Chapter 56

"It's going to cost as much as 2 million just to get this estate back in shape," Mom said, ticking off the points on her hand as she added, "The house has to be painted, inside and out, and the electric service throughout the entire house and grounds has to be upgraded. The kitchen and bathrooms are right out of the 1930's. That means all new plumbing throughout the house, and an entirely new kitchen. There's no security system at all, and the main gate isn't even motorized. The grounds are totally overgrown and it's going to take a legion of groundskeepers to restore them." Looking at me she said, "Honey, I wouldn't consider a penny over 3 million. Remember, it's almost two hours from work, each way."

I looked at Mom and thought about what she had said. I had thought that 8 million was a fair price for the enormous house and estate grounds compared to some of the other properties that we had been looking at.

Mr. Lampert must have considered Mom's statement as a bid because he said, "There's merit in what you say. The house does need fixing up, and some minor renovations to bring it up to modern standards. I'm afraid that Miss LaBarre let it deteriorate badly over the past twenty years, as her money was mostly depleted. And we are a bit of a commute from LA. How about if we compromise on six million?"

"Do you know when the pools were last filled, Mr. Lampert?" Mom asked.

"Uh… no. I imagine that they haven't been used in the past twenty years, though."

"Oh boy, that'll be another major problem. All the valves will be rusted shut, and the filtration systems will have to be totally replaced. They're not pools; they're big holes in the bankbook. Where do the heirs live, Mr. Lampert?"

"Uh… they live in New York. Why?"

"I was just wondering why they're not here to handle the sale. Have they seen the terrible condition of this place?"

"Uh… not exactly. I sent them a couple of snapshots that I took. I did tell them that the house and grounds were a bit run down."

"Honey," Mom said to me, "it's going to cost a small fortune to get this place livable again, but I guess that you can go up to 4 million. It has some potential."

"Well, I couldn't possibly let it go for that," Mr. Lampert said, "but I could possibly come down to… five million?"

"Honey," Mom said to me again, "Why don't you raise your offer to 4.25 million?"

Mr. Lampert said defiantly, "My lowest price has to be 4.5 million, Miss Ramsey. I can't go a penny lower."

"Honey, tell Mr. Lampert that you can go as high as 4 million, 375 thousand."

Mr. Lampert was quiet, and then sighed. "Okay, Miss Ramsey, you win. I'll go to 4.375 million. You’re a tough negotiator for one so young, Miss Ramsey. I really hadn't intended to go lower than 5 million."

I hadn't uttered a word during the entire process. Had Mr. Lampert interpreted my silence as a negotiation tool?

Mom said, "Write Mr. Lampert a check for ten thousand dollars, honey, as a deposit."

I took out my checkbook and wrote the check, as Mr. Lampert filled out a sales contract.

While I read over the sales contract and signed it, Mr. Lampert called the bank on his cell phone and verified that the check was good, then he signed the sales contract.

Mom asked, "Mr. Lampert, how soon will the heirs have the house cleared?"

"The house was already cleared of everything that they wanted. I sent the jewelry, Miss LaBarre's personal papers, scrapbooks, and the family photos back to them already. The rest of the stuff goes with the estate. There're even a couple of old cars in the garage. You get title to them also. Keep what you want and call the Goodwill for the rest. The deposit, as stipulated in the sales contract, is non-refundable so I'll give you the keys to the front door of the house and the lock on the front gate, although that's not normally done. There's a key box on the wall in the kitchen with all the rest of the keys. Good luck. You have thirty days to complete the sale, or you'll have paid an exorbitant sum for a one-month rental. As soon as you're ready to close, we'll conclude the sale."

Mr. Lampert continued talking as we walked to the front door. "I found a ledger in Miss LaBarre's desk that showed that the house originally cost $248,000 to build, so it appreciated quite a bit in 70 years, and I know that the heirs will be satisfied with their windfall. Once you have the house restored it'll easily be worth double your costs. Have a good day and thank you."

"Thank you, Mr. Lampert. Goodbye." I said.

After Mr. Lambert left, Mom turned to me and said, "I could see that you liked it. I was afraid that you might start the bidding too high."

