All My Tomorrows (7 page)

“And I’m a priest?”

“Not yet. You’re in the seminary.”

He listened and nodded as she went over his role
and never once complained about the implausibility.
Yes, he will do nicely.

Alice walked out to the set with Rich and Mr.
Peacock to introduce the new Raife to his co-stars.

“Everyone,” Mr. Peacock said, “This is Rich Dover.
He will be Sienna’s new…whatever.”

“Eloquent as ever,” Alice said, which was the last
anyone said before a crash in the corner diverted everyone’s attention to
Peter.

As they all watched in stunned silence, Peter
glared at Rich then stomped across the soundstage and out the door, which would
have slammed with a terrific racket had it not had a pneumatic closer. Instead,
with excruciating slowness, it came to rest against the jamb with a whisper.
Then all eyes turned to Rich, who stood frozen in place, as white as a sheet.

“I take it you know one another,” Mr. Peacock
said.

“I thought I was taking his place.”

“You are with Sienna,” Alice said, “but he’s still
on the show.”

Beads of sweat had formed on his upper lip, and he
wouldn’t meet her eyes. “As you may have guessed, he and I are not friends.”

She frowned. “I don’t anticipate that you will be
having any scenes together. And he’s leaving the first week of July to film a
movie and won’t be back until after the Olympics.”

That seemed to reassure him, and he smiled at her
and blotted his mouth with his sleeve. “Sorry. You wouldn’t know it to look at
him, but he has a vicious temper.”

“Actually, I have been on the receiving end of
that temper.”

“I’ll let you finish the introductions,” Mr.
Peacock said to Alice and, with a pat on Rich’s shoulder, excused himself.

“So you’ve been a victim of the famous Walsingham
temper too,” Rich said, fully restored to the man she had met in her office.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say I was a victim, but
I have seen it in action. He and I are not on friendly terms either.”

“Really? Then we’ll have to exchange stories.”

“Oh, absolutely!” she said and laughed.

“How about Saturday night? Dinner.”

She blinked back her surprise and shook her head.
“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“If you have to ask, then maybe I’m doing it
wrong.” His gaze moved to her mouth then back to her eyes. “I’m sorry. Of
course, I should have known you’d have a boyfriend or fiancé or something.”

“No, no, there’s no one. It’s just…”
Just what?
You idiot. This gorgeous guy just asked you out! Plus, Peter hates him, so
that’s got to be a plus
. “Yeah, sure. I’d like that.”

Alice hadn’t been out on a
date
-date since
she wrote Blaine off the show and out of her life. When she had broken things
off with him, she thought he would have been more professional than to ask to
leave
All My Tomorrows,
and she decided then not to become romantically
involved with any of the primary cast again. Now here she was, breaking her own
rule with yet another boyfriend for Sienna.
Well, it’s just one dinner. I’ll
just wait and see
.

Alice liked this part, the getting-to-know-you
dance where all the stories are new and there’s no history of hurt feelings
hanging just overhead. They talked and laughed and drank, and ate dinner in
there somewhere. She earned his laughter when she told him about Peter throwing
a fit when he found out about the brother-sister twist, but she omitted the
precipitating events leading up to it.

“He is not thrilled to be on a soap as it is,” she
said.

“Oh, I imagine he thinks soap operas are beneath
him.”

“You do know him, don’t you? So what’s his problem
with you?”

“We were working on a film together last year –
would have been my largest role, possibly a break-out. I displeased him, and
the next thing I know, I’m off the picture.”

“What did you do to offend him?”

He stared into his wine glass as he rolled it in
his hands. “I can’t think it is a good idea to discuss one woman when I am out
with another.”

Her eyes widened and her chest rose with a swift
intake of air. “You fought over a woman?”

“Not exactly. I didn’t know it at the time –
especially since he was married – but after the story broke about him and
Winnie, I realized that was why he got rid of me. I had something he wanted.”

“You and Winnie Johnson were together?” That did
cause him to drop a bit in her estimation.

“That’s just it, see. We had only gone out a few
times. I have no idea if it would have developed into something, but he made
sure it didn’t.”

“I can’t believe he got you fired from the movie.”

“He’s the star. I don’t have any proof of it, but
I think he has kept me from getting work in primetime too, at least on this
network.”

