Laguna Nights (6 page)

She walked to the kitchen and flipped on the lights, enjoying the teal subway tile backsplash that greeted her each day. She dropped her car keys in the bowl, took a quick glance at the mail and then walked to the garden between the two cottages.

“Mom, I’m home,” she said, smiling at the warmth of the lights glowing through the guest cottage’s kitchen window, the open white kitchen shelves proudly displaying Francine’s collection of antique tea and coffee mugs. All in white, of course. Madison knew her mom loved the guest cottage and considered it her home by now. So much better than the dark apartment in the canyon where Madison had been raised.

“Hey honey,” Francine said as Madison walked through the door. “You’re late.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Madison said, walking to the chair where her mom sat, wrapped in a thick cotton blanket, drinking tea and reading, always reading these days. Madison smiled.

“Are you hungry? I managed to make myself a pretty nice salad. Some leftovers are in the refrigerator,” Francine said. Madison thought her mom looked more frail today than yesterday. It was as if she was fading away and would soon just disappear before Madison’s eyes.

“Did you eat enough, Mom?” she asked, sitting down on the ottoman at her mom’s feet. “I’m worried about you.”

“Honey, I’m dying so there’s nothing to be worried about. Nothing left to be done,” Francine said. It was a matter-of-fact conversation, one they had almost daily. They’d exhausted all of the treatment options over the past two years since the diagnosis. There was nothing more to do according to the doctors. Francine’s light blue eyes twinkled in the glow of the lamplight. “I’m fine with the Lord, with His plan.”

Madison stood and turned toward the fireplace, hoping her mom didn’t catch the sadness in her eyes, or the anger. Madison was not fine with this plan, not at all. But at the moment, she knew, she needed to get ready. Josh would arrive soon.

“Well, ok, I’ll see you in the morning then. I don’t want you to wait up,” Madison said, kissing her mom’s cheek again.

“Madison Holly Alcott, you are hiding something from me,” Francine said, somehow sounding commanding while buried deeply in her blankets.

“No, Mom. I’m just grabbing dinner with an old friend. From the show,” Madison said. “And he’ll be here any minute so I need to go change.”

“Josh’s in town,” she said, and Madison heard a statement of fact, not a question.

“Yes, he is. How did you know?”

“It’s all over Facebook, dear. You know I don’t approve of him. I never have,” Francine said.

“I do know that, and that’s why you should know it’s only dinner. I need to go change,” Madison said, hurrying out to the garden before her mom could say anything more. She’d barely changed into her favorite jeans and a soft white cashmere sweater and was pulling on her favorite boots when the doorbell rang. She quickly ran a brush through her long blonde hair, glanced at herself in the mirror and hurried to answer the door.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down, pulled the door open to reveal a smiling Josh, standing on the doorstep with a huge bouquet of bright pink Gerbera daisies wrapped in brown paper in his arms.

J
osh was a nervous wreck. His palms were sweating and he was almost positive his arms were shaking as he held the flowers, Holly’s favorites. When she opened the door, she looked gorgeous - her blonde hair shining and her dark blue eyes flashing like starlight. She wore jeans and a white sweater, which was perfect for the restaurant he’d picked out and actually, it was perfect for anyplace in Laguna Beach with its crazy casual dress code. Josh preferred LA and New York, where people dressed for dinner like he had in his black designer pants, crisp white linen dress shirt and black leather jacket. He’d tried to lean casually against the doorframe, striking a pose to calm himself before knocking. It hadn’t worked, so he had knocked quickly, hoping it would be Holly who answered the door and not her mom. Her smiling face had been a welcome sight, but he was still on edge.

“Nice place you have here,” he said looking past her and into her cozy cottage. The setting suited her perfectly: Light, airy and full of warmth and taste. “I always knew you’d be a success.”

“Yes, you did always say that despite my family’s status here. Took me awhile to believe it. Come in,” she said, and taking the flowers added, “They’re beautiful.”

“You’re beautiful, Holly,” he said, before he could control himself.

From the corner of the cottage a familiar voice said, “She goes by Madison now.”

“Mom, he knows,” Madison said sharply as Josh watched her mom, thin and frail and wrapped in a blanket, slowly cross the room towards them. Her hair had turned white but her light blue eyes still pierced his soul.

“I do know better and I apologize. Old habit. Nice to see you Mrs. Alcott,” he said, now realizing part of his nerves had been caused by this potential encounter. He kissed her cold cheek by way of greeting.

“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?” Francine said. He could feel her disdain throbbing in the air between them. “I don’t approve of this dinner, but Madison is a grown woman. Just have her home at a reasonable time.”

“Of course. And I have changed,” Josh said to her small, retreating frame. He thought he heard her say, “Right.” But he wasn’t sure.

Madison walked away from the confrontation and arranged the flowers in a large white ceramic vase. She looked beautiful and embarrassed, her cheeks flushing. “Sorry,” she said.

“No worries,” he said. “She’s entitled to her opinion of me, even if I wish it were different. Ready?” And she nodded and followed him out of the cottage and into the star-filled night. Waiting at the bottom of the front walk was the limo driver Josh had hired for the night. He tipped his hat and opened the back door as Madison shook her head and slid inside.

“We don’t need a limo in Laguna,” she said as he climbed in.

