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Belinda lit another cigarette and waited.
Fleur came home early and walked past Belinda without saying a word. Belinda followed her upstairs. “Baby, don’t be like this.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Fleur said with a quiet dignity that further unsettled Belinda.
“How much longer are you going to punish me?”
“I’m not punishing you.” Fleur went into her room and dropped her purse on the bed.
“I’d call three days of silence punishment,” Belinda retorted.
Fleur rounded on her. “What you did to me was wrong.”
Fleur’s intensity frightened Belinda. “I’m not perfect, baby. Sometimes my ambition for you gets the better of me.”
“No kidding.”
Fleur’s sarcasm was a relief. Belinda made her way to her daughter’s side. “You’re special, baby, and I won’t ever let you forget that, no matter how much you try to. The rules for celebrities aren’t the same as the rules for ordinary people.”
“I don’t believe that.”
Belinda stroked her cheek. “I love you with all my heart, do you believe that?”
Fleur softened enough to nod.
Belinda’s eyes filled with tears. “I only want the best for you. Your destiny was carved out the instant you were conceived. Fame is in your blood.” She held out her arms. “Forgive me, baby. Please say you forgive me.”
Fleur let Belinda hug her. Gradually her stiff muscles relaxed. “I forgive you,” she whispered. “But please…Promise you won’t ever lie to me again.”
Belinda’s heart filled with love for her beautiful, naïve daughter. She stroked her hair. “I promise. I’ll never lie to you again.”
Just before dark, Belinda grabbed the keys to her Mercedes. If she didn’t do something quickly, everything she’d worked for would slip away. She parked in Fleur’s space at the studio and nodded to the guard as she went inside. None of the three men sitting in the dark projection room noticed her. They were too absorbed in the images on the screen.
“The entire fucking sympathy of the movie shifts to her.” Johnny Guy twisted the cap on what looked like a bottle of Maalox. “It’s as if we’re watching Snow White get raped. I swear to God, Jako, if you say ‘I told you so,’ I’ll kick your ass.”
“The film’s imploding on us,” Jake said tonelessly.
Belinda felt a chill.
“Let’s not jump the gun,” Dick Spano said. “Fleur had a bad day, that’s all.”
Johnny Guy popped an antacid. “You weren’t there, Dicky. She doesn’t have it in her to pull off that scene.”
Jake raked his fingers through his hair. “I’ll drive up to my place, turn off the phones for the weekend, and do some rewrites. We’ll have to cut some of her footage.”
Belinda dug her fingernails into her palms. Cut Fleur’s footage? She wouldn’t allow it.
“Do what you have to,” Johnny Guy said. “I’ll make some notes for you. I’m sorry about this, Jako. Really.”
Spano jabbed the air with his cigar. “I don’t get why she froze up like that. We all know some of the guys she’s dated. Big-time players. It’s not like she’s never taken her clothes off for a man.”
“But she hasn’t taken them off for Jake,” Johnny Guy said.
Spano cigar’s tip glowed. “What does that mean?”
Jake sighed. “Leave it alone, Johnny Guy.”
The director glanced over at Spano. “Fleur’s fallen hard for our boy.”
