She Sins at Midnight (16 page)

Lila was speechless. She had become a national laughing stock. Here she had worked so hard to keep her private life private (meaning of course her alias as Jasmine Sheath) and now the whole world was laughing at her anyway. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t overly maligned in the article. She was still the center of the disgusting story.

Bitsy rallied at her daughter’s side, “Darling, there’s nothing you can do but hold the course and keep your head up high. If you don’t give any credence to this trash, the uproar will die down in no time.”

Lila hoped her mom was right. Of course, that was before the phone started to ring; “People Magazine,” “The Globe,” “The Hollywood Reporter,” and on and on and on. Not only the print journalists either, but there were calls from every celebrity based television program from “Entertainment Tonight,” to “Dateline,” to “Celebrity Justice.” Bitsy and Will fielded all the calls and while they tried to be polite, they quickly took to hanging up on people they didn’t know personally.

Once the calls came, the camera crews followed. Lila discovered this by answering the door in her nightgown, but only when the person on the other side professed to be Jilly. That picture ran in another rag the next day under the caption:

Lila thought it was all too surreal to be her life. A week ago, nobody could have cared less who she was and now they couldn’t get enough of her. She felt like Brandi Glanville, famous for no good reason at all.

During the next few days, pictures of Lila began to turn up in every tabloid ever published. She had always thought that her social life was beyond dull, but in every shot the rags had of her she looked like a world class party animal. Most of them were taken at industry events and invariably she had a drink in her hand. All of them, except for one, were mid-expression shots that looked like she had been on a three day bender. One eye shut, mouth slanted to the side like she just suffered a stroke or was possessed by an evil spirit. The one normal photo ran next to one of the others with the caption that read:

Lila’s dad called Amalgamated the day after the infamous pictures ran in “The Inquisitor,” and learned that his daughter’s ten year career with the agency had come to an abrupt end. They claimed, “unseemly behavior” as an excuse to drop the official ax. Will assured them that they could expect a wrongful termination suit, as Lila had guaranteed she had more dirt on Josh than a fresh archeological dig. Lila didn’t want her job back but she did want a settlement package. After all, she got fired through no fault of her own and she felt like Amalgamated owed her for all the public humiliation.

Lila spoke to Cynthia and learned that she left the agency under the shroud of darkness (one o’clock in the morning) and that Lila had a job at Quest if she wanted it. Cyn also took Charlotte with her as her temporary assistant and client. Cyn decided to help the temp’s game show dreams come true. Lila couldn’t imagine ever wanting to go back to Hollywood. So as far as she was concerned, Charlotte could keep the assisting job as well.

There had been no word from Creigh, and in Lila’s opinion, that made him look guiltier than ever. Will kept telling his daughter he was innocent. Every time she heard that, she pulled out the copy of “The Countrywide Inquisitor.” Will’s reply was, “Don’t believe everything you hear and only half of what you see.”

Lila remained adamant that she had seen enough to accurately judge Creigh’s guilt. Not only had
she
seen enough, thanks to the “Countrywide Inquisitor,” everyone else had too.

O
scar Solomon was infuriated by the new round of press that Melinda became embroiled in. He tried to convince himself she was innocent and that the photos had been doctored. Oscar had a hard time believing his soon to be fiancée would strip naked at his attorney’s swimming pool, especially when his attorney was there. Of course, he knew that Melinda preferred to sunbathe in the nude, but he was astounded at her choice to do so in an environment unknown to her. Oscar finally decided that no matter what his gut was telling him, he needed to get behind Melinda and at least pretend he trusted her. His ego simply couldn’t take another public desertion.

After much consideration, Oscar decided that the best way to handle the situation was to go to Bentley himself and stay with Melinda at Creigh’s house. Then, when the people saw them all together, they were bound to believe the press altered the earlier photos to suit their own agenda. He called Robert Felton with his request and then he called Melinda.

