Chapter 96

I thought about Nell and what had happened all the way home. She had poured her heart out to me and asked me for help. I had made a promise to her, and I intended to keep it. I’d been going along, just letting things happen to me, and I’d decided that it was time I started to think for myself.

The front house was dark when I got home, but I saw a light on in Amy’s room, so I went in, tapped on her door, and whispered, “Hey, it’s me. You up?”

She answered, “Hang on while I put something on,” and she opened the door a minute later. She was wearing one of my old football t-shirts. It came down past her butt and she looked cute as hell.

I pointed to it and asked, ‘Where did you get that?”

“Mom gave it to me. I’ve been meaning to get a bathrobe, but I never seem to get around to it.

“You look great in it.”

“Thanks. How did the weekend go?”

We sat on her bed and I gave her an edited version of La Jolla and the boat. She wanted to know all about Meg when I told her that I took her with me, and she insisted that I tell her about that as well when I mentioned that I had danced with Delores Rio. She then asked about Monique.

“I don’t know what to think about her.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re sort of going together, but I don’t know if her heart is in it.”

“What does ‘sort of going together’ mean?”

“We talked about going steady this weekend, and she said okay, but I, uhh, I don’t know if I want to.”

“You’re crazy, she’s gorgeous.”

“Yes, she is, but there are lots of pretty girls around and there’s something strange about her.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know for sure, she just acts kind of weird.”

Amy made a face and I asked, “What the matter?” when she looked off in the distance.

“Oh, nothing, we’ll talk about this another time.”

I was tired of people telling me that they would get back to me when I asked them something, and I growled, “Bullshit! Tell me what’s going on!”

She looked surprised, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Okay, you know that Kristen and I talk a lot, don’t you?”

“Uh-huh.”

“She was working a gig in New York a while ago and she mentioned that she, Alice, and Monique spent some time together. I told Kristen about it when I found out about that movie deal for Alice and that she was coming out here to sign with us, and she started pressuring me to find some work for Monique. It was natural for Monique to come along when the deal with WE came up, so it all worked out, but I always wondered why Kristen was so insistent.”

“So you have no idea what it was about?”

“No, but I think that it might have had something to do with you.”

“Me! Like what?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Monique if she is your girlfriend?”

“Maybe I will when she comes back from La Jolla.”

“Didn’t she fly back with you?”

“No, she and Marla had some kind of interview tomorrow, and Meg had to get home.”

“When did you get back?

“This afternoon.”

“We were hoping that you’d be here for dinner. Where’ve you been all evening?”

“I was with Nell Burger.”

“You’re still seeing her?”

“Uh huh, and Burgers own Solotronics, as you know. Well, they’re going to start advertising them as their store brand.”

“Are they going to keep you on as the Solotronics spokesperson?”

“Yes, and she said that I’m going to do the ads for Burgers as well.”

Her eyes narrowed, “Why wasn’t the agency told about this?”

“I think it just happened. You’ll probably be notified tomorrow.”

Amy stared at me for a moment, “Well, we knew that the reason Solotronics wanted you was because of her, but it can’t be just because you’re sleeping with her, can it?”

“It’s kind of a long story that has something to do with her husband.”

Amy stood in front of me, put her hands on my shoulders, and said, “Do you know what this means? Burgers is a giant account. You’re going to be making a ton of money if what you’re telling me is true. What else are you doing for her?”

“Nothing, she just wants me to be her friend.”

“C’mon, there has to be more to it than that. What’s the deal with her husband?”

“It’s kind of complicated. Their marriage is just for show, and there’s a lot of internal politics involved. I think that she’s kind of lonely.”

“Hmm, how old is she?”

“She’s twenty five.”

“Wow, I’ve heard that she’s the real brains behind Burgers. That’s pretty amazing for someone that young.”

“You’re only seventeen and you run a business.”

“Yeah, but it’s nothing like Burgers. What does she look like?”

“She’s very tall and very pretty.”

“It’s hard for me to think of you being with other girls when someone as beautiful as Monique is around.”

