Going Down in La-La Land (21 page)

“
Thanks,” he said. “I fell in love with it right away. The guy who owned it before me was named Bosley, you know the doctor who started all the hair transplant centers? He has infomercials running twenty-four seven.”

“
Oh yeah,” I said, thinking to myself that in ten years I’d probably need to go to one of Dr. Bosley’s centers myself.

“
Luckily I don’t need his services yet,” Vastelli smiled. “He lived in the place for over twenty years. He had a hard time parting with it.”

“
I can see why,” I said looking out the windows onto the LA skyline. Vastelli handed me my soda and sat across from me. I felt comfortable right away. He seemed like a good guy. He was no Wayne Hanley. The pool outside was illuminated with light against the darkness.

“
Do you use your pool often?” I asked.

“
All the time,” Vastelli said. “I keep it heated up pretty high too. I like it steaming. Would you like to see the back?”

“
Sure.”

The pool area was quiet and calm. The city streets shone below in an electric grid which illuminated the sky above.

“
So you’re not nearly as manic in person as you are on the screen,” I said after more small talk about the pool and backyard.

“
Well, I’m on my downtime now,” Vastelli smiled. “All that hyped-up shtick takes a lot out of a guy. Gotta recharge the batteries, you know?”

He stared bashfully at the ground. He had a very sweet and endearing quality that I found very attractive. It was certain that he was more intimidated with me than the other way around. I actually found him kind of sexy. His hair was thick and curly, and he wore it very short. His eyes were big and blue, and drooped just a bit, like those of a puppy dog. His build was stout and thick, like that of a maintenance man. He had a belly that bulged a bit over his pants, but nothing that hung over. And a barrel chest and burly arms offset his wide middle, so in reality he looked in proportion. It was a nice change from the cookie cutter, overly worked out bodies I saw all over town and on the covers of the video boxes I shrink-wrapped every other day.

“
You mind if I get my feet wet?” I asked.

“
No, no! Not at all!” he answered reassuringly, sounding eager to please. I took my socks and shoes off and sat by the steps. The water felt great. Vastelli sat by the pool next to me, took off his own shoes, and rolled up his jeans.

“
It feels great,” I leaned back on my elbows and breathed in deeply. “You weren’t kidding about the temperature.”

“
My heating bill is my big splurge. But its worth it. I make sure I enjoy it.”

I sat back up and looked into his puppy dog eyes. It must have been so hard for this guy who had made his fortune playing the everyday straight guy to have a desire for other men.

Our expressions held long enough the way faces do when both people agree it’s time to get things on. Then with his head tilting one way and mine the other, we moved forward, our lips locked. His face was flush and ruddy, the freshly shaved skin just faintly rough. His mouth tasted clean and fresh, his tongue warm. I enjoyed kissing him. I wasn’t at all turned off. If anything he felt safe, comfortable, like a cozy teddy bear.

We went on for a few minutes. When we finally pulled apart I smiled; he looked dazed. He placed one of his masculine hands under my chin and ran his index finger up and down my cheek.

“
You are so beautiful,” he breathed softly.

“
Come on. Let’s get in,” I said.

Standing up we took off our clothes, tossing them on the chaise lounges a few feet away.

I plunged in first, swimming underwater to the other end. When my head emerged I could hear splashing behind me. Soon he met me at other end and pressed up alongside. The whole time we made out, nibbled each other’s ears, rubbed each others shoulder’s, and enjoyed each other’s touch.

After twenty minutes he said, “Adam, I want to take you to my bed.”

“
Let’s go,” I answered.

The sex was great. I didn’t have to pretend or visualize I was with someone else. Truth be told, John was so adorable I would have slept with him for nothing. It felt right. It felt safe. That night I slept well. It was good thing, since repeating the whole routine in the morning required all the rest I could get.

The following Saturday Candy asked me to go audit an acting class with her. I figured why not. Maybe it would clear my mind a bit and, if I liked it, be a small step in getting back on track to doing something worthwhile.

Right away both of us knew something weird was going on when the class stood up and gave the instructor a standing ovation when she entered the room. One would have thought she was so great she invented a cure for cancer or something. The teacher was a fat black woman named Janet who thought she was the second coming. Apparently she had her students believing it.

At the end of the class a scenario took place that scared the shit out of the both of us. A couple was in front of the class and acting out a fight scene. Janet wasn’t convinced and rebuked the couple on their lackluster performance.

“
There was no feeling there, no passion!” Janet raged. “We felt nothing!”

She than proceeded to tell the guy to slap the girl across the face, a suggestion he rebuffed.

“
I want to see a real knock-down, drag-out fight!” Janet roared. “Slap her across the face!” she ordered.

At first the frightened actor demurred.

“
I said slap her!” Janet screamed.

The next thing we saw was the guy slapping her across the face. Then the girl slapped him back.

“
Good!” Janet’s voice boomed. “Now pull her hair! Don’t worry, you won’t hurt her!”

Both of us sat in stunned belief, our eyes wide and mouths open in horror, as the guy dragged the girl across the stage and she screamed in the shrillest, most disturbing tone possible.

When it was all over big Janet triumphantly pronounced, “Now that was a real knock-down, drag-out fight!”

Neither Candy nor I were impressed. We snuck out quietly, not that anyone noticed us or bothered to make conversation the whole time we were there.

“
I’ll be passing on that one,” Candy said in a grim voice.

“
That’s a wise decision,” I replied. “Not that I’d know too much about wise decisions lately.”

We climbed back in her car to go back home, stopping to get chicken for lunch at a trendy restaurant called Birds on Highland that specialized in poultry. Across from the street from it was the Church of Scientology headquarters. It was an impressive building, old by Los Angeles standards, with turrets and an almost gothic look to it. Staring out the front window of the restaurant at it, I thought maybe Harry Potter might come flying out one of the top windows.

