The Viper Room
8852 Sunset Boulevard
West Hollywood, California
December 23/24, 1996
12:17 A.M.

Dang, but that girl could dance.
       Shane was on the dance floor, and the place was just hitting its stride as midnight passed. The famed black walls of the Viper were eerily and quietly glowing with sporadic green lights. The floor was packed, and the crowd mostly young (not quite as young as him, but thanks to his not being carded, no one knew about that…) and beautiful, either people who were someone or just liked imagining they were someone. In the middle of it were him and the girl he still only knew as Delight.
       The girl every other guy in the place seemed to know as the girl to watch.
       At the moment, Nine Inch Nails “Underneath the Skin” was pounding out of the sound system, and Delight, looking absolutely painful in her very short black dress, was using every inch of her body, and every strand of her long blond hair, to become one with the track. Shane was keeping up. He was definitely no stranger to dance clubs. And he’d danced with a lot of girls over the years. But none of them held a candle to her. She was masterful. She was sexy beyond belief. And unlike a lot of the other girls who seemed to be dancing for all the eyes around them, she was focusing it all on, and for, him. He didn’t take any smug pleasure in knowing all the other guys around him were thinking—probably with varying degrees of resentment—what a lucky guy he was. He was in total agreement with them.
       She moved up and started grinding on him, with her face almost touching his, and he kept rhythm with her. That was the great thing about dancing. It was a lot like acting. You were playing a part. Things you wouldn’t normally do (at least he wouldn’t) were just part of the expected role. So his dance with her was steamy, and electric, and something they were completely in synch on, like they’d been grooving together for years.
       In the middle of the sensual, pulsating moment, as they looked into each other’s eyes, she suddenly, and seemingly involuntarily, smiled at him. It didn’t fit the moment they were in, and that’s what made it so great. It was a warm and fun and loving smile.
       God, he loved her smile.
       There was no band that night, so a D.J. was playing, someone he was sure was well-known in L.A. circles but that he didn’t have a clue about. As Ash had promised, when he and Dee had shown up at the rope an hour before, and he’d given his name, he was not only on the list, but the door guy had signaled someone else and had him come over and escort the two of them in. And Ash had come through again, because they were led to “the booth” that she’d mentioned, where the famous plaque that, in rather foul language, warned people to not sit there, got to be ignored by Shane and his date. He at least had that going for him. Just getting her into the Viper Room wasn’t, it turned out, that big of a thing, as she’d been there before (her looks got her into many L.A. clubs without a problem, despite the fact that she was still nineteen). But getting her a seat at the booth was. And the even bigger than that was when Johnny Depp himself came out of a back room and walked right over to them and introduced himself. That had impressed. He’d turned out to be a pretty cool guy. Sure, still aloof and hard to read, but he’d talked to them for a few minutes and asked if they wanted anything. The part Shane enjoyed most about it—aside from meeting one of the guys who’d made him want to be an actor, watching him on “21 Jump Street” as a kid—was probably watching Depp try to figure out who Shane was, and why Terrance Cross’s assistant seemed so interested in making sure he was taken care of. That’s what made it great—neither Johnny Depp nor Ash were putting on the spread for Windjammer. They were doing it for Shane. Well, okay, for Chris. But it had nothing to do with the costume. That made it feel somehow more real.
       And he got to share it with Dee. She’d played it very cool, but after Johnny had left she’d had to slide over and whisper her excitement in his ear. She, too, loved the fact that he’d had no idea that he was talking to Windjammer, someone who was (she felt, Shane didn’t) probably more famous than the actor himself now. And she’d seemed to really enjoy being the one who knew the secret.
       Their time together had been really wonderful since he’d finally called her that night after he’d gone and found the café from his vision/dreams and realized that he wasn’t crazy (after part of him really hoped that he was). He’d been in a complete emotional turmoil, and needed someone that night. He’d phoned her, for the first time since getting into town, and she’d been so happy to hear from him that his troubles started to melt away immediately. She’d just happened to have the TV on earlier that day when the news broke in that Windjammer was at Planet Hollywood, and she’d watched the whole thing, and had been, she admitted, waiting by the phone the rest of the day.
       They’d talked for just a few minutes and then she’d wanted to come over, so he let his caution down, needing her as he did, and told her how to find the Malibu house. She’d flown over, out over the ocean, and landed on his deck—which he hadn’t noticed until she knocked on the glass door and he’d seen her standing there with her bright, wide smile. He’d let her in, and she’d hugged him so tightly and so happily that he’d actually managed to forget all his earlier cares. He’d given her the house tour, and they’d stayed up talking all night there on the couch—as he told her all about the Planet Hollywood event and all the celebrities he’d met and what they’d said to him—with him worrying that Jerry would be coming through the door and he’d have to deal with letting part of his real life into his whatever-it-was with her. As it turned out, Jerry never made it home that night. Thanks to Connie.
       They’d made plans for later that same day, and she’d flown home just before sunrise to get some sleep, after hugging him good-bye, but, thankfully, not trying to kiss him. He still hadn’t been able to let go of the Renee guilt, but his need for Delight—for someone who understood the side of him he hadn’t yet shared with Renee, which she wouldn’t be able to really understand anyway, unlike Dee—had overcome it. After he’d gotten some sleep himself, he’d called her, and had followed her directions to Venice Beach, and to her very cool loft there. They’d walked the beach, they’d talked more, they’d lunched together, they’d laughed and gotten to know each other better…though the unspoken line had remained, where they didn’t share their real names with one another.
       She’d made him bring his costume, and that night, she’d put on hers, and as she’d wanted, they’d gone flying together over the ocean and around the coast. Under the Pacific stars, he’d soared on his board—as he’d told himself he would during the trip—just above the black, mysterious water, with Dee standing on the board behind him with her arms around his chest and her chin on his shoulder. It was a moment he knew he’d never forget.
