Impossible Glamour (25 page)

I walked out into the brilliant sunlit Los Angeles day with a weight in my gut, a sadness in my chest. No. No this wasn’t the only thing I wanted. My desires had changed and I wanted something else…someone else. I slipped on my sunglasses and pulled my phone from my bag. No e-mails. No texts. No calls. I hit my contact list, and for the millionth time in the past two weeks, my finger hovered above the green button on my phone which would ring Webber. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t be this selfish. I wouldn’t be this selfish. I’d made a promise to Daddy and I’d made that promise because I couldn’t be the reason for Webber’s banishment from the Industry that I loathed but he loved. No. I put my phone back into my bag, my heart heavy with all that I’d attained and all that I could never have.

Webber

“What the hell is wrong with you, man?”

I looked up from my computer screen. I’d reread the last line a dozen times and still didn’t comprehend the contract for a client that I’d been trying to read before sending the document to him to sign. My mojo was lost.

“Dillon, bro, what’s going on? We meeting today?”

He walked over and gave me a manshake and a pat on the back.

“Dude, I’ve been on your call sheet for two days. That’s not like you?”

My call sheet was out of control. I had like two hundred calls to return and a couple to my top clients. Not good. Not good at all. I returned calls. I returned them fast, one of the things my clients loved was that I was always there for them. Always.

Dillon looked around my new partnership digs with the wall of windows and the plush interior.

“Nice digs, man.” He walked toward the windows and looked out at the view, then settled onto the couch. “Your mom okay?”

I nodded. “Actually, she’s doing pretty good. You heard about the slug fest?”

Dillon nodded. “No wonder you’re so tough.”

“She wasn’t ever that way before she got sick. Tough lady, yes, but never a bantamweight contender before now.” My joke fell flat. There was no feeling behind my humor anymore. No real desire to make anyone else laugh, because the laughter in my soul was dead. Gone forever, I guessed. Abandoned ship when I lost Ellen.

Dillon relaxed onto the sofa in my office. His gaze locked onto me. “So what are you going to do about the problem?”

“Problem?” My belly jolted. I stood and walked to the chair across from the couch. I sat across from Dillon. “What problem?”

“The Ellen problem.”

My jaw dropped open. Ellen and I hadn’t discussed our relationship with anyone, but of course her close circle of family and friends, which also happened to be the biggest portion of my client list, knew the dealio about us. How could they not? We thought we’d been sly, but obviously not sly enough.

“Dude…” I stopped talking. What the hell could I say? There was nothing to say. I sighed. “She made it pretty clear she doesn’t want to hear from me.”

“Right.” Dillon eased back against the cushions of the couch. “And that’s enough for you?”

“Dillon, man, not everyone gets the fairy-tale happy ending like you and Lane.”

“Do you know why she sent you that text?”

“I have my suspicions.”

“And they are?”

“Daddy-o got to her. Threatened to take away her life, shut her out. Hasn’t he pulled that stunt with all his kids?”

Dillon nodded. “I think so. Did it with every one of them. Ellen was the last. Jeez, hope I’m never that big of an asshole of a father.”

“Well, you’re not sporting two families at once, so pretty good so far.”

Dillon smiled at my comment. I didn’t have a smile to give back to him.

“Wasn’t just about her,” Dillon said. “That text, from what I know, was also about saving you.”

My heart jolted. “What the hell?”

“He was going to pulverize you. Make an example. You know, her promise got you these swank digs.”

I closed my eyes. Of course. I’d guessed that Ellen had caved to Steve’s pressure for her own benefit but hadn’t figured out that not only had she saved herself but she’d negotiated on my behalf.

“That doesn’t work for me.”

“I knew it wouldn’t,” Dillon said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. He’s been good to me, good to my career, but dude, I’m not down with blackmail.” He shook his head and a grin covered his face. “Especially where true love is concerned.”

The old Webzie would have raked Dillon over the coals for such a sad-sap comment. But I wouldn’t, not now, not ever again, because I knew for a fact that while it might be a man’s world, my world wasn’t anything without a certain woman in it.

I jumped from the chair. “I gotta go.”

Dillon nodded. “Godspeed, my brother. This won’t be good.”

