Chapter 1
“I knew it!” TV director Charlotte Deavers read the headline of a gossip rag at the checkout line of a grocery store. There, in a huge letters on the front page was, ‘Hollywood Superstar Alexander Mark Richfield Splits from His LAPD Lieutenant Husband After Torrid Affair!’ She grabbed the piece of crap ‘journalism’ and added it to the conveyor belt of food she was buying for dinner. After she paid for her items and held the canvas bag strap on her shoulder, Charlotte nudged her dark framed glasses higher on her nose and opened the paper to the article. On her walk to her car in the miserable September heat, the air still reeking of smoke from distant fires, Charlotte turned the pages to the story. Full color photographs emblazoned the text as if it were proof. She glanced up at her car, used her key remote to unlock it, left the food in the hatchback and sat inside the SUV. Once she started it for the A/C, she read the gory details.
‘LAPD Lieutenant Billy Sharpe was seen escorting Henre Ward, a married STRAIGHT French actor of the smash television pay TV series Room at the Top.’
Charlotte inspected the photo which was, indeed, Billy Sharpe holding onto Henre Ward, the handsome TV actor starring in her hit show, and the model for Dangereux Cologne with Alex’s Top Model dad, Mark Antonious Richfield. They were both wearing black suits with white shirts and black neckties. This was not fake. Not photo-enhanced.
‘Gorgeous Hollywood actor, Alexander, was seen sneaking into a church where his father, Mark Antonious Richfield’s husband, Steve Miller’s mother’s funeral mass was held. Alexander was solo and speculation abounded as to Alex’s many exploits with several celebrities, including his father’s former husband, actor Stan Charles Bergman!’
Charlotte glanced at a photo inset of Alex and Stan side by side, but it was two separate photos clipped together, not the two men holding each other, like Billy and Henre obviously were.
‘It seems a divorce is imminent for the famous pair whose ten-year marriage is most definitely on the skids. And more speculation about Henre Ward’s sexuality and his being gay has surfaced. But Henre’s taste is not for British models as we assumed, it appears it’s for LAPD brass! Time will tell who Alexander is seen around town with because he was photographed with Jeremy Runner at a West Hollywood coffee shop! Watch this space!’
Charlotte folded the paper up and put it on the passenger’s seat. She had a big smile on her face. Why? Because the show got a nice mention, and any publicity is good publicity, and… Now that she knew Billy Sharpe was out of the picture, she could amp up Alex and Stan’s parts in the TV show. She sent a text to the two coproducers, Will Markham and Derek Dixon, ‘We need a vid chat ASAP!’ The two men returned the text with their availability, since today was Saturday. She grinned wickedly and drove home in the LA smoky smog, knowing this was their year for awards and nominations. They weren’t going to be passed over this time! “Ha!” She giggled and pumped her fist.
