Read Hollywood Princess Online
Authors: Dana Aynn Levin
Hollywood Princess (34 page)
Danny guided me back to the VIP room. The tension between us was palpable.
“Danny, who is Reggie?” I frowned. Why did she call him ‘Dan?’ The use of Danny’s diminutive reminded me of Amelia all over again.
“No one to concern yourself with. Reggie’s just a girl the guys and I met at the pool.”
“She didn’t seem happy when I showed up.”
“I was happy when you showed up,” Danny answered playfully.
“Danny, you’d better be.”
“I’m always happy when you show up.”
“But she wasn’t.“
“What a tigress! I wouldn’t want to run into you in a jungle. You’re claws were showing, lady,” Danny answered with a smile. “I think your point was well made.”
“What point was that?”
Danny stopped short. He had a bemused but serious expression on his face as he placed his hands on my shoulders and leaned in close to me. Our heads nearly touched. We would not be overheard.
“Baby, you know what point. That I’m a happily married man with a stunning wife who’s far more beautiful than any model.”
My eyes opened wide, shocked by Danny’s metaphor. “We’re not married!” I exclaimed.
“Maybe not legally, but spiritually we are.”
We are? Who cared about Reggie? I grinned stupidly. I was Danny’s wife!
“Eli, we love each other, we’re best friends, and we’re lovers. We’re married.”
“Are you sure?” The conversation caught me so by surprise. I couldn’t think of anything to make me think Danny wasn’t being sincere. He was even sober.
“E, who spends every night with me and will continue to do so always?”
“This is heady.”
Danny smirked. He held me to his chest. The fine-gauge wool of his jacket was soft against my bare shoulders. Danny’s light musky cologne seduced my senses.
“I love you very much Mrs. Newman,” Danny whispered.
My eyes opened wide at this salutation. Before I could speak, Danny was holding my face as his lips pressed against mine for a slow kiss. Shivers ran through me.
“I love you very much too, Mr. Newman,” I whispered when our lips parted.
Danny’s eyes brimmed with joy. My heart fluttered. I smiled shyly, afraid of crying. Our foreheads touched. Danny’s breath on my face coursed electricity through me.
“Elizabeth, you are so lovely tonight,” Danny whispered. “Can I kiss my bride?”
“Of course,” I nodded. “Does this mean tonight’s our honeymoon?”
Danny grinned. Then he placed his hands on my face to hold me as he once more brought his lips to mine. I held on tightly, my hands around his neck. My lips parted and our tongues entwined, full of joy, playfully savoring the moment. The power of our love left me drunk. My head spun. If we hadn’t been holding each other so firmly I would have teetered on my Jimmy Choo’s and stumbled.
When we parted, Danny held me close in his arms.
“Do you realize where we are?” I was suddenly aware of the guests in the room. Several tried to avoid being caught staring.
“But I love you, Eli,” Danny whispered, and brushed his lips against mine, again sending bolts through me. “I can’t wait to get you back to the hotel.”
“Danny!” I was blushing.
“Eli, you know you can’t wait either, so say it.”
Danny waited expectantly, a devilish grin on his lips.
“I can’t wait to…” I threw my arms around his neck. “Oh, Danny, when can we go? I’m dying to get back to the hotel already,” I whispered.
“Sorry, Dad.
I ran into somebody.”
“They’re here,” Dad said to the
impatient photographer.
The photographer used a floor-to-ceiling window covered by heavy red brocade drapery as the backdrop and took several pictures.
“Thank you, Mr. Newman,” he said to Dad before taking his leave.
Elizabeth had lost her spark and teetered back to our table.
“Dad, can we go? Eli’s tired.”
“Sure, but remind th
e driver to come back for me.”
“That’s okay. Eli and I are
walking.”
Dad
joined me at Elizabeth’s side. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you kids head back to The Regency?”
“You’re sure?” Elizabeth a
sked. I nodded.
Th
en Dad folded Eli in his arms. “Good-night, dear.” And he kissed her cheek.
“It was great, Steve.”
Eli rallied her last ounce of enthusiasm. “Ellen can call in sick anytime she wants. I’ll gladly be her substitute. But I hope she feels better.”
“Of course,” Dad laughed.
“I’m telling Mom what you said,” I teased Eli, and she blushed.
“Daniel!