       The next day they’d hit the town, and she’d taken him shopping for clothes and sunglasses, and they’d had another amazing time together, always laughing, liking each other more and more with each passing hour and shared story and discovered connection in music or movies (and, it turned out, newspaper comic strips). That a girl he’d known to have so much darkness and pain and anger in her life was so happy—and because of him—kept his guilt at bay as well. She’d come to Phoenix to find him because she needed him. In her own way, she was alone and scared like him. He’d wanted so bad, that night at Hole In The Rock, to take care of her, and now he was. That made him feel good. Being with her made him feel good. He loved seeing the fun side of her that he was sure showed itself very rarely. That he was the one that brought it out in her made him feel special, and like he was doing something noble instead of just sneaking behind his girlfriend’s (why had Renee had to finally pull the boyfriend word out just before he’d gotten on the plane?) back for his own selfish reasons.
       That evening they’d spent at her place, eating in and talking more and watching movies together. When it had gotten late, she’d excused herself and gone to her room and come back out, having changed into a tee shirt and a pair of socks. Just to get comfortable, she’d said. He’d asked if it was getting too late, and she’d almost desperately told him no and that she didn’t want him to leave. So they’d watched cable there on the floor in her living room into the late night, talking, laying there together, feeling very comfortable with each other and emotionally close. She’d wanted to move to the couch, so they had. And they’d fallen asleep there together with TV flickering in the darkness before them.
       He’d woken sometime later, sometime before sunup, to the feel of her lips on his. He’d opened his eyes and seen hers there before his, seeming to be looking right through him, right into his soul. And she’d kissed him again. Maybe it had been because he was half-awake so his defenses were down, but he’d kissed her back, tenderly. And they’d kissed for a good long while, and he’d realized how much their time together had meant to him, and how much he cared about her, and that he was starting to fall for her, despite telling himself otherwise. It had continued until she’d tried to take it further, and reality had set in and he’d stopped her, and was afraid she’d lash out at him like she’d done in Phoenix when he’d pushed her away once before and hurt her so badly. But this time, she’d simply stopped, and nodded quickly and whispered “okay” to him a couple of times, quietly accepting his boundaries, for whatever reason he had them, apparently not wanting to lose what they had. She’d kissed him again and then put her arms around him, and he’d encircled her in his, more grateful than she could know for her reaction. They’d held each other and fallen asleep together again, and when they’d woken this morning, she was still happy, and didn’t speak of what had happened—or rather didn’t happen—and had been content and peaceful as he’d made them breakfast. The only thing that had changed was that they were now kissing, and they’d done so again as he’d left her and headed back to Malibu.
       And she kissed him again as the song ended, with her arms over his shoulders, as men all around watched and seethed with sad envy.
       They left the dance floor together, working their way through the crowd, and she walked behind him, arms now around his neck from the other side, to maximize their ability to cut a path. As they did, Shane was bumped hard by a large guy a couple of years older than him with long hair and a lot of tattoos. The guy stopped and eyed Shane darkly. Shane, of course, wanted no kind of trouble, and his natural reaction was to want to apologize and make peace.
       Then the guy moved his glance to Dee, and started looking her up and down hungrily, and with no regard for the guy she was with. His lips curved into kind of a sleazy smile.
       Dee looked back at him with a kind of grunt of indignation that, to Shane’s experience, only girls could pull off. The guy didn’t seem to mind. He seemed to kind of like it. And then he turned his gaze to Shane again, challengingly, gauging Shane’s reaction.
       “Got a problem, surfer boy?” he asked with a raise of his chin.
       “Wow,” Dee said to him, with a calm venom. “Are you ever fucking with the wrong two people.”
       “Oh, is that right?” he asked, turning his gaze back to her.
       “Yeah,” she said flatly, meeting his gaze with a motionless, steely glare. “That’s right.”
       He looked her over again, this time sizing her up a different way, then moved his eyes back to Shane.
       Shane, too, met his gaze. And he let himself think of all the things he could do to this guy if he wanted to. So this guy thought he was tough. Thought he could try to show Shane up in front of his girl. How tough would he be if he suddenly found himself blown up to the ceiling and pinned there with battering wind? Or spun around in the air in a mini-tornado Shane could call up until the jerk passed out or puked all over himself? Or just plain got blown right out the front door and out onto Sunset?
       Shane locked eyes with the tattooed guy as he thought these things, thoughts very much unlike him, but that felt right somehow. He didn’t like bullies. This wasn’t the first run-in he’d had at a club with one of these guys that went out looking for trouble, their idea of a good time. But he never let them get to him, probably because he knew what he could do if he got angry, and how unfair that would be, and how wrong it would be to use his powers like that (and, of course, that it would probably be giving a rather large secret in his life away). So he always let it go.
       But this one was messing with Dee.
       So instead of backing down, he just glared.
       The guy held the glare for a minute, but then maybe saw something there. Because he started, not too obviously, to lose his cockiness. To show a little shadow of doubt. His eyes left Shane’s and went to Delight, and she was staring at him with a look, too, that said he was making a mistake. Maybe a big one.
       After a couple more moments, and as more of his confidence started to falter, he looked back at Shane, made a show of looking him up and down, and made a dismissive snort through his nose. Shane’s glare didn’t drop. The guy then, maybe a little too quickly, turned and walked away.
       “Yeah,” Delight said after he left, with an evil and satisfied little smile on her lips. “That’s what I thought.”
       She turned her head to Shane, and he looked back at her, still calm. She smiled and took his hand, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “My hero.”
