"Ghosts and Illusions"
ROADBLOCK'S CAFÉ
"Darlings, don't forget that tomorrow night is Cecelia's engagement party at the Waldorf," Baroness reminded the group. Cecelia, a top designer, was another one of Baroness' A-list clients and engaged to a musician. "It's going to be fabulous. Strictly A-list." Meaning everyone attending would either be famous or have a recognizable high profile tag after their name such as "editor in chief" or "this-famous-name's lawyer" and the like.
"Cool, does that mean Beach Head isn't invited?" Cover Girl mocked.
"Beach Head has a hit song and is fabulous, darling. He's invited to everything," Baroness informed her.
"I don't know why you dismiss him, you two obviously have the hots for each other," Lady Jaye commented to Cover Girl. "He may be a horse's ass but at least he's honest and not to mention easy on the eyes."
"Did you say "the hots"?" Scarlett mocked. "Maybe they're afraid of their passion for each other."
"Eeewww, do NOT! Pshh, Thaddeus he is NOT," said Cover Girl.
"Darling, how old did you say your Thaddeus was?" Baroness asked Cover Girl.
"Hmm, I don't know. He wouldn't tell me but if I had to guess, late 20's?" Cover Girl answered unsurely. "I know it's kind of young but he's still great and acts very mature for his age so I can deal with it."
"I think you should read this," Baroness handed her an article torn out of a trade magazine. It was a profile piece on Leo Devine's company. Cover Girl read the article with interest then got to a quote from Thaddeus: "This company's growth, blah-blah-blah, said Thaddeus Devine, 23-," she stopped cold as her face went pale.
"Twenty THREE!" Scarlett exclaimed with her jaw dropped.
"No no no, that's impossible. There must be a mistake!" Cover Girl nervously tried to rationalize. "Baroness, how old is this article? A few years right?"
"It came out this month."
"Whoa! He's young enough to be in a boy band!" Lady Jaye teased. "No wonder he wouldn't tell you his age! He's practically jail-bait!"
"So did you have to buy the alcohol or did he have a fake ID?" Scarlett chimed in. "Or did he take you to a keg party?"
"Stop."
"You cradle robber!" Lady Jaye laughed. "Do you realize that while you were in combat fighting Cobra, he was going to junior high dances, maybe even getting his first kiss?"
"He's bragging to all his little friends that he 'scored' with a hot 'older woman'," Scarlett added.
"A hot older ex-model no less. I'm sure that got him a few high-fives at the next 'kegger'," Lady Jaye chimed.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Cover Girl said weakly. The truth and the reality that went with it actually made her feel physically ill. And -oh shit! - All those sexy naughty emails she sent him! This was so bad, and the humiliation! All her fond memories were a lie, and even worse she had been made a fool by - a kid.
"Will you please let that one go now?" Baroness asked Cover Girl exasperatingly then barked to the other two, "And will you two please change this tired subject?"
"You brought it up," Scarlett reminded Baroness.
"And now it's old so make like Cover Girl and move on," Baroness snapped.
"Whatever," Scarlett resigned.
"So um Scarlett," Lady Jaye started to ask her in an unsure tone, "Hypothetically speaking, if I were to get pregnant how would that work into the show productions? I mean, how big a problem would that be?" Three pairs of stunned eyes were now locked on her.
"Oh Jaye, NO!" Baroness protested.
"Shut up you!" Cover Girl hissed at Baroness. "Oh Allie I'm so excited for you!"
"I said HYPOTHETICALLY. I'm not pregnant," Lady Jaye set them straight.
"Well you've never been one to beat around the bush," Scarlett told her, "I thought you didn't want one yet. Did you change your mind? Are you thinking about it now?"
"It's in the possibility realm," Lady Jaye admitted, "Dash and I have been talking about it. I mean let's face it we're not getting any younger and I don't want to be one of those women having babies at 40. I don't give a shit of Madonna did it or not. And before you start Baroness, I DON'T mean YOU."
"Of course not darling, after all I'm nowhere near 40 nor will I have a child at that age either," Baroness retorted.
"Well professionally it's really not a problem," Scarlett answered her previous question. "I mean, nowadays pregnancy is hidden on shows all the time. You can still sing and act, but of course the dance numbers would have to be altered so they're not so rigorous on you but it can be done. The public loves you so they'll support you on this. The question is if YOU'RE physically up to it."
"Darling, don't do it and ruin your beautiful body. Besides, Louis Vuitton doesn't make diaper bags," Baroness tried to caution her.
"No, but Prada does!" Cover Girl snappishly corrected her. "And my Pilates instructor can put her on a special low impact pregnancy workout program so she doesn't lose strength and flexibility and regain her shape quicker after delivery. Her body will be just fine."
"Hmm, interesting," Lady Jaye pondered aloud.
"WHY do you know that Prada makes diaper bags?" Scarlett asked Cover Girl in amusement.
"Uh, the magazine did a feature on it awhile back," Cover Girl lied.
