Page 55 of His Girl Hollywood
Eleanor sniffed and regained enough composure to continue. “Don, Frankie knows. Robert called me last week and told me the whole story. He still believes Frankie, of course.” She blew away a strand of hair that had fallen into her face with a puff of air. “I call Frankie every few days to check in. Make sure he’s not getting suspicious.”
Don nodded. “So do I.”
“At first, I played dumb. Acted like I didn’t know Robert had called him. But last week, I tried to get off the phone by telling him my aunt was calling for me and needed her dinner. He flew into a rage. Told me he knows everything. That I’m not in California visiting my sick aunt, but because I came here to ask you for help. That he knows you’re planning to double cross him and get out of your contract.
“I’ve never heard Frankie so angry. He told me that if Lamont and Lester are done, then both of us are done once and for all. Frankie said I had to convince you that your plan was cockeyed. That I couldn’t tell you he was wise to us or he’d make sure nobody had a reason to ever call me beautiful again.” She gulped, swallowing air furiously as she tried to catch her breath. “A-a-and he said if I can’t change your mind, he’s going to make sure you can never dance again. That’s why I left you the warning.”
It was as if she’d socked him. Had this all been for nothing then? Renting the cheapest room in Hollywood, skipping meals, leaving Broadway to come back to California. Don thought of Eddie, probably dozing in his bed, blissfully unaware of the looming threat on their horizon. Eleanor might have been the one to leave the warning, but that didn’t mean Frankie wouldn’t send a bigger, more brutal one now that he knew what Don was up to. A chilling thought struck him. Don had tried to call Frankie a half-dozen times since Monday. His manager had been unavailable to take his call every single time. Because Frankie had known—and he was plotting something. Don had to get back to shore.
He stood, holding Eleanor, rubbing her shoulders, fear and anger holding him in a state of paralysis. Stupid, stupid Eleanor. He couldn’t blame her for calling Robert. She was trying to convince the man she loved, the father of her child, that she was true to him. But couldn’t she, just this once, have thought things through a little more?
In answer to his silent query, Eleanor snuffled into his shirt. He held her, patting her back, soothing her like the small child she was. He kissed the top of her head. “Shhh, it’s okay, Eleanor. It’s not your fault. We’ll figure it out.” He didn’t believe a word he was saying. But he needed Eleanor to stop crying, to let him think. He needed to find Lena and get them off this boat. The thought of her in danger because of him made his blood run cold. Eleanor was right. He never should’ve brought them here tonight. He’d gotten cocky, thinking he could stay a few steps ahead of Frankie, seduced by how close his freedom was that he’d thrown caution to the wind to prove a point to himself. Why had he done that?
Was he that blind, that pompous? No. He’d brought Lena here tonight because the idea of spending another evening out of her company was unbearable. He’d brought her here because he wasdesperate to be with her, no matter the risk. But he needed to get her off this boat as soon as possible without showing his hand.
“Eleanor,” he whispered, still holding her tightly. “You need to go. It will only make things worse if Lena sees you here. I need to get her home without letting her get wise to the fact that something is wrong.”
He was expecting Eleanor to protest, to insist she needed to stay, but she merely squeezed Don tightly for a few moments, brushed a kiss on his cheek, and disappeared back down the deck into the shadows from whence she’d come.
Chapter 21
Arlene stopped cold in her tracks as she came out of the ladies’ room. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Don was right where she’d left him, but he wasn’t alone. He had another woman in his arms. And he was stroking her back and kissing the top of her head. The woman in question leaned away from him and looked up at Don, and Arlene knew her in an instant.
As Don had promised, there hadn’t been many people here she recognized. A few stars from other studios across the smoky casino, as determined to mind their own business as she was. Then there was the Black woman she’d just met in the bathroom, Alice B. Russell, who’d seemed vaguely familiar. When she’d introduced herself, Arlene had realized she’d seen her in several pictures.
