Swan (34 page)

The beauty of the woman was astounding.

Taking the microphone from Whoopi, and clutching the
gold statuette in her hand, she addressed the auditorium: ‘You know, Chet
winning this is so monumental. During his life, the one thing he always wanted
was an Oscar. It was his Holy Grail, his impossible dream and now ... now that
dream has finally been realised. Sadly, he isn’t here to ...’ Her voice started
to break. Whoopi helped to steady her. Biting back tears, Maria managed to
continue, ‘you know, it’s funny. I feel like Chet’s here, in this very room.
Everywhere. I feel his energy, his vibrancy, his creativity. He has left us an
enduring legacy that will live on in every single one of us. And I know, if he
were here with us tonight, he’d say thank you to everyone that helped to make
his dream come true. So, on behalf of Chet Vincent, the love of my life ...
thank you all. And, more importantly, thank you to the fans, who I know will
continue to keep his flame burning. Chet, you’re a legend. I love you.’

The crowd stamped and applauded. Some stood, wiped
away tears. A gentle smile played on Maria’s exquisite lips. However, I could
detect a steely determination behind her glacial eyes. Was she really in
mourning, or just a brilliant actress? It was hard to tell.

Then suddenly, a voice rang out above the applause.
A loud, clear voice. A familiar voice. ‘That was brilliant, kid! Absolutely
brilliant. You almost fooled me. Almost, but not quite.’

A deadly hush descended over the room. Suddenly, the
camera cut to a scruffy-looking man rushing towards the stage. Whoopi frowned
and muttered something inaudible.

A look of confusion spread across Maria’s face. Ted
turned to her and mouthed, ‘What the hell ...?’

Then, the camera cut back to the man, who I now saw
to be none other than David Powell!

Alice started tugging my sleeve like she needed to
go pee or something. ‘Oh my God, Maddy! That’s the guy from the tunnel, isn’t
it? The guy who saved us! Oh wow.’

I didn’t answer. My heart was in my mouth. The blood
had frozen in my veins. I was hypnotised by what was unfolding on screen.

Taking the microphone from Maria, David threw a
folksy arm around Ted’s shoulder and addressed the audience. ‘Do you know who
this guy is? Well, if you don’t, I’ll tell you. His name is Ted Cohen and he’s
a big-shot agent. Did anyone know that Ted not only manages Chet Vincent’s
affairs but also this lovely lady here, Maria Esposito?’

There were mumbles of indignation from the crowd.

Ted looked constipated. Clearly, he wanted to
emancipate himself from David’s vice-like grip.

David smiled broadly. A white, toothy smile.
So, he’s put the veneers back in
, I
thought.

He turned back to Maria. ‘This lady’s the one who
truly deserves the Oscar. She just put on the performance of her life,
pretending to be sorry about her fiancé’s death.’

Maria let out a little shriek of rage, folded her
arms.

David went on. His tone was laced with sarcasm.
‘Yeah, Maria’s really sorry about Chet’s death. So sorry that she had to screw
Ted in her fiancé’s bed the week after he died. Nice to know that you and Chet’s
love had such “an enduring legacy.”’ He spoke the last words with contempt.

Whoopi covered her mouth with her hand. ‘Damn, girl!
That is so wrong.’

‘None of this is true!’ Maria protested. ‘This man’s
crazy. I mean, who the hell is he anyway? He doesn’t know me, he doesn’t know
Ted ...’

‘That’s where you’re wrong.’ Frantically, David tore
away the mask to reveal his true face.

The room went pin-drop quiet. Somebody screamed,
somebody fainted. Whoopi was shaking her head, wide-eyed, murmuring what looked
like silent prayers. Maria almost passed out.

After a minute-long eternity, Chet snatched the
statuette from Maria’s trembling fingers and stared directly into the camera.
There was a look of triumph on his face. A devilish gleam in his eyes.

‘As you can see, Chet Vincent is very much alive.
You know, winning this is so ironic. I’ll never know for sure if my performance
was genuinely Oscar worthy, or if you guys just felt sorry for me.’ He laughed
bitterly. ‘Anyway, I could waste time giving you all some phoney acceptance
speech, but I’ve got more important things on my mind. I wanna tell you a
story. A story so incredible, it reads like a Hollywood movie script. This
story concerns a highly successful actor. A charming, devastatingly handsome
actor who, at the age of forty has everything he could want except for one
thing – an Oscar. This guy has spent years bustin’ his ass, taking on
every role he can get, trying to prove himself to this academy. Trying to prove
he has what it takes to be up there with the greats ... Brando, De Niro, Penn.
After a while, a guy can get sick of trying, so this actor decides to fake his
own death to see if it will bring him posthumous Oscar glory.’

At this point, Whoopi started walking off stage,
shaking her head.