**********************
THE WALDORF ASTORIA - CECELIA'S ENGAGEMENT PARTY
While Duke and Flint were gone momentarily to go find Beach Head, the gal pals had a chance to pow-wow. "So what mood-altering black market prescription drug are we operating on tonight? Xanax?" Lady Jaye teased Baroness as she started their favorite game of "Guess Baroness' Drug of Choice Today," and of course "we" meaning Baroness.
"Nope," replied Baroness.
"Valium," Cover Girl guessed with certainty. Baroness shook her head "no" as she took a sip of her martini.
"Hmm, Darvocet?" Scarlett guessed as she joined in the game.
"Bingo," Baroness revealed tonight's mystery pill.
"Yes!" Scarlett gloated about her lucky guess.
"What does THAT do?" Cover Girl inquired the Baroness.
"It makes you feel like a pretty princess," Baroness explained the narcotic- based painkiller in a childlike voice.
"I'll bet you say that about all your illegal prescriptions," Lady Jaye taunted.
"Oh look, Howie's here," said Scarlett uneasily as she caught sight of him looking at her from across the room. She politely waved back. There was no way that Duke wouldn't notice Howie's presence, making for an inevitably awkward situation.
"Howie's everywhere darling, he's the King of All Media," Baroness reminded her.
"Never mind Howie," Cover Girl said nervously as she noticed a familiar nemesis in the room, "what is STEVE doing here! And who's that with him?"
"Hmm, guess this must be the gala for ghosts of flirtations and dates past," Lady Jaye commented in amusement, "and I thought this wing-ding would be boring!"
"Steve is certainly not A-list so he must have crashed this party. And I don't recognize his date so she's definitely a fucking nobody," Baroness informed them then said to Cover Girl, "This Steve knows who your friends are. He's obviously here to see you."
"Are you sure Baroness? It's kind of hard to see from here but his date seems to actually be pretty." Cover Girl started feeling her insecurity about this situation getting the better of her. "I'm going to go see if I can find out anything," she excused herself and the remaining three split up.
**********************
"There you are, hon," said Scarlett as she walked up to Duke. "Did you find Beach Head?"
"Did you know that Howie Strong was going to be here?" Duke asked accusingly.
"No, I don't keep up with his schedule," Scarlett answered sarcastically. "His people are very bad about getting back to my people." She knew that some backlash for her Howie stunt was to be expected, but wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Duke had given her his share of grief over the years, giving her ammunition if she needed it.
"Don't do that," Duke expressed his displeasure to her ridicule. "I'm being serious."
"I couldn't tell with it being such a ridiculous question - Oh my God!" Scarlett let out a small laugh with her hand politely cupped over her mouth, "You're jealous!"
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are! You're so jealous that we're going to have to call you 'Flint'!" Scarlett teased him.
"You think this is funny?" He retorted sternly.
"No," she softly replied as her hand gently stroked his cheek while looking lovingly in his eyes, "I think it's sweet. But now you have to get over it, because if I WANTED to be with him, I WOULD. But I'm not, okay?"
"If you say so," he replied discontentedly.
********************
After doing some networking, Cover Girl returned to the Baroness to report her information about Steve and grieve. "They just got married," she said in disbelief.
"Did you get a good look at the bride in question?" Baroness asked.
"I did," Cover Girl said uneasily.
"-and?" Baroness pressed.
"What can I say, she's heartbreakingly beautiful," Cover Girl mournfully admitted. "No wonder he held out on me. I guess he COULD do better. She's perfect. I can't even blame him for passing me over."
"Nobody's perfect darling, not even me," Baroness attempted to console her. "Besides, you're just as beautiful and you taught him a few good lessons in Vegas and the wedding, remember?"
"Sure I won a couple of small battles, but now he's got the upper hand. You know, for once I'd like to win the war!" Cover Girl said with resolve.
Baroness beamed. "I'm so glad to hear you say that," she replied with satiety. "And I'm going to show you how by giving you a crash course in PR."
"What are you talking about?" Cover Girl replied dismissively.
"Just what I said, darling. It's all PR! PR is an illusion; an image that we want portrayed to the public. We show the public what we WANT them to see, not what really is. Look at my relationship with Destro; we're the envy of everyone who doesn't know us up close and personal. But honestly, with the information you're privy to, would you trade places with me?"
"Please-," Cover Girl snubbed.
"Exactly! Because THAT'S the image we portray! We only show them what we WANT them to see to create the illusion of a fabulous couple! And that's what your Steve is doing to you and you're letting it work. Do you really think that bitch rolls out of bed looking "just so"? Fuck no! She reeks of "high maintenance" and I'll bet he has to spend a good fortune on a regular basis for hair colorists, spas, manicures, pedicures, waxing, facials, peels, body wraps, colonics, and everything else under the sun to maintain her looks. And believe me darling because it takes one to know one! You can tell just by looking at her that she's an asshole to him; keeps him on a short leash and is very demanding. She's the classic textbook type to have to use her looks and store-bought tits to get what she wants because she doesn't have anything else. She's SO cliché, but he's not going to tell you all that, because he just wants you and everyone else to see the pretty package so that he looks like a winner with a trophy wife. Hmph, some trophy wife: It's not like she's DONE anything, because I certainly would have heard about it."
