Hollywood Wives - the New Generation (23 page)

'Tell him he's supposed to pick up some papers from his brother's
house. It's important, dear.'

'If I see him, I'll tell him,' the girl said, in an uptight voice.

Nicci hung up. What was it with Brian? Did he need a new girl every
week? Why couldn't he have kept Miss Russia around for a while?

How come this jerk keeps on getting to me
? she thought.

She had no answer to that. He just did.

Shortly before Michael arrived, Kyndra called Lissa. 'I'm feelin'
guilty, hon',' she confessed, in her low-down smoky voice. 'I've been
locked in the studio, so I haven't been following what's been going on.
I know I should've come to see you before, I'm on my way over now.'

'Bad timing,' Lissa said, coming up with a quick excuse. 'You've
caught me in the middle of a meeting.'

'How long will it go for?' Kyndra asked.

'I'm not sure,' Lissa replied offhandedly. 'Tomorrow's good. I'm
rehearsing in the morning, free in the afternoon. We could have lunch.'

'Tomorrow's the day before my wedding anniversary,' Kyndra reminded
her. 'Our big party is coming up on Wednesday. And you
know
we expect to see you, so you'd better not let us down.'

'I'm not feeling very social right now,' Lissa explained, hoping
Kyndra would understand. 'Everywhere I go the paparazzi follow, and
according to James, there's a show on TV tonight featuring my
soon-to-be ex.'

'Yeah, that
would
be his style,' Kyndra drawled. 'Major
exposure for loser of the year.'

'How's the album going?' Lissa asked.

'Sweet an' soulful,' Kyndra said. 'Exactly the way we like it.'

'I'm looking forward to hearing some tracks. I'll be in the studio
myself soon.'

'You writing?'

'I'll probably jot down a couple of heartbreak songs. Although, I
have to say my heart is not broken. Saying goodbye to Gregg was a big
relief.'

'We all warned you.'

'Don't remind me,' Lissa said tersely. 'In future I'll learn to
listen.'

'Okay, hon, I'll see you at our party. Oh, an' Saffron's bringing
some friends, including Nicci.'

'They're not sitting with us, are they?'

'Don't sweat it, they'll be at the kiddies' table. Neither of us
will have to put up with their juvenile delinquent behaviour.'

'Nicci's no longer a juvenile delinquent,' Lissa said. 'Ever since
she got engaged she's a changed girl. Did you know that she actually
threw a dinner party the other night?'

'No shit?'

'Yes. Saffron was there with some desperate Mexican guy who was of
the opinion he should star in my next video. Where
does she
find them?'

'Unfortunately, desperate guys are Saffron's specialty,' Kyndra said
with a throaty laugh. 'I gave up trying to control that child ever
since she had a baby with the deadbeat football player. Right now she's
goin' through a crisis - can't seem to make up her mind whether she
wants to be a singer, an actress, a movie star, or a mom. I've tried
telling her that she can't do all of them at the same time.'

'Some
people manage it.'

'Yeah, honey - only
you.'

'Thanks for calling, Kyndra. I promise I'll try to make it to your
party.'

'You'd better, or you'll have Norio to answer to. You know he adores
you.'

'It's mutual,' Lissa said, thinking how much she loved both of them.
She'd met Kyndra and Norio when she first came to L.A. Kyndra was
already a singing star, and Norio had scored Lissa a gig singing
back-up on one of Kyndra's recordings. They'd both been really good to
her before she was anyone, and the three of them had remained friends
ever since.

As soon as she put down the phone, she buzzed Chuck at the front
gate. 'Are the paparazzi still out there?' she asked.

'There's a few scattered around,' Chuck replied.

'I'm expecting Mr Scorsinni for a meeting. When he arrives, make
sure he's not bothered.'

'You got it, Miz Roman.'

'Thanks, Chuck.' She glanced at her watch. 'He'll be arriving soon.'

She wandered into the kitchen, where Nellie was busy preparing a
large dish of lasagna.

'So you
can
cook Italian?' she said affectionately. 'I'm
impressed.'

'I can cook anything,' Nellie boasted, wiping her hands on her apron.

'I never doubted it.'