But Arlene would know the face of the woman in Don’s arms anywhere. She’d seen her in Don’s trailer only a few weeks ago. Before that, she’d read about her in a hundred newspaper stories and seen her photo plastered everywhere. It was Eleanor Lester, Don’s dancing partner. The one he’d long been rumored to have a romance with. A romance Don had told her was all an act. But it didn’t look like an act. Not the way Don was holding Eleanor so tenderly and pressing kisses to the top of her head. Or the way Eleanor was now kissing his cheek!
Arlene leaned against the wall and sighed, pinching thebridge of her nose with her thumb and middle finger. God, she had told herself this was a terrible idea. That Don was perilous to her heart. That the one stolen night they’d shared had to be the end of it. Had she been a complete fool? Maybe Don made love to all of the women he worked with, and one was as good as the next. He’d abandoned her once. What would stop him from doing it again?
When she opened her eyes, Eleanor was gone and Don stood alone, a new tension in his shoulders. She crossed the casino floor and popped out the side door, welcoming the burst of fresh night air. She didn’t say anything, but merely placed her hand on his back and started massaging the knot at the base of his neck. He jumped.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing.” This was how he was going to play it then. “You startled me, that’s all. I was thinking it’s getting late and we should probably head home. You were gone longer than I expected.”
She didn’t smile. He hadn’t seemed remotely interested in heading home before. She had no idea what time it was, but Don had seemed content to while away the night until the sun rose. Now, he was possessed with a sudden urgency to leave? Why? To go be with Eleanor?
They’d been having such a lovely evening too. Arlene had been skeptical when he’d first suggested the casino ship. But it had been fun. Getting to know him as the man he was now and not the boy she’d loved. Learning how to gamble. The tenderness with which he treated her. She didn’t want to burst the bubble of this magical night. But she hadn’t been the one to puncture it, had she? What type of romantic scene would she have interrupted if she hadn’t lost track of time talking to the nice lady in the bathroom who had offered to button her dress? “I got to talking with someone…”
Don gave her a knowing look. “You always were a little sponge,soaking up anything you could from those around you. What was it this time?”
The words made her heart hurt. He knew her so well. But did she know him at all? Or was everything he told her, showed her, promised her, a lie? “Her name was Alice B. Russell.” She should be giving Don a cold shoulder, interrogating him. But she was excited about the conversation she’d had. “Have you ever heard of Oscar Micheaux?” Don shook his head. “He’s a director and has a production company. A Black man who makes films about Black people. Alice is his wife and his producer. She even acts in his films sometimes.”
“Sounds like quite the team.”
Arlene couldn’t suppress a wistful sigh. Until a few moments ago she’d allowed herself to hope that they were a team too. “They are. I’d like to have that someday. A creative partner. Control over what I make, what my films say.” She eyed Don, willing him to tell the truth, to have some simple explanation for what she’d witnessed.
Instead, he took her hand, entangling his fingers with hers. His hands were cold and trembling, clammy even. Not at all the firm, loving grip he’d caressed her with all evening. “I want that too,” he said. “But these people, Oscar and Alice, they do that out of necessity. You’re already making change from inside the system. Hollywood won’t give them a place, so they’ve made a company of their own. You don’t have to.”
“I might if this film fails.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. His face blanched and she regretted her words. “Don, I was kidding. You’re brilliant. It’ll be a hit.”
She meant that too. She wasn’t merely stroking his ego. Don may be a cad, but he was also a natural on-screen once he’d moved past his early jitters. He was creating dance numbers the likes ofwhich audiences had never seen before. And she knew in her bones that she was a good director.
“I really need this,” he murmured. She removed her hand from his and wrapped her arms around her, shivering in the cold on the deck. Funny how she hadn’t noticed it before.
“So do I,” she replied. “Maybe we shouldn’t have come here tonight. I told you it’s too risky.” He looked crestfallen at her words and came to lean on the railing beside her, his shoulder leaning against her bare arm.
“It was a risk,” he admitted. “But I still think it was worth it.” She searched his face and found no trace of guile there. No suggestion that he didn’t mean what he said. Her mind wandered back to Alice—how poised, how self-confident she’d seemed. How freely and enthusiastically she had spoken of her and her husband’s plans.