Laguna Nights (3 page)

H
ow dare he come here
, Madison thought, fuming. He has to know I work here. Everyone from our high school knows it, she thought. But then again, Josh wasn’t just anyone. He was the most stuck-up, most fame-touched of their group, besides his girlfriend Laura, she realized. She remembered his cover story in
People
magazine five years ago with the headline “What’s next for
Laguna Nights’
Heartbreaker Josh?” Madison had read every word of the story, unable to put it down as she enjoyed photos of his Hollywood Hills home’s gourmet chef’s kitchen, sparkling infinity pool, and luxurious master bedroom with Josh posing like a fat cat in each shot. Josh “hadn’t kept close ties to most of his co-stars” the story had informed her, and she’d snorted. Of course he hadn’t, and she had known why. Even Laura, the “it” girl and her nemesis, had finally figured him out. But still, in every photo in the three-page spread there was his stupid dimple, the dimple she’d considered hers in high school. She’d been such a fool.

“That’s Josh Welsh, from the TV show,” Chrissy said when Madison walked up to the desk. Then, noticing Madison’s expression, no doubt, asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Are they all checked in? Why haven’t they been shown to their suites?” Madison said. She knew she sounded bossy and tense. And she was.

“I’m taking them now,” Kevin said, hurrying from behind the dark wood desk and addressing the men, including Josh who now was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses like he was some huge celebrity or something, hiding from the non-existent paparazzi. He was an idiot, she decided. “Gentlemen, please follow me to the best rooms at the resort.”

Madison watched as the men walked two by two behind Kevin. A solo Josh flashed her a weak smile before tagging along behind like a puppy.

“Do you know him? You do, don’t you?” Chrissy asked, as she walked around the desk to stand by Madison, her eyes flashing with excitement. “He’s even better looking now than when he was on that show. I have all the DVD’s at home and I watch them all the time. My gosh, you were in high school together, weren’t you?”

Madison wondered how to answer her best friend. She worried that anything she had to say would blow her own cover, too. She’d carefully constructed her new life, a new start. She wasn’t about to let Josh ruin things, not again. So even though she knew it was wrong, she had to lie to her.

“I don’t know him and I don’t want to. He seems really cocky, doesn’t he? Super LA, super full of himself,” Madison said.

“That’s how he’s supposed to be. He’s a celebrity,” Chrissy said. Madison saw that her friend was practically panting.

“Oh, come on. He isn’t a celebrity. He was on a reality show as a teenager and now he’s a grown man wearing sunglasses inside like he’s somebody. He’s a has-been,” Madison said. “We should get back to work, here come some guests.”

Madison headed for her office, leaving Chrissy at the front desk, busy with a couple who must have just arrived from somewhere where it was very cold given their many layers of coats and sweaters. Madison thought back to her college days in London and a damp chill spread through her. She had gotten away from Laguna by heading to Europe, but the perpetual chill in the air still lingered all these years later. Back in her office, Madison challenged herself to focus on something other than Josh and the fact he had appeared back in her life.

She dropped into her comfortable leather desk chair and tapped her computer mouse to bring her monitor to life. The screen shot illuminated the famous Cabo arches. She’d just returned from a site inspection of their sister property in Mexico, enjoying two blissful days of sightseeing, whale watching on a small boat near the famous rock formations, and drinking far too many margaritas. She hadn’t been to Mexico since spring break of her senior year. On that trip, her name was Holly and she’d had a camera crew following her around. She was still amazed she’d participated in the show. She blamed her mom, she blamed the other kids who had talked her into it to make themselves feel skinnier and more popular.

She shook her head, rubbing the back of her neck, as her office telephone rang.

“Hey Holly, it’s Josh. I think we should talk. I can tell you’re still angry,” he said. And despite herself, her heart thumped in her chest as she pictured his dimple, his smile, his sparkling blue eyes.
Stop it.

“Look Josh, my name is Madison now, got it? I’m not that girl any more so there’s really nothing to talk about,” she said. She realized she had begun pacing her office and told herself to sit. She wasn’t about to let him get to her, not again, not ever.

“Holly, I mean Madison, just meet me for coffee. I don’t have anything going on today, and we could catch up. I don’t want it to be awkward all week, you know?” he said. His voice was soft and calm, just like it had been on the show. Back then they’d all gotten used to being recorded by the little microphones they wore every day of filming, anytime they weren’t at school it seemed.

“I’m working, Josh,” she said.

“I’m your customer. I’m work,” he said.