“Nope,” I said. “But it will definitely be worth it.” I grabbed my jacket and my keys and hustled to the door.

“Yo, Webz.”

I turned to my client and my friend. “Dude, I’ve talked to the guys—Trick, and Ryan—and no matter what Steve thinks he can do to you? We’re not leaving. Got it? We’re with you, no matter what Steve Legend decides.”

Damn. Dillon couldn’t have changed my mind even if he’d told me he was leaving my ass and signing with a new agent, but these words, this loyalty, bolstered me. Made me feel gladiator strong.

“Thanks, Dillon.”

“Dude, us female-whipped fellas got to stand strong, because there isn’t anything sweeter than true love.”

*

I found Steve lounging poolside. He was reading scripts, old school, paper and printed words. I kept on my sunglasses and sat down on the chair across from him.

“Webber.” His voice was cool. His gaze met mine. “Congratulations on your promotion. I hear you’re the newest partner at CTA.”

“I am.” I pulled at the knot of my tie and leaned back in the chair. “For now.”

Steve’s eyebrow bounced up and his eyes narrowed.

“Not certain what will go down after we talk.”

“Then let’s not talk,” Steve said, his voice cool with a warning tone.

“Oh, we’re going to talk. In fact, Steve, we should have talked weeks ago. Actually, it was seventeen days, sixteen hours, and thirty-three minutes ago that we should have talked.”

The color drained from Steve’s face. Oh yeah. Booyah. I was on a roll and I was going to get through this conversation with Steve and then find my love.

“Webber, you are treading in dangerous territory.”

“Am I? I am. You’re right. Because when love is involved, it’s always dangerous. At least I know that now.” I leaned forward and clasped my hands together. “Here’s the thing, Steve. I love Ellen and she loves me.”

“Ha! Really, Webber? You think my daughter would fall in love with someone like you? My Ellen? She’s a bit too smart for that.”

“She is smart, Steve. Smarter than you or I or any of us in the biz will ever be, but she does love me, and I love her and I intend to marry her. Soon. Now. Today if she’d let me.”

His face flamed red, and I could feel that a roar was building in his chest. I braced myself for the onslaught of words, the temper, the rage. Hell, the guy might actually beat the living shit out of me. He was a cardiac patient, so I guessed I could run faster than him…which seriously in about thirty seconds I might have to do.

“Webber, you are not marrying my daughter. Get this through your thick skull. If she loved you even half as much as you think she does, she wouldn’t have shucked you and that fuckfest you convinced her was a relationship for a letter of recommendation from Kazowski and a top-tier surgical residency.”

My heart pounded. Was that the deal Ellen struck? Maybe she hadn’t been nearly as altruistic as Dillon said? Was I totally screwing her future by having this conversation with Steve?

Nope. No. Way.

“Not buying what you’re selling. There is no way my Ellen, the Ellen I love, would ever, ever,
ever
let you buy her spot. On my behalf? Maybe, yes, because I love her and she loves me. But not for herself. Because Steve, Ellen just isn’t built that way.”

“Webber, you’re going to be very sorry. I’ll do anything I can to keep Ellen away from you. And I mean anything.”

I stood. I’d said my piece and he’d said his. I leaned forward and planted my palms on the table. “Bring it, Steve-o, because Ellen Legend is mine.”

Webber out.

Ellen

Drummond looked like I felt. He moped around the town house with his head hung low and his ears droopy.

“You miss Agnes, don’t you buddy?” I patted my bed and he jumped up and settled onto my lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face into his fur. “I know. I miss them too. I really, really miss them.” The lump that’d been lodged in my throat for weeks grew bigger and the heat in my eyes that I kept fighting claimed my tear ducts. The tears streamed down my face.

Drummond whined and turned and began licking my face.

“Buddy, don’t,” I said and gave him another big hug.

He stood and his tail started to wag. Another whine. He jumped from my bed.
Woof!

I stood and opened the door. So much for comfort from my pup. I walked to the mirror and ran my fingertips under my eyes. This had to stop. The feeling sorry for myself. The waterworks. The brick of sadness lodged in my gut. I pressed my lips together and the tears nearly started again.

Downstairs, the front door opened and closed. Drummond barked and barked again.

