Crystal wished she was in David’s Porsche because she would have asked his car’s ‘answer man’ where the best place was to dump the gold-digger’s body. With her luck, it would tell her to make a U-turn.
She walked back into the house and went to her father’s office before saying anything ‘mean’ to the human flotation device. She found him in his robe, talking on the phone. He motioned for her to take a seat while he finished his call.
“You have to get me an invite to your new boyfriend’s birthday party.”
“I’ll make the arrangements,” Crystal said and prayed that she could get him in.
“What should I get him as a present?” her dad asked.
She pinched her lips because that was hard to answer.
“I don’t know, Dad. What do you get a guy who can buy whatever he wants?”
“You’re dating him.”
Crystal could see he was losing patience. She didn’t want to give him a reason to cut her off again.
“David values his teammates. How about you pick up the tab for their transportation to and from the party? And give them rooms to spend the night?” Crystal suggested.
“See if you can make that happen.”
Crystal pulled her phone out and put it on speaker so her dad could overhear her. She called David’s mother.
“Carol?”
You could hear kids screaming in the background.
“Yes?”
“This is Crystal Knaggy, David’s girlfriend.”
There was a brief pause. Crystal crossed her fingers that David’s mom wouldn’t say anything to tip her dad off that their relationship wasn’t really boyfriend and girlfriend.
“Okay.”
“My dad was wondering if you had rooms available that he could pay for. He wants to invite David’s USC friends to his party. Dad would also pay for transportation back and forth.”
“I was about to release fifty rooms. I guess there’s a waiting list since it is the fourth of July.”
“I’ll take them!” her dad said.
“Sorry, I have you on speakerphone. Carol Dawson, let me introduce you to my dad, Kendrick Knaggy.”
He snatched her phone out of her hand, took it off speaker, and proceeded to get the information he needed. As her dad was finishing the call, in walked this week’s tryst.
“I want you to fire her!”
Crystal shook her head as an accusing finger pointed her way.
“What have you done this time?” her dad asked.
‘Boobs,’ as Crystal mentally was calling her now, didn’t give her a chance to answer.
“I sent her inside to get me another pitcher of margaritas. I had to get out of the hot tub,” Boobs whined.
Crystal did a mental countdown. ‘Three … two … one …’
“Get your stuff and get out. This is my daughter, not your personal pool girl.”
Boobs burst into tears and ran out.
“David likes women with big racks,” Crystal said to stir the pot.
Her dad thought about it for a moment, frowned, and then marched out of the room.
“Hang on! I spoke too hastily …”
On her way out, Crystal made sure that Jima knew that another pitcher of margaritas was needed and to make them strong.
When Crystal got to the car, her phone rang.
“Answer,” she told the car.
“So, you and my son are dating,” Carol Dawson said.
“Uhm …”
“Don’t sweat it. Cassidy already filled me in. I just wanted to call and thank you because David would have had to pay for all those rooms if your dad hadn’t offered. I’d made arrangements to invite his friends, and he asked me to take care of it,” Carol shared.
“My dad is hoping that David will feel obligated to allow him to be his agent,” Crystal said.
“I wish him luck, but my son won’t need one until after college.”
“My dad can be persuasive,” Crystal warned.
“I may want to be there when that conversation occurs. David’s not your typical bright-eyed, naïve college kid. If your dad pisses him off, David will have him send the contract to his lawyers.”
Crystal thought that sounded like what any reasonable person would do. Why would it be bad for her dad?
“And …?”
“They’ll take it apart line by line. David’s lead lawyer, Ms. Dixon, will give it to all the interns and first-years as a project. ‘How to fuck with your adversary.’ It will allow her to see who the most devious newbie is.”
Crystal knew for a fact that her dad buried all kinds of nasty surprises in his contracts. This would be a worthy challenge for Ms. Dixon’s staff.
“I want to be in the meeting where the contract is discussed,” she decided.
Carol laughed.
“I think I’ll join you.”
By the time they’d hung up, Crystal was looking forward to meeting David’s mom tomorrow.
◊◊◊
The premieres were a huge success. The audiences loved both films. Crystal wasn’t a girly girl, so she wasn’t as excited about seeing Love Letters, but she was now glad she had. David was hilarious. Seeing aka Ian Bond or aka Stryker act like a bumbling nerd brought the house down.
Just on face value, could any girl not be into her best friend if he looked like David Frickin’ Dawson? Let alone pick Ben Cowley over David. But after the initial shock, David’s acting took over, and you began to root for the boy. How could Halle James’s character not see David as the right choice?
Towards the end, there was the climactic scene where he bared his soul. There wasn’t a girl with dry eyes, including her, when he left heartbroken. The ending was predictable, but when she walked out of the theater, she was firmly on Team David.
The second Star Academy movie simply rocked. She’d seen Devil May Care, and the Star Academy action was much better. And unlike the first film in the franchise, where it was more of an ensemble cast, David was the lead in this one.
There was one fight scene where David was slammed to the floor. After that one, his stunt man must have needed to be taken directly to the hospital.
“That one hurt,” David whispered.
“You did your own stunts?” Crystal asked.
“Most of them.”
She wanted to follow up, but the action picked back up, and she wanted to see what happened next. Crystal realized that was the difference between most movies and the very few great ones. During most movies, she could have carried on a conversation while watching. This film had her on the edge of her seat. Crystal couldn’t honestly remember the last movie that had done that. The one that came to mind was not highly rated, but she loved the action: The Bourne Legacy.
◊◊◊
After the movies, David had press commitments before he could free himself up to attend the party the studio was holding.
Crystal sat outside with Ruth and Frank.
Frank looked about to jump out of his skin, intently focused on his phone.
“Are you okay?” Crystal asked.
“Huh? Oh, yes. I’m just reading the early reviews.”
“What do they say, sir?” Ruth asked.
“That he has two more hits. His Q-rating is going to go through the roof. David should quit school today. If he did, he would be set for life,” Frank said.
“Will he?” Crystal asked with a bit of worry.
Frank laughed.
“No. He has a plan, and this won’t change his mind. David is committed to getting his education,” Frank replied with a wry smile.
David finally came out, looking exhausted.
“Ready for your party, sir?” Ruth asked.
Crystal watched in amazement as he shook off the strain the day had put on him and smiled.
“Let’s do this. My peeps await me.”
Both Ruth and Frank groaned.
“What? Too much?” David asked.
“Dial it back a couple of notches,” Frank suggested.
David wrapped his arm around his publicist and pulled him towards where the car was parked.
“How are the reviews?”
Frank eagerly began to hit the highlights.
◊◊◊
David was the hit of the party. What surprised Crystal was that he played the attentive boyfriend throughout. He included her and made sure that she knew everyone. Several women weren’t happy to see her. On the flip side, anytime Crystal got a moment alone, she would find a good-looking guy hitting on her. It was worse than on campus because they all were interested in finding out why David was dating her.