Sugar Valley (Hollywood's Darkest Secret) (50 page)

Another movie star listened in on their
conversation, with Jose suddenly asking, “What do you mean?”

“You see, normally we choose the co-star and
star actors for the movie before the auditions begin. That is, the
auditions from people off the streets, the people who haven’t
really been in movies. Once we choose an actor from that audition,
we keep that actor for insurance, just in case the main actor gets
sick or quits. To make it all less confusing and more
understandable, we already choose an actor before the auditions
begin. So now, that means, that we don’t have an actor yet, and the
auditions are next week. At least that’s the way we do it, I don’t
know about other directors. Damn, my brother is going to be pissed
at me.” Dennis went silent, paused for a moment, and took out some
aspirins, popping them in his mouth, one by one and washing them
down with his drink.

“Why is he going to be pissed?” asked Jose as
Julienne sat back and allowed him to finish plan two. She just sat
there, and watched the entertainment brought on by them, just like
Maria, back in Sugar Valley, sitting and fishing, watching the
entertainment brought on by the boys.

“Because I already told my brother I found an
actor. Now what?”

Julienne then broke into the conversation,
knowing it was her time to, and stated, “Well, Jose would be happy
to act in your movie. I mean, Jose is used to being in movies with
action in them, but I think he would like doing a drama for a
change.”

Jose then placed his eyes up, and watched the
hall for a moment, looking and gazing at the people as they ate,
when out of nowhere, his eyes focused on Darell’s body, seeing him
across the room.

Dennis viewed Jose’s face, gave a smile, and
liked what he saw. “What movies have you been in?”

Julienne began speaking before Jose even
heard the question. She said, “Oh, he’s been in movies ranging from
‘Justice,’ ‘The English Kicker,’ and ‘Sawyer.’ All of those movies
were made in Britain. I don’t think you’ve heard or seen those yet.
Have you?”

Jose watched Darell sit at a table marked
“Number 1” while listening to Julienne lie at the same time.

Dennis thought about it, responding with a
white lie, “Yes, I believe so.”

“Well, there you have it. If you don’t want
Henry to be mad at you, you better choose an actor fast. Jose is
the man for the job,” Julienne explained in a salesman’s voice; she
talked fast and tried to sell Jose to Dennis.

“I don’t know. Jose, would you be interested
in acting in my film?” Dennis was ready and willing to buy Jose
right there at the dinner table. All the movie stars and people
sitting at their table were waiting for an answer from Jose, as
Julienne knew her sales pitch worked, once again.

“Well, sure, after all, I am friends with
Darell also,” Jose replied; he knew if he said he was friends with
Darell again, it would make Dennis even more satisfied.

“That’s right, thank God. Are you able to
show up at my office on January 4? That’s when I’ll give you a
quick screen test.”

Jose grabbed onto Julienne’s hand, squeezed
it like a ripe orange, and questioned in excitement, “You mean an
audition?”

“Yeah, you can say that. I’m just gonna give
you a few lines to read from the script and a few other things to
do. Do we have a deal for now?” Dennis put his hand out in the air
toward Jose.

Jose grabbed onto his hanging hand, grasped
it with happiness, responding, “Yes, most definitely.”

“Alright, I’ll contact Julienne in the middle
of the week. That’s when I’ll bring over the contracts for you to
fill out. It’s probably going to be the day after your screen test,
or else I’ll just give the contracts to you on your screen test
day,” Dennis said, while Julienne pulled her hand away from Jose’s
grip and watched it turn from blue to peach in a matter of seconds.
“This is a lot easier and more convenient for me now,” he added in
a happy tone, seeing that the third course came to their table.

Julienne sipped her wine and smiled at Jose,
asking Dennis, “What do you mean?”

He explained, “Well, before I was going to
have to contact Damen. You see, I don’t know where Damen lives. I
mean, I gave him my card and told him to contact me, but that was
before I realized that I definitely wanted him for this part. I
mean, if I knew then what I know now, I would have ripped up that
card and threw Damen out of that cafeteria. You know how this
business is, Julienne, timing means everything. At least now I have
a negotiation in progress.” Suddenly, the lights in the room slowly
turned off, disappeared, and darkness took over the hall.

