After another peaceful night’s sleep, Kerri woke up to see that Harden had already awakened and showered and was getting dressed even as she lifted her weary head off the pillow.

“Morning,” he said with a little smile. “Thought I’d let you sleep in.”

Kerri peered at the clock, still fuzzy in her unfocused sight. “It’s not even nine o’clock.”

Harden shrugged. “It’s Sunday. I’ve got breakfast waiting downstairs, take your time.—” With that, he left her alone in his bedroom. Kerri couldn’t ignore a rumbling disappointment, not only that she was almost certainly on her way out, but also that she didn't have one last go ‘around in a morning shower. She was hungry to reciprocate Harden’s oral attention from the night before, but now Kerri had to assume she'd never have a chance.

She showered alone, melancholy making her limbs move slowly, aching muscles only contributing to her sloth.

The blue dress she’d been wearing the previous Friday night had been cleaned and was draped in a plastic sheet, crisp and ready to be worn again.

She wore the dress to breakfast, and Harden smiled. “You didn't have to wear that, Kerri. You can wear home whatever you like, keep it with my regards.”

“Your … regards?”

Harden seemed confused, but Kerri could hardly believe what he said.

“My … warmest regards?” he asked with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Kerri offered a curt smile. “Thanks, but no thanks.—” They ate in silence, poached eggs over salmon with a crisp garden salad and freshly baked blueberry and banana muffins. “speaking of thanks, I really have to thank you for taking care of those two goons last night, at the pier. It really was above and beyond the call.—” Harden nodded. Kerri cleared her throat to add, “I had no idea you were so well … connected.”

Harden shrugged. “There are a lot of unions in the movie business, Teamsters …”

“I see. But you’re not personally involved?” Harden chuckled and took a sip of coffee, but said nothing. “Um, I don't mean to be rude, Harden, of course, but … you did, um, contribute a certain amount of money, quite a large amount I suppose, and, well, the weekend does extend all the way through Sunday.”

Harden nodded and smiled, but said nothing as he sipped from a piping hot cup of coffee.

Getting no answer, Kerri went on, “I feel like there’s still quite a bit I could learn about … y’know, control and, um, maybe other things.”

“What other things?”

“I don’t know,” Kerri said. “What else have you got?” she quipped at him.

Harden sipped from his cup again before setting it down. “Life is long, Kerri. We’ve both got our whole lives to explore the pleasures available to us.”

“Oh, I see. Well, okay, but sometimes, when you find just the right thing, you discover all the pleasures of life go along with him, or her, or whomever, y’know what I mean?”

Harden nodded slowly. “I believe I do.”

Kerri smiled, relieved. “Okay then, great. Um, so, what’s next?”

Harden said, “We’ll have a nice breakfast, relax a bit, and then I’ll take you home.”

“Oh, my place? Well, okay, sure, put a different spin on things. Might be fun, having the home court advantage.”

“Kerri,” Harden said, “I have business to see to today, and for the next few days. I’m sorry, but, I just won’t be available.”

A cold nausea turned in Kerri’s stomach, blood crawling in her veins. “Oh … I see.”

Harden checked his watch. “In fact, I’d better get you home now. I’m sorry to cut things off early— ”

“No no, it’s … it’s fine,” Kerri said nervously, her voice cracking with suppressed disappointment. “Y’know, maybe I’ll just Uber home, that’s probably best.”

“No, don’t be silly. I’ll take you.”

“Really, it's fine— ” Kerri pulled out her smartphone only to see it had entirely lost its charge. Uber would not be an option.

The ride across Los Angeles was stilted and quiet, Harden’s attention focused mostly on the road. His car hugged the asphalt, a man in complete control of his surroundings, and of his company.

She gave him directions back to her house, but that was the only conversation to pass between them. Once in front of the house she’d just saved, the house she once shared with her husband, she looked into the face of the man she just met, a man she fell hard for. She couldn’t help to acknowledge these intense feelings. They were stronger than for any other man she’s ever met in her life.

And she was about to say goodbye to him forever.

She took a deep breath. “Well, um, this was… this was amazing, Harden, thank you so much.”

“What a pleasure it was to meet you, Kerri. Good luck with your acting career.”

“Right, yes, and good luck with your producing. Hey, if you ever need a scream queen, I’m always available.” They shared a strained chuckle.

“I think you’re destined for better things,” he said, glancing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. She couldn’t help it, embracing his hand and pressing it to her cheek, giving it a little cuddle and a sweet, tearful kiss before sniffing back her sorrow.

“Okay, um, I better go. Goodbye, Harden.—” Kerri mustered all her strength to open the door and step out of the black Mercedes Benz, closing the door and walking unsteadily to her own front door. That German engine idled until she opened the front door, then he drove off and she closed the door behind her.

The next morning Kerri went straight to her lawyer’s office, and had him meet her downstairs at the Mercantile Exchange in the lobby, where she’d oversee her own deposit and disbursement of funds.

“We should be able to negotiate the IRS down to about twenty percent,” George said. “With your other problems resolved, you’ll actually come out of this with a nice little nest egg. And you can keep the house.”

Kerri should have been thrilled, but she couldn’t even fake a smile.

This only intrigued George more, a confused smile on his graying jowls. “Should I ask how you got this money? I mean, a million dollars.— ”

It was too much to explain. “It’s an advance on a movie role, from an executive producer I once worked with.”

“Really? A million-dollar advance? That’s some movie project.” Kerri could tell he didn’t believe her, that he assumed she’d slept with someone, and probably did some pretty terrible things for that money. Of course she knew he was right. And that was just how she felt, like a highly paid prostitute, one who sold her soul for the highest price.

George smiled. “Anyway, let me know when they start shooting, I’ll make sure to Tweet about it!”