       Then she kissed him, softly, but with passion. He kissed her back, feeling an unusual surge of testosterone. But confusion quickly followed. What had just happened? Had he really just gotten macho on a guy and thought about hurting him just because he was jackass? That wasn’t like him. It was, in fact, pretty stupid. But a guy had a responsibility to defend his date, right? Even if that guy had the power to bring the whole building down around him? He didn’t like the question. And at the moment, wasn’t too sure he liked himself.
       But then the kiss ended, and he saw Dee’s smile. The happy, fun smile was back, and the kind of scary one from a moment ago was gone. And with that, he felt the guilt drift away. The moment had passed, and he hadn’t actually hurt anybody, and he taught a jerk a lesson. No harm. But it occurred to him that just being with her had made him doing that so much easier. Was that what it was like, being her? Having great power but not being afraid to use it? He had to admit…as wrong as he thought it was, the feeling was pretty liberating.
       She put her arm in his and they headed for the bar. Behind the bar, as Shane had already discovered earlier, was Adam Duritz. Shane had heard stories about this before, how the lead singer of Counting Crows, one of Shane’s favorite bands, occasionally dropped in and tended bar at the Viper, just for kicks. This had ended up being one of those nights. And they’d already spoken, and Shane had managed to not come off as a fan, he was happy to say.
       Adam spotted him and nodded. “Hey,” he said. “The water boy returns”.
       Shane grinned.
       “Another?” Adam asked.
       “Yeah,” Shane said, loud enough to be heard over the crowd and the music behind them. “Thanks.”
       “You know,” the singer/bartender said, putting some ice in a glass and spritzing water into it, “Johnny said I wasn’t supposed to card you. You can order an actual drink, my man.”
       “Water’s fine,” Shane smiled. “I’m just thirsty.”
       Adam shrugged and handed it to him, then turned to Dee. “And for the lovely lady? Vodka tonic again?”
       “Please,” she said, smiling at him and putting her head on Shane’s shoulder as he drank his water.
       “Coming up,” he told her, going for a bottle behind him.
       “Hey,” Dee said to Shane.
       He finished drinking and put his glass on the bar and looked at her.
       “You make me happy,” she said, smiling at him.
       Her words warmed him all over and he smiled back at her. He slid his arms around her waist and they just looked at each other for a few moments, letting their feelings speak instead of words. Then she put her arms around him and leaned her head on his chest and sighed.
       Adam returned with her drink, but paused and looked at the pair of them for a moment. He looked her over and then nodded to Shane with a grin. Shane grinned back, accepting the compliment.
       “Vodka tonic,” Adam said, sliding her glass to the edge of the bar. Releasing her hug, she took it and thanked him. And neither she nor Shane bothered pulling any money out, because as they’d already found out, their drinks were on the house tonight. Adam excused himself to go take another order, leaving them alone.
       After taking a sip from her drink, Dee said to Shane, “This is amazing. All of this. Thank you.”
       She’d managed to warm him again. “You’re very welcome,” he said back with a smile. “Can’t think of anyone else I’d rather share it with.”
       This made her happy, and she smiled as she took another drink. “I like you sharing things with me,” she said over the music. “Maybe you should think about making it a habit.”
       “Maybe I should,” he grinned back.
       “You know…” she said, leaning closer to him. “Your Hollywood perks… Your thoughts and your dreams… Your name…”
       He laughed, and she shared the laugh with him.
       “Here I thought the mystery added some excitement to our relationship,” he said.
       She looked down at her drink, and as she did, she wore what looked like kind of a shy smile. She looked back up at him and her eyes sparkled.
       “Is that what we have here?” she asked. “A relationship?”
       Oops…
       The question gave him mild panic attack, but he kept it in check. He thought about his next words carefully, because he really didn’t want to screw up what was shaping up to be a really perfect night (jackasses with ink notwithstanding).
       “Hard to say,” he answered, trying to keep the mood light. “I mean, we’re not really like…other people, you know?”
       “I noticed,” she nodded, grinning, seeming to enjoy him pointing that out.
       “So it’s kind of hard to use the normal rules with us. We’re kind of outside the box.”
       “That,” she said, setting her drink down and leaning in again, “sounds suspiciously like a dodge.”
       “Wow, am I that obvious?” he asked, trying to keep it playful.
       “You’re pretty much always obvious. That’s one of the things I like about you.”
       “Really?” he asked, putting his arm around her waist again. “Well, what are some of the other things you like about me?” Welcome to Dodge City. I’m Sheriff Shane Doleman, at your service. Have distraction, will travel…
       “Well,” she said, thoughtfully. “I like…your hair...” She reached up and brushed his long bangs as he smiled at her. “I like…the way you open the car door for me like we’re in a black and white movie.”
       Shane laughed.
       “I like that you can really dance, and you’re not just one of those guys who has two moves and just repeats them over and over.”
       Okay, he’d take that.
       “I like how you kiss like you mean it, not like you’re being graded.”
       Oh, he’d definitely take that.
       She put her arms around his back and moved in closer, looking up at him. “I like…the way you care about everybody, without trying to figure out if they deserve it first. I like the way you do things you don’t want to do, just because you think it’s the right thing to do, when everybody else in the world is just doing what’s best for them.”
       He looked down at her, suddenly touched, and suddenly loving everything about her at once.
       She saw this look, and looked like she was feeling the same way.
       “I like that I feel safe with you,” she went on. “I like that I know I can trust you, even when I’m afraid to. I like that you believe in me.”
       “Dee,” he said quietly, suddenly needing to gulp.
       She put her cheek against his and hugged him, and he held her tightly, and they were silent for a few moments there with the crowd moving all around them and the music pumping rhythmically, like there was a heartbeat in the floor.
       “Know what else?” she asked quietly.
