Fritz and Paul took me to the dojo they’d found. They also introduced me to the two girls they’d brought home. I’d noticed that a lot of Cuban women were shorter than most Americans. These two were maybe five feet tall at the most. Paul arranged something—as if I couldn’t guess what it was—and then we got busy working out.
It was strange to be in a dojo without Cassidy. I’d taken instruction from Fritz before, so it wasn’t entirely new. I was glad he became physical with my workout because I needed to rid myself of thoughts about what I wanted to do to Laurent.
At first, I wasn’t focused, and both Paul and Fritz took turns pounding me. Then Paul made a mistake.
“Your fighting is so bad today, you couldn’t land a role on the Lifetime Network,” he teased.
I gave him a hard look.
“What the hell did you just do?” Fritz wondered aloud.
Paul was soon begging like a baby for me not to hurt him. Fritz, on the other hand, was a cagey veteran. I think if we weren’t pulling our punches, we might have killed each other. Turned out, coming to the dojo was precisely what I needed.
◊◊◊
Caryn was waiting for me in my suite when I came back. I promised Fritz and Paul that I would stay in tonight so they could meet their ‘dates’ for ‘dinner.’
“Order us some room service, please, while I take a shower,” I said as I walked through the living room.
Cuban food was bland, but they did a pretty good steak with baked potato here at the hotel. Whenever we traveled on vacation, I wanted to try the local cuisine. It had only been a few days, and I was ready for a good burger.
When I came out of the shower, Caryn began to tell me about her day.
“Cassidy talked to Kimberly and her mom, and they don’t want any part of bringing down Laurent. They worry about what it would do to Kimberly’s career. She’s willing to have Cassidy help her, though.”
“What happened this morning?” I asked.
“Laurent wanted to know how last night went with you, and Cassidy told him that that kind of thing was over. He got the message and left Kimberly alone the rest of the day.”
I just nodded my understanding.
“I talked to your dad and filled him in. He called Bev Mass to get some direction. She offered to put out an inquiry to see if he’s been accused of anything like this before,” she said, and then frowned. “I think you need to fire Saul.”
Saul and Caryn didn’t get along. Yes, he was a condescending prick sometimes, but even she agreed he was a good agent. For her to say that, something bad must have happened.
“Why?”
“He said you need to grow up and recognize the realities of the business. He didn’t seem fazed that Kimberly was only fifteen until I reminded him that his daughter was thirteen. His advice was not to rock the boat and to keep your mouth shut,” Caryn said.
There is a famous saying that goes something like ‘all that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.’ It was Saul’s attitude that was the part of Hollywood that had allowed this kind of behavior to be accepted. I wasn’t a prude, but what Laurent had done was wrong, and I just couldn’t let it go. In a way, though, Saul was probably right. For now, I needed to keep my mouth shut. I couldn’t just accuse the man based on what Cassidy had told me. Before I fired Saul, I needed to talk to him.
“Saul Gessler’s office.”
“Yes, may I speak to Saul, please?”
“May I ask who is calling?”
“David A. Dawson.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Dawson, but Mr. Gessler is unavailable. Would you like to leave a message?”
“Yes. Please let Mr. Gessler know that his services are no longer needed,” I said and hung up.
“What was that all about?” Caryn asked.
“His new guard dog won’t put me through. I’ll let her explain why he was fired,” I said as I looked through my contacts.
I’d warned Saul about me being on set and just ignoring me. If she’d been helpful at all, I might not have been pissed. I found Thelma Yates’s number. I’d met her when I took Halle to Soho House in West Hollywood. Halle had pointed her out as Channing Tatum’s agent.
“UTA, where may I direct your call?”
“Thelma Yates, please.”
“Who, may I ask, is calling?”
“David A. Dawson.”
“One moment, Mr. Dawson.”
“David! So good to hear from you. I can’t say that I’m surprised,” Thelma said.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“You haven’t heard? Saul might be out of a job.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“He had a fight with his partner, and she was the money behind his venture. Unless he can buy her out, he’s out.”
That might be a good reason not to take my call.
“Okay. Thanks for the information,” I said and hung up.
I couldn’t see myself kicking him while he was down. I told Caryn what Thelma had said and my decision to wait.
Caryn gave me an update on the plans for the grand opening of the restaurant. It sounded like it would be a busy night with the number of confirmations they’d received.
◊◊◊ Saturday May 21
I was not expecting Saul to call me so early in the morning.