"How can you tell from over here that they're fake?" Cover Girl looked towards the woman in question, trying to see for herself what made it obvious.
"Darling, she's braless and no breasts of that magnitude can be suspended in mid-air defying gravity like that - Hellooo doctor!" Baroness explained then disapprovingly added, "She went too big, that's SO tacky. Hmm, she didn't have a very good doctor; they don't even move. It looks like he just stuck two rocks in her chest. Not that men care, mind you, just as long as they're there."
"Okay fine. But he still thinks he got one on me so how do I win?"
"Good darling! You're catching on! Now YOU need to go do some PR to show him he's no match for you in this game!"
"But how?" Cover Girl asked. "It's not like I have some Mr. Big to throw in his face. I'm here with Lawrence who is SO obviously gay that it would be a joke to even TRY to pass him off as otherwise."
"You're not paying attention," Baroness reprimanded her. "If your PR weapon doesn't exist then you need to CREATE one. Look at Scarlett. When her Duke decided to be a selfish prick and break her heart, she was absolutely devastated and felt like she was going to die without him. Pshh, personally I don't see what ever for over that man- ,"
"Baroness!" Cover Girl snapped.
"Okay fine, that's her business. But as I was saying, did she let him see that? No! She showed him that her life goes on with or without him by picking herself up and letting herself be seen in public having a grand 'ol time with TA-DA, her PR weapon Howie Strong. Was this what was really going on in her life? Absolutely not, it was all an illusion on "Page Six." Meanwhile, she was actually holed up in her apartment for almost two weeks having a pity-party suited for Marilyn Monroe. Did anyone but us see it? No. She showed him what an ass he was to let her go because she was a hot commodity who could do better and in the end she got her man back on her terms," Baroness proudly explained to her.
"But that doesn't make sense because Howie's NOT better than Duke," Cover Girl retorted.
"Darling, Howie's extremely rich and famous and he wanted Scarlett. Men are too shortsighted to see past that and too insecure not to be threatened by that," Baroness explained in an exasperating tone. "Now run along and create your PR weapon because you have the perfect opportunity tonight and time is wasting," she excused her.
*****************
"Hello, Scarlie baby," rang a familiar voice. Scarlett was alone momentarily and Howie Strong used that as an opportunity to approach her. "You look drop-dead gorgeous as always."
Scarlett turned to Howie and smiled pleasantly. "How are you, Howie?" she asked sincerely.
"Broken hearted since you sent that bracelet back," Howie teased her. "You know I picked that out personally just for you."
Scarlett laughed. "You mean your assistant picked it out. But I loved it anyway."
"Then you shouldn't have sent it back."
"I had to. I love my husband-to-be and it wouldn't have been fair to you if I kept it," she explained. "You should run along. My other half isn't your biggest fan tonight."
"Who is?" he joked, though not far from the truth. "Gotcha, I hear 'ya, baby."
"It was good seeing you again, Howie," Scarlett bid him adieu. "Oh Howie?"
"Yeah Scarlie?"
"We both know you only want me because you can't have me," Scarlett informed him with a sly smile.
"Yeah, so what's wrong with that?" Howie winked at her. "Catch 'ya later, Scarlie baby."
*****************
"Hello Courtney," Steve smugly greeted Cover Girl. She had made it a point of making him have to come to her if he wanted to brag.
"Hmm? Oh hello Steve," she nonchalantly replied. "How are you?" she asked obviously insincerely.
"I'm fantastic! I just got married a couple weeks ago. Her name is also Courtney and she has two boys Melinda's age and I've never been happier in my life," Steve bragged overenthusiastically. Her name is COURTNEY? How - disturbing. He was also obviously relishing too much in thinking he was shocking her with his news and rubbing in.
"That's always nice. Good for you," she responded noncommittally and nervously wondered, Oh shit, how am I supposed to top this?
"Isn't that your "boyfriend" from the wedding over there?" Steve skeptically asked, pointing out Beach Head talking to a fellow musician not too far away from them. "He looks like the same guy with that "I Hate You Cover Girl" hit song. Is that about YOU?" He commented snidely with a little chuckle.
Kill Beach later, Cover Girl fumed to herself. "I don't know what you're talking about, this may come as a surprise to you but I'm not the only pair of legs that ever graced the pages of a magazine," she hissed back Beach's former insult. Not bad, she mused. But she still needed a PR weapon to go in for the kill. She had had it up to "here" with guys like Steve and Thaddeus making a fool of her.
"And you're not around him right now because - ," Steve grilled her analytically. Shit! He was relentless and hell bent on winning this pissing contest!
