Chapter 25: A wedding

By the time Liza had to leave four days later, she had become a full member of their patchwork family. She had completely fallen in love with Larissa, she had impressed Tyler and Marsha, and she had been impressed herself with Irina who had overcome so many adversities. She received an open invitation to use Philadelphia as her home base for whenever Uncle Sam granted her leave, and she promised to visit again. She also promised to ask for leave for her sister’s wedding which was now planned for July 3, and she would give Lynn away.

By this time, Trudy’s house had been assessed and valued at $395,000 which Trudy dismissed as theoretical value. She renewed her offer of $400,000, fully renovated and upgraded, and the lawyers were unleashed to write up a contract. The house would be ready for them to move in as soon as Ashley and Lynn would return from their honeymoon ship cruise through the Caribbean.

Tess DiRosa provided a contact at their construction company, and a representative would inspect the house and give an estimate of the necessary upgrades and the costs. That would be Trudy’s responsibility. At the same time, Ashley used a contact also provided by Tess to inquire about the necessary safety features. A specialist would make an appointment with Trudy to inspect the house based on the expected security needs and threat assessments. As Danny well knew, the little enamel shield with “Protected by DiRosa Security Inc.” would already deter most sane-minded criminals. It had been an open secret in South Philly that the DiRosa considered criminal acts against their clients a personal insult. Things were moving at a comfortable speed for them, and they were already looking forward to the move.

Then, a week after Liza’s departure, Danny and the rest were sitting at dinner, his cell phone went off. The caller was shown as ‘unknown’ and Danny was tempted to refuse the call, but since he was holding the phone anyway, he answered.

“Hello. Who’s speaking?”

There was a pause, and then a voice he knew well spoke up.

“Hey, Danny. How are you?”

“Doing great,” he answered automatically. “Look, I’m going to put you on speaker. The others are all here. Guys, shut up! It’s Lucy.”

“Hey, guys,” Lucy’s voice could be heard from the tiny speakers of the smartphone. “Long time, no see. I just wanted to say hello. Things were a bit difficult in the last months, and I didn’t want to burden you with my problems. That’s in the past, though. How are you guys?”

Ashley looked at Danny and he nodded.

“Well, Lynn and I are engaged. The wedding is set for July 3rd. You’re of course invited.”

“Oh, crap! I’ll be on some studio promo tour. I signed up months ago. Look, I’ll try. That’s all I can promise. But it’s great news from you. Lynn, you must graduate this year, right?”

“Yeah. I’ll be joining Westbrook as a management trainee. But that’ll be after our honeymoon.”

“Family business, right?” Lucy chuckled. “What about you, Danny?”

“Helen and I plan our wedding for next year, after graduation,” Danny answered lightly. He was still peeved about the reasons why Lucy had ended their relationship, but also about her long silence. There was a long pause as Lucy obviously had to digest the news.

“You and Helen, huh? I saw your picture in the Inquirer. Is this serious?”

“You bet. We would have let you know, but your old mobile number is dead, and you didn’t answer my emails.”

“I know,” Lucy sighed. “I broke off the contact. It’s what my agent told me to do. Well, my former agent. She really fucked up my life. I’m sorry, Danny. Is Helen there?”

“Yes,” Helen answered. “Hi, Lucy! We’re all happy to hear from you.”

“Hey, Helen. How did that happen?”

“Long story. Let’s just say we left our hang-ups behind and found that we really love each other.”

“Great!” There was real warmth in Lucy’s voice, and Danny reconsidered. He was happy with Helen now. That would have been impossible if he had still been seeing Lucy.

“So what happened with you?” he asked.

“Well, you know that I was given a temporary role in the Denny Menendez Show?”

“I ... Sorry, Lucy. You know I don’t watch TV that much.”

“Oh! Well, I was filling in for Lucia Herrera, who is pregnant. She plays Denny’s daughter in the show. I was to play her student exchange partner from Canada, to account for her temporary absence. It was a disaster from the start. I was to embody each and every Canuck stereotype the writers could think of. Get this: I was supposed to be a high school hockey player! I couldn’t relate to that character at all. I sucked. Then Denny started hitting on me. Placing flowers in my wardrobe, putting his arm around me all the time, paying me phony compliments, the works. Then he started talking about a new project, a movie, A-list director, big budget, and he saw me as the perfect female lead. Me! Long story short, one evening after we closed down, he came into my wardrobe uninvited. I was changing and only wearing underwear, so I told him to leave. Then he turns and locks the door from inside.”

“Shit! What then?”