“I’m spoiled. I’m used to being around beautiful girls.”

“Maybe so, but nothing like Monique.”

“That’s not true. Guys look at girls differently than girls do. Kristen is as pretty as Monique, but in a different way. Monique is beautiful in the classic sense. Kristen is beautiful in a dark and sultry way, and she’s sexy as hell, and so are you, of course.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you. Both you and Kristen have better bodies than Monique. You’re as pretty as either one of them, and you have something that neither one of them has.”

“What’s that?”

I grabbed her around the neck and said, “You have a handsome brother who’s crazy about you,” and I started giving her ‘Nuggies’.

We giggled and wrestled around for a while, trying not to wake everyone, when she twisted at one point and our faces were only an inch apart. We suddenly both stopped and looked at each other. I had an overwhelming urge to kiss her, but she surprised me and she kissed me before I had a chance to act.

It was a long luxurious kiss. No tongues, but a lot of feeling, and we were both a little breathless when we finally pulled back.

There was a moment of silence before I said, “Wow!

She added, “Yeah, I, uhh, forgot what a good kisser you are.”

“It’s easy to be a good kisser when you’re kissing someone as pretty as you are.”

She looked down and said, “N-No, I’m not.”

“Sure you are. You’re different than either Kristen or Monique and you’re even prettier in some ways.”

“How?”

“You’re like the girl next door, only ten times prettier and a lot sexier.”

“Oh, Pete, I...”

I interrupted, “Which brings up a question. Why aren’t you dating someone?”

“I don’t have time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m up at five on weekdays. I’m usually on the phone until time for school, and I’m a TA in two classes when I get to school. I’m on a shortened schedule, so I leave at around two and I’m at Stone until dinner time. I’d be there longer, but Mom insists that I leave work at six unless something big is happening,.”

“Then what?”

“Mom is teaching Erin and me how to cook. After dinner We clean things up, then Mom insists that we spend time talking to each other about what went on during the day. We go to our rooms after that. I do homework, Erin studies her lines, and we go to bed.”

“Erin studies her lines! Doesn’t she do homework too?”

“No, she was let go early, same as you.”

“You’re almost eighteen and you’re a legal adult, so why do you let Mom treat you that way?”

She frowned at me and said, “Because she’s my mom. She isn’t mistreating me. Everything she does is done with love. I can’t tell you how much I love being part of this family, Pete. I now have the life I always dreamed about and I have to shake myself to believe that it’s real sometimes. I know that you think I’m smart, but all I did after my dad died was go to school. After school I would rush home to be with my mother and my brother because I was afraid that something bad would happen. That night when we went to the lake was one of the few times that I’d left the house at night in a very long time. Maybe I am smart, but there are things that I don’t know about becoming a woman. Erin is only fifteen but she’s more advanced than I am in some ways. Mom is teaching both of us how to grow up.”

“What about weekends?”

“I’m at the agency on Saturday and I usually go to see my mother on Sunday.”

“How’s she doing?”

“Not good, she’s been losing weight. I’m going to have a doctor look at her on Tuesday.”

“So you haven’t been dating at all?”

“No, the guys at school don’t ask me out, and I don’t really have time to meet anyone else.”

“Why do you think that the guys at school won’t ask you out?”

“Tess says that the jocks won’t ask me out because I’m your sister, and the other guys are scared of me or something.”

I laughed. “The real reason is because you’re so smart and so pretty. Monique went through the same thing except for the smart part. Guys don’t ask you out because the jocks and the good-looking guys all have big egos and they don’t want to risk being turned down by really great-looking girls. The regular guys and the nerds don’t think that they have a chance, so they’re afraid to ask.”

She was embarrassed and was looking at the floor when she said, “I-I’m not that pretty.”

I put my arm around her, pulled her to me, and said, “Of course, you are, you’re a stone fox. That settles it! I’m going to put an ad in next Sunday’s paper and start to interview guys for you to go out with.”

“So anybody I date has to go through you first, right?”

“Damn right, and I have to go along on the first three dates to find out if the guys are worthy of you.”