"I would have. How did you know that he'd go so low?"

"He's not a real estate broker, so he's not working on commission. He's just the executor of the estate and wanted to close the deal. You heard him say that the heirs had asked him to sell the estate as quickly as possible, so we knew that they were anxious. The heirs hadn't even bothered to come look at the house, so I figured that he wasn't under pressure to get top price. You can always raise your offer if it's rejected, but it's almost impossible to lower it once you start too high, so I figured that I should jump in."

"I do love the house. It's perfect. Far enough from LA to be secluded, but close enough to get there in a little over an hour when we have to, except during rush hours of course. Don't you just love the woodwork and the ceiling beams? And the main stairway to the second floor is one of the most beautiful that I've ever seen. I wonder if they ever shot any movies in here?"

"It's still going to need a lot of work. The first thing to do is to find a good plumber and redo all the bathrooms and the kitchen. At the same time we can upgrade the electric, doubling or tripling the outlets in every room. You'd think that they didn't use electricity in the thirties. Then we'll install central air, and a modern security system with cameras and sensors. Lastly we'll take care of the grounds and the pool. It's going to take six months or more to get it all done, but it will be as nice as any of the houses that we looked at in Beverly Hills when it's done."

"We don't have six months. We have to leave for the new movie site in a couple of weeks."

"We'll make a good start then. Before we begin any work, we'll have to do the title search and have the closing, but we can start the planning. Let's go measure the kitchen."

We spent about four more hours there, making plans for the redecorating. Mom insisted that I take the Master bedroom, which was 36x28 and even had a private balcony that overlooked the living room, since it was my house, but the other bedrooms, averaging about 26x18, were all larger than any that we had ever had, and each had it's own bathroom. Since the servant's bedrooms each had their own bathroom, there were a total of 16 in the house. We estimated that the house contained about 16,000 square feet. The copy of the deed that Mr. Lampert had left indicated that the property encompassed 187 acres. That was far more than the three acres that we were originally looking for. When the house was fixed up it would look like a California palace. It truly was the home of a once famous movie queen.

*****

The title came back clean and we had the closing before the end of the week. Carol had returned to school, but Mom and I kept busy with the new house. Before we had even had the closing, Mom was working with an architect on the modifications that we wanted to make. After examining the house, he suggested that all the old iron plumbing be totally removed and replaced with copper. He would also draw up plans for redoing the bathrooms with modern fixtures, installing ductwork for the central a/c, and upgrading the electric throughout the house. He would also create designs for the new kitchen. The architect suggested that since we were doing a major renovation we should wire every room for telephones, cable television, a computer network, and alarms, as most new upper-scale homes are. He also recommended a central vacuum system. We decided to go all the way and approved the plans. I thought about an old movie called 'The Money Pit' with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long that had started out this way. From the way that the architect talked, they would practically have to 'gut' the house.

*****

As soon as we had had the closing, we had telephone service installed. The power had never been turned off, but now we had the billing changed over to my name. We began going through the rooms to decide what furniture we wanted to keep and what we would get rid of. Like most of the furniture throughout the house, the bedroom furniture was old, but was of quality construction. Instead of discarding it, we decided to have it refinished. When done, the master bedroom would have a king sized bed and the other rooms would all be queen sized. All of the old mattresses and springs, each at least fifty years old, went out to the trash. The beds would be refit to use new box spring and mattress sets.

The enormous living room had a two-story ceiling, from which hung a chandelier that appeared to weigh several hundred pounds. We would either have to have it taken down, or possibly refinish it where it was. The sofas and chairs would all be recovered with new fabric.

We put everything that we definitely didn't want, into one of the garage stalls, to await a Goodwill pickup. The pile was smaller than I expected when we were done, because we intended to have so much of the furniture refinished. The stuff that we were unsure of was moved to the center of the ballroom since that room would be least affected by the renovations. There were a lot of pictures and other memorabilia type stuff that we didn't know what to do with, so we added it to the pile in the ballroom.