'Miz Lissa looks very pretty tonight,' Nellie said knowingly.
'Someone nice coming over?'

'It's only a business meeting,' Lissa said quickly.

'Shall I serve dinner at the dining table?'

'No, let's keep it low-key. Trays in the den, and put some of those
small votive candles on the trays, they always look pretty.'

She left the kitchen and went into the den, thinking about what
music he might like. He was Italian, so maybe he'd go for the
old-fashioned sounds of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, or would he be
into something more classical, such as Bocelli? She decided to play it
neutral and put on a selection of Sting, Van Morrison, and the Gypsy
Kings.

Michael arrived on time. She heard the buzzer ring and shivered
slightly. This was silly. Why was she so excited about seeing him?
Could it be because he was good-looking?

No. Absolutely not. There were hundreds of handsome men in
Hollywood, and most of them usually turned out to be boringly
self-obsessed, or actors.

There was something special about Michael - he didn't treat her like
a star, he treated her like a real person. It had been a long time
since anybody had done that.

On the drive over to Lissa's house, Michael experienced a crazy urge
to bring her flowers. He passed a man selling roses at the side of the
street, and stopped himself from pulling over and buying some.

Sanity prevailed. How stupid would he look arriving with a bunch of
roses, when she probably had flowers coming out her ears? She was Lissa
Roman, for crissakes. In her world he was a nobody, so why was he
building this up into something it wasn't? Although, deep down, he knew
that if he wanted it to be something, it could, because Michael had
always experienced great success with women.

He had no intention of getting involved with someone who was capable
of breaking his balls. Lissa Roman couldn't help it,
she was a star, and stars broke a man's balls just by looking at them.

He began laughing to himself. That didn't sound right. No way would
Lissa Roman be looking at his balls tonight.

He'd worn black - black pants, a black turtleneck, black leather
jacket, he'd even put on shades.
It's my Hollywood look
, he
told himself.

Yeah, right, Mr Hollywood, I don't think.

He waved at Chuck, who opened the big gates for him. A couple of
paparazzi sprang forward and tried to take his picture, but he was up
the driveway before they could.

He was still annoyed about Amber calling him. Screw Quincy for
telling her what he was doing. It was nobody's business except his.
Quincy had a big mouth, and it was about time they had a serious talk.

Meanwhile, he was visiting Lissa Roman, and he felt pretty high.
Even Amber's lecture over the phone couldn't spoil it for him.

Just remember
, he told himself sternly,
this is purely
business. Lissa Roman is a client. Nothing more, nothing less
.

Nicci made up her mind to stay at home for a change. After all, she
was getting married soon and she had much to do. She decided it would
be nice to wander around the house by herself before Evan's mother
arrived and ruined everything. Hopefully, Evan would be back from
location soon after Lynda Richter presented herself, although his movie
seemed to be running way over schedule.

She'd bought a new mudpack facial treatment at Fred Segal, and after
taking a leisurely swim, she put on an old In Sync T-shirt, and applied
the messy pack to her face.

Man, do I look like a clown
? she thought, mugging at
herself in the mirror.
Thank goodness Evan's away. If he saw me
like this
…

She'd asked Saffron if she wanted to come over, but Saffron had a
date with another hot stud. Obviously Ramone hadn't been enough of a
deterrent.

Alone in the house, she was intent on enjoying herself. She put on a
Limp Bizkit CD and danced crazily around the living room.

When the doorbell rang she didn't think much of it.' Who's there?'
she called out.

'Delivery,' a male voice said. 'Need a signature.'

'Okay,' she said, throwing open the door. Standing there was Brian.

'Jesus!' he exclaimed. 'Didn't realize it was Halloween!'

'I'm auditioning for a role in the next
Survivor
,' she
said, hardly taking a beat, although inside she was totally humiliated
that he'd caught her in such a state. 'Uh… how come you didn't call?'

'My brother wants his papers, so here I am. Gotta fly back early
tomorrow.'

'You were supposed to be here yesterday.'

'What did you say to my girlfriend?' he asked, entering the house.
'You pissed her off.'

'You don't
have
a girlfriend,' she retorted.

'Let's put it this way,' he said, heading for the bar, 'I
did
have one this morning, now I don't.'

