“That makes logical sense,” Jake had to agree.
“Right,” Celia said with a smile. “And we live in a logical world, right?”
“Of course,” Jake said with a chuckle.
He parted from Celia and made his way over to Greg, who was just finishing up a conversation with an attractive young brunette in a revealing red dress. She was gushing over his performance and the overall theme of the project and Greg was eating it up. Finally, she ran out of praise and Greg introduced her to Jake. She was Geri Matthews, the daughter of the film’s producer. Geri wasted no time letting Jake know that she was a fan of his and would simply love getting together and hearing him play a private performance for her ‘unplugged’ sometime.
“That sounds like a lot of fun, hon,” Jake told her, “but I’m pretty sure my wife would disapprove of such a performance.”
“No reason to tell her about it,” Geri said with a smile.
Jake chuckled. “A tempting offer, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to take a rain check on that.”
“I understand,” she said. “It would have been fun though.” And with that, she walked away, heading for the nearest bar.
“Wow,” Greg said, shaking his head in wonder. “She pretty much just offered to fuck you, right here in front of me, with your wife right across the room.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “I get that a lot.”
“Really?”
“Chicks really dig musicians,” he said. “Especially singers. It’s a curse.”
“Some curse,” Greg said, still shaking his head.
“Hey,” Jake said, “I just wanted to tell you, I loved the flick. It’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, right up there with the Godfather, Platoon, and Airplane.”
“Thank you,” Greg beamed. “And with praise like that I won’t even chastise you for saying ‘flick’ and ‘movie’. I honestly feel that this is the best film I’ve ever made.”
“Agreed,” Jake said. “Way better than The Northern Jungle.”
“That goes without saying,” Greg said smugly. “And for half the budget too. I think I’ve finally made my way back onto the A list with this project. And I would be astounded if the film were not nominated for multiple Academy Awards come February.”
“Me too,” Jake agreed. “You should at least carry off Best Actor. Your performance was impressive, very realistic. You actually had me believing that you were Frank Haverty, burned out cop, and not Greg Oldfellow, pompous blue-blood. You even wore jeans!”
“It’s all a matter of getting properly into character,” Greg said. “Method acting. The more you research and know your character’s wants and needs, their motivations, the more you’re able to project yourself for the performance.”
“You projected quite well,” Jake told him. “Mindy too, as much as I hate to admit it.”
“Yes,” Greg said whimsically, “Mindy was a delight to work with. As I tried to tell Celia, there was a chemistry between us—not a sexual chemistry, not exactly anyway, but a certain kind of bond that method actors will sometimes share. We fed off of each other during the filming, both falling into our roles like they were made for us. It really was a special thing to be a part of and I think it shines through on the final cut we just saw.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “That was quite the sex scene between you two. Gave me a semi just watching it.”
“Uh ... yes,” Greg said, becoming visibly uncomfortable now. “Like I told you before, that was the awkward part, the part where Mindy started to get a little too familiar with me.”
“Yeah, but you had to have enjoyed that, right?” Jake asked. “Having those titties in your hand? You even slurped a nipple into your mouth.”
“Uh ... yeah,” Greg said. “As I said, just part of the performance. I would be lying if I said there was no physical pleasure involved—I mean, I was all but naked against an all but naked Mindy Snow—but it was mostly awkward and uncomfortable. I was glad when those scenes were behind us.”
“Of course you were,” Jake said. “C tells me you and Mindy are flying off tomorrow.”
“And the rest of the crew,” Greg added. “Chicago then New York for premiers, then promos in Baltimore and New Orleans.”
“I wish you luck with that,” Jake said.
“Luck? What do you mean?”
“That your plane doesn’t crash,” Jake said. “What did you think I was talking about?”
Jake thought he might be able to get through the evening without talking to Mindy any further. He was wrong. She approached him just as things started winding down, as some of the guests started making their way to the exit and the limo queue. He was at the bar, getting a refill on his rum and coke. She sidled up next to him just as the bartender started construction in a highball glass.
“I feel like somebody’s been avoiding me tonight,” she told him.
He gave her a sideways smile. “Maybe,” he said. “I think I’ve found over the years that my life stays less complicated the less I see of you.”
She nodded. “I suppose I deserve that,” she said softly. “I did treat you horribly, Jake. I used you and then threw you away when I got what I wanted. I want to apologize for that.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me,” Jake said. “It was what it was. I’ve learned from the experiences. That’s what life is about, right? Learning from our mistakes?”
“I suppose it is,” she allowed.
“Have you learned from your mistakes?” he asked her. “Or do you even consider those things you did back then to be mistakes?”
“They were mistakes,” she said. “I had no right to use you that way; first to change my image and then to ... well ... you know what I did.”
“You used me to humiliate your husband for your own financial gain,” Jake said. “You had your photographer fuck-buddy take pictures of you and I in the bedroom together so you could blackmail him into disregarding the prenuptial agreement. And what did that little scheme net you, Mindy? Five or ten million more than you would have got if you’d just divorced him? You, who already had a twenty or thirty million net worth back then? Did you really need that money that badly?”
“No,” she said softly. “That was a horrible thing that I did, Jake. I ... I wasn’t all right in the head back then.”
“But you are now?”
She nodded. “Yes, I am,” she said. “I’m here at the premier of a movie that I costar in, a movie that might very well get me that Academy Award after all these years; a movie that I poured my heart into and did some of my best acting ever. Yes. I’m all right in the head now.”
“Then you’re not playing any games here?” Jake asked.
“With you?” she asked. “What kind of games would I play? You hardly want to be in the same room with me. You obviously have a lot of unresolved anger about the way I treated you. You wrote a goddamn song about how much of a bitch I was—didn’t think I’d pick up on that, did you?”
“Actually, I was kind of hoping that you would pick up on it,” he said.
She thought this over for a moment and then nodded. “I see,” she said. “Anyway, what kind of game could I be running on you now? You’re married now, and it seems to me that you’re happy. I talked to Laura a little while ago. She seems happy. She really is a dear, Jake.”
“Yes, she is,” Jake agreed. “But I wasn’t talking about games with me. I was talking about games with Greg Oldfellow.”
“With Greg?” she asked, showing a pretty good representation of surprise. It was convincing to Jake, anyway. “What in the world are you talking about?”
“Greg is a close friend of mine,” Jake said. “And Celia, his wife, is my business partner and a very close friend as well. I’d really hate to see anything coming between them.”
A smirk appeared on her face. “You mean like a makeup girl in Alaska?” she asked slyly.