Chapter 3: American Party

Friday December 2
I felt a hundred times better, having slept in today. They didn’t need me on the Love Letters set until ten. There were paparazzi out front, so I decided to swim instead of run. When it was time to leave, I was happy to see the Malibu police moving the paparazzi out of this upscale neighborhood.

Fritz had drawn morning duty and drove Lexi and me to the set. I pulled out my tablet and checked to see if they’d sent me any updates on the script. They had, so I focused on reading my new lines while Lexi fidgeted next to me.

“I wanted to say I was sorry,” Lexi said.

My response was to grunt and put my earbuds in so I could tune her out. I wasn’t feeling very charitable this morning. In fact, I was leaning towards asking for someone else. Brook’s advice to spank Lexi was not happening. I guess my girlfriend hadn’t had the sexual-harassment talk at work yet. If I told Caryn that I planned to do that to an employee, she might quit.

We arrived at the studio, and I put my sunglasses on. I might as well be in full Hollywood mode.

“Find out when I’m due on set,” I said and headed to Halle’s trailer. I figured I could hide from Lexi there.

When I knocked, Ben answered.

“Morning. We were just running lines.”

Not that he needed to explain why he was there.

“I’m hiding from my PA.”

“Get in here!” Halle called.

I stepped in, and she soon had tea brewing for me. She and Ben were drinking coffee and eating some pastries. While the J-drama had plenty of tea, we didn’t get doughnuts or Danishes. It was probably for the best; I didn’t need the empty calories. Pastries had too much sugar and unhealthy fats. Cinnamon rolls didn’t count, though.

“I talked to Brook this morning. You’re not really going to spank her, are you?”

“That’s a lawsuit waiting to happen,” Ben added.

And I wasn’t that guy. As it was, I had a hard time helping Rita when she needed a good cry. I’d been brought up that you didn’t hit girls—unless they tried to kick you in the nuts. There were limits to everything. Hearing these two made me realize I had to deal with this. I shouldn’t have to hide from my PA.

I figured Caryn would just be getting into the office, so I got brave and called her. We had a quick conversation, and she said she would take care of it.

I received a text from Lexi telling me that I needed to hustle to makeup and get to the set. My day had officially started.

When I had a break, I called Duane Morris, my sports attorney who was with Woodford & Morris. I began to fill him in on what had happened last night.

“Hang on, I want Ms. Dixon in the loop on this. I’ll call you right back once I track her down,” Mr. Morris said.

While he did that, I called Dad. He was finishing up a golf lesson with Kana and Ai. I asked him not to start anything new for a few minutes because I wanted him in on this call. Five minutes later, we were all on a conference call.

“You’re going to go broke with legal fees if you keep this up,” Ms. Dixon teased.

I didn’t want to think about that part of it. She was right in thinking this might get expensive. I quickly got to business because they were charging me by the minute. I outlined what had happened, and Dad added some clarification.

“When I was at the NCAA, I long suspected something like this was going on,” Mr. Morris said. “Everyone hears rumors, but we couldn’t act on them without proof. This might be the incident that finally breaks this practice wide open. You should know, no one will be happy when this gets out. If your name is associated with it, you might never play a down of college ball,” he ventured.

“What should we do?” Dad asked.

It seemed he finally saw the seriousness of all this. Up to this point, he was pretty clueless.

“First, I need to see the video and start piecing this all together. I’m not ready to reach out to anyone at the NCAA just yet,” Mr. Morris admitted.

“What about the FBI?” Ms. Dixon asked.

I felt my heart jump into my throat. Until she said that, I hadn’t considered that this might be more than an NCAA infraction of some kind. There might be laws being broken, and people could go to jail. Personally, I didn’t want to be one of them.

“That’s not my specialty,” Mr. Morris said. “You should get someone familiar with that area of law to look at this too.”

“I think I know just the right person. I’ll see if they’re available,” Ms. Dixon said.

“And I’ll have our security people put everything together and send it to you,” Dad assured them.

“Scan the two pieces of paper they gave you and send those as well,” Ms. Dixon said.

There was a knock on my trailer door; that was the signal that I needed to get back to work.

“I have to go,” I said.

“Good call on getting us involved now,” Ms. Dixon said.

I wasn’t sure I agreed. Given a choice, I’d rather not be associated with this mess, period. I hung up and trotted off to the set.

Halle and I did scenes together until about three. Kitty told me that I was free to go, and they would call me when they needed me again. I went to my trailer to take a quick shower to rid myself of the makeup. When I arrived, I found Aubrey Dunham there with a phone in her ear. She was one of the managers Kent had hired on my recommendation. Aubrey and I had met in Miami and then again in London.