"-Because I don't NEED to keep a short leash on him!" she haughtily informed him. "You see, he's very famous now not to mention built like an Adonis so women throw themselves at him all day long. But I don't need to stand over him 24/7 like some insecure watchdog, because he doesn't want them; he wants ME. Just me. Now if you'll excuse me, all this talk about him has me missing my honey all the more." She casually walked away to put the final nail in Steve's coffin. As she approached Beach Head, she prayed that she would be able to pull this off. This was a one-shot deal and she knew Steve was watching and judging her. She touched Beach's shoulder and smiled at him as he nearly jumped out of his skin in shock as if he had seen a ghost. She ran her fingers through his thick dark hair and whispered into his ear, "I still hate you Beach, but that's the asshole from the wedding and you owe me for that fucked up song so you better make this look good," then pulled him into a deep passionate kiss. Surprisingly, Beach Head obliged her request and reciprocated by also running one hand through her soft long blonde hair and the other along the small of her back, giving her goose bumps. Damn, now he's going to think I like this, but it actually isn't so bad, Cover Girl thought. If this looks half as good as it feels then Steve should be spitting coffin nails till Kingdom Come. She cracked one eye open to see if Steve had finally walked away. He did and Cover Girl reluctantly pulled herself away from Beach.
"Heh, I knew you were hot for me, Cover Girl," Beach taunted. Cover Girl stomped her heel into Beach's foot and he let out a yelp.
"You wish! And THAT'S for touching my ass!" she angrily scolded him.
"You're crazy! You wish I was touching your ass, that was your lower back!" Beach rubbed his sore foot.
"My back's not THAT low, Beach! Why don't you go pound sand!" she hissed at him then walked away, smiling to herself when she knew he couldn't see.
"Hey, you said to make it look good!" Beach called out to her. Yup, everyone wants a piece of Beach, she's just afraid of her passion for me, he mused to himself. She had goose bumps: It's definitely Wayne's World!
********************
"You're one lucky bastard. Fuck, you don't deserve her," Howie commented cuttingly to Duke. Howie caught Duke alone for a moment couldn't resist the opportunity to provoke him.
Duke's hateful eyes narrowed on Howie. "This coming from the most loathed person in show business if not the entire general population? What a joke."
"Well you know what they say about people in glass houses," Howie goaded him. "When the going got tough you dropped her like yesterday's news. I was wrong about you, you're an even bigger loser than I gave you credit for."
"You're skating on REALLY thin ice- ," Duke growled in his face. "I don't hit women but I'd make an exception for you."
"Man you must be a fucken' moron letting go of a hot babe like that. Only an complete fool would let someone like me get that - CLOSE - to her," Howie continued to relentlessly provoke him. Howie's evil words rang true, causing Duke to become heatedly angry with himself for how he had treated Scarlett and how that caused Howie to become a threat to him, and even angrier with Howie for reminding him and for shamelessly pursuing his fiancée. Duke lunged at Howie with all his anger, knocking a table over and causing a commotion in the room as they fought on the floor.
Scarlett ran up, quickly realizing what the commotion was about. "What the fuck is going on here! Oh God, Duke NO - DON'T!" She tried unsuccessfully to pull Duke away. "Flint! Beach Head! Don't just stand there! Get over here!" she ordered them. Flint and Beach Head reluctantly pulled Duke off of Howie, who was quickly whisked away by his entourage.
"Sorry buddy, if I had my way I'd have just looked the other way," Flint told Duke as he pulled him off of Howie.
"How COULD you!" Scarlett screamed at Duke.
"How could YOU," Duke retorted back as he straightened out his suit jacket.
"Fuck you, at least I didn't make you WATCH," Scarlett hissed back.
"Don't know what you're babbling about," Duke attempted to dismiss her accusation.
"Oh lets not play THAT game, or do I need to name names? How about Sel- ," Scarlett heatedly reminded him.
"You're not still on THAT are you? It was a long time ago and it was just a kiss," Duke minimized her feelings.
"Good, because that's all it was with Howie too," she cruelly threw that unknown fact back at him.
"Sure it was. That must be why he sent you a $20k diamond bracelet!" Duke angrily suggested otherwise. Scarlett reached back to slap him but Baroness caught her wrist from behind. Scarlett looked behind her to see the Baroness shaking her head disapprovingly at her.
"That can wait until you get home," Baroness told her in a low voice, "not in public, darling." Scarlett relented and put her arm back down then proceeded to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Duke crossly asked as he tried to follow after her.
"To do damage control!" Scarlett answered as she headed towards where Howie had been taken. "You stay here. You've done enough already." And so have I, she thought in blame to herself. She also wondered how he knew about the bracelet. "You better pray he doesn't sue you or publicize this. I'll see you at home," she hissed at him then continued her walk to visit Howie.
Flint chuckled to himself as he dusted off his suit. "You were right Allie, this stuffy party was interesting after all."
"Hmm, well for once you weren't the biggest green-eyed-monster in the room," Lady Jaye teased Flint. "Congratulations."
Flint wrapped his arms around Lady Jaye. "So do I get a prize for that?" he asked. Lady Jaye nodded with a sultry smile.
