Chapter Three
It had been a week since our meeting with Frank at the Studio.
“What’s the problem?” Cal asked from the other side of the bed.
“Frank Kovac was killed last night in a car accident.”
“That’s too bad,” Cal sleepily responded with his eyes still closed. “If Billy hadn’t been with us last night, I’d say he did it.” We had been celebrating the completion of my current movie with the cast and crew, having a great time, until Cal and Billy got into a fight.
“Cal, my God! You can’t really believe that.” I was astounded at his accusation.
“Whole heartedly. He has a wicked temper and some very unsavory friends.”
“Pardon me? I know you don’t mean me,” I threw back. I couldn’t believe we were having this conversation. I was also shocked at how cold Cal was being regarding the man’s death.
Cal rolled over to look at me. “Not you. Didn’t you see those guys with him last night?”
“Tony and Vince? They’re his bodyguards,” I defended. Tony and Vince were two muscle bound guys always dressed in black that Billy would have occasionally for protection.
“No, actually they’re bodyguards for Sonny Micheletti from the Micheletti crime family.”
I wondered where this was coming from, “How do you know that?” I asked.
“Beth, it’s a known fact that Billy is deep in with mafia types. How do you think he gets all the financing for his movies?” Cal asked as he looked at me with a disbelieving smirk.
I shook my head. “He gets financing because he deals with the studios and they give him the money.”
“Yes, and what happens when a studio head opposes?” Cal challenged.
I stared blankly at him. I didn’t know how to respond.
“Oh, come on, you have to have heard the rumors.” He propped himself up in bed.
“I don’t believe a word of it. Billy is my best friend.” I climbed out of bed.
“Babe, don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad, I’m just shocked that you would believe rumors like that.” I went into the bathroom and shut the door.
“I can’t believe that you don’t,” he called.
Of course I had heard the whispers, but I didn’t realize how far they spread. Not being able to go back to sleep, I got dressed to the sound of Cal’s light snoring and went downstairs. As I made my way down the sweeping staircase, I could smell coffee brewing in the kitchen.
As I approached, I could see a dark figure sitting at my kitchen table with their back to me looking out the windows. I couldn’t see who it was because the room was bathed in the silvery light of dawn.
I geared myself up. I may be small, but there was a lot of power behind my frame. You didn’t survive growing up with three older brothers without learning to kick some ass.
The dark figure turned and faced me.
“Hey, good morning,” he said cheerily.
“Billy?” I asked, turning on the lights.
“Yeah, do you want some coffee?”
“Jesus, I almost punched you. What the hell are you doing here this early?” My heart was pounding in my chest from the adrenaline.
“I couldn’t sleep after Al called and I needed to talk to you about last night.”
“Speaking of last night, Cal is upstairs. I don’t want a repeat of that fight.”
“Nice, he finally decided you were good enough to stay the entire night?”
“Billy,” I warned.
“Fine, I’ll be on my best behavior.”
I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat across from him at the table.
“What are we going to do about this Frank Kovac mess?” he asked.
I paused for a moment, thinking of the earlier conversation with Cal.
“Why? It has nothing to do with us.” I tried to be as cool as possible. “Remember?” I emphasized.
“Because we now don’t have a studio head to back our movie. How long do you think it’ll take the Board of Directors to hire a new one?”
“Christ, Billy,” a fully dressed Cal interrupted as he came into the room. “The man hasn’t even been dead twelve hours and you’re already trying to replace him.”
I glared at Billy, willing him not to start another argument. He rolled his eyes in response to me.
“I’ve sent condolences to his family already this morning, but life goes on and I need to start my movie,” Billy coldly answered.
Cal took a gulp out of the coffee mug I had in my hand. “Whatever you say,” Cal responded sarcastically. I could see the distaste each man had for the other.
“Billy,” I cut in before things could escalate.