“I knew he was an arrogant, womanizing ass, but I
had no idea he could be so vindictive. Well, at least
COD
is on hiatus.
Winnie had been hanging out at the set all the time –
that
would have
been awkward.”

Rich gulped down the rest of his wine. “Well,
let’s not let him dominate our evening. I’m sure we both have more interesting
stories.”

“Agreed.”

After dinner and several nightcaps, Rich brought
her home and walked her to the door.

“I-uh-I’m not going to ask you in. I had a great
time, but I don’t think we should…”

“I understand. I don’t think we should rush into
anything either, but I’d like to take you out again, if that’s okay.”

“Yes, I’d like that. You have my number.”

They stood under the light over her door looking
at each other until he touched her cheek and pushed some hair behind her ear,
leaned down, and brought his lips to hers. Sweet, moist, and tender.

He pulled back and ran his finger down her cheek
to her bottom lip. “I’ll call you?”

She nodded and said goodnight. Once inside, she
set down her purse and kicked off her shoes when her cell phone began to
vibrate. She didn’t recognize the number, but she answered anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Rich. I was wondering if you were busy
Wednesday night.”

.

CHAPTER
6

Sienna – (still sniffing) Thank you. You have been
so kind to me, Father…”

Raife – No, not Father yet. I am a religious
Brother.

Sienna – (slight laugh) Yet another brother.

Raife – Just call me Raife.

(Tag Sienna smiling)

“Cut. Print.”

Mr. Peacock’s words were followed by a buzzer and
the crew stepping away from the set as Alice and Jack walked toward Rich and
Giselle, respectively.

Rich met Alice with a grin as he tugged off his
clerical collar. “So how long do I have to wear this thing?”

“Well, Giselle cannot be the only reason that
Raife doesn’t become ordained. That wouldn’t look good if she came between you
and God. We have to make it clear that you are not cut out for the clergy.”

He leaned closer to her. “I’m sure I can convince
you that’s true.”

She smiled up at him and at the pleasure she found
in flirting. That was the other problem with the script. Each time she began
writing a romantic scene for Raife and Sienna, she would picture Rich with her
instead.

She caught a form from the corner of her eye and
glanced over. Peter glowered at them from off set with a pronounced frown.

“He really does hate you,” Alice said. “Every time
I look up, he is glaring at you. If he keeps creasing his eyebrows like that,
he’s going to get wrinkles.”

“I’m surprised he can move them at all with all
that Botox.”

She faced Rich again when she giggled so Peter
wouldn’t know she was laughing at him.  Suspect, perhaps. “Do you really think
he uses Botox?”

“This is Hollywood. I was about to go out for a
cigarette. Join me?”

“I didn’t know you smoked.”

“Occasionally. Do you?”

“No, but I-uh-was thinking of starting.”

“Starting? You’re kidding.”

“But with electronic cigarettes.”

They both began giggling then, and Rich glanced
over at Peter before taking her hand. “Come on. I’m tired of Lord Voldemort
staring me down.”

“Alice,” Peter called out from his make-up chair.
She stopped and faced him but didn’t approach. She refused to be summoned to
join the bevy of females floating around him.  As soon as he seemed to realize
that, he stood and walked to her with script in hand.

“Is there something you can do for me, Mr.
Walsingham?”

“Uh…yes. I wanted to discuss this scene I have
with my sister.”

She released an aggravated sigh. 
Now what?

“Could we speak somewhere more private?” he asked.
“Your office perhaps?”

She shrugged and led the way, and he closed her
office door behind them. She faced him with her arms folded across her chest.

“So what’s the problem now? The plot? The dialog?”

“No, I’ve given up on that.  I was just thinking
that this is momentous information Tristan is sharing with Clarissa. I don’t
think he would discuss it with her in a hospital cafeteria.”

“We’ve had too many scenes in her living room
already. She’s a brain surgeon; she has to spend some time in the hospital.”

“But even to discuss the script, I asked if we
could speak in private. She is a neurosurgeon. She should have her own office
at the hospital.”

He did have a point. “We do have a doctor’s office
around here somewhere. This is really going to piss off all the extras in that
scene.”

“Maybe we could start in the cafeteria and move to
her office. Here, let me show you.” He opened the script and handed it to her
and then, coming behind her to read over her shoulder, pointed out the section.
“We could go ahead and keep all this...”

