Suddenly I had an idea. Jorge was right, I needed to think outside the box. Originally, I had been thinking of the music from all the sit coms I remembered from my childhood, but I had forgotten. There was a whole host of really cool westerns on TV, that aired before I could even remember. I sat back down with my computer and started a new search.
I pulled up the theme song for the TV show “Bonanza” on You Tube, and listened to it. I chewed on my lower lip as I considered it. The song was kind of what I wanted, but that particular song had been overused.
Now that I had an idea, this was going to be easy. I typed in “TV Western theme songs” in my search engine and scrolled down through the results, listening to a few clips here and there, soon I found what I had been searching for. Next week Ron and Elena were going to skate to the theme song from the show “Wild, Wild West”.
I was finally excited about TV theme show night! Ron was going to make the cutest cowboy ever. I could already see the entire program in my mind, including the costumes, this was actually going to be fun!
CHAPTER 19
I was back on the ice bright and early Thursday morning. Elena and Ron were excited to hear my ideas for the new program, for once, both members of my team seemed to be excited about the music and the theme. I was happy, though they were still riding high from our victory last night. I hoped that we could keep up the momentum and push through to the finals.
Ron was a bit distant to me, I was sure he was not too thrilled by my thwarting his kiss last night. I guess in the grand scheme of things, most people would have missed it, amongst all the other excitement, but I couldn’t help but be wary, it seemed as if there were always cameras recording our every move.
My little run in with Maurice had set me on edge, to this day, I still worried that his “incriminating footage” would show up someplace it shouldn’t. It would be particularly shameful to be kicked off the cast of the show mid season. I had no doubts that Jorge would have me removed from the show, if he were angry enough.
That evening after the show aired, I relaxed on the sofa with a glass of wine. I was tired, but I was much too keyed up to go to bed. Jorge was relaxing in the hot tub, since he was not really my lover, I didn’t feel all that comfortable climbing in there with him. I flipped through the channels on the huge flat screen TV, finally settling on the local evening news. I hated to watch the news, but I was beginning to feel like a hermit. I had been living in my own little world, as of late, and I felt totally out of touch with reality. Hollywood was a bit like a world of it’s own, seeing the rest of the world would be a good idea, I thought.
I was still a bit lost in my own thoughts, and I had mainly tuned it out, until my attention was grabbed by a familiar name. I snapped to attention as the reporter announced that Jenae Brannon had officially announced today that she was divorcing her husband Ron. I was staring at the television completely stunned. The reporter went on to say that Jenae had admitted she was pretty serious about Roman Fleming and the two of them would probably marry once her divorce was final.
I was suddenly panicking as I reached for my phone. I knew that Ron would be upset, he knew their marriage was over, but of course, it would still hurt. I wanted to call him, but I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea.
I walked out to the patio and approached Jorge. He gave me a smile and raised his glass to me, in a mock toast.
“Hello darling, are you coming in?” he asked, flashing me a seductive smile.
“You can cut the crap Jorge, there are no witnesses,” I told him shaking my head in amusement.
“I’m finding this rather fun. I can’t really remember the last time I had a girlfriend,” he said, giggling.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you really don’t have a girlfriend now,” I told him, rolling my eyes.
“Oh Lane, have you not realized how the mere illusion of a girlfriend has changed my entire life? The network “Big Whigs” think I must be a total stud, to have a hot girlfriend like Lane Jensen,” said Jorge, flashing me a sly smile.
“I’m glad my presence here is working out so well for you, because my entire life is totally screwed,” I snapped.
“Don’t despair my dear. The show will be over before you know it, and you and Ron can hump like a couple of rabbits. What’s going on? You seem upset.”
“I need to call Ron, but I don’t want you to be angry with me,” I told him.
“Will you be calling him as a coach, or as a lover?” asked Jorge, giving me a sly smile. I frowned at him. I was getting the impression he was a bit buzzed.
“I want to call him as a friend. It was just announced on the news that Jenae has filed for divorce. No matter how evident it was, that this was coming, he’s going to be hurt,” I told him.
“And you just want to be his shoulder to cry on,” said Jorge, his voice was laced with sarcasm.
“He will be very upset, we can’t miss another day of practice. We have a new element to learn this week, things are getting down to the wire,” I told him.
“You can call him, but you can’t go to him,” said Jorge.
I nodded. I could only hope that Ron would be able to pull it together after this harsh announcement. I was worried about his two little girls. Custody battles were always nasty and he loved his girls so much and was so proud of them. I couldn’t bare it, if he were cut out of their lives.
I called Ron at his condo and on his cell, but I got no answer. I was worried about him. He took things personally, he could finally see how Jenae was using him, but he would still blame himself for the destruction of their marriage.
“There’s no answer, what should we do?” I asked Jorge.