Back at the spa, immersed in mud, Yvonne said, “So, fill me in on every detail, don’t skip a thing.”

Kerri shrugged. “There wasn’t much to it.”

“Ker, you know you can’t bullshit me! I’m guessing it was… amazing, life-changing, probably turned you inside-out more than once, am I right?”

Yvonne lifted one slice of cucumber off her right eye, Kerri the one off her left, and the two friends shared a knowing glance, followed by a little chuckle. For Kerri, it died away quickly, and as always, Yvonne picked up on that. “Ker, you weren’t supposed to get attached. It was a one-time thing, no attachments, you knew that going in.”

“Yeah, I did, that’s true. But it’s not the same once you’re… involved, not at all the same.”

“Fair enough, Ker. But it is what it is, and a man like that just doesn’t tie himself down to just one woman.—” Kerri cracked a smile but decided to keep it a private joke. Yvonne went on, “Anyway, this was a great thing, I’m really proud of you.”

“Yeah, I’m a regular Mother Teresa.”

Yvonne chuckled. “At least you’re not Old Mother Hubbard … not anymore. Now you gotta get out there, really start living. I mean, if you’ve taken anything away from this experience, right?”

Kerri thought about it, and she couldn’t deny her friend’s reasoning, or resist her optimism. “Yeah, you’re right, Yvonne, you’re absolutely right.”

“I know it, Ker, I’m always right.—” The two laughed again, Yvonne finally asking, “So, what’s first on the list?”

Famed Hollywood agent Lew Stallmaster’s son Benjamin took a good, hard look at Kerri’s headshot, a pretty girl smiling back at him. “They’re not new,” Kerri said, “So I know I’ll be taking more head shots. Still, I’m sitting right here if you want to know what I look like.”

Benjamin smiled, his face youthful and without wrinkles. “My father adored you as a client; he was crushed when you retired.”

“And I was so sad to hear about what happened to him. I saw him just two weeks before he died; he was so… um, reduced.”

“Yeah, I’ll never let them do brain surgery on me, not if they’re taking anything out. I haven’t got that much to spare!” They shared a chuckle. “Anyway, I’m so glad you popped in. And I think you’re right, you’re not quite the right age for those screaming bimbo roles.” Disappointment settled quickly in Kerri’s gut; she’d been expecting it. But Benjamin went on, “There is an edgy new drama being cast right now though, the new Bertram Quinn movie.”

“Bertram Quinn, really?”

“You know how he likes to rediscover classic talent. He killed P. J. Soles in his last movie.”

“I saw it, blew her up with a flare gun. It was very… artistic.”

“Great,” Benjamin said with a smile. “Lemme make a few calls, we’ll take a few new head shots. How’s Thursday, around midday?”

“Oh, um, I’m sure that’ll be fine, Benjamin, great.”

“Great. See if you can drop a pound or two, just around the chin, and I’ll call with the details.—” Kerri sighed and stood up, turning for the door. Benjamin added, “Welcome back, Kerri.”

She tried again to smile, this time very nearly pulling it off. “Thanks, Benjamin, it’s… it’s good to be back.”

---

Kerri wanted to enjoy her new prospects, to relish in her accomplishment. She also wanted to revel in the memory of that crazy weekend, to savor those delicious flashes of recollected lust. But she couldn’t, she couldn't enjoy any of it. All she could do was feel like she was sleepwalking through the days, working to achieve some appearance of normalcy, even though everything in her life had changed forever.

Kerri couldn’t get Harden out of her mind; his magnetic touch, the body-shaking orgasms she’d had for ten, twenty, thirty minutes or longer. Even the thought of it made her body twitch, muscles flinching in a faint echo of those inundations of cum, tidal waves of escalating, salty pleasure.

Kerri couldn’t resist looking him up online, but she knew he hadn’t used his real name. But he did let slip that he’d been an executive producer on Killer Kamp 4, so it was an easy matter to look it up on the IMDb. There were six executive producers, and four of them didn’t have pictures associated with their names. Kerri was very tempted to pursue her investigation, but she soon realized that it was pointless and hopeless.

If he wants me, she reasoned, he knows where to find me. And he knows I want him, there can’t be any doubt about that. If he doesn’t want me, well, if he doesn’t come for me then he doesn’t want me, it’s plain to see. No sense hunting him down, uncovering his true identity. If he wants anonymity, I should respect that. If he wants to be left alone, I should respect that too.

On the other hand, if I happened to wonder if I’d left my earring at his house, and if I didn’t have a phone number where I could reach him, and I don’t, then it would be pretty reasonable for me to stop by his place, see if he or any of his invisible staff managed to find it. I know they won’t have, since it was never lost, but that would give him one last chance to change his mind, one last shot at our brass ring and our band of gold.

Kerri shook the idea out of her head as she drove across town, the 10 West becoming the PCH heading north. He’ll never change his mind; this is a humiliating waste of time.

Well, Kerri had to contradict herself, at least I’ll know I did what I could, that I tried my best.

She pulled up to his private gate, which remained closed. Kerri paused there, unsure what to do next. She rolled down the window but there was no intercom, no buttons to push, no phone to chat with anybody inside. She had little choice but to turn around and go back.

Then the gate slid open.

Kerri breathed a sigh of relief. He sees me on some monitor, he’s glad I’ve come back!

She pulled up, seeing that familiar black Benz, and a second car, a silver Audi, in the turnabout. Kerri pulled up and parked just as Harden walked out through the front doors, in the company of a gorgeous redhead, curls falling around her pale, pretty face. They stopped and froze, both looking at her.

Kerri said only, “Harden, hi.—” There was nothing more to say.

The damage had already been done.