“I had heard things and I was prepared. I tazered the shit out of him. Then I opened the door and cried for security. Since he was still flopping on the floor, I got my version on the record first. I got lucky too. Mark Gingham was on the set. He’s the network’s production head honcho. The producer wanted us to hush things up, my agent called me and told me I had fucked up, and Menendez wanted to have me arrested. Gingham told everybody to shut the fuck up, secured the surveillance tapes and called in the cops. I was told to go home and to get a good lawyer. I though ‘Shit, this is it.’ Then I remembered somebody I had met two weeks earlier at a Lakers game.

“You know Melanie Renault? Well, she’d gone through much worse shit, and I thought, maybe she has some advice. Before I knew it, I was represented by a partner from her uncle’s entertainment law firm, even pro bono at first. Her name is Jane McCauley, and she was a life saver. In less than a day, she had the preliminary police reports, and two hours later she had me suing everybody under the sun, Menendez, the producer, the studio, you name it.”

“That’s not going to help you long term, will it?” Danny interjected.

“No, this was just a preemptive strike. Meanwhile Gingham had done some digging. I mean, Menendez may be a big name, but a VP for production can twist arms even better. Turns out, Menendez had settled lawsuits and hushed up stuff for years. Gingham made him knuckle under. He’s got a wardrobe in a different building now, and a beefy rent-a-cop is watching over him at all times. He has to undergo counseling too.”

“Bet that made you popular among the cast,” Ashley commented.

“Yeah, I was pretty much persona non grata. Gingham realized that, and in return for withdrawing my lawsuit against the studio, I was given a fresh start. I’ll be a recurring guest star on Utilities Included.”

That show even Danny knew a little, mostly because the male star was Ricky Ryder, an ex porn performer, whom Irina knew and liked. She had bugged Danny and Helen to watch some episodes of the show with her. He was paired up against the lead actress, Jennifer Saint David, a classically trained English actress, in a serialized screwball comedy. The setting was a Malibu beach house rented by Jennifer Saint David where she had to accept housemates to make ends meet. Early on, when the show was on cable only, she had to take in Ricky Ryder, and the two had such a good chemistry that he was made her co-star.

“Wow, that’s a real break,” he therefore answered, knowing that a show like that would be much better for Lucy.

“Isn’t it? I’ll play a social media influencer, a batshit crazy chatterbox. The dialogue I’m getting is just awesome and funny. The first episode with me is coming out on Friday evening. You’ve got to promise me to watch it!”

All the consternation about him and Helen being engaged had disappeared, and Danny realized that being out on television was what really counted for Lucy. He and she would have never worked out, even if they had tried. He looked at Helen and realized how much better he was off with her. He was a little bit late in joining the chorus of promises, but he added a bit of information.

“Do you know that Ricky Ryder worked with my mom too?”

“No way! I’ll ask him if he remembers her. What was her nom de porn?”

“Iris Angel, or sometimes Angel Iris.”

“I’ll ask. He’s quite open about his past. Umh, don’t give your mom hopes. Ricky and Jennifer are a couple,” Lucy giggled.

“I’ll tell her. She’ll get over it,” Danny said dryly.

“I bet. Guys, I’d really like to see you again. I’ll do my best to come to the wedding. I’ll talk to Gingham. By the way, is Lynn going to wear a tux again?”

“That was a pantsuit,” Lynn clarified. “And no, we’ll be wearing nice dresses. Get this: I have reconnected with my kid sister. She’s in the Marine Corps, and she’ll give me away in her mess uniform.”

“Wow! Can I be bridesmaid for any of you?”

“Sure!” Ashley said. “You can be my bridesmaid. Larissa will be the flower girl, and Danny will be Lynn’s best man.”

“Damn it, count on me. This is going to be fun. By the way, Helen, what’s with the Melville. That’s Trudy’s last name, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s also my true mother’s last name. Trudy had a second daughter named Grace. She died shortly after my birth, and the Gundersons talked Trudy into letting them adopt me. Realizing that the Gundersons are not my parents had a lot to do with me leaving my hang-ups behind.”

“I can imagine that. Danny told me about your ... well, stepparents, right?”

“I’m calling them ‘the Gundersons’. I also found my real grandfather and his family, the ones on my father’s side.”

“I’m sure we’ll have a lot to talk about,” Lucy laughed. “Look, maybe when we’ll start filming the next season, you could come out here and visit. I can get you studio passes?”

Danny looked around, and everybody nodded. “We’re on board. We’d love to see you at work for once. Think you can get my mom in too? She may have unresolved issues with your leading man.”