R
obert Felton informed Creigh of the latest developments. Lila Montgomery had been let go by Amalgamated and as a result, Melinda and Oscar dismissed their lawsuit against the agency as promised. As far as Creigh was concerned the news was both good and bad. Good, because if Lila ever chose to speak to him again, there was no reason they couldn’t get to know each other better and bad because she no longer had a job. Then Robert let the other shoe drop.

Oscar and Melinda were now suing Lila personally for slander and libel and while they had no better case against her than they had against Amalgamated, they were doing it on the advice of the PR team that the agency hired to get Melinda out of the seedy spotlight in which she had recently been cast. Creigh could see the writing on the wall. The PR firm must have decided the only way to get the stink off of Melinda was to throw it onto Lila. This was not going to aid his efforts in winning her over. As long as he represented Melinda, he would be construed as public enemy number one. Then there was the small sticking point that Lila still thought he was having an affair with the movie star.

Creigh’s head began to pound like the Clydesdales were performing a river dance behind his eyes. He told the senior partner, “Listen Robert, I think it’s time I pull out of the case. Now that Melinda has resolved her complaint with Amalgamated, I’m ready to hand the baton over to you.”

Robert’s response wasn’t the one he wanted, “Easier said than done, Creigh. Part of Oscar’s strategy is to keep you on board as his legal counsel. Thanks to the tabloids, everyone thinks there’s something going on between you and Melinda. His plan is to spend a lot of time with you so that no one will believe that the pictures in ‘The Inquisitor’ are real.”

Creigh explained, “But the pictures in that rag are real. As usual, they just didn’t publish enough of them to tell the whole story.”

“Of course I’m inclined to believe you, but from what I saw, I’m not surprised that nobody else does.”

Exasperated, Creigh responded, “Well, I suppose you might think differently if you saw the shots of me yelling at Melinda. Unfortunately, those aren’t likely to ever see the light of day as they don’t support the soap opera the tabloids are selling.”

Robert inquired, “Why do you care if the world thinks that you’re involved with Melinda? She’s extraordinarily beautiful and any connection to her makes you look like quite a player.”

“Robert, I’ve already told you I want nothing to do with Melinda on any level, personal or professional.” Then something Robert had said hit him, “How exactly does Oscar plan to spend time together with me when I’m in Illinois?” Even as he asked the question, the answer dawned on him, “Robert, tell me he’s not on his way to Bentley.”

The partner answered, “He’s not on his way to Bentley.”

Creigh exhaled loudly, “Now tell me the truth.”

“He’s on his way to Bentley. But that’s not the worst of it.”

Creigh nearly yelled, “Not the worst of it? How could it get any worse?”

Robert replied, “Oscar wants to stay at your house, with Melinda, as your guests. He figures that if he can convince the press you’re all good friends, they’ll start to print conflicting stories to ‘The Inquisitor’s.’”

Creigh shook his head, “How stupid can he be? You know I like Oscar and he’s always been an easy client to work for, but this is just ridiculous. There is no way anyone’s going to fall for this farce.”

“Look Creigh, all I know is that the whole situation has blown up into an enormous mess. I also know that you are the only one who can placate Oscar and the partners are counting on you to do just that. Oscar Solomon is our biggest client and not to put too fine a point on it, we are relying on you to come through for us.”

After Creigh hung up, he started to formulate a plan to resolve the lawsuit and get Lila to realize nothing had ever happened between him and Melinda. A hazy outline started to take shape, but he realized that he’d need the cooperation of several other people for it to work. He picked up the phone to make a very important phone call. “Will, its Creigh. Where and when can we meet? It’s important.”

O
scar called Melinda to let her know he would be arriving in Bentley that evening, and while she wasn’t delighted by the news, his next sentence positively thrilled her. They were going to be staying at Creighton Ashwood’s house, as his guests. This was Melinda’s opportunity to finally get Creigh between the sheets. Once she laid eyes on his palatial estate, she was more than convinced that she wanted a go at him. Vast displays of wealth were not unlike foreplay to Melinda.

