Lara and the City of Angels (8 page)

“Of course you were, sweetheart,” Sean responded in a cold tone, “you’re
married
to me. Do you really think they wouldn’t have taken you on despite your sub-par acting skills? You’ll never win an Academy Award but you aren’t terrible and why would the producer want to risk my wrath?”

“You’re not making any sense, Sean. Everyone knows you didn’t want me to come, Ben Allen included. Are you implying he hired me to spite you? You pompous ass—the world
doesn’t
revolve around you!”

“Are you trying to tear us apart? You realize you should be here where we can work on our marriage, not in some Podunk country bumpkin town on the set of a shit television show.”

Lara felt the heat rise in her face. “Listen to me, carefully. I am sick of you telling me what to do. You’re my husband, not my father, and I don’t have to get permission from you or anyone else to do what I like. If this is how you’re going to be while I am out of town then—”

“What’s this I hear about you and Kristian? Sorcha told me you two get involved. Does this involvement include love scenes with
nudity
?”

“Oh I get it now,” she said as she paced back and forth in the living room, “you’re allowed to show your ass to all and sundry but you don’t want your precious wife with her breasts out for the world to see.”

“Of course I don’t. We have a child and what would Auriel say to her friends when she gets of age?”

“There are plenty of movie stars with children, Sean, and that doesn’t stop them from doing nude scenes or showing their bodies. If my contract calls for nudity then it will be done. I never signed a ‘no-nudity’ clause so to refuse could be considered a breach of contract. Is this why you called me? Because I might have a sex scene with Kristian? You, of all people, know it’s just acting and whether it happens or not isn’t even a sure thing so why are you badgering me over something that might mean nothing?”

“Nothing? You stupid little slut. Is that how you get your kicks now? Embarrassing me in front of my colleagues and our friends? How could you do this to me and then expect me to work on our marriage with you?”

“Perhaps there isn’t a marriage to work on, Sean.” Lara sat down on the sofa, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m calling my father. I’ll have the family attorney draw up divorce papers.”

“Lara, wait—”

“No,
you
wait goddamn it! First, you try to tell me what to do and then you call me a slut? Everything I did in our marriage, I did for you and you’re too busy being selfish to realize that. I love you with all my heart but we sometimes know love isn’t always enough. I’m sorry it had to come to this but…I can’t stay married to you anymore. Not like this. I will no longer be a trophy wife or someone pretty for you to take out and show off when it suits you. I’m sorry we couldn’t come to a more amicable conclusion but Auriel deserves two happy parents and we can never be happy, not like this.”

“How could you do this to me? To us?”

The tears bubbled over her eyes and fell down her cheeks though she had no wish to cry over the phone. “You did this to us, not me. It’s been obvious for quite some time you would be better off without me and now, I am giving you the opportunity.”

“Baby, wait!”

“I can’t,” she replied and pressed the end call button.

Her body heaved with emotion but she wasn’t exactly sure it wasn’t an emotion of elation. It was time to get away and there was never a better time than the present.

Chapter Eight

S
ean didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after Lara hung up on him but he did know he had absolutely no wish to be sober.

The help didn’t work on the weekends and there was no one to bust him raiding the liquor cabinet. He reached for a ten thousand dollar bottle which held Macallan Scotch, a fifty year old single-malt in a Lalique crystal decanter his father-in-law had given him for his birthday several years’ ago. He never thought he would need to open it until he’d been alive for at least fifty years but today, he needed something strong and he had an idea it would hit the spot.

Sean poured a generous amount in a Baccarat six ounce glass and swigged. The alcohol was smooth but strong; his throat burned but it was a welcoming feeling as opposed to cheap alcohol.

He couldn’t believe his wife wanted a divorce. She was Catholic for God’s sake, same as he was, and she vowed they would never separate, never part ever.

“Any problem that ever arises in our marriage can be solved with communication, mutual love and respect,” she’d said the night he’d proposed to her.

Apparently all those lofty and noble ideas went right out of the window once she was face-to-face with an attractive male and her raging hormones.

There was absolutely no part of him that would even dare think this was somehow his fault. She lived in the lap of luxury and was married to a superstar—what more could any woman possibly want? They had a beautiful child, a good life and supportive group of friends. What else could he possibly give her?

Sean reached for his iPhone and voice dialed his father-in-law. His secretary answered, even on a weekend.

“I need to speak to Mr. MacIntyre.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, sir but Mr. MacIntyre is not to be disturbed before two in the afternoon,” his secretary said in a syrupy sweet voice.

“It’s his son-in-law. Sean Buchanan.”

“Oh!” the secretary exclaimed. “Mr. Buchanan, I didn’t recognize your voice. One moment please.”

She put him on hold and as he swigged the expensive alcohol, he was rattled instead of soothed by annoying muzak playing hits from the eighties.
It could be worse,
he thought with anger,
I could be put to sleep with classical music
.

The phone clicked and a rich voice with a deep Scottish brogue earned by attending boarding school and university in Edinburgh greeted, “Sean, my boy, how can I help you?”

“First of all, thank you for taking my phone call, Gavin. How are you and the Missus?”

