Jackie Collins, page 37
reveled in lecturing her students on what she thought they should know,
talking a great deal about her fabulously successful career in
England.
"Was she some kind of big star over there?" he whispered fo Annie.
Annie nodded, eyes shining. "She's a great teacher."
"How come she gave it up?"
"I don't know."
Halfway through the class Joy summoned two of her students to the front
and instructed them to improvise a scene expressing anger.
Nick watched carefully as the two young actors went to work.
They were good.
He was better.
After they were finished Joy stood up again, gave a long harsh critique
and then invited the class to comment. Some of the students couldn't
wait to pick the two actors to pieces, while a few of them were quite
flattering.
"You have to take the good with the bad," Annie murmured.
"Everybody has their say. Believe me-it can be brutal up there."
He couldn't make up his mind whether to get involved in this shit.
Acting in Bosewell was one thing, but this was Hollywood and who needed
criticism?
On his way out Joy Byron stopped him, laying a dainty blue-veined hand
on his arm. "You've got the look, dear boy," she said in her gravelly
English voice.
"I have?" he replied carefully.
"Oh, yes. I always recognize it," Joy said. "You've got the look."
He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent of musty roses mixed .."
..
1A 1,ir i* "On your next visit youl perform She fixed him with watery
eyes.
something for me."
"I haven't joined the class yet."
"Ah, yes, but sometimes I accept students without fees. We'll see.
Next time come prepared."
"What did she say?" Annie wanted to know as soon as they were
outside.
When he told her she got really excited. "My God, you never even did
anything and you made an impression on her."
"Maybe she's horny," he joked.
Annie was unamused. "That's not funny," she said sternly. "Joy Byron
is a true professional."
He took her arm. "Hey, there's something I've been meaning to ask HIo
you have a permanent guy in your life?"
"Why?" she asked suspiciously.
"I thought you'd help me out. Like if you don't have a boyfriend you'd
come by my place on Saturday night."
There was a long pause before she answered. "Nick," she said
hesitantly, "I'm not looking to get involved with anybody."
"Hey, who's asking? All I want you to do is read with me. I have to
prepare something, don't I?"
"Oh." She was embarrassed at having gotten the wrong impression.
"I'd be happy to."
Saturday night his landlady was having her usual weekend party.
He ignored the hangers-on lingering outside and steered Annie straight
through to his apartment. The smell of marijuana was overwhelming.
"Don't breathe too deeply," he joked. "One lungful and you're stoned
for the rest of the week!"
She walked over to the large windows overlooking the beach. "How did
you find this place?"
"Cyndra helped me.
"Nice view.
"Yeah, I was lucky."
The landlady's stereo blasting reggae almost blew them out of the
room.
"This is the downside," he explained. "She throws a party every
Saturday. You gotta be in the mood." He opened his refrigerator and
inspected the contents. "How about a drink? I got root beer or
Coke.
Take your rhoice" "Both bad for you," Annie said. "I'll have plain
water."
"Don't you do anything that's bad for you?" he teased, reaching for a
glass.
"Not if I can help it," she said primly.
He found his precious signed copy of Streetcar and flipped it open to a
scene he particularly liked, handing it to Annie. "How about I read
Joy a scene from this?"
"Hmm." She flicked through the pages. "You want to do it with me?"
she asked, settling on the couch.
"Do I want to do what with you?" he replied, still teasing.
Her cheeks were flushed. "Nick, get serious.
He moved in on her, knowing he shouldn't. "I am serious," he said,
sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close.
She was vulnerable and jumpy as he began to kiss her. Feebly she tried
to push him away.
"Relax," he coaxed, well aware he had her nailed. "You gotta have some
fun in life," he added, pressing his lips down on hers.
Just as he was getting somewhere they were interrupted by a loud knock
on the door. Annie seized the moment to wriggle out of his grasp and
jump guiltily to her feet.
"Ignore it," he said. "It's probably someone looking for the john."
"You'd better see who it is," she said, glad of the distraction.
"Jeer, just when we were getting' comfortable, huh?" he said, walking
over to the door and flinging it open.
Standing there was DeVille carrying a suitcase.