Oscar informed Melinda that she should be packed and ready to leave the hotel by ten o’clock that evening. Melinda purred, “But darling, I have a rental car. Why don’t I just pop over and get settled now?”

Angrily, Oscar replied, “Because we’re trying to fix your reputation Melinda and I don’t think spending more time
alone
with Creighton Ashwood is going to do that.”

Melinda did not agree so she pretended that the phone connection was bad and said, “What’s that sweetheart? I didn’t get that. My cell phone reception isn’t very good in the hotel. I’ll just meet you at Creigh’s then. Bye bye.”

Oscar yelled, “Don’t you hang up on me Melinda! I said…” And before he could say anything else, she was gone.

Of course he called her right back but she didn’t answer. She just started throwing her clothes into her suitcase, thrilled that she and her hot lawyer would be alone together for hours and hours before Oscar arrived. She was sure if that fat-assed Lila Montgomery hadn’t interrupted them that day by the pool, she would have successfully seduced Creigh at least once. But then again, if Lila hadn’t shown up, those would have been the pictures splashed across all the tabloids. The thought made her shudder.

J
essica sat in her breakfast nook, sipping a cup of coffee. She recounted the strange and wonderful past couple of days with Jilly and Lila. It was so nice to feel like she finally had friends who knew who she really was and didn’t hold it against her. What surprised her most was that these two women so readily invited her into their lives, even though she had not been a very nice person when they knew her last.

Jessica was very insecure when she was younger. Her parents always told her how proud they were of her because she was so pretty and popular. Jessica grew to believe in order to be loved by them, she needed to achieve the two qualities they treasured.

They never praised her when she got good grades or when she made use of her artistic talents. They were only concerned with her appearance and her popularity. Consequently, Jessica grew up feeling a lot of pressure to be everything her parents expected her to be. Every time she felt someone else encroaching on her rank as class ruler, she would make up a rumor or nickname for them that would inevitably cast them down a rung or two on the ladder of social success. Jessica knew the other kids in her class were afraid of her and even though that bothered her, it didn’t worry her as much as losing her parent’s thready interest.

The real reason Jessica didn’t leave Charles right after the marriage was because her mother was so impressed that she had married a man like him in the first place. He was everything that Astor Bowman valued in a spouse. He was handsome, rich and very condescending. Her mother did not prize fidelity, gentleness and love, as those were qualities she knew nothing about.

Jessica often thought of her parents and wished that her unhappy marriage was something she could have confided in them, but of course they were living in Austria and had been for the last seven years. She had only seen them once in all that time and that was for her wedding.

Jessica had always been close to her mother’s sister Bess. Aunt Bess tried to get her to open up and talk about what was troubling her. Bess was actually one of the reasons she finally decided to leave Charles. Her aunt visited her two months earlier in Chapel Hill to tell her she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. She explained that the cancer was too far advanced for surgery or chemo and she wanted Jessica to know that she was leaving her entire estate to her. The money would remain in the hands of her estate agent until Jessica requested the transfer. Bess told her this so if she felt that her marital situation might be about to change, she wouldn’t have to share her inheritance, nor would she have to worry about how she was going to take care of herself.

Bess died three weeks later leaving Jessica shattered. She now realized two more people had entered her life to fill Aunt Bess’s shoes and she felt very, very blessed.

The telephone interrupted Jessica’s reverie, “Hello, this is Jessica.”

“Jessica, its Creighton Ashwood. Please don’t hang up.”

Jessica didn’t hang up, nor did she speak at all.

“I know you think I’m messing around with Melinda and I would like a chance to prove to you that I’m not. I’ll need your help though.”

“My help? Why in heaven’s name would I want to help you?”

“Listen, Jessica, I’m with Lila’s father right now and we want to stop by and talk to you for a few minutes.” He added, “No one loves Lila as much as her dad, so if you won’t do it for me, please do it for him.”

Jessica reluctantly agreed and told Creigh that she would expect them in a few minutes.