Chapter 60

The gathering was nothing like what we’d expected. There was a buffet table and a bartender, but only about twenty people were sitting and standing around. It appeared to be just what DeLucca had said it was -- a gathering of some friends. There were some older people, including several whom I had seen in the movies, and there were some younger couples, but none of them were acting like the wild bunch we expected to see.

DeLucca was charming. He led the room in applause as soon as he saw Kristen, then he went to her and gave her a hug. Most of the people there must have seen her show, because they crowded around and began congratulating her.

DeLucca then said to her, “I see you brought some people with you. Why don’t you introduce them?”

Kristen put her arms around Amy and me. “This is my guy, Pete, my sister, Amy, and this is our dear friend, Karen Gilroy.”

DeLucca surprisingly went to Amy and took her hand. He flashed her a big smile and said, “So this is the young lady I’ve been hearing about. I’m out of work right now. Do you think you can get me a job?” The room erupted with laughter.

I could tell that Amy was nervous, but she replied without hesitation. She said, “That depends. Do you have any experience?” to one of the most famous movie stars in the world. More laughter filled the room. He answered, “Well, I was in a school play once, and I can tap dance a little.”

She said, “Perfect! We’re looking for dancers for the opening of a Seven-Eleven. Auditions start tomorrow.”

There was more laughter and some applause. He replied, “Great! I’ll be there,” then he turned to Karen. She was standing there with her eyes big as saucers and her mouth hanging open. He said, “Hi Karen.”

She stuttered, “Uhh, H-H-Hello, Mister DeLucca.” He grinned, “I’m just an out-of-work tap dancer; you can call me Robert.”

Still flustered, she stammered, “Uhh, Gee, well uhh, okay, Mister Robert.”

He laughed, put his arm around her, and said, “Close enough. Now, why don’t you take your friends over and get something to eat,” then he said to Kristen, “I’d like to introduce you to some friends of mine as soon as you’re ready.”

We went to the buffet table, and I was building a sandwich when I happened to glance at Amy. She was looking at DeLucca, and slightly frowning. She put a few things on a plate, then she walked away from us and I saw her pull her cell phone out. Kristen and I were listening to Karen go on about how ‘Cool’ DeLucca was when Amy called Kristen over and handed her the phone. She talked for only a few minutes before she hugged Amy and came back to us.

I asked, “What was that all about?” Kristen nodded toward Amy and answered, “It was just little mama here looking out for me. I’ll tell you later.”

One of the younger couples had been waiting until we finished eating, and they came to Kristen when we put our plates down, and asked her how she got started in the business. She was talking to them when DeLucca headed over to us. There was a buzz from everyone when a new couple walked into the room as he was about to say something. The guy looked about twenty-five, and I thought that he seemed familiar.

Karen gasped and grabbed my arm, and I suddenly recognized him. He was Jack Hedden, the star of ‘The Rocket’, a popular TV show that featured him in a cape and a tight fitting uniform flying around the city capturing bad guys. He was easily the handsomest guy I’d ever seen. Almost every girl in our school was crazy about him, and they talked about him all the time. The woman with him looked older. She was tall, thin, and quite attractive. She appeared to be in her forties, and she was dripping with jewelry.

The people in the room began crowding around him. He seemed very gracious, and he looked around until he spotted DeLucca after he greeted everyone. He came over to us, but the woman stayed behind. She began talking to one of the older couples, but she kept glancing at me.

He shook hands with DeLucca, then turned to Kristen and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Hedden.”

Kristen acted cool, but I know her well enough to see that she was a little nervous. She replied, “Hi, I’m Kristen Baker,” and stuck her right hand out.

He took her hand in one of his and covered it with the other instead of shaking it though, and said, “I’m really sorry that I missed your show tonight, I just got here, but I’m looking forward to seeing it tomorrow.”

Hedden then did something unusual. He released one hand and reached toward Amy with the other, saying, “You must be Amy.”

Amy automatically reached her hand out, and he took it, but he didn’t shake it again, he just stood there smiling, holding each of their hands. Amy was the first one to move. She pulled her hand away and nodded to Karen and me. “This is Pete Baker, and our friend, Karen Gilroy.”

Karen was pressed so tightly against me that I could feel her body shaking. She muttered, “Hi,” and just stood there with her eyes huge.

He smiled at her and said, “Hi, Karen,” and he reached for her hand and did the two-handed thing again, then he turned to me.

He’s almost as tall as I am, and appeared to be in better shape, but his handshake was weak. Although he was smiling, his eyes also seemed to be studying me. He said, “So you’re the Pete I’ve heard about.”

I was thinking that it was strange that he knew who Amy and I were if he just got into town. Some people across the room called to DeLucca just then. He said, “C’mon, Jack, let’s take Kristen over and introduce her to some people.”