Don’t you dare!”
“Mom knows you’
re not trying to dethrone her. Chill, Eli.”
“Get going,” Dad commanded.
He turned back to Eli and appraised her. “Oh, hell!” he said, and Dad pulled Eli in for an all-encompassing hug. “Just because you’re a grown woman doesn’t mean I can’t hug you all I want. Elizabeth, you’ve been my daughter all your life.”
“And you’ve been my second dad. I love you, Steve.”
I took Eli’s hand, and we made our way through the thinning crowd to the massive front doors. Relief. We exited to the gated driveway without running into Reggie again.
A crisp breeze
was blowing from Central Park. It was noticeably colder now than when we’d arrived. Elizabeth unfolded her pashmina and wrapped it around her shoulders. The thin cashmere could not possibly be warm enough to protect her. I smiled. Why should Eli suffer?
“Here.” I removed my jacket and gently placed it across her slender shoulders.
“Thank you,” Elizabeth said and she tilted her head up to look into my eyes. The warmth of Eli’s tired smile melted me. My arm slipped around her shoulder and drew her closer. I let my other hand lift her chin for our lips to meet for a slow, love-filled kiss.
“Feeling warmer?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth answered in a near-whisper; her green doe eyes continuing to melt my heart. Having pushed her arms into the jacket sleeves, Elizabeth wrapped her pashmina around my neck as though it were a cashmere tallit and delicately kissed me.
“There,” Elizabeth said.
“I have to take care of you too. You’ve done such a good job of taking care of me.”
“I’ve alw
ays taken good care of you, E. It’s what I do best.”
“What you do best?”
Eli giggled. “Always? We’ve only been together for six months.”
“My taking care of you predates Donnelly by years, Eli.”
I took Eli’s soft, delicate hand. It was only a few short blocks to The Regency.
“Remember the brush fire?
You were thirteen, and I was almost fifteen.”
“That was the scariest night of my life.”
“Mine, too,” I agreed.
“Danny, you were scared?
I never knew.”
“Eli, you were little. I couldn’t show you my fear.
I had to…”
“Take care of me.”
Eli quickly kissed me, the misty memory etched on her face.
After five days in M
alibu, the moms were restless and they left for Century City to see an early movie and enjoy dinner. Elizabeth and I were perfectly comfortable staying alone, and we enjoyed leftover fried chicken and a pan of frozen French fries.
By seven-thirty, we began
a chess match, and sitting on the rug while playing, we devoured ice cream sundaes. Bowls of vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate syrup contained a sampling of every sweet we could find including Hershey’s kisses, rainbow sprinkles, and whipped cream.
Elizabeth wrinkled her nose and inhaled. “The air smells awful,” The heavy, acrid smell of burning brush had infiltrated our nostrils.
Dad called from Chicago, disturbed to learn we were alone.
“
Danny, turn on the television,” he insisted. “ Malibu is burning.”
That ended the chess match. KNBC had suspended regular programming
to report exclusively from Malibu. This small brush fire had grown into an out of control inferno, consuming the canyon.
On edge,
Elizabeth and I sat, eyes riveted to the television. She put down her ice cream bowl, clutched a pillow to her chest, and sat hunched over crossed legs. As we watched the news reports, Elizabeth chewed her lip.
“Eli, don’t worry,” I said,
attempting to soothe her, “they’ll be here soon.”
“Danny, I’m scared.” Elizabeth
was trembling.
“I know
, but I’m here.” I tried to sound as confident as a frightened fourteen year old could sound. Nobody had to say it. I was older, and I was a boy. It was expected that Elizabeth would rely on me. I couldn’t disappoint her or our parents.
A wind gust howled, causing th
e glass patio doors to shake. The smell of smoke temporarily intensified and Eli ran to look. The plants on the patio were blowing. Palm fronds danced across the usually clean-swept tile surface. In the distance, the Pacific was choppier than usual. Otherwise, on this side of the house the world seemed normal.
“I can’t just s
it here, Danny. I must see what’s happening.” Elizabeth’s voice rose, nearing hysteria.
“There’s nothing we can do until
they get back. We’ll be all right.”
Eliza
beth dashed to the front door. “Where are you going?” I called.
“I have to look.
” Elizabeth bolted out the door. I ran after her.