“Wiseguy! I better talk to Jen and Rick before I commit myself. I hope to stay on the show, so I better not piss off the producer. Guys, it’s been great. I’ll send you all my contact information. Next time maybe we can Skype. I gotta run now. I’m taking acting classes. See you all soon! Bye!”

“Bye!” they all choruses before the connection broke, then Danny looked around.

“Talk about ‘out of the blue’.”

Lynn nodded. “No kidding. She was a bit stumped about you and Helen being hitched.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “That picture in the Inquirer didn’t give her a clue? I mean, come on. We were basically occupying the same space.”

“Give her a break, Danny,” Helen defended Lucy, surprising the others. “She probably thought you needed a date and I was the only available option. There’s also a difference between attending a social function and planning a wedding.”

“Granted. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. The way she ended things burned me just a little.”

“What happened? You never told me.” Helen said.

“Look, she about told him that being with him, seeing who Irina was and is, would endanger her career and her prospects. I mean, she used to be one of us, and then she goes and tells Danny that he’s toxic,” Ashley explained. “That was shitty. Yeah, I get it, her agent made her do it. But she dissed my brother and she dissed Irina, and I’m not ready to make nice again. I’m happy that she didn’t fall prey to that asshole Menendez, but it’ll take some time for me to see her as our friend again.”

The other three looked at each other and nodded.

“I get it,” Helen said. “I agree that she could have handled it a bit more diplomatic. Still, I’m reluctant to throw stones when I’m sitting in that big old greenhouse.”

“That’s you, Helen. I’ve been perfect,” Ashley countered, then giggled. “Yeah, I know. Let her come and be my bridesmaid. I still like the little chatterbox. How about that. I mean, her playing one of those social media types. Art imitating life?”

“I guess the writers of the show just went with the obvious,” Danny speculated. “I mean, according to my mom, they wrote the Ricky Ryder character to match his real life persona. Lucy’s probably just playing a satirized version of herself. It’ll help her make a name for herself, for when she’ll try to gain a footing in infotainment.”

“Let’s wait and see the show,” Lynn cautioned. “She’s liable to steal the show, even though that English girl, Saint-something, may just match her syllable for syllable. It’ll be like the freaking Gilmore Girls.”

“Oh, yeah, there’s a motor mouth too. You remember how she slaughtered that blowhard, Hugh Dumont?” Helen threw in.

“Yeah, she was awesome,” Ashley agreed. “He was always trying to keep up, but she outpaced him mercilessly. He had replaced Ricky Ryder, right? No wonder she destroyed him.”

Later, as they were lying in bed, Helen cuddled close to Danny.

“You know, I’m not jealous over Lucy. You can let her into your life again.”

Danny considered his answer.

“That’s sweet of you. I just need to get over a few things, like her putting her career over everything, even the friendship that we’d had. For years she flew into Philly, bunked with me, and pretty much expected me to be her booty call for two days. If you think about it, we talked her into auditioning for the commercials, I helped her memorize her text, I made myself free for her visits, and I put my social life on hold. Then she wants to move on, and I’m just some embarrassing dirt on her heels.”

Helen kissed him softly. “And I’m grateful that she made you put your life on hold. If you had been looking for a girlfriend, let’s face it, you’d be married by now, and I would be shit out of luck. She kept you busy until I was ready. Of course, it was convenient for her too, and for you, but the net result is that we were both single and looking on New Year’s Day. I just can’t bear a grudge against her. Plus, you became quite a good lover in your time with her.”

“That’s how you figure it? Jeez! I guess in some strange way, you’re right. Let’s see if today’s call was real, or just something she did to let us know she succeeded.”

Helen wisely changed the topic.

“You think Irina wants to come along to California?”

“I wouldn’t put it past her. Let’s face it, she’s not had a lot of fun in her life. Her best friend in my recollection was Sly Damiani. He found her the jobs, even the last one, but he was killed by the guys who tried to break into our apartment.”

“She doesn’t seem to be that anxious for male company.”

“I don’t know really. It’s not something I can bring up, but she’s not yet forty.”

“And she shouldn’t have a problem finding a willing partner.”

Danny shrugged. “It’s a bit complicated I guess. Most guys will be leery of dating an ex-porn star, and the ones who are attracted to that are likely expecting her to do kinky shit all the time. You know, doing the stuff they’ve seen in the clips.”

“Shit, you’re right. That probably sucks. She needs a nice man but she attracts the douchebags.”

“That’s it in a nutshell. Another thing: most guys won’t put up with the hours she spends working. Plus, she’s a grandmother already.”

“You’re right. It’s sad though. She is such a great person, she’s looking great too, and she’s got that dry sense of humor. A guy could do so much worse!”