He spoke low, his breath against her ear, and his
nearness disconcerted here. Her already-tiny office continued to shrink around
them.
Is he sniffing my hair?

Focus!
“And, uh, right here she could say
something like, ‘We should discuss this in private. Let’s go to my office.’” He
smelled good. Under the aromas of make-up and hairspray and soundstage, she
could detect a spiciness that reminded her of pumpkin pie and yet somehow
masculine. Warm and familiar, like holidays at home.

“Yes, exactly,” he said softly against her neck.

She flinched then turned around to face him and
took a step back. She waited for her heart to start beating again before
speaking. “I...um...I like it. I’ll talk to Mr. Peacock.” When he didn’t make a
move to go and continued to stare, she asked, “Is there something else?”

“Yes. I wanted to apologize for my behavior the
other day. I shouldn’t have stormed out like that. I’m lucky my fit didn’t go
viral on the Internet.”

“Okay.”

“There’s no denying Rich and I have a history, and
his appearance took me by surprise.”

“He was quite shocked to see you as well.”

“Do you know him? Is that how he got the part?”

“I have nothing to do with casting. You should
know that. I hadn’t met him before that day.”

“Well, you’ve certainly become friendly with him
quickly,” he said, his tone turning sharp.

Her mouth dropped open, and she shoved the script
into his chest before walking around to the other side of her desk. “I am
friends with many members of the cast. And you’re one to talk! You’ve become
friends
with your harem pretty fast.”

Peter took a deep breath in preparation for his
retort, but then he just exhaled and shook his head.  “I don’t want to argue
with you, Alice. Just keep in mind that people are not always what they seem.”

“Thanks, but I think I figured that out some time
ago.”

☼

The cast and crew gathered at the hospital set
stared at Mrs. Jellyby – slight smile, bright dress – as if doubting the
veracity of her speech.

“And thanks to the bump in ratings during sweeps,
ALL of the affiliates’ advertisers have renewed!”  As the cast and crew
cheered, she raised her voice to add, “And we owe it all to Peter Walsingham!”

 
More like the network executives who forced
him here
. Alice glanced at Peter on the far side of the set to see how he
reacted to the din of excited appreciation now aimed at him, but he just stood
there with the beginnings of a smile at the corner of his lips staring in her
direction.

“I think this calls for a celebration,” Mr.
Peacock said over the noise.

“A party,” someone suggested and others agreed.

“It must be this weekend,” Mrs. Jellyby said. “Our
guest of honor must leave us next week, and we cannot celebrate without him.”

As the others bounced around ideas, Peter walked
to center stage next to Mrs. Jellyby. “I would like to offer my home for the
celebration,” he said, evoking unanimous shock as well as flustering Mrs.
Jellyby.

“But, no, you’re the guest of honor.”

“If I truly am responsible for this, then I should
take responsibility for the celebration as well.” He faced Alice when making
this illogical pronouncement, as if it were her decision.

The crew called out requests like children
planning their birthday party.

“A band!”

“No, there’s no time to book one.”

“I think a band can be arranged,” Peter said.

Why does he keep staring at me like that?
She decided to up the ante. “What about an eighties cover band.”
Let’s see
him pull that out of his ass.

He smiled at her. “Whatever you want.”

After a quick knock on her door, Rich came in
before she could respond.

“Where were you?” she asked. “You missed the big announcement.”

“I heard – great news!” He stepped around the desk
and sat on the edge of it next to Alice.

“I suppose you also heard about the party. Are you
going to come even though it’s at Peter’s house?”

“They did say all the cast and crew were invited,
and that includes me. Why should I miss out? It’s his problem, not mine.” He
leaned over and brought his lips onto hers before she could protest against
kissing at work. “See you tonight?”

She nodded, and he kissed her again.
Oh, what
the hell
. Then he stood up and walked out, closing the door behind him.

That night after their date, Alice and Rich stood
once again under the lamp over her front door.

“I don’t suppose I make it across the threshold
tonight?”

“No, sorry. Maid’s day off – the place is a mess.”

“Hmm. So when do you think the maid will clean?”

“Not sure yet. She’s new, and we’re taking things
slow.”

He stepped closer, putting his hands on her waist,
and kissed her, pulling gently at her lower lip with his teeth and awakening
every nerve in her body.

“So,” she said, “you’re definitely coming to
Peter’s party, I mean, the cast party.”

