The Proud and the Prejudiced (15 page)

“So…Are you going to tell me what happened?”
Eileen asked.

“Nothing.”

“Between you and Peter.”

“Nothing happened between me and Peter. We didn’t
sleep together.”

“Dirk will be relieved to hear that.”

“No, Dirk deserves someone better than me. To just
walk out on all of you like that.”

“Well, where did you go? What did you do?”

“We came here, and I did exactly what I told you I
was going to do. I confronted him.”

“About the lawsuit?”

“About everything.” Alice stopped packing and sat
on the bed with her hand over her eyes and forehead. “I made a mistake.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, he really is an arrogant ass, and he really
does think he is better than everyone else, but he really had no idea what was
happening with the lawsuit.”

“So what happened when you found out?”

“He didn’t tell me until today, and then he went
to catch his plane. Last night we just had this huge fight.”

Eileen sat on the bed and put her arm around
Alice’s shoulder. “So you think it was a mistake to confront him about it?”

“Well, that was only part of it, but it’s for the
best. If we hadn’t fought, I would have slept with him, and then I’d feel like
shit today. Well, even more like shit.”

“Why? We all got the impression that you two –”

“Eileen, I’ve never even liked him. The minute he
walked onto the set, he made it clear he was above all of us. He will always
think he is too good for me.”

“That’s not how it looked to me.” Eileen pulled
out her phone.

“Oh, no. Tell me it’s not already up.”

Eileen started the video of Peter and Alice
singing and turned the phone to show Alice.

“I really cannot watch that right now.”

Eileen paused it, the screen stopped on Peter
kissing Alice’s hand. “That does not look like he thinks he’s too good for you
to me. And you sure don’t look like you dislike him.”

“Tequila,” Alice said on a sigh and flopped
backwards upon the bed.

“Maybe when he gets back to L.A. you can talk.”

Alice shook her head. “Uh-uh. I mean it – I really
don’t like him. Yes, I am obviously wildly attracted to him, but that’s it –
physical attraction! And I made it quite clear how I felt about him last night.
What is it Evan said? ‘May the bridges that we burn light our way’? Not only
did I burn that bridge, that video will just add kindling to the fire.”

Alice tried to sleep on the flight to L.A. and
pretended anyway to prevent any conversation. She kept going over everything
Peter had said that morning – she didn’t even want to think about the night
before – trying to remember every word he had said and commit it to memory.

Then her eyes flew open.
He said “marry.”

CHAPTER 15

PETER WALSINGHAM SERENADES WOMAN IN NOLA

“I guess there’s something to be said for being
insignificant after all,” Alice said looking at the title of the video on Mr.
Peacock’s phone.

“Have you seen it?”

She handed him the phone and groaned. “I don’t
have to see it. I lived it.”

“I don’t think any of them had your name.”

She groaned again. “How many are there?”

“A dozen, I think.”

“I suppose everyone has seen it.”

“I haven’t spoken with any of the cast since
they’re not due in until next week, but the writers and crew…”

“And what are they saying?”

His lips disappeared into his mouth, and he stood
mute.

“That bad? C’mon, give it to me.”

“That you had a fling in New Orleans, and then
he…”

“Dumped me.”

He responded with something between a shrug and a
nod.

“Well, they can think what they want, but neither
is true.”

“So you didn’t have a fling? I have to admit, I
was surprised when I saw the video the first time.”

“How many times have you watched it?”

“Especially with the lawsuit and how you left
Peter’s house the night of the party, but then I started thinking about how you
two were at the party.”

“I have got to stop socializing with my
co-workers.”

“Do you want me to say anything to them?”

“No, let them believe it – especially the writers.
Maybe it will help them write melodrama.”
Plus, if they think I’m
heartbroken, maybe they won’t make me watch it.

Mr. Peacock started out of her office but then
turned back. “Alice, do not ever believe you are insignificant.”

For a week, writers reworked the scripts to erase
every scene with Tristan, but they squirmed and averted their eyes when Alice
joined them, as if cutting Peter out of the show sliced pieces out of her
heart. At one point, when she had had enough of the sympathetic head-tilts, she
tried to tell them nothing had happened, but her denial only fueled their
speculations.

The day the cast returned, Giselle and Rich
arrived together, exchanging glowing smiles. They made goo-goo eyes at each
other throughout rehearsal, and Alice noticed him tucking Giselle’s hair behind
her ear.
At least no one took any pictures of me kissing Rich. Then I’d be a
double-dumpee.
Then her face grew hot as she imagined Peter seeing a photo
of her kissing Rich.
God, I hope he doesn’t think I slept with Rich.

