Chapter 8

"Let me see if I have this right. You're telling me that the internet has stories alleging that Steve Hammer and my mother are involved in an ongoing affair. Is that accurate?" asked Gwen calmly.

"Yes, that pretty well sums it up. What is your response to this affair?" asked the reporter doggedly.

"You told me just in time! I was going to accuse my grandmother of trying to steal Steve away. I almost made a terrible mistake!" admitted Gwen with a twinkle in her eye.

"Excuse me? Did you just say that you thought your grandmother was having an affair with your boyfriend, Steve Hammer?" repeated the stunned reporter.

"Yeah. See how stupid it sounds?" laughed Gwen. "Yesterday, I was asked if I would serve in congress if I were elected by write-in ballots. I agreed that I would. Today I'm told that there are stories on the internet claiming my boyfriend and mother are sexually involved. Coincidence? I think not.

"The amusing part of this is that Steve and I are in show business where it's said that all publicity is good, as long as they spell our names right. Sadly, stupid rumors like this will simply sell more CD's and movies.

"Can I assume that you can't identify the source of these rumors? In an effort to derail my imaginary political career, the perpetrators of these foolish stories have probably helped me in my movie career, even as tasteless and cruel as these rumors are. As far as my non-existent political career goes, I strongly urge anyone that believes that Steve and my mother would betray me and my father in this manner, to vote accordingly. If they choose to believe this attack on me and my family, they really shouldn't consider me for a write-in candidate for any office, even for dog catcher.

"However, if voters believe in Steve, in his honor and his love for me and respect for my dad; if they believe in my mother's love and respect for my dad and for me, they'll realize what a sorry-ass attempt this rumor is. They'll ask where it started, and who started it. Crap like this is why I wouldn't actually run for political office. This so-called rumor isn't worth the effort it would require to disprove, or deny."

"How did I handle that?" asked Gwen once the reporter left.

"I thought you did great, except that I worry about your grandmother's reputation," replied Steve, attempting to keep a straight face. "This is exactly what Governor O'Leary warned us about, except it's happening much sooner than I expected. If people believed stories like that about us, we'd have no reason to even consider any sort of public service."

After another well received concert, the gang rode ten miles to a motel where the company had reserved ten rooms for them for the night. Across the street was a Denny's that was still open, so the group wound up there. Soon the friends were recounting their impressions of the day.

"Mom called while you were performing. She saw your interview and was proud of how you handled it. She didn't seem all that upset about being linked romantically with Steve. I guess even older married women have Steve fantasies. Grandma was especially happy with your response! She said that she wouldn't mind if rumors about her and Steve circulated. She thought your answer was perfect. How did you think to make a joke of it?" asked Kate as everyone waited for their orders to arrive.

"Because the entire thing is laughable," responded Gwen. "Mom is still very beautiful, but we all know what happens to women that fall in love with Steve. Mom is one of those women, one of us women, to be honest. We know that Steve places a very high value on integrity and loyalty. If Mom, or Lisa, or Kate, or Naomi, or Charlotte, or Ashley, or Becky, or Stephanie, or Aunt Diane, or Nadiya tried to get Steve to sleep with them, he'd think less of them. We all know that's a fact. Like the rest of you, Mom loves Steve too much to risk losing his respect, friendship, and love. Besides, neither she nor Steve would ever disrespect Dad or me that way."

"You sound awfully sure of yourself," observed Charlotte. "What about all of the women that don't care or understand how Steve feels about loyalty. The ones that just want to climb on the sexiest man in the world and take him for a ride?"

"You said that with way too much enthusiasm!" complained Billy. "Unless you're saying that I'm the sexiest man in the world!."

"It's a tossup between you and Steve," laughed Charlotte. "Honestly, I think you have the same values as Steve in that regard. You're not going to dishonor me, or yourself that way. You're actually a very good man and a great boyfriend."

"Up to a point," agreed Billy. "Just tell Gwen's mom not to tempt me. I'm only human."

"Hey! Let's not keep bringing my mother into these discussions," insisted Kate. "I never realized how much you men appreciated older women. Just get Mom out of your heads."

"Gwen handled it well and I think it'll be a good guide for her responses to the stupid questions and rumors she'll face between now and the election," offered Steve. "There's another issue I'd like to discuss with everyone. Kate's brush with those cartel guys the other night has started me worrying. That in turn, caused me to try to come up with a solution.