Kristen smiled sweetly and said, “Sure, Robert,” then she turned to Amy and said, “C’mon, Robert wants to introduce us to someone.”

DeLucca’s eyes flickered toward Jack for a second. I think that he wanted Kristen to come alone, but he quickly smiled, and the four of them walked over to one of the older couples.

I looked at Karen, and she was grinning from ear to ear.

I commented, “Fun stuff, eh?”

“This is so wild that I can’t believe it, Pete. I was with Lance and the Sir Lancelot band this afternoon. I was talking to Robert DeLucca tonight, and he hugged me, and now, I just met the Rocket. The girls at school would have a cow if they knew about this!”

She looked so sweet and excited that I had to hug her. I was still holding her when a voice said, “If hugs are passing around, is it mine soon?”

Tyra was the owner of the voice. She crowded between Karen and me, and put her arms around me before I could answer. I was surprised, and Karen’s expression showed that she was too. I was even more surprised when Tyra began quietly grinding her crotch against my leg! I could see that Karen was getting annoyed, so I gave Tyra a brief hug, and tried to move her away from me, but she was holding on tight, and she wouldn’t move!

Her eyes were only an inch or so below mine in her high heels, and they were boring into me. I didn’t know what she was up to, but I was getting irritated that she was doing it in front of everyone, so I put my hands on her waist, and began to lift her. She wouldn’t let go at first, but I increased the pressure until my hands were digging into her, and she released her hold on me.

She’s no little girl. She’s thin, but she probably weighs one-thirty as tall as she is. She put her hands on my shoulders and stared down at me when I got her as high up as my arms would reach. She actually looked a little frightened. I held her up there for a few seconds and looked at her. Her long body felt terrific in my hands, and I wondered what she would look like naked, but I then set her down as though nothing had happened, and said, “Thanks for the hug, Tyra.”

She looked nervous for just a second or two. She quickly glanced toward DeLucca, but he had his back to us. She lowered her gaze and said something that I couldn’t understand, then she turned and quickly walked away.

Karen and I looked at each other in amazement. She asked, “What the heck was that all about?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. It was like she wanted DeLucca to see what she was doing. Besides that, did you see when Amy sneaked off and made the phone call?”

“Yes, I did. Is there something going on here that we don’t know about?”

“I guess so. This has been a strange day.”

I took her hand. “I also wanted to tell you that I really appreciate how you’ve been so understanding about Kristen, by the way. You know that there is nothing going on between she and I, don’t you?”

“Yes, and I think you’re making a big mistake.”

“A mistake! Why? I thought you liked being with me.”

“Of course I do, but she’s beautiful, she’s crazy about you, and she’s going to be famous, Pete.”

“I know that she will. I also know that she’ll wake up one day and realize that I’m just a high school kid.”

“She told me that you’d say that.”

“Is that what you two talked about back in the parking lot?”

“We talked about a lot of things.”

I was going to ask questions, but a voice behind me said, “Hello, Mr. Baker.”

Karen and I turned, and the woman who had come in with Hedden was standing there, but she wasn’t just standing; she seemed to be posing. One leg was slightly in front of the other, and she had her hands on her hips just like fashion models do at the end of a runway.

I said hello, and she held her hand out to me. “I’m Ceil Cohen.”

I took the hand she offered, but she had so many rings on her fingers that I was afraid to squeeze it, so I just held it for a second. She held on for an extra few seconds when I tried to release it, however.

A little flustered, and still holding her hand, I said, “This is Karen Gilroy.”

She answered, “Hello, Miss Gilroy,” but she was still looking at me when she said it. She finally released my hand and looked at Karen, but only briefly, then her eyes were right back on me. Her behavior was rude, and I expected Karen to move against me like she usually did when things got testy.

She stepped directly in front of me, forcing the woman back a little instead, then she held her hand out and said, “Hello, Miss Cohen.”

What happened next was funny. It was as though the lady had only just now realized that Karen was a live person, and she started to reach for Karen’s hand, but it looked like something in Karen’s face warned Miss Cohen at the last moment that shaking hands with Karen might be painful because of all the rings. so she reached over, touched Karen on the shoulder, and sweetly smiled at her as she said, “Hello, Dear.”

I had a chance to look at her in that short moment. She was wearing a low-cut, tight-fitting, one-piece dress that clung to her thin, slightly bony body. Her stomach was flat, and her braless tits made nice bulges, but everything about her seemed too smooth. The skin on her face was so tight that it was shiny, and her almond eyes didn’t quite fit the rest of her. I guessed that a doctor was responsible for a lot of the way she looked.

Amy and Kristen came back just then. They seemed to be upset about something, and Kristen said, “Let’s go.”