Alice meandered back to her office to have her
lunch at her desk with her book, but moments after she sat down, Rich appeared
in her doorway and said her name. She had taken to leaving her office door open
so they wouldn’t think she spent her time crying over Peter, but she would
rather not deal with Rich at the moment either.

“Hi, Rich. Is there something I can do for you?”

“I haven’t seen you in over a month. Thought we’d
catch up. That’s what friends do, right?”

He started around her desk to sit on the edge as he
had in the past, but she cut him off at the pass. “Have a seat.” She motioned
to the chair across from her desk. He hesitated a moment before sitting down.
“I would say you and Giselle have become quite friendly.”

“Giselle…she’s something special.”

“But not quite like a sister after all, I take
it.”

He grinned and cast his gaze down.

“I suppose a month was too long to wait.”

He lifted his eyes to her, and she wondered how
she had ever thought him attractive. “Alice, I know the night before you left I
said I would, and I meant it. But after we saw the videos of you and
Walsingham, it looked like you weren’t waiting for me.”

“Convenient that Giselle happened to be there.”

“You know how it started. I was just being
supportive after that toad Jack ran over her.”

“And now it has blossomed into something more,”
she said with a lilt and a wave of her hand.

“Yes, it has. I mean, what am I supposed to think
when one minute you hate Peter and the next you’re singing love songs
together?”

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly call it a love song.
It’s Ozzy –”

“I didn’t know he would break up with you like
that.”

She rolled her eyes. “He did not break up with me.
There was nothing to break up – we were never together.”

His eyes shifted back and forth and he furrowed
his brow but then, perhaps in anticipation of her admonishing him, relaxed and
rubbed out the crease, but she had no intention of reminding him.

“What you saw on the video was too many shots of
tequila.”

“I figured he would have turned you against me.”

“Really? And how on earth would he have done
that?”

“By telling you things.”

“What kinds of things, Rich? What would he have
told me that would have you so concerned?” She did not mean for the sweetness
of her tone to comfort him, and she thought she must have succeeded judging
from the blood coming into his cheeks and those telltale beads of sweat she had
noticed form on his lip before.

“Well, he has his own version of events, and I
have mine.”

“Then perhaps it is better for you both to keep
them to yourselves.”

He gasped out half a laugh. “Yes, well. I’m sorry
it didn’t work out between us. I hope you won’t hold a grudge.”

She stood, prompting him to do the same. “Of
course not. If you and Giselle are happy together, it can only be good for the
show.” He nodded and turned to walk out, and then she added, “But if anything
happens to her, remember – it is within my power to kill you.”

*****

A few weeks into production, Alice walked into a
quiet studio. Too quiet. She found Mr. Peacock flipping through a magazine in
the breakroom.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you taping?”

“Still waiting on Giselle. She was supposed to be
here over an hour ago.”

She pulled out her cell and called Giselle’s
number. “Where is Rich?”

“He’s not due here until nine.”

Voicemail. “Giselle, it’s Alice. You had a seven
o’clock call. Where are you?”
Who am I kidding?
She ended the call and
sent Giselle a text.

The stage manager popped his head in. “They’re
here.”

Mr. Peacock and Alice walked out together and
found Giselle leaning on Rich, both pale and puffy and smelling like they had
been out all night.

Alice marched up to them and, ignoring Rich, tried
to make eye contact with Giselle. “Can you work, or do we need to write around
you?”

Giselle smiled and rolled her head on Rich’s arm.
“Why wouldn’t I be able to work?”

“Are you drunk?”

She laughed. “No, of course I’m not drunk!”

Then Alice turned her attention to Rich. “Do you
want to tell me what’s going on?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Alice. I’m not late.”

She sighed and rubbed at the imminent headache on
her forehead. “Just get her to make-up.”

As Alice walked backed to her office, her phone
began to vibrate.
Jack?
She closed the door and took the call.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Alice. It’s Jack.”

She hoped the connection caused that ringing
tension in his voice. “Hi, Jack. I haven’t heard from you in a long time. Not
since July.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Listen. I’ve been trying to
get ahold of Giselle for a few weeks now. I know I deserve this, after the way
I treated her. I just…I just want to tell her I’m sorry and explain.”

“Explain what exactly? How you trusted some
unsubstantiated gossip instead of believing she cared about you? Why you didn’t
even bother to give her an explanation?”

Silence.

“Hello?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I know, you’re right. I should
have trusted my own feelings instead of listening to…”

“Peter?”

“Yeah. You probably won’t believe it, but it…it
wasn’t easy on me either.”

She remembered Dirk’s words. “I believe you.”

“So could you just give her the message for me?
Tell her I was wrong, and I’m sorry. I just wish she would talk to me.”

“Funny, I think she said the same thing about you.
I don’t know if it will make a difference, but I’ll tell her.”