"We're very wealthy, famous, and approachable. That's a good thing, for the most part. It's my feeling that we need to take steps to protect our friends and family, especially the kids that will be cropping up before too long. Lisa's already pregnant, Jordan's engaged and she's mentioned she'd like a family, and the rest of the ladies here have biological clocks ticking," joked Steve as Gwen and Ashley poked him in each arm.

"My feeling is that the company should purchase a large tract of land and build a dozen or more homes on it, as needed. Personally, I would all of our close friends and family to live in this new community, if possible. You'd each have a place to call your own, except for the obvious couples, who would share a home. Lisa and Jason would have one home, as would Gwen and I, Jordan and Charlie, and probably Charlotte and Billy. Mark and Chip would always be welcome. No homes of your own at this point, guys. I'd want Naomi, Ashley, Becky, and Will and Diane to live there, too."

"My thinking is that we'd have a manned gate, a very good fence or wall around the perimeter with electronic surveillance, as well as all state-of-the-art equipment to maintain privacy and safety. When we were at home, there'd be no reporters, no sight-seers, no salesmen, and no crazy bastards, unless Chip drops by.

"The other advantage is that I'd know that when I wasn't home, Jason, or Billy, or Jared, or Charlie, or Ted, or any combination thereof would be there to handle any problems our loved ones may face."

"That's a super idea and thanks for including us!" responded Billy excitedly. "Dad told me last week that the Van Wyck estate is on the market. It's got over three hundred acres with a big lake in the middle. I think it's listed for an awful lot, though. Dad said he heard they want five million for it."

"Mom and Dad would live there, too?" questioned Lisa. "I really like the idea! Since Jason and I are going to be part of the company and people will perceive us as very wealthy, I worry about little Stevie. Once she's born, I want her to have the safest possible home. With Jason in the house and Dad, Steve, Billy, Jared, and Charlie close by, I'll feel much safer. Count us in your company, and we're supporting this idea, right Jason?"

"Absolutely! This is a great idea! I've seen how things get around your parents' home when Steve, Jordan, and Gwen are there. I was a bit concerned for our daughter, too. This would be perfect."

"Steve, this is brilliant!" proclaimed Gwen. "We'll buy that land and start construction right away. We'll get a really good architect to draw up plans, but I'd like us to have big log cabins on the hills overlooking the lake. Dad took us up there once when they had hiking trails open to the public. The lake is beautiful!"

"We'll need a huge guest lodge for all of the company that visits, like the presidents of various countries, kings, queens, and friends," added Kate. "This is a great idea!"

"This all sounds so much like Asgard!" exclaimed Ashley. "You're even going to have Valhalla! This'll be the best home ever."

"I took business in college," retorted Billy. "Could you put all of that in something easier to understand for us non English majors?"

"I'm not saying that Steve's a god, or that Gwen and Jordan are goddesses, but they're way above average. Asgard was where Odin and his wife Frigg lived. It had at least a partial fence around it, as well as a huge lodge named Valhalla. Odin ruled from there," explained Ashley.

"Ashley just named our new home! Steve will be our Odin and he'll 'Frigg' his queen every chance he gets!" declared Kate as the whole table erupted into hearty laughter.

It was a happy group that traveled back to the motel. "We have lots of rooms, but Ashley and I agreed to double up. We want to compare notes on a couple of sailors we met," announced Kate once everyone shut off their bikes. "Don't look so sad, Chip. We'll be riding back to Sparta together tomorrow. You're a really good guy."

As she spoke, Kate stepped in close to Chip and wrapped her arms around him. Then she kissed him long and hard on the lips as the rest of the group watched.

"That should give you something to dream about," teased Kate as she looked up at Chip's smile. "I hope you ask me out again."

"Rats!" exclaimed Gwen. "I was hoping to be able to open the door just as you were about to give Chip his first kiss and embarrass you, just like you did to me."

"You forgot a few details. That was your first date ever; you were just 18 and pretty shy. I'm well beyond all of those things. I'll never forget your face when you looked at me as I was closing the door," laughed Kate.

"I'm not exactly an ingénue, but I'd prefer to have a gentleman walk me to my door before he's rewarded for a wonderful day and evening," suggested Ashley as she smiled warmly at Mark.

"May I see you to your door, Madam?" offered Mark as he bowed gallantly. "I've had the best two days I can remember, and it's because of you. Riding on that bike with a gorgeous woman hanging on to me is a real rush!"