“Sophia?” I called. She and Trick were supposed to be in San Francisco, but with their schedule I didn’t ever really know where they were.

Drummond raced into my room, bouncy and barking, and turned toward the door. Racing right behind him was
Agnes.

My heart jolted in my chest. Oh no. No, no, no, no. If Daddy found out that I’d seen Webber, then his career was dead. Pulverized. Annihilated. What was Webber thinking?

I glanced in the mirror, swallowed, and then headed toward my bedroom door.

I stopped.

Webber stood just inside my room.

My breath hitched in my chest.

My words froze in my throat.

The tears dropped from my eyes.

“What are you doing here?” My voice shook. “You can’t be here, you can’t—”

“Babe.”

Webber walked toward me, but I backed away from him, dodging his outstretched arms.

“No, you have to go! You have to go now.” Rational thought was gone. Vanished. I wanted Webber but I wanted Webber happy more than I wanted him. His happiness, his success, his career, I could endure all this pain if Webber would be happy.

“Ellen, stop.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked up at him. Through my tears I saw the love on his face, the joy in seeing me, the sadness in witnessing my tears.

“You’re mine.”

I shook my head. I closed my eyes. I couldn’t let this happen, I wouldn’t let this happen, I—

“I love you,” Webber continued in a soft voice. “You love me. And we are meant to be together.”

“Webber, I can’t. Not with Daddy and what he said. No, you have to leave. Daddy will—”

“Fuck your dad,” Webber said, his voice calm and strong and clear. “I spoke to your father, and I don’t give a flying f about what Steve-o does or doesn’t do. I told him to bring it, because I don’t care if I end up hawking used cars in Van Nuys, I’m not leaving you.”

“Webber—”

“No, Ellen, let me make this really clear. Partner, client list, making movies, all of it means nothing without you in my life.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded with a brilliant smile on his face.

My heart filled with warmth. The tears in my eyes cleared. A smile spread over my face. “You just made me the happiest girl in the world.”

“I mean, you are getting the most ungettable man in Hollywood.” Webber moved in and pulled me close. “You know who missed you even more than I did?”

I bit my lower lip and shook my head. Here came the classic inappropriate sexual Webber line. I could already feel against my hip how much I’d been missed by Big Boy, but I’d let Webber have his fun, because part of what I loved were his jokes. His horrible, awful, inappropriate jokes.

“Who,” I asked and tilted my head.

“Agnes, babe,” Webber said and pressed his head to mine. “Agnes.”

“I’m shocked, Webber, thought you’d go much lower than that.”

“Babe, I mean, of course Big Boy did too, but—”

“Kiss me, Webber.”

“Babe, I promise you will never have to ask me twice.”

Webber

Two days later, I sat in the family room of Steve Legend’s home, a place I’d never thought I’d enter again. Hell, if not for Dillon’s words and the rest of the A-list crew, I would have already started looking for that car salesman job in Van Nuys.

Mamacita Delgado and Steve sat side by side on the giant couch, Ellen and I across from them. Awkward hellos and a hug from Ellen’s mom were how far we’d gotten. I settled into the chair opposite Steve. Ellen reached out and clasped my hand. Steve’s gaze went from our fingertips touching to shooting me with a look that really might kill.

“Daddy has something he wishes to say to you both.” Ellen’s mom clasped her hands on her lap, and while there was a smile on her lips there was steel in her eyes.

Yowza! Note to never cross Ellen’s mamacita. If I thought Steve-o looked tough, he had nada on Ms. Delgado.

“Steve?” She elbowed him in the ribs and her eyebrow lifted.

Steve’s nostrils flared but he nodded and looked from her to us.

“Ellen, I love you. I will always love you, and if this ass—”

Another sharp jab to the ribs.

Steve cleared his throat. “If Webber makes you happy, then your mother and I are happy.” His gaze hardened and he turned his cold stare to me. “I…we give you our blessing.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” Ellen jumped up and wrapped her arms around Steve’s neck.

I knew he wasn’t a complete douche because his eyes reddened like he might cry and he wrapped his arms around Ellen. Damn, Steve did love his kids. No matter how completely inappropriate he might be in how he expressed his love for them, he did love them.