All That Glitters: Glitz, Glam, and Billionaires

by Michele Hauf

  Grace brushed the curls behind Vickie’s ears, noticing they stuck out just like hers. “I can’t stay here all the time, but I can come and see you whenever your mommy and daddy say I can. I do have to work sometimes, though.”

  “Is she okay?” Roger asked, his bottom lip sucked in with fear.

  “She just messed up her hair a bit. You should be an acrobat. You landed on your feet pretty fast,” Grace said. “Here, honey. Give your daddy a big hug and a squeeze. You scared him.”

  Roger picked her up and held her close, pivoting so he could see Gloria. His head shook minimally, a silent admonishment that her overzealousness for a show had almost injured their daughter.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Gloria mouthed, her watery eyes proving her sincerity.

  “Thank you for bringing Ooni-corn Lady, Daddy,” Vickie said, reaching out to touch her.

  “My name is Grace,” she said. “Do you know what my name means?”

  “Ooni-corn Lady!” Vickie Lynn declared.

  “Yeah, I think it does,” Roger said, then winked at Grace. “Thanks for coming. Double thanks since that’s twice you’ve saved her from falling on her face.”

  “I’ll be there for her anytime you need me,” Grace said. “And I babysit for free,” and added a wink.

  “I’m not a baby,” Vickie said.

  “Okay. I ‘pretty little girl’ sit for free,” Grace said.

  Everyone within earshot laughed, then started milling around. Excitement for Act One was over. Excitement for Act Two – the opening of presents and eating of cake – was coming soon.

  Eight years later

  Elsa looked at the slip of paper with the phone number. She hated to bring anyone else into her world of extortion but after eight years, her garden of blackmail sources was depleted. She needed more information. Or proof for some of her suspicions. After all these years of operating solo, she didn’t want to admit she needed anyone, especially a man. She snorted in frustration and dialed.

  “Hello, Jimmy? Yes, you don’t know me, but you come highly recommended. No, I’m not the police or a lawyer. I want photos if you can get them, but I also hear you have a directional microphone. There’s a certain young woman I want you to follow. No, not all the time. I’ll give you a heads up when she’s with the Thornwhistle’s daughter. Oh, so you do know that family. Yes, their only child is twelve-and-a-half years old. I suspect that a certain Grace Rhodes is her biological mother. Yes, I want you to listen in on the pair’s conversations. Do you think you can do that? Well, I don’t give a flying fart about anyone else. I pay well. You won’t have to trail behind pop stars and aging country singers anymore. I have your number. I’ll give you a call the next time they’re together. No. You don’t need to know my name. Just call this number with any information.”

  Click.

  “That should restart the revenue stream,” Elsa said with a sneer of perverted pleasure. “Try and get rid of me when she starts high school, will you, Roger Thornwhistle! I’ve just begun to harvest your wealth!”

  3

  Growing Up is Hard to Do

  January 3, 2005

  “Are you sure she wants us at her birthday party?” Dusty asked. He helped himself to a cup of coffee and croissant from the buffet the Thornwhistles always had set up for visitors. He pulled up a chair and sat next to Grace. “I mean, she’s thirteen years old now. She’s sure to want just friends her own age. Old folks hanging around are just boring.”

  “No, we’re worse, even if we aren’t that old. We’re embarrassing. That’s my job: to make her blush in front of her friends.”

  “Grace!” Dusty yelped.

  “No, I’m messing with you. I remember how giddy and ridiculous I was at that age. I knew everything.” Grace blanched and shook her head, trying to forget the sneers and mean words her mother tormented her with when she was growing up.

  “Are you all right?” Dusty asked. “You look all pasty – like you had another one of those flashbacks.”

  “Yeah, I did. In my mother’s opinion, everything I did, said, or wore was stupid or ugly.” She snorted in derision. “I never would have made it this far if it hadn’t been for my father and Sally, the housekeeper. Dad would literally tell me not to listen to anything she said. Well, except they did agree on one thing…”

  “What’s that?”

