Not Famous in Hollywood (Not in Hollywood Book 1) (7 page)

“
She was
there when Ryan Hendricks died. You’re going to have people who
think that she was to blame. Whatever they come up with, whether it
is drugs or something else, there are going to be a lot of fans who
are going to think it was her fault.”

“Do you think it was drugs?” Jorge asked.

“
I
don’
t know.” I shrugged. “Probably. You
know how it is. I didn’t think Ryan did drugs but what would I
know.”

“
Guess you’d
better get up to her” Jorge said.

“Have you seen her yet?” I asked.

“
Nah,
she’
s still in her room with her
therapist. I think the poor shrink ended up having to sleep in her
room all night and get woken up on demand.”

“Great.”

I made my way
up the stairs and knocked quietly on the door. Opening it I found
Eleanor still in bed, the therapist sitting in a chair in the
corner of the room, looking like she was quietly nodding off to
sleep. Eleanor however was awake and just sitting there looking out
of the window.

“Miss Channing” I said quietly trying not to
disturb her too much. “Is there anything you need me to get
you?”

I
didn’
t really expect anything at this
stage. To keep her stunning, impossible for normal people to attain
figure, Eleanor pretty much existed on a no fat, no sugar and no
fun diet. This meant coffee, cigarettes, occasional salads and a
binge every now and again, followed by a period of
self-flagellation with the latest toxin cleansing diet which was
making the rounds. During this time, believe me, everyone
suffered.

“
Do you want
to go through your itinerary for the day?” I asked pulling out my
tablet.

“
No” sighed
Eleanor. “I need you to cancel everything I have today. I’m
spending the day at Bliss. I think I need to take care of me
today.”

I nodded in
what I hoped was an understanding way. Considering pretty much
every day was all about Eleanor Channing I didn’t get how this
would make today any different.

“Are you sure you want to go out in public?”
I asked. “Maybe after what happened yesterday it might be good to
stay at home rather than spending the day at a spa.”

“Bliss is not just a spa” Eleanor said
indignantly. “It is a wellness center and I need to heal after the
trauma I suffered yesterday. Dr Kennedy said it would be best for
me.”

Considering
Dr Kennedy was probably completely sleep deprived I wasn’t sure how
much stock I would put into her advice right about now. That being
said, Bliss seemed to be the place to go for everyone. Part spa,
part relaxation, all indulgence. The therapists in LA seemed to
have locked onto it as the complete cure all for Hollywood’s
beautiful and stressed. Luckily it worked on the same priority
system as everywhere in LA and Eleanor Channing was close to the
top of that priority system.

Eleanor’
s therapist, grateful
that her work seemed to be done, left, but only after reiterating
that Eleanor should go alone to Bliss. None of her entourage should
be there as Eleanor needed to process yesterday’s events and how
they affected her life and her future going forward. That meant
there were only three of us in the limo heading for Bliss, Eleanor,
Jorge and myself. Jorge of course would only be allowed inside the
reception area as men were strictly forbidden from the inner
sanctum. I, as a woman, was allowed to go in but there would be no
pampering for me. My job was to sit in a corner and be invisible
for six hours. I couldn’t leave to eat and if I wanted to pee I was
out of luck.

Two hours in,
I was very discreetly sitting on the edge of the communal bath
room. It was based on the old Roman baths concept where women sat
in one of the square, in ground baths soaking in some kind of
organic concoction. Eleanor had just been relaxing in some milk and
honey when there was a sound as the door opened and I looked up
into the horrified face of Emily Saunders’ PA. Emily Saunders, as
in Ryan Hendricks’s fiancée, Emily Saunders.

“You slut, how dare you show your face here.”
Emily shoved her PA to one side and stormed over to Eleanor who was
trying desperately to wrap her towel around her wet, and probably
sticky from the honey, body.

To Eleanor’s
credit she did try to make a hasty exit. Nothing like being caught
out at being the other woman. Emily Saunders kept yelling at
Eleanor using language which quite frankly, considering she had
been portrayed in the media as the sweet innocent darling of tinsel
town, quite shocked me.

After sending
Jorge a quick help text on my cell I went to grab hold of Eleanor
to get her out, reminding myself to send a very strongly worded
note of complaint to the management of Bliss. Something along the
lines of making sure staff kept an eye on bookings with relation to
current affairs. Unfortunately as I reached Eleanor I could see the
change in her when Emily made the mistake of calling her a white
trailer trash whore. Eleanor Channing was the product of a less
than ideal upbringing and she had grown up in some pretty rough
places. Despite her delicate look now, I knew from some of the
previous stalker incidents with ex-boyfriends that the woman was
able to bring it if necessary. All of a sudden I started being less
worried about Eleanor and more worried about how Hollywood princess
Emily Saunders was going to find herself getting an education on
how fighting worked on the streets.

Eleanor
grabbed hold of Emily’
s hair and dove
onto her. The two of them ended up on the ground, slapping and
scratching. I know when you see fighting on the screen it looks
good, but that is because it is choreographed. Fighting in real
life, in most cases, looks ridiculous and messy. In this case there
was biting and pinching and pulling hair. Eleanor had managed to
get on top of Emily. Meanwhile Emily had managed to get hold of
Eleanor’s arm and left some bite marks on it.

I could hear
noise coming from the reception area as voices were raised and
hoped that Jorge was able to get in here and help me out. Emily’s
PA was standing to one side taking video footage as were most of
the staff. No one seemed to be at all interested in stopping the
cat fight that was going on in front of them.

Hair was
flying everywhere as extensions were torn off. Eleanor had managed
to scratch Emily’s face, but give the girl her due, Emily was
putting up a plucky fight. There was no way she could win. Street
fighter against princess always ended with the princess being
destroyed. Considering she started it, I had trouble feeling sorry
for Emily. My mother always told me to never start a fight unless
you were sure you could win. Anything else was just plain
stupidity.

