Chapter 55

David was just sitting down to breakfast when he received a call from Frank. The man must be working all day and night.

“Why didn’t you call me about the In The Know interview?”

It took David a moment to figure out what Frank could be worried about, and it struck him. Kelli had talked about them having sex. From a guy’s point of view, David felt he’d come off well. She’d said he was a good lover and Mr. Happy was an impressive specimen. Then again ... some of David’s fans were older or religious ... and hearing he’d had sex wasn’t exactly the image David wanted out there. It was bad enough that he’d had so many kids out of wedlock.

“I was a bit irritated that Rory announced I was up for a part on his new TV show,” David said to deflect his PR guy’s obvious irritation.

“You’re going to fix this,” Frank said, evidently unaware that when David’s mom tried this move, he dug his feet in and refused.

“Hey, that one’s all on Rory.”

He could hear Frank exhale loudly, a sure sign that the man was on his last nerve.

“Tell me what you want me to do,” David said to move things along.

“You are having a sit-down interview with Barbra Billings.”

He took a moment to absorb the news. Frank must think they were at DEFCON One if he wanted him to talk with Barbra. In Hollywood, there are two possible moves when you’ve been caught with the proverbial dead hooker in the trunk of your car: go to rehab or do an interview with Barbra.

There was a reason most went to rehab. Whether Barbra would eviscerate you on national television—leaving you curled up in a little ball, whimpering as your career went up in smoke—or bail you out was a gamble.

David quickly contemplated rehab but felt USC would frown upon it, and it would impact his chances of playing football. That left him with only one choice.

“When?” David asked.

“In an hour.”

David thought about it and decided that it was both good and bad. While it left him almost no time to prepare, it meant Barbra wouldn’t have time to dig into his life and surprise him.

“The crew will be at your suite in a half hour to set up,” Frank continued. “We need a spot that screams family values. Is there anywhere like that we can use as a backdrop?”

“The best view would be on the balcony, but there’s also a fireplace in the game room.”

“Show me,” Frank ordered.

When David entered the game room, Frank spotted the bar and rejected the room, leaving the balcony. They would shoot the interview with the backdrop of the iconic manmade island resembling a palm tree.

“You look like shit,” Rob said.

Phil was sure he did. He’d come into his brother’s suite in drunk off his ass and managed to pour himself into bed. Well, okay, with some help from Ruth. In what seemed like no time at all, Ruth had woken him to tell him his dad wanted to play golf. Had Phil been smart, he would’ve begged off. Instead, he found himself downstairs in the lobby, meeting his dad.

“I feel like it,” Phil admitted. “The hammered variety.”

“How about we get some food in you and see if that helps?”

His dad picked a buffet, which he took full advantage of, while Phil had them make him a waffle, hoping it would soak up any leftover alcohol in his stomach.

When they sat down, Phil asked, “Are you supposed to eat that?”

Since his father’s heart incident, he’d been on a strict diet.

“Aren’t you too young to be out drinking?”

“When you’re David A. Dawson’s brother, they forget to ask.”

“Point taken. Did your brother get drunk, too?” Rob asked.

Phil looked sideways at his dad to see if he was digging for dirt on David. What he saw was his dad was trying to make a point. In the rare instances that Phil had seen David drink, he’d seemed to limit himself to one. But Phil had heard stories of his brother getting falling-down drunk on occasion.

“Point taken,” Phil answered, using his dad’s words to defend himself.

“I’m not one to stick my head in the sand like an ostrich. If social media is any indication, I assume you got up to more this week than having a few too many.”

He’d learned from his brothers that their parents knew no boundaries. For him, it was something he personally was not comfortable with, but they talked to Rob and Carol about everything.

“How about I just say that being an actor’s brother has its benefits?” Phil overshared.

His dad chuckled at his discomfort.

“If I were your age and put in the middle of that many Internet models, I might take advantage, too,” Rob said, shocking his son.

“Insta.”

“What?”

“They’re called Instagram models,” Phil said.

Rob speared a breakfast sausage, but before he took a bite, looked apprehensively at his youngest.

“I hope you used protection.”

“Dad!”

“I’m just saying that I assume those girls didn’t come to Dubai to be chaste. I would strongly advise you and your brother to get checked,” Rob said.

“Well ... uhm ... err ... I will,” Phil mumbled.

“I’ll have a talk with David.”

Phil smirked and said, “Or have Carol talk to him.”

Rob chuckled, and Phil joined in. David’s mom loved nothing more than to make David feel uncomfortable. She might even spring the conversation on him over Christmas dinner.

“Not telling her will be our Christmas present to your brother. He would like that better than anything we could buy him,” Rob said.

Phil thought about it for a moment and had to agree. Most people would be surprised, but David didn’t seem to just buy anything that caught his eye. Even so, finding the right gift for someone who wanted for almost nothing was hard.

That didn’t mean that his brother didn’t spend money, because he did. It seemed that most times, it was for others, like when he arranged for Cassidy to get her jet certification over Christmas break, which David said was her Christmas present. He claimed he needed a copilot for larger jets, and he knew Cassidy would never wuss out when the pressure was on. Phil had heard the story of what’d happened in Colombia and how David’s copilot had quit on him.

“Speaking of Christmas presents, would you be upset if I bailed on golf?” Phil asked.

“What would you rather do?”

“They have a water park here at the hotel I’ve wanted to check out. I can get us in free since David gets free admission with his hotel suite,” Phil said.

“I’ve never been to a water park, but I’m up for an adventure,” Rob said.

They spent the rest of their meal planning what they wanted to do at the park.

David was seated on the balcony of his suite at the Palm Atlantis with a spectacular view of Dubai. In his video feed, he saw Barbra Billings walking down a red carpet. She could have been a movie cast member, the way she was dressed in an exquisite black cocktail dress.

Barbra: “Good evening, and welcome to Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre, where many of the most celebrated motion pictures have premiered. The third and final Star Academy movie will open tomorrow, and we’ll have one of the industry’s most exciting and unpredictable up-and-coming stars, David A. Dawson, as our guest.

“Just four years ago, David was a model turned actor who wasn’t sure people would take him seriously. Since then, he has starred in some of the highest-grossing movies, including the Star Academy series and the James Bond thriller Devil May Care. Along the way, he won an Academy Award for his work in The Royal Palm.

“At such a young age, David has played an impressive and diverse set of characters, from heartthrob Ian Bond to a villain in the Japanese drama, My Butterfly. He has backed up his good looks with serious acting. We must ask, will David continue his movie career as he focuses on college and, maybe more importantly, football?

“Stay with us as we sit down with the outspoken, outrageous, funny David A. Dawson.”

“And cut,” David heard in his earpiece. “We’ll begin the interview in five minutes.”

David watched his monitor as Barbra hurried into the theater and to the stage. They’d set up at the Hollywood site where his movie would be played the next night. While she touched up her makeup, David saw them begin to run a video intro highlighting the films he’d been involved with.