A Captivating Conundrum (5 page)

I closed my eyes, hearing the small chattering group fade into silence as my demands grew too loud. I felt the footsteps before the tall shadows came into view behind me and sat down. Thankfully, I could smell Bobby's cologne and knew my backup was in place.

"What's wrong?" he asked, completely ignoring Nicole.

Turning in my seat, I took a deep breath and looked at the man beside Bobby. I nodded at my writer friend, a great man who had entered the spotlight just a month before I had. "Jason, I need to ask you a favor."

He grinned. I knew he was a happy soul who rested on the verge of mega-happiness, seeing as that he'd finally gotten the woman he'd loved since high school to agree to marry him. "What's up, Carrier? I heard your soft, lilting voice all the way to the balcony."

I punched Nic's shoulder. "Sorry, she has the ability to make me go from Bambi to Hannibal Lecter in seconds."

A snicker erupted from Nicole.

"I need to do a trade with you," I continued.

Jason sat back. "You have THE actor, why would you want to trade?"

"Because I want yours."

He laughed. "You never stop, you know that? First I teach you Italian, then I literally hand you five thousand dollars—."

I immediately stopped him. "Whoa, mister. It's not my fault you bet on the worst boxer in the ring. You should never gamble with me on sports; I've told you it's bad."

"But you made me pay!"

"Well, it taught you a valuable lesson." I winked. "Besides, I took it all and spent it on your wedding present so you're getting it back anyway."

"Cool!" His eyes lit up. "What are we getting?"

"Can I trade?"

"I would assume you mean Matt McKenna and not Chris Haven, seeing as that Haven looks like a kid, himself."

"I think he looks great," Bobby mumbled.

Glancing at my best friend, he looked immediately up at the balcony as if trying to search for anything he could find to change the subject.

"Anyway," I turned back to Jason. "Yes. I want McKenna."

"Got the hots for him?" he laughed.

Although the tingle did appear under my skin, I made sure to remind myself that it was only his acting skills I required. "He can bring my script to life. I know the other guy is fine, but I don't want fine. This means way too much to me and to Amber. I want to see if McKenna will take mine on."

Jason sighed. "He's known as the ultimate song and dance man, you know. I mean, he's good with comedy and certainly shines as a romantic lead, but your piece is pretty daunting. It's going to require a whole lot of emotion to bring it off." He tilted his head to the side. "Of course, Chris Haven could do all the numbers in mine…if he would. I like that guy."

I kept nodding, trying to push Jason further over to my side of the fence by using absolute silence, praying that Nicole would also keep her mouth shut.

"Chris is perfect," he continued, with a warning in his voice, "You can't have both of them."

I nodded hard. "Oh, no. I agree. He's absolutely adorable," I said, glancing at my blushing assistant.  

Jason nodded. "Okay, you can ask him."

"You are the best! NOW I know why that woman of yours jumped on the Jason train."

He laughed out loud. "It took her long enough!"

"Well, some women need to think these things through."

"For fifteen years?" He smiled.

I waved my hands in the air. "You know, hormones and everything. We're not exactly the easy sex, you know?"

"Amen to that." Bobby grinned. "Why do you think I'm gay? You made me what I am."

I slapped him on the arm. "Very funny. If you despise me so much, you wouldn't stay around helping me."

He nodded. "True. I actually dig chicks in a way; they're sort of like watching a phoenix burst into flames." He turned to Nicole and offered his sweetest grin. "Although with you it's more like Satan with a pitchfork making others burst into flames."

Nicole laughed and slapped him on the cheek lightly. "Bugger off, dear." She turned to me. "May I interject a point, here?" 

I rolled my eyes. "Can I stop you?"

"The tickets are sold and some of them were sold for the simple fact that 'Mr. Hollywood' is in this event. Don't we need to find him a job?"

Jason nodded. "Don't worry about that. You saw the narrator role in mine, he can have that. I'll tell him it's very Shakespearean and can get him to London's West End."

"He'll believe that?"

Jason sat back in the cushioned chair. "It actually will."

"How?"

He smiled. "I'm taking this on the road. This is just one scene, but I've written a whole play."

"Jason, that is
so
cool," I said.

"Yup. I never thought I'd write a play, but I got so wrapped up in it, I couldn't stop." 

"I am so thrilled for you. You are beyond talented and the thing will definitely fly!"

He took my hand. "You need to do it, too. Beth, your material is outstanding. People would kill to see this on Broadway."

I shrugged. "Oh, you know me; I'm a commercial success not an artiste like you."

His eyes grew wide. "I mean it. This is the best piece I've read in a long time."

Bobby nodded. "He's right. You can feel the passion in this, Beth…and you know it."