       “What?” he asked back, just as quietly.
       She put her lips to his ear and whispered, “I like that you already called it a relationship and you don’t even realize it.”
       He laughed, and she did too as she hugged him tighter. Sometimes, when perfect moments came—he was trying to learn—you just had forget everything else and appreciate—
       “Shane? Shane Doleman?!”
       Shane couldn’t move, and was half-convinced he’d just imagined the voice. That was the only explanation that made sense. Or that was in any way fair if there was a God.
       He felt a hand on his back. And the voice came again. “Shane?”
       He raised his head, looking straight ahead, with his eyes wide and his face pale. Dee leaned back and looked up at him, then looked over his shoulder, then back at him—and the look on his face—and suddenly realized what was going on. Her eyes got wide, too. But unlike him, her lips pressed tightly together to try and stop a smile that was about to erupt.
       Unable to pretend it wasn’t happening any longer, Shane turned his head. And was met with the overly-smiling face of Todd Herrin.
       “It is you!” Todd laughed, suddenly pulling the stiff Shane into a hug (Delight had already released hers and had taken a step back, and was watching all this in a kind of hilarious disbelief). “How’s it going, dude?!”
       “Todd,” Shane croaked, managing to get his arms up and half-heartedly return the manly hug. “Good…to see you.”
       Todd pulled back from the hug and put his hands on Shane’s shoulders, and was still laughing. “Dude, what the heck are you doing here?”
       “Uh…” Shane said, helplessly, trying to pull up any kind of words at this point.
       “Teryn!” Todd suddenly shouted over his shoulder. “Teryn! It’s Shane!”
       With Todd’s head turned away for a second, Shane turned his own toward Dee. She was standing there, watching, and had her hand over her mouth, apparently trying very hard not to laugh.
       A brunette about Shane’s (and Todd’s) age turned around at the bar, spotted Shane, and her face lit up dramatically. And she screamed.
       “Shane!”
       Oh, oh God. This was not happening.
       “You believe this?” Todd asked the girl loudly as she came running over.
       She threw her arms around Shane and squeezed him. “Shane Doleman, oh my God! How are you?!”
       “I’m…great, Teryn,” Shane managed through the squeezing. “Great to see you.”
       “I knew it was him!” Todd said proudly. “I saw him and said, wait, that looks like Shane Doleman. But it can’t be Shane Doleman. But it is! It’s Shane Doleman!”
       Teryn, wearing a red dress not quite as short as Dee’s, released the death-hug and backed up to stand next to Todd. “Shane, what are you doing here?! In L.A.?!”
       “Um…” he said, scratching the back of his head way too fast. “I’m just…you know, in town for the holidays.”
       “You should have called us, man!” Todd said, putting his arm around Teryn. “We’d have put you up! You know we got the condo in Westwood. Plenty of room!”
       “And we could have shown you around,” Teryn added. “Done the whole tourist thing.”
       “Well,” Shane said, feeling his dinner from earlier start to mambo, “you know. It’s…a really short trip. I’d have called, but…just…not here for all that…”
       “Hey, how’s Jerry?” Todd asked, slapping Shane on the arm. “He still doing that writing thing, I hope?”
       “He is,” Shane nodded. And now that Dee knew his name was Jerry, and already knew that his roommate the writer was here in town with him, there was really reason not to say, “And…we’re both here. In town.”
       “Really?” Todd exclaimed. “No way! Where is he?”
       “He’s out. Elsewhere. With people.” There was actual sweat dripping down his back. He could feel it. Like little salty liquid racehorses, heading for the finish line. Which, in this case, was the waistband of his boxers.
       Todd (and Shane) suddenly noticed Teryn looking over Shane’s shoulder. Todd followed her gaze and said, a little awkwardly (though Todd never stayed awkward for long), “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I kind of interrupted you. Heh.”
       Shane looked back, and Dee was standing there, smiling politely, but at the same time looking ridiculously pleased.
       “Hi,” Todd said, leaning past Shane and extending his hand to her. “I’m Todd. And this is Teryn.”
       “Oh, yeah,” Shane said, as Dee took Todd’s hand and shook it. “Um…my bad. This is…um…”
       “Jennifer,” Delight said, with a cordial and serene smile. “Jennifer Wells.”
       “Nice to meet you, Jennifer,” Teryn said, shaking her hand, too. And despite his panic and abdominal Cirque Du Soleil, Shane paused, and looked at Dee, and felt a weird kind of pleasing calm.
       Jennifer.
       She lightly bit her lower lip and turned her eyes to his. Shane found himself smiling.
       ‘Jennifer’ took a step forward and put her arm around Shane and stood with him.
       “Oh, um…” Shane said, trying to compose himself and deal with the situation. He looked at Jennifer and pointed his finger at Todd and Teryn. “We all went to high school together. But Todd and Teryn here both got into UCLA and moved away after that. Teryn’s dad bought them a condo by the campus.”
       “Yeah,” Todd smirked, “he knew we were going to keep having sex anyway, so he figured we might as well do it someplace nice.”
       “Todd!” Teryn scolded, hitting his arm. Jennifer laughed.
       “High school sweethearts,” Shane explained. “Yeah, Teryn’s dad owns a financial consulting company. Todd’s folks own one of the big resorts in Scottsdale.”
       “Oh, man, did we ever used to drive my parents nuts,” Todd laughed. “We totally used to goof off there on weekends, speeding around the golf course and having cart races. I think the four of us spent half of senior year there.”
       Teryn cleared her throat and shot Todd a disapproving glance, and there was awkward silence for a moment.
       “Uh oh,” Jennifer smiled, putting her arm through Shane’s and looking up at him. “Sounds like an ex.”
       “Sorry,” Todd grimaced, looking embarrassed.