Amy looked at Karen, and she seemed to be thinking about something. Amy suddenly asked her, “Do you have your camera?” Amy said, “Let me borrow it,” when Karen nodded.

Karen reached into her purse and handed it to her, then Amy went to DeLucca and said something. He shrugged, and she motioned for Karen to come over. She took several pictures of Karen and him together, then she motioned for Jack Hedden to come over, and she took some pictures of them together. He had his arm around her in one of them, and I thought about what cute couple they made. I could see Karen showing that picture to all her friends, and how jealous they would be. Amy finally asked Tyra and Ms. Cohen to come over. Tyra joined them, but Ms. Cohen quickly walked away.

It was after two when we got back to the hotel, and we were all sleepy, so we immediately went to our rooms. Karen hit the bathroom first, then I went in. She was already in bed, but still awake when I came out. She held her arms out to me, so I snuggled in next to her, and she put her head on my chest.

She seemed to be staring out the window, but I was too tired to ask why and instantly fell asleep.

Monday Morning.

I watched Kristen and Amy as they entered the room. The sunlight streaming through the windows painted their naked bodies golden. The sight was so stirring that I gasped at their beauty. They stopped for a minute and looked at me, then they walked to the bed and knelt beside it. Kristen pulled the covers back and touched me. My cock responded, and both girls watched as she stroked me to hardness. Kristen’s hair was hanging loose around her shoulders, and she bent and took me into her mouth when I was fully erect.

Her shiny black hair fell in dark waves around me, and her mouth and tongue were soon driving me crazy. Amy watched her for a moment, then she climbed on the bed and straddled my head. I stared up at her in awe, as she slowly lowered her sex to my lips. I was nearly overcome by the wonder of her as I buried my face and tasted her. That, plus the soft mouth on my cock, got me ready to explode in almost no time. I tried to reach up and wrap my arms around Amy at the last second, but she was suddenly gone. I quickly looked down and saw that the cascade of black hair around my midsection had also vanished. Instead, I was looking at Karen’s brown hair and pretty eyes.

I must have looked startled, because she pulled her mouth off me and said, “Are you okay?” I was too far along in my orgasm, and I began to spurt. Grinning widely, she caught it in some tissues she had ready. She said, “Wow! That didn’t take long,” when I finished and fell back.

She kissed the head of my flagging cock when I weakly grinned back at her, and said, “Good morning, Sleepyhead! Did you like your wakeup call?”

I started to reach for her, but the phone rang. Karen picked it up, and I watched as she talked for a minute. She looked freshly showered, and was dressed in jeans and a frilly top. She looked cute as hell, but I couldn’t get the thought of my dream of Kristen -- and especially Amy -- out of my mind.

She wrote something down on a piece of paper, then frowned at it. She shook her head after she hung up, and said, “That was Amy. She wants us to come to Tomaso’s suite ASAP. She said not to stop for breakfast, there was food there.”

She seemed disturbed, so I asked, “Is something wrong?”

“No, it’s just ... This is actually THE Tomaso, right?”

“Yes, it is. He’s a nice guy; you’ll like him.”

She seemed a little dazed as I ran into the bathroom. I was still thinking about the dream, but a quick shower brought me back to my senses. We left for the room Karen had noted on the paper in just a few minutes.

I knocked, and a sober-looking Amy answered the door. Tomaso was holding Karen’s digital camera in his hand, and it looked like he was scrolling through the pictures, but he was very gracious when he saw us. He put the camera down so that we could shake hands, then I introduced Karen. He warmly greeted her, and insisted that we have something to eat. We grabbed some breakfast rolls and juice, and, I noticed that everyone was being very quiet as we sat there eating.

Tomaso finally stood up and said, “I really appreciate what you and Karen have done for Kristen, Pete, but I’ve talked to both your parents, and they agree that we have to put a stop to things. I’ve tried to keep you out of this, but the press will start digging deeper as Kristen gets better known. It’s just a matter of time before they find out who you are, and they can be a real annoyance, so it’s time that we phased you out of her public life.”

I was a little annoyed. It wasn’t what he said, so much as the way he said it. The direction that my life would take had been decided by someone else without my say so. Part of me was relieved that the decision was out of my hands, but another part was peeved that they had done it without consulting me.

I looked at Amy and Kristen, and they were both staring at the floor. That tipped me off that something was very much not right, and I thought that I knew what it was. I stood up and said, “You’re trying to make it sound like you’re trying to protect me, but isn’t the main reason the fact that I’m a seventeen year old high school kid, which would be bad for her image?”

Tomaso answered, “Yes, that’s part of it.”

“What about this weekend? A lot of it is sure to be in the papers.”