Standing
in the driveway, our eyes focused northbound up Pacific Coast Highway. The sun was setting, but it wasn’t dark. In the distance entire hillsides were ablaze, mountains of orange and red with thick billowing smoke. Elizabeth and I stood transfixed by the sight, so frightening but at the same time stunningly beautiful.
Grey-white ash floated down like a surreal mid-summer snowstorm
. It left a thin layer on the driveway and stung the eyes of Elizabeth and me, two petrified kids holding each other for the only support available.
F
ire trucks, lights and sirens blaring, raced past us. Elizabeth clutched my arm. Only wearing shorts and a tank top, she seemed so small.
“Danny, I’m scared,” Eli
zabeth said breathlessly, her eyes wide.
Instinctively I draped my arm around her shoulders. Elizabeth was shaking.
“Let’s go inside,” I suggested, though I didn’t really want to. The fire was mesmerizing in its ferocity.
I
nside, Elizabeth began crying. “I wish we were home,” she whimpered.
I gathered her in my arms and rubbed her back.
Already five-nine, I felt like a giant holding my miniature best friend.
“Eli, don’t cry. We’ll be fine.”
I repeated over and over as a mantra. I hoped she believed me. I didn’t.
The phone rang. Randi!
“Danny, they won’t let us through. The police have closed Coast Highway.”
In the background I
heard Mom frantically pleading with an officer, “Our children are alone.” “Ma’am, we’re evacuating. All lanes are going southbound except for emergency vehicles.” “Do you know who I am?” “Yes, and even you and Ms. Jordan can’t enter Malibu tonight, Mrs. Newman.”
“Listen car
efully Danny. You’re on your own. Go to the kitchen and find the flashlights. The electricity could go at any moment.”
I walked into the kitchen and removed
two flashlights from a drawer. Elizabeth watched my every movement. I was fearful for the first time.
“Do you see the car keys on the counter?” Randi asked.
“Yes. Why?”
“Put them in your pocket.
Danny, can you drive a car?”
“I’m only fourteen, Randi.”
“I know how old you are,” she said crossly. “I’m not asking if you’re allowed to drive, only if you can.”
Was Randi really as
king me to drive her Mercedes? Sweet!
“On a straight road.
Probably if I don’t have to park,” I understood it was important for me to say I could.
“
If the police order an evacuation that’s what you’re going to do. Danny, you only have to get as far as Gladstone’s.”
I was dumbfounded by
Randi’s request, but if it was an emergency.
“And Danny,”
“Yeah, Randi?”
“Take care of Elizabeth.
She must be petrified.”
I put the phone down.
Anxiety was etched across Eli’s face.
“Danny?” she asked tentati
vely. “They’re not coming, are they?”
“PCH is closed, Eli.
The police won’t let them in.”
“What are we going to do?” she wailed and burst into a fresh round of tears.
Elizabeth was so vulnerable she really was like my kid sister tonight. The eighteen-month age difference that was usually of little importance was an impassable chasm, a glaring reminder that I was the mature one and had to act it.
“We’ll be fine,” I
said reassuringly. “If we have to evacuate. I can drive.” I took the keys from my pocket to show her.
“You can drive?”
“I don’t have a license, but yeah, I can drive,” I confidently answered. I prayed we wouldn’t have to find out.
Eli looked at me in awe.
“I didn’t know!”
I
grinned. I had just passed an important milestone if you’re a Southern California man – impressing a girl with your car.
“Let’s watch a movie,” I suggested, “Your pick.”
Settled on the sofa for a Harry Potter marathon, our nerves were on alert. Every wind gust, and they were frequent, startled us. With each one came a temporary strengthening of the pungent smell of burning brush, leaving us staring at each other, waiting for the call to evacuate.
Intermittently
, fire engines raced past, interrupting the steady hum of vehicles on the road. Elizabeth looked to me for reassurance and I provided it as best I could.
The back of Professor Quirrel’s head morphing into Lord Voldemorte did n
ot scare either of us anymore. Elizabeth and I had seen this movie so many times. The professor’s head was nearly unwrapped now.
Lights flickered.
The television flashed. Blackout!
“Danny!” Eli
zabeth shrieked, and she grabbed me.
“Shit!”
I reached for the flashlight nestled against my thigh and flicked it on.
“What do we do?”