“I’ll take you over there, hopefully he hasn’t done anything stupid, like swallowed a handful of pills,” snapped Jorge, who’s patience was obviously wearing thin with the whole situation. He hauled himself out of the hot tub and wrapped himself in a towel and walked away to the master bedroom to get dressed.
We drove to Ron’s condo in Jorge’s car, but when we arrived the condo was dark and unoccupied, Ron’s shiny black Escalade was not in it’s spot.
“Good lord, I hope he hasn’t run off somewhere to drink away his sorrows, we might never find him,” said Jorge.
I tried his cell phone again, but still, there was no answer. I was beginning to panic. Ron had been riding an emotional roller coaster lately. I worried about him, but where else could I look? I didn’t have a clue.
“We should just go home, if he doesn’t show up for practice, we’ll worry about it then,” said Jorge.
I sighed, I didn’t know what else I could possibly do. I had no idea where he might have gone. We went back to the house and I went to bed, but I didn’t sleep well. I woke up dozens of times until finally, it was time for me to get up and go to the rink.
I was consumed with a feeling of impending doom as Jorge drove us to the rink. I couldn’t help but worry about Ron and his already messed up emotional status. This announcement would either hurt him badly, or be the closure that he needed. I could only wait and see how he handled the news.
I worried how this announcement would effect our team and our upcoming performance. Ron was a very caring person and his heartless wife Jenae had publicly left him for another man. It would be bad enough if he were not a celebrity, but unfortunately Ron’s divorce was about to become a very public ordeal.
I was afraid that a lack of inspiration on Ron’s part would ruin us, we had a lot to accomplish this week, a new program and a new element. Luckily, this week’s new element wasn’t really new to my team, it was the death spiral, an element Ron and Elena had mastered way back in week one. Still, even missing one practice this late in the game would be bad.
I was relieved when I arrived at the rink and realized that Ron was already there. Elena was sitting on a bench near the ice, tightening her laces, Ron was standing near the ice talking on his cell phone. I couldn’t tell from where I was standing, what Ron’s mood was like
.
I wasn’t sure if I should approach him to talk about it, or if I should just wait until he brought it up. He had his cell phone, so obviously he would know that I had called him last night. My chest was tight with indecision.
I hadn’t realized I had been clinging to Jorge’s arm tightly as I obsessed over what to do. Jorge kissed me on the cheek and told me he had some business to attend to. Then he gave me a meaningful smile. I gave him a weak smile as I realized what he was doing for me. He was giving me space so that I could talk to Ron alone. I waved to him as he left the ice arena. I sighed wondering what, exactly, I was going to say to Ron.
“Good morning,” said Elena, slipping off her skate guards and stepping onto the ice to warm up.
“Good morning,” I told her with a little nod.
I stood there uncomfortably as Ron finished his conversation and slipped his phone into his skate bag.
He stood up and assessed me carefully. “Hi,” he said, his voice was hesitant. He was wondering what I knew.
“Hi,” I said. I was biting my lower lip. I didn’t know what to say to him. I wanted him to bring it up first.
“I saw that you called, sorry I never returned your calls last night. I guess you know,” said Ron, looking at me defeatedly.
“I know,” I said, nodding my head grimly. I was watching him carefully. I couldn’t tell if he was sad or mad, he just seemed defeated. I knew he was hurting, he had done everything he could, to please Jenae.
“Well if you’re worried about this messing things up for you, don’t. I’ll be okay,” said Ron, shaking his head miserably.
“Ron I’m so sorry. I wasn’t worried about this messing things up for me. I was worried about this messing things up for you. I know she hurt you, I was worried that she might try to keep your girls from you and I knew that would be very hard on you,” I told him, looking into his eyes earnestly.
Ron was scanning the room nervously. “Where’s your boyfriend?”
“Jorge left, he is giving us some space, so I could talk to you,” I told him.
“What’s there to talk about? She wants out. She wants a guy who’s not washed up, who makes millions. I’m forty, I have a bad hip and I don’t make millions,” said Ron, shaking his head sadly.
“If you truly love somebody, it shouldn’t make any difference,” I told him.
“I loved her, I thought she loved me no matter what. Now I see, it wasn’t the real me she loved. She loved Ron Brannon the star quarterback,” said Ron, shaking his head miserably.
“I’m sorry,” I said, taking his hand gently. He snatched it away angrily.
“Don’t you dare pretend you care about me! You’re a fake too! You show up at all these big Hollywood parties hanging on Jorge Broussard’s arm, kissing him, like the two of you are lovers. Do you know how that feels for me? When I want you so badly?” cried Ron.
“Ron I’m sorry. I was trying to protect you. Jorge was trying to protect his show...”
“You’re just as fake as Jenae,” snapped Ron.
“I had no choice,” I seethed.
“I thought you were different, I thought that you cared about me,” snapped Ron, looking away disgustedly.