*****

On Sunday, Mrs. McGuire and I left for Georgia, and the 'Morning Mist' movie site. Mom had decided to stay, for now, to work on the renovation of the new house. The architect had estimated that the renovation would cost up to a million dollars, so I had transferred that amount into a special checking account that was to be used for the work. I could always transfer more at a later date if the costs exceeded the original estimate, as I expected that they might. Mom was also going to shop for another vehicle, probably a van, since one car was not enough for three drivers and it would be nice to have something big enough to help move something like a small piece of furniture.

The episode on Oliver's show had never materialized. I wouldn't be available when they wanted to shoot, so we had to forget it for this year.

Mrs. McGuire and I were met at the airport by a young man from the movie site and taken to the house that had been rented for my use during the making of the picture. The driver carried my suitcases into the house for me and then retrieved Mrs. McGuire's things. He said that he or someone else would be by in the morning to pick me up and take me to the location. Mrs. McGuire helped me to put my things away and then went to get herself settled in.

*****

I was ready, in the morning, when the same driver returned. I paid close attention to the route that he followed to the site so that I'd be able to find my own way. The driver escorted me to the motor home of Harris Wilkes, the director, and knocked. In response to a muffled 'Come in', he opened the door for me and I climbed the steps into the home and found Mr. Wilkes working at the dining table.

"Miss Ramsey, please come in. Have a seat." As I sat down he said, "Tell me, is the house suitable?"

"Very suitable, Mr. Wilkes. Thank you."

"Good. Your mother didn't come with you, I understand?"

"No. She may join me in a few weeks though. Right now it's just myself and my housekeeper."

"Okay. Well… you don't have any children do you?"

"No, I don't."

"I see… the young actors who will play your children in the movie won't be on the site until we're ready to begin shooting the scenes that they're in. Because of their ages, we have to observe a lot of restrictions on the length of our shooting days when they're in the scenes. Working with very young children is very different than what you've experienced in your previous movies, but I know that you'll do very well. Just be patient with them and be prepared for lots of takes when they're in a scene. You'll have to help them all you can, and ignore their failures to concentrate on the scene."

"I understand, Mr. Wilkes. I like children."

"Good, that'll help. Okay, that's all I wanted to say to you right now. If you'll report to wardrobe, they can get started on your clothing. We'll meet in the conference trailer at ten. Please bring your script."

"Okay, Mr. Wilkes. Uh… where is it? Wardrobe, I mean."

"Turn left as you go out. It's about 4 trailers away. It has a large sign on it that you can't miss."

"Thank you."

I left and found my way to the wardrobe trailer. They already had all my measurements, courtesy of the agency, and had my clothes ready for the final fitting. I worked with them until it was time to go to the meeting.

Just before ten o'clock, I made my way to the conference trailer that was basically just a trailer with four walls and a roof, except there was a kitchen against the rear wall and a bathroom in the corner. A bunch of sofas and chairs lined the walls, leaving the center of the trailer open.

There were six other people inside when I got there, and we introduced ourselves, learning each other's real names and the names of the characters that we were playing. Because of my position and fame, everyone knew me on sight, but I had to work to remember their two sets of names.

Mr. Wilkes showed up several minutes late. A production assistant, who accompanied him, handed out script changes for us to file in our script binders. After that Mr. Wilkes did the introductions again and then we spent the rest of the morning talking about the shooting schedule and discussing the 'background' of the movie characters. I learned that there was a secondary team that was shooting in the desert of eastern California to simulate the Far East where my 'husband' mysteriously disappears. None of us would be involved with that location, and its actual screen time would be limited. The children were too young to be involved in any of the formal rehearsals and weren't really needed since their dialog was basically limited to single word responses at various times. Their rehearsals, if you would even call it that for infants under 3 years of age, would be done on the sets, just prior to shooting. Most of the shots involving them just had them playing in the background, or acting as props for me.

When we broke for lunch, a production assistant showed me to my motor home. After I had a chance to wash up I went to the cook tent and was invited to eat with a couple of the actors who had been in the conference trailer. Over lunch I got to know them a little better and they learned a little about me. The main topic at our lunch table, on this first day, concerned what it was like to be nominated for an Academy Award.

We reconvened in the conference trailer after lunch to continue our reading through the script. We worked until five and then broke for the day. Mr. Wilkes asked us to be back again tomorrow at eight.