“Listen, babe, I’ve got go. Thanks for last night, it was amazing,” Cal said. He put my mug down and leaned in to kiss me passionately, which was clearly done to piss off Billy. “That thing you did with your legs was—”
“Okay.” I stood up into Cal and began to push him out of the kitchen towards the front of the house.
Billy watched us over the rim of his cup as we left the room.
“Why do you do that to him?” I quietly scolded Cal when we were alone at the front door.
“I can’t stand him or the relationship you two have. He is clearly in love with you, it’s sick. Plus, I have fun doing it.”
“He’s not in love with me,” I lied. “We are really good friends, so stop being jealous and doing shit like that. It puts me in an awkward position.”
“Okay, I’ll be good, for you.” He mockingly pouted and gave me a kiss goodbye.
“See you later.” I opened the door for him to leave.
Cal walked out onto the step and put his sunglasses on as he looked up to the bright blue California morning sky.
“You know, it might just be easier if you fuck him and get it over with. Then he’d move on to the next woman on his list.”
“Don’t be an asshole.” I couldn’t believe some of the things that came out of his mouth sometimes.
“I’m just saying, it may work out best for everyone if you did.” He began to laugh when he saw the disgusted look on my face. “Babe, I’m just kidding.” He leaned in for another kiss and then went to his car. I closed the door and rejoined Billy in the kitchen.
“Seriously? This guy? You could do so much better than him.” He was pouring himself another cup of coffee while munching on a piece of toast.
“I know he’s a bit of a tool, but he has his sweet moments too.”
He stared at me with a disbelieving expression.
“Anyway,” I changed the subject. “Studio head, how long will they take?”
“Not sure, I should call my guys on the inside and see what the scoop is.” Billy’s eyes flicked to his phone.
“You know who would be perfect for the job?” I teased.
“Who?”
“Elena Jarvis. I’ve never met her. I hear she’s tough but fair,” I said, taking a sip of my coffee.
Billy nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, she’d be good, but I don’t know.”
“She’s also a huge fan of yours and would probably do anything for her favorite star.” I smiled devilishly.
The meaning of my words registered on his face.
“I bet she would, come to think of it.” He matched my smile.
We clinked glasses as if sealing Elena’s fate and drank our coffee.
“Now, tell me.” Billy leaned across the table to get closer. “What’s this amazing thing you do with your legs in bed?”
It was my turn to roll my eyes at him.
***
A few days later, Billy and I went to Frank’s funeral. Cal couldn’t go as he was getting ready for a six-month movie shoot in Miami.
There were easily a thousand Hollywood stars there, from Jack Nicholson to Meryl Streep, all paying their respects. The speeches were a mixture of touching and funny stories about what a great guy Frank had been.
“Seriously?” Billy whispered as we walked through the graveyard back to the car. “The guy was an asshole while he was alive and he’s still an asshole now that he’s gone.”
“Billy, show some respect,” I chided.
“Billy Stone,” a strong female voice came from behind us. We turned around in unison to see who it was.
“Elena Jarvis,” Billy greeted her. “It’s so good to see you.” He bent down and kissed her on the cheek.
Elena was a woman of fifty or so and she had the look of a professional librarian. She wore a black pant suit with her hair piled into a loose bun.
She ignored me. I didn’t like being ignored.
“Billy, I hear you are trying to get a movie backed. Is that true?” Elena asked.
“Yes, it is,” Billy said in his usual confident tone, his eyes catching mine for a moment.
“Good, come see me on Monday to discuss preliminary plans,” Elena said, moving a little too close to Billy for my liking.
“Does this mean?” he asked excitedly.
“Yes, it does.” She lowered her voice in case anyone was listening. “The Board of Directors is going to make the announcement later today. They didn’t want to do it before the funeral.”
“Congratulations.” He gave her a hug.
“Monday morning at ten in the boardroom,” she told him as she began to walk away.
“Nice to see you, Elena,” I said as she walked past me.
