The Stars Trilogy (72 page)

Kelsey looked guilty. “Errr…”

“What exactly did you tell them?”

“Uhm, told them that this lady is Dare’s special friend and he might end up buying the jewelry she’d be wearing at the Cannes.”

“What?! Kels, how could you?!”

“They promised to be discreet and keep the secret.”

“And we both know there is no sacred secret in Hollywood.”

“But they are thrilled that you chose to wear their stuff for the Cannes.”

“You did the choosing, not me.”

“Aw dear, they’d look fab on you. Come on, humor me. I’m so excited for you. This is exactly how I felt when I first met Dare. One look at him and I knew he’d be a huge star.”

“You know, I only wanted to be an actress so I won’t feel like an outsider in Dare’s world, not really to be so famous or anything.”

“But I know natural talent when I see one.”

“You haven’t seen me act yet.”

“Acting can be learned, my dear. What an actress needs first and foremost is huge presence. You know, when she enters a room, everything stands still. She mesmerizes everyone. You have that rare quality. Plus the natural wit which will do wonders with the fans, the grace and regal posture that will invite endorsements, the  expressive eyes that will rivet audiences to the screen, the body, the natural sensuality that will make every director kill for the opportunity of unleashing that on cam…a walking poetry!”

She blinked rapidly at Kesley, totally weirded out. “Kels…are you...uhm, a lesbian?”

“What if I am?”

She stared at Kelsey then shrugged. “Shame we can’t discuss boys.”

“Who says we can’t?”

“You’re bi?”

Kelsey chuckled. “My dear, I’m as straight as a totem pole!”

“Ops, sorry! Wrong number!”

Chapter Thirty

“Okay, another supermodel. And a starlet. Hey, a burlesque queen?! And drum rolls please, another supermodel! You are hopeless! I hate you!:(((...Okay, I take that back. I don’t hate you. I just don’t understand you anymore. Your reputation is a mess. I bet your publicist wants to commit suicide now. I mean, what the hell are you doing, Dare?!...”

THE
FESTIVAL DE CANNES
was the most prestigious invitation-only competition in international cinema. The screening alone was very hard to qualify into, much less pass. Only the best works would be considered as entries for the feature and short film categories which will be judged by a panel of jurors during the 12-day event.

The Cannes was the annual gathering of the most talented directors, producers and scriptwriters in the world. The festival gave two major awards yearly– the Palme d’Or for the best director and the Grand Prix for best feature film.

Held annually at the
Palais des Festivals et des Congrès,
it was the place that all the actors in Hollywood, from the wannabes to the superstars aspired to be seen at every year. An invitation to the Cannes would signal one’s career going somewhere hot.

Dare arrived in France with Celine, Cruz, Kelsey and his entourage of staff on his business jet. They all occupied six suites at the InterContinental Carlton, including a presidential suite for him and Celine. As part of his juror duties, he had to stay the entire festival duration until the closing ceremonies and awards night on the last day.

Day one at Cannes had him doing probably a dozen press calls and photo shoots with his fellow jurors, among them his good friend and one-time mentor Al Pacino, who was the jury president; award-winning actress Sandra Bullock; famed Spanish director who was a Cannes favorite, Pedro Almodovar and a mix of cinema luminaries from different countries.

Celine opted to stay in the hotel with Kelsey in the morning. The opening show would happen in the late afternoon and she’d attend with Chris, who was also billeted in the same hotel where they were in.

He had to give it to Kelsey. She had everything covered for her huge publicity stunt for Celine. And hell, he was not happy about it. Why did Chris have the honor of her first red carpet walk at the Cannes? It should be him.

It was the first Cannes he had attended where he was not excited one bit. Being chosen as a juror for this competition was a laurel in his resume and a great prelude to his aspirations as a director but he cannot fully enjoy it knowing someone might be planning to kill him. Cruz and a contingent of high-level security experts may be all over the place discreetly guarding him but they were in a foreign land and anything can happen.

Celine got a first-hand experience on what socialites and wannabe stars only dream about—  to be in the “gifting suite.” Not only was she invited there, she was on the priority list.

The ‘gifting suite’ was a suite within the Carlton where A-list stars were invited to choose the clothes and jewelry they’d be wearing in all the events in the festival. Dior provided for her clothes and Neil Lane adorned her ears, neck and hands with jewelry not less than a million dollars apiece. The suite came with high-caliber fashion stylists and make-up artists to doll up the celebrities to their red carpet best.

They fussed around her, fixing her hair and applying her make-up but the extra scrutiny they were giving her were almost unnerving. Thanks to the arrival of the breathtaking Angelina Jolie, the attention was immediately taken from her.

Angelina also wore Dior and Neil Lane and they were the only ones on the priority list, to her utter shock. Being with Dare was huge, indeed. She got first-class treatment everywhere she went which made her more nervous. Thank God Angie was Ms. Congeniality personified despite her tough image. The A-list actress actually made her feel at ease with her surprisingly bubbly personality. She discovered that Mr. Pitt preferred a certain type of woman as she’d also met the bubbly ex-Mrs. Pitt.

She found out from Kelsey that Dare had his own gifting suite which he shared with Brad Pitt, Mark Wahlberg and Leonardo DiCaprio. No wonder he didn’t bring Ken and his personal stylists on this trip.