As we left the trailer, a production assistant, named Marion, told me that my driver would be ready whenever I wanted to return to my house.

"My driver?"

"Yes, Bennett, the young man that picked you up at the airport and then brought you here this morning. He's been assigned as your permanent driver for the duration of the shooting, unless you have a problem with him."

"I see. No, no problem, I just wasn't expecting it. I've been used to driving myself on other sets."

"I can arrange for you to have your own car if you prefer, but Mr. Wilkes thought that this would be better since you didn't bring a bodyguard with you. Bennett has martial arts training and can offer some protection should there be a need."

"Have there been problems in this area?"

"No, not here. But we'll be shooting at the studio in Atlanta once the outdoor shooting is complete. The city can be a bit more… intense, at times."

"I think that I'll need a car for weekends. I don't want to stay cooped up in the house every weekend."

"That's no problem. Bennett will be ready to drive you, seven days a week. He's staying at a motel about a mile from your house. He can be ready to pick you up within fifteen minutes of calling him. He'll also do your grocery shopping, or take your housekeeper to do the shopping, while you're on the set."

"It sounds like I'll be well taken care of."

"Of course. You're the most important member of our cast. We can't let anything happen to you. If you need anything at all, just let me know."

"Thank you, Marion. Would you tell Bennett that I'll be ready to leave in ten minutes? I just have to go to my motor home for a few minutes."

"Okay, Miss Ramsey."

Ten minutes later Bennett was waiting outside my motor home when I stepped out.

"The car is all ready, Miss Ramsey."

"Thank You, Bennett. I guess that I'll need to do some grocery shopping on the way to the house."

"I took your housekeeper to the market this afternoon. She stocked up on quite a bit of food. I called her a few minutes ago to tell her that you were ready to come home and she said that dinner would be ready in half an hour."

"Oh… well… I guess that we can just go to the house then."

"As you say, Miss Ramsey."

When we reached the house I said, "What will you do for supper, Bennett? Do you have to go all the way back to the site?"

"No, Miss Ramsey. Mrs. McGuire will fix a plate for me and I can eat in the kitchen. She made lunch for me today and it was delicious."

I smiled. "Okay, Bennett. I think that you'll find that Mrs. McGuire is a wonderful cook."

During dinner I studied the script changes that we had received today. Since there was no one at the table to talk with, I might as well use the time to work. Eating alone at night was something that I would become used to over the next few months.

*****

As Mr. Wilkes had said, I didn't meet the children until we began to shoot the scenes they were in. The roles were to be played by Katie Klein, age 2, and Michael and Martin Sorsen, both age 1. The twin boys would be used interchangeably during scenes, with the expectation that one or the other would be in mood where he could be used when needed.

All three children were adorable but they tired quickly on the set, or became bored, as was to be expected. Their mothers were never more than a few feet away but I felt sorry for the kids, thrust into a situation like this over which they had no control, and being too young to fully understand what was even going on.

*****

I was lonely in Georgia without Mom or Carol. I spent a lot of time every evening, writing letters to Debbie and my other friends, and I called home often. Mom would fill me in on the progress of the new house every time we talked. She was staying there now, in one of the staff bedrooms, so that she could be around when the workmen arrived each day. She was personally supervising every step of the work. I shuddered as she described in great detail how they had ripped apart the walls in every room so that they could do the required work, but she made sure to tell me that they had carefully removed the original woodwork first. She was chronicling the entire event in pictures.

*****

The shooting progressed rapidly with the excellent weather that we had in October. The children grew to accept me, as they would a family member, and that made it easy to seem like I was their mother to the camera. The boys were too young to talk yet, but Katie started referring to me as 'Mommy Crystal' all the time. I wondered what her young mind made of suddenly having two mommies.

Despite the progress that we were making, it felt like the shooting was dragging. I guess that the reason for that was that I was lonely. This was the first movie where I was alone every night. For the first time I could begin to understand how movie stars and entertainers fall into habits of alcoholism and drug use. On this picture I didn't even have a real co-star to spend time with. Except for the children, the supporting actors and actresses were all much older than I was.