"Hi, honey," she said. "I'm here." ia wanted Lauren to stay with her,
but Nature insisted she'd be more comfortable at her place. Lauren
couldn't care less where she wentJimmy's betrayal had left her without
any feelings. It didn't matter, nothing mattered. She packed up her
things and moved into Nature's huge white apartment without an
argument.
Nature was delighted. She led Lauren into the guest bedroom,
announcing proudly, "This is where me Mum stays. You'll like it. It's
ever so cozy.
Lauren decided it was a good place to hide. Maybe she'd stay
forever-who needed the real world?
Nature yelled at her assistant to cancel all her appointments for the
rest of the week.
"You can't do that," Lauren protested. "You have the Vogue shoot, and
the Antonio session for Harper's. You're booked solid."
"I can bleedin' do what I want," Nature replied tartly. "I'm not a
bloody work machine. I understand what you're going' through-the truth
is it appened to me once."
"What happened to you?"
"Course it was when I was young an' innocent-ha-ha!" Nature threw
herself down on the bed, ready to talk. "There was this geezer I was
seeing before I was a model-a right layabout. I worked in an
airdressing salon, and this bloke used to come in all the time. E
seemed ever so nice. And sexy-wow! Anyway, the truth is e dumped
me-just like that. Ran off with me best friend an' married her. I bet
e's sorry now-she's a fat old cow an' I'm a big star . well, sort
of.
I never forgave im."
"I had no idea," Lauren murmured sympathetically.
"I'm not gonna bloody advertise it, am I? After that I got meself
discovered an' flown to New York. Never looked back. Course, me Mum's
not thrilled-but I am. It's great getting' away from the family.
Where's your family anyway?"
"I don't have anybody," Lauren said, admitting it for the first time.
"My mother and father are both dead."
"Oh, sorry, luv."
"That's all right."
Nature jumped up. "Well, listen, you're welcome to stay as long as you
want.
And that's exactly what she did. For two weeks she hid away in the
guest room, huddled under blankets watching television day and night,
until Pia visited one day, marched into the room and said, "Okay,
enough. Time to get back to work. Samm says your job is waiting."
She shook her head. "No. Too many bad memories.
"You can't force her," Nature said, entering the room.
"Staying here doing nothing certainly won't help her," Pia said
sharply, not appreciating Nature's interference.
Lauren spoke up; after all, it was her they were discussing. "Pia's
right. It's time I found an apartment and another job."
"Jobs aren't so easy to find," Pia warned. "If you're smart you'll
come back to Samm's."
"I've got it!" Nature shrieked, joining in as usual. "I've bleedin'
got it!"
"What?" Lauren asked.
"You'll work for me! You can be my new assistant. It'll be a lot more
fun than sitting in an office picking up the bleedin' phone all day."
"I don't know," she said unsurely.
Nature was on a roll. "So now you don't ave to move out. It'll be
nice having you ere permanently-someone to talk to when I get ome.
"Yes, very nice," Pia interjected. "Don't do it, Lauren. You'll be on
call twenty-four hours a day."
"Well?" Nature said, flashing her big blue eyes.
Lauren shrugged, she had nothing else in mind. "Why not?"
Pia sighed. "You'll regret it."
"No, she bleedin' won't," snapped Nature.
And that was that.
Sometimes Lauren thought it was the best decision she'd ever made and
sometimes she thought it was the worst. Working for Nature filled her
days, and living in the same apartment filled her nights. If she'd
thought she had no life working at Samm's, she certainly had none at
all working for Nature, although it was never boring.
Nature did not lead a dull life. As her personal assistant she was
expected to do everything from collecting the dry cleaning to watering
the plants. She soon delegated to the maid the duties she had no wish
to do, and concentrated on getting Nature's life as organized as
possible-which was not easy, because Nature was a true gypsy and had
thrived on chaos for years.
"You're fantastic!" Nature said one day." Ow did I ever manage
without you?"
"Beats me," she replied dryly, thinking was this her lot in life-to be
the girl nobody could manage without?
Nature had aspirations to an acting career. "Can't be a model
forever," she confided. "I gotta grab all the opportunities I can."
"You're twenty-two," Lauren pointed out. "What's your hurry?"