“Ron I’m sorry. I do care about you. Please understand, I had to do something, everyone could see what was going on! Did you ever wonder what happened to Maurice? He tried to blackmail me, he made the moves on me and tried to...” I couldn’t speak anymore, the tears were already falling down my cheeks, I turned away completely embarrassed. I loved Ron and I was tired of playing these games.
Ron grabbed my shoulders and turned me to look into his eyes. “Are you trying to tell me that Maurice tried to rape you?” cried Ron, looking completely shocked.
I was biting my lower lip, trying to stem the tears that seemed to be coursing down my cheeks without my permission. “He tried to use his influence, he said he had incriminating video of us together,” I sniffed.
“What incriminating video?” cried Ron, his anger seemed to be growing.
“I don’t know, I never saw it. I only knew it was impossible for me to hide my true feelings. My guilt was overwhelming me and I didn’t want to ruin your marriage,” I cried.
“Lane, my marriage was already ruined, I was just too proud to realize it. Maybe it would have been better if Maurice would have just ratted us out, then I wouldn’t look like such a schmuck,” said Ron, ruefully.
“I think Jenae is vengeful Ron, she would have kept the girls from you and ruined you financially, believe me. It’s better this way,” I told him.
“I’m sorry you were worried about me. Jenae came to town to talk to me in person. I was at her hotel most of the night, trying to work things out. I thought I was going to have to fight her for partial custody of the girls. The ironic part is that she doesn’t even want them. She’s giving me full custody. She wants them on Christmas and spring break. That’s all. I’m happy, but can you believe a mother can give up her daughters so easily, all so that she can start over with another man?” asked Ron, his face was a mask of disgust.
“No I can’t believe it,” I told him. I had my theories about Jenae, but I kept my mouth shut, it wasn’t what Ron needed to hear right now.
“You’re right, it really hurts. Even though I saw it coming, it hurts,” he said, his eyes were glassy, like he might start crying.
I was torn, should I hug him, because he needed the support right now, or would that be a bad thing? I was standing there chewing on my lower lip nervously. I had no idea how to comfort him.
“Ron...I’m sorry...” I said, my voice quivered with emotion. I could feel his pain. I could still feel the pain of my own divorce, though I would never let anyone see that pain, this late in the game. I had cried enough tears over Greg.
“Don’t be sorry. I only wish I could be as strong as you were over your own divorce,” he said.
“I wasn’t strong, just because I don’t let people see my pain doesn’t mean that it didn’t hurt me, it hurt, it still hurts,” I told him.
“Thank you for caring,” said Ron, he kissed my hand and then he skated out onto the ice. I sighed, I knew that he couldn’t talk about it anymore. Maybe it would be good for us to get to work, and maybe that would help him to keep his mind off of his pain.
I put my skates on and in a few minutes I had joined Ron and Elena on the ice. This week would be hard, we had to squeeze in all the required elements, a lift, a pairs spin, side by side spins and now the death spiral. We also had to bring out the personality of the TV show theme I had selected. That was the beauty of this show, my team got to play different characters every week, and they were actually good at it!
Our practice went well, but I could tell Ron was somewhere else, he wasn’t focused, and his drive in life seemed to be completely gone.
We worked hard all week. Technically, the program looked fine, artistically, our team had lost our spark. The fire that Ron usually infused into our program was gone.
Wednesday finally rolled around, and I was worried. Our last practice had went well, but the program seemed lifeless. I had just created the most stunning program of my career, but my lethargic team couldn’t do it justice.
I wasn’t sure what I could do to save my team from spiraling into Ron’s depression, but I felt like I needed to do something. This program had everything we needed to take first place this week, except for Ron’s personality. It was gone!
Jorge had arrived to pick me up at the rink, he was standing on the side of the ice frowning as I skated over to him.
“Lane, I hate to see you slip from the top spot to the last, but your team kind of blows right now, they are completely lifeless,” said Jorge as I approached him.
“Ron’s depressed, what can I do?” I asked shrugging.
“Hmmm, desperate times call for desperate measures. Do you think it would it help, if you had sex with him?” asked Jorge, he was struggling to hide the smile that was creeping across his lips. I fought the urge to ro
ll my eyes, Jorge was messing with me.
“It might make his mood better, though he’d be so completely spent, he’d be unable to perform on the ice tonight,” I joked, stifling a little giggle.
“Yes, you’re right. I seriously doubt he’d be able to walk, let alone skate,” said Jorge, giving me a sly smile.
I cracked up. He started laughing too.
“Why is it that men seem to think that having sex will solve all their problems?” I laughed.
“It’s not that we feel it will solve all our problems, but it sure as hell makes us forget about them for a little while. You know, the brain becomes completely useless when all the blood in your body heads straight to the wanker,” laughed Jorge.
Laying Low In Hollywood Page 16