“Mmmhhmmm,” was her only reply and then she was gone.
“Nice. Looks like all my studio backing will have to go through you,” I said, watching after her.
“Don’t worry about her.” Billy was practically rubbing his hands together like a super villain. “This is great news for us.”
Just as Elena had said, within hours of the funeral, an announcement was made that she was the new studio head and Hollywood was once again buzzing with the news.
***
I left the next day for a weekend trip with Cal to Lake Tahoe. I didn’t like the fact he was leaving for six months on a shoot, but such was our lives.
“What are you going to do without me for six months?” Cal asked on our first night in the rented luxurious log cabin mansion.
“If Monday’s meeting goes well, I’ll be pretty busy.”
We were sitting in front of the fireplace enjoying the spectacular view of the lake, cuddling on the couch. The house was easily ten thousand square feet with seven bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a dining room table that sat fourteen people. There were panoramic windows with amazing views of the lake and misty mountains. It was very romantic, and every time Cal and I went there, it was very warm and inviting.
“What meeting?” Cal asked.
“The meeting with the new studio head to get financing for Billy’s Vegas movie. If all goes well, I’ll be on location for three months starting in a couple of weeks.”
Cal didn’t respond.
“We really need to see when we can fly out to see each other,” I continued. “You should check your filming schedule and we can book some flights back and forth.”
Still nothing from Cal.
I turned my head to face him and he looked perplexed. I pulled away from him and sat up.
“Cal? Are you okay?”
“You’re going to Vegas for three months with Billy?” Cal asked with a pained look.
“Yes, you knew that.”
“I didn’t think it would be so soon.” Cal hadn’t taken his eyes off the fireplace while he spoke.
“Sweetie, don’t worry about it.” I pulled his face towards me until our eyes met.
“You know what?” Cal hastily stood up from the couch.
He began pacing the space in front of the fireplace, rubbing his hands through his hair.
“What?” I hesitated.
He continued to walk back and forth then finally stopped as if he had come to a conclusion.
“Elizabeth,” he began, as he knelt in front of me. “I wasn’t planning on doing this and I’m not totally prepared, but…” He paused.
My heart was pounding in my chest, worried he was heading in a direction that I wasn’t sure he should be going.
He wiped his forehead and took both of my hands in his.
“Elizabeth Amber Stanfield, will you marry me?”
Oh boy, he did go there. I was stunned—no, shocked—no, back to stunned. I never thought he was going to ask me that. Ever.
Did I want to marry him? I thought so, maybe, I didn’t know.
Did I think he was the one? No, not really, but there he was all cute and starting to sweat on one knee in front of me.
“My middle name isn’t Amber,” was all I could say.
“That’s okay,” he laughed. “I can learn it another time. What do you say? I’m sorry I don’t have a ring, but this is spontaneous and that means more.”
“I guess,” I hesitated.
“Is that a yes?”
“Uhm.” I smiled, still not sure of what to say.
“That’s a yes,” he shouted. “Woohoo, she said yes!” He jumped up from the floor and pulled me into an embrace.
“She’s going to marry me,” he yelled to the empty room. “Suck on that, Billy Stone!”
Chapter Four
“Holy Christ, Beth. We’re late, what took you so long to get here?” Billy questioned as I ran into the lobby of the executive offices at the studio.
“Sorry, the plane got here late and then I couldn’t find my driver, ugh, it was a mess,” I complained. I grabbed his arm to stop him from walking away. “Billy, I have to tell you something before we go in there.” I desperately wanted to tell him about Cal’s proposal before the meeting.
“It’ll have to wait, we need to go.”
“Billy, there is something I have to tell you.” I tried once again on the elevator ride up to Elena’s office.
“Not right now, Beth.” He blew me off as the elevator arrived at our floor.
He went into the outer office and told the receptionist that we had arrived.
“Billy, darling, you’re finally here,” Elena gushed as she came out of the board room. “Come in, I have a few people that want to meet you.” She took a hold of his hand and walked into the room as if she was showing off a prize.
