The Stars Trilogy (92 page)

“Such arrogance!”

“No, baby.  It’s destiny.”

Her smile was unforgettable. “Didn’t I tell you so?”

“So smug, aren’t we? Okay now, shall we get back to the real business?”

He licked her earlobe.

Her uninhibited laughter echoed around him.

And it was everything.

Dare managed to slip into the Philippines with Celine under the paparazzi radar. Amazingly, they were not detected.

He had two missions for coming back to this beautiful country. To get married and to start shooting his movie. He discovered that the Philippines was a gold mine of extraordinary talents. Acting-wise, the Filipino actors can hold their own with the best in Hollywood but he can help the local movie industry grow and achieve international commercial success, as well. Never had he been this excited to start shooting a movie.

But first things first, he had to get shackled. The tabloids had been abuzz speculating about their wedding location. But they successfully eluded them using multiple decoys courtesy of Kelsey’s publicity network. The rest of the world thought they would tie the knot in France or the Caribbean or in LA. The hounds were sent in a merry-go-round of Darcee hunting with no luck.

He was married for the fourth time in a country without divorce by an archbishop, no less, in a very intimate ceremony at the Lavega island in El Nido, Palawan. Talk about having in-laws who were pillars of the church! He had to make a promise to renew his Catholic faith for that but he didn’t mind. He was never big on religion but for all the love and happiness he was having right now, he’d gladly go to mass with his wife as often as she liked and be thankful.

Present in the wedding were Celine’s immediate family and cousin Shavonne, Ben, Ulysses, Kelsey, Ken, Rocky, Cruz and Carlos.

There was no glitzy fanfare to celebrate the Hollywood king’s union with his fourth wife.  All he needed to celebrate with really was his lovely Celine.

This was his last marriage, he vowed.

Celine got a huge wedding present from her brand new husband. It was the best gift a bride can ever wish for. She wanted to cry in joy but she didn’t want to ruin her make-up so she just laughed while beautiful music filled the magical air.

An hour earlier, there in the pristine white shoreline of her family’s private island, she made her first steps toward her happy ending, holding a bouquet of lilies in her hand, wearing a simple but very elegant Elie Saab wedding dress courtesy of Kelsey, as the beautiful Valentina Lisitsa played Fur Elise, live!

It was a perfect day.

Kelsey was busy on her phone. Thank God there was cellular signal in this island! Business can proceed as usual.

“Perez, dahling! Yup...they are hitched!...I’ll send you the first pic....Nope, just one pic and remember, it came from the tooth fairy!... Oh, this is a love match. Dare is truly in love and happy!...Okay...I’ll keep ya posted! Laytah!”

She dialed another number. “Harvey!...I’m good, thank you! Did you get my email?...You don’t want TMZ to be the last to know about this, do you?...Yup, confirmed...I’ll keep you posted! Bye!”

She called another number. It was picked up by an answering machine. “I have everything covered for now. Take a vacay. You’ll resume your Darcee stalking in two weeks. Your money will be deposited in your account tomorrow. Oh, by the way, Elite Insider will get one stolen pic from this wedding. Remember, it came from the tooth fairy! Bye.”

Satisfied, she walked back to the small party happening under a white tent and watched Dare and Celine dance barefoot in the sand to Valentina’s music.

She had tears in her eyes. Oh, they would be perfect for the next De Beers ad. And what about their tell-all book? Once the public would learn that Dare and Celine were together in that plane, survived the crash and fell in love in the jungle... Oh, that story would be a guaranteed bestseller! It would rake in millions of dollars!

Now...THAT was good business.

A month later, the world was shocked again as Alana’s autobiography shot straight to the top of the New York Times best-sellers list.

In her own haunting words, Alana recounted her colorful history with grit, raw honesty and vivid pain and an almost childlike yearning for that elusive happiness. It was a life filled with all the necessary ingredients to become a Hollywood legend.

The book was solely dedicated to her one and only love and best friend, the valiant hero of her fairy tale, Dare Montgomery.

EPILOGUE

“This will be my last letter to you because guess what, I’ll be in the States soon. No chaperon, no nosy Mom sniffing at my back every time, no strict Dad and bro. I’d be alone for once in my life in this journey and I’m so excited!

I have only one mission this time.

TO SEE YOU AGAIN.

Freedom at last! LA here I come!:))

Yes, we will finally meet again! I can’t wait!

I love you, Dare Montgomery. This is our time. No, I’m not crazy.

Wait till you see your phoenix again. It is me you’ve been waiting for all your life.

I am your destiny.

DARE FELT THE ASHES slip from his fingers like the finest grains of silk. The wind took them away, the last fragments of his beloved sister’s tangible memories. But the most sacred ones were kept in his heart, cherished and alive, forever.

“I know now what we’ll name our baby.”

“What?”

“Faye.”

He stared at the woman he loved, the only person who was able to resurrect all his deepest pains and singlehandedly buried them all, for good.

He gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.  “Faye, it is. Faye Montgomery.”

“It has a superstar ring to it already.”

“My daughter is not going to be an actress. She’s going to be a chemist.”

“A chemist! How boring!”