*********************
ROADBLOCK'S CAFÉ
"Darlings, don't forget that tomorrow night is Cecelia's engagement party at the Waldorf," Baroness reminded the group. Cecelia, a top designer, was another one of Baroness' A-list clients and engaged to a musician. "It's going to be fabulous. Strictly A-list." Meaning everyone attending would either be famous or have a recognizable high profile tag after their name such as "editor in chief" or "this-famous-name's lawyer" and the like.
"Cool, does that mean Beach Head isn't invited?" Cover Girl mocked.
"Beach Head has a hit song and is fabulous, darling. He's invited to everything," Baroness informed her.
"I don't know why you dismiss him, you two obviously have the hots for each other," Lady Jaye commented to Cover Girl. "He may be a horse's ass but at least he's honest and not to mention easy on the eyes."
"Did you say "the hots"?" Scarlett mocked. "Maybe they're afraid of their passion for each other."
"Eeewww, do NOT! Pshh, Thaddeus he is NOT," said Cover Girl.
"Darling, how old did you say your Thaddeus was?" Baroness asked Cover Girl.
"Hmm, I don't know. He wouldn't tell me but if I had to guess, late 20's?" Cover Girl answered unsurely. "I know it's kind of young but he's still great and acts very mature for his age so I can deal with it."
"I think you should read this," Baroness handed her an article torn out of a trade magazine. It was a profile piece on Leo Devine's company. Cover Girl read the article with interest then got to a quote from Thaddeus: "This company's growth, blah-blah-blah, said Thaddeus Devine, 23-," she stopped cold as her face went pale.
"Twenty THREE!" Scarlett exclaimed with her jaw dropped.
"No no no, that's impossible. There must be a mistake!" Cover Girl nervously tried to rationalize. "Baroness, how old is this article? A few years right?"
"It came out this month."
"Whoa! He's young enough to be in a boy band!" Lady Jaye teased. "No wonder he wouldn't tell you his age! He's practically jail-bait!"
"So did you have to buy the alcohol or did he have a fake ID?" Scarlett chimed in. "Or did he take you to a keg party?"
"Stop."
"You cradle robber!" Lady Jaye laughed. "Do you realize that while you were in combat fighting Cobra, he was going to junior high dances, maybe even getting his first kiss?"
"He's bragging to all his little friends that he 'scored' with a hot 'older woman'," Scarlett added.
"A hot older ex-model no less. I'm sure that got him a few high-fives at the next 'kegger'," Lady Jaye chimed.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Cover Girl said weakly. The truth and the reality that went with it actually made her feel physically ill. And -oh shit! - All those sexy naughty emails she sent him! This was so bad, and the humiliation! All her fond memories were a lie, and even worse she had been made a fool by - a kid.
"Will you please let that one go now?" Baroness asked Cover Girl exasperatingly then barked to the other two, "And will you two please change this tired subject?"
"You brought it up," Scarlett reminded Baroness.
"And now it's old so make like Cover Girl and move on," Baroness snapped.
"Whatever," Scarlett resigned.
"So um Scarlett," Lady Jaye started to ask her in an unsure tone, "Hypothetically speaking, if I were to get pregnant how would that work into the show productions? I mean, how big a problem would that be?" Three pairs of stunned eyes were now locked on her.
"Oh Jaye, NO!" Baroness protested.
"Shut up you!" Cover Girl hissed at Baroness. "Oh Allie I'm so excited for you!"
"I said HYPOTHETICALLY. I'm not pregnant," Lady Jaye set them straight.
"Well you've never been one to beat around the bush," Scarlett told her, "I thought you didn't want one yet. Did you change your mind? Are you thinking about it now?"
"It's in the possibility realm," Lady Jaye admitted, "Dash and I have been talking about it. I mean let's face it we're not getting any younger and I don't want to be one of those women having babies at 40. I don't give a shit of Madonna did it or not. And before you start Baroness, I DON'T mean YOU."
"Of course not darling, after all I'm nowhere near 40 nor will I have a child at that age either," Baroness retorted.
"Well professionally it's really not a problem," Scarlett answered her previous question. "I mean, nowadays pregnancy is hidden on shows all the time. You can still sing and act, but of course the dance numbers would have to be altered so they're not so rigorous on you but it can be done. The public loves you so they'll support you on this. The question is if YOU'RE physically up to it."
"Darling, don't do it and ruin your beautiful body. Besides, Louis Vuitton doesn't make diaper bags," Baroness tried to caution her.
"No, but Prada does!" Cover Girl snappishly corrected her. "And my Pilates instructor can put her on a special low impact pregnancy workout program so she doesn't lose strength and flexibility and regain her shape quicker after delivery. Her body will be just fine."
"Hmm, interesting," Lady Jaye pondered aloud.
"WHY do you know that Prada makes diaper bags?" Scarlett asked Cover Girl in amusement.
"Uh, the magazine did a feature on it awhile back," Cover Girl lied.
