The Fallen Starlet

by Eve Corso

  Jack nodded, wondering about the life his mother led inside of that house of hers.

  “Well, I don’t know what my purpose is here just yet, but if it’s to leave a few pounds heavier, then I’m okay with that.”

  His phone buzzed in his pocket. Jack excused himself. “My daughter, I have to take this.”

  Willadeen nodded. She understood and only smiled as she took her iced tea with her, grinding the ice down with her teeth as she walked away to give Jack some privacy.

  “Hey, Dad, how’d it go?” his daughter asked. Jack felt a pang in his heart and wished she weren’t so far away.

  “It went okay, sunshine.” He had always called her sunshine, even though her hair had darkened from when she was a toddler. It had been blonde like her mother’s, but when she got older, it had turned into a mix of his and her mother’s, leaving her with honey-colored hair. Still, the nickname had stuck.

  Jack paid the bill with the cashier and covered the phone with his hand. “Thanks so much. Give Willadeen my apologies, but I have to run.”

  The waiter nodded.

  Once outside, Jack focused on his conversation at hand. “How was class today? Learn anything interesting?”

  “Dad!” she said into the phone, complaining. “It’s college. It’s not like I’m twelve years old anymore.”

  “I know that, sweetheart. Forgive your dad for being interested in your life.”

  “Forget my life for just one second. Dad, I want to know how it went with you.”

  “Can’t I just enroll into college with you?”

  Amber laughed. “Dad, come on, how’d it go?”

  “Well, it’s kind of hard to explain, but as far as she knows, there’s no history of breast cancer on her side. None, whatsoever. I still need to look into who my dad was. He was in the movie business so it shouldn’t be hard.”

  “What was she like, Dad? Was there any resemblance?”

  “Oh, yeah. She showed me this picture of her from when she was really young. I’m going to go back there tonight, for dinner. I’ll see if I could get a picture of it. There’s a strong resemblance between the two of us, actually. She was absolutely gorgeous when she was younger. And believe it or not, you have her mouth, nose, and eyes like hers.”

  “Wow. So, was it like super emotional meeting her?”

  “Well, I was nervous. She didn’t have a reaction, not at first. In fact, I’m not even sure she understood, but then afterwards she was kind of detached. Like she was talking to someone else about it, you know?”

  “Was she nice?”

  Jack laughed as he entered his motel room. “Well, hon, she’s old. And she’s a little stuck in her ways. She comes from money and it shows in her actions. She’s a little removed from the real world.”

  He told his daughter a little bit more about her, and he could tell that his daughter was googling her.

  “No, there’s nothing coming up on her,” Amber said, taking her dad off of speaker phone.

  “I don’t think she made it very far,” he said.

  “But there’s got to be pictures of her and your dad together if you said he was in the movie industry. What was his name?”

  Jack shook his head, even though he knew his daughter wouldn’t be able to see. “I didn’t get his name. But she said he was with United something or other. The head of United Cinema, that’s it.”

  Moments later, his daughter had found something. “Phillip Hewett and Vivianne Gold.” She sent him a picture, causing Jack to drop his phone in an attempt to put his daughter on speaker. He wasn’t as phone savvy as she was. But he finally saw the picture. Vivianne Gold. He didn’t know that she had used an alias.

  “Yep, that’s her. Wow, so that’s my biological father?”

  “According to her. And holy shit, Dad. She was gorgeous.”

  “Yeah,” was all he could muster as he looked at a photograph of his parents.

  “How are you feeling?” Amber asked her dad.

  “Well, it’s a little surreal. I mean, I look nothing like this Phillip guy. It’s like I’m just looking at a stranger.”

  “Him, yes, but she is so your mom. And yeah, she and I have the same eyes and mouth. I can see it,” she replied softly.

  “Alright, well, I’m going to see what I can find out about him. I can’t believe how quickly you were able to pull that up.”

  “Okay, I’ll see what I can find out, too.”

