Love Tango

by J. M. Jeffries

  Trudy nodded, surprise on her face. “You’re a better daughter than they deserve. Let me do some research and we’ll set up another meeting. I’ll call you.”

  * * *

  Roxanne survived the next two elimination rounds. She learned to rumba and to swing dance. She loved the swing dancing. Each routine became progressively harder. Nick was so patient with her.

  “I’m a dancer.” Roxanne sat on the floor of the dance studio putting on her sneakers. Rehearsals had become longer and more involved.

  Nick laughed. “Yes, you are.”

  “Not a very good one,” she said. “But I’m better than I used to be.”

  “Way better than you used to be.” He sat on the floor next to her.

  She leaned against him, his skin moist from exertion. If not for the anxiety of her parents’ problems hanging over her head, she would have enjoyed the past two weeks more. Nick spent a lot of time at her house and having him around made her happy in a way she’d never been happy before. And having him in her bed made her even happier. The feel of his skin against her in the darkness of the night sent her heart pounding and heat spiraling through her. He also made her feel safe.

  On the way out to her car, Trudy Mendoza called. Roxanne put the lawyer on speakerphone for Nick to hear, as well.

  “Your parents rejected your offer,” Trudy said. “They were quite forceful in their objections. But they did make a counteroffer. They’re willing to let Portia and Tristan out of their contracts if you sign on to this movie they want you to do. Things have changed. They have a major star who is interested in the movie and it now looks like it’s going be a theatrical release rather than a TV movie. Which means their financial percentage is going to increase a thousandfold.”

  Roxanne stopped in the middle of the parking lot uncertain whether to laugh or scream in frustration. “That’s not going to happen.”

  “I agree,” Nick said.

  “Do you have a counteroffer?” Trudy asked.

  “They can kiss my behind,” Roxanne said, irritation in every syllable.

  Trudy laughed. “I suggested they not be so hasty in turning down your generous offer and gave them a week to think about it. Though I’m pretty sure they are still going to turn you down.”

  “Of course they are,” Roxanne said with a sigh. Her parents had been playing the game a long time. They wanted to transition to producing their own movies and TV shows. They still had a decent enough stable of actors in their agency to do that, despite the loss of so many. She just didn’t like the way they were going about it.

  Trudy said, “I don’t have anything else to deal with.”

  “I thought I had enough leverage with the tax bill and that they’d jump at the idea of my paying it off. That would put them free and clear and give them a new start.”

  “From what I can tell, they aren’t afraid of the IRS,” Trudy said. “In fact, they don’t seem to be afraid of anything.”

  “Let me think about this,” Roxanne said. “I’ll talk to my grandmother and see what she’s thinking. Maybe she has some ideas.” She disconnected and turned to Nick. “Well, you heard.”

  Nick nodded. “We’ll come up with something.”

  Nick opened her car door just as her phone rang again.

  “Grandma,” Roxanne said, “is everything all right?”

  “Get home quick and bring Nick with you.” Donna hung up, leaving Roxanne with her mouth open in surprise. “You heard her. I’m to bring you home.”

  “I’ll follow you.”

  * * *

  Roxanne entered the kitchen to find her grandmother pacing back and forth.

  “What’s wrong? Did something happen to Tristan or Portia?” Roxanne grabbed her grandmother’s hand.

  “No, nothing like that. But before we go any further, you do have enough money to bail me out of jail, don’t you?”

  Roxanne frowned, dread filling her. “Did you do something?”

  “No, but I’m about to.” Donna led Roxanne and Nick back into the dining room. Her laptop was open and a few papers littered the tabletop. “I discovered something and for a moment I didn’t know what I was looking at.”

  “You need to explain.”

  Donna put her hands on her hips. “I hired a private investigator.”

  “You did?” Roxanne stared at her grandmother in surprise.

  “Of course I did. Two can play that game. I know more about being sneaky than my son and his wife will ever know.” She handed a sheet of paper to Roxanne and then several photographs.

  Roxanne glanced at the paper which appeared to be some sort of report. She handed it to Nick and then looked at the photos. “What am I looking at?”

  “That is your father walking into the Saint Ann’s Preparatory School in Anaheim Hills.”

  Roxanne was confused. The next photo showed her father coming out with two children, a boy and a girl. The girl looked to be seven, maybe eight years old and was cute with bouncy black hair and wearing a daisy costume. The boy was older, maybe ten or eleven, but his resemblance to the little girl told Roxanne they were siblings.

  The next photo showed her father putting the children into his car.

  “What is Dad doing with those two children?”

  Donna handed Roxanne a close-up of the girl. “Doesn’t she look familiar to you?”

  “She looks like me at that age.” Roxanne clutched the photo suddenly realizing what she was looking at. “Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?”

  Nick handed her the PI’s report. “Read this.”

  She took the report and her mouth fell open in shock. “My father has another family?”

  “Yes, he does,” Donna said, pausing to let the information sink in. “But look at the bright side.”

  “There’s a bright side!” Roxanne glanced through the photos a second time.