She hugged me, then she grinned, looked up at me, and said, “I love you, big brother.”

I hugged her back and said, “I love you too, little sister.”

We sat there for a while holding each other and I thought about what I’d said to her. She really is beautiful, and I tried to compare her to other beautiful girls in my life.

Monique has a calm, almost too-perfect beauty about her. Everyone looks at her when she walks into a room, but few people will walk up and talk to her because she seems untouchable.

Kristen has a dark, sensuous look about her that calls attention to her whether she’s across a room or across the street. I’ve watched people in the audience when she was on the stage. Every guy there would have given his right arm to be with her.

Amy is different. She was cute, but she was thin and undernourished when she first came to live with us. The change has been dramatic. She now radiates health and strength. I think that you might not pick her out in a crowded room but I believe that her face is something you’d never forget once you did. She has a wholesome look about her, and a body that’ll stop traffic, but there’s something else. I don’t know how it affects other people, but I sometimes get a little breathless when I look at her, and a strange thing happens when she looks at me. It’s like she can see what I’m thinking. It would be difficult for me to lie or to try to hide something from her, and I know that I’d never want to. I’m kind of glad that she isn’t dating someone. I guess I’d be a little jealous.

She suddenly made an odd noise and she was sound asleep when I looked at her. The clock showed that it was almost two o’clock, so I laid her down and pulled the covers over her. She looked like an angel lying there and I wondered what my life would be like if I hadn’t met her. I was awfully glad I had.

I hit the snooze button several times before I was able to drag myself out of bed Monday morning. Everyone had left when I got to the front house, so I gulped some cereal down and drove to the studio. I called Ms. Devon’s cell phone on the way. She told me to go to sound stage six and she was sitting at a desk talking with the director when I got there. Myrna smiled when I walked up, but the director gave me a slow up and down look, like a guy staring at a girl. It made my hair stand on end and I thought about punching him in the mouth for a second. I just said “Hi,” and sat next to Myrna instead.

They’d apparently been arguing, and I guess that it had something to do with me because he said to Myrna, “Look at him, they’d be sensational together,” the minute I got settled.

Myrna answered, “I-I don’t like it. Besides, you’re already over budget and it’ll add two, maybe three more days by the time the writers get through with it.”

“Not true! It’s already been written and I’ve even had it staged. Think about it, Myrna. Can you imagine what will happen if we get those two together? They’d be incredible.”

“How do you know, you’ve never seen them work together?”

“I can tell, Myrna. Remember that I’ve been doing this a long time.”

“But they’re brother and sister!”

“Exactly, and the press will go crazy when they find out. They’ll be in every tabloid in town, the rumors will run wild, and it’ll practically guarantee the show will be picked up!”

I broke in with, “Hey! What’s going on here?”

Myrna answered, “He wants you and Erin to do a love scene.”

“What kind of a love scene?”

The director said, “Nothing too sexy, just some long looks and maybe a kiss.”

It only took me a second to think about it. I was sure Erin and I could do it, and I said, “No problem.”

Myrna asked, “You and your sister wouldn’t mind kissing each other?”

“Not at all, we know that it would only be acting.”

The director asked, “What if I asked you to give her a sexy kiss?”

“We trust each other. I’m sure that we could do it if you wanted it to be sexy.”

The director grinned and said, “That’s exactly what Erin said.”

Myrna gave him a cold look and said, “You already talked it over with her?”

“Yes, she said it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Did you mention it to the twins?”

“It was actually Rose’s idea. She thought that they’d be great together.”

“Neither one has much experience. How will you handle it?”

“You’ve seen Erin work; she takes direction like a pro. As for Pete, you leave that to me.”

“I’d have to talk with their mother about it.”

His pager buzzed just then. He looked at it, then handed Myrna some papers, and said, “Here’s the scene. Talk to their mother and let me know. I know how I want to do it and I’d like to start setting up right away if it’s okay. I gotta go. We’re shooting the final scene with the twins. Do you want to come by and watch?”