**********************
THE WALDORF ASTORIA - CECELIA'S ENGAGEMENT PARTY
While Duke and Flint were gone momentarily to go find Beach Head, the gal pals had a chance to pow-wow. "So what mood-altering black market prescription drug are we operating on tonight? Xanax?" Lady Jaye teased Baroness as she started their favorite game of "Guess Baroness' Drug of Choice Today," and of course "we" meaning Baroness.
"Nope," replied Baroness.
"Valium," Cover Girl guessed with certainty. Baroness shook her head "no" as she took a sip of her martini.
"Hmm, Darvocet?" Scarlett guessed as she joined in the game.
"Bingo," Baroness revealed tonight's mystery pill.
"Yes!" Scarlett gloated about her lucky guess.
"What does THAT do?" Cover Girl inquired the Baroness.
"It makes you feel like a pretty princess," Baroness explained the narcotic- based painkiller in a childlike voice.
"I'll bet you say that about all your illegal prescriptions," Lady Jaye taunted.
"Oh look, Howie's here," said Scarlett uneasily as she caught sight of him looking at her from across the room. She politely waved back. There was no way that Duke wouldn't notice Howie's presence, making for an inevitably awkward situation.
"Howie's everywhere darling, he's the King of All Media," Baroness reminded her.
"Never mind Howie," Cover Girl said nervously as she noticed a familiar nemesis in the room, "what is STEVE doing here! And who's that with him?"
"Hmm, guess this must be the gala for ghosts of flirtations and dates past," Lady Jaye commented in amusement, "and I thought this wing-ding would be boring!"
"Steve is certainly not A-list so he must have crashed this party. And I don't recognize his date so she's definitely a fucking nobody," Baroness informed them then said to Cover Girl, "This Steve knows who your friends are. He's obviously here to see you."
"Are you sure Baroness? It's kind of hard to see from here but his date seems to actually be pretty." Cover Girl started feeling her insecurity about this situation getting the better of her. "I'm going to go see if I can find out anything," she excused herself and the remaining three split up.
**********************
"There you are, hon," said Scarlett as she walked up to Duke. "Did you find Beach Head?"
"Did you know that Howie Strong was going to be here?" Duke asked accusingly.
"No, I don't keep up with his schedule," Scarlett answered sarcastically. "His people are very bad about getting back to my people." She knew that some backlash for her Howie stunt was to be expected, but wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Duke had given her his share of grief over the years, giving her ammunition if she needed it.
"Don't do that," Duke expressed his displeasure to her ridicule. "I'm being serious."
"I couldn't tell with it being such a ridiculous question - Oh my God!" Scarlett let out a small laugh with her hand politely cupped over her mouth, "You're jealous!"
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are! You're so jealous that we're going to have to call you 'Flint'!" Scarlett teased him.
"You think this is funny?" He retorted sternly.
"No," she softly replied as her hand gently stroked his cheek while looking lovingly in his eyes, "I think it's sweet. But now you have to get over it, because if I WANTED to be with him, I WOULD. But I'm not, okay?"
"If you say so," he replied discontentedly.
********************
After doing some networking, Cover Girl returned to the Baroness to report her information about Steve and grieve. "They just got married," she said in disbelief.
"Did you get a good look at the bride in question?" Baroness asked.
"I did," Cover Girl said uneasily.
"-and?" Baroness pressed.
"What can I say, she's heartbreakingly beautiful," Cover Girl mournfully admitted. "No wonder he held out on me. I guess he COULD do better. She's perfect. I can't even blame him for passing me over."
"Nobody's perfect darling, not even me," Baroness attempted to console her. "Besides, you're just as beautiful and you taught him a few good lessons in Vegas and the wedding, remember?"
"Sure I won a couple of small battles, but now he's got the upper hand. You know, for once I'd like to win the war!" Cover Girl said with resolve.
Baroness beamed. "I'm so glad to hear you say that," she replied with satiety. "And I'm going to show you how by giving you a crash course in PR."
"What are you talking about?" Cover Girl replied dismissively.
"Just what I said, darling. It's all PR! PR is an illusion; an image that we want portrayed to the public. We show the public what we WANT them to see, not what really is. Look at my relationship with Destro; we're the envy of everyone who doesn't know us up close and personal. But honestly, with the information you're privy to, would you trade places with me?"
"Please-," Cover Girl snubbed.
"Exactly! Because THAT'S the image we portray! We only show them what we WANT them to see to create the illusion of a fabulous couple! And that's what your Steve is doing to you and you're letting it work. Do you really think that bitch rolls out of bed looking "just so"? Fuck no! She reeks of "high maintenance" and I'll bet he has to spend a good fortune on a regular basis for hair colorists, spas, manicures, pedicures, waxing, facials, peels, body wraps, colonics, and everything else under the sun to maintain her looks. And believe me darling because it takes one to know one! You can tell just by looking at her that she's an asshole to him; keeps him on a short leash and is very demanding. She's the classic textbook type to have to use her looks and store-bought tits to get what she wants because she doesn't have anything else. She's SO cliché, but he's not going to tell you all that, because he just wants you and everyone else to see the pretty package so that he looks like a winner with a trophy wife. Hmph, some trophy wife: It's not like she's DONE anything, because I certainly would have heard about it."
