Даниэла Стил - Neighbors

“She’s hard on everyone, Grandma. It’s her way or the highway. I’m telling you, my dad is a saint. And she can hold a grudge for centuries.” Meredith knew it firsthand, Kendall had never forgiven her anything. “I don’t know why she’s so tough, but she is. It ruined our relationship years ago. Grampa is the only one who doesn’t pay any attention when she gets that way. Maybe he’s like that too, because you certainly don’t seem to be that way, or we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

Meredith smiled. “How is your grandfather, by the way?”

“He’s fine, working like crazy. He had some health issues last year, but he’s fine now. I think he gets bored whenever he’s not working, so he sits still for about five minutes and then goes back to work.”

“He was always that way,” Meredith said, remembering.

“And Silvana is pretty boring. She spends a lot of time in Italy, he bought her a house there. She eats pasta at every meal, and she’s gotten fat,” Julia said evilly, and Meredith laughed. Silvana was very close to Kendall’s age, and too young to let herself go. “You look way better than she does,” Julia said, and Meredith was more than twenty years older. She remembered distinctly.

“I haven’t talked to your grandfather in a long time.” It was odd too how Kendall had forgiven her father for breaking up their family and marrying a girl her own age, but had never forgiven her mother for any of her perceived crimes. Kendall had always been partial to Scott, and apparently still was. And it was interesting that she acknowledged to Julia that she had treated Meredith “terribly.” Julia had given her a lot to think about.

Julia lay down on the floor while they talked. She had been there for three hours when Charles came back and let himself into the bungalow, and Julia looked up in surprise. His face lit up when he saw her and she stood up to her full height to meet him.

“Are you married, Grandma?” Her mother hadn’t told her, if she was.

“No, this is my very special friend, Charles Chapman.” They shook hands, and Julia giggled with her red mane stretching out.

“I love it. You have a boyfriend! You’re so cool!” All three of them laughed, and Meredith blushed a little.

“We met during the earthquake.”

“Good for you. I want to come up and visit you!”

“You are welcome anytime. You can have your own room, and come and go whenever you want,” she said generously. “You can bring a friend too, if you like.”

Julia cocked her head to one side, thinking about it. “Mom is going to think we’re conspiring against her. That’s the sad part. She can’t just be happy for us that we found each other; she’ll take it as a slight of some kind, but I don’t care. I’m coming to see you.”

“Whenever you want,” Meredith reiterated.

Charles poured himself a glass of wine, and the three of them chatted for another hour, and then Julia said she was meeting friends for dinner and had to go.

“How long are you here for?” she asked her grandmother.

“Two more days.” Meredith had allotted three days, in case it took a long time to connect with her, but it hadn’t. It had been instantaneous. Meredith had loved her as a little girl, full of spice and bright ideas, and this was even better. They could get to know each other as adults. Julia brought a lot to the table.

“Can we do lunch tomorrow?” Julia asked her. “I have an audition in the morning, and I’m getting paid to go to some fashion event tomorrow night. But I’m free for lunch and all afternoon. They wanted to do my hair and I won’t let them. This is me.”

“Good for you,” her grandmother said, hugged her when she left, and kissed her. They made a date to meet at the Polo Lounge for lunch the next day. She was smiling when Julia left.

“Well, that looked like a major success. No one would have guessed that you hadn’t seen each other in nearly ten years.”

“It was a success,” Meredith confirmed, and then looked serious. “She has the same problems with her mother that I do, a lot of the same complaints. And apparently, Kendall has admitted to her that she treated me ‘terribly,’ but she never fixes it. She told Julia it’s too late. It’s never too late. And now she has alienated her daughter the way she did me. If she’s not careful, she’ll lose her too. Kendall is so hard and unforgiving, and she sets the bar so high for everyone, no one can live up to it.”

“It’s sad for her,” he said. Meredith nodded and kissed him.

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?” Meaning Julia.

“She’s stunning. Actually, she looks a little like you. The red hair distracts you, but the fine features are very similar. You could be her mother.”

“I hope she comes to San Francisco to see me, she said she would.”

“She seems very excited to reconnect with you.”

“I am too.” Her eyes were sparkling and she was smiling. This was why she had come to L.A., and it had been a resounding success. Her only regret was that she hadn’t done it sooner. She said it to Charles, and he pointed out that Julia wouldn’t have been old enough. She was the right age to have her own relationship with Meredith now, and they had a career in common, which was a bond too.

She and Charles had dinner at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica that night, and people recognized her as she walked into the restaurant. Some just stared, but they knew who she was. No one had forgotten her. And one of the older headwaiters almost cried when he greeted her.

“Welcome back! Are you working again?”

“No.” She smiled and shook her head. “But my granddaughter is,” she said proudly.

“You must make another film. You are still beautiful!”

“I agree with him,” Charles said when they sat down. “You are beautiful.”

“You’re blind, but I love you,” she brushed off the compliment.

—

Julia and Meredith met for lunch the next day and spent another three hours talking, and made a date for breakfast the day after. Meredith was going back to San Francisco on a five o’clock flight, and had to leave the city at three. On her last day, they went for a walk, and she went to Julia’s tiny apartment in West Hollywood. It reminded her of her own beginnings, although her career had shot into the stratosphere very quickly. Things were different then, when they “discovered” someone and put them in movie after movie with big stars, and spent a fortune on publicity. The studios were in control then. That had all changed, but she could see Julia becoming a big star herself in time. She was already on her way at a steady pace, and she had the talent that would keep her at the top once she got there, if she worked hard.

Meredith left her at her apartment with a pang of regret, and hugged her for a long time. “I love you, Julia. Come home to me whenever you want. Do you have a boyfriend, by the way?” She had forgotten to ask her, they had spoken of so many things, their careers, Kendall, Scott, Silvana, and mostly Julia’s dreams for her career. She had big dreams.

“No. I had one last year but we broke up. He was a jerk. There’s an actor I sort of like, but he’s kind of a jerk too.”

“There’s a lot of that here.” Meredith smiled. “Just have fun, and work hard. And, Julia, don’t give up on your mom yet. I know how hard she is, but you only have one mother.”

“I know. I love you, Grandma.” It was music to her ears. It was the relationship she would have loved to have with her daughter, but never had, and probably never would. She had accepted it. And now here was Julia, like a big shining star in the sky, and a remarkable gift.

“I love you too,” Meredith said again.

Meredith took a cab back to the hotel. Her trip to L.A. had been a resounding success. She and Charles talked about it all the way home on the flight, and Julia called her when they landed, to thank her. Meredith was smiling when she hung up. It had taken a long time, waiting for her to grow up, but her granddaughter had been worth the wait.