I left her to work while I cleaned up. When I came out, I had a text from my dad.

‘Come home RIGHT NOW!‘

I had no idea what that meant, but I was headed that way anyway. I figured I could wait to respond. It amused me that they’d sent Aubrey as my PA because she was busy being one of our managers. From what I overheard of her conversation, it sounded like one of our clients was having some trouble, and she was trying to solve the problem remotely.

I convinced Fritz to swing by a grocery store. We needed to have model food on hand if Adrienne and Sarah were going to be here this weekend. I also had Fritz buy a couple of cases of wine that was recommended. If Adrienne was going to be around, I wanted to up my chances of spending some quality time with her.

That was something that Brook and I had talked about. She gave me one free pass so long as I spoke to her about it first. Brook was evil and said she wanted hers to be with Dare. I’d almost backed out when I heard that, but we were talking about Adrienne, the Sports Illustrated and Victoria’s Secret supermodel. Dare might just have to disappear if Brook got serious about cashing in.

We finally got home, and Dad met me at the garage door that led into the kitchen.

“I have to go home,” he announced, looking panicked.

“Why? What’s wrong?” I said while visions of accidents or horrible things happening raced through my brain.

He just pointed out the kitchen window towards the pool. Aubrey, Fritz, and I looked out to see what the problem was.

“Oh, goody,” Aubrey said and headed that way.

“I can now die a happy man,” Fritz said.

Laying out around our pool were Adrienne, Tyler, Sarah, and Lexi ... all nude. Aubrey was losing clothes as she sauntered out. I called Brook, and she didn’t answer since she was still in school. So I took a picture and sent Brook a text.

“Fritz, open a couple of bottles of wine while I make appetizers.”

Dad still looked panicked.

“What will your mother think?” Dad asked.

I dialed her number.

“Hey, Mom, jump onto video chat,” I said.

She did, and I smiled at her.

“Look what I found. Can I keep them?” I asked.

“You’re not getting a puppy or kitten. We’ve ... oh, my. Where’s your father?”

“I have him and Fritz organizing drinks.”

“Carol, I’m packing right now,” Dad said as he grabbed my phone.

Mom must have been in a good mood because I heard her laughing. If he’d called, she would probably have taken his head off. Thanks to my track record, I think she expected me to get into these sorts of situations. Mom found it amusing that my dad had been caught in the crossfire. I hoped she would call Greg and fill him in as to what was happening. Only in LA.

Dad came back, looking dazed.

“She said to go enjoy myself.”

“Go put on a swimsuit and join us. Fritz, I have something that will probably fit you in the top drawer of my dresser,” I said and sent them off to change.

Me, I just took my clothes off. When the guys came back, they looked at me, and they seemed more embarrassed to see me naked than they were to see the girls.

“Help me carry all this out,” I told them.

“Are you sure you want to go out like that?” Dad asked.

“Yeah. Adrienne is giving me a hard time. She knows how I feel about Brook. I can’t let her get the better of me,” I said.

“I hope she has more ideas like this,” Fritz said.

“Me, too,” Dad mumbled.

I strode out back like I owned the world. The girls found it amusing. Adrienne upped the ante when she stood up and came over to the table where we deposited the appetizers and wine and hugged me. My dad had a mini-stroke when she also hugged him. Fritz stuck his hand out.

“You don’t want a hug too?” Adrienne asked.

“My heart couldn’t take it,” Fritz said.

Adrienne lit up and gave us her best sexy smile. Fritz was in love. She had that effect on guys; she certainly had that effect on me. All the girls got up, and Fritz poured them glasses of wine. I grabbed a plate of food and stole Adrienne’s deck chair, next to Tyler’s. Tyler reached over and grabbed my hand.

“How’ve you been?” I asked.

Tyler and I caught up. Aubrey, Adrienne, and Sarah all sat down at the table and talked to Dad and Fritz. Sarah had found her cover-up. Lexi kept glancing at me like she wanted to say something. I ignored her until Tyler needed a refill on her wine and left us alone together.

“David,” Lexi began.

“Save it. You crossed too many lines with me. I’m not willing to put up with your crap when I’m working. I’m sure they’ll find something else for you to do,” I said.

Lexi burst into tears. I blinked a couple of times while trying to figure out what I’d said to cause that. Aubrey came over.

“I think we need to get dressed and go inside and talk about this.”

I was smart enough to recognize that Aubrey didn’t want to be my PA. She had clients who needed her, and they helped pay the bills. I looked over at Dad, and he nodded.