Around the table were some familiar faces from the previous meeting. However, there were new faces that must have been new employees handpicked by Elena to round out her team.
“Everyone, your attention please,” she announced to the room. “May I introduce to you William Stone.”
“Please, it’s Billy to friends,” Billy said, as he shook hands with everyone around the table as Elena introduced each person.
“Miss Stanfield.” An older gentleman dressed in a sleek navy suit addressed me. “It is such a pleasure to finally meet you. I am a huge fan.” He came over to where I stood and kissed my hand.
“Oh yes, excuse me, Elizabeth Stanfield will also be joining us,” Elena explained to the room as she dismissed me with a wave of her hand.
I took my seat next to Billy. I noticed this time there were no proposals or scripts on the table and the director hadn’t joined us.
“Billy, we read the proposal you had previously sent to Frank and we think it’s a good enough project that we want to get behind it,” Elena began. “We feel that using the actual casinos and hotels for locations will be better visually instead of using sound stages. However, we will not be giving you the full two hundred and fifty million ahead of time. What we will do is give you two hundred million to start with fifty million in reserves should you need it. You will have no more than four months to complete the project.”
“That’s fair, we greatly appreciate your support,” Billy responded.
What just happened?
There was no sales pitch on Billy’s part, no arguing when not given all the money up front. Something was wrong here.
“You slept with her,” I announced when Billy and I were alone in the elevator after leaving what I assumed was the shortest meeting ever recorded in Hollywood history.
Billy shook his head no.
It had hit me when we had been leaving that something must have happened between Billy and Elena for him to act like that. “I can’t believe you did that. Why are you shaking your head? Are you denying it?”
“No, I just can’t believe how easy that was,” he laughed.
“It’s not easy, it’s gross. You slept with her to get the money. I knew you were a man-whore, but Billy, you’re better than that.”
“Apparently, I’m not,” he answered as the doors opened at the lobby.
As I climbed into the passenger side of Billy’s sporty little black BMW, his phone buzzed with a text message. He read it, hesitated, read it again, and then put it back in his pocket. He got behind the wheel and took off at a dangerously fast speed. Thankfully, I had already buckled my seatbelt.
Billy was silent the entire ride home. When we arrived in my driveway, I felt bad for saying the things I had in the elevator and took his silence as a sign that he was upset.
“Listen, Billy,” I began before opening the car door. “I’m sorry I got mad you slept with her and called you a man-whore in the elevator.”
“What?” He scrunched up his face, clearly confused about what I was talking about.
“I’m sorry I upset you in the elevator,” I repeated, trying to make amends.
“You think that’s why I’m upset?”
“Isn’t it?” I asked, confused.
“Beth, sometimes there’s an opportunity where both parties win, and with Elena, that is exactly what happened. I saw an opportunity and I took full advantage of the situation. It doesn’t hurt anyone. I don’t care about that.”
“Then what’s with the silent treatment?” I asked, mystified.
“Elena texted me to say she had forgotten to congratulate you on your engagement.” Billy practically spat as he spoke the words.
With everything that had happened, I had completely forgotten to tell Billy.
“When were you going to tell me about this?” he asked accusingly.
“Billy, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about before the meeting. I’m sorry you found out this way. I wanted to tell you myself.”
“I appreciate your integrity. Now get the hell out of my car.”
He had his foot on the gas almost before my feet hit the ground and left me standing in my driveway without so much as a goodbye. I solemnly went into the house. I could hear noise coming from the kitchen and assumed my chef and housekeeper, Carol, was working in there. I didn’t feel like speaking to anyone just yet so I turned right and stepped down a couple of steps into the living room. I went straight to the plush white couch and landed face first into it.
“Did you tell him?” Al, my publicist, asked.
I screamed and jumped up.
“Where the hell did you come from?” I questioned, gripping the couch with my hand on my chest.