  “They both said don’t have sex until I was married. And not to get married until after I had finished college.” Grace rolled her eyes. “I guess that’s two things. Oh, well. So much for going to college. Now with the internet, I can do all the studying and research I want online.”

  “I was glad I could skip right to starting a business. All I needed was a little direction from your dad and a foot in the door with the right advertising firms and bankers. Rhodes and Gardens made it onto the Fortune 500 this month, too! Who thought creating a franchise for groundskeeping and snowplowing would work? Hey, is it true that your Dad and the guys are going to Nepal this year?”

  “Nope.”

  “What do you mean, nope?”

  “They just started that rumor to flush out some of the paparazzi who have started nosing around again.”

  “Who are they following and why?” Dusty asked, picking up the croissant to dunk in his coffee.

  “Me,” Grace said. “And before you ask again, I don’t know why.”

  “Maybe it’s because you spend a lot of time with Vickie Lynn and you two just happen to look a lot like…” Dusty suggested, his eyes squinted in anticipation of another argument.

  “Like mother and daughter? Hey, as long as Gloria’s busy with her charities and Roger says it’s all right, I want to spend as much time I can with her during her formative years. That snide bitch of a nanny they insist on keeping around keeps poisoning Vickie’s outlook on just about everything. Did you know I heard her actually lecture Vickie on how poor people are dumb? That if they were smart, they’d have money?”

  “What?”

  Grace nodded her head, eyebrows furrowed as if she was boring a hole through Nanny Elsa’s forehead. “I can’t explain it, but I have an intense hatred for that woman.”

  “Well, poisoning our daughter’s outlook on life is a biggie. Maybe I can have a word with Roger…”

  “Don’t. We agreed a long time ago to stay in the background in Vickie’s life. There’s no way I could tear her away from them. I know you can’t measure love, but if you could, I’d say it was an absolute four-way tie on which one of us loved Vickie the most. Besides, there’s no way I want to alienate anyone and not even be a spectator to what’s going on in her life.”

  “So, do you think that one of the paparazzi suspects you’re the biological mother?”

  “That’s what the Dads think. Silas said he was sure that the fat bald guy is Jimmy grown old ungracefully. Remember I told you that my mother knew I was pregnant, that she saw me just before Chuck got me to Dr. Buddy’s home clinic?”

  “Yeah, and then she shot you!” Dusty said, his fists balled up on either side of his coffee cup.

  “All she’d have to do is tell Jimmy to follow me and eavesdrop with one of those fancy mics; listen for me to say something revealing to Vickie. Of course, I never would, so there’s no story there. Those guys are a nuisance, but there’s nothing to record or sell to the tabloids. If there was something that proved we were Vickie Lynn’s parents, one of us would have found it years ago.”

  “And what would we have done with it if we had found it?” Dusty asked, wiping the crumbs off his fingers.

  “Even if I found it today, I’d still do absolutely nothing. I have to wonder if Gloria and Roger know who adopted the other twin, though. Something tells me they do.”

  “I agree there. That lifesize twin doll she keeps in her office, dressed in the Dior Vickie wore on her fourth birthday, is kind of spooky.”

  “No, what’s spooky is the way she glances back and forth between it and Vickie when she’s in the room. I was only there once when it happened
. Gloria noticed me watching her. I must have looked stunned or shocked or something because she remarked about it. “Just like she had a twin, huh?”

  “I was there, remember?” Dusty said. He pushed his coffee cup away, uncomfortable at recalling their loss. “There’s no doubt in my mind that she knows there’s a twin. We just have to make sure she doesn’t know that we know. I don’t want to lose our unofficial godparents status.”

  “Amen to that,” Grace said. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop looking.”

  “Back at ya on that amen.”

  “Do I look pretty?” Vickie asked, startling them as she came into the room unannounced. She turned around slowly to present her lace over satin pale blue gown, the tight bodice and pushup bra creating a body beyond her thirteen years of age. Earrings dripping with jewels and a matching diamond and sapphire necklace pointed to the spot where cleavage would be in a few years. A simple diamond tiara was nestled in the coif of curls piled on top of her head, a reluctant smile on her face.

