Chapter 11
Jeff
After another epic lovemaking session with Pat, I slept like a baby till the alarm went off. I’d forgotten all about work after we’d had sex — instead we’d eaten (seemed like a pattern) and gone our separate ways.
I didn’t feel as happy as last time though. I was worried what Bill would do and Pat’s insecurities surrounding the acting. I needed her to calm down, but how?
I practically hit the ground running and left for set after a quick shower — Shaun and Monica were both still sleeping. Well back at the factory, or our mini-studio as I liked to call it, I set to work in the office. The pile of paperwork was a mile high (metaphorically speaking as it was all electronic).
Once lunch rolled around, I got up to join the actors and the crew. I assumed they’d take a break around then and if not, I’d eat watching a scene. I wanted to see Pat.
As I came out the door, I heard a commotion.
“You have no right to be here,” said a voice that I recognized as my head of security, Ken.
“I have every right to be here, that’s my wife. It’s a legal thing, you know.” I also recognized that voice, unfortunately. It was Bill. How the hell had he gotten through the gates? He must have been spying on Pat. Or more likely: got lucky and saw her somewhere. If he’d been spying on her for long, the bodyguards would have spotted him.
As I walked into the room where the action was taking place, Ken saw me.
“Hey boss, this man is refusing to leave. Told the guy by the gate he was delivering a parcel to Pat. Gave her full name, so he let him in for a signature.”
“Lucky the man by the gate is not working on a set filled with stars — everyone knows their full name,” I spat. Then I turned to Bill — his once sand colored hair was now streaked with grey and his green eyes had a lost, almost mad glint in them. He looked nowhere like the together businessman and fun loving guy I’d once hung out with. I could smell alcohol on him, too. He’d clearly lost it since Pat left him. And I wanted him off my set and away from Pat because I’d seen what a broken heart could do to a man’s wits and it wasn’t pretty. Things could quickly turn desperate and dangerous if he’d been on a binge drinking trip.
“You heard the man. Leave. I’m sorry to say so, but this is not the time, nor the place, to be around your wife. She’s working.”
“Working? Ha, she came here to lure you, an old friend, into hiring her. Looking for luck. How pathetic. A career in Hollywood at her age.”
I wanted to hit the man. He was not only drunk, but also off his rocker.
“Good thing that I didn’t hire her then. The casting director did. Now beat it or I will call the police.”
“Then call the police. Tell them a man is trying to talk to his wife who ran off to Hollywood to become famous. Left a decade old marriage for Hollywood. So what if I slept around? It didn’t mean anything. I didn’t leave. I was always there. Always a doting husband.”
My God, the man was really drunk! But now he wasn’t just making a fool out of himself, but degrading Pat. One look at her horrified face and I knew that the confidence she’d been building was fading fast — the entire team now knew about her failed marriage and her husband’s unsavory habits.
“Guys, take him away,” I ordered the security men and women.
“Don’t you dare lay hands on me,” Bill shouted. “Pat, you aren’t seriously going to let them touch me? I came here to speak with you. I flew all the way from California to have a word. Please, Pat, doesn’t our marriage mean anything to you?”
I could see Pat hesitate.
“Get him out,” I repeated.
“Pat?” Bill pleaded.
“It’s OK, Jeff,” Pat said. “I’ll walk him out.”
“See,” Bill said and turned to me. “She’s still my wife. Mine. She does as I say.”
I couldn’t take it.
“It’s fine Bill,” I said, walking up to him. “She can walk you out. But first I’m gonna punch your face.” Then I did. I punched him square on the jaw. Not hard enough to cause damage but enough to give him a shock.
“Stop,” Pat yelled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? The man’s drunk. You know him. This isn’t normal. He’s talking nonsense. Let him go. You can’t control me by punching him, if that’s what you think. Nor by giving me more bodyguards. I’ve had enough of controlling men in my life. Now leave me be.”
I stepped aside as Pat took hold of a swaying Bill and led him towards the exit. Damn Bill and his almost twenty-year history with Pat. He didn’t deserve a woman like her, but now I’d lost her faith, too. Damn it all!