"How can you tell from over here that they're fake?" Cover Girl looked towards the woman in question, trying to see for herself what made it obvious.
"Darling, she's braless and no breasts of that magnitude can be suspended in mid-air defying gravity like that - Hellooo doctor!" Baroness explained then disapprovingly added, "She went too big, that's SO tacky. Hmm, she didn't have a very good doctor; they don't even move. It looks like he just stuck two rocks in her chest. Not that men care, mind you, just as long as they're there."
"Okay fine. But he still thinks he got one on me so how do I win?"
"Good darling! You're catching on! Now YOU need to go do some PR to show him he's no match for you in this game!"
"But how?" Cover Girl asked. "It's not like I have some Mr. Big to throw in his face. I'm here with Lawrence who is SO obviously gay that it would be a joke to even TRY to pass him off as otherwise."
"You're not paying attention," Baroness reprimanded her. "If your PR weapon doesn't exist then you need to CREATE one. Look at Scarlett. When her Duke decided to be a selfish prick and break her heart, she was absolutely devastated and felt like she was going to die without him. Pshh, personally I don't see what ever for over that man- ,"
"Baroness!" Cover Girl snapped.
"Okay fine, that's her business. But as I was saying, did she let him see that? No! She showed him that her life goes on with or without him by picking herself up and letting herself be seen in public having a grand 'ol time with TA-DA, her PR weapon Howie Strong. Was this what was really going on in her life? Absolutely not, it was all an illusion on "Page Six." Meanwhile, she was actually holed up in her apartment for almost two weeks having a pity-party suited for Marilyn Monroe. Did anyone but us see it? No. She showed him what an ass he was to let her go because she was a hot commodity who could do better and in the end she got her man back on her terms," Baroness proudly explained to her.
"But that doesn't make sense because Howie's NOT better than Duke," Cover Girl retorted.
"Darling, Howie's extremely rich and famous and he wanted Scarlett. Men are too shortsighted to see past that and too insecure not to be threatened by that," Baroness explained in an exasperating tone. "Now run along and create your PR weapon because you have the perfect opportunity tonight and time is wasting," she excused her.
*****************
"Hello, Scarlie baby," rang a familiar voice. Scarlett was alone momentarily and Howie Strong used that as an opportunity to approach her. "You look drop-dead gorgeous as always."
Scarlett turned to Howie and smiled pleasantly. "How are you, Howie?" she asked sincerely.
"Broken hearted since you sent that bracelet back," Howie teased her. "You know I picked that out personally just for you."
Scarlett laughed. "You mean your assistant picked it out. But I loved it anyway."
"Then you shouldn't have sent it back."
"I had to. I love my husband-to-be and it wouldn't have been fair to you if I kept it," she explained. "You should run along. My other half isn't your biggest fan tonight."
"Who is?" he joked, though not far from the truth. "Gotcha, I hear 'ya, baby."
"It was good seeing you again, Howie," Scarlett bid him adieu. "Oh Howie?"
"Yeah Scarlie?"
"We both know you only want me because you can't have me," Scarlett informed him with a sly smile.
"Yeah, so what's wrong with that?" Howie winked at her. "Catch 'ya later, Scarlie baby."
*****************
"Hello Courtney," Steve smugly greeted Cover Girl. She had made it a point of making him have to come to her if he wanted to brag.
"Hmm? Oh hello Steve," she nonchalantly replied. "How are you?" she asked obviously insincerely.
"I'm fantastic! I just got married a couple weeks ago. Her name is also Courtney and she has two boys Melinda's age and I've never been happier in my life," Steve bragged overenthusiastically. Her name is COURTNEY? How - disturbing. He was also obviously relishing too much in thinking he was shocking her with his news and rubbing in.
"That's always nice. Good for you," she responded noncommittally and nervously wondered, Oh shit, how am I supposed to top this?
"Isn't that your "boyfriend" from the wedding over there?" Steve skeptically asked, pointing out Beach Head talking to a fellow musician not too far away from them. "He looks like the same guy with that "I Hate You Cover Girl" hit song. Is that about YOU?" He commented snidely with a little chuckle.
Kill Beach later, Cover Girl fumed to herself. "I don't know what you're talking about, this may come as a surprise to you but I'm not the only pair of legs that ever graced the pages of a magazine," she hissed back Beach's former insult. Not bad, she mused. But she still needed a PR weapon to go in for the kill. She had had it up to "here" with guys like Steve and Thaddeus making a fool of her.
"And you're not around him right now because - ," Steve grilled her analytically. Shit! He was relentless and hell bent on winning this pissing contest!