       “My senior year girlfriend,” Shane told her, apologetically. “We used to all hang out a lot. She went off to school at Vassar.”
       “So, hey,” Todd asked Jennifer, seeming to try to change the subject and salvage his faux pas, “are you from Phoenix, or…?”
       “No,” she smiled. “I’m from here. Shane and I met when I was in Phoenix a few months ago.”
       And she had just used his real name for the first time. The change was now cemented.
       “Oh, cool,” Teryn said. “You go to school, or…?”
       “No,” Jennifer said, and to her credit didn’t betray any kind of resentment at the question. “Not yet, at least. Still trying to figure out where I want to be.”
       “Aren’t we all?” Todd laughed. “I think Teryn’s changed majors four times. Drives her dad nuts.”
       “Yes, well, it doesn’t take much to drive him nuts,” Teryn said with a roll of her eyes. “So, Shane,” she said, turning her head to him. “How did you and Jennifer meet?”
       Shane’s mouth kind of hung open oddly. Well, see, there were these terrorists that took over Planet Hollywood, and they hired this girl with super-powers—Jennifer—in case I showed up—oh, I’m actually Windjammer, in case I didn’t mention—and we had this big flying chase all over town and through the mall, but somehow ended up making out by the end of things. You know, the normal stuff…
       There was a small commotion behind Todd and Teryn, and Johnny Depp broke slowly through the crowd and walked by. And stopped when he reached Shane.
       “Hey,” he said, “I’ve got to take off, but it was really good meeting you, Chris.”
       Todd and Teryn both just blinked.
       “Um…you, too,” Shane said, nervously, shaking his hand…and strangely, it wasn’t shaking hands with Johnny Depp that was making him nervous.
       “Next time you’re back in town,” Depp said, “drop on in.”
       “I will,” Shane answered. “Thanks.”
       “Nice meeting you, too,” Johnny told Jennifer, giving her a Hollywood kiss on the cheek.
       “You, too,” she smiled.
       “Happy holidays, you guys,” were Depp’s parting words, and he then headed toward the back room he’d first appeared from. Without really meaning to, Shane raised his hand in a wave, and it was still up when he looked back at Todd and Teryn, who were staring at him, dumbfounded.
       “Oh,” Shane said, and changed his wave hand to a pointing one in that direction, and looked that way and then back at them. “That was just…you know, my mom still knows some people, and…yeah.”
       “Your mom knows Johnny Depp?” Todd laughed, excitedly, still not believing what had just happened.
       “Well, not directly,” Shane said, shrugging it off. “You know how these things are. You know someone who knows someone… Next thing you know you’re having to say hi to the kid of someone you’ve never met because someone you know knows someone who wants a favor… He was just being nice.” He laughed dismissively. “Guy can’t even remember my name. These guys meet so many people, you know. Can’t expect them to. Still, that was pretty cool of him.”
       “I guess!” Teryn exclaimed, shaking her head. “Wow! God, Shane, why didn’t you have this kind of pull when you were hanging out with us?”
       They all laughed about the moment, and Jennifer held onto her small, secret smile. She was definitely enjoying this.
       “So how is Lana?” Teryn asked.
       Okay, are they going to start naming my childhood pets aloud next?, Shane wondered. Sure, why not bring Mom into it, too? The only thing that was keeping him from completely wigging out was that neither of these two knew or knew about Renee. Though he was trying hard to think if they were still connected to anyone who did know about Renee.
       “She’s good,” he answered. “Still selling houses. Still single.”
       “God, how?” Teryn asked.
       Shane shrugged. “You’re not the only one to wonder.”
       “Hey,” Todd said suddenly. “What are you guys doing for New Year’s? You should hook up with us! We’re going to this great party in the Hills.”
       “Yeah!” Teryn agreed, exuberantly. “Oh, come on, you have to!”
       “Oh,” Shane said, looking over at Jennifer, who was still just smiling. “We’d love to, but we’ve already got plans.”
       “We have Rockin’ New Year’s Eve tickets,” Jennifer explained, putting her arm back around Shane’s elbow.
       “Wow,” Todd said, impressed.
       “Yeah,” Shane said, rolling with it. “Mom again. Just can’t pass something like that up, you know?”
       “That’s too bad,” Teryn said, regretfully. “Are you going to be around after New Year’s? We’re flying to Phoenix tomorrow for the family Christmas thing. We won’t be back until the thirty-first.”
       “No, Jerry and I are headed right back. I wish we had more time.”
       “Me, too,” she said, disappointed. “God, it’s so good to see you again. Are you going to be back in L.A. anytime soon?”
       “Uh…” he said, looking down at Jennifer. “Probably. Yeah.”
       Jennifer gave him a smile.
       “If he’s smart, he is,” Todd added, throwing Shane a knowing wink.
       “Well, we’ll have to get together!” Teryn insisted. “For sure! You still have our number?”
       “I do,” Shane said. “And we will. That sounds like fun.”
       “And Jennifer can show us some of those hidden places only the natives know,” Todd suggested.
       “I think I can come up with a place or two,” Jennifer nodded, happily.
       “Well,” Teryn whined, “I so hate to leave you, but we just called a cab. We were just about to go. We have an early flight.” She did that pouty lip thing that she’d always done so well. One that had always worked particularly well on her condo-buying daddy.
       “Yeah,” Shane said. “We’re going to be taking off, too. Got some plans.”
       Teryn stepped forward and hugged Shane. “It was so good seeing you, honey!”
       “You, too,” Shane said, hugging her back. “It’s been too long. I miss you guys.”
       “Well, then, don’t let it be too long again,” she smiled. She turned her attention to Jennifer. “It was so nice to meet you, Jennifer!”
