Laguna Nights (11 page)

M
adison had jogged to meet Annie in town at their favorite spot, Wahoo Fish Tacos. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had on a bright pink Lulu Lemon top and black shorts. Annie, wearing a bright yellow maternity dress, had her dark hair tucked behind her ears as usual. Hank had urged her to take a few hours off away from the kids, and she was anxious for “girl time”, she told Madison. They’d just finished their tacos, over light conversation mostly surrounding Annie’s two kids and their latest antics. They were now walking down Coast Highway to the Thalia Street beach entrance. It was another perfect day in paradise, aside from the swelling number of tourists that were great for local businesses, but trying for locals.

“Use a crosswalk,” someone yelled from their car as two people darted from the ocean side of the sidewalk across Coast Highway, a stupid move anywhere along this stretch of road. Pedestrians have been hit even when they were in the crosswalks, lights flashing.

“Stupid tourists,” Annie said.

“Can’t live with them, can’t live without them,” Madison said as they walked down Thalia Street past the surf shop. Madison wondered if Dolby was working.

“Do you want to stop in, see if Dolby’s there?” Annie said, reading her mind.

“Nah, we’ll talk some other time. This is girl time,” Madison said, averting her eyes. They walked down the stairs to the beach and Madison smiled looking at the line of surfers out in the water, positioning themselves for the next wave. With a swell in from the south, they were having a good day, she knew.

“Sit here?” Annie asked, pointing to an open spot of sand, and they plopped down. “It’s so weird that Josh’s back in town. I mean, it’s been great not having anybody else from the show back here. They’re all living somewhere else.”

“Well, he’s only here for the filming. He’ll be back in LA by the end of the week,” Madison said, holding a mound of warm, white sand in her palm and then spreading her fingers to let it fall through the cracks.

“You’re still in love with him,” Annie said, tracing a circle on the sand. “That’s normal. You guys had something special and then it just blew up, without any closure. Did you talk at all at dinner Friday night, or last night?”

“You mean before his fiancé came to town?” Madison said, shaking her head. She was such a fool. “Sure, we talked. He told me he’d never loved anyone else the way he loved me. Another lie. I mean, he had a fiancé back home. I’m so stupid.”

“No you’re not, you’re real and trusting,” Annie said leaning back on the sand.

“We have such a connection, it’s like an electrical current or something. Whenever he’s even in the same room, I feel him before I even see him. It’s Pavlovian,” Madison said.

“It’s called pheromones. His alpha-male pheromones. They’re probably more intense because you guys never did it,” Annie said, laughing.

“Oh my gosh, are we in high school? Stop it,” Madison said, blushing as she realized Annie could be right. “So if we’d slept together, I’d be over him, the pheromone power would be gone, is that what you’re saying? But I didn’t back then, so if I do it now, I’ll get him out of my system? You’re crazy.”

“No I’m not. That’s what you should do. Why not today?” Annie said, hoisting herself up on her elbows. “Whoa, that was a big old knee or something,” She said as she grabbed her stomach. Madison watched in awe as a lump travel across Annie’s stomach under the bright yellow fabric. Being around Annie she could almost imagine being a mom herself someday, until Annie’s belly took on a life of its own.

“I’m not sleeping with anybody if that’s what happens,” Madison said, pointing to Annie’s belly.

“Very funny. You and Josh just need to make love, find out what’s there. Until you do, well, I think every other relationship will end wrong,” Annie said. “Like right now, with Dolby. Part of the reason you haven’t talked is because Josh is back in town. Admit it.”

“You’re wrong. I haven’t seen Josh for a lifetime until now so he hasn’t influenced anything about me or my relationships. I’ve ruined them on my own, thank you very much,” Madison said, as a young couple walked by hand in hand. “I’m sure I won’t be seeing him, well until the screen test,” Madison said.

“Screen test?”

“My boss is forcing me to do a cameo on Josh’s show, extolling the virtues of the Mondrian. I’m going to suck. I haven’t been on camera since high school. They’ll be sorry,” Madison said, already envisioning the embarrassment she’d feel, and her boss Bob would feel by extension.

“When do you have to do that?” Annie said, sitting up. “This is great. Back on television where you belong. I miss it, too. We had some good times then and you were a natural.”

For the second time in less than a day someone close to Madison had told her she belonged on television, the exact opposite of her opinion of herself, her life, her purpose. She’d been firmly attached to living a quiet, anonymous life. “I belong in resort management,” Madison said, closing her eyes and rolling back onto the sand next to Annie.