“Sure we do,” he said as the driver pulled from the curb and headed the short distance to the main village. Forest Avenue was crowded with tourists and locals out for dinner on a Friday night. The staff at the Mondrian had pulled strings to get him a table at his once-favorite restaurant, Alana, an Italian bistro on Forest Avenue. Famous back in the day for being one of the favorite
Laguna Nights
taping locations, it was special because it was where he’d taken Madison for their first date, long before she had joined the show. It was over dinner at this restaurant that Josh had talked her into joining the cast, a decision he knew she regretted every day since. The limo stopped in the center of the busy one-way street and the driver hopped out and opened Madison’s door. Behind them, somebody driving a black sedan blared the horn.

“Asshole,” Josh said, flipping the guy off as he heard Madison laugh.

“Text me when you’re finished dining at Alana,” the driver said, hurrying to get away from the angry tourist still honking.

“Alana, of course,” she said, smiling.

“I hope it’s ok,” he said, reaching to take her hand in his, grateful she didn’t pull away. “I have so many great memories of you and me here.”

The host showed them to a corner table in the back of the narrow, crowded restaurant. Josh could feel eyes on him, questioning, wondering if they should know him. Yes, you should, he thought, as they settled into their table, you all should by now. He missed those days of being hounded for autographs, of posing for photos with die-hard fans. He wondered if those days would ever happen for him again. He wasn’t going to give up, no matter what.

“Did you feel all the stares when we walked back here?” Madison said, holding her menu up to cover her face. “It reminded me of those days. Awful.”

“Yeah, me, too,” Josh said, but he was smiling. “I want that again. I loved every minute of it, you know? That’s why I went along with that story line senior year, Madison. I would have done whatever the producers said to be a star and they told me it was a test of my acting skills.”

“Cheating on me with Laura, on-camera, was a test of your acting skills?” she said. She had placed her menu on the table and her blue eyes were flat and dark. “You loved every minute of it because you were screwing every girl in the cast.”

“That’s not true,” Josh said quietly, kicking himself for bringing the subject up so soon, at all. “
We
never…”

“Ha, that’s the irony isn’t it,” she said. “You’d almost convinced me I was the one. I didn’t know that’s the same line you were using on everyone else.”

The waiter appeared and Josh, with relief, ordered a bottle of wine.

“I don’t know what to say. I’m truly sorry,” Josh said, dropping his head. He shouldn’t have suggested dinner. She hated him and he just needed to accept that. He had, he’d gone about his life just fine until he’d seen her again. He knew coming back here would be a disaster and it was. “Do you want to leave?”

“No, look, I’m sorry. I’m over-reacting. It was a long time ago. Let’s just try to start over, be friends. You’re going to be in town for a week, staying at the resort, and I don’t want to add to the tension,” Madison said, as the waiter poured their wine and took their order.

Josh reached for her hand where it rested on the table. “Yes, thank you, let’s start over. I shouldn’t have brought up the show. It won’t happen again,” Josh said, raising his glass. “To new beginnings, for both of us. I only hope I can be as successful as you.”

“The secret is hard work,” she said, smiling as the antipasto plate appeared on their table. “You never liked that too much.”

Josh thought she was teasing, but he knew she was right. The whole notion of menial summer jobs was just something he couldn’t handle, even as his older brother had been a lifeguard and Madison had worked at her mom’s nail salon, summers and during school. In fact, most everybody on the cast had a job, but Josh didn’t and nobody at home suggested it. Once the appearance fees started rolling in, he thought he’d be set for life. Just show up and party and get paid. He could’ve done that gig forever. Problem was, by the end of his second loosely scripted reality show, Hollywood Nights, appearance offers had dried up. The clubs had a new batch of young celebrities to draw in the crowd. Josh had dropped to a B level celebrity, and then a C level, and then, well, now he would be a travel show host.

“Did I upset you?” Madison said, touching his hand. A soft, friendly gesture that made a lump form in his throat.

“No, of course not, just a little trip down memory lane. I think the problem was I knew early on I wanted to be an actor,” he said, as the waiter cleared the appetizer platter and replaced the bread plates. “Once you know that, and you get the chance we got, well…”

“Well,” Madison said, pulling her hand away. “It was great for most of you.”

Suddenly a shadow crossed their table and a woman, about their age, appeared. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry to interrupt, but you’re Josh and you’re Holly and I’m so excited you’re back together again! I’m such a fan, and well, poor thing the way he left you like that. But you aren’t fat anymore. I’m just so happy for you!”

Madison looked at the woman in shock and disgust, a mask of disdain and maybe even fear crossed her face. Josh jumped to his feet. “Thank you so much for saying so, but we’re trying to have a private, quiet dinner and you’re bringing attention to us,” he said, walking her towards the bar. “Holly is shy, she doesn’t like the attention. But me, I love it. Thanks for watching and be sure to check out my new show, Journeys with Josh.”

“Oh my god, I will,” she said, her voice quiet now with their shared secret. “You’re even more gorgeous in person.”

Josh smiled, flashing his dimple, he knew, and turned back to the table. Madison’s jaw was clenched tight, and the light had drained from her beautiful eyes. “Sorry about that. She’s gone.”

“Does this happen to you all the time?” Madison said as their risottos were served.

“Not enough. My recognition level has dropped to an all-time low, according to my team. Thus this stupid travel show,” Josh said.

“Thank goodness my recognition level is nonexistent,” Madison said, and he watched her take a deep breath and try to relax.

“That was a fluke, for sure,” he said, hoping he was telling the truth. “The travel show is, you know, a vehicle to keep my brand awareness up. I’m still auditioning like crazy, but they tell me I need something else.”

“Well, travel is fun. I love it. Loved my time in Europe,” Madison said and he was relieved she seemed to be relaxing. “Will you shoot internationally?”