"It was special for me, too. Like Kate, I've always had to settle for catching a ride with someone else's guy, or risk riding with some psycho. I felt very safe with you," admitted Ashley as she reached her door and turned to face Mark. "Here's your reward. I hope you like it."

Ashley had to stand on her tiptoes and stretch up to allow her lips to meet Mark's. She held the kiss a little longer than Kate had with Chip. Then she settled back down on her feet.

"I'll see you in the morning, and I hope well beyond tomorrow. You've shown me a great time, and I thank you for being such a gentleman," whispered Ashley as she went inside her room and closed the door.

The next morning Chip and Mark were constantly grinning and very attentive to Kate and Ashley. The rest of the group smiled as they watched how happy Kate and Ashley appeared as they prepared for the ride.

"Steve, we'd prefer if you led the trip back," stated Kate as they walked to their bikes. "Leading the pack was a lot of pressure. We had to watch everything and go the right speed and stuff. On the way back, Chip and I just want to ride, maybe talk a little, and not worry about where and when to turn and that kind of stuff."

Steve nodded to Kate and then spoke to Charlie. When the group pulled onto the highway in Statenburg, Steve and Gwen rode alongside Charlie and Jordan as the two couples led the way. The group was soon joined by other bikers that had apparently spent the night in the area. By the time they had gone a hundred miles, they had once again gained hundred of riders. Most of the route did not cover interstate highways, so the bikers were seen by thousands as they roared through towns along the way. Everywhere they went, they saw signs and banners thanking them. American flags flew everywhere. As they got closer to Sparta, they began seeing large banners declaring support for Gwen for congress. Gwen smiled and waved especially hard to the people holding those signs and banners.

"It doesn't look like these people are going to hold me sleeping with your mom against you," joked Steve. "I can't wait to get her in my arms again."

"You and all of the other guys! What's with my mom that gets you guys all worked up? She's a beautiful woman, but she'll be fifty in a year or so. Most guys would be happy with a girl like me," pouted Gwen.

"I sure am!" replied Steve. "Your mom represents authority, maturity, beauty, and is totally out of reach, hence her appeal. Jordan's mom is a lovely woman, but she's still working on her maturity and she's certainly not out of reach, although she seems to be getting better. You represent smoldering sexuality, brains, beauty, a great figure, an amazing voice, acting talent, ... and a sexy mom," added Steve just before Gwen pounded his shoulder several times as they rode through the small town.

When they were about half way home, Steve and Charlie led the group into a shopping center. The parking lot was huge and there was plenty of room for everyone to park. Gwen quickly went inside as they rest of the group waited. Soon several store employees emerged from the building with the small hand operated forklifts carrying many cases of water.

"The water's on us," announced Jordan to the large group. "If anyone needs to use the bathrooms, go ahead. We'll wait until everyone's back before we head out again."

Gwen returned from the store with a big smile. "They had a huge poster from that last scene in 'Rise of the Queen' and asked me to sign it. They had a black bar across my nips, but everything else was showing, including your sweaty muscles and big sword. You have such a big sword!" joked Gwen as she arched her eyebrows several times. "I'm getting sidetracked. They said they'd hang it under some Plexiglas to keep it clean and unmarked. You know how teen boys are with pens and markers when they see my boobs."

As Gwen waited for the stragglers to return to their bikes, her thoughts "flashed back" to how she first learned about the movie trilogy that would eventually propel Lady in Red Productions into becoming one of the larger privately owned companies in the nation. It was five years prior and she had just finished her first year at Stanford and returned home to Sparta.

"Your boyfriend has been hiding one of his talents again," began Paula at the dinner table the first night Gwen was home. "He wasn't busy enough with his schedule and football last fall. In his spare time this winter he wrote a screenplay for a movie. As near as I can tell, it's a period piece that somewhat parallels your romance. Clyde Davis and William Patterson read it. Then they sent it to people that are supposed to know about these things for their opinion. Those experts thought it was extremely good.

"We'll begin filming next week, mostly on sets in L.A. As you might guess with a movie written by Steve and about characters similar to you both, you're going to be the star of the first and third movie."

Gwen's head was swimming as she listened to her mother's references to Steve and her next movie. Was it one movie, or several?

"Steve never said anything about any screenplays. I thought he spent his time studying, working out, and fighting off women. Are you telling me that he wrote one movie, or several movies?" asked a confused Gwen.