His brows rose. “Didn’t you want me to date chemists before?”

She scrunched her face. “Hmm, I changed my mind. Actresses are just fine.”

He chuckled. Celine will soon topbill in the new musical which will be produced by Olympus Pictures featuring the music of Pat Benatar, Annie Lennox, Grace Slick, Joan Jett, Heart and other famous female rock vocalists of the last three decades. The executive producers were willing to wait until she had given birth to start shooting.

Celine went to audition for the most coveted part of the year  and wowed the screening panel by singing Alone like she owned it. The invitation to audition came after Celine appeared with him in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. With the confidence of a professional entertainer, she  thrashed Jimmy in the lip sync showdown. That video of her doing Mickey by Toni Basil, jumping all over the studio, was so down pat it became the most downloaded clip on YouTube for a whole month.

Celine was now more famous than him. Kelsey was going crazy calculating possible revenues out of her new ward. He was no longer the most in demand star in Kelsey’s roster. He was simply now the proudest, most adoring husband.

As the chopper glided in the air over the Phuket Mountain Range, he felt fear momentarily   threaten to destroy his happiness. It would attack in moments like this, when he was overflowing with joy— the fear that all this will be taken away from him again in a snap. But he squashed it ruthlessly.

He should not fear that this will end. Celine had taught him all about courage and faith by simply living by example. His wife was the most optimistic person he had ever known, the sunshine in the lives of the people she’d touched.

Life was a cycle. Things would always end. But even if life ended, he knew, his love for Celine will live on. Their love will transcend time.

“Have I ever told you how I fell in love with you?”

“No.” But he’d heard it a hundred times. The story of how they first met.

And he will never get tired of her telling their fairy tale. He kissed her hair. “Tell me.”

She linked their fingers together. “Once upon a time there was a little girl who was afraid of heights…”

She was terrified. Her friends were always having a blast riding Ferris wheels and roller-coasters and she was always left to watch them from the ground, wishing she was as brave as them.

She gazed longingly at the Cyclone. The giant roller coaster ride was currently moving and she could hear the exhilarated screams of the passengers as the coasters took nosedives and twists and turns. How she wished she had the guts to ride it.

“Hey, you wanna ride?”

She turned around in the direction of the voice.

Her young heart did a back flip and stared.

She was seeing prince charming in the flesh.

Oh my God! What a super-duper-cute guy!

“Been watching you for some time now. Scared?”

She nodded shyly.
Gosh, blue eyes!
“I’m scared of heights.”

“That’s too bad. This one will literally turn your world upside down.”

I know.” She looked sadly at the Cyclone again. “Wish I could ride it but I can’t.”

“Wanna ride with me?”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t know…”

“It’s okay. I’ll share my cab with you so you won’t get too scared.” He smiled at her indulgently.

Gosh, he’s really super cute!

He was quite tall, probably as old as her older brother Jordy. But her parents had always strictly prohibited her from talking to strangers. And they were probably going crazy looking for her now.

“Wait here,” he told her. He sauntered to the ticket booth and talked to the guy there. He came back shortly. “Okay, let’s go.”

He turned around and walked toward the Cyclone.

Don’t talk to strangers. NEVER go with them!
Her parents’ warnings screamed in her head.

The cute guy looked back at her and smiled, beckoning.

She reluctantly followed him. A hundred mice seemed to be having a mad party inside her chest and tummy.

Could she do it? Ride the Cyclone?

They fell in line at the loading area. The coasters stopped to reload passengers.

She couldn’t stand still.

“Relax,” the cute guy said.

“My parents told me not to talk to strangers.”

He grinned and her heart skipped a beat again. “That’s right. Heed your parents all the time.”

Why won’t her heart settle down? Weird!

“My name’s Daryl....Montgomery. Call me Dare. There, I’m not a stranger anymore.”

She gave him a suspicious once over. “Do you have an ID?”

He laughed. “Smart kid! Sure, I have an ID.” He fished out his wallet from his jeans’ back pocket and pulled out an ID. She read the word Astroworld and saw his picture beside it. He put the ID back in his wallet.

“I work here. In fact, I help operate the Cyclone. I know this beast like my best friend.”

“Oh.”

“So, you coming or not?”

He looked nice enough. Besides, there were so many people around. She’d just scream if he did something bad to her. The police will come running and they will surely kick his ass.

They were near the loading area now.

When they reached the end of the line Dare was greeted by the guy assisting the passengers into the cabs.

“Man, what the hell are you doing here?” asked the guy who was also cute. But Dare was way cuter.

“I missed riding this monster.”

The other cute guy laughed. “You shitting me, man?”

“I’m giving this kid her baptism of fire on the Cyclone.”

Dare’s friend looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face, then he burst out laughing. “Baptism of…maaan, are you serious?! She’s jailbait!”

“Not what you’re thinking, you dumbass,” Dare retorted. “She’s never been on this beast.”

“Oh, I see. Hi there, cutie. I’m Mike.”

“Hi,” she said shyly.

Dare went to a cab and opened the door for her. “Come on.”

She walked toward the cab slowly, her knees shaking while the other passengers her age practically ran, eager to sit in the cabs.