'She must have been a temp, 'cause every time
I
see you, you're with
a different girl.'

'Hey,' he said, grinning, 'variety's the spice of my libido.'

'Help yourself to a drink,' she said sarcastically, as he picked up
a bottle of vodka. 'I'll be right back.'

She raced into the bathroom and hurriedly rinsed her face, wiping
off the dried mud with a towel.

I look like a freak
, she thought miserably.
This is so
dense. How could I have gotten caught like this
?

Brian was drinking straight from the vodka bottle when she returned.

'We
do
have glasses,' she said caustically.

'How about grass?' he asked.

'Why?' she said.

'Why?' he repeated. ' 'Cause I thought I'd call the cops an' have the
place raided. Whaddaya think?'

'I think you're like
nuts
.'

'Gimme a joint, for crissakes. Thanks to you, I had a drag-out fight
with my girlfriend.'

'I keep reminding you, Brian, you don't
have
a girlfriend.'

'Yeah, yeah,' he said, taking another swig of vodka. 'Well, let me
tell you, this one was Miss January last year, and
believe me, you don't want Miss January walking out when you're feeling
horny. And I
am
feeling horny, 'cause I can't get anywhere
near our star on the movie.
Somebody's
banging her, and it
sure as hell ain't me.'

'Sorry to hear about your sexual problems,' Nicci said sarcastically.

'I'm sure, 'cause you and my bro never have any, right?'

'Evan's very romantic,' she said, jumping to his defence.

'No shit?' Brian said disbelievingly. 'That's not what his last
fiancee said.'

'Evan's never been engaged before me.'

'Apparently big bro doesn't tell you everything.'

'What're you talking about?' she asked, frowning.

'Let's go get somethin' to eat, an' I'll fill you in.'

'
Now
?' she said, pushing back her long bangs.

'You're hungry, aren't you?' he said. ' 'Cause
I'm
freakin'
starving.'

'Well…' She wasn't sure whether to accept his halfhearted invitation
or not. 'Okay,' she said at last. 'I suppose I could eat something.'

'How about a joint before we go?'

'Isn't the vodka enough?'

'Jesus Christ! You sound like my freakin'
brother.'

She went into the bedroom, got a joint from her bedside drawer, lit
up, inhaled deeply, re-entered the living room and handed it to him.

'You'll have to wait while I go get dressed.'

'No!' he said in mock dismay. 'And I thought I was taking you like
that. It'd be like dragging around a scraggly little sister.'

'You're such an asshole, Brian,' she said crossly. 'I don't think I
want
to go to dinner with you.'

'Yes, you do,' he said, grinning again. 'I'm the irresistible
brother. Remember?'

Oh, God, and he had a giant ego too!

'I'll be back in a minute,' she said, deciding that this was an
opportunity she couldn't turn down. Now she'd be able to see for
herself what a pain in the butt he really was, and then she could stop
fantasizing about him once and for all.

She hurried into her closet, grabbed her Dolce & Gabbana jeans,
cowboy boots, a red tank and her motorcycle jacket. She dressed
quickly, then brushed her hair and applied a fast makeup.

Brian was standing out on the patio gazing at the view when she
returned. He still had the bottle of vodka in one hand, and the joint
in the other.

'You certainly get off on enjoying yourself, don't you?' she said.

'Hey, what else is important?' he replied, taking a deep drag.

They walked outside.

'Whose car shall we take?' she asked.

'Yours,' Brian said, walking around to the driver's seat of her BMW.

'If we're taking mine,
I'm
driving,' she said.

'Oh, no, baby,' he answered, shaking his head. 'You're not with Evan
now. When you're with me, I'm the one in the driver's seat.'

'You look good,' Lissa said, answering the door herself.

'Hey,' Michael said, smiling, 'compliments from the boss. I'm
flattered.'

'I'm not your boss,' she said, smiling back, 'simply one of your
many clients, right?'

'Our most important client.'

'Really?'

'Would I lie?'

'Maybe.'

'Not me,' he said, following her into the den.

'So here we are,' she said, thinking how nice it was to see him.

'You're looking good yourself, Lissa,' he said, wishing he
had
bought her flowers. It would've been a friendly gesture - nothing to be
misconstrued.