  “Hey, it doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. I still want you to get checked up regularly.”

  “Dad, I know. I will. I promised Mom, too, before she died, I mean. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of myself.”

  “It kills me that I can’t be there with you,” he said back into his phone, taking her off speaker. “Listen, I love you. Take care of yourself.”

  “You, too. Keep me posted on your trip out there. And Dad?”

  “Yeah?”

  “It wouldn’t kill you to start dating again.”

  “I’m working on it. As soon as I’m done with this, I’ll start in on me.”

  “Let me know if you need any apps on your phone. I could show you how to add some.”

  Jack laughed as he flopped on the bed. “I am not going to take dating advice from my daughter.”

  “Gotta start somewhere.”

  Jack smiled into the phone, loving just to hear her voice. He hated the distance between them, but it was only temporary, he knew. She planned on moving back home to Los Angeles after getting her degree, and Jack was already looking forward to it.

  They said goodbye and Jack lay on the bed in a food coma and took a nap.

  Chapter Five

  Jack woke up to his phone buzzing by his leg. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and saw that he had ten unread messages, all from his daughter. It looked like Amber had done some more research. Jack read the text messages. There were some more pictures, and one message even had a link. Apparently, Amber had found a commercial Vivianne had been in.

  Jack sat up in bed and clicked the link. He sat through five commercials and wasn’t sure which one she was in or if he had missed it. But as soon as her face came on the screen, he knew immediately. He could see so much of himself in her. Same big and soft eyes, same face. He turned up the volume on the phone and watched. The commercial was for pantyhose. It was in black and white, and she was dressed in a corset, with black nylons. A man’s voice narrated the ad as Vivianne walked across a dark stage as if on a runway. “These ample-topped nylons will fit all types of shapes and sizes, and they won’t snag! Walker Nylons come in three different colors. Get yours today!” The commercial closed on Vivianne Gold giving the camera the smallest smile, and again, Jack noticed the similarities between himself, his mother, and his daughter.

  Jack watched the commercial three times and wondered if Vivianne knew it was out there. He then went back to look at the picture of his Dad. He wanted to google him, but he resisted the temptation. He wanted to hear more of their story from Vivianne when he saw her for dinner that night before coming to any of his own conclusions.

  Jack willed himself to get out of bed and made himself a grocery list. He wrote down the ingredients for a fresh salad and then added a bottle of red wine to the list.

  Jack folded the list, written on motel paper, and tucked it away in his back pocket as he made his way out the door.

  OUTSIDE, THE WEATHER was warm and clear. Jack crossed the street and noticed two women walking towards him on the sidewalk. One woman was listening to a boom-box that she held on one shoulder and was dancing to a beat, except there was no sound coming from the boom-box itself. At least, Jack couldn’t hear anything. The other young woman was wearing a white silk robe with house slippers. As they walked towards him, Jack looked for wireless headphones on the woman with the boom-box, but there were none. All three of them stopped at a red light to cross. Jack smiled at the woman with the boom-box.

  “Hey, how you two doing today?” he asked with a small smile.

 
; The woman in the silk robe turned to the other woman and smiled. “He’s new here, isn’t he?”

  The boom-box woman stuck out her hand. “Eevie.” She motioned towards her walking companion. “This is my sister, Jussie.”

  “Jack,” he said, shaking both their hands. He turned to Eevie, unable to resist. “Where is the sound coming from?” he asked, referring to the boom-box.

  Eevie pointed to her head without hesitation. “Oh, it’s all in here. I gotta be aware at all times with this one. I take care of my little sister and I’ve got to make sure no one says the trigger word.” She said the last part in a whisper so only Jack could hear.

  The light turned red, and just as Jack could excuse himself, Jussie turned to him with both hands, palms facing up.

  “Can’t you see my red hands?” she asked, her eyes watering up in a panic that was clearly all in her head.

  Eevie put a protective hand on her sister’s, lowering Jussie’s. “It’s okay, you turned it in in time, don’t you remember?”

