Nancy Grace - Death on the D-List

Stirring with a plastic spoon he found in a plastic cup beside the microwave, he brought over the tea and set it down in front of her.

“Hey! Even under these lights and no makeup, you look great!”

She smiled at him. It was genuine. Of all the celebs that had ever been on The Harry Todd Show , she had been one of the most real, the most sincere. All the good works, the family values, all the talk of God in Heaven and clean living, she really meant it. Falling off the wagon was a huge personal defeat for her.

Lake was for real.

Tony almost hated to set her up for the show.

“Cassie, you have to come on with Harry to push your book! It’s fantastic ! I loved it! It’s going to help so many people!” His voice took on its usual whining, pleading tone. He looked straight into the mirror and into her eyes.

It was truly incredible that he could look so sincere, even knowing Harry would likely bring up all the sordid details of her divorce, her bulimia, her drinking problem, and of course, suggest she had been a hypocrite preaching family values all those years before all the time she spent alone with a bottle of Scotch in the linen closet came to light.

“Tony Russo, you know you make it really hard to say no… but with my schedule here… you know… the Radio City show, the book signings…”

“Then, don’t! Don’t say no! We’ll tape around your schedule! Whatever you want! And Harry would love to bring out a baby grand and have you sing at the end of the show… whatever you want! The viewers will love it and the book will sell like hotcakes!”

“It would mean a lot to me… Harry’s show really sells the books…”

“That’s exactly right! It does! Showcasing your book on Harry’s show could put you back on the New York Times top ten list! Wouldn’t that be great?”

“It really would…”

“Oh yes! I forgot to ask you! How are the children? They’re growing so much! Any of them following in Mommy’s footsteps? Anybody want to be a singer? Please tell me you have pictures with you!” Tony really was shameless.

“I do, as a matter of fact! I carry a little album in my makeup suitcase! Let’s sit on the sofa and go through them. Want some more hot tea?”

“I’d love some!”

Tony Russo was in Heaven. Snuggled together on the sofa, the two drank hot Throat Coat while Tony listened to stories about each of her four children, their braces, their schools, their manners good and bad, how they’d handled the divorce… by the time they’d gone through the huge binder of photos… Cassie Lake’s appearance on The Harry Todd Show was a lock.

It was like taking candy… from a baby. He couldn’t wait to call Sookie.

IT WENT GREAT!”

“How can you say that ?” Cassie Lake was in tears as she left the studio.

Tony was right beside her, his arm again entwined in hers. Actually, it hadn’t been bad at all, since Harry was, basically, in his starstruck, sucking-up mode.

But the few questions he’d read off his yellow cue cards regarding her divorce, her admitted alcoholism, and her eating disorder had really upset her. She’d addressed it all in her book, but talking about it unnerved her. It wasn’t until Harry read one of the last questions about how the divorce devastated her two-year-old that she really broke down.

Tony almost felt bad.

“You emoted ! There’s nothing wrong with that! America will love you for it!”

“I thought we were just going to talk about the Radio City show and the book… I didn’t think it would be so… personal. I mean the questions about my relationship with my ex-husband were bad enough, but the ones about the children …” Cassie couldn’t finish her sentence for sobbing.

Tony offered Kleenex.

“Well, I think America is going to love you even more for this interview. And the photos you shared with us, the ones from the photo album… They were just so wonderful !”

“You know that’s the first time I’ve ever let them all be pictured on TV…”

“And we are so grateful!”

Tony walked her all the way to the limo, helped her in, handed her a wad of Kleenex, and slammed the door. He waved half-heartedly at the car as it eased away from the curb and into traffic. Whew. That was done. The taping was over, and Lake was safely, albeit in tears, headed to LaGuardia for the next outbound flight to L.A., and the show was in the can. And it would be a hit… the numbers would be huge!

Walking back through GNE’s thick glass doors, he felt a presence fall in step with him. It was Sookie. She’d actually driven to meet with Lake beforehand and watch the taping from the control room.

“Brilliant! Brilliant! ” I can’t believe you got her! And she started crying! She could hardly make it through that horrible song you got her to sing! Did you write up Harry’s cue cards? I know he didn’t think of those questions himself! And the photos!!! How’d you ever get them? She never shows her kids on air!”

“I learned it all from you, Sookie! All from you! Want to have lunch?”

He almost hated to ask. Every lunch in the city was followed by a shopping spree of some sort and Tony would end up being bullied by Sookie into buying her things again.

“No… I can’t. I’m super-pressed for time.”

“You’re coming back for the Cassie Lake edits?”

“No way. You’ll have to handle it. I’ve got an appointment I can’t rearrange. It’ll go into the evening and I doubt I’ll be on cell. Can’t you handle it on your own? Oh, and did you pick up that stuff for me from the drugstore?”

“Sure did!” Tony had worked all his life to be in the world of TV. It had been his dream since he was a little boy watching sitcoms alone on the floor of his family’s den. TV was wonderful, magical… a whole different world from the one he lived in. Being part of it made him feel wonderful, too. And if he had to run errands and pick up laundry and get Sookie’s lotions and potions at the drugstore… so be it. He never complained.

“I have the receipt.” He knew she wouldn’t expect him to expense it.

“Oh, you cover it, I don’t have any cash. Anyway, Cassie Lake, what a get! It’ll go straight on the air!”

Tony walked her all the way to the glass doors and then out onto the sidewalk. He looked around for her usual driver in a sea of black limos, but then, a candy-apple-red Porsche Boxster Spyder pulled up to the curb. At the wheel was defense attorney Derek Jacobs.

“Hi, Sookie! You look fabulous today! Nobody wears a mini-skirt like Sookie Downs. I’ve said it a million times.” Charm just oozed out of Jacobs.

“Hi, Tony.” Jacobs added it as an afterthought, and the effect wasn’t lost on Tony Russo.

Sookie’s face visibly brightened. “Hi, Derek! What are you doing at GNE?”

“I had a meeting around the corner. Want a ride?”

“Great!”

“Hop in.”

The two were off in a moment and Tony Russo watched as the Porsche’s red taillights disappeared around the corner. The celebration over the Cassie Lake booking certainly was short-lived.

But, hey, what was Tony expecting? A medal? Sookie was always all about the next show. In a couple of days, she’d forget all about how he was hunched down in the snow for hours waiting for Lake to show up. She’d forget all about how he had to sweet-talk her and hold her hand and look at countless family photos of her kids crammed into a thick album… how he sought out, bought, and made her special Throat Coat tea. It would just be another show, another rating.