“Hey, Madison,” a deep voice said. Madison opened her eyes and was staring into Josh’s smiling face, and at his gorgeous, shirtless body. He was glistening with sweat, presumably from a jog on the beach. Madison sat up, suddenly self-conscious about how she looked; the pheromones or whatever it was had her skin tingling, her body alive. “Hey Annie. It’s like a high school reunion around here. You’re pregnant.”

“You’re brilliant,” Annie said, managing to sit up and snarl at Josh at the same time. “Why’d you come back here, movie star? I thought you were happy in your ‘gorgeous Hollywood Hills home’.” Annie had used air quotes to emphasize she’d read the tabloid spread about his fabulous life.

“LA isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. A lot of crazy people,” Josh said, sitting down next to Madison, their thighs touching. Madison wanted to leave, even as her body was acutely aware of his broad shoulders, his broad white smile, his dimple, his – stop it she told herself. “And about last night Madison. I just want to – ”

“It’s fine,” Madison said, turning to look down the beach, spotting Dolby walking out of the surf, bright blue board under his arm. Was he walking towards them?

“Who is this fiancé of yours?” Annie said. “How dare you take Madison out to dinner and not mention the fact that you’re engaged.”

“Look, that’s what I’m trying to explain. Madison, please,” Josh said. She felt his hand on her shoulder and it sent an electrical current through her. She turned to face him, away from Dolby. He’d taken off his sunglasses and his blue eyes were the color of the ocean, staring into her heart. “She’s not my fiancée, never was, never will be. She’s just a girl I dated for a while, who I let move in to help pay the mortgage on my ‘gorgeous Hollywood Hills home’. She thought we were more than we were.”

“Obviously,” Madison said, breaking eye contact and looking down at the sand. Next to her, Annie stirred trying to get comfortable despite the beach ball in her stomach.

“Well, if you’re not going to say it, Madison, then I am,” Annie said. “You use women to get what you want, Josh. It’s the same thing you did with Laura back in high school and then on the spin off show, right? Are you going to tell Madison that didn’t mean anything either? I’m sort of sick of your excuses Josh and I haven’t even seen you in fifteen years, except on the small screen.”

Josh didn’t turn to look at Annie. Instead he kept his gaze locked on Madison, and she could feel it, even though she still was staring down at the sand. “I told Madison what happened, we talked it through at dinner Friday night. But I’ll tell you, too, Annie. The Laura thing was scripted. There never was anything between Laura and me until Madison stopped talking to me. That’s the truth.”

“Why didn’t you tell her that back then? Tell Madison that slimy producer made you act like a cheater,” Annie said. Madison looked up, watching as her best friend defended her.

“He tried, Annie. I wouldn’t talk to him, I never had until he walked into the lobby Friday afternoon,” Madison said, brushing her hands together to remove the tiny grains of sand clinging to her palms. She glanced down the beach and saw Dolby closing in on them. He’d seen her, too.

“Well, you two definitely need to talk then,” Annie said as she stood up shaking the sand from her sunny dress. “I’ve got to get back home, so I’ll leave you to it.”

“Hey Annie, Madison,” Dolby said as he walked up to them, casting a shadow over Madison and Josh. Madison didn’t feel the same tingling she felt with Josh. There may be feelings, but definitely not as intense. Nowhere near.

“Hey, Dolby,” Annie said. “That’s Josh and those two need to talk. Walk me to my car?”

Madison looked up at Dolby, his blond hair dripping, his tall thin body tanned and toned and perfect. His kind gray eyes were taking in the scene, including the fact she was sitting very close to Josh. She knew they had to talk, too. She’d forced him to watch
Laguna Nights,
and he had. He knew who she was now, who she’d been. But they hadn’t spoken since.

“It’s alright Annie. I need to talk with Dolby,” Madison said, torn between her past and the guy she’d been spending most of the present with. Madison stood up, and Dolby gave her a kiss on the cheek, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. It was a possessive move, completely unlike him. Josh had dropped his sunglasses back over his eyes, Madison noticed. Josh stood up on the sand, and the two men were eye-to-eye, their height being the only similar characteristic in their frames - Josh’s broad and muscular, Dolby’s lean and fit.

“Wait you’re the dude from that show. I just watched the episode where you cheated on Madison,” Dolby said, dropping his board in the sand, hands on his hips. “She had a total breakdown the next episode, man. That was awful. How do you do something like that to someone like her?”