  Suddenly, Jussie’s face softened and Jack missed his chance to cross. What he really wanted to do was get as far as he could from these two, but he didn’t want to be rude and decided they were probably harmless.

  “She used to be a writer,” Eevie continued. “She couldn’t keep up with the demands and the deadlines.” Eevie had leaned in and whispered the last word in Jack’s ear. Jack gave Jussie a knowing smile and understood.

  “Yeah, I know a thing or two about that.” He nodded towards Jussie and gave her a reassuring smile. Hollywood was no joke when it came to deadlines. He was no stranger to working multiple overnight shifts just to meet those deadlines. Just then, the other light turned green for the women to go on their way and they crossed a street without another word. Jack shook his head. It sure was one crazy town he was in.

  Chapter Six

  Jack got to Vivianne’s house at a few minutes before six. Instead of knocking right away, he decided to take a quick look around. Her front lawn was vast and it looked like something out of the Hollywood Hills. He noticed that she had no lights out front, save for the porch light. It wasn’t totally dark outside, but the sun was going down, and it gave the old mansion an eerie feeling, reminding Jack of a horror movie. The grass was crispy and dead under his feet; bushes looked like they’d fall to ash if anyone touched them. He wondered if Vivianne was interested in any kind of renovating at all. He longed to see her fountain come to life again, with not only water, but with lights illuminating it from all around.

  A pretty face came to mind as he approached the porch. His neighbors hired a gardener to re-do their landscape not too long ago, and from the few conversations he had with their landscape architect, he remembered that she had mentioned that she was from Florida. He remembered that her name was Molly. Surely, she must know a thing or two about gardening and humidity. Jack thought back to Molly. He had looked forward to the mornings when he could talk to her briefly. He loved how sweat had speckled her arms and forehead, like morning dew. He loved her spirit and caught himself fantasizing about her more than once. When her job had been completed, Jack marveled at how she had turned his neighbors’ mediocre yard into the masterpiece it was now. Jack had briefly debated then if he should fire his own gardeners simply so that he could hire her, only to keep her in his life longer, but Jack knew he wouldn’t be able to go through with it. His own gardeners were pretty good, and he was a loyal man. Instead, he had let Molly walk out of his life. But maybe he had a reason to call her after all, he wondered as he knocked on Vivianne’s door, groceries in hand.

  Vivianne answered the door. She wore a blonde wig this time, but her make-up was still laid on pretty heavily. She was dressed in a white summer gown and wore a sheer white cape over it, covering her shoulders and arms. The look was too fancy, but Jack guessed that is how she always dressed.

  “You’re a punctual man. I like that about you. You get that from me, you know?” She led him down the hallway without saying hello and walked into the kitchen. She had a vodka waiting for her in a proper glass.

  “Feel free to have whatever you like,” she said. “I have bourbon, vodka, rum, and whiskey.”

  “I brought some red wine, actually.”

  She nodded and pointed to a cupboard over the sink as she sat down. “Wine glasses are at the top. Wine opener is in a drawer next to the silverware.”

  She watched him as he moved. She liked the comfortable silence that had settled between them. Vivianne didn’t like to be around people. They only irritated her and she had zero patience. But being here with her only son, well, it was nice. His presence calmed her anxieties about being around people. He was a wonderful exception. She marveled at their similarities as he poured wine into his glass. She smiled at him as he sat down across from her.

  “I haven’t had a guest over in I don’t know how long,” she said, lying. Vivianne had never had a guest over for dinner. She was a stay-in recluse and it didn’t bother her one bit. She had her maid, her chef, and occasionally, the town handy-man, Ed. Aside from those three, no one really set foot in her house. And she preferred it that way. But somehow, Jack was different.

  “Yeah, I’m glad we get to do this. You know, I ran into some interesting people today,” he said as he sat down with his wine glass. “Eevie and her sister Jussie?” He shook his head. “Boy, were they something else.”