“I was waiting for you to come home.” He sat down on one of the matching plush white chairs across the coffee table from the couch.
The room was light and airy with a fireplace against the wall opposite the door. The-floor-to- nine-foot ceiling picture windows behind the couch were draped in light-colored billowing sheer curtains. A large, gold-framed mirror hung on the wall above the fireplace, which matched the gold-flecked, cream-colored area rug that filled almost the entire floor. Normally this room felt comforting and soothing, however, at the moment it did not help to relieve my gloom about Billy.
“Well? Did you tell him?” Al asked.
“No, I didn’t get a chance, but he knows.” I explained, “That bitch studio head, Elena, texted him and told him.”
“How upset is he?” Al asked, brow creased with concern.
“Very,” I confirmed.
“Well it’s about to get worse. Cal had his publicity team send out a full-blown campaign to the media about your engagement.”
“Ugh, come on.” I threw my head back and rested it on the couch.
Suddenly, the front door burst open.
“Elizabeth!” Leah, one of my oldest girlfriends, shrieked as she came running into the house looking around. Leah was a television actress that had a string of successful shows in the nineties. She was a five-foot-four brunette with big brown eyes and a football star husband.
“Where the hell are my security guys?” I rhetorically asked Al. He shrugged in response.
“There you are.” She ran into the room and hugged me. “Congrats, this is so exciting. I can’t wait to start planning this wedding.”
“Woah.” I pulled out of her grasp. “Let’s not go crazy just yet. I’m going to be on location for the next few months and Cal will be gone for six months. The planning will have to wait.”
“No way,” Leah protested. “It takes over a year to plan a wedding of this caliber. We need to get it under way.”
I looked at Al for help and all he did was shrug his shoulders again.
“Thanks for your help, Al,” I sarcastically responded to his passiveness.
“Looks like the campaign has hit the media,” Al commented as his phone began ringing. “Any comment?”
“Yeah, no comment.”
“That’s not good enough at this point. It’s fine, I’ll make something up that doesn’t piss off Billy any further.” Al got up and went out the front door while answering his phone.
“Billy’s upset? I figured that would happen,” Leah chimed in after Al left.
“I think he’s more upset because I wasn’t the one he found out from.” I explained what happened with Elena.
“What a bitch.” Leah duplicated my sentiments.
“I’m not sure what to say to Billy.”
“Don’t worry about him, he’ll get over it. Let’s go wedding dress shopping,” Leah excitedly suggested.
My stomach clenched at the thought.
“I have a better idea, let’s start drinking,” I said, getting up from the couch.
“But you don’t drink.”
“Yeah, well, I do now.”
***
The next morning, I woke up on the floor of my bedroom with one leg in my pants and one leg out. The shirt I had been wearing the day before was flung over the side of the bed and my heels were still on.
I pushed myself up to a sitting position and then the pain set in. An incredible-head-splitting, vomit-inducing, hangover headache. I sat on the floor holding my head, desperately trying to remember what had happened. I could only recall that Leah and I had started drinking early afternoon in the backyard by the pool.
“Okay, that explains the bikini top instead of a bra. What the hell happened?” I asked the empty room.
My cell phone rang and I looked at the caller ID.
“Hi, Al, what’s up?” I tried to sound cheery, but it came out flat and raspy.
“Do you realize you are a full-time job?”
“What?” I asked, squeezing my eyes shut as the screaming pain in my head worsened.
“I have other clients, you know.” Al was speaking loudly.
“Al, it’s far too early and I’m way too hung over to decipher one of your riddles. What are you talking about?”
“First, it’s two o’clock in the afternoon, and second, your little drunken escapade is all over the news. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I remember nothing from last night. You’re going to have to fill me in on the details.”
“All I know is what is on the video that’s all over the Internet,” Al informed me.
“Oh God, there’s a video?”