*****

In early November I was notified that both of the last two pictures that I had made, 'The Moons of Kapatia' and 'Open Spaces, Lost Loves', were being released the week before Thanksgiving, in time for the holiday season, and both movie companies wanted me to do a promo tour. I welcomed the break, and Jennifer had managed to get them to agree on a combined tour. I notified Mr. Wilkes of the dates that I would be away so that he could plan the shooting schedule. He appeared a little miffed, but it had been agreed to when I had signed to do the picture so he couldn't very well refuse. Besides, we were ahead of schedule, and he knew that I'd also be talking about the new picture while being interviewed. Jennifer had arranged it so that I'd be in LA at Thanksgiving. Both premieres were being held there on the weekend before the holiday.

*****

Jennifer flew in to join me on the tour, and to handle things for me. Since I was already in Atlanta, we began by giving interviews there, then flew up to New York for two more days of interviews, beginning with the very early morning news shows on Monday. Before I left Atlanta, I made arrangements for Mrs. McGuire to fly out to LA for the two weeks.

*****

After New York, we went to Chicago for two days of interviews. I made a side trip, after the first day, to have my fitting for the two gowns that Barbara had prepared for me for the premieres. She was already working on the design for the one for the new movie, which would probably be premiered around April in Atlanta.

Being in the theatre again was like coming home, even more than when I stopped at the old house to check on things. I spent about an hour with Marge and Barbara after the fitting was done and the gowns were ready to take with me. I learned that Mr. Tucker had indeed gone, but Barbara was able to give me his address in New York. I wished that I had had it when I'd been there a few days earlier.

I caught the commuter flight back to Chicago after my visit and went to bed early because I would be on two early morning shows in Chicago the next day.

*****

I arrived at the condo late on Thursday evening, exhausted from the intense interview schedule so far, and fell into bed. Neither Mom nor Mrs. McGuire was there so I assumed that they were up at the new house.

*****

Mom and Mrs. McGuire came down to the condo on Friday morning and Mom took me to the salon so that I could get my hair done. My car was up at the new house and we used the new Saturn that she had recently bought. She had also purchased a minivan for the estate.

The premiere for 'The Moons of Kapatia' was held on Friday evening. I would have loved to go with Oliver but that would have created too much talk so I went with another of Mr. Daniels' clients, Owen Vekrim. Owen was a minor supporting player in a television sitcom and could use the exposure. We hadn't met until he came to the condo to pick me up.

Owen, despite being older than me by about ten years, was very nervous. We spent a few minutes talking before we left and I tried to calm him down. By the time that we reached the theater, he seemed more self-assured.

Like my previous premieres I was questioned on my way in and again on the way out. As the star of the picture, I wasn't dismissed in favor of anyone else as I had been in the past.

The premiere went well and everyone seemed to enjoy the movie. I was absolutely blown away by the special effects that had been interposed into the movie, making it appear that I really had been in outer space. During the shooting, we had had to pretend that certain things were happening, although we couldn't see anything, and we had had to react to imaginary things that weren't on the set. The postproduction people had now inserted them into the scenes. It was an exciting movie to watch and I could feel the excitement in the theatre. The movie left you breathless from beginning to end.

Afterwards, we were invited to a party to celebrate the release of the picture. I really didn't want to go, but I knew that it was part of the obligation of being the star. I only stayed for two hours, though. Mr. Landois' pet name for me had stuck with the people from the movie, and spread, because everyone kept referring to me as Princess while I was there.

I left Owen at the front door to the condo with just a handshake and my thanks for being my escort for the evening. He didn't try to kiss me and I didn't offer. It had been just a business date, after all.

*****

On Saturday I attended the premiere of 'Open Spaces, Lost Loves'. This time my escort was Alec Carsie from the movie. He had broken up with his former girlfriend and needed a date for the premiere also. It worked out well for me because now the press would understand that there wasn't anyone steady in my life.

When we arrived at the premiere, Jennifer Lareda was being interviewed. As we approached, the interviewer cut short the interview to turn to us. I knew how Jennifer felt but we hadn't arrived there at that time intentionally, and Alec was the male lead, after all.

