The Stars Trilogy (6 page)

His lawyer answered right away.

His voice was gruff when he spoke. “I want a divorce. Arrange it.”

A pause. “Why...?”

“I don’t need to have a reason, just a means to end it.”

“Shouldn’t you guys talk it out first?”

“Shall I begin talking to a new lawyer?”

There was a deep sigh on the other end.

“I want it over the soonest you can arrange it.”

“As you wish, Dare.”

After the call, he stared through the glass wall that separated him from a 52-story free fall. He was given a penthouse suite in this skyscraper in Germany where he was shooting a new movie. It was a long way down.

He was on top of the world. Literally and figuratively.

It felt surreal, how far he had gone up only to crash without wings.

Alana didn’t take it lightly.

“You still haven’t forgiven me! You said you’ve buried everything in the past but it’s not true! You still hate me!”

Dare didn’t want to prolong the agony. The less drama, the better for them both. “I don’t hate you, Laney. This is just not working anymore. I want out.”

“Out? Just like that? We’ve been together for six years!” she exclaimed in disbelief.

“Three. Only three years count.”

“Dare, please, I did everything you wanted. You know how sorry I am for what happened. I’ve regretted it every day, that you had to suffer instead of me. I still do. You just didn’t know how I cried every night, thinking about you, missing you...”

“Really? Is that why you left me to rot in prison and married Golan?”

Hurt registered in her big, violet eyes. “That’s not fair, Dare...”

“Don’t talk to me about what’s fair. I’ve served my time thinking and asking what is fair and to this day, I still don’t know the answer.”

“You know why I married him! I bit the bullet so that I’ll be able to help you! And I did! Look at you now? The highest paid actor in Hollywood! You can’t take my marriage to Golan against me. Whatever you have now, you owe it to me! I had to suffer being married to that old, sadistic bastard for you! You owe me!”

Dare inhaled deeply. He did not come here to bring up their past. He came to end their present. “No, Laney. Whatever you have now, you owe it to me,” he replied softly.

Her knees gave way. She knelt on the floor and crawled toward him, looking up at him in anguish. “Dare, please, forgive me already. Please? What do I have to do for you to forget? I’m so sorry!”

“I will never forget. But I’ve forgiven you, Laney. Please, get up. Let’s not make this any more difficult for both of us. Let’s part amicably.”

She shook her head vehemently and clung tightly to his waist. She dissolved into sobs. “No, no, no, you can’t leave me! You’re my husband! Mine! We belong together! You will not leave me!”

He forcibly removed her arms from around him and stepped away from her.

She became hysterical. “Dare, please! I love you! Don’t do this! Please, don’t leave me!”

He turned his back on her and headed for the door.

“You good for nothing, ungrateful son of a bitch! Who do you think you are?! You think I’ll  crumble without you? I’ve survived the worst, you fool! You fell right into my perfect plan!”

He stopped dead in his tracks. He pivoted slowly and met her eyes again. She was back on her feet.

“What did you say?”

She sneered and wiped her eyes, smearing mascara on her cheeks. “You think you’re so smart, huh? Well, I’m smarter! You paid for my freedom! Have I ever thanked you for that?”

A chill ran down his spine at the pure venom he saw in her eyes. It was telling him something. Something he had suspected long ago but preferred not to dwell on. What good would it do them both to cry over spilled milk?

But now…he wanted to know.

“Did you...Did you do it?” he managed to ask her, his voice barely clearing his throat.

She put her hands on her hips. “Oh, and if I did? What will you do now, Dare?” she said tauntingly.

He went cold all over. God! Please, no!

“Did you?!” he grated, every cell in his body repulsed at the possibility.

Her eyes blazed like hellfire. “Yes! Yes, I did it! That bastard deserved to die! You saw what he did to me! Yes, I did it! I planned it from the beginning!”

The ripping pain in his chest threatened to choke him. “Was I...was I part of that plan? From the beginning?”

She made a dramatic moue. “Oh my poor, darling Dare. Of course, you were.”

His entire body shook with further betrayal from this woman he once loved with all the passion of his youth that he had to sacrifice his future and his only family for her. “Damn you! You lied to me, Alana!”

Her face softened, but her voice was hard as steel. “Yes, I did. What a hero you were. You really loved me, didn’t you? You saved my life. Indeed, without you, where would I be now? Not in Hollywood, for sure.”

He strode toward her, ready to strike her dead. He raised his hand.

She lifted her chin defiantly. “Come on, hit me. Do it!”

Breathing harshly, he lowered his arm and clenched his fists. It took all his willpower not to make her bleed that very moment. “You evil bitch!”

She laughed, a melodious sound that didn’t reach her hollow soul. “Ah, what a pair we are, darling. An evil bitch and a gullible fool.”

He wondered how such breathtaking beauty could be rotten to the core. Unable to stand looking at her any longer, he turned around again and walked out on her.

For good.

Whatever reason he had earlier for divorcing her was smashed to bits by her revelation. Indeed, he was the most stupid fall guy in the history of United States homicide.

He was over her the moment his car exited the gate of the Beverly Hills mansion that had been their home for the past two years.

Chapter Three

“Congratulations on your awesome performance with Al Pacino in  Trade Off. Wow, you were pretty serious in that movie. Made me cry when your character had to kill Al’s character in the end. My Dad  loves Al Pacino and we saw Trade Off together. He was so impressed by you. He said nobody can hold his own opposite Al Pacino like you did. I was so thrilled! He doesn’t know I love you to death:)))...”