Elizabeth cried, shaking.
I took a d
eep breath and exhaled slowly. Time to be the adult. Elizabeth was completely dependent. Time to be strong.
“Let’s look outside.”
I wanted to gauge the wind’s direction. The beam from the flashlight guided us to the front door.
The
burning hillsides were an even more fantastic inferno than before. The conflagration appeared closer. Red and orange flames lit up the night sky. An eerie orange haze obscured the nearly full moon. But the wind was not blowing our way!
E
mergency vehicles continued racing northbound. Luxury cars, SUVs and pick-ups with horse trailers attached, all filled with frightened people, their pets and as much cargo as could fit, marched southbound in an orderly double column.
Somewhere north of us, conditions were so bad
evacuations had been ordered. Through it all, nobody noticed two kids staring fearfully at the horizon from the side of the road, armed with nothing more potent than a flashlight.
“The wind’s blowing the fire away from
us,” I said. Elizabeth nodded. It wasn’t clear that she understood. “Eli, we’re safe. Let’s go inside.”
Eli
zabeth followed me like an obedient pet. Inside, I shined the beam on my wristwatch. Ten-thirty. With our adrenaline pumping, we weren’t sleepy.
“Let’s p
lay chess again,” I suggested. “We can see with the flashlight.”
Eli tentatively went along. She was petrified, incapable of decision-making.
Chess was an excellent diversion. Our competitive desires to win took our minds off the inferno. Deep in concentration, we blotted out the chaos.
“Check mate!”
Elizabeth proclaimed, a grin stretching across her face. She had bested me two out of three, and I would never let her know it had been deliberate on my part.
Eli was a good chess p
layer, just not as good as me. We had a lively rivalry, but had I not let her win sometimes, she might have quit. If she kept at it, soon she would beat me honestly, then the fun would begin.
“Great match
,” I said. “Tired?”
“
Maybe,” she yawned.
“Me too.”
I shined the flashlight on my watch. “It’s almost one. We should get to bed.”
“Danny, I’m s
cared. What if we don’t hear the police come when they come?”
“We’ll hear them
. The police will break the door down.”
E
lizabeth started crying again. I folded her into my arms.
“Let’s go upstairs.
If you’re sleeping, you can’t be scared.”
The flashlights guided us up the stairs.
“This way, Eli,” I said, and I led her to my parents’ room. Through the windows we saw the waves breaking at the shoreline. “It’s the biggest bed in the house. We’ll feel more comfortable.”
“
That’s silly,” Elizabeth laughed. “We’re kids.”
“I’m almost fifteen, Eli. I’m not a kid.
I’m a man.”
“You’re a man? Yeah, right.”
Elizabeth laughed.
With the beam from the flashlight focused on my face, she saw I was serious.
“Oh,” she stammered as realization dawned on her. “When did that happen? You’re not dating anyone.”
“It’s
not your business. A gentlemen doesn’t kiss and tell.”
Eli
zabeth was dumbfounded, not knowing what to make of my revelation. I hoped I hadn’t rocked her world too badly.
I opened the sliders and closed the vertical blinds. With the power out, it
was getting uncomfortably warm. This was one of the few weeks each year when even Malibu required air conditioning. The breeze would hopefully cool us, though I doubted the salty ocean tang was strong enough to cover the acrid aroma of the fire.
I had to keep
Elizabeth calm while now being scrutinized. In the soft flashlight glow I studied Eli’s puzzled face as she sat cross-legged on the bed in deep thought.
“I know what you’re doing,” I lay down and propped myself up on my elbow
. In the dim light, Eli’s blush showed. She was embarrassed. “Little wheels in your head are spinning.”
“They are not,”
Eli protested.
“Spin, spin, spin,” I said while twirling my finger against her temple. “You’re trying to remember every place and every person I’ve mentioned all summer,” I laughed.
“Danny! C’mon, tell me. I’m your best friend. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Some things are private, even between best friends.”
“If I were a boy, you’d tell me.”
“Eli…” She was probably right, but I wouldn’t
admit it.
“Do your parents know?”
“Don’t go there, Eli.”
“Steve must know.
But I wouldn’t tell Ellen, either.”
I grabbed the pil
low and playfully swatted her. “Eli, cut it out! I’m never going to tell you so quit badgering me.”