But despite the euphoric excitement she was feeling for being in the most important event in France that year, she couldn’t contain her temper from rising when she saw the festival program for that day.

“Did you both deliberately miss to tell me about this, Kels?”

“What, darling?” Kelsey was all innocence as she dabbed powder on her pert nose.

“This!” She raised a piece of paper containing the official festival screening schedule.

“What about...that?”

“Alana’s film will be premiered tonight! It’s the opening film!”

“Oh, that! Well...” Kelsey shrugged.

“You knew about this!”

“My dear, why are you mad?”

She lowered her tone. “I’m not mad. I just don’t like surprises like this. You should have told me, Kels.”

“And what difference would it make if I told you, pray tell? It will only upset you. Which you are now and it’s a shame because you look so beautiful, my dear. Dare will be so proud of you.”

She was not convinced but remained quiet.

“Celine, you should stop this. Stop minding Alana. She is long gone from Dare’s life.”

“Oh yeah? They had a tryst last week. That didn’t look ‘long gone’.”

Kelsey sighed.

She felt guilty for being childish but she couldn’t help it. This particular ex-wife of Dare’s was such a huge star she felt insignificant to be mentioned in the same breath with her. “I’m sorry, Kels but I don’t know if I should attend this event. She will be at the opening ceremony later, right? It’s her movie.”

“Yes, and you will be there too and you will rock it with Chris. By the way, he seems to like you. Did you notice how he looked at you last night when we had dinner?”

“No.”

Kelsey smiled. “Instead of being jealous of Alana, why don’t you make Dare jealous?”

“Hah, he doesn’t get jealous.”

“Trust me my dear, he does.”

Her hands were cold and her knees were shaking. Celine was very nervous. She had done a lot of red carpet events as a socialite back home and she had been the center of attention in most of them but she had never walked the Cannes red carpet at the famed Grand Lumiere Theatre!

Angie and Brad were just a few meters away. Such a gorgeous couple. Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem were right in front of them. She was actually in the middle of the biggest gathering of the biggest stars in the world– she, Celine Lavega with no claim to fame yet except being Dare’s current ‘squeeze’. She was THE other woman and some might even speculate that she broke up Dare’s marriage to Gabby.

The thought made her hands colder.

Chris bent to whisper in her ear. “You okay?”

She managed a smile. “Yes...”

He took her hand. “Whoa! You’re cold!”

She looked at him, worried. Chris was such a gentleman. If she wasn’t so in love, she’d probably have a crush on this guy. “I’m nervous. My first time here, you know...”

He smiled at her, his blue eyes, reassuring. “Don’t worry, I used to have red carpet fright, too. I hated it. But you’ll get the hang of it. Just think of it this way: once we’re past those suckers and way up those stairs...” he indicated the scary throng of press people all dressed in black lining up one side of the carpet-laden walk, “…we’ll be fine. Ready?”

She inhaled and exhaled as the cue master told them they were next to walk. She psyched herself up. She was Celine Lavega in a fabulous Dior gown, her ears and wrist adorned by eye-popping Neil Lane emeralds. She will rock this gala like she was throwing it. She was being escorted by the dashing Chris Pine. Hopefully, next month, she would would walk with Dare Montgomery, Hollywood king, the man of her dreams and many a women’s dreams but they could only dream of him from now on because he was hers. The Cannes was just the beginning of the many red carpet events in her future life with Dare.

She wrapped her hand around Chris’ arm.  “Okay. Let’s do it.”

Dare couldn’t seem to stand it.

The French press adored Chris and his lovely friend Mademoiselle Celine. Inside the
Palais des Festivals
where a gala dinner was being held prior to the premier screening of Alana’s Woody Allen-directed film,
Delusions of Bliss
, he couldn’t help glancing at their table. They seemed to be enjoying each other’s company. It was all he could do not to barge in on them and claim his woman for all to see.

He was seated at a special table with Al, Pedro, Sandy, Woody and Alana, who arrived early this afternoon just in time for the opening ceremony. He didn’t know if Alana machinated it but he ended up walking the red carpet with her and Woody, at the latter’s request. Of course, he couldn’t say no to THE Woody Allen. But his promise to himself that he would not walk with any particular actress here at the Cannes to appease Celine’s feelings went kaput.

Alana was eyeing him wistfully all night. She was, as usual, in her best element, entertaining the people at their table with her charming wit. Who wouldn’t hang on to this woman’s every word when she was being touted to win the prized best actress award in this competition? For the second time at that? But not him. He knew her too well to hang on to her every word ever again.

As expected from Woody Allen, the veteran indie film director got a full minute standing ovation after the screening of Delusions of Bliss. Alana gave a tour de force performance as a Parisian socialite who became the mistress of several powerful men in Europe in the 1960s. Her life was both a violent and poetic tapestry of a deep-seated need to be truly loved and a burning ambition to maintain power in a male-dominated world.

Celine couldn’t contain her insecurity after watching the film. She excused herself from Chris and went to the rest room to calm her nerves. Dare’s ex was hands down, the toast of the Cannes.

She retouched her make-up as a flurry of celebrities entered and left the luxurious powder room. Some greeted her sincerely while the rest looked at her with speculating, calculating eyes, sizing her up from head to toe as if judging her if she was worthy of her new position. Many eyes dismissed her as a has-been before she could even go public with her man.