Despite having just seen me with someone else the night before, some members of the press asked if Alec and I were involved. I smiled, shook my head, and said that we were just good friends.

The premiere of 'Open Spaces, Lost Loves' went well also. The editors had done a great job and the story was very enjoyable. I received third billing, quite an improvement since the first movie, where I had been listed last in the opening credits. Of course, my part was substantially larger than in the first movie.

After the premiere, we attended the party being hosted by Mr. Tinker at his house. I was extremely tired, but stayed for a little over two hours. Alec wanted to stay so I went home and sent the limo back for his use.

*****

On Sunday, Mom, Mrs. McGuire, and I went up to the new house. It was my first chance to see what was going on and my first thought was that an earthquake had hit the house. I wandered from room to room looking at the wreckage that used to be a lovely home.

"Now don't pay any attention to the open walls," Mom said. "They had to do that to remove the old pipes and install the new plumbing, the new electric service and wire harnesses, the central vacuum pipes, and the ductwork for the central a/c. Once they're done you'll never even realize that the walls had been opened."

"I hope so, because right now it looks like those old movie scenes of London during the latter part of World War II."

"They're actually almost ready to begin closing the walls up. By the time that you get done in Atlanta, the house will look great."

"It'll be done for Christmas?"

"No… but the walls should be closed back up and painted. It'll be a few more months before all the work is done. The bedrooms and bathrooms may not be finished until some time in January, but the kitchen should be done in a couple of weeks. I've been pushing them to get that done early. The swimming pools will take the longest. I've ordered new marble tile for the indoor pool but they don't expect it to come in from Italy until February."

"What about the security system?"

"The wiring has all been done. The sensors and outdoor cameras will be installed next month. The front gate is all set but we leave it open during the day because there are so many workmen coming and going. I close it at night after they leave. Each of our cars has a controller, with a button mounted in the dash, and if you come in a different car, you can key in a code on the keypad on either side of the gate to open it. The codes can be easily changed in the computer, if somebody learns them. Whenever the gate opens, a doorbell like noise sounds in the downstairs to alert you that someone is entering, or exiting, the grounds."

We toured the upstairs and I saw that most of the bathrooms were in various states of completion. The bathroom in my bedroom was almost completely finished. There was a new, enormous, oval tub, in addition to a shower that was large enough to hold four people. It had two showerheads on opposing sides. Along one wall was a long marble counter top with two sinks, and a mirror that covered the entire wall.

My bedroom walls were already back together and were awaiting painting. The room would be ready for use in a couple of weeks.

"Has the furniture that we sent out been finished yet?"

"Most of it has. The furniture from your bedroom turned out fantastic. Wait until you see it. They'll deliver it as soon as the room is ready. We just have to get you a new mattress, bedclothes, curtains, and the like. Come see the kitchen."

The kitchen was starting to resemble something that you see in those magazines that showcase renovations. Everything in it was new and beautiful. Except for the floor, and some trim work, the room was done. Foot square marble slabs were stacked next to one wall, ready to be cemented down. Mrs. McGuire was cutting up vegetables at one of the counters.

"What do you think of the house, Mrs. McGuire?"

"I think that it's going to be grander than any home that I've ever seen. The kitchen is a thing of beauty. I feel guilty every time I make a mess when I'm cooking, but these marble counters clean up so easy that the feeling doesn't last for long."

I smiled at her comments and said, "Where are we having Thanksgiving dinner, Mom?"

"At the condo. We're not really set up here yet, even though Mrs. McGuire and I have been staying here and she's been making simple meals for us."

"The kitchen's almost complete. Why don't we eat up here? It doesn't matter that the floor's not down."

"Actually, it might be. The tile people are supposed to start it on Monday. It should be laid even it it's not grouted on Thursday."

"Then all we have to do bring up the proper cooking utensils."

"No, we don't. We've already stocked all the cabinets so that we could leave everything in the condo. When I said that we weren't set up, I meant that we don't have a dining room set up. Mrs. McGuire and I have been eating our meals on snack tables on the patio."

"That's fine with me. Or we could clear off the big dining room table that we moved into the ballroom."