“Yes, yes, there is. TMZ posted it around midnight and it has gone viral,” Al explained. “There was a huge party at Billy’s house that you were at and something happened between you and some blonde model. Someone videotaped you almost getting into a fist fight with her.”
With a sudden flashback, I fuzzily remembered what had happened. The blonde bimbo had said something about Cal being good in bed. When I responded that I didn’t remember them ever dating, she had the nerve to say that it had been the week before. I took a swing at her for lying.
“Then Billy picked you up, threw you over his shoulder, and his security team grabbed the camera. It didn’t stop them from sending it to TMZ to post, though.”
“Oh my God.” I lay back down on the floor.
“I’m not even sure how to spin this one yet, so do not go out today. There will be photographers and reporters everywhere.” He hung up the phone.
I was starting to think I was making life hard for Al.
I crawled to the bathroom to take some pain killers, but instead, I promptly threw up.
After torturing myself through a shower and getting dressed, I slowly, carefully made my way to the kitchen.
“Toast, darling?” Carol asked.
Carol was an older, short Jamaican woman with grey hair who always had a kind word and honest advice. I trusted that woman with many secrets and she, in turn, took care of me in ways no one else ever had. My parents had been absentee parents, to say the very least, and I was practically raised by my three delinquent brothers. Carol was the parent I had always wanted, and the meals she made were unbelievably delicious, which was a bonus.
“No, thank you.” I slumped down at the kitchen table. “Has Billy been by?”
“Not yet.” She put a glass in front of me. “Drink some orange juice, it’ll help.”
“I don’t think anything will help at this point.” I put my head down on the table.
“Oh, come now, girl, it’s not that bad.” She sat in the chair next to mine and began rubbing my back. “He will come around, he won’t stay mad forever.”
Carol always had a way of knowing exactly what I was talking about.
“I need to talk to him.” I stood up with determination, almost toppling over when my head began to swim.
“I don’t think that is a wise idea at this point.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me back down onto the chair.
“But I—”
“No,” she cut me off. “Give him time.”
“Okay.” I gave in.
“Good. Now.” She stood up from the table. “Let’s get some food into you.”
After a hearty breakfast of toast and peanut butter, I went outside to sit in the sun and tried to forget the last forty-eight hours. The fact I had hardly any memory of the night before helped.
I tried texting Billy again, and there was no response. I knew he was still angry since he always responded to my texts within minutes, even if he was with a woman. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say to him, but I felt I needed to see him and apologize.
I snuck back into the house while Carol was cleaning the kitchen and put on a hooded sweater and a pair of sunglasses. Why famous people thought they were unrecognizable like this befuddled me, but I was going to try it.
I went out one of the side doors of the house and snuck through the trees that lined the fence separating my property from the one next door. I carefully squeezed my way through the gate to the street, I checked to see if there were any paparazzi or reporters around, but the street was empty except for a couple of parked cars.
“What the hell was Al so worried about?” I said out loud to myself.
It was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to dip in the sky, but it was still quite warm. I pulled the hood off, pushed the sunglasses to the top of my head, and confidently walked across the street to Billy’s gate.
I was about to enter the passcode when the gate opened and a silver Ferrari convertible with its top down began to pull through onto the street. I turned my back to the car so the driver couldn’t see me.
“What are you doing, Elizabeth?”
Clearly, I had done a great job at hiding.
“Oh hi, Elena, I didn’t see you there. How are you?”
“Better than you, how’s that hangover?”
“How do you know I have one?” I asked.
“Anyone as drunk as you were last night must be in pain the next day.”
“You were there, were you?” I was drawing a blank if I had seen her the night before.
“No.” She spoke as if speaking to a child. “I saw the video.”
“Anyway,” I changed the subject. “Is Billy inside?”
“He is, but he doesn’t want to see you.” She emphasized the word you.
Her attitude was really starting to piss me off. I was beginning to regret suggesting her to be the studio head.
