Dazzle The Complete Unabridged Trilogy (89 page)

She kept her eyes on Louis as they stepped over the
threshold into Ciro's, and thought that his beautifully tailored
evening clothes made him look even more handsome than
usual. She felt an inordinate sense of pride and jealous pos
sessiveness surging through her veins. How lucky I am, she
thought, to have him for a husband. No other wife in the world
could possibly be as treasured as I am.

Once inside the restaurant, she couldn't help wondering anew at the usually haughty maitre d' in a tasselled red fez,
but as usual he treated them with the deference reserved for
Hollywood royalty. 'Miss Tamara, Mr. Ziolko,' he murmured,
giving an obsequious bow.

Tamara flashed a brilliant smile. 'Good evening, Jacques.'

'If you would be so kind as to follow me . . .' He made a
sweeping gesture and led the way.

They'd followed the maitre d' for barely a few feet when
Tamara stopped in her tracks. Her face registered her sur
prise.

She couldn't believe her eyes as her gaze swept the softly lit
dining room. The kiosk outside, the doorman's strange garb,
and the maitre d's fez had been only teasers for the sight which
now greeted her. As though a magical genie had worked his
wonders, the entire restaurant had been beautifully trans
formed into a Middle Eastern palace in some faraway oasis—
a wonderland of magic and magnificence straight out of
A
Thousand and One Nights.

'Why, it . . . it's just like a harem!' Tamara exclaimed in
astonishment. 'Like in that Douglas Fairbanks movie!'

Louis only laughed. 'Come on,' he said, 'the maitre d's
waiting to show us to our table.'

They had no sooner started across the restaurant than a
hidden orchestra struck up a tune and everyone seated at the
tables began to applaud.

Now Tamara was confused. Still smiling entrancingly, she surreptitiously pinched Louis' arm. 'There's something going
on here,' she growled out of the corner of her mouth, and
looked at him sharply but said no more, for they had reached
O.T.'s table. He was sandwiched between two extraordinarily beautiful identical twins with identically styled red tresses and
identical low-cut white gowns with fake emerald shoulder
straps. Tamara had never seen them before, but there was no
doubt that they were intimate with O.T., judging from the way they clung to his arms. She noted also that this table,
which would normally have seated eight, had only two empty
chairs, signifying that there would be just the five of them.
This was obviously the table of honour.

She searched her mind frantically. What on earth
was
the
occasion?

Skolnik rose as he saw them approach and kissed Tamara's
cheek as the maitre d' pulled back her chair. 'You are posi
tively glowing,' O.T. said with a smile. 'I would say that mar
riage definitely agrees with you. Happy first anniversary.' Then he held out his hand and shook Louis'.

Tamara's mouth fell open. She was stunned. 'Oh, my God,
it
is
our anniversary, isn't it?' she said with dawning horror.
She looked at Louis for his nod of confirmation. 'I'm so sorry,
darling,' she said quickly, touching his arm. 'I was so caught up in work and
...
I can't imagine a year has already gone
by . . .' She made a face and added meekly 'You
will
forgive
me?'

'In time, perhaps,' he said with a good-natured grin. 'But
you'll certainly have to work hard to assuage my hurt feelings.'
His eyes glittered with mock lasciviousness.

'Well,
this
is certainly a first,' one of the twins piped up with
a high-pitched giggle. 'I thought it was wives who reminded
husbands of things like birthdays and anniversaries, not vice
versa.'

'
Tamara, let me introduce the Karan twins,' O.T. said eas
ily, sitting back down. 'On my left here, is Karla. And on my
right, Kitty.'

'You've got it wrong again, O.T.,' the one introduced as
Kitty said with a petulant, kittenish pout. From the way she
pronounced 'a-
gain
,' Tamara could tell she was from the
Pacific Northwest—Washington or Oregon, probably.
'I
'm
Karla and
she's
Kitty.'

'In any case, how do you do?' Tamara said smoothly.

'And this is Louis Ziolko, Tamara's husband, as you surely
have guessed.'

Louis inclined his head and bowed low over each of the
twin's hands. They giggled and Tamara felt an ice-cold stab of
irrational jealousy at his gallantry.

