Stuart Woods: Son of Stone

“You have a point.” The doorbell rang. Stone hung up and ran upstairs and opened the door. Arrington stood there, looking sharp in a Chanel suit with a gorgeous sable coat over her shoulders. They embraced and Stone sent her luggage up to the master suite.

“You look wonderful,” he said, helping her out of her coat and hanging it in the hall closet.

“I don’t know about the master suite,” she said. “Maybe I should sleep in a guest room.”

Stone thought about that. “It’s up to you,” he said, “but I wouldn’t enjoy sneaking around.”

“All right, since Peter knows, anyway.”

“Good.” He took her upstairs and got out a couple of luggage racks for her bags.

“I’d like a nap,” she said. “Alone.”

“Of course. Get unpacked and relax; I have work to do anyway.” He kissed her and left her alone.

Joan was buzzing him as he got back to his office. “Leo Goldman on one.”

Stone picked up. “Hello, Leo. Are you back in L.A.?”

“I’m on the Centurion jet,” Leo replied. “Listen, how old is Arrington’s kid?”

Stone thought for a fraction of a second. “He just turned eighteen.”

“Good,” Leo said.

“Why?”

“If he’s eighteen, he can sign a contract.”

“A contract for what?”

“I want to buy his movie.”

Stone had forgotten about Peter’s submission. “Why?”

“Because it’s better than anything indie I saw at the Sundance Film Festival last year.”

“Leo, is Peter’s name written anywhere on the material he gave you?”

“Ah, no; there’s no title page.”

“Leo, this is what I want you to do: the moment you’re back in L.A. I want you to FedEx that script and the DVD back to me, and I want you never to mention it to anybody until I give you the okay.”

“But, Stone, it’s good! One might even say brilliant-at least one would if one knew it was written and directed by an eighteen-year-old.”

“It’s complicated, Leo, and believe me, you don’t want to piss off his mother. She is, after all, Centurion’s largest stockholder. I want your word.”

“As long as I have your word to see the finished product before anyone else in the business.”

“You have it,” Stone replied.

“Done. You’ll have it back tomorrow.”

“And you won’t keep a copy, Leo.”

“I give you my word on that, too.”

“Thanks, Leo. I’ll look forward to receiving it tomorrow.”

“Bye, Stone.” Leo sounded very disappointed.

Stone tried not to think what would happen if word got around L.A. that a sixteen-year-old boy, ostensibly the son of a huge movie star, had written and directed a feature film. The thought of the aftermath made sweat pop out on his brow.

S tone woke Arrington with a light kiss on the lips.

“What time is it?”

“You have an hour and a half until dinner,” Stone said.

“Peter just got home from the movies, and he’s showering.”

She sat up. “I think I’d better do that, too. It will wake me up.”

“Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

“Oh, yes, I was just tired from the trip. I’m feeling much better after my nap.” She got up and began unpacking her bags and putting her clothes in the second dressing room. “Is there anything I should know about your conversations with Peter before we sit down to dinner?”

“Yes. I got him an iPhone for his birthday, which I know is against your wishes, but there will be a condition that he leave it with you when he returns to school in January. I’d like him to have it while he’s in New York.”

“I suppose that’s a good idea. Is there anything else I should know?”

“Peter has some ideas about his future, but I think you should hear them from him.”

“Anything that will give me a heart attack?”

Stone laughed. “I doubt it, and I think you should hear him out.”

“Peter can be very persuasive,” Arrington said, slipping out of her suit and hanging it up.

“You’ve lost some weight,” he commented.

“Yes, I’ve been trying.”

“You look very elegant.”

She slipped off her underwear and tossed it into the hamper, then came and put her arms around him. “I hope I haven’t lost anything you liked.”

He caressed her ass and her breasts. “Nope, it’s all still there.”

She kissed him. “You can explore later,” she said, then went into her bathroom to run a tub.

They walked up the stairs into the Four Seasons restaurant and checked in at the desk.

“Is this the power lunch place?” Peter asked, looking around.

Stone thought he looked very handsome in his blue suit. “Yes, right over there, in the Grill Room. We’re dining in the Pool Room.”

“They play pool here?”

“No, they have a pool.” They were led to a table at poolside. Stone ordered champagne for Arrington and himself and Peter asked for fizzy water and was brought San Pellegrino.

When the champagne came, Stone raised his glass. “Happy birthday, Peter.” He nodded to the captain, who brought over two giftwrapped boxes. “The smaller one is from your mother.”

“But she already gave me my laptop,” Peter said.

“It’s a second gift,” Arrington said, “and it has strings attached.”

Peter ripped off the paper. “Wow!” he said. “You’re letting me have a phone?”

“The strings are: you leave it with me when you return to school.”

“Oh,” he said, looking disappointed. He opened the other box. “An iPad! Wonderful.” He switched it on.

“It will need charging,” Stone said. “Leave it until later.”

Peter put the gifts back into their boxes, and a waiter took away the tattered wrappings. Peter looked at them both. “Thank you so much,” he said. “I think you two should get married,” he added.

Arrington put her face in her hands. “Oh, God!”

“You need to edit your thoughts before speaking, Peter,” Stone said.

Arrington took her hands away. “You certainly do, young man. My marital status is not at your disposal; in fact it’s none of your business.”

“Yes, it is,” Peter replied. “It will make me happy.”

“You’re already happy,” she said. “Stone and I will make any decisions about our personal lives without your further input. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, but not sheepishly. “Oh, and I want to change my name.”

Arrington looked at him, baffled. “What’s wrong with Peter? It’s a very nice name.”

“No, I want to change Calder to Barrington.”

She stared at him, speechless.

“You don’t know what I’ve had to go through at school for having a movie star for a father. I don’t want to hear that at my next school.”

Arrington’s face became sympathetic. “Oh, I’m sorry, Peter, I didn’t know.”

“It wasn’t so bad in L.A., because lots of kids had movie people for parents, but in Virginia it’s very, very different.”

Arrington thought about it for a moment, then turned toward Stone. “What do you think about this?”

“I wouldn’t be in the least displeased,” Stone replied.

“Do you think he’s old enough to make that decision?”

“It’s your decision, really,” Stone said, “but it needs to be decided, one way or the other, before he gets any older.”

“What would we tell them at the school?” Arrington asked Peter.

“That we’re changing my name from my stepfather’s to my father’s.”

“I suppose that’s accurate,” she said.

“I would be a lot more comfortable in myself,” Peter said.

She looked at her son, then at Stone. “How can I object?”

“Welcome to the Barrington family, Peter,” Stone said, “such as it is. You and I are the only living members.”