"They might forget about me by then," she said.
"It sounds like maybe you're worried about that too?"
"Yes," she said. "I am."
He tossed his cigarette out onto the beach below and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her against him. With his finger, he reached up and wiped the tear from her face. "You're a great musician, Celia," he told her. "You were forced to make some forgettable music by your circumstances, but your career is not over, whether people forget about you or not. Once you're free, you can make any kind of music you want and it'll be badass music because it will be yours. You've got the voice, you've got the composition skills, and you've got the guitar talent. All you'll need to do is surround yourself with some good musicians who will do what the hell you tell them to do and you'll shine. I have no doubt about that."
She smiled, snuggling her face into his shoulder. "Thanks, Jake," she said softly. "That actually makes me feel better. It wouldn't have it had come from anyone but you, but I... you know... I respect your musical opinion quite a bit."
"And I respect yours," he said, hugging her against him a little tighter for a moment and then releasing her.
"That still leaves me with the problem of Greg," she said.
"How big of a problem is it?" Jake asked. "Is it big enough that... you know... maybe tomorrow is a mistake?"
She sighed. "I honestly don't know," she said. "I love Greg very much and I know he loves me, but this whole issue is just... weird. I don't know why it bothers him so much that I won't be working for the next two years, but it does. It's not like we need the money or anything."
Jake shrugged. He didn't know either. During the few conversations he'd had with Greg since arriving in Martha's Vineyard yesterday, he had been pleasant and a good host, giving no hint that he was troubled.
"He was embarrassed when you asked us about the leak to the press," Celia said.
That had been a few days after the media had first started demanding to know if the rumor they'd heard about Jake's attendance was true. Greg had denied leaking anything and had seemed genuinely upset that a leak had taken place. He had his people look into the matter and it had been discovered that one of his publicist's assistants had been the source of the leak. She had claimed it was a simple mistake and that she hadn't realized the information was supposed to be secret.
"It wasn't his fault," Jake said. "Shit happens. I, of all people, should know that. He told me that he gave the young lady in question a stern talking-to and that was the end of it."
"That's just it," Celia said. "I... well... I'm not entirely sure that he was being truthful about all of that."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't have any hard proof or anything, but I kind of think that Greg told his publicist to release that information and make it look like an accidental leak."
"Why would he do that?" Jake asked.
"He seemed to think that if it became public knowledge that you and I were friends — that if I had enough street-cred to hang out with Jake Kingsley — then Aristocrat might just change their minds and authorize a new album after all."
"Wow," Jake said, unsure what to say.
"Obviously it didn't work," she said. "I could've told him it wouldn't. But that was one more thing he got pissed off about and led to another two-day rant about the record company."
"Are you sure you're doing the right thing by marrying him?" Jake asked.
She offered a cynical smile. "It's a little too late to back out now, wouldn't you say? In less then eighteen hours it'll be a done deal, prenuptial agreement and everything."
"It's never too late until you say those two little words," Jake said.
She shook her head. "I'm not much for grandstand plays at the last second," she said. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen if — God forbid — I am making a mistake? We'll get divorced somewhere down the road and I'll end up collecting a good chunk of alimony for a few years. If nothing else, it'll keep me in the states until my contract period expires."
"That's not what marriage is supposed to be about," Jake told her.
"I know," she said. "And I'm just blowing off a little steam here. More than likely all of this is just pre-marital stress and we'll go back to our happy little life once it's over with."
"Hopefully," Jake said.
She threw her own cigarette over the balcony, adding to the litter on the beach below. "We'd better get back in before they send someone out to find us."
"Right," Jake said.
"Thanks for listening to me, Jake. I really do feel better about all this now that I've been able to talk to someone about it."
"Anytime," Jake told her.
"You really are a dear friend to me," she said. "One of my best, as a matter of fact. Sometimes I wonder..." she blushed a little. "Oh... never mind."
"What?" he asked.
"Well, if circumstances would have been different, if... you know... there could've been anything between us."
"I guess we'll never know," Jake said.
"I guess not," she said with a hint of sadness.
She reached forward and gave him a big hug, wrapping her arms around his back. He put his arms around her waist, feeling the softness of her skin beneath her shirt, feeling her breasts pushing into his chest, smelling the scent of her vanilla wafting up through the sharper odor of cigarette smoke. She looked up at him, her brown eyes sparkling, staring into his. And then she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips, lingering there for a few seconds. It was a kiss that made him tremble.
Slowly she pulled her lips away, a melancholy smile on her face, her arms still around him.
"What was that for?" he asked her, his voice not quite steady.
"I just wanted to see what a first kiss with you might've been like," she said. "Now I know."
"And what did you think?" he asked.
She released the embrace but didn't move away from him. She reached up and ran her index finger through his long hair for a second. "It was very nice," she said. "I'm glad I did it."
"Me too," Jake told her.
They went back inside. Jake didn't talk to her again the rest of the night.
In all, there were three hundred and sixteen guests at Celia and Greg's wedding ceremony (Greg's publicist would later describe the affair as a "small, intimate ceremony with just a few close friends in attendance"). Most of these were on the groom's side. There were dozens of famous actors and actresses and their significant others. There were movie producers, directors, and a few odd make-up artists and crew members. There were only a few members of Greg's family on this side of the room. His mother and sister were there and two people he identified as cousins. He was estranged from his father for reasons he had never explained to either Jake or Celia and his older brother had elected not to come for reasons that were also unexplained.
Celia's side of the room, by contrast, had very few famous people. No one from Aristocrat Records had bothered to show up and the only other professional musicians in the group were Jake and the other members of La Diferencia. Most of the pews on this side of the room were taken up by Celia's family and close friends from Barquisimeto (all of whom had been flown in for the occasion at Greg's expense). There were grandmothers, grandfathers, and one great-grandmother. There were cousins and uncles galore. There were half a dozen members of the church Celia had attended as a child, including her former choir teacher. There were three women and two men who had been childhood playmates of Celia.
In addition to the guests, there was a complete photography crew from People magazine in attendance. They had paid fifty thousand dollars for the exclusive right to photograph the nuptials and distribute them in their magazine. They flitted here and there, flashing their bulbs and taking pictures of everything and everyone.
Jake and Helen sat on the bride's side of the room. Since Jake was to be part of the ceremony, they were in the second row, just behind the seats for the immediate family. Jake was wearing one of his custom tailored tuxedos. Helen was adorned in a royal blue dress that had cost $2800 in the Rodeo Drive shop where they'd bought it. It was modest, falling to just below her knees and displaying only the very top of her cleavage. Only Jake knew that beneath it she was wearing a pair of silk stockings attached to a garter belt.