Lovers and Gamblers (61 page)

She wanted to scream. It was so unfair.

‘Who has been to my box?’ she asked the clerk.

He looked at her in surprise. ‘No one, ma’am.’

What did he know? Nothing. She could complain, make a fuss, it would all be to no avail.

Tears of frustration filled her eyes. Men. They had been screwing her all her life – if not physically then metaphorically.

She wanted revenge. Lew Margolis was not going to get the better of her. No way.

A plan was already forming in her mind. A plan that would need a certain amount of working out.

She strode out of the bank to her car. Thoughtfully she drove home.

Al King was sitting in his chauffeured limo outside her house. He leapt out when he saw her and started mouthing apologies. She brushed past him. ‘Go fuck yourself, Al,’ she muttered, and slammed the door in his face.

* * *

Doris Andrews said, ‘This is a very sweet house, dear.’

‘Thank you,’ replied Dallas demurely. ‘Can I fix you something to drink?’

Doris laughed softly in her breathy fashion. ‘Much too early for me. But maybe an orange juice if it’s freshly squeezed.’

‘Sure,’ said Dallas brightly, ‘it will only take me a sec. Why don’t you sit out by the pool?’

Doris said, ‘What a sweet pool,’ and took herself outside and settled on a lounger.

Dallas rushed into the kitchen, grabbed some oranges, cut them in half, and squeezed the juice out.

She reached for a half-smoked joint she had left in an ashtray, and dragged deeply. It was her third one that day. She knew the only way she would be able to go through with her plan was if she was well stoned.

It had been easy to persuade Doris to come to her house. One phone call. A hint of promise.

The difficult part had been getting Linda to go along with the plan. ‘Not again!’ she had complained. ‘I think you’re playing it too close. Lew Margolis is obviously a man with connections – it could be
dangerous.

Dallas had been her most persuasive, and a reluctant Linda was ready to do her part.

The orange juice was squeezed. Dallas poured it into a glass, crushing a speed pill in with it. Wouldn’t do any harm in case Doris suddenly developed inhibitions. She carried the juice outside. ‘I should be very cross with you,’ she said. ‘You’ve been telling your husband things about us that aren’t strictly true.’

Doris widened blue eyes – a famous screen gesture that had saved her from countless villains. ‘I only hinted. Just the teensiest little hint. You see, I was jealous,’ she giggled selfconsciously, ‘when I saw you leaving my party with that – that – monster!’

Dallas said, ‘Your teeniest little hint got me fired – you know that? Booted out of the series. Is that what you wanted?’

Doris looked immediately contrite. ‘Oh, no! My dear, I’m so sorry. I had no idea…’

Not much, thought Dallas – you conniving, jealous bitch. You saw me leave with Al after turning
you
down, and your ego couldn’t take that. So you screwed me – but good.

‘I didn’t think you did,’ she said, ‘but all the same…’ She shrugged. ‘I’m out, and I just don’t know what to do.’

Doris quickly said, ‘I’ll talk to Lew. I’ll tell him I made a mistake.’

‘You know it won’t do any good. You told me yourself how jealous of you he is.’

Doris nodded sadly. ‘That’s true. Oh dear, what have I done?’

You’ve used
your
power – just like your husband used his. And you both think you’ve fixed me. But I am no shrinking out-of-town hick. You’ll both see how smart I am.

Dallas patted her gently on the hand. ‘Don’t worry about it, drink your orange juice. Do you mind if I swim?’

‘I feel so badly…’ Doris started to say. But the words stuck in her throat as Dallas stepped out of the shorts and halter top she was wearing, revealing her totally beautiful naked body.

Doris stared.

Dallas ran her hands casually over her own body, lingering for a second on her erect nipples. ‘You going to swim?’ she asked Doris. ‘It’s quite secluded here,
au naturel
is the order of the day.’ She reached out and started to unbutton Doris’s silk shirt. ‘Here, let me help you.’

Doris didn’t move. Dallas finished unbuttoning the shirt, took it off her. Then she unhooked the white bra Doris was wearing. It was padded, giving Doris curves she didn’t possess.

Slowly Doris lifted her hands and cupped Dallas’s full breasts. She said, her voice no more than a breathy whisper, ‘I knew you would be beautiful,’ and she pulled the younger woman close to her so that she could take her breast in her mouth.

Dallas closed her eyes tightly. Just pretend you’re not even here. Just hope that Linda is already in action capturing photos that Lew Margolis will
really
find interesting.

