Then it was time for the harmony. Halle singing off my baritone made her voice shine. If this was one of those singing competitions where people battled, it would have been a knockout. She really was that much better than I would ever hope to be. Once I got it in my head that my job was to make her sound good, it was easy from that point forward.
Suddenly, it was over, and the crowd responded. For me, their applause felt like the weight of the world had just been lifted. I’d faced one of my greatest fears, singing in public, and had survived. I was shocked when Halle reached up and pulled my head down so she could kiss me as they went to commercial.
When Brook saw that, I would have ‘some ’splainin’ to do,’ as Tracy would have put it.
◊◊◊
When all was said and done, I’d had a good time, and I’d helped Rita, two things that made me smile.
They’d saved
When the lights came down, and we were done, Rita hugged me.
“I knew you could do it,” she beamed.
It was easy to look back with rose-colored glasses now that we were done. Rita had pulled a bit of a fast one to get me to sing so many songs. What I discovered was that if she asked me to do this again, I wouldn’t hesitate.
“Thanks. I did enjoy myself and was glad to see you got the military involved.”
“Back before even I was born,” she said and then paused, daring me to comment, “Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were noted for doing just that. I know it’s no longer politically correct, but I felt it was something we could do to help out.”
We’d talked as the cast all came out to join us. Rita turned to them.
“Santa has something for each of you,” she announced.
Santa and his elves began to hand out the same bags they’d given the audience. Inside was a complete set of the t-shirts depicting each of the performers. I sorted through mine and found the one of Halle looking like a crazed witch, took off my shirt, and put the t-shirt on. I looked up, and everyone was staring at me.
“He’s quite nice to look at, now, isn’t he,” Pree, my puking terrorist, commented.
Brook came strolling out from the side, shaking her head.
“You still haven’t gotten him trained yet, have you?” Halle observed.
“It’s hard when you decide to kiss him on national TV,” Brook chirped.
“Well, uhm,” Halle stammered. “I think he needed it.”
“Nice try,” Brook said, and then came to me with a kiss. “You about ready to get out of here?”
I looked at Rita.
“Go. Enjoy your evening. I’ll see you at the New Year’s party,” Rita told me to set me free.
“Lead on, Macduff,” I said to Brook, misquoting Shakespeare.
I remembered that the actual quote was ‘Lay on, Macduff,’ but it had changed at some point.
◊◊◊
Someone was looking out for us because the traffic leaving LA wasn’t half bad. Back home, everyone would have been going to church or staying in with family. I hate to say it, but traffic here could be dreadful at just about any time, even Christmas Eve.
Brook had booked us for two nights in a boutique 25-room hotel called L’Horizon Hotel and Spa, located in Palm Springs. It only took us three hours to get there. We’d ditched Manaia in LA and promised not to get into any trouble. I had to have my dad call Fritz to let us off our leash. While I had become accustomed to someone driving me, I was a teenage boy, and it was nice to get behind the wheel again.
When we pulled in, Brook directed me to valet parking. I was almost knocked down when the bellhop rushed to get our bags.
“Let me get those, David.”
I looked at Brook, and she smiled.
“The hotel asked how you wanted to be addressed. I figured you’d get irritated if they called you Mr. Dawson all weekend.”
We walked inside to check in, and I looked around the entrance area.
“Brook, David. Welcome to L’Horizon Hotel and Spa,” the desk clerk greeted us.
I was impressed that the staff all called us by name. That wasn’t something I’d encountered before. I wasn’t sure what Brook was paying for this, but I was getting the feeling it wasn’t cheap.
“I want to offer you an upgrade on your room. We’re not fully booked tonight, and I do have The Residence available. It has a private pool, kitchen, dining room, and living room. It also comes with a wet bar and wood-burning fireplace,” the clerk said, giving her sales pitch to get us to spend more money.
“Are you comping us?” I asked.
“David,” Brook reprimanded, but turned to the woman and raised her eyebrows.
“Just one moment while I check,” she said and walked into the back.
“You have to ask,” I said to defend myself.
Brook was sometimes from the ‘if you have to ask, you can’t afford it’ school of thought. My mom and dad had taught Greg and me that we should at least try to negotiate. The worst they could do was say ‘no.’
The desk clerk was back, and all smiles.