"I won't look like this for long. Once the lines start appening an' I
get a bit of sag here and there, it'll be over."
"You're crazy," Lauren said. "You've got another twenty years of
looking great."
Nature shook her head. "Twenty years? You must be jokin'! All those
little sixteen-year-olds sneakin' up behind, sniffin' at me heels,
wantin' what I got. This modeling lark ein't easy."
Lauren realized it was true-modeling was not easy, and the most
successful girls worked hard to keep themselves at the top. Nature
never allowed herself to gain an extra pound. Every day-no matter how
early she had to get up-she worked out for a solid hour, pushing her
strength to the limit.
Emerson Burn arrived back in town from a world tour. Nature read about
it in the New York Post and immediately hatched a plot. She had Lauren
call his apartment.
"Tell im I wanna ave a dinner party for im.
"When?"
"Any night e likes. Now that e's dumped that stupid Selina cow I'm in
with a chance."
Lauren called and spoke to his personal assistant, who rudely informed
her Mr. Burn's social calendar was full.
She waited a day and phoned again, saying it was Candice Bergen.
This time she was put right through.
Emerson Burn sounded like a male version of Nature." Allo?"
"Emerson Burn?" Lauren asked, just to make sure.
"Candy Bergen?"
"No, this is Lauren Roberts-Nature's assistant. She'd like to invite
you to dinner next week."
He sounded disappointed. "I thought you was Candy Bergen."
"Your secretary must have gotten your calls mixed up."
"Okay. . . dinner with Nature. She's on.
"What night?"
"Tuesday-eight o'clock. But only if she'll cook."
Lauren choked back laughter. Nature in the kitchen-that was a good
one. "Do you have any special requests?"
"Yeah. Teller I want roast beef, Yorkshire pud and roast potatoes."
When Lauren informed Nature of his request she panicked. "Oh, Gawd! I
can't bleedin' cook. Can you?"
"Don't worry, well hire a caterer."
"I don't want a bleedin' caterer," Nature wailed. "This has gotta
taste like a omecooked meal. Look-find a cooking school and learn.
Then I'll pretend I made it. Ow's that?"
Lauren laughed. "It's different."
And that's how she found herself attending a cooking class learning how
to make roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. She learned fast.
The night of Nature's date with Emerson she prepared the meal, gave
strict instructions how to serve it, then retreated to her bedroom in
the back of the apartment.
At three a.m. she awoke, walked quietly out of her room to turn the
lights off in the living room, and discovered Nature and Emerson asleep
on the white bearskin rug, naked and wrapped in each other's arms.
For a moment she stood quite still, staring at them. Then she felt too
much like an intruder and hurried back to her room, closed the door and
attempted to sleep.
It was impossible.
She knew the time had come to move on. No more hiding behind Nature.
She had to resume living.
n the morning of the Tijuana run Nick awoke at seven. He wasn't into
getting up early, but today he was on edge and found it impossible to
sleep.
DeVille lay quietly beside him. DeVille with her pale red hair and
glorious white body. He hadn't sent for her, but she'd arrived anyway,
and since she was standing on his doorstep he'd taken her in. He'd
tried to explain to Annie, who pretended it didn't matter, grabbed her
purse and ran out of his apartment like she had a rocket up her ass.
He wasn't sure whether she was angry with him or not. Probably she
was. Women were like that-overly sensitive.
For a couple of days he'd lost himself in sex. It was so good it
should be illegal-especially with DeVille, who knew everything he liked
and made sure he was the happiest man on the block.
"I can get my own apartment if you want," she'd offered, not really
meaning it.
"That's a good idea," he'd replied, not really meaning it either, and
they'd fallen back into bed.
Now she'd been at his place for five days and he knew it was time for
her to go-only he hadn't gotten around to mentioning it.
Tomorrow I'll do it, he thought. Give her fifty bucks and ease her out
gently by telling her that living together was not a good idea on
account of his career.
What career?
The career he was going to have after Joy Byron saw him perform and
found him an agent-who in turn would secure him his first professional
acting job.
Confidence, you had to have confidence-and he was brimming with it.
By eight o'clock he'd taken a run on the beach, eaten a healthy