"It was written as one, but Steve really had no idea how much material a movie required, so he made it a bit too entailed for one film. Now it's going to be a trilogy. All three parts will be filmed in the next couple of months. As I said, you're the star, not surprisingly. It's quite easy to see that the heroine was patterned after you. She's smart, beautiful, voluptuous, and fearless. It's you, as Steve sees you, and he certainly seems to like what he sees. It's a remarkable story," concluded Paula.

"What's it about?" asked Kate as she was unable to remain silent any longer.

"It's about Sparta, it's purely fictional, and not meant to carry any historical merit. He obviously did some research, but the name and location are not really important. It's an amazing story about a girl very much like Gwen," added Paula as she placed vegetables on her plate and passed them to Ted.

"A movie about Sparta?" questioned Kate. "Will the heroine meet a stud at a mall and fall in love and live happily ever after? Hasn't that been done already?"

"In Steve's movie, the heroine struggles with building a state, fighting an ongoing war that threatens the existence of her city, and overcoming decay and corruption that could destroy everything. She uses her beauty, brains, and courage to bring Sparta back to greatness. She rises from the dust, rubble, mayhem and strife to become the queen of what eventually becomes the strongest empire in civilization," responded Paula as she watched Gwen and Kate try to follow the plot she described.

"She becomes the queen? Of Sparta? This isn't present day Sparta, is it? It's about ancient Sparta? What's the movie going to be called?" asked an increasingly excited Gwen.

"It's the Sparta trilogy. The first movie will be 'Sparta; Rise of the Queen', followed by 'Sparta; Rise of the Warrior', and finally 'Sparta; Rise of the Empire'. This is an extremely ambitious undertaking for our company. We're financing the entire thing with no outside funds. There will be no special effects, and no famous actors, unless they work for scale. You, Steve, Jordan, your sisters and friends will have to carry the acting burden. We've hired an up-and-coming director that still works pretty cheaply."

"Wait! Did you just say Gwen and 'her sisters' would be in the movie?" shrieked Kate. "I'm going to be making a movie? What will I wear? Will my hair be long? Do we have costumes?"

"Kate, please let me ask Mom some more questions," insisted Gwen. "You're tormenting me on purpose, Mother. Are you saying this is a movie about ancient Sparta and that it will have similarities with what Steve and I have experienced? In the first movie, I become the queen? The second one will be about Steve, the warrior, while the third one is about the two of us building an empire?"

"In a nutshell, that pretty well covers it," replied Paula. "It's far more complicated than that, and very well written. We're tasking Jordan and Charlie to not only act in the movie, but to write the music, along with whatever Shelley Malloy is able to contribute. We're trying to keep this project low budget. That way it won't have to win Oscars to make the company some money. It's going to be hard to do better than 'Midnight Lights' did for us."

"How are we going to film next week when Steve will still be at the Academy for another month?" asked Gwen. "Did you think about that?"

Paula smiled as she responded. "Of course we did. 'Rise of the Queen' will only have Steve appear for the last couple of minutes. You'll be carrying the load, along with all of your friends and relatives that are willing. You'll be contacting Jordan, Ashley, Becky, Stephanie, Charlotte, and even Nadiya. Sparta is a matriarchy with some extremely beautiful young women. It's funny how Steve envisioned this movie, isn't it? He actually wrote parts for each of those girls, although you, Jordan, and Becky have the best roles. Becky losing her hand really touched Steve. He put her in 'Midnight Lights' where she did very well, and she has a very good role in this movie. The fact that she's beautiful hasn't harmed her chances, either. We're going to have a very interesting summer!"

"Why didn't you tell me that you were writing a screenplay?" demanded Gwen when Steve called that evening. "Mom laid it all out for me at dinner. It sounds like a great project, but why keep it from me?"

"Honestly, there are a couple of reasons. I didn't want you to try to influence me to lessen your role. I know how modest you are. You're going to be the star, pure and simple. You'll become the most famous actress in the world, if you aren't already. I know you, and this part is going to be easy because it's you.

"The other reason I didn't tell you is that I had no idea how it would be accepted. I had the fear of rejection. Now that it's becoming a reality, I feel even more nervous. If this project tanks, I'll never live it down."

The next week found Gwen, along with her sisters and girlfriends in L.A. preparing to film 'Rise of the Queen'. They were all anxious and eager to start. The night before filming was to begin; they all met in Gwen's room and excitedly discussed the movie and their roles in it.