Madison took a deep breath. “
You’re
a piece of work. Meet me at Mosaic Bar and Grill, by the pool, in half an hour. But I’m warning you Josh, I’m not the same person I was in high school.”

“Neither am I, Holly, neither am I,” he said before hanging up.

“My name is Madison now,” she said into the receiver, but all she heard was the dial tone. She and her mom had agreed that she should go back to her given name as soon as she started applying to colleges in the middle of her senior year. While many of the “stars” of
Laguna Nights
like Josh already had offers from high-profile colleges that wanted a dash of celebrity in their freshman class, Madison hadn’t. And she had decided not to even mention her two seasons on the show on any of her college applications.

For work experience on her resume, she had listed helping her mom at the nail salon and babysitting. She had used Madison on the applications, instead of her middle name Holly that she’d gone by since she could remember. She’d been Holly on the show and a name change further distanced herself from that poor girl in high school. She had started her reinvention on paper before she could do it in real life. She had been, like the rest of the cast members, under contract for the whole year. Even after episode four aired the producers wouldn’t allow her to break the contract, even as she grew heavier and more miserable with each passing shoot, even as her humiliation played out on televisions across the country.

Josh was and always would be the one responsible for her pain and humiliation, she reminded herself now, pulling on her jacket in case the ocean breeze had picked up. And she would have one cup of coffee and tell him to leave her alone. This was her new life and he would never be a part of it.

A
s he stood on the oceanfront balcony of his three-bedroom suite, Josh smiled for the first time since arriving back ‘home’. The sound of the surf was loud, and called to him. He had to admit, Laguna Beach was beautiful. Perfect. He looked to his left, noticing the waves undulating toward town, the same coves he spent his childhood exploring and surfing and wondered if there would be a swell this week. He made a note to check his surf app before holding his phone up to take a selfie, just him and the beauty behind him. He uploaded it to Instagram with the hashtags #home #Friday #JustJosh #surfsup. Then he thought better of it and deleted #surfsup. He knew the producers and his manager and agent probably wouldn’t let him surf, but still, if the waves were right, he’d find a way to sneak out. He’d borrow a board from a surf shop, no problem.

He thought again about calling his parents. It would be awkward if he bumped into them somewhere in town, but he’d rationalized they were probably travelling, perhaps out of town visiting his older brother John’s family. Josh knew he was a disappointment because he always had been compared to John. John had been captain of the most popular of Laguna Beach High School boys’ sports, volleyball and soccer, while Josh couldn’t make either team, even if he had tried. Josh had been drawn to the stage. Acting in the middle school play was compulsory for all students, so his father couldn’t stop him, but by high school it was made clear that he would not be part of “that drama crowd”. Even as children, even before middle school, his venture capitalist father had sat both boys down at least once a year in his lavishly paneled study. He would explain through a swirl of pipe smoke that they were to follow in his life’s footsteps – high school athlete and leader, prestigious college followed by an Ivy League MBA followed by a quiet, private life of great wealth and privilege. His brother, the golden child, had done just that. Josh had run the other way whenever possible, avoiding both of his parents and their disapproval. He had done it with Holly’s help.

It wasn’t as if he led a life of deprivation growing up, of course. Everyone in the world had witnessed his wealthy lifestyle – his parents’ mansion, the Porsche that he received at age sixteen, his expensive clothes and spending habits. His brother got the same things. But the difference was while John was studying during high school, Josh had been surfing and skipping classes. While John had headed off to Harvard, Josh had joined the cast of
Laguna Nights
, forging his mother’s signature on the contract, a secret he’d told only one person, ever. His parents pretended as if the show never happened, never discussing it with him. But the world had noticed the show. By Josh’s senior year in high school, his second season on the show, he was being flown around the country for lucrative celebrity appearances on most weekends and some school nights. By then, they’d let him go. They had never watched an episode then, or to his knowledge now, even though the show was the final blow to their relationship. But it was as it should be. He didn’t need his parents, and they had his brother John to live through vicariously.

“At least they got one son to be proud of,” Josh said aloud before walking back inside his room, wondering again if he should have changed his last name. He shook his head to clear away the bad memories, the bad feelings that lingered here in this town, his father’s hometown. He took a deep breath. The air inside and outside was perfect – no humidity, clean, crisp and seventy-two degrees.

He needed to change into a bathing suit for an afternoon swim in the swimming pool; the one he’d only been able to enjoy when he was on camera in high school. At the height of his fame and fortune, truth be told, he’d never returned to this place, his hometown. They didn’t “get” him here, and it wasn’t just his parents. But now, he needed his hometown more than they needed him. Ironically, Laguna Beach needed to be his reinvention.