces out the passenger window of his SUV.
Smiling, Jill went into the hospital to see if Jacob was out of
surgery.

Maybe both Sandy and Jill
could find love. Jill beamed with delight.

Love.

Yeah.

~~~~~~~~

Mike was in a complete
panic. Pacing back and forth in the Castle kitchen, his mind worked
overtime to convince him that he was not right for Val. He was too
ugly! Not Hollywood enough! Too hairy! Those stylists knew the
truth. Valerie couldn’t be seen in public with him. Sure, they’d
spent a lot of time together over the years. But it was always in
private, away from the camera. Who wanted to be married to someone
they couldn’t be seen in public with?