“We are just fine, Sean, but I have a feeling your call isn’t exactly social. Is there something wrong with my daughter?”

His head started a slow but pleasurable buzz he’d never experienced from alcohol before. “No, Lara is okay. She’s on location in Louisiana doing that vampire show for WBC,
One Last Bite
. I won’t lie to you as it wouldn’t be right. We had a massive fight and now she has threatened me she will be calling the family attorney and filing for divorce—
your
family attorney, not ours.”

Gavin clicked his tongue. “That girl has a mind of her own sometimes and it is frustrating as hell. Listen to me, Sean, she will do no such thing. If you two need time apart then I will allow the family attorney to draw up a separation but we will not file it in court. I will convince her it has been filed but neither your family nor mine needs that kind of publicity.”

“Thanks. I just…well, you know how much I adore your daughter but it has been a rough few months for us. We have had some disagreements but nothing to warrant this kind of behavior. If I didn’t know any better, I would suspect it has something to do with her being away from the family home.”

“Well, I did warn you when you came to me with your wish to propose, Sean. Lara has always had her own mind and done exactly what she wanted to do. You’re the only man who has ever been able to tame her and I have faith in you that everything will work itself out. In the meantime, I will try to smooth over the ruckus between you two but don’t bother calling her. She will hate I am getting involved and automatically assume you called me when I can blame the family attorney and tell her he was concerned about her request. Have faith, my boy, I will handle this.”

“Thanks, Gavin,” Sean replied and smiled to himself.

“No problem. I just don’t know what has gotten into her head we would allow her to divorce you. Genevieve and I might have had our initial reservations about you but we both know you have been nothing but wonderful to our daughter. She is just going through a tough time at the moment. She will soon be in her mid-thirties and all the sudden she is feeling vulnerable. It happened to Genevieve too…afraid I might trade her in for a younger model. What our wives will never understand is how much easier it is to have a younger mistress than a young wife as they require too much work and they make us old men look ridiculous.”

Sean laughed out loud. “You know I never have any intention of divorcing your daughter, sir. I love her with all my heart and we have a wonderful daughter together. I was hoping she might want to try for a boy but if she is satisfied with Auriel then so am I. Neither one of us want to lose what we have. I think she is being impulsive and foolish but I would never want this for us in a million years as I know we can work it out. Anything we have dealt with can still be solved with open communication, mutual respect and love.”

“Exactly and that has always been my motto, Sean. Relax and open up that fifty year bottle of Macallan. Enjoy some alone time and know your wife will be back in your arms soon enough. There is no other resolution if I have anything to say about it.”

“Thanks, Gavin, for everything and have a wonderful day.”

“You too, my boy,” his father-in-law responded before he ended their call.

Sean swigged from the delicious elixir, leaned back on the sofa and turned on the television to ESPN. A fine single malt and some mindless sports on the big screen were exactly what he needed right now.

***

S
ean awoke to the latest track by Jay-Z playing on his cell phone.

He hadn’t remembered falling asleep. All he could recall was another glass of the expensive Scotch whiskey and then lights out. Unfortunately, it was only four in the afternoon so he’d slept at least a few relaxing hours if not more.

Sometime during his alcohol infused haze, he’d turned the television to the Golf Channel and he gazed at the image of some random golf player making an ill timed shot that even a golf amateur himself knew had fuck all chance of the ball reaching the hole.

He checked his caller ID and answered with, “Hello, babe. What can I do for you?”

“That shit is gonna get you into so much trouble,” his friend and latest co-star, Bijoux Hughes-Riordon responded on the other end. “How are you doing? You sound like you just woke up.”

“I did.” Sean sat up and scratched his balls before he sighed out loud. “What’s up, honey? Why are you calling?”

“That’s a nice retort to your co-star but I can’t say I blame you with all this shit happenin’ with Lara.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, your soon to be ex-wife—according to
her
at least—called me after she called Elin and my sister, Nina. She wanted me to know it’s nothing personal but she won’t be making our parties anymore as you two will soon no longer be a couple and she hopes it doesn’t ruin our friendship. After I hung up with her, I called Nina and Elin. They received a similar song and dance from her. So, what the hell is going on between you two and you need to warn her to stop calling people. There are some vindictive stars out there who would just love to spill the beans to
Fact or Fiction
and
Edge of Entertainment
.

“Hell, the reason why I am calling is I know how much you value your privacy and if the situation were reversed, you’d bet your sweet ass I wouldn’t be telling the world and sundry Rick and I were callin’ it quits. You know what I mean? Then again, Lara is rich, clueless and arrogant. She doesn’t understand how we former ‘regular’ people think. What it all boils down to is this: it
isn’t
our business and she should know that better than anyone,” Bijoux exclaimed in a no-nonsense manner.

“You’re right. Fuck! I can’t believe she is doing this especially since she just sprang it on me this morning. I spoke to her father and he is going to take care of it but it doesn’t help anyone if this gets out. Can you or Elin or Nina call her up and tell her to shut the hell up about what is going on between us? We don’t need the world to know our marriage is at an all time low.”