Christopher Beha - Arts & Entertainments - A Novel

The New York Herald’s Art & Entertainment section, keeping slightly above the fray, profiled Carl von Verdant. Susan had always complained that Carl didn’t let her do anything besides answering the phone, but now he told the paper that he supported his “protégée” completely. He only hoped that the show wouldn’t be a distraction, because he depended so much on her talents. The paper had interviewed half a dozen artists represented by the gallery, including Graham Turnbough, who said that Susan had one of the sharpest eyes in the business. The Herald wondered whether her show would raise the level of the conversation on television, introducing viewers to serious artists. “A funny thing happened on the way to tabloid infamy,” the article concluded. “It turns out Susan Hartley is the real deal. She might even prove to be that rarest thing: a reality television heavyweight.” Eddie knew better than anyone that this was a concoction, but he found himself looking at Susan through the eyes of all the fascinated onlookers. Maybe she really was a “heavyweight,” or could turn out to be one. Maybe he’d actually given her a gift, the chance to put her life on the track she wanted for it. He wanted to be on the track with her.

Back in his room, Eddie took the magazines out of the brown paper bag and looked them over. The