gone."
"You'd leave him?"
"Immediately,"
Nikki said without hesitation.
"I bet you would,"
Lara said, wishing she had the inner strength her friend possessed.
"Hey, listen,"
Nikki said, wrinkling her freckled nose.
"I'd expect him to dump me if I screwed around, so why shouldn't the same rule apply?"
Lara nodded.
"You're absolutely right."
Why didn't I do it? she thought. Why didn't I tell him to take a hike the first time I suspected he was being unfaithful?
Because you're a pushover.
No. I simply believe in second chances.
And third ones and fourth ones . . . Richard hadn't known when to quit.
They'd met when he'd directed her in her third movie. Although by that time she was a star, she was still impressed at meeting the great Richard Barry - a man with quite a reputation. He moved in on her like a carnivorous snake. She was twenty-four and by Hollywood standards a total innocent. He was forty-six and difficult. Their wedding at her agent's house in Malibu made headline news, with helicopters hovering overhead and paparazzi lurking in the trees. It was a media circus, which pleased neither of them. The divorce had been even worse.
"We're going to Tetou tonight,"
Nikki announced.
"I hear the bouillabaisse is to die for."
Lara shook her head.
"I can't do it. I have lines to learn and sleep to get, otherwise I'll resemble an old hag in the morning."
11 Nikki raised a disbelieving eyebrow. The irritating thing was that Lara acted as if she looked like any other mere mortal, even though she was certainly the most beautiful woman Nikki had ever seen - a woman who never acknowledged her powerful physical beauty.
"You're coming,"
Nikki said determinedly.
"I've already checked - you have a late call tomorrow. It's about time you forgot about this damn movie and had some fun."
"Fun - what's that?"
Lara said innocently.
"Exactly how long is it since you've gotten laid?"
Nikki asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Too long,"
Lara muttered.
"It doesn't have to be a big thing, y'know,"
Nikki offered.
"How about a one-nighter? There's some hot-looking guys on the crew."
"Not my style,"
Lara said softly.
"You gotta have a man's mentality,"
Nikki said, with a knowing wink.
"Fuck and run. I used to - before I married again."
Richard was Nikki's second husband. Her first was Sheldon Weston, whom she'd wed when she was sixteen and he was thirtyeight.
"I was searching for a father figure,"
she often joked.
"And I got stuck with an uptight shrink."
Their daughter, Summer, lived in Chicago with her dad.
"You're different,"
Lara said.
"You can do that and get away with it. I can't. It has to be a committed relationship or I'm not interested."
"Whatever,"
Nikki replied vaguely, not understanding at all.
"But you're definitely coming tonight."
12
Chapter Two
I
^^t^^Jfl JOEY LORENZO burst into Madelaine Francis"
^^^P^Pk^ Madison Avenue office as if he had every right to be there, even though he didn't have an appointment and hadn't seen her in six years.
A harassed secretary chased after him. She was a round-faced girl with ample hips encased in a too-short mini.
"What the hell is going on"
Madelaine began to say. Then her bleak eyes, hidden beneath tinted prescription glasses, recognized Joey, and she quickly waved her secretary away.
"It's all right, Stella,"
she said with a weary sigh.
"I'll handle this."
"But, Miss Francis,"
Stella said, full of piss and outrage,
"he told me to"
she hesitated for a moment, two bright-red blobs colouring her chubby cheeks,
"the F-word off."
"Thank you, Stella,"
Madelaine said, dismissing her.
"You're excused."
Still glaring at Joey, Stella backed out of the well-appointed office, while he threw himself into a leather chair opposite Madelaine's large antique desk, draping his long jean-clad legs over the side of the expensive chair.
"I'm
"You'd leave him?"
"Immediately,"
Nikki said without hesitation.
"I bet you would,"
Lara said, wishing she had the inner strength her friend possessed.
"Hey, listen,"
Nikki said, wrinkling her freckled nose.
"I'd expect him to dump me if I screwed around, so why shouldn't the same rule apply?"
Lara nodded.
"You're absolutely right."
Why didn't I do it? she thought. Why didn't I tell him to take a hike the first time I suspected he was being unfaithful?
Because you're a pushover.
No. I simply believe in second chances.
And third ones and fourth ones . . . Richard hadn't known when to quit.
They'd met when he'd directed her in her third movie. Although by that time she was a star, she was still impressed at meeting the great Richard Barry - a man with quite a reputation. He moved in on her like a carnivorous snake. She was twenty-four and by Hollywood standards a total innocent. He was forty-six and difficult. Their wedding at her agent's house in Malibu made headline news, with helicopters hovering overhead and paparazzi lurking in the trees. It was a media circus, which pleased neither of them. The divorce had been even worse.
"We're going to Tetou tonight,"
Nikki announced.
"I hear the bouillabaisse is to die for."
Lara shook her head.
"I can't do it. I have lines to learn and sleep to get, otherwise I'll resemble an old hag in the morning."
11 Nikki raised a disbelieving eyebrow. The irritating thing was that Lara acted as if she looked like any other mere mortal, even though she was certainly the most beautiful woman Nikki had ever seen - a woman who never acknowledged her powerful physical beauty.
"You're coming,"
Nikki said determinedly.
"I've already checked - you have a late call tomorrow. It's about time you forgot about this damn movie and had some fun."
"Fun - what's that?"
Lara said innocently.
"Exactly how long is it since you've gotten laid?"
Nikki asked, cocking her head to one side.
"Too long,"
Lara muttered.
"It doesn't have to be a big thing, y'know,"
Nikki offered.
"How about a one-nighter? There's some hot-looking guys on the crew."
"Not my style,"
Lara said softly.
"You gotta have a man's mentality,"
Nikki said, with a knowing wink.
"Fuck and run. I used to - before I married again."
Richard was Nikki's second husband. Her first was Sheldon Weston, whom she'd wed when she was sixteen and he was thirtyeight.
"I was searching for a father figure,"
she often joked.
"And I got stuck with an uptight shrink."
Their daughter, Summer, lived in Chicago with her dad.
"You're different,"
Lara said.
"You can do that and get away with it. I can't. It has to be a committed relationship or I'm not interested."
"Whatever,"
Nikki replied vaguely, not understanding at all.
"But you're definitely coming tonight."
12
Chapter Two
I
^^t^^Jfl JOEY LORENZO burst into Madelaine Francis"
^^^P^Pk^ Madison Avenue office as if he had every right to be there, even though he didn't have an appointment and hadn't seen her in six years.
A harassed secretary chased after him. She was a round-faced girl with ample hips encased in a too-short mini.
"What the hell is going on"
Madelaine began to say. Then her bleak eyes, hidden beneath tinted prescription glasses, recognized Joey, and she quickly waved her secretary away.
"It's all right, Stella,"
she said with a weary sigh.
"I'll handle this."
"But, Miss Francis,"
Stella said, full of piss and outrage,
"he told me to"
she hesitated for a moment, two bright-red blobs colouring her chubby cheeks,
"the F-word off."
"Thank you, Stella,"
Madelaine said, dismissing her.
"You're excused."
Still glaring at Joey, Stella backed out of the well-appointed office, while he threw himself into a leather chair opposite Madelaine's large antique desk, draping his long jean-clad legs over the side of the expensive chair.
"I'm
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