  Donna handed her another photo of a striking Hispanic woman with long black hair that fell almost to her waist. She was tiny and so beautiful Roxanne could only stare at her. “My father has a mistress and I have half siblings.”

  “I have grandchildren I’ve never met.” Donna tapped the photo with an agitated finger. “Do you know what this means?”

  “My dad’s a dead man.”

  “No. He’s not a dead man, he’s got a secret and we found out.”

  “I wonder if Mother knows,” Roxanne said.

  “I have no idea, but what do you think will happen when she finds out?”

  Roxanne thought about her mother for a second and felt a second of sadness that her mother’s world was about to fall apart. Even Roxanne felt betrayed. Her mother would feel that way many times greater.

  She hugged her grandmother. “You’re my hero.” She regretted what she was about to do, but knew she’d still do it.

  Nick looked at the photos. “I’m totally not surprised and surprised that I’m not surprised.”

  “He is his father’s son,” Donna said sadly. “If your grandfather were still alive, I’d be giving him a piece of my mind for being such a poor role model.”

  Roxanne knew her grandfather had left Donna for his mistress, but they’d never married and fortunately had no children.

  “What should we do with this information?”

  “Give it to Trudy.” Nick placed the photos on the table. “This is your ace in the hole.”

  “If my mother doesn’t know, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near her when she finds out.” Roxanne picked up the photos and looked through them again analyzing her feelings. She wasn’t surprised, either. She did feel sorry for those two children and her mother. She wondered if all the money she’d made during her years on Family Tree, which her father never explained what he did with, had something to do with this second family.

&nb
sp; The woman’s name was Carmen Lucero. The children were Yesenia and Dante. Roxanne wondered what the woman was like and why was she willing to take her father’s leftovers.

  “This is right up there with finding out I had a grandfather I didn’t know about.” Nick sighed.

  “Welcome to our world.” Roxanne gave him a kiss. “I told you secrets have a way of coming out.”

  “You weren’t expecting this kind of a secret.”

  “Actually, I think in some way I knew my dad had a secret he was keeping from us. I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry about what?” Nick asked.

  “My father’s a jerk. I’m mad because he hurt my grandmother.”

  “I’m not hurt,” Donna said.

  “You should be.”

  Donna shook her head. “I stopped being hurt years ago. The only person responsible for this behavior is Eli. I wish I’d been smart enough to hire that detective earlier.”

  “We know now.” Roxanne started to tremble. How could her family be so dysfunctional? Nick slid an arm around her, holding her close.

  “How do you think Portia and Tristan will feel when they find out they have a half brother and sister?” Donna asked.

  “Portia will be fine. She’s going to love having a Mini-Me following her around, assuming our dad lets us meet them. I don’t know about Tristan. He’s always been the only boy and now he has competition.” Roxanne peered at the photo of the boy. He looked more like Tristan than she’d thought. He had the same features, the same quirky smile. But when he looked at his father, he had a solemn look on his face.

  “How do you feel?”

  “I’m both happy and sad,” Roxanne responded.

  “Why happy and sad?” Nick’s arm tightened around her.

  “Because my dad is such a cliché. And I wonder where this secret is going to take us.”

  “We won’t know until Trudy can take a look at the report and photos.” Nick released Roxanne and gathered up the photos and report. “In fact, if I leave now I can drop this off at her office before it closes for the day.” He kissed Roxanne.

  She wanted to cling to him, feeling overwhelmed. She saw him to the door and waved as he backed out of the driveway.

  “Nick is turning into quite the knight in shining armor,” Donna said.

  Roxanne sighed wistfully. “I know.”

  “What do you intend to do about that?”

  Roxanne simply shrugged.

  * * *

  Tension grew on the set. Another elimination round left Roxanne still in the competition. She was breathless with her success. She’d fulfilled her obligation to Nancy, uncovered her inner dancer and found Nick. Every time she glanced at him she felt a deep sense of admiration for him. He never complained, he never questioned her and every episode he did everything he could to build her confidence and make her look good. She loved being with him. She loved the feel of his arms around her. All right, be honest, she told herself. She loved him.

  Nick made her feel as though she were truly a valued partner. And as her ratings went up, so did her confidence. Even Nancy had commented on how well Roxanne and Nick worked together.

  He glanced at her as though he could feel her watching him. He strolled over and sat down next to her.

  “Your mom is in the audience. I don’t see your dad.” Nick pointed at the monitor as the camera panned across the spectators.

  “She makes me more nervous than my dad. Every time she criticizes me on TMZ, the comments hurt a little more. I didn’t think I would feel hurt, but I do. No wonder my dad needs money with all the mouths he has to feed.” She wondered how he’d react once the news of his second family got out. How would her mother act?

  Nick chuckled. The show ended and Nick walked her out to her car only to find her mother’s Range Rover parked next to it.

  Her mother stalked toward her. “You know, Mom, being stalked in parking lots is getting old.”

  Her mother glared at her. “All you have to do is agree to do the movie. It’s tailor-made for you.”

  “No.” Roxanne looked around. “Where’s Dad?”