Staring at the ostentatious building herself, Candy wondered aloud, “Do you think if I became a Scientologist I’d get a decent audition?”

Smiling and rolling my eyes I replied, “If it works, let me know.”

Candy was really trying to get moving on the acting, but I could see her patience wearing thinner every day. She had landed roles in cable network shows in the same vein as
Baywatch,
and had gotten close with callbacks for guest spots on major network hit shows, but so far, the big break hadn’t come yet.

After the waiter took our order, Candy suddenly got excited, jumped forward in the booth, and exclaimed, “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! I signed you up for an audition for the
Hollywood Windows.
I put you in for Tuesday of next week, so tell your smarmy boss that you need the afternoon free. They were able to fit me in this week because all next week I have rehearsals for my scene study class showcase. I hope you don’t mind us not going together. But I wanted to get in before I get too busy and consumed with something else.”

Game shows were Candy’s latest craze. Tight on money now that Frank was out of the picture, she was focused on extra income and free stuff until another rich boyfriend came along. Every morning she circled the contestant auditions listed in
Backstage.

“
Oh, I don’t know, Candy,” I said dismissively. “I really don’t see myself on one of those things.”

“
Adam,” Candy pooh poohed, “Don’t be so quick to judge. You never know, it could lead to some money. And then you wouldn’t have to keep hanging with this seedy element, and get away from the sleaze while finding a job you like. Speaking of which, how did your interview go at Universal, the one for accounts receivable?”

“
Uneventful at best,” I said. “I dressed up in J. Crew from head to toe, put my best foot forward, only to be grilled by a bored-looking woman who seemed overly concerned about my phone skills. Let’s put it this way, not the most thrilling job on the planet. She said she had to interview a few more prospects and left it at that.”

I paused to play with my napkin for a moment.

“
What scares me more, if you want to know the truth, is that I am really getting to become comfortable with the sleaze around me. It’s becoming some sort of dysfunctional, triple-X family in a way. There’s a whole thrill factor there. Even though I know it’s getting dangerous, you know what I mean.”

“
You’re getting to the point where it’s going to be real hard to get out of it, Adam,” Candy said straightforwardly. “I mean, this is just not like you. What was supposed to be a crutch to get you through things has become your whole life. What ever happened with Dale anyway, did he cool off at all?”

I had told her that I blew off the concert with Dale, but I hadn’t said why. I had been dying to spill the beans to Candy. John Vastelli wanted to see me again, sometime next week. I was more than a bit enamored of him and had been thinking about him ever since. The next day Ron grilled me on the details. I tried to be casual about it, saying it went okay, but not reveal how much we hit it off. Ron had already gotten a nice cut for arranging the tryst; I wasn’t sure how much, but I assumed it was a lot.

He wasn’t getting any more. His part was over, and he made easy money just for an introduction. But he wasn’t getting any more money that I was making on my back, at least not from Vastelli.

I couldn’t resist the urge to tell Candy. I felt I could trust her; she played the same game to get by in the past.

“
You know, I bailed on him to go turn a trick,” I said quietly.

“
No,”
Candy in a chastising voice. “Adam, that’s not like you. I mean as much as I think he’s not the right guy, he’s still a nice guy.”

“
I know. I told him I needed to go out with you, because you were introducing me to a job contact,” I confided.

“
Great!” Candy exclaimed in mock exasperation and a giggle. “Get me involved why don’t you.”

“
I know it sounds slimy, Candy, but this was no ordinary call. I mean big money, an important client,” I leaned over my voice getting softer.

Candy’s expression changed to a quizzical stare, one blond eyebrow raised in intrigue.

“
Go on,” she said slowly.

But before we could speak any further our waiter arrived with the food, and we pulled our heads back as he set our chicken platters down. I felt so covert, as though I were in some sort of spy movie. All I needed right now was a piano player in the corner and Ingrid Bergman to walk through the door.

After our waiter left, I told Candy the whole story about John Vastelli. She listened in disbelief as our chicken got cold. By the time I was done, she was still amazed.

“
No way!” she whispered in excitement over and over. “That big goofball! I don’t believe it!”

“
Shh!” I hissed, looking around nervously. “You have to swear on your life this stays between the two of us.”

“
Please!” Candy said in irritation. “As if you have to tell me to keep quiet. You know about every skeleton in my closet, and I trust you! Look, this could lead to something for you. Maybe Vastelli can even find you a good job!”

The thought had crossed my mind already. Realizing we hadn’t eaten any of our meals, we packed the chicken to go and headed home.

“
John Vastelli,” Candy murmured in the car. “I still can’t believe it.”

“
Believe it,” I said.

Just then my cell phone rang. I turned it on without checking it.

A voice said, “Hey.” It was Dale.

“
Hi,” I said.

“
What are you up to?” he asked casually.

“
I just finished eating lunch with Candy. We went to audit an acting class this morning,” I said.

“
Who is it?” Candy asked beside me.

I mouthed the name Dale to her. She raised her eyebrows in a mock expression of shock.

“
So how was the concert?” I asked.

“
It was cool. Brian came along. Too bad you missed it.”

Dale and Brian hung out often. Sometimes I wondered if Brian ever told Dale about how we fooled around during our photo shoot, the same day I met Dale. Not that it would have mattered, we hadn’t started dating before that. And Dale probably assumed I had. He wasn’t possessive sexually; I mean, he met me through the porn biz for crying out loud. He knew I was having sex with other people when it called for it, and we never discussed being monogamous with each other even outside the business. He wasn’t naive; he probably knew that I occasionally turned tricks for money. Just not the night we were supposed to see the show, and with John Vastelli.