I waved the accolades away. For some reason I just couldn't tell them that
Father
had been written and was already sitting in a drawer in my desk. Nicole had made me a superstar by using the material people had fun with, but
Father
was personal. I stared at Jason. "So I can talk to the guy? Well….Nicole can talk to the guy?"

Nicole nodded, already putting on the mask of the steel enforcer and gearing up to make Matthew McKenna's life a living hell until he agreed to do it."

Jason nodded slowly. "I have to interject something, too. The guy is totally not going to be swayed by Nicole. I mean, I did get the sense that he wants to be seen as an actor and not only a dancer and singer, but you're the one with the passion for this project, Beth. It's your heart and soul that has to convince him. I think Nicole may just make him run back to Hollywood and forget the whole damn thing."

"Hey!" Nicole's chin went up in the air.

"Well,
you
have a tendency to act like Hannibal Lecter at times. A shorter version, albeit, but just as mean." Jason grinned. "I have a feeling you even have a bottle of Chianti dead center on your bar at home."

Nicole offered a self-satisfied grin. "You can't prove that."

Jason rolled his eyes and moved his gaze to Bobby. I could see something pass between them and I knew what the next words were going to be.

Bobby nodded at me. "Be sure about this. Me, Jason, Nicole—there are only a few people who know you're the real woman behind 'Lily Stone.' Are you ready to tell the world?"

I swallowed hard, as I recalled the vision of the man whose lap I'd landed in. I remembered his look. There was something that seemed to radiate from Matthew McKenna, a luster that reminded me of some of the characters I'd written that the whole world now loved so much. In fact, he reminded me of a true and honorable hero.

I nodded. "Don't worry. I won't have any trouble with Matt McKenna."

Boy…was I wrong.

Four

~ His ~

The sweat was pouring off Christopher and me as we walked backstage. The applause was certainly solid from the small gathering sitting out there in the darkness. So, I suppose, it was a job well done.

"What do you think of that guy?" Christopher pointed to 'America's Sweetheart.'

I shrugged. "He can act." 

Chris wrinkled up his small nose, as he stared at the throng of females quickly circling the supposed dreamboat. "I think he looks better on screen. He's really stiff, you know? I don't think the stage is his thing."

"You think?" I grinned.

"Well, sure. I mean with your work on screen you must already know that if you mess up there are several people around to 'fix it' so it looks better. In here, live and in person, there's no one to erase your screw-up and make you look better. And he screwed up out there."

I considered his words. As an actor, I wanted that shot at the dramatic screen one day, but it did make me feel better for Mr. Perfection to not be as perfect as everyone thought he was. "The stage is a really big place." I looked around at the elegant, slightly small surroundings. "Well, maybe not this one. I wonder why they chose the smallest theatre on Broadway to try and raise the most amount of money?"

Chris's head immediately snapped up and the smile on my face grew wide. You see, Chris knew everything. And watching the hand reach up to grasp the lapel on his blazer like Lincoln preparing to give the Gettysburg Address, I waited for that slightly high-pitched voice to educate me on all the things I didn't know.

Clearing his throat as if he was about to repeat Lady Macbeth's famous 'loonfest' one more time, Chris began, "The writers are actually the ones who chose the Lyceum because it's one of the two oldest running Broadway venues. Apparently, they really got into the fact that it's so beautiful and people as cool as Barrymore and Brice once worked on this stage."

His voice increased with his passion. "I mean, think about it, this is a place that actually saw the best of the best. And the architecture? Don't get me started. The Beaux-Arts design, those elaborate marble staircases, the undulating marquee…" His hips swayed as if making his point. "It's perfect."

"But there are only, like…900 seats in here," I reminded him.

His gaze moved back to me quickly. "950, actually."

 "Okay," I laughed. "But at Lincoln they could draw in more money for the kids."

Chris looked shocked. "Are you kidding? Do you
know
how much these tickets cost? They're like precious gemstones; I heard one already went for over a hundred thousand dollars on eBay."

I took a step back. "That's impossible."

"Nope."

"Just because of
him
?" I stared at the man collecting marriage proposals.

Chris shook his head. "I heard it was because of the writers. Some of them are truly 'superstars' of the literary world. And the woman who wrote the piece that guy is starring in is Lily Stone."

"Who?"

"That woman…Lily Stone. She wrote the book that's going crazy right now. You know…the two partners who everyone is so into? It's a cross between
Indiana Jones
and
The DaVinci Code
, but super unique."

The cover appeared in my mind. "Oh, yeah, I loved that."

"Exactly. But she's anonymous. There is no Lily Stone, and people all over the place are trying to find out who she is. They love the mystery of it all."

"Why is she anonymous?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Beats me. But when people heard that she has a script in this, they kind of went bazaka and started buying tickets just in case she was
revealed
at the event."