PRESENT TIME

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

CELINE WAVED AT THE OLD MAN sitting in a corner inside the Summer Café, reading a book. It was already near 11 PM and the café was winding down with only a few customers lounging about. She wanted to have a cup of coffee before retiring to her flat. Caffeine did not affect her sleeping pattern one bit so it was okay for her to drink a cup before bedtime.

After paying for her mug of cappuccino at the cashier’s counter, she joined the old man. “Hi, Ben! May I?”

Ben smiled at her tenderly. “You know you’re always welcome to sit with me, dearest.”

She settled in a club chair in front of him. “I got your fave bagel from Mamita,” she said cheerfully, showing him the famous bakeshop’s brown, recycled paper bag.

Ben grinned. “Ah, you always know the best way to my heart, Celine.”

She opened the paper bag and handed him one bagel.

“Hmmmm, the best!” Ben said while munching on the bread.

She reclined in her seat and took a sip of her coffee. This café was her favorite for its laid back ambiance and coffee that didn’t taste like the mass-produced concoctions sold at famous chains.

“So, how was your day, little girl? You came in late. Did you just come from work?”

She sighed. “Wiped out. Yes, we had to wrap up a scene at the studio tonight.”

“When is this movie going to be finished anyway?”

“I don’t know. I’m just a lowly costume cleaner.”

His brows knitted. “I didn’t know that. I always thought you were involved with office stuff for this production.”

“Oh, did I give you that impression?”

“I just presumed since you’re always fashionably dressed.”

Her designer clothes were actually wasted on her current job. “Now, you know.”

“You can land a better job than that. You’re smart and beautiful and—”

“I know, but I want this job.”

“Why? You seem to hate it.”

“Well…” She couldn’t continue.

“Does it pay good?”

“It pays for my coffee.”

“I wonder how you can pay the rent with such paycheck?” he commented offhandedly.

She just shrugged.

He looked sheepish. “I didn’t mean to imply…Sorry, kid.”

“No, it’s okay. This is a caprice, I know. I have very rich parents back home.”

“I see. So what are you doing here dusting costumes when you have rich folks back home?”

She sighed deeply. “Long story.”

“You can tell me.” He closed the book he was reading and leaned back in his chair. “I’m all ears.”

She debated between keeping mum or spilling her guts to this old man whom she had been having coffee with for the past four months since she started renting a flat in the same building he was living in. Their units were located on the same floor, too, hers just a few doors across the hallway from Ben’s.

She saw him one night when she came into this café and there was no vacant seat. She asked to share his table and they fast became friends. They would always see each other in this café or in restaurants along the Sunset strip and Ben would always be alone. They’d have so much fun talking every time.

She really liked Ben. He wasn’t a creepy old man like the others she’d met in LA, always looking dignified and seemed so cultured and learned. He said he was an instructor at the UCLA and a writer on the side. He didn’t elaborate much on his job and she didn’t want to press. If he wanted to tell her more, he would tell her more, she reckoned.

“You going to tell me or what?”

“Huh? Uhm…promise me you won’t laugh?”

He raised his palm. “Scout’s honor.”

She bit her lower lip. She couldn’t contain it anymore. Her mission was becoming more hopeless as days went by.

“You remember when I told you that I’m here because of a very important person?”

“Uh-huh. I presumed he was your boyfriend. Are you going to introduce him to me soon?”

“Boyfriend!” She giggled.

“Well…am I right?”

“I wish!”

“The suspense is killing me, Celine. But I’m absolutely sure, it’s a man,” he said in a droll tone.

“How did you know?”

“You have this…love struck look.”

She was flabbergasted at his astute observation but tried to act nonchalant. “I do?”

“Once upon a time, I was a man very much in love with my woman. I know that look very well, my dear. So, who’s the lucky guy?”

Okay, he was right on the money. No use denying it. “His name is Dare.”

“Dare…” he repeated thoughtfully. “Very unique name. In Hollywood, I can only think of one man who has that name.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. The king of Hollywood. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He lives in Hollywood Hills.”

Ben stopped chewing. His eyes crinkled at the corners as if he would burst out laughing any second.

“You said you won’t laugh!” she reminded him.

He sipped from his mug of coffee. “So, let me get this straight. You’re here because of...Dare? THE Dare?”

She nodded. “Yes. He’s the reason I’m here in LA. One day soon, my Dare and I are gonna meet.”

Ben looked really amused now. “Your Dare, huh?”

“Well, what can I say, he’s my ultimate idol. He’s been my crush since grade school. I’m his no. 1 fan in the world. Period.”

Ben cleared his throat and took out another bagel from the paper bag. “And you fancy yourself in love with him?”

She sighed. Why did it always sound foolish to other people? Why was it okay to fall in love with a car salesman you met on the street or a gangster you met in a dive and not okay to fall in love with Dare Montgomery, the megastar? Love was love. Right?

Yeah, right,
she could almost hear Shavonne’s snickering voice.

“I really am. I do love him,” she declared with conviction.

“I bet there are ten million women worldwide who feel the same way about him.”

She hated the condescension but expected it. How many times had Shavonne told her the same? “I know,” she agreed glumly. “Pathetic, isn’t it?”