“Thanks, Alice. How’s everything going?”

“Well, so far the ratings have only slipped a bit,
but it’s kind of soon to tell.”

“No, I meant how’s everything with you.”

“Oh, I can’t complain. Or I guess I could, but I
won’t bother you with mundanities.”

“Any fallout from the karaoke?”

She closed her eyes and brought her hand to her
warming cheek.
I
knew
I hated karaoke!
“Uhhh… around here, there
was some speculation, but I’m just ‘a woman in New Orleans.’ How did he handle
it? He must have been mortified the next day.”

“No, not at all. But he hasn’t been around town
much. Since Toronto, he’s been keeping to himself or spending time with his
daughter. He said he needed to take a break, at least until the lawsuit is
settled. He seemed more upset about the photos.”

Photos?
“What photos?”

“The ones printed in
The Intruder
yesterday. He was really worried about how you were taking it.”

Shit
. She opened her office door and held
the cell against her shoulder while she yelled. “Somebody get me a copy of
The
Intruder
!” She brought the phone back to her ear. “Jack, I’m sorry. I don’t
typically read the tabloids. So what kind of pictures are they, and why did he
think I’d be upset?”

Silence.

“Hello?”

“They’re pictures of you together. And an
article.”

She held the phone down. “Somebody bring me the
Goddamned
Intruder
! Do not try to tell me that there is not a single
person on a soap set that has a copy!” Her heart pounded in her chest, which
rose and fell with quick shallow breaths.

“Alice, are you there?”

“Yes, Jack. I’m trying to find a copy. So was he
embarrassed to be photographed with me?”

“He sounded more concerned that you would be
embarrassed. He made me go down to
The Intruder
to buy the originals.”

“To stop them from being printed?”

“No, this was after it had already come out. He
didn’t know about them before then.”

“Then why would he want to buy them? That doesn’t
make sense.”

A cameraman walked up and handed her the paper.
“I’m sorry, Alice.”

“Jack, I’ll call you back.”

She closed the door and walked around to sit at
her desk, staring at a black and white image of Peter standing over her on the
Moon Walk under the headline “Peter’s Mystery Woman Revealed.” Her hands were
shaking as she turned pages to the story. The photo essay began with a few
stills of them on the stage at the karaoke bar, followed by the picture taken
of them when they were kissing in the alley.
That tourist must have sold it
to them.
Clearly not a professional shot, she and Peter were hardly
recognizable, but there was no denying the heat between them, smoking on the
page.

The rest of the photographs revealed a completely
different story. Definitely professional, most likely through a telephoto lens,
they painted an intimate portrait of that morning when they parted. The first
must have been when he first walked up behind her. The only picture of them on
the bench together showed her staring at him with round, tired eyes – eyes that
looked like they had cried as much as they truly had. The other four in the
series had been shot right before he left. His hand cupping her cheek. His lips
on her forehead with her eyes closed. Him gazing at her as he told her to take
care of herself, though only she knew what he said. Then a final shot of him
walking away.

She knew why he wanted them. She hated to admit
it, since they were shot by a paparazzo, but they were…stunning. Even the poor
quality of the newsprint did not diminish their breathtaking beauty – artistic
yet natural, with the morning light through the misty haze casting an ethereal
quality to the scene. No trace of Hollywood glamour marred a single image. She
wore an old sweater and no make-up, and she had done nothing but comb her
fingers through her hair, which hung in loose, damp curls off her face. He wore
jeans, an open Oxford shirt over a t-shirt, and pure raw emotion on his face as
they said their parting words.

And no one who saw these pictures would ever
believe she was not in love with him.

The accompanying article, though short, told the
story with uncanny accuracy. They had her name, even spelled correctly. They
had met on
All My Tomorrows,
where she is head writer. They were seen
together frequently while he filmed in New Orleans (the implication being she
had no reason to be on location there except to be with him). Then the last
night, after their song, they were heard arguing in her hotel room, and he ran
out without a shirt on. They met on the Moon Walk the next morning and mutually
agreed to part ways.
At least in this version he didn’t dump me.

She needed Eileen. She called her number and it
rolled to voicemail just as someone knocked.

“Alice, it’s me,” Mr. Peacock said through the
door.

She closed her eyes and took a deep, steadying
breath. “Come on in.”

Closing the door behind him, he walked around the
desk and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you OK?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be? All things considered, I
think I look pretty good. There must have been a lot of photosho –”

“You know what I’m talking about. You have not
been completely frank, and that’s not like you. Do you care about Peter?”

She leaned over her desk – over the photographs –
and dropped her head into her hands, covering her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m so
confused. I never entertained the possibility that he actually cared for me;
and I spent so much time disliking him, I never considered that I even could
care about him.”