‘Man, this is some crazy shit. Where’s my agent? I
didn’t sign up for
Punk’d
.’

[E15]
 
Chet continued: ‘After the media storm has calmed, the actor resurfaces
on the other side of the world. In somewhere few people would think to look for
him. A place in the UK called Blackwall. It is almost like he is reborn. He
takes on a new identity, becomes a different person: a person who is a world
away from the hotshot celebrity everyone knows him to be. It will be his career
defining performance.’ Chet paused for breath, cleared his throat. ‘After a
while, he starts to see his old life for the shallow bullshit it was. He sees
the bloodsuckers and the hangers-on and realises just how unhappy he was. This
actor starts to enjoy his newfound anonymity; enjoys the fact that he is now
free to do exactly as he chooses. He can sleep with women without worrying
they’ll sell him out for a fast buck. He can go to dinner without the paparazzi
tailing him. He can make a fresh start. And now this brings me to what I really
want to talk to you about ...’

‘What’s he doing?’ Alice gasped. ‘Oh my God!’

‘Shut up!’ Margery snapped. ‘I can’t bloody hear
what he’s saying.’

Chet felt around in his jacket pocket and produced a
crumpled photograph – of me! The camera zoomed in on a close-up, and I
saw it was one of the ones he had taken of me in his living room.

Everybody in the room around me froze. Looked at me.
Gasped. I bit down on my lip. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t function. The screen
transfixed me.

Chet pressed my photo gently to his lips. ‘Ladies
and gentlemen, this woman is very special to me. Her name is Madeline Smith, and
I met her while I was living in the UK. She is a smart, beautiful, vibrant,
sexy woman. And the best cook I’ve ever known. She makes me laugh, she makes me
smile, she picks me up when I’m down and most of all ... she keeps it real.
Madeline, if you’re watching this, I want to let you know that I love you. I
want the world to know. And ... will you marry me?’

I could have died.

Margery turned to stone. Her eyes locked with mine,
a look of shock, rage and envy combined.

Alice let out a shrill cry and threw her arms around
me. ‘Oh my God, oh my God! Maddy, he proposed to you. Chet Vincent just
proposed to you!’

Jaiman shook his head. It was like he was in a
trance. He just kept looking from the TV to me and then back again, trying to
fathom what he’d just seen.

Alice stared at me for a moment. Studied my face.
Then, her eyes widened and she started jumping up and down erratically. ‘Oh my
God, oh my God, the baby, the baby!’

‘What baby?’ Caroline frowned.

‘Maddy, the baby - your baby ... it’s Chet’s, isn’t
it?’

‘You go, girl!’ Rodney squealed.

I buried my face in my hands. My heart was beating
so fast I thought it’d shoot out my chest. It was all too much for me. Totally
unreal. A dream come true.

Wikipedia

Chet Vincent
(born November
25, 1970) is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He
is best known for playing offbeat, eccentric characters such as Corey Turnbull
in
American Boy
, Reith Winchester in
The Chronicles of Sherlock Holmes
and
Jett Starr in
Intergalactic
. In the
industry he is nicknamed the “chameleon” for
his brand of
method acting which includes employing whatever extreme tactic he feels is
necessary to achieve the most authentic performance. For example, during the
filming of
Adelaide in Paris,
he
learnt to speak fluent French
.

Vincent rose to prominence in the mid ‘80s in the teen dramas
My Brother Daryl
(1984) and
The Boyfriend
(1986). He became
something of a matinee idol and soon started attracting a variety of leading
roles in films such as
The Long Summer
(1989)
Grace is Getting Married
(1991) and
Johnny Come Lately
(1995)
where he first teamed with long-term collaborator Robert Levy.

Films featuring Vincent have
grossed
over $3 billion at
the United States box office and over $7 billion worldwide. Nominated for the
Screen Actors
Guild Awards
three times and
Golden Globe Awards
six times, his personal fortune is estimated at over $200 million. Vincent's
humanitarian work includes his advocacy of finding a resolution for the
Darfur conflict
, raising funds for
9/11
victims, and creating documentaries to raise awareness about
international crises.

Controversy

On
Sunday February 27
^th
Chet Vincent was arrested outside the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood
and questioned by police for allegedly faking his own death. He has since been
released without charge but is currently embroiled in numerous legal battles
with his former sponsors
Pepsi, Martini
and Omega
. Vincent is also being sued by the actress
Maria Esposito and his former agent Ted Cohen for defamation of character. To
date, Vincent’s Oscar acceptance speech in which he appears to confess to
faking his own death holds the record for the highest rated US television
broadcast of all time with more than 4 billion viewers worldwide.

Personal Life

Chet Vincent is married to Hollywood screenwriter Madeline Smith.
They have a son, David.