  “Pretty is too tame a word,” Grace said. “You’re stunning!”

  “Uh, huh!” Dusty proclaimed. “But you’re only thirteen. I mean, you look much older. Or, rather, you’re dressed like it.”

  Vickie came over to the table with them and plopped down, very unladylike. “I hate it. I know I should be grateful, but diamonds aren’t for everyone. I’d rather have ripped denim jeans, a tank top, and a flannel shirt. I know I could order them – and I have in the past – but as soon as Nanny Elsa finds them, they’re in the trash. Or even worse – she burns them in the incinerator! Then I have to listen to her lecture for a week about how we need to show our best side to everyone all the time, how rich people are better and need to remind the lower class.”

  “You don’t believe her, do you?” Grace asked.

  “No. I rarely believe anything she says. If it’s not in one of my school books, I just take it as her opinion, not fact.”

  “Opinions are like belly buttons,” Grace said. “Everyone has one.”

  Vickie started to giggle. “That’s almost the same thing Daddy says only he uses another part of the human anatomy.”

  “Yeah, well, I didn’t want to say asshole,” Grace said, then giggled, too.

  “Tell you what,” Dusty said, acknowledging the old joke with a grin and a head shake of ‘enough, already,’ now wanting to change the subject. “You go ahead and let Grace know what you want for clothes. We’ll order them and you can wear them when you hang out with us. Maybe we can talk your parents into letting you come camping with us for the weekend. Would you like to learn how to fish?”

  “Really? I mean, yeah! That would be the best birthday present ever! Just don’t let Nanny Elsa know. She’s sure to find a way to ruin it for us.”

  “Our secret,” Dusty said.

  “Ours and your parents,” Grace added. “I’m sure they agree that Nanny Elsa doesn’t have to rule your whole life.”

  “I can’t wait to go to high school, just so she’s out of my life.” Vickie reached up and took out her earrings. “And these things are so heavy! I want to wear little gold hoops like you, Grace.”

  “We’ll get you some of those to wear when you’re camping, too,” Dusty said. “Country chic.”

  “Now I’ll look just like you, Grace!” Vickie said more brightly than usual. Just like the mom who gave birth to me!

  Grace looked at Dusty looked and shrugged, the mischievous twinkle in Vickie’s eye not missed by either of the ‘godparents.’ She suspects! Don’t you say a word, and I won’t either.

  January 3, 2008

  Three years later

  “Can you believe our little girl is going to be sixteen?” Roger asked Gloria.

  His wife leaned closer to the mirror, then pulled back, scowling. “As of today, she is sixteen. Hmm. It used to be that the closer I got to the mirror, the better I could see. Now I have to move back. And reading is even more difficult. My arms are almost too short to read the newspaper now.”

  “Well,” Roger said, chuckling, “There’s nothing but crap and gossip in that society section you’re so fond of. And if you can’t get far enough away from the mirror to inspect for new wrinkles, that’s a good thing.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Which one? Both. It’s good you can’t read that garbage and that your brain isn’t being poisoned by someone else’s opinion of our friends and business associates. Plus, it’s great that you’re not stressing about itty bitty laugh lines.” Roger leaned over his wife and gave her a kiss on top of the head. “You always have been and always will be the most beautiful woman in the world.”

  “What about Vickie Lynn?” Gloria asked.

  “You, my dear, have the benefit of your beauty being enhanced by my true love for and devotion to you. Our daughter has raw beauty and innocence. She’s simply the most beautiful young woman in the world.”

  Gloria snorted in frustration. “She and her two sisters. I really do wish Chuck and Leanne and Luther would reach out again. It’s been how many years since Leanne and Luther sent a family picture?”

  “That was only two years ago,” Roger said.