“That’s true. This weekend should never have happened. This whole weekend was unfortunate. I wish that I could have been here from the beginning, but as you probably heard, I was busy with some things of my own.”

I replied, “So, how are you going to phase me out?”

“We intend to play things as quietly as possible. It’s too late to do anything about this weekend, so there will be some press, but we’re leaving for Chicago tomorrow, and there’ll be rumors about Kristen seeing someone else in a few weeks.”

“Who will it be?”

“It’s not firm yet, but we’re talking to Jack Hedden. It has to be someone in the industry, because everyone is familiar with these kinds of situations. The relationships are shams in most cases. The persons involved don’t actually date each other, but the publicity is good for both their careers.”

“Isn’t that going to make Kristen look bad for dropping me?”

“Maybe at the beginning, but we’re going to leak the news that you and she weren’t really married. The press will probably find you, and they might be a little tough on you at the beginning, but they’ll soon find someone else to cover.”

“You’re not going to involve Karen, are you?”

“No, not at all, you have my word, and if you don’t mind, please continue to keep things quiet while you’re here.”

He oddly looked at me for a second before he asked me, “What do you think? Is everything I just said acceptable to you?”

I looked at Karen. She nodded, so I mumbled, “Uhh, I guess so.”

“Okay then, please come with me, Pete. I want to talk to you alone for a minute.” I followed him into the other room. He closed the door, handed me a small package, and said, “Open it.”

I pulled the wrappings from a thin velvet box. A small card that looked like parchment and something wrapped in tissue, was in it. I opened the card, and written in a shaky hand, were the words ‘To my Jun’.

I unwrapped the tissue. There was a large red stone, with a ring of smaller clear stones around it, attached to a silver chain. I looked up at Tomaso, and his eyes were moist.

“The center stone is a ruby, and the stones around it are diamonds. She’s had it for as long as I can remember.”

“It, uhh, looks expensive.”

“Not terribly, maybe five thousand, but it meant a lot to her. I once asked her where she got it, but she wouldn’t tell me. I assume that it was from an ex-lover. She said that she was saving it for her Jun. I always hoped that it would be me.”

I looked at it for a while, then carefully put it back in the box and held it out to him. “Here, you should have it.”

A wistful look passed over his face before he slowly shook his head. “No, it’s yours. I know that what happened between you and Lu was sudden, but she never did anything on impulse. She obviously saw something in you.”

“Do you think it might have had something to do with the drugs she was taking?”

“I don’t know. Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. Cherish her memory, Pete. She was unique, a very special woman, and you really were her Jun for a brief time.”

The look in his eyes was painful to see, so I was grateful for the change of subject when he said, “What we talked about in the other room could mean the end for you and Kristen, Pete. Are you sure that you want to let her go?”

“Don’t you think I should?”

“For the sake of her career, yes, but I know how she feels about you, and I think that you still have strong feeling for her.”

“Yes, I do, but you and I both know that there is no way we could stay together. She’s way beyond me in every way.”

He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled a little when he said, “Not in every way, young man. You obviously have a special something about you. Lu saw it, Kristen and Amy see it, and it appears that your friend, Karen, does too. I envy you.”

I was flattered that someone as famous as he would be envious of me, but I was concerned about what was going on. I asked, “Why are the girls so quiet?”

“Because this weekend should never have happened. I warned Kristen about Joe Little. She ignored me, and Amy should never have encouraged Kristen to appear by herself yesterday. It’s too soon in her career for that, and it could have gone very wrong.”

“So, you yelled at them both, right?”

“Yes I did.”

“But you like them a lot, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. They are like daughters to me, but they are both headstrong.”

“I know Kristen is like that, but I’ve never seen a hint of it with Amy.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. She worships you and your family. What your folks did by bringing her in to your home may have literally saved her life. She told me that she was nearly beyond hope when your folks took her in, and she’ll never forget it. Do you know that Kristen and I offered her a career and a substantial salary to come with us, but she turned it down because she wanted to be there for your mom in case the operation went badly?”

“I heard that Kristen wanted her to come along, but I never knew the reason that she turned her down. While were on the subject of Mom, you and Mr. Mariani and pretty close, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Is there something going on between them?”

He looked at me sharply and said, “Why are you asking me that?”

“Because he put up the money for her operation, and I see the way they look at each other.”

He didn’t answer for a long time. He finally sighed and very quietly said, “You’ll have to ask your mom about that.”

That wasn’t the answer I was looking for, but it looked like that was all he would say about it, so I asked, “Why were you looking at Karen’s camera?”

His eyes narrowed as he looked at me for several seconds. He finally answered, “You’re only seventeen, Pete, but you’ve been around some pretty adult situations, so I’m going to tell you what’s going on.