I’m sure Dad and Fritz were either relieved or devastated—maybe both—when the other girls put on their swimsuits. Lexi, Aubrey, and I went inside. I put my clothes on and joined the others in the living room. By then, Lexi had stopped crying.

“I’ll put in my notice on Monday,” Lexi said.

“I never said I wanted you to do that,” I said with a sigh. “Look, with as busy as I’ve been, I need to be able to rely on whoever’s working with me. What you did with my girlfriend was completely counterproductive.”

“What did you do to his girlfriend?” Aubrey asked.

I made Lexi tell her.

“Are you an idiot or something?” Aubrey asked.

“Yes. Yes, I am,” Lexi said. “I let my feelings for David cloud my judgment.”

Aubrey and I looked at each other, trying to decipher what Lexi had meant by that bombshell. Then I got mad.

“I didn’t shoot you down when it was proposed we hire you, against my better judgment. The first time I met you, you were horrible to my friend and started a fight at her party. I pegged you as a spoiled little rich girl who used her daddy’s influence to get her way. I have zero use for someone who embodies a ‘mean girl’ in the worst possible way.

“Then you try to drive a wedge between my girlfriend and me. If you knew anything about our relationship, you would have known we would figure it out. If I lost her because of your antics, what did you think would happen?” I asked.

“That’s a good point. Did you think he would reward the little schemer?” Aubrey asked.

Lexi started the waterworks again.

“Stop it!” I growled. “Lexi Andon, I don’t for one minute believe that you cry at the drop of a hat. Quit the theatrics.”

Aubrey barked out a laugh when Lexi stopped.

“How did you know?” Lexi asked.

I smirked.

“I didn’t,” I admitted.

“Shit.”

“You’re a real piece of work,” Aubrey said. “I planned to talk David into taking you back for my own selfish reasons.”

“You’re busy,” I guessed.

“That, and I would want to do bad things to the boss all day,” she said, winking at me.

“I’m not sure I could resist for long.”

“I know you couldn’t,” Aubrey said, and then turned back to Lexi. “You still haven’t answered the question. What exactly did you think you would accomplish?”

“Revenge.”

That got both our attention.

“For what happened on the boat?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Unbelievable,” I said.

“I’d never done any of that. I’d always been in control. You did things to me...”

Her voice trailed off.

“Did you?” Aubrey asked.

I nodded.

“The part that confused me was that you weren’t intimidated. The way you touched me and were so confident had me off-balance. I did things I swore I would never do,” she said, then looked down and whispered something.

“What did you say?” Aubrey asked.

“I liked it,” she said and then rushed on. “You made me a woman in every way possible. I’d never imagined it could be that good. And then you just left. I was sure you were the one for me and didn’t know how to win you back.”

“He gave you some good orgasms, so you thought you were in love?” Aubrey asked.

“I know, I was stupid. I went out a couple of times with different guys who were supposed to know what they were doing. It was terrible. They were like two-year-olds compared to what David did to me. I kept wishing it would just end.”

“Maybe you and Adrienne should try to bring her over to the dark side,” I teased Aubrey.

“Lexi doesn’t read bi.”

“No, I’m not.”

“What am I supposed to do with you?” I asked.

“Give me another chance,” Lexi said hopefully.

“If she messes up again, I’ll be your PA while you’re here,” Aubrey said.

“Even though you would want to spend time with the boss?” I asked.

“And his girlfriend,” Aubrey offered.

“Damn! You drive a hard bargain.”

Lexi giggled and pointed at my lap because Mr. Happy had come to life. And he’d been so good earlier. The thing was, I knew Aubrey wasn’t teasing. She would keep her end of the deal.

“I’m not sure how I could square that with Caryn,” I admitted.

“It would be after hours, and I heard her make the offer,” Lexi said, to supply me cover.

“Okay,” I said, and Lexi did a little bunny hop in her seat. “But remember, I’m actually rooting for you to mess up.”

She sighed as she contemplated that. Aubrey let her off the hook.

“He would only sack you if he had reason to. Go home and show up tomorrow ready to work.”

Dad offered to take everyone to dinner. We went to a little bistro that Aubrey said reminded her of Paris. It served veal chops and hearty stews. Both Aubrey and Adrienne kept us entertained with stories from when they were models.

When we made it back to the house, we found a party bus parked out front. We also found that my other roommate, Hana, had invited most of the cast from the J-drama over. The music was thumping out by the pool, and they’d found the leftover appetizers and had raided my wine.

“What’s all this?” Dad asked.

“I’m taking them to their first ‘American’ party. They’re a little overexcited.”

Adrienne groaned.

“I’ll take a hard pass on that. I’ve been to enough of those things to last me a lifetime.”