"-Because I don't NEED to keep a short leash on him!" she haughtily informed him. "You see, he's very famous now not to mention built like an Adonis so women throw themselves at him all day long. But I don't need to stand over him 24/7 like some insecure watchdog, because he doesn't want them; he wants ME. Just me. Now if you'll excuse me, all this talk about him has me missing my honey all the more." She casually walked away to put the final nail in Steve's coffin. As she approached Beach Head, she prayed that she would be able to pull this off. This was a one-shot deal and she knew Steve was watching and judging her. She touched Beach's shoulder and smiled at him as he nearly jumped out of his skin in shock as if he had seen a ghost. She ran her fingers through his thick dark hair and whispered into his ear, "I still hate you Beach, but that's the asshole from the wedding and you owe me for that fucked up song so you better make this look good," then pulled him into a deep passionate kiss. Surprisingly, Beach Head obliged her request and reciprocated by also running one hand through her soft long blonde hair and the other along the small of her back, giving her goose bumps. Damn, now he's going to think I like this, but it actually isn't so bad, Cover Girl thought. If this looks half as good as it feels then Steve should be spitting coffin nails till Kingdom Come. She cracked one eye open to see if Steve had finally walked away. He did and Cover Girl reluctantly pulled herself away from Beach.
"Heh, I knew you were hot for me, Cover Girl," Beach taunted. Cover Girl stomped her heel into Beach's foot and he let out a yelp.
"You wish! And THAT'S for touching my ass!" she angrily scolded him.
"You're crazy! You wish I was touching your ass, that was your lower back!" Beach rubbed his sore foot.
"My back's not THAT low, Beach! Why don't you go pound sand!" she hissed at him then walked away, smiling to herself when she knew he couldn't see.
"Hey, you said to make it look good!" Beach called out to her. Yup, everyone wants a piece of Beach, she's just afraid of her passion for me, he mused to himself. She had goose bumps: It's definitely Wayne's World!
********************
"You're one lucky bastard. Fuck, you don't deserve her," Howie commented cuttingly to Duke. Howie caught Duke alone for a moment couldn't resist the opportunity to provoke him.
Duke's hateful eyes narrowed on Howie. "This coming from the most loathed person in show business if not the entire general population? What a joke."
"Well you know what they say about people in glass houses," Howie goaded him. "When the going got tough you dropped her like yesterday's news. I was wrong about you, you're an even bigger loser than I gave you credit for."
"You're skating on REALLY thin ice- ," Duke growled in his face. "I don't hit women but I'd make an exception for you."
"Man you must be a fucken' moron letting go of a hot babe like that. Only an complete fool would let someone like me get that - CLOSE - to her," Howie continued to relentlessly provoke him. Howie's evil words rang true, causing Duke to become heatedly angry with himself for how he had treated Scarlett and how that caused Howie to become a threat to him, and even angrier with Howie for reminding him and for shamelessly pursuing his fiancée. Duke lunged at Howie with all his anger, knocking a table over and causing a commotion in the room as they fought on the floor.
Scarlett ran up, quickly realizing what the commotion was about. "What the fuck is going on here! Oh God, Duke NO - DON'T!" She tried unsuccessfully to pull Duke away. "Flint! Beach Head! Don't just stand there! Get over here!" she ordered them. Flint and Beach Head reluctantly pulled Duke off of Howie, who was quickly whisked away by his entourage.
"Sorry buddy, if I had my way I'd have just looked the other way," Flint told Duke as he pulled him off of Howie.
"How COULD you!" Scarlett screamed at Duke.
"How could YOU," Duke retorted back as he straightened out his suit jacket.
"Fuck you, at least I didn't make you WATCH," Scarlett hissed back.
"Don't know what you're babbling about," Duke attempted to dismiss her accusation.
"Oh lets not play THAT game, or do I need to name names? How about Sel- ," Scarlett heatedly reminded him.
"You're not still on THAT are you? It was a long time ago and it was just a kiss," Duke minimized her feelings.
"Good, because that's all it was with Howie too," she cruelly threw that unknown fact back at him.
"Sure it was. That must be why he sent you a $20k diamond bracelet!" Duke angrily suggested otherwise. Scarlett reached back to slap him but Baroness caught her wrist from behind. Scarlett looked behind her to see the Baroness shaking her head disapprovingly at her.
"That can wait until you get home," Baroness told her in a low voice, "not in public, darling." Scarlett relented and put her arm back down then proceeded to walk away.
"Where do you think you're going?" Duke crossly asked as he tried to follow after her.
"To do damage control!" Scarlett answered as she headed towards where Howie had been taken. "You stay here. You've done enough already." And so have I, she thought in blame to herself. She also wondered how he knew about the bracelet. "You better pray he doesn't sue you or publicize this. I'll see you at home," she hissed at him then continued her walk to visit Howie.
Flint chuckled to himself as he dusted off his suit. "You were right Allie, this stuffy party was interesting after all."
"Hmm, well for once you weren't the biggest green-eyed-monster in the room," Lady Jaye teased Flint. "Congratulations."
Flint wrapped his arms around Lady Jaye. "So do I get a prize for that?" he asked. Lady Jaye nodded with a sultry smile.
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