The Bad Twin (20 page)

She decided to take a long bath. She sighed with relief, because she had missed being in her own tub. After she soaked for a while, she went directly to bed.  She woke up the next morning to the ringing of her cell phone. She scrambled to locate it; she didn’t unpack anything when she arrived home the night before. By the time she found her phone at the bottom of her purse, the caller had hung up.  The number showed unavailable, and when the phone rang at her home, she figured it was the same person.

“This better be good. It’s eight o’clock in the morning and some of us are trying to sleep.”

“And hello to you too.”

“Oh, sorry Carmen. I thought it was some telemarketer or worse a reporter.” She tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

“I heard about the overzealous photographer at the airport from the limousine company this morning. I wanted to make sure nothing else happened.”

“I’m fine. You know I’m an expert now when dealing with unruly photographers.”

Carmen laughed. “I wouldn’t go that far. A few are still trying to sue you for kicking them in the nuts.”

“How am I supposed to know that they aren’t trying to attack me? It was all done in self-defense.” Rose was fully awake now.

“Sure. You better hope the judge is a female, because a male judge won’t take too lightly to hurting of the balls.”

Rose laughed until her side hurt. “I haven’t laughed this hard in a long time. I don’t mind you waking me up now.”

They continued with their light conversation and Carmen reminded her of her interview and photo shoot with a popular fashion magazine. “Don’t be late.”

“I won’t. I’m getting better on the time now.”

They hung up and Rose began her day.  The first thing on her itinerary to do was to contact her hairdresser. She was in need of an emergency perm. After making her hair appointment, she called and made appointments for her feet and hands. Everyone showed up in record time.  While sitting under the dryer, she meditated. Her mind was full of thoughts of her mother and sister and her career.

 Sometimes no matter how hard she tried to mask her feelings, the pain from the emptiness inside surfaced.  She poured herself into her craft and even though she didn’t have too many trusted friends, she was well respected in Hollywood. She learned her parts well and was accommodating to other actors that she worked with. She was a director’s dream and people either loved her or hated her. Either way, she demanded respect and most of the time got it.

Later during the day, she went to the photo shoot Carmen had reminded her about. When she got to the location, she was happy to see that the magazine editor was Lisa, the same woman who interviewed her years before when she was trying to repair her reputation from her sister’s infamous interview. She reached out to shake her hand. “Hi. It’s good to see you again.”

“Yes. It sure is. I’ve followed your career over the years and I must say you have developed into a fine actress.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

She was escorted to what looked like a photography studio and she was informed that after the photo shoot, they would meet up again for the interview. She felt comfortable with the photographer, so the shoot didn’t take long. She was asked to change into several different outfits.The interview went smoothly. Rose tried to answer all of the questions.

“Although you haven’t, as of yet earned the Academy award for your acting, do you feel as if the movie you just shot is the one and do you feel the award selection is bias?”

Rose tried to answer the questions carefully, so she wouldn’t piss anyone off.  “I think there is so much talent out there to choose from, that it’s very difficult to pick one person to get one award. I’m sure my time is near and the movie I recently finished is definitely one that probably won’t go overlooked.”

Lisa was tapping the table with her pen. “How is your family doing?”

Rose without blinking an eye responded, “As far as I know everyone is doing fine.”

“Well that’s good.”

Rose tried not to show any nervousness. Lisa continued with her questions.

“I would like to give you the opportunity to clear up some other personal matters. You know our readers love to know what’s going on behind the scenes.”

Rose laughed. “I know. I have no problems sharing some things.”

Lisa took a sip of coffee. “It’s been reported that you and Lance are an item again.”

“Lance and I are associates and because of things I would rather not discuss here, we could never be a couple again.”

“His ex-wife has told reporters the reason why they recently got divorced was because he was still in love with you and he spent more time running behind you, than taking care of his husbandly duties.”

“Now that might be true, but rest assured I did not encourage him to leave his wife. He did it because he felt it was best for everyone involved.”

“Let me make sure I have this straight. You are still associates, but you never gave him a reason to leave his wife?”

Rose nodded her head in agreement. “You are correct.”

Lisa asked a few more questions about her favorite designer and ended the interview. “Thank you again Rose for your time.”

“Anytime.” She gathered her purse and keys and Lisa walked her out to the area near the magazines main lobby.

Rose placed her shades on, walked out to her car and got on the highway. It was a beautiful sunny day, not too windy, just pleasant. Ignoring the fact that she just got her hair done, she let the top down on her convertible and drove on to her next destination, home.

VIOLET

Violet looked at the flight time and hoped she heard Janice right about the airlines and the time. The message she left was garbled. She was about to call Terrence and ask him, when she saw Janice waving her hat in her direction.

They greeted each other with a hug. They hadn’t seen each other in months. Janice usually came to visit with her, because she didn’t like going to Los Angeles unless she absolutely had to. After a two year romance, Janice was now happily married to Terrence. They didn’t have any kids, but it never seemed to bother the happy couple.

“How’s my brother-in-law?” Violet asked.

“He’s fine. He told me to tell you hi and he’s counting on you to keep me out of trouble.”

“I’m in social work, but I’m no miracle worker.” Violet laughed.

After they picked up Janice’s bags, they decided to go to a popular soul food restaurant in the area before heading home. “We could get the food to go, if you like,” Violet stated.