       “You, too,” Jennifer smiled. “I hope we get to hang out soon. When Shane comes back.”
       “Count on it,” Todd said, taking and briskly shaking Shane’s hand, and pulling him into a hug. “Good to see you, dude! Glad you’re well.”
       “Yeah, you too,” Shane said.
       “Glad you’re really well,” Todd whispered, clapping Shane on the back. “She’s amazing, man.”
       “Thanks,” Shane whispered back, and shared a grin with Todd as they pulled apart.
       They all said their final farewells, and Todd and Teryn headed for the exit. Shane and Jennifer watched them go. She was the one to look up at Shane first, and he turned his head, slowly, toward her.
       She burst into laughter and threw her arms around him.
       “I’m sorry,” she said through her laughing.
       “There’s no way that just happened,” he said aloud, still not quite believing his unprecedented bad luck. What were the chances?
       She kept laughing and hugging him, and he hugged her back. She finally got her fit until control and leaned her head back to see his face.
       “Are you mad?” she asked, carefully.
       “No,” he said, quickly, shaking his head. “Seriously. I just…didn’t think it was going to happen that way.”
       “I’m glad it did,” she said warmly with a wide, intimate smile. “Shane,” she said, trying out his name again and studying his face, maybe to see if the two properly matched.
       “Yeah,” he said, rolling his eyes.
       “Shane Doleman,” she said, mimicking Todd, and started laughing again. Which made him, despite himself, laugh, too. She rubbed her hands on his chest after a moment and looked up at his face. “I like it. I knew you’d have a cool name. I like the name Shane.”
       “And I like the name Jennifer,” he responded, rubbing her hands. “That…is really your name, right?”
       “Yes,” she said, faking offense. “Like I’d play you like that after you got outted. Please. If you’d just bothered to look at any of the mail in my kitchen, you could have known that already.”
       “I didn’t want to pry,” he said, which sounded better than the truth, that he just hadn’t thought to do that.
       “Well, now you don’t have to,” she smiled. “No more secrets.”
       “Right,” he said, wishing that were true. “No more secrets.”
       She looked down at his hands on hers for a moment, then back up into his eyes.
       “It’s nice to meet you, Shane,” she said.
       “It’s nice to meet you, too, Jennifer,” he whispered.
       Unaware of the crowd around them, they stood there, kissing, in front of the bar, while Collective Soul’s “The World I Know” played from seemingly everywhere at once.


Mandeville Canyon Road
Brentwood, California
Decemeber 23/24, 1996
12:57 A.M.

       Jerry laughed with a smoldering Cohiba Esplendido between his teeth.
       Yes, Mr. Anti-Big-Tobacco, the guy who griped at smokers at restaurants and clubs, was smoking a cigar. He was in Rome (or at least the American version of it), and finally started to accept that when in Rome, one eventually needed to give in and put on the toga. He was still not quite believing that he’d actually turned one down in the home of Terrance Cross days before. How much had changed in those few days.
       He was poolside under the stars, wearing slacks, an Italian sport coat (keeping with that whole Rome theme…) over a white shirt, and looking like (after taxes) a million bucks. He was chatting it up with a group of four, behind the California home of British record producer Steve Lillywhite (most famous that year for producing Dave Matthews’ latest). It was a house, Connie had pointed out, that was right next door to Michael Douglas’s. Though “right next door” was measured a little differently in Brentwood than in Phoenix.
       The foursome included a young up-and-comer in production at Paramount named Dennis Harbert (golfer, boxing fan), a semi-long-haired studio musician of about 35 named Gary Vado, who’d played guitar on some recent Chris Isaak recordings (big Laker fan, though Jerry managed to somehow forgive that), a very funny guy about five years older than Jerry named Norbert Hall, a current staff writer for the Tonight Show and budding screenwriter, and Norbert’s very cool kind-of-Lisa-Loeb-looking girlfriend Dedra, a talent scout with Universal (one of about ten thousand, she’d pointed out).
       The five of them were currently making up the stogie contingent, though there were plenty of other smokers in small groups out behind the house, some in Santa hats to fit the theme of the party. Jerry was in the middle of sharing his Quentin Tarantino story, to the delight of his audience. He’d heard enough of other people’s celebrity stories the past few days, and having a few of his own made him feel like he fit in. And he liked that they all seemed impressed with him for having such an A-level one.
       “Yeah, that sounds like him all right,” Norbert laughed. “Hey, maybe Lucas’ll let him make one of these new ones, huh?”
       “Oh, great,” Dedra said, taking a puff of her cigar. “That’s just what the world needs. ‘Reservoir Droids’.”
       “Hey, I’d pay to see it,” Dennis laughed.
       “’Don’t point that lightsabre at my Dad!’” Norbert said theatrically, miming like he had a gun, doing a pretty good Chris Penn imitation that got them all laughing again.
       Smiling and feeling proud of himself, Jerry took a sip of his near-empty drink and looked over Gary’s shoulder, wondering what was taking Connie so long. After a little searching, he spotted his girl inside though one of the big picture windows, moving through the crowd in there with glasses in both her hands, looking absolutely yummy in her festive, glittering little red dress. He watched her with a proud (and cocky) grin as she paused to greet different industry folks inside that she knew. She did know how to light up a room, that was for sure.
       He kept watching, as Norbert started making ‘Pulp Jedi’ jokes to amuse the others, and almost looked away to join in the fun, when he saw Connie run into a slick-looking Euro guy. They recognized each other immediately, and she draped her arms around him, careful not to spill the drinks she was getting for her and Jerry. He put his around her, too, and Jerry felt a jolt of territorial discomfort as the guy’s hands got way too close to—
       No. No, they were right on her ass.