  “Jussie Luna. Yes, she’s a terrific writer. Or was. She stopped writing. Lost her mind, I heard. I have some of her books in the library. Damn fine author. It’s a shame what happened.”

  “Yeah, her sister mentioned it to me. Well, that salad isn’t going to start itself, is it?” Jack said, as he stood up. “Do you need to eat by any specific time?”

  “I usually eat at seven. Jonah, my cook, left me some steak and chicken. I asked him to cook extra, so you’re welcome to it if you’d like.”

  Jack put a hand on his flat stomach. He was dressed in a dinner jacket and a black dress shirt and was glad for the air-conditioner his mom kept on. “I had a huge lunch at Willadeen’s place. She made this amazing fried chicken, and I had the best mac and cheese I’ve ever had in my life.” He laughed. “Pasta would be too heavy after all of that. I ended up bringing some tuna to make a sandwich and stuff for a salad that my daughter and I both love.”

  Vivianne took a sip of her vodka and sat back in her chair. “Your daughter? What’s her name?”

  “It’s Amber. She’s in her first semester of college. She doesn’t know what she wants to study yet, but she’s figuring it out.” He pulled out his phone and showed her the picture on his phone of the two of them.

  He watched as Vivianne smiled. “She’s got the Lindley eyes and smile. She’s absolutely dazzling.”

  “Yeah, she’s a good girl. Gets good grades, isn’t too wild. Her only real flaw is that she’s dating,” Jack said with a nervous laugh.

  Vivianne shared in his laughter. “Well, a father would say that, wouldn’t he?”

  Jack wanted to know more about his own father, but wanted to wait until after dinner, and he still had to prep the salad. Instead, he opted for a lighter topic as he stood up and started to take things out of the grocery bag.

  “I was wondering about your landscaping. You have a beautiful yard out there and I really like that fountain. You ever think about getting some work done on it?” He stopped and looked at her. He wanted to make sure he didn’t cross any boundaries with her.

  Vivianne only shrugged. “I’m an indoor kind of woman. Too much sun makes my head spin. I don’t really go out there much. Out of sight, out of mind.”

  “What if I made it my personal project while I was out here?”

  “And you want me to pay for you to occupy your time I presume? Pay for the soil, plants, and what not?”

  Jack shook his head. “Well, to be honest, I haven’t thought that far in advance. We’re only discussing it, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “You want a hobby? Fine. But don’t expect
me to pay for it. I am perfectly fine in here away from all the pesticide and flies and all that sweltering heat.”

  Jack nodded. He’d have to do it on a budget, then. More of a reason to contact Molly, the landscaper from Los Angeles. “Okay,” he started. “I am putting my daughter through college, but if I do most of the work myself, I don’t mind putting up the money for some new bushes and I’ll see what I can do about shining up that water fountain of yours, adding some lights here and there. But if you want grass, you’ll have to chip in. Deal?”

  “Grass means hiring a lawnmower. Less people to hire, the better.”

  “A teenage kid, ten bucks a week. That’s not so bad.”

  “Ten a week? What are we? In Beverly Hills?”

  “Oh, they’re paying much more than that in Beverly Hills, I can tell you that.”

  Vivianne set her glass down, a bewildered look on her face. “What has this world come to?”

  Jack noticed how distressed his mom looked. He came to her side and knelt down beside her. “Hey, it’s okay. You don’t want me to work on your yard, I won’t. I can find something else to do.”

  “Oh, I don’t care about that. It’s just, well, oh dear, I have no idea what’s going on out there in the world. I’m happy in my bubble, Jack. And I don’t know, with you being here, it’s forcing the bubble to crack a little. I’m not sure how to feel about that.”

  Jack nodded and stood up. “I understand. We’ll take things slow, Vivianne.” He walked back and prepared the salad.

  Vivianne made a loud humph and set down her glass again. “Vivian? No, no. My name is Vivi-anne, daring. Not ‘Vivian.’”