"It's not there. I sent it out to be refinished. It won't be ready for a couple of weeks."

"Did you call the Goodwill yet to pick up the stuff in the garages?"

"No."

"Then let's bring up that old work table that was in the kitchen. I know that it's yucky, but we'll put a big tablecloth over it."

"Hmmm… okay, let's go look at it."

Mom and I went out to the garage while Mrs. McGuire worked on making lunch. We cleared the pile of stuff off the table and looked at it. It was one of those ugly, metal, brown and yellow painted art-deco tables from the thirties or forties that had pull out extensions on both sides. It was dented and chipped in several places, but the wooden legs, painted with a dark brown paint that had dripped and run, were study enough, and it would serve us for a few meals until we got the other tables back. We carried it to the patio and then brought the half dozen chairs that went with it. We washed them all down and put a tablecloth on the table so we could eat lunch out there.

"I'd like to invite Sharon to Thanksgiving dinner," I said, excited at the prospect of showing her the new house.

"That would be nice. I haven't seen her and the babies since the baptism."

"I don't know if Roy will be around to come, or not, but there may be one more."

"Plenty of room for one more in this house."

We returned to the condo at dinnertime. I drove my car back so that I'd have it available and parked it in one of the 'free' spaces since Mom would park in our assigned spot. I had appointments to do half a dozen promo interviews over the next two days and Jennifer, my publicist, would meet me downtown in the morning.

*****

Both of the new movies got good reviews and I was riding really high as I drove past movie theaters and saw both listed on the marquees. I completed my interviews on Tuesday, leaving me four days off before I had to return to Atlanta.

*****

I picked up Sharon and the babies on Thursday morning and drove them to the new house. Mom and Mrs. McGuire had stayed there overnight in order to work on the meal and get the turkey in the oven early.

The workmen had cemented the thick marble tiles down in the kitchen and, although they weren't grouted, the kitchen had an 'almost' finished look to it, helping to make up for the torn-apart look of the rest of the downstairs. Sharon loved the house, despite the mess, but I had known that she would.

Carol and Samantha arrived just before eleven o'clock. I was surprised to see Sam as I had expected that she would have gone home over the holiday weekend. She told me that her folks had gone to Wyoming for Thanksgiving but she didn't feel like making the long trip to her Aunt's house. We sat out on the patio waiting for dinner to finish cooking.

"I brought the reviews with me that appeared in the paper. Mom said that you hadn't seen them," Carol said.

"Thanks, I haven't actually read them, but I heard that they were good. One of the interviewers on a radio talk show told me about them."

"That doesn't compare to actually reading them, or hearing them read word for word when they're this good. Listen to what they wrote about you in the Entertainment section following the premiere of 'Open Spaces, Lost Loves'.

'The highlight of the movie was the performance of Crystal Ramsey. Although officially only listed as a supporting actress, her riveting presence carried the movie. Reprising her role as Wendy Stone in this second part of the trilogy, Miss Ramsey displayed the acting skills that earned her an Academy Award nomination for 'Best Actress' at this year's ceremony. The Academy should sit up and take notice of this wonderful young actress and correct the mistake that it made in March when it passed her by'."

"Isn't that great!" Samantha said.

"Yes, it's nice. What did they say about the other movie?"

Carol turned the page on the newspaper. "This one is even better. Here it is. Yada, yada, yada, here we go. 'I went to this movie with very low expectations. I had seen Miss Ramsey as a winsome, Victorian maiden in 'Under the Scarlet Maple', a shy, almost fearful, recluse in 'A Promise of Spring', a foxy, young, troublemaker in 'Open Spaces, Closed Hearts', and a wonderful, ditzy blonde tour guide in 'Water or Tequila, Senorita?', and loved every one of her performances. But as the captain of a star-ship? No way, I told myself.

The movie begins at the graduation ceremony of the Northern Hemisphere Space Academy. Miss Ramsey graduates as a young ensign and receives her first assignment to a ship bound to the farthest reaches of explored space. Several months out of spaceport, the ship suffers a catastrophic power problem and explodes just after all hands abandon ship. Miss Ramsey's escape pod drifts through space until a ship picks her up. The ship is a freighter, and her rescuers are actually in danger themselves from space pirates. After an initial attack kills the captain, the second in command, who is quite young and ill prepared to fight off attacks by pirates, asks Miss Ramsey's character to take over command because of her military training.