  “Well, that one didn’t count. Tori Lynn was wearing a ski mask. We couldn’t see what she looked like. Plus she was wearing a snowsuit. Who knows if she’s fat or skinny or…”

  “Slow down, Gloria,” Roger said, standing behind her to look in the mirror. “I think your hormones are getting in the way of common sense again. Luther and Leanne are great parents. For God’s sake, they’re botanists! They’re feeding her the best natural foods on the planet. That girl has probably never even had a bite of junk food in her life! They’re all happy. Let them bring her up their way.”

  “Yes, but we’ve never even seen Chuck’s little girl. Not even a fuzzy snapshot.”

  “So, when was the last time you heard from him?” Roger asked, adjusting his tie.

  “Probably two years ago. He sent a money order from West Virginia. He did include a little note, telling me thanks for the loan – we should be caught up now.”

  “I wish he hadn’t done that,” Roger said. “I was more than happy to help him out until he could get his mobile clinic established. You did burn it, didn’t you?”

  “The clinic?” Gloria asked.

  “The money order.”

  “You asked me to, didn’t you?” Gloria replied, not wanting to let him know she had kept it as a memento – her one link to their daughter’s other triplet sister.

  Roger nodded and sighed. He wouldn’t push her. She had saved it. Just like every other photo or scrap of contact pertaining to the other two girls. Whether she was being obsessive, compulsive, or just a little bit nuts, it was who she was – his Gloria.

  “Nanny Elsa, how do I look?” Vickie asked.

  “A little chubby, but not too bad,” the stern taskmaster said, pushing the girl’s waistline in with her bony index finger.

  “If I eat any less, I’ll lose all my boobs! As it is, I’m only eating eight hundred calories a day. And not even one carb! If I ever smell tuna again, I think I’m going to puke!”

  “Puking’s good,” Elsa said. “You can enjoy the food, then purge it without adding a calorie. Just make sure you rinse your mouth afterward or it will eat the enamel from your teeth.”

  “But my boobs!”

  “You can buy boobs. Just ask your father for a nice set of double-D's as another birthday present. I’m sure he’ll say yes. All men like big boobs.”

  “I don’t know about that…” Vickie said, looking in the mirror at her reshaped ears. “He and Mama both threw a fit when I asked to have my ears fixed. I know you said they looked horrid the way they stuck out, but Mom and Dad always said they were so cute. Angel ears they called them. Are you sure they won’t throw a fit when they find out you took me to the doctor and had them clipped?”

  “Your mother and I have an agreement. She won’t discharge me,” Elsa said, her smirk of control uninhibited.
<
br />   “She must really like you. Most of my friends lost their live-in nannies and tutors by middle school. It seems your only duty these days is that of personal dresser and confidant.”

  “It keeps me busy,” Elsa said. And rich!

  Vickie twisted her curly locks together and set the bundle on top of her head, then let it go. “Do you think I should wear my hair up or down?”

  “Ah, wear it up to show off those new ears that lay so flat to the side of your head.”

  “But won’t my parents notice?”

  Elsa shrugged, her smirk of domination returning. “What are they going to do about it? The deed has been done. It’s your body, isn’t it?”

  Vickie slumped on the stool, depressed that she had let anyone talk her into changing her looks. She was insecure enough about her body image. All her life, her parents had told her how beautiful she was. Now every freckle and curve were under intense scrutiny and criticism from Nanny Elsa. Sometimes she felt as if she’d be better off without her. At least her self-esteem wouldn’t be under constant attack. Still, she was only sixteen. Just two more years until she could make her own decisions. She was doing well on class credits. She’d graduate early – at the semester break – and hit the road as soon as she was eighteen. That would probably be the only way to get rid of that skinny Swedish gray-haired guilt dispenser!

  “Here, let me arrange your hair. I’ll loan you this antique comb for the evening. It’s been in my family for generations. It should set off the tresses perfectly.”

  Vickie Lynn sat at her dressing table and watched as Elsa deftly arranged her curling iron-enhanced curls into a cascade atop her head, letting a few tresses drift down one side, then securing them with the gem-encrusted heirloom her father had told her would be hers one day. Why did Nanny Elsa say it was hers? Now is not the time to challenge her ownership. Then again, it never is a good time to contest anything she says!