“Of course.  But I’ll have to meet you there. I
have to drive out to Malibu to help a friend move some stuff.”

“But you will be there?”

“You think I would miss an opportunity to see Lord
Voldemort’s castle?”

She closed her eyes as they kissed again, and at
his lips urging, she opened her mouth. She put her arms around his neck, and
his tongue touched hers.
Peter.

Her eyes flew open.
Peter? What the hell? Why
would I think of Peter while I am kissing Rich? I really like Rich. And I can’t
stand Peter. It’s probably because we were just talking about him. Yeah, that’s
it.

Her confused brain distracted her from her present
situation until a hand on her breast alerted her to the tongue in her mouth,
and she broke the kiss and stepped back and faced a red-faced, panting Rich.

“Wow,” he said. “That was some kiss. You sure I
can’t come in?”

Uh-oh.
“Sorry, not tonight. Goodnight,” she
said as one word and escaped behind her door before he could react.

☼

Alice would not describe Peter’s house in the
Hollywood Hills as a castle – more of a palace. Palatial could be the only word
appropriate for the tastefully decorated mansion. She tried not to gawk up
toward the high ceiling and around at the expanse of marble tiles and all the
rich furnishings, which brought to mind the Bellagio. She had arrived late,
since she came alone and wanted to ensure at least most of the others would
already be there; and when no one came when she knocked and rang, she had let
herself in only to stand by herself on the other side of the door. She could
hear music in the distance but not clear enough to determine the direction.

“I had begun to think you wouldn’t come.”

Alice turned to Peter’s voice behind her. “I…uh.
Sorry.”

“I was afraid that…well, you did come. If you’d
like to leave your things in the cloakroom, I’ll take you out to the others.”

“Ah, well, aren’t you the perfect host. Don’t you
have a butler or something?”

She dropped off her purse –
Really? A cloakroom?
– and he walked with her through a maze until they arrived at a large room
filled with guests spilling out to the pool area. Peter grabbed two crystal
flutes from the tray of a passing waiter and handed her one of them.

He touched his glass to hers with a ting.
“Congratulations.”

She sipped then asked, “Why are you congratulating
me? You have achieved what you came here to do, or rather what the network sent
you to do.”

“No, the novelty of having me on the show might
have brought in a few viewers, but it’s your storylines that kept them hooked.
I still think they are ludicrous,” he said with a smile, “but clearly you know
your audience. So here’s to a team effort.”

He touched his glass to hers again, and as she
drank, the music caught her attention. At first she had thought a DJ must be
out there, but now she could see the stage on the far side of the extensive
patio. He had done it – an eighties cover band.

“The band,” she managed to sputter out. “How?”

“You said that was what you wanted.”

She lifted her eyes to his, and something about
them disturbed her. She suddenly felt nervous, as if she had lost something, or
there was something she had forgotten to do.

Then she remembered Rich. As late as she had
arrived, he must already be there. She glanced around the room but didn’t see
him.

“Are you looking for someone?” Peter’s tone had
taken an edge since his toasts.

“Yes, is…is Eileen here yet?”

Peter drank the rest of his champagne in one
swallow. “Yes, she’s by the pool. I’ll show you.”

“No, thanks. I’ll find her.”

She rushed in among the other guests, often being
forced to stop to greet her co-workers and their dates or mates. The pool had
lilies with candles floating on its surface. A few people were dancing on the
patio out by the band, with tiny white lights strung over the makeshift dance
floor.  He had done it all at a moment’s notice; and with the beauty and
perfection he had arranged here on Earth, she would not have been surprised if
he had ordered the stars twinkling in the black sky as well.
Must be nice to
have that kind of money.

One thing she did not find, however, was any sign
of Rich. Eileen waved to her from beside the bar.

“I’ve been wondering when you’d get here.”

“I just walked in the door. Have you seen Rich?”
Alice asked, still searching through the guests. “Could he be dancing?”

“No, I don’t think he’s here yet. I was just out
by the band and didn’t see him.”

Alice finished her champagne and took a full glass
from the bar. “I thought he’d be here by now.”

“Maybe he didn’t want to come since he and Peter
are not exactly friends.”

“No, he said that was Peter’s problem, not his.”

“Alice, listen. I need to talk to you about
something. Well, this probably isn’t the right time or place.”