Miss Ramsey's character actually seemed to grow and mature during the movie as she deftly commands the ship and earns the respect and loyalty of the crew. By the end of the movie I felt myself cheering out loud, along with the other patrons, for Miss Ramsey's character. I'm happy to say that my initial expectations were totally wrong. There's no denying that Miss Ramsey is Captain Jenetta Carver and I can't think of anyone who could have handled the part better.

Miss Ramsey has now proven herself to be a triple threat. She can handle comedy, drama, and action-adventure with equal skill. It almost seems that all one need see, is Miss Ramsey's name on a picture to know that they will enjoy a quality performance.

The second in command was played by… ' yada, yada, yada," Carol said. "Another great review, sis."

"Wonderful reviews, Crystal," Sharon said. "I'm still waiting for your first 'bomb'."

"Well, I like that. Thank you very much," I said, feigning indignation.

Sharon laughed. "You know what I mean. I don't hope that you bomb, but… every actor or actress has a real stinker from time to time. It doesn't even mean that they gave a poor performance. It might be a weak script, or poorly timed release of the movie. It might be a bad director, or even poor editing. The point is that no actor or actress is immune. It's just a matter of time. Hopefully, you get enough good ones behind you to weather the bad."

"I'd say that Crystal has passed that point now," Samantha said. "She's established herself."

"I agree," Carol said. "A bad movie or two can't erase all the successes that she's had."

"This is usually about the point where an actor or actress begins to take chances," Sharon said. "They start to believe their own press and think that they can make any movie a success. That's when they fall on their face."

"I've been content to let Mr. Daniels pick the scripts. He's done great by me so far. I don't see any reason to change that."

"Ah, but now you'll start having people try to circumvent that and send you scripts directly in the hopes that they can convince you to override his veto. You've started to make contact with some of those people by attending the parties after the premieres. It won't be long now before they start approaching you directly if he's turned them down. Especially once you have this palace finished, and people know where to find you."

I thought about what Sharon had said. I wondered if I would reach a point where I would begin to believe that I knew better than Mr. Daniels.

Mom called out from the kitchen that the turkey was almost done and that we should set the table, so we cleared away the newspapers and passed the plates and silverware around. The babies were sleeping in their car carriers, having just been feed within the past hour.

Carol went in to see if she could help out with anything but promptly returned. "Mrs. McGuire has everything well in hand and shooed me out of the kitchen," she explained.

Ten minutes later Mom called to us to help carry the things out so we all made a couple of trips and loaded up the table with serving dishes full of steaming food. Mom came out last, carrying the turkey.

"Where's Mrs. McGuire?" I asked.

"In the kitchen. I invited her but she doesn't think that it's appropriate."

I got up and went into the kitchen. "Mrs. McGuire, today is the day that we all let our hair down and give thanks for what we have been blessed. I know that this is an American holiday, but I would consider it a favor if you would join us in our celebration, and our meal."

"Oh, I couldn't, Miss. I'm just the hired help."

"You're much more than that. Come out please."

"Well… if you insist."

"I do."

Five minutes later we were all enjoying the meal and praising Mom's and Mrs. McGuire's culinary skills. Except for the Thanksgiving meal that we'd had in Mexico, this was the first time that we enjoyed one outside in the back yard, and there was little doubt that the food was better than what we had enjoyed last year in Mexico. It did seem strange though, not to have Aunt Jessica at the meal.

 

(continued in Chapter 57)

 

This episode is dedicated to Debbie Cybill, who passed away while convalescing following surgery to correct a blood flow problem. Debbie was one of my regular editors for this series and is responsible for having made it a more enjoyable story for my readers.

I want to express my grateful appreciation to Lynn Jennings, Kim Em, and Pax Vobiscum for their very helpful suggestions, and proofreading services.

 

 

 

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© 1999 by Crystal Sprite. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.
Anyone wishing to make comments is welcome to e-mail me at crystal@storysite.org