* * *

Cody went along with Dallas’s request that he release no statement to the press. ‘It would be better coming from us than from the studio,’ he suggested.

She was adamant. It was almost as if she expected some miracle to happen and that she would be reinstated as
Man Made Woman
. Unbeknown to her, the studio had not cancelled the series at all. They had merely replaced Dallas with another girl. Chuck had told Cody. ‘It’s ridiculous!’ he had exploded on the phone. ‘How can you change the star of a television series halfway through? Anyway Dallas was marvellous in it – they’ve replaced her with a girl who has nothing – the public will never buy it. Everyone here thinks Lew Margolis has blown his stack.’

Cody agreed. He remembered the outcry when the ‘Bionic Woman’ had guested on a couple of
Six Million Dollar Man
segments and been killed off. The public just wouldn’t accept it, and to its cost the studio who owned the series had had to bring her back to life.

Cody knew that when the series was shown, the public would want Dallas. As far as he was concerned, Lew Margolis had gone stark raving mad. The man was a fool, and eventually he would have to pay for it – Cody would personally see to that.

Meanwhile he had Aarron Mack to worry about. He was anxious to meet with Dallas and have a private discussion.

‘I have heard certain disturbing rumours,’ he had told Cody on the phone, ‘and I wish to see the young lady and discuss them. I will send my plane for her to meet me in Palm Springs tomorrow.’

‘I’ll come with her,’ Cody said.

‘I’d sooner meet with her alone.’

Cody had a bad feeling. His gut reaction was not in good shape. Either that or it was his developing ulcer.

* * *

Linda lit a cigarette. Her hand was shaking.

God! Miss Sophistication. One lesbian scene and she was a mass of nerves.

How could Dallas do it? It was difficult to understand. This whole blackmail thing was going too far. Once – to help a friend out. Twice – Linda was disgusted with herself. It was sickening. And to have had to watch Dallas and Doris Andrews together. Ugh! She was certainly no prude. But two women together… It was not that they had done much of anything – a man and a woman doing the same things would have been fairly tame stuff – but two women doing it. Linda couldn’t reconcile herself to
that.
Lesbian tendencies she had never had, and this had put her off forever.

She went into the bathroom and lifted the photos out of the solution. They were good. Clear. Revolting.

Dallas had shut herself in the bedroom and Linda was glad. In a way she was almost embarrassed to face her. It made things somehow different between them.

As soon as she had finished the pictures she wanted to get away. Dallas had asked too much in return for sleeping on her couch. The very next day she would find herself an apartment.

* * *

Dallas lay on her bed staring blankly into space.

What had happened to her Californian dream? A nice home, a steady career, a baby. What did she want now?

She had her house, that was okay. But the desire to have a baby was gone. Who needed to bring children into a world like this? Career was important too. The desire to be some one. And she enjoyed working. When she was before the cameras she could really forget everything and become the character she was playing. So why couldn’t they all leave her alone? Why did she always have to be on her guard, scheming, planning, plotting a way to come out on top?

Bobbie had known how to escape the pressures of just existing. Heroin. It had killed her. Maybe she was better off.

Dallas turned over and lay on her stomach. She had showered when Doris left, scrubbed her body thoroughly. Sex became more and more of a hassle. She hated it. She went through the motions with a complete lack of feeling. The scene with Doris had been particularly difficult.

Why did they want her? The face. The body. Is that all they saw?

She shut her eyes, squeezing them tightly so that the tears that had suddenly formed couldn’t escape.

Cody had phoned earlier to tell her that Aarron Mack requested her presence in Palm Springs the next day. What did he want?

She reached on her bedside table for the bottle of Seconal pills – took one – two – three.

Soon she was asleep.

The insistent ringing of the telephone woke her the next morning. She could hear the ringing, hoped that Linda would pick it up. Goddamn it. The phone kept ringing. She reached for it, mumbled ‘hello’.

It was Cody, cheerful and bright, reminding her that he would pick her up in an hour to take her to the airport.

‘
Why
do I have to go?’ she complained.

‘Because we don’t want to blow
this
deal – he needs jollying up.’

‘Terrific. Play with his balls and lick his ass.’

‘I’ll ignore that. You know how to handle him.’

‘Sure.’ Sourly she hung up.

She got out of bed, stretched, yawned. She felt terrible – heavy and hungover. She reached for a joint, lit up. Soon she felt better.