“You screwed up big time, first not telling him about your engagement, then crashing his party last night and making an absolute spectacle of yourself.” She smirked, as if my acting like a moron made her happy.
“Listen, Elena.” I put both hands on the passenger side door. “I’m not really sure what your problem is with me, but seeing as we have to work together, you may want to ease up on the bitchiness.”
“Working with you?” She threw her head back and laughed. “I want to thank you for pissing Billy off so badly. It’s easier to convince him to throw you off this movie when he’s mad.”
“Throw me off the movie? What the hell are you talking about?”
“I think you take up too much of his time and this is an opportunity for me to break him of that bad habit. Especially if he and I are going to be in a relationship.”
“Relationship?” She was delusional.
“That’s right, you can’t drag Billy along forever, and now that you’re engaged, it’ll be easier to get him to settle down. Just think, I could be your neighbor.”
I felt like I was going to throw up again.
“You don’t know Billy very well, do you?” I was done being nice. “He’s not in a relationship with you and he certainly isn’t going to allow you to move in with him. Take your antagonistic attitude towards me and piss off. I will not allow you to say shit about me to Billy and I certainly won’t let you take advantage of him.”
“Princess, I’m going to get my way and you can literally say goodbye to your career with my studio and your friendship with Billy.” There it was again, that “princess” comment people kept calling me. What was with that? I wondered as my blood boiled.
I lunged over the door and tried to punch her in the face just as Billy came running and pulled me out of the car by my waist.
“Enough,” Billy shouted as he held me back away from the car. “Elena, I will talk to you later.” He dismissed her.
As she drove the car away from the gate, I nailed the passenger door with a solid kick. She didn’t stop and continued down the road.
I waited until she was out of view before jumping up and down chanting, “Ow,ow,ow.”
Billy rounded on me.
“God, she’s such a bitch,” I commented while wincing in pain, holding my foot. “What are you doing with her?”
“What the hell are you doing?” Billy ignored my question.
“I came to talk to you and apologize for everything.”
“Why is it every time you come to my house lately, you pick a fight with someone?” Billy asked with disdain.
“I didn’t start either fight, by the way. They did.”
I think.
“I don’t care, go home, Beth. I’m not in the mood today.” He started to walk towards his house.
“Billy, I want to talk about this—”
I was cut off by the roar of a car engine that came screeching onto the street from around the corner. It came to a halt beside me in the street.
“What the fuck, Beth?” Cal yelled from the driver’s seat. “Are you purposely trying to embarrass me?”
Billy and I both turned towards the car.
“What’s your problem?” I asked Cal.
“I leave you alone for one night and you end up here drunk out of your mind, fighting with someone. Do you have any idea how bad that makes me look?”
“You?” I asked in disbelief.
“Beth, don’t give me any shit. Get in this car, now,” Cal demanded.
“You may need to hold me back again,” I said, to Billy.
“Sorry, can’t help you with this one,” Billy responded. “But it’s a nice glimpse into your future marriage, isn’t it?” He turned back towards the house and crossed the lawn to his front door.
I ignored Cal and made my way across the street back to my gate.
“Where are you going?” he continued to yell. “Don’t walk away from me.”
“Cal,” —I typed the code into the keypad to open my gate— “I’m not in the mood and I highly suggest you leave me alone right now.” My tone was dangerous.
“Fine, just, don’t embarrass me anymore.” He took the hint and sped off down the street.
By the time I walked across the driveway and into the front door, my cell was ringing.
“Seriously?” Al said as I answered the phone.
“What now?” I dared to ask.
“You realize there’s a photographer hiding in a parked car down the street capturing your entire escapade right now, right? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” Al questioned, in despair.
“What the hell? How do you know this?”
Al continued. “The photographer must have called it in already. TMZ has contacted me for a comment about why you started a fight with a studio head and if Cal yelling at you meant the relationship was on shaky ground.”
Ugh. I hung up the phone.