“What’s happening? Why did the lights go
off?” Jose asked.

“Oh, the director and cast of characters are
going to be introduced now. After that, all we have is dessert to
eat and we go home,” Julienne replied in a low tone as a spotlight
came on.

“Could I stay at your place tonight? I want
to celebrate after this.” Julienne looked at him with positive
eyes, it was like she was trying to give her answer through the
darkness of her pupils.

She kissed him once, and kissed him twice,
and then kissed him again, while saying, “Of course you can. As a
matter of fact, you can stay there as long as you want.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“I’m nervous, Tom,” Darell said to Mr. Fryer
as the spotlight moved closer to him. Darell watched through the
darkness as the circular beam of light stopped right next to him
and shined on the person whom he sat next to, feeling the pulsating
heat from the light and the sweat that the heat brought to him.

“What are you nervous for? All you have to do
is stand up and wave when you hear your name,” Mr. Fryer whispered,
watching as the Master of Ceremonies introduced the director.

Watching that spotlight, like its heat was
too unbearable for human flesh, Darell perceived it, knowing that
it would be his turn soon to get up and have the light on his
silhouette. He was nervous, he didn’t know what to say, how to act,
how to smile, words he should keep to himself, and who to thank
once the spotlight hit him; his mind was flustered with dialogues
of panic. He then turned to Tom, who sat on the side of him, and
questioned, “By the way, when is that director coming with the
contract for that February movie?” Before Tom could even
acknowledge that he heard his question, the spotlight came upon
Darell, shining its brightness to the point of blindness. He stood
up and began waving to the people at the dinner, and then sat down
immodestly, and immediately, to finish his question to Mr. Fryer;
before he sat down completely, the Master of Ceremonies stopped him
from touching his seat.

“Darell, would you like to say a few words?
After all, you are the star tonight,” the M.C. asked.

Darell looked at Mr. Fryer in a nervous way,
not knowing what to do, how to do it, or even what to say. “What
should I do?” Darell asked in a low and shaky voice to Tom, seeing
that everyone was waiting for him to give his speech. His nerves
caused him to begin shaking his left foot and biting his nails a
bit.

Tom turned to him, smiled and whispered,
“Tell them what you’re feeling tonight. After all, he’s right, you
are the star.” Darell wiped the sweat off his face, due to the
spotlight heat reflecting off his image, and just gazed at Tom’s
eyes, hoping that he would say some other words of encouragement;
he didn’t.

Darell lingered his head toward the audience
and then looked back at Mr. Fryer, slowly beginning to get up as he
stopped biting his nails. He stood straight up and looked at the
audience in a frightened way, it was as if the audience was there
to kill him. He tried to imagine the audience naked so he could
laugh and feel comfortable, but the spotlight shot directly on his
face and caused him to see nothing but darkness.

He looked straight in the darkness and said
in a nervous manner, “Um, um, well, I’d like to thank the director,
Mr. Cannon, for choosing me for this particular film.” He looked
down at the ground and began rubbing his eyes. Darell looked up
again and added, “Um, I would like to thank the producers,
particularly Henry Schultz, who isn’t here yet, for doing a
wonderful job at co-producing this film. Um, I would also like to
thank my small group of fans, that’s if I have any.” Directly after
he said his last comment, the audience started laughing, they
thought Darell was kidding. While the crowd was laughing, Darell
looked deeper into the room, thinking to himself, My God, movie
stars are actually here for me...

A smile commenced to erect on Darell’s face,
a smile that meant he’d finally made it. The crowd’s laughter
became silent once again and Darell saw something in his mind,
something that he’s been waiting for a long time to see; he saw his
dream become reality. The red carpet, the cameras, the media asking
him questions, and fans: these things were Darell’s main ambitions
in Hollywood and throughout his life. Yet, he realized that this
wasn’t the Academy Awards, that was the only thing missing. But he
said to himself, “Well, it’s close to the Oscars.” Mr. Fryer hit
him lightly on the leg and knocked Darell from his thoughts. Darell
looked down at him and asked, “What is it?”

Tom pointed to himself, responding with,
“Aren’t you forgetting someone to thank?”