“No. I don’t get out much without the company of my husband and you’ve spoken highly of the restaurant, so I want to enjoy the ambiance.”

They made it to the crowded restaurant, but didn’t have to wait long. Once they were seated, they resumed their conversation.  Although they communicated regularly through email or by phone, it wasn’t the same as being face to face; so they took this time to get caught up with what was going on with each other.

  In between eating her hot wings, Violet asked, “Does it bother Terrence that you haven’t had any kids yet?”

“No. If he is bothered, I’m unaware of it. We both decided to let things take its course. We’ve even talked about adoption.”

“There are plenty of kids out there who need good loving parents and you both are good role models.”

“Thank you for saying that. For awhile, Terrence thought you didn’t like him, because he was friends with Marcus.”

“I hope you set him straight. There’s a big difference between the two. To think you couldn’t stand him, when you guys first met and I was all goo-goo eyes over his trifling friend.”

Janice wiped her mouth with her napkin. “I know. He almost missed out on this.”

They laughed. Violet said, “I’m glad to see you happy.  He’s been good to you.”

“I know; he’s definitely a jewel. I don’t know if you care or not, but Marcus hasn’t had any good luck since you dumped him. He has so many paternity suits out on him. The way things look most of those women will get his pension; that is if he even makes it to retirement. I know he’s struggling financially because of all of the back child support and lawyer fees.”

“Really. It’s that bad.  Well, every dog has its day as they say,” Violet said, in between bites.

They toasted to that thought as they waited for their dessert. They both ordered peach cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream.  Janice wasted no time getting straight to the point.

“How are things going with you working with David so closely?” Janice asked.

“I was wondering when you would get around to David. It’s actually better than I thought it would be.”  Violet continued to sip on her daiquiri.

 “You know I was shocked when you told me he was the developer. I could imagine how you felt.”

“Let’s just say, I had butterflies. As I was telling you on the phone, I no longer felt any anger towards him. It was just an awkward feeling.”

Janice looked at her as if she didn’t believe her. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

“There isn’t anything to tell. We meet at least a few times a week. Normally there are other people around. I’m supposed to meet him next week to give them the approval on the final draft. The house will be built with the special requirements that are needed and I will no longer have to deal with David.”

Janice looked at her with her mouth turned up. “Sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself, more than you’re trying to convince me.”

“Whatever.”

Janice laughed at her and almost spit her drink out and pointed towards the door. Violet turned to see what caused the mishap and noticed David walking in with a beautiful redhead. She turned around

Janice said, “Don’t look now, but Mr. Whatever is walking this way.”

Violet didn’t look in his direction again. “Act like we’re in deep conversation and maybe he won’t see us or will walk on by.”

It was too late, because David spotted her and along with his companion walked directly to their table. “Hi. Violet and who do we have here?” He leaned down to hug Janice. “How are you stranger?”

Janice stood up and gave him a hug. “I’m doing lovely and yourself?”

He released a hearty laugh. “Great now that I’m in the company of all of these beautiful women.”

Violet noticed the interchange, but still remained quiet. David’s companion began to clear her throat. “Oh. I’m sorry. Ladies, this is Cherokee. Cherokee this beautiful lady to your left is Violet. I don’t know if you remember her and the lady that I hugged is her best friend Janice.”

Cherokee gave Violet a tight hug. “I’ve missed you Aunt Violet.”

 “Cherokee, you’ve grown into a beautiful young lady,” Violet stated.

Cherokee blushed. “Thanks.” She turned toward David. “Uncle D, excuse me for a minute. I need to powder my nose. I’ll meet you at our table.”

He responded, “Okay. Sweetheart.”

Janice blurted out, “Uncle D.”

“Yes. That’s my brother’s daughter. She flew in last night and I promised to show her a night out on the town. I feel like an old man, with her around.”

Violet cracked a joke. “Hate to tell you, but you are getting up there in age. I’ll send the waitress over shortly with some Geritol.”

David enjoyed her playfulness. “Oh I got your old man. Well ladies, it’s been a pleasure. Violet I’ll see you next week and Janice I’ll see you when I see you.”

Janice lowered her voice before saying, “Now see that wasn’t too bad.”

They finished their desserts and went to Violet’s house. They were both exhausted from their long day, but ended up talking until the wee hours of the morning. Violet sleepily said, “I don’t know about you, but I need to get some shut eye. Everything you’ll need to freshen up with is in the bathroom down the hall. I’ll see you in the morning.”

They gave each other a hug and called it a night.

ROSE

“Lance wake up.”

Lance turned over and placed his arm around her and mumbled, “What time is it?”

“It’s time for you to get your butt up and get out of here. I have a full day today.”

“Today is Sunday. Can’t you chill and relax for a minute?”

“I have things to do. You need to get your behind up now.”

He yawned. “I can stay here while you run your errands.”

She got up and yanked the cover off of him, exposing his naked body. “No, you can’t. When I leave, everyone else leaves.”

“You drive a hard bargain. You better be glad I’m crazy about you.”

She clapped her hands. “Whoopee. Lucky me. Now get your tail up and get dressed. You’re holding me up.”

While he showered in her bathroom, she used the shower in the bathroom down the hall.  She found him fully dressed when she returned.  In a seductive voice, he said, “You need to stop walking around in your underwear. You have me hard now.”