The dread was due to the way it highlighted how my life had changed. I had been living in a cocoon here in our small town, unexposed to all the trappings and distractions fame brought. In my small town, I was David, the kid who made them proud. Out there, I was the movie star. My other worry was that I might end up losing my small-town values. I’d already gone a little wild in LA before, and that had been before my movies had started to come out.
I’d been trying hard to be nothing more than a high school kid for just one semester. In a sense, I wanted normalcy so much I could almost taste it. Now I was coming face to face with the reality that my life likely would not be normal for a long, long time, if ever.
◊◊◊
I’d explained to Scarlet what to expect once we arrived in LA. We hadn’t checked any bags because we wanted to get through the airport as quickly as possible. Past airport security, we were faced with a gauntlet of cameras. The paparazzi were out in force, trying to catch celebrities as they arrived in town for the awards.
Fritz led the way as we pushed through their insistent shouts for a reaction.
“Is this your new girlfriend?”
“What are you going to say if you win?”
“Is it true that you sleep with all your costars?”
And they got ruder as we got closer to freedom. Then the stoner dude for Hollywood Central rushed up.
“Hey … my girlfriend said she would get naked too if you did her podcast.”
That one made me stop and laugh. Scarlet didn’t know what to do, so she grabbed my arm to pull me away. I could understand her concern because if I didn’t know who he was, I might confuse him with a homeless person.
“I need to see some pictures to determine whether it would be worth my while.”
He handed me his video camera and dug out his phone. While he did that, I turned the camera on the paparazzi. When the light came on, they made like cockroaches and scattered.
He smiled as I put the camera on him and held up a picture of his girlfriend.
“She seriously goes out with you?” I asked because she was smoking hot.
He laughed because he knew he was a lucky guy.
“Tell her I’ll do it if I have time. I’m only here through Sunday,” I said, and gave him Scarlet’s number.
Fritz had gone ahead and secured us a car to take us to Rita James’s house. She’d offered to put Scarlet and me up for the long weekend.
Once we were finally in the car, Scarlet wasn’t able to hold in her curiosity any longer.
“What was that grungy guy talking about?”
“His girlfriend does a podcast where the guests are naked. He’s been after me to do it for quite a while. I kept telling him that I would only do it if she were naked too.”
“You would get naked?” Scarlet asked.
Once again, why had I not fired my security team yet? Scarlet looked confused at Fritz’s inappropriate laughter.
“I’m a model and not body-shy,” I tried.
“David will take his clothes off at the drop of a hat,” Fritz added.
“Oh,” Scarlet said.
Then she did the wise thing and shut up.
◊◊◊
When we got to the James household, I just walked in.
“I’m home!” I called out.
“David!” Halle called from the kitchen and came bounding out to greet me.
Bandit beat her to me.
“Buddy,” I said as I scooped up the cat.
“Hi, you must be Scarlet,” Halle said as Rita and Rosy followed.
Scarlet was starstruck; she gaped when I hugged Rita. Bandit didn’t like not being the center of attention and meowed to remind me that I was supposed to be loving him up.
“That cat is spoiled,” Rosy said.
“Do you have anything good for a starving boy?” I asked.
“I made empanadas,” Rosy said to make my day.
“Sometimes I think the only reasons David likes to visit are Rosy’s cooking and my cat,” Halle teased.
I handed Bandit to Scarlet and then pulled Halle into my arms and kissed her.
“Hello, gorgeous,” I said and kissed her again. “Still worried I don’t I want to see you too?”
Halle gave me a playful shove, then grabbed my hand and took me to the kitchen where Rosy had a big platter of one of my favorite treats.
This made the trip to LA worthwhile.
◊◊◊
Chapter 22 –The Naked Truth Friday February 24
My alarm woke me even earlier than my usual time, which made it particularly frickin’ early here in LA. I found Bandit sleepily looking at me from my other pillow, which he’d claimed as his.
“Does your mom know you abandoned her?”
He stretched and then accepted a tummy rub. For a cat, he was about as good as it got.
I got dressed to run and left Bandit snoozing. Unlike my trusty hound, a cat—even one like Bandit—is all about what’s in it for the cat. Bandit wasn’t willing to follow me wherever I might go, especially this early.