“Oh, and I would like to thank my agent, Tom
Fryer, he’s the one that helped open the door to Hollywood, and I
hope that door stays opened for a long time,” Darell announced,
hearing the audience’s laughter starting up again. He then sat back
down, saw the spotlight end its aura, and watched as the hall
lights came back on. The audience went back to eating while
Darell’s entire table poured themselves some champagne at the same
time. Mr. Cannon got up from his chair and spilt a little bit of
champagne on his tuxedo, but still he smiled at his accident and
tapped a spoon at his glass, announcing he was ready to make a
toast, in a very drunken way.

“I’d like to make a toast to Darell, and all
the other persons who helped make this film. I’d like to make a
toast to this film: may it do well at the box office and may it
make a lot of money for us,” Mr. Cannon said; everyone at the table
giggled at his remark. Henry Schultz approached the table in a
speedy fashion and sat down next to Darell inconspicuously. He
poured himself some champagne, to fit in with the rest of the
table, and watched as Mr. Cannon sat down in his seat after hitting
his glass with the persons next to him. Mr. Schultz got up and
announced another toast, handing Tom Fryer a contract for the
February movie.

“Hello, my name is Henry Schultz, I
co-produced this film,” he announced.

Mr. Cannon cut him off, stopped his speech
and laughed, “We know who you are, Henry, everyone does.”

“That’s right,” Henry agreed, returned a
laugh to Mr. Cannon. “I’m going to direct a movie with my brother
Dennis, Darell is going to have the star role in it. That’s why I’m
making a toast to Darell, may he become the next John Smitherson.”
Everyone hit their glasses lightly against others, staring at
Darell and smiling; this was his night to shine.

Mr. Schultz sat down and started discussing
the contract with Darell and Mr. Fryer. Darell took out his golden
pen and waited patiently to sign the document; the document that
was worth 2.5 million dollars. After Henry explained everything,
Darell took his pen cap off and signed his first name on the sheet.
He began to sign his last name when he paused in the middle of it,
looked at Henry’s handsome face, and asked, “I know this is a
stupid question, but after I worked with my co-star on this past
movie, I learned that she was a jerk. So, I was wondering, who’s my
co-star gonna be?”

Tom looked at him, looking at Henry, and
questioned with shock, “What?”

“I mean, I was just wondering.”

Mr. Fryer looked at him in a crazy manner, he
just wanted Darell to sign the sheet and ask questions later.

“Just sign it,” Mr. Fryer said; he was ready
to sign it for him.

Tom just stared at Darell’s half-written
signature, with Henry explaining, “No, no, it’s alright. After all,
you are going to be working on this film for about seven months.
So, you have a right to know.” He then took a swig of his wine
glass, watching Tom look at the contract, showing a pathetic look
on his face, and added, “His name is Damen Schultz, my brother
discovered him.”

Darell’s face formed a huge smile, asking,
“What? You’re kidding me, right?”

“No, his name is Damen Schultz. He’s the one
we chose for the co-star role. My brother didn’t even give him an
audition, but he says that Damen is one of a kind and a good actor.
Why, do you know him?” Henry asked, noticing that Darell finished
signing his last name already.

“Yeah, he’s one of my best friends.”

Tom gawked at Henry with discreet and nervous
eyes, thinking back when Damen found him assaulting Vivian. He
drank his champagne fast, thoughts appeared rakishly tormenting,
and his mind flustered with plans after plans, trying to obey his
thoughts and cater to their anguishing pain. But he couldn’t, the
thoughts spun out of control. No, if Damen gets this part, then
he’ll have the power and the guts to tell the media on me and my
little incident with Vivian. Everyone believes a celebrity...

He finished his champagne and asked out loud
to Darell and Henry, “Do think it’s a good idea working with such a
close friend?”

Darell responded, “What are you talking
about? Of course it’s a good idea, this way I’ll be comfortable and
act much better.”

Before Tom could defend his question and
change their minds about Damen, Dennis approached the table and sat
down. Henry shook his hand, turned to Darell and said, “I’d like to
introduce my brother. This is Dennis.” Dennis shook Darell’s hand.
He was ready to shake Mr. Fryer’s hand when Henry stopped him from
doing it. He whispered in Dennis’ ear, “This is that scum of an
agent I was telling you about...”