       The voices around him kind of faded as he watched, craning his neck, and Connie and the guy kissed. He couldn’t tell which of them started the kiss first, but did that really matter? The kiss didn’t last all that long, but it was still way too long, and when it ended, they wore intimate smiles and spoke to each other softly and fondly, their faces close together. Jerry stood there, in a wounded bewilderment, watching, and felt a tingling in his chest that seemed to spread his arms.
       Finally, after some laughter from her and more smiling words from him, they kissed once more (a shorter kiss, but one that still seemed to go on forever in his perception), and Euro Boy squeezed Jerry’s date’s rear end again as she left him, giving him a sultry smile over her shoulder as she walked away and disappeared from Jerry’s sight. He could now only see the guy, who whose eyes stayed on her, and whose smile remained.
       Jerry blinked, and seemed to feel his feet sinking a bit through the cement below, but didn’t have time to think on what he’d just seen for long, as he realized Norbert was asking him a question about Empire Strikes Back. Quickly brought back to the moment, Jerry forced his smile back and pulled out his store of Star Wars trivia knowledge, something he was in no short supply of.
       Connie appeared a few moments later, stopping to greet a couple of people along the way, and Jerry’s eyes drifted from the crowd he was with, periodically, to watch her approach. She finally made it over, in the middle of Dedra relating a tale about meeting Carrie Fisher at a studio event and what a hilarious and bawdy lady she was.
       She smiled at Jerry and handed him his fresh drink, and he took it, managing to say thanks to her, and drank probably too much of it at once.
       “I miss anything?” Connie asked the group, slipping her arm around Jerry.
       “Just a bunch of Star Wars nerds outing themselves,” Gary grinned, chewing on his cigar.
       “Nerf herder,” Norbert commented at him, making Dedre laugh.
       “I rest my case,” Gary said, rolling his eyes.
       Connie smiled at Jerry, then looked at him curiously as he had trouble meeting her gaze.
       “Well, hey,” Dennis said, breaking a momentary lull in conversation, “I’ve got to get back to a condo far, far away. The wife’s going to disown me if I’m not up bright and early to help her with the gift wrapping. Though I’m sure the kids have found all their presents already and are working on their fake surprise faces for Christmas morn.”
       “Golden Globe nominees in the making,” Norbert grinned. “Tell them to start working on those speeches.”
       “Will do,” Dennis said. “Norbert, Dedre, good to see you, as always.”
       “You too,” Norbert smiled, shaking his hand. “Happy holidays, man.”
       “Happy holidays,” Dedre echoed, kissing his cheek.
       “Good to meet you, Gary,” he said, shaking with the guitarist. “Looking forward to that solo project.”
       “Don’t hold you breath, but thanks. Happy holidays.”
       “Connie,” he said, turning to her and Jerry, kissing her cheek (see? Jerry thought. The cheek. That’s how you’re supposed to do it.). “Hope to see you at the opening.”
       “I’ll be there,” she smiled. “Count on it. Happy holidays, Dennis.”
       “Jerry,” he said, gripping Jerry’s hand firmly. “Great to meet you.”
       “You, too,” Jerry answered.
       “If you’re in Vegas in March, let me know. I’ll get you ringside.”
       “Awesome,” Jerry nodded. “That’d be great. I’ll call if it happens.”
       Dennis left the group with a final wave, and Gary then said his good-byes, needing to get back to the group he’d come to the party with. That left Norbert and Dedre with Jerry and Connie.
       “Well,” Norbert said, hugging his girlfriend, “I guess we’d better play it smart and take off, too, huh?”
       “Yeah,” Dedre sighed. “My parents are coming tomorrow. We should probably be awake for it, I guess.”
       “Really don’t see that happening, anyway,” Norbert grinned, squeezing her and kissing her head.
       “Well, it was great to see the both of you again,” Connie said, hugging on Jerry. “We need to do this more often.”
       “Agreed,” Norbert said. “And you need to keep bringing Jerry. It’s good to hang with someone else who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators.”
       “Okay,” Dedre said, “Even I’m going to have to shun you for that one.”
       Shaking Jerry’s hand briskly and smiling, Norbert said, “Really great meeting you, Jer. I hope you do end up moving out here. You let me know right away if you do.”
       “You bet I will,” Jerry said.
       “Maybe we can work on something together. We’ll talk about it.”
       “Great,” Jerry said, actually pretty jazzed about the idea. Aside from just liking Norbert a lot, and feeling like they liked all the same stuff and had the same sense of humor, he thought about what a huge help it would be to have someone around who had more screenwriting experience—than, say, Jerry and his whole one screenplay. “Yeah, we definitely will.”
       “Cool,” Norbert grinned. “We’ll see you guys, all right?”
       “Happy holidays, guys,” Dedre said, kissing Connie and Jerry’s cheeks. “We’ll all get together, okay?”
       And with their exit, Jerry and Connie stood alone, for the moment, under the stars, with the mill of the guests (and crashers) moving about nearby.
       Connie looked at Jerry, who was sipping his drink and looking straight ahead.
       “What’s that look?” she asked him.
       “Hm?” he asked, reflexively.
       “I miss something?” she asked.
       He looked, finally, into her mildly quizzical eyes, then looked back at the house, toward the window he’d seen her through before.
       “Friend of yours?” he asked.
       She shook her head slowly, trying to figure out what he was talking about. “Who?” she asked, and then it suddenly dawned on her and she followed his gaze toward the house.
       She gave a short laugh. “Jerrrryyyy,” said with a disapproving and almost motherly tone (but one that seemed amused at the same time). “Come on.”
       “What?” he asked, taking a drink. “You just seemed to…know him pretty well.”
       She sighed and patiently stepped in front of him and found his eyes. “He’s just an old friend,” she said, smiling and still amused.