Sighing heavily I waded in trying to separate
the two women. Neither of them seemed to pay attention to me as I
tried to yell out for someone to help me. No one seemed all that
interested and kept on filming. In that moment I truly hated the
internet.

Trying to
pull Eleanor away I felt arms grab me from behind. Panicking I
flailed backwards and my elbow hit something solid. I heard a quick
grunt and then I was flying backwards, thrown to the ground and put
in handcuffs before I knew what happened. Looking up, I saw
Detective Griffin with a decidedly annoyed expression on his face
and a red mark around his right eye. Oops, that might have been me.
Detective Ramos, obviously with a great deal more skill then me,
had managed to separate the two fighters and was barking orders
about finding the two women some clothes. Oh did I fail to mention
that the two of them had lost their towels during the fight.
Emily’s PA was so much smarter than me. That footage was going to
be pure gold.

Looking over
I saw Jorge had finally managed to make it past the reception
doors, he must have come in with the cops. He was texting
furiously, probably to Eleanor’s management. While Ramos was
dealing with Emily and Eleanor, and Griffin was dealing with
onlookers, Jorge rambled over to me. I had managed to get myself in
a sitting position and was contemplating what this little incident
meant for my career. I could see myself being blamed by management
for this. Not Eleanor’s therapist for suggesting the woman leave
the house, not Bliss for booking two women who should not be in the
same building together and not Emily and Eleanor for engaging in a
schoolyard brawl.

“You okay cupcake?” Jorge asked in that
offhand way of his.

“Do I look okay?” I asked.

“Not really, you look kind of screwed” he
said.

“And not in a good way” I replied.

He put a
friendly arm around my shoulders. “Don’t worry cupcake, I'm sure
this will all be sorted out soon.”

“I would suggest you get the hell away from
my prisoner” a voice growled at us.

Looking up I
could see Detective Griffin and his eyes were narrowed, focused on
Jorge’s arm around me.

“
Sorry
Detective” Jorge said. “Seeya cupcake” he said to me and then
looking straight at Griffin he dropped his head and kissed me on
the cheek. “Later” he whispered and sauntered off with a cocky grin
at Griffin.

Griffin
looked back at me and I could see he wasn’t amused. Usually I
appreciate the humor in Jorge’s willingness to not just poke the
bear, but slap it up the side of the head with a two by four.
Today, not so much. I was the one in handcuffs with a displeased
cop that I had, and I cannot emphasize this enough, accidentally
hit in the eye with my elbow.

After being
bundled up in a police car for the second time in two days, I found
myself back at the police station. Eleanor and Emily had been
transported to hospital. I on the other hand was considered a
dangerous criminal and was required to sit in the interrogation
room for a full hour before Griffin and Ramos walked in again.
Griffin had an icepack on his eye which I am willing to bet was
just for show. I mean seriously, he’d been hit over an hour ago.
The two sat down and I looked at them sourly.

“This is ridiculous, it was an accident. I
want my attorney now.”

“
Okay then”
said Griffin laying the ice pack on the desk between us. “You have
requested an attorney so you don’t have to speak again until your
attorney turns up. Until that moment I am going to talk and I hope
you are listening. Since you’ve been arrested, I have been
photographed and I have completed a report regarding the assault I
suffered at your hands. You are currently looking at a felony count
for assaulting a police officer. If I choose to go ahead and press
charges.”

“It was an accident.” I couldn’t believe this
was happening.

“
It may have
been” shrugged Griffin, “or it could have been deliberate. If I
press charges we can leave it up to the court to decide. You may be
lucky and find a jury who agrees with you, or you may get a jury
that isn’t happy that a foreigner comes to America and commits
felony crimes here. Regardless your life becomes infinitely more
difficult and if you are found guilty and sentenced to jail, even
if it is suspended, your green card goes away and you get
deported.”

“Why would you do that?” I asked stunned. I
was having trouble understanding. I looked desperately at Ramos but
her expression was completely blank.

“
Alternatively” Griffin said as if I hadn’t spoken, “you
have another option.”

I looked at Griffin and just knew I was not
going to like my other option.

“
We need to
get into the world you are in. We understand that you attend a lot
of celebrity events, most of it is not part of your paid work, but
you are expected to attend anyway.”

I nodded feeling numb.

“
We also
understand,
it is ostensibly a social
gathering for you, despite the fact you are supposed to be working.
As a result you are permitted to bring a plus one.”

I nodded silently again knowing that I was
not liking where this was going.

“If you would be amenable to me being your
plus one for the foreseeable future I may find you to have acted in
the public interest and would be motivated not to press
charges.”

So there it
was, I was going to be blackmailed by the police. They could put
any number of pretty words around it but it ended up being the same
thing. I had not even had a parking ticket in my life and now I had
a felony assault charge hanging over my head. My first instinct was
to tell the douchebag, as I was now calling him, to go shove it and
get my attorney for me now. Thinking about it though, I knew if I
got a record for felony assault I could not only kiss my career
goodbye in America. No other country in the world would give me a
working visa with that kind of record. Still the idea of working
with the evil douchebag after what he was trying to pull was almost
more than I could take.

“
If I were to
agree” I said quietly, “why can’t Ramos be my plus one?”

“
Because if
I’m going to be seen at these things regularly, it’s better if I’m
your new boyfriend.”

“
Number one,
nobody’
s going to believe that. You’ve
already been seen as a detective by at least one other staff
member. Number two, this is the twenty first century. Nobody’s
going to blink at me bringing a female plus one."

“Can I please speak to the prisoner alone”
said the douchebag keeping his eyes on me.