She slipped into her chair and the maitre d' pushed it in for
her, letting the fur boa slide over the back. She smiled at the
nearest twin. 'You'll have to forgive me if I get the two of you
confused. It's amazing. You do look exactly alike.' She turned
to her husband. 'Don't they Louie?'

'That they do,' he agreed, pulling his chair closer to hers.

The glasses of champagne arrived almost immediately, dis
creetly poured out of sight and still bubbling. O.T. raised his
in a toast. 'To many more happy years together.'

'I'll drink to that.' Tamara smiled, and she and Louis kissed.

They clinked their glasses and sipped.

After dinner, the lights were dimmed as the four-tiered
anniversary cake was wheeled in on a trolley to great applause.
A single sparkler burst radiantly from the top, sizzling and
showering white sparks.

O.T. got to his feet, tapped a fork against a glass to get everyone's attention, and gradually the room fell silent.

His voice was firm and strong and rang out clearly. 'I won't
give a long speech, since I'm sure you'd all prefer to be dancing
or talking rather than listening to me. However, just bear me
out for a moment, and then I'll sit back down.' He paused and
his gaze swept the room. 'This is a happy occasion for all of us
who belong to the cinema family. In one year, Tamara and
Louis have become Hollywood's First Couple, and I know
there isn't a person here tonight who doesn't wish them all the
best. God only knows, you'd better. I've got enough invested
in them both.'

There was assorted laughter and scattered applause.

Solemnly he raised his glass. 'So, ladies and gentlemen, I
propose a toast. To the most distinguished director and his wife. The most beautiful woman in the world. In honour of
their wedding anniversary, let's hear it for IA's own Tamara
and Louis Ziolko!'

There were good-natured shouts, some cries of 'Hear!
Hear!', and the roomful of celebrities raised their glasses and
sipped.

O.T. gestured to Tamara and Louis. They rose to their
feet and, linking hands like happy children, smiled out at the
assembled guests. Tamara spoke first, projecting her voice so
that people at the most distant corner tables could hear her
clearly. Then Louis gave his short speech, and together they
ceremoniously cut a slice off the anniversary cake, after which
they sat down and let the waitresses continue cutting the slices.

O.T. got to his feet again. 'In honour of the occasion, Louis
and Tamara will lead the first dance. And I'll reserve the
second,' he added, smiling down at Tamara. 'It isn't every day
that even a studio head gets to dance with his favourite star.'

Tamara glowed with happiness as Louis led her to the dance
floor and began to swirl her gracefully around. True to his
word, O.T. cut in for the second dance. It was a slow dance,
and Tamara suspected that O.T. had arranged for that. She
felt herself go rigid as O.T.'s fingers touched her bare back and
pulled her close, and she made an effort to keep an obvious
distance between him and herself.
Louie and I should be shar
ing this dance,
she couldn't help thinking.

'You're tense,' O.T. reproached softly into her ear. 'I'm not
poison, you know. You don't have to pull so far away.'

Rebuked, she closed the distance between them somewhat,
and it was then that it occurred to her just how much she had
changed over the past year. She was no longer young and
guileless, no longer the innocent in a sea of sophisticates. A
year of Hollywood parties and exposure had taught her more
than she would have liked. Youth and beauty were not only commodities for the screen, she had learned, but brought out
the worst in men. Some flirted harmlessly, others made an
effort to brush against her. There had even been times when
she had been approached outright by men craving to sleep
with her. True, O.T. had always been the perfect gentleman,
but she had never given him any excuse to behave otherwise,
and she wasn't about to start encouraging him now.

'You're pulling away again, Tamara,' he said.

'
That's because you've wrapped yourself around me.'

'You're making it sound as though I'm making a pass at
you.'

She raised her chin. 'Are you, O.T.?'

He clucked his tongue chidingly. 'You have a dirty mind.'

'And you're behaving like a dirty old man.'

'I like to believe that nothing in life is unattainable. Especially beautiful, exciting women.'

She looked into his eyes. 'What do you need me for? You've
got the Karan twins.'

He laughed. 'Those empty-headed scatterbrains? It's you I
really want.'

'I'm married, O.T.'

'A fact I'm painfully aware of, believe me.'

'Don't talk that way! You know this is my anniversary!'

'Ah, beneath that perfect exterior you've no heart, I can
see that now. I've helped create the beauty by which all others
are judged, but I forgot to see about giving her a heart.'