       “Seems like a pretty…handy friend,” he said, carefully.
       She sighed again. “Yes, we were more than friends. That was a long time ago.”
       “He know that?”
       She put her head down before looking up at him again. “You do realize I had a social life before you flew into town, right?”
       Something about her look made him suddenly feel embarrassed and a little naïve. “Yeah,” he nodded. “Of course I do. I just…don’t worry about it. I’m just being…”
       He turned his head away, mostly from feeling foolish, but she touched his chin with her finger and brought it back.
       “Hey,” she whispered, smiling sexily. “Which one of you gets to take me home tonight. Huh?”
       He smiled back, and she wet her lips and gave him a very long and probably-not-best-for-public-viewing kiss. He quickly forgot about any childish jealousies and let himself enjoy it fully. She was with him. That was obvious. And it was amazing.
       She finally stopped and put her arms around his back and leaned heavily into him, something else he fully enjoyed. He wasn’t sure if it was more the booze or her he was drunk on right then.
       She smiled to make sure they were okay, and his smile back said they were.
       “I’m glad you got to meet Norbert,” she said, playing with his collar.
       “Me, too,” he said, kind of relieved at the change of subject. “He’s really cool.”
       “I thought it was a good idea that you meet the competition.”
       “The what?” he asked, suddenly confused.
       She grinned slyly. “David Carroll’s working a new Harrison Ford vehicle for Fox. Harrison’s trying to remake his image, go for the younger crowd. They’re shopping for a young writer to make it work. Norbert was the front-runner before you came on the scene.”
       “Really?” Jerry said, perking up at the idea and the big name drop. Harrison Ford? Okay, that was big…
       “Mmm hmm,” she smiled, rubbing his shoulders. “I’m trying to fold it into your deal that I’m working. Sounds like something that just might get your career off on the right track, huh?”
       “Yeah, I guess,” he laughed. Then remembered the whole body of the conversation. “Oh, so, Norbert’s up for it, too. That’s cool.”
       “Well,” she said, low and confidential. “I wouldn’t worry about that. I don’t think he’ll be in the line much longer.”
       “What do you mean?” Jerry asked, suspiciously.
       “Well,” she said, grinning. “Norbert hasn’t always been with Dedre. He was a little wild when he first started to hit it a couple of years back. Liked the parties a little too much. And at one such party, he had himself a little escapade with a girl. A young girl. One who didn’t look that young at the time, but was, in fact, seventeen. And a girl who just happens to be the niece of a certain Mr. Carroll.”
       “Wow,” Jerry blinked. “That’s crap luck.”
       “I’d say,” she laughed.
       “So…David knows about it, then?” Jerry asked.
       “Not yet,” she said, straightening his collar innocently. “But I have this funny feeling that he’s about to find out. Call it a crazy hunch.”
       He studied her face, which slowly turned back up to his with a coy and secret look.
       “What, are you serious?” he asked, not sure he was hearing her right.
       “Very,” she said. “Breaks like this are few and far between, sweetie. Count your blessings.”
       “But, wait,” he said, trying to catch up. “I don’t want to… I mean, that’s not…”
       “What, right?” she finished. “Baby. That’s how things are done. It’s the business. It isn’t always pretty, but that’s just how it is.”
       He looked over her shoulder, feeling slightly ill, and watched Norbert and Dedre saying good-bye to another couple, both of them laughing and smiling.
       She followed his gaze and looked back at him. “Are you going to make me get cliché and remind you it’s not called ‘show friends’?”
       “No,” he said, clearly conflicted. “It’s just…he seems like such a good guy.”
       “He is a good guy,” she said. “Jerry, it’s not personal. And don’t worry. Even if he did find out why he didn’t get the deal, it’s not like he’s going to know you had anything to do with it. Or me, for that matter. I know how to do these things right.”
       “That’s not what I’m…” he said, looking at her, stumbling over his thoughts and words. “I mean, why does it have to happen like that?”
       “Because you are big gossip right now, Jerry,” she said, getting serious, “but you’re still an untested property. Until your big thing with Terrance happens, guys like Norbert are going to get the Harrison Ford deals, if it’s a choice between you and him. We need to take away that choice. That’s our play. And it’s the play anyone in this town would make in the same situation. It’s called Hollywood, Jerry.”
       He still looked nauseous.
       “When you’re established, you’ll be able to work deals on merit. Right now, we need to use whatever tools we can. You have any idea the kind of money we’re talking about for a Ford movie? And what it will do for your career? We have a horse in the race, Jerry, and we’re going to run it. Because we’re not stupid. And because that’s what players do. You want to come to L.A.? You want in the business? You need to learn that. Right now.”
       He suddenly had a brief moment of clarity. Was this really what it was all about? How things happened here? Was he going to have to become this kind of person to reach his dreams? Or had he already started becoming that person already?
       He felt her hand on his cheek.
       “It’s all waiting for you, Jerry. The fame. The money. The creative freedom that comes with the big name. The power to write what you want, not what you’re told to write. The power to make your own deals and start your own projects. Once your name is where it needs to be, it’s all yours for the taking. All you have to do is trust me. I’m going to take you there, baby. I know what I’m doing, and I’m going to teach it all to you. You just need to trust me. Can you do that?”
       He looked into her impossibly beautiful face, as unreal as Hollywood magic. He thought about where he was right now. Everything he’d been through since arriving. All he’d ever wanted. The celebrity. The cred. The car. The girl. And whether he was somehow stupid enough to throw it all away because he refused to acknowledge the way things really were.
       He eventually nodded, silently, and finished his drink. Smiling, she handed him her own to replace it. And she kissed him, sensually, like a warm, wet promise of what lay ahead before the sun rose.