There was an envelope and a note from Linda in the kitchen. The envelope contained a set of photos complete with negatives. The note read, ‘Here you go – guess they are what you wanted. Got great deal on apartment – so am moving. Will call you. Thanks for everything – Linda.’ Dallas crumpled the note in her hand. She didn’t blame her.

Critically she examined the photos. They were better than she had hoped. Doris revealed as Lew had never seen her beforehand, obviously not a reluctant participant. Good.

She carefully chose two, sealed them in an envelope, and addressed it to Lew marked ‘Personal and Private’. Then she sealed the negatives in another envelope, which she planned to deposit at a bank near the airport under a false name. Let Lew find them there. The remainder of the photographs she hid around the house. As long as the negatives were safe it didn’t matter if Lew found these.

She dressed. Smoked another joint. Packed a small bag in case she stayed overnight in Palm Springs.

Cody picked her up on time, chatted inanely all the way to the airport. He thought he was cheering her up. Before boarding Aarron’s plane she squeezed his hand. ‘Don’t worry, kid, everything’s cool.’

‘I know, I know,’ he agreed. ‘Let me know what time you’ll be back and I’ll meet you.’

She giggled. She suddenly felt great.

Cody realized she was stoned, but it was too late to stop her from going.

‘Don’t call me, I’ll call you,’ she chuckled. ‘Be a good fella.’

He didn’t like to see her in that kind of state. He wished he was still around to look after her. ‘Watch it,’ he said sternly. ‘Don’t do anything you don’t want to. Remember we have a contract, he has to honour it.’

‘Course I’ll remember.’ She winked lewdly. ‘I won’t even fuck him unless he asks me!’

She slept on the short flight to Palm Springs. Slept in the car on the way to Aarron’s estate.

He sat beside the swimming pool, a gnarled, nut-brown figure in snappy red-striped bathing shorts.

He kissed her hand, offered a choice of champagne or mineral water. ‘Are you hungry?’ he asked solicitously. ‘Shall we eat lunch now or later?’

She opted for later, changed into a bikini, and flopped out beside him, immediately falling asleep.

He watched her sleep. How could he believe what he had heard about her? She breathed deeply, her magnificent breasts almost escaping from the brief bikini top. He wanted to reach over and touch her. He didn’t care what he had heard. He was determined to possess her.

She slept for almost three hours, then she woke, stretched, rolled into the swimming pool, splashed around, emerged, and said, ‘I’m sorry Aarron. Did I sleep for long?’

He nodded. ‘You must have been tired, it’s past four. I’ll tell them to serve lunch.’

‘Great! I’m famished.’ She excused herself, went into the house, got a joint from her purse and smoked it in the john.

Lobster, caviar, and smoked salmon with an array of salads waited. She ate heartily, and then polished off half a delicious chocolate cake.

‘That was good!’ she exclaimed.

‘You were hungry,’ Aarron stated.

‘Yeah. I guess I’ve been working too hard. It’s really nice to have a few days off.’

‘A few days off?’ He paused, obviously puzzled. ‘But I thought—’

‘Oh, don’t tell me you’ve heard the rumour about me being off the series too.’

‘Yes.’

‘Don’t believe it. I’m having a week off.’

‘But Lew Margolis telephoned me himself.’

Dallas laughed. ‘Poor old Lew. I think he’s getting senile. It’s all a mistake. I told him I needed a rest, he seems to think I want more money. Everything’s a bit confused, but I can promise you I’ll be back on the set next Monday. By the way, what was it you wanted to discuss with me?’

She had Aarron completely puzzled. He had prepared a speech but it didn’t seem to fit now. Finally he said, ‘I am really most perplexed.’

‘Why?’ she asked, pouring herself some more champagne.

Aarron shook his head sadly. ‘I have known Lew Margolis for many years. We are not close friends but we are old acquaintances. I should warn you that he is saying some very strong things about you.’

Dallas widened her eyes in surprise. ‘About me?’

‘Of course I do not believe what he is saying,’ Aarron hastened to add, ‘but all the same, they are disturbing things and I think we should discuss them. You see, being the Mack girl will identify you very closely with all the Mack products, and should there be even the slightest grain of truth in what Lew is saying…’ He paused to have a short coughing fit. ‘I can be quite frank with you, Dallas. Mack Cosmetics is my company, but I am getting on in years. I have had to make certain tax provisions for my family. I have a son and a daughter, they are both married. I have five grandchildren.’