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“You may come in.” With that, the gates hinge open and my eyes grew huge to take it all in. Massive grounds on both sides envelop a driveway that leads straight toward what seems like a very luxury garage. The door opens, revealing tens of luxury sports cars, in equally rich colors inside.
The main house stands
high upon a driveway that leads uphill. Great! More steep driving. There’s no one in sight, till I manage the curvy uphill drive and land in front of a massive mansion. Numerous cars are parked in the space and a twinge of embarrassment strikes me, parking my raggedy car among Ferraris and Maseratis. A couple of people stand to the side of main entrance, smoking and chatting in an animated way, wine glasses in their hands.
Loud music was playing inside as I approach the entrance, and I’m not sure if I should just walk in, so I dial Shauna’s number. In a moment the PR woman is striding toward me.
“Carrie, right?” she says.
“Yes. From Coyote magazine,” I reply nervously.
“Yeah, yeah! Come on in. You get here okay?” she asks.
“Yeah. Sorry I was late. Took me a while to find the place.”
“Don’t worry about it. Would you like a drink?” Without waiting for an answer, Shauna picks off a wine glass from a passing tray and hands it to me. There are a lot of people inside and it seems like there a party’s going on.
“Have I come at the wrong time?”
“No, not at all. Why?”
“I thought I was coming in for a meeting,” I answer, “but this seems like a party.”
“Okay. First of all, relax. It’s just a birthday party for Willie,” Shauna reassures me. “You look like you’re entering a lion’s cage. You’re new to all this, right?”
“Somewhat,” I nod, not sure how much I should let on. Who’s Willie?
“God! I don’t know how you can work for that Max. The guy’s a vulture! I bet he’s made moves on you already?” Shauna asks, but when I don’t reply, she just nods a knowing smile.
“I’ve known the guy for ten years and I tell you, be wary of him. He’ll do anything, sleep with anyone, go to any length, to further his own interests. Plus he’s such a damn womanizer. But then every goddamn man in this town is.” She snorts in disgust.
“Max?” I ask in amazement. Shauna pauses in contemplation and then her eyes soften.
“You seem too nice for this line of work. Don’t fall for his charming words, sweetheart. Just do your job and don't let him get into your pants,” Shauna warns me. Too late for that, I think. My mind is totally off the task at hand as my thoughts veer back to Max. Did Max take advantage of me? Was it all just a fling for him? My heart sinks at the thought. And yet, a part of me keeps thinking of his words, his promises, and the look in his eyes every time he kisses me passionately. But why should I trust this woman’s word? This is a devious town and what she’s saying about Max might be true for me too. But does she have some agenda against him?
“Anyway, forget all that. Let’s go find David and get both of you acquainted. Now remember, the idea of this piece is to paint him in good light. No more shenanigans like you pulled in your last article,” Shauna wags a finger, like a schoolteacher.
Good-looking people are all over the house, and it doesn’t take long to notice a few celebrities I’ve only seen on magazine covers before. Floor to ceiling glass walls give sufficient light to the large living room, which opens up to a spacious patio with a huge swimming pool.
A cocktail of voices engrossed in conversation fill my ears as I make my way behind Shauna, who’s asking everyone if they’ve seen David. Antique furniture with hand-carved workmanship provides a stark contrast to the otherwise modern architecture. Heavy book cases sit toward one end of the room, next to which a marble staircase leads upstairs. It’s all overwhelmingly beautiful, but…I bet he hasn’t read even one of those books.
“There he is,” says Shauna, as she goes out to the patio.
The patio overlooks the city, and the view is mesmerizing but that’s not what my eyes are glued to. My attention is solely focused on the man climbing out of the swimming pool, with nothing on but a pair of swim trunks. Brawny, muscular in a ‘Calvin Klein underwear ad’ model way, Da Vinci himself couldn’t have crafted a better-looking specimen.
I try to look elsewhere but nothing else is near so beautiful as the man that approaching us. Butterflies fly in my stomach, tingles run down my arms and I feel a heat bomb explode inside me as the man smirks. Goddamn! I bite my lower lip a bit too hard. Get ahold of yourself Carrie!
“Don’t you look lovely today?” He says to Shauna, as he slowly dries himself with a towel.
“Get outta here!” Shauna tries to contain her smile.
“You know I mean that,” he winks.
“If you're trying to charm me so I let you party hard today then you can forget all about it.” Apparently it takes only a moment for Shauna to get into her school teacher thing.
“Hard partying and me? I’m one of those good, mama’s boys.”
“Yeah and the Pope shits in the woods.” Shauna shakes her head. “David. This is Carrie from Coyote magazine. She’s the one who’s going to do a feature on you.”
