The four of us take to our seats at a low table with lots of snacks to munch on. Along with fizzing glasses of champagne that are passed around. We settle down, if not a little giddy, and ready ourselves for the bridal fashion show. And so it begins, beautiful smiling ladies stroll by us in frills and lace. From corseted gowns to ball gowns. From plain to sequins and lots of glass beads. We see long and short designs, and even huge trailing veils. There are so many shimmering silks that by the end of the show, I’m more confused than I was at the beginning. Oh, how I wish it were me choosing a wedding gown.
Chapter 9
Adam
The two main women in my life have disappeared today. They’ve gone shopping for wedding dresses with Brett’s fiancée, Sarah. I’m pleased because it means I can concentrate on this new script. I don’t need to learn it word for word, but I do want to get familiar with the tone of my character. Mother was right, he is a bit of an evil bastard but then again, he’s not of this world and he’s seen a lot of bad stuff go down. The character is a kind of entity, a fallen angel, or something like that. It seems I’m out to save mankind from the evil twins. I’m also out to kill people who are not worthy of living a life. As an entity, I can travel to other worlds, so there’s a lot to learn about the world this plot is set in. The few people who get to see my character will view me as a powerful archangel. Hells bells, I even have a pair of wings!
For such a complex character, I like to plan well ahead on how I’m going to play the part. Shooting is at least a year away, so I’ve plenty of time to psych myself up. As I’m marking up the script with highlights, my mind wanders to something Brett said to me. He informed me that they’ve bought an apartment right here in New York. The idea appeals to me too, it would be somewhere to make my base whenever I’m in the Big Apple. Would Tessa want to share it with me? Now, my mind wanders to something Tessa said...something about not having other sexual partners. As I start to ponder on what she meant, my cell phone buzzes.
Looking at the screen, I see it’s Mark, one of the PR agents who works for the director of the movie.
“Adam here,” I answer.
“Adam, I need you to be part of a publicity stunt this evening. Is that good with you?”
“No, Mark, it’s not. That’s not much notice, is it?”
“I know,” Mark replies with no apology. “There’s a bigwig charity gala that our director is a patron for. All you have to do is get out of a car and let the media flash a ton of shots of you. We’re doing a link to the upcoming movie production. You’ll have to do it because Matt will be very disappointed if you don’t make an appearance.”
“If you can get me a table I’ll do it,” I agree.
“Oh, Adam, you’re a darling man. We’ll squeeze a table in there for you somewhere. Can you give me the guest names because they won’t have door passes, at such short notice?”
“We need a pass to get into a charity dinner?” I ask.
“These things are exclusive, darling, you’re getting in for free,” he says.
“It’s you who’s dragging me there, Mark. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll donate plenty so no worries there,” I reply a little annoyed with him.
“I know, I know, my darling. Now then, let me have those names?”
“My mother, Tina Martinez and Tessa Anniston,” I begin.
“Wonderful, what super names to have around your dinner table,” he remarks. “It’ll make for a better PR article. Anyone else for dinner?”
“Yes, there’ll be Brett and Kylie Bennet, and Sarah Roberts.”
“Super, Adam. I’ll see you at the event then. Oh, and do make sure you’re in lots of pics as you walk into the event. Now that you’re staying for dinner, we’ll get one of the media girls to do a short interview. That’s fab, Adam. You’re a real player.”
As we end our conversation I press the memory button for Tessa. I need to invite them all to dinner tonight.
Tessa
“Well, ladies,” I say to Tina, Sarah, and Kylie after a phone call with Adam. “It looks like we’re wining and dining tonight. Adam’s been roped into to do a publicity stunt for the movie, so we’re all treated to a night out while he works. We’ll see if they rent ball gowns while we’re here.”
“I knew there was a good reason for having a movie star as my cousin,” Kylie says, holding up her glass of bubbly. “It’ll finish the day off really good.”
“Can you contact Brett, Tessa?” Sarah asks me. “I’ve only a few more dresses to look at. Then we can look at some cocktail dresses.”
“I’ll do better than that. I’ll ask Peter to sort it all out, though knowing him he most likely already is. Oh, Tina, how did the dinner go with Peter?”
“Peter who?” Tina says with a faux look of confusion, soon replaced with a wide smile. “Sorry dear, it’s hard to switch characters like I used to do. Of course, I know who Peter is. I always did but I didn’t want him to know that I recognized him,” she confesses.
“Whatever do you mean, Tina?” I ask, confused.
“When we were younger, he was the one I was first attracted to,” she recalls. “Whenever Ricky was around, Peter was always there by his side. But, Ricky was the louder one and for a short while, we were in love. It seemed natural to have his child; he was a handsome strong man after all. Ricky liked his women though and I didn’t see us as a long-term thing. He knew we wouldn’t stay together and that suited his lifestyle too. Although he did ask me to marry him when I told him I was having his baby. It was more that he felt obligated rather than wanting to commit to me.
Peter was the one who always took care of him. Made sure he got home when they had a drunken night out. Kept him safe when he got drugged up to the eyeballs. Ricky Robinson was not the man for me. But, Peter, now he was a gentleman. I’m so pleased that he’s ended up looking after Adam’s needs.”
“Well, now you’ve let the cat out of the bag, Tina,” I say, grinning with pleasure. “I’m not too sure I can keep such a secret. Are you going to tell Adam?”
“I’ll let you tell him, dear. It’s no longer a secret since I had dinner with Peter. We’re seeing each other again and I don’t have to pretend to ignore him any longer.”
“Why did you ignore him if you liked him?” I ask, puzzled at the concept.
“Oh, I don’t know. I sort of felt disappointed with myself that I allowed Peter to slip through my fingers. Ricky and Peter were inseparable. Once I was having Ricky’s child, there was no way Peter would consider being with me again. I made myself forget them both. Whenever I saw Peter again, I felt that if I turned my back on him, I could pretend he didn’t exist. When Adam suggested dinner with him, I finally thought that it was time I confronted him, and I’m glad I did. Now, I think we’re dating.” She laughs.
“Ha...ha...ha...Adam will be so pleased for you both, Tina. Peter’s quite a catch, he’s a big handsome guy for an older man.”
“We don’t care about our years. Only that at last we’ve admitted we’ve found each other.” She smiles with a wistful look on her face.