“Yes, I agree,” Aubrey said.

I could see right through those two. They planned to have their own fun once we left. I was surprised when Sarah also decided to stay. Then again, she had a shoot in the morning ... with me. I felt just a touch irresponsible.

I walked out back and had to stop and stare. All the girls were dancing to K-pop music. I got out my phone to video it. I thought it might be a routine the cheerleaders should incorporate. It reminded me of something middle-schoolers would do to act sexy. It was both cute and oddly arousing at the same time. I was sure that Brook and the other girls could improve on it.

When the song ended, they were bouncing around.

“You ready to go to a party?” I asked.

That got everyone moving. We passed through the house, and I found my original group in the living room. Dad and Fritz had broken out the scotch while the girls had opened another bottle of wine. It was a good thing I’d bought two cases. At the rate everyone was drinking it, I would be out before the weekend was over.

I saw Manaia sitting in the corner, looked dejected. Fritz must have told him that he was going to the party with me. I completely understood his disappointment. Attending a party and watching everyone else have fun was boring. Drunks weren’t as funny when you were sober. Plus, who could foresee what a group of models might get up to after a couple bottles of wine?

My castmates recognized Adrienne and suddenly became quiet. This was the perfect example of how you had to change your demeanor when you spoke Japanese, and you were with different kinds of people. They all became respectful but were excited to meet her. Adrienne put them all at ease with her charm. I finally had almost to drag them out to go to the party.

When we got onto the bus, I decided I’d better give my castmates the safety talk.

“When I first started modeling, I was given this advice. While I hope none of this happens tonight, I want you prepared if it does,” I said, and they all stopped talking and paid attention.

“Never accept a drink from a stranger. Your best options are to grab a drink from the bartender or make it yourself. If you get something that should be sealed, like water, make sure that it is. There are two models I know who were drugged in New York and were almost raped.”

I was getting the ‘deer in the headlights’ looks as they wrapped their brains around that, so I waited until they seemed ready to hear more.

“I suggest that you pick a buddy and keep track of each other. Work out a signal between you so that if you want out of a conversation, the other will come bail you out.”

From their looks, I could tell that this was common, and they already knew it.

“I will guarantee you that someone will approach you about hooking up. If you do, realize that it’s just sex, and they have probably done this numerous times. Always wear or make them wear a condom. I don’t want to have to fly to Japan and explain to your parents or significant other how you picked up an STI,” I said.

The girls all covered their mouths and turned away as if they were embarrassed, except for Hana. She was from the States and wasn’t as easily flustered.

“Finally, if you lose someone or need help, come find either Manaia or me.”

Misaki, my new big sister, stood up.

“Have fun, but listen to David’s advice.”

Our den mother had spoken. They all nodded respectfully to her.

The party was in the San Fernando Valley. Manaia pointed out that we were going ‘south of the Boulevard,’ meaning Ventura Boulevard. That meant that we were headed to a much more expensive part of town. We pulled up to what looked like an average two-story home on a street lined with similar ones. I should have known that it wasn’t really ordinary when they had a valet to park the bus. The neighbors didn’t want people parking up and down the street.

We were sent around back and discovered this wasn’t a typical suburban house. The backyard was long and narrow, with a grass patio area that overlooked a pool as the lot stepped down the hill. Behind the pool was another large grass area in front of a second building that served as party central. They had a band and bar inside the back building.

Ben spotted me and helped introduce my castmates to his friends and the hostess. Our hostess was a real piece of work. The scary part was I sort of liked her.

“Package check!” she announced as she groped Jiro and Kenta.

She turned and started to come for Ben and me.

“Just let her or she’ll be after you all night,” Ben suggested.

“These are a couple of keepers,” the hostess announced and left to harass someone else.

I smiled at Jiro and Kenta; they both looked like they didn’t quite know what to do after that.

“Lighten up. You’ve been at your first American party for five minutes, and already a girl has grabbed your Johnson. How much better does it get?” I asked.

“No one groped us,” Kana complained.

Ben and I looked at each other and made grabbing motions towards their breasts. The girls decided we were immature and left us to get drinks.

“I warned you. My friends aren’t right sometimes,” Ben said.

“Well, I have to agree that ranks right up there, but there are probably worse things she could have done.”

“Don’t give her any ideas. She’s actually hilarious once you get used to her. When I first met her, I was worried she had something wrong with her mentally. If she and Isabel hadn’t been best friends, I would have tried to avoid her and her craziness. I’m glad now that we met because she makes things interesting.”

Someone tackled me from behind, and I went sprawling. I was ready to get up and kick some ass when I realized Ridge was on top of me.