  Her mother shrugged. “Gone. He’s gone a lot, trying to keep our current clients and find new ones,” Hannah said angrily. “And you’re not helping.”

  Roxanne’s stomach roiled in tension. Why couldn’t her parents love their children for what they were? She’d never get an answer to that question and didn’t know why she kept asking it. Yet something inside her wanted their approval no matter how old she was.

  “I have to get home.” She sidestepped her mother. All the way to her car she could feel her mother’s anger.

  Nick gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “I know. Bright and early.” She tried not to be disappointed he wasn’t coming home with her.

  “Actually, no. Meet me for lunch at Pablo’s. One o’clock. My brothers and I are having lunch with our newly found grandfather.”

  “What about your sisters?”

  “We wanted Nina and Lola to come, but Nina isn’t traveling right now since she’s due to have her baby in a few weeks and Lola is in Tokyo on a job.”

  She smiled at him. “Have you told your mom yet?”

  “No. We wanted to talk to him first and find out all the whys.”

  “Don’t gang up on him. I’m sure he had his reasons for what he did. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She kissed him and waved as he headed toward his car.

  * * *

  Trudy called the next morning and told Roxanne she set a three o’clock meeting with her parents and asked her to be there. Roxanne called Nick and told him about the appointment. Instead of meeting at Pablo’s for lunch, Roxanne asked him to come to the house after meeting with Lionel, and they could go to the meeting together.

  When they walked into Trudy’s office, the tension was so thick, Roxanne started to feel ill. Nick held her hand tightly.

  Her mother sat stiffly at the end of the conference table. Her father looked worried. Portia stood at the window staring out at the garden and Donna brewed tea. Tristan paced back and forth. Finally he sat next to Portia, but looked as though he wanted to be anywhere but there.

  Hannah gave Roxanne a haughty look. “I don’t care what you’re offering, we are not going to accept.”

  Trudy held up a hand. “Listen to us first.” She opened a folder. “Roxanne made a very generous offer and I think you do need to accept it.”

  “No.” Hannah gave her husband a sharp glance when he didn’t say anything.

  “You do know that your son and daughter want to do different things.”

  Hannah shrugged.

  Trudy continued. “Roxanne has also agreed to pay the IRS the full sum of back taxes owed by you and your husband.”

  Hannah glared at Roxanne. “No.”

  Eli glanced at his daughter. Something in his face told Roxanne he was willing to accept her terms.

  Trudy slid a paper with photos clipped to it toward Hannah. “I didn’t really want to use this card without talking to you first, Eli, but circumstances have changed.”

  Hannah glanced at the photos and then at her husband. “What is this?”

  Roxanne clutched Nick’s hand. The fireworks were about to start.

  Trudy smiled. “It seems your husband has a secret.”

  Hannah’s lips grew pinched and her eyes narrowed. She shoved the photos back at Trudy. “I already know this tawdry little secret.”

  “But,” Trudy said, “do you want the world to know this tawdry little secret?”

  “Blackmail is not going to work on me.”

  “I will do whatever it takes to get Portia and Tristan free of you,” Roxanne said.

  Hannah glared at Eli. He looked away, a guilty look in
his eyes.

  “We have a marriage in name only. You want to blame everything on Roxanne, when really it’s you and me. We’ve been falling apart for years,” Eli stated quietly. “Accept the terms.”

  Roxanne braced for the storm.

  “Accept the terms, Hannah.” Eli’s voice held a firmness Roxanne had never heard before. “I want it done. Trying to keep Roxanne on a short leash didn’t work. Why would you think it’s working with Tristan and Portia? They want out. Let them go,” Eli said.

  Roxanne said, “Portia and Tristan are unhappy and you don’t look happy, either. You’re a smart woman. You want to move into producing. I think you and Dad would be good at it. You have the talent already, you just need the right vehicle.”

  Eli tapped the table. “Hannah, we could find ten actresses in a minute who could do this movie you want Roxanne to do and be just as good at it. Let’s find them.”

  Hannah screamed at Roxanne, “This is all your fault. You left us high and dry. From the day you signed your emancipation, you walked away and never looked back. You never once thought about how we felt.”

  “You wanted me to be in the equivalent of a soft-core porno movie. I was sixteen and didn’t want to have anything to do with that film.” Roxanne’s voice rose as anxiety flooded her.

  “It was a smart move.” Hannah pounded the table with her fist, her voice was tinged with scorn. “You would have been established as an adult star.”

  “Calm down, Hannah,” Eli said.

  “Leah St. John,” Roxanne said, “who accepted the role after I turned it down, committed suicide. She couldn’t survive the critical nastiness. And the movie was so bad, even the studio was embarrassed.”

  “With you in the role, it would have been a success,” Hannah said. Suddenly she fell back in her chair and took a deep breath as though rethinking her position.

  “I was tired of being your puppet.” Roxanne’s voice rose despite her attempt to stay calm.

  “Hannah,” Eli said, strain starting to show in his features. “Leave Roxanne alone.”

  Hannah glared at her husband. “And if I don’t?”