Even though they had been engaged for several months, they kept it a secret from everyone on the set. Gennie wore her ring on a long necklace that was tucked under her shirt. Erik had asked her out a few times to various restaurants and pubs, but Gennie always discreetly declined.
To make her problems even worse, Damien started taking an interest in her. At first, Gennie thought he was just being friendly, but it didn’t take long for her to figure out it was more than that. He always wanted to touch her, taking every opportunity to put his hand around her waist or on her shoulder. One time on the set, while she was adjusting the seat of a futuristic racecar she built, and he was sitting in the driver’s seat, his hand brushed against her breast. Though it seemed like an accident, in the back of her mind, Gennie knew it was intentional.
Not only did Peter’s family not know about the engagement, Ben had assumed she called it off and Malcolm and Colleen had no clue. Keeping it hidden from everyone was taking a toll on her. She had a hard time keeping food down. Most of her pants were two sizes too big for her, which according to Hollywood, was fantastic, but she felt too anxious to care. Sometimes she was so nervous she could feel her heart racing and she would hyperventilate for no apparent reason. Sometimes getting herself out the door in the morning was the worst part. She was afraid of what the day would bring. Would someone find out? Would she lose her job?
Peter’s twentieth birthday was on July 31. He usually threw a huge party, but this year he told his parents he didn’t want one. There was a small party on the set though, with chocolate cake and French vanilla ice cream. It was the next to last day of filming the third season. Everybody was talking about how they couldn’t wait to get the hell out of town. Erik was flying out tomorrow to his vacation home in Hawaii and Damien was going to Canada to shoot scenes for an upcoming action adventure movie. One of the production assistants asked Peter what his plans were.
“I’m going to ride one of my bikes to Vegas.”
The hairstylist and make-up artist looked intrigued. “Oh,” the hairstylist asked, “what are you going to do there?”
“Party…gamble…party some more. Maybe I’ll go to one of those dollar ninety-nine buffets and check out Wayne Newton while I’m at it.”
The make-up artist and hairstylist giggled.
“Can we go with you?” the make-up artist asked.
“We’ll see,” Peter said, gobbling up the rest of his cake. “Umm…this is good. This is better than…nah, it ain’t quite that good.”
The hairstylist asked Gennie what her plans were.
“Nothing in particular, really. Maybe when she finishes music camp, my daughter and I will go up to San Francisco next month and visit my family.”
When the party was over, Peter approached her in the hallway leading outside the studio. He looked around first and took hold of her hand.
“You wanna visit my parent’s house tonight?” he asked.
“Okay,” Gennie replied. She suspected they would spend all their time swimming in the pool.
“How about a sleepover?”
“Huh?”
“We can sleep in the guest house.”
“Do your parents know about this?”
“No and they don’t need to. Dad is leaving for Vancouver tonight; Mom is on the French Riviera, and Nanny’s in Mexico.”
Gennie felt like a naughty girl for doing that, but then again, Peter was right. No would ever know and they weren’t hurting anybody.
“Okay,” she said.
“Tomorrow I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“Is it as good as the last surprise?” Gennie asked, referring to the ring.
“Better,” Peter said. “You’re really going to like this one.”
Gennie had never been inside the guesthouse. It was about the size of her home. Later on that night, as Peter unlocked the door, Gennie asked him why they needed one. Weren’t ten bedrooms enough?
“My dad’s parents used to live here,” Peter said. “They wanted to have their own place.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Gennie replied.
“They both passed away a while ago,” Peter explained. “I was really young, maybe three at the most, so I barely remember them. We pretty much kept it the way they had it. All the furniture in here was theirs.”
Gennie thought someone older might have decorated the house. There were a lot of porcelain knick-knacks, antique furniture and crocheted doilies.
“I feel really weird about sleeping here.”
“Why?”
“Well, are we sleeping in your grandparents’ bed?”
“No, we’ll sleep in the other bedroom.”
“I still don’t think they’ll approve of it.”
“Hey, they’re dead. They’ll get over it.”
“Yeah, but it just doesn’t feel right.”
“We don’t have to do anything, you know.”
“All right,” Gennie said, feeling relieved.
“Anyway, I want to talk to you.”
They sat down on the green floral sofa next to a white marble fireplace.
“What is it you want to talk to me about?” Gennie asked.
“Keeping this whole thing a secret. It’s driving me nuts. We can’t do anything together without you getting paranoid. I want it to end.”
Gennie sighed. “Me too, but…we have to keep it like this for now. I think it’s for the best.”
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter. What are people going to do to us? Chop off our heads?”
“No, but…we both have jobs with decent pay that we love. I’m afraid that if people found out we’re engaged, it would wreck everything we’ve worked for.”
“No, it won’t,” Peter said. “Yeah, people are going to talk and some might not like it, but you know what? One, I could care less about what they think and two, they can’t do a damn thing about it. I know Erik is going to be pissed, but I don’t think he’ll fire us. All he’ll probably do is just give us some dirty looks and slam a few things around.”
“I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Oh man, you’re stubborn. You know if you’re going to be like that, let’s get the whole thing over with once and for all.”
“You want to end it?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Gennie looked down at her ring. “I suppose it’s for the best.”
She slid the ring off her finger.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m giving you back your ring.”
“You’re breaking up with me?”
“You’re the one who said you wanted to end it.”
Peter grabbed the ring and pushed it back on her finger. “I didn’t mean it like that. What I meant by getting it over with was that we should get married.”
Gennie couldn’t believe what he was asking her to do. “How are we supposed to do that? A wedding takes months to plan and we don’t have that kind of money.”
“I was going to wait until tomorrow, but since we’re talking about it, I’ll just ask you now. Do you want to get hitched when we go to Vegas?”
Gennie was astounded. “I…I don’t know. It’s all happening so fast.”
Peter put his arm around her. “It’s up to you.”
“Oh…okay.”
“If you don’t want to marry me, just say so.”
“No, I do. Keeping this secret has been so hard. It’s just…” Gennie put her head in her hands.
“Well, let’s get it out in the open, then.”
“If you’re serious about this, then I’m serious about this.” She gave him a kiss on the lips.
“I definitely am.”
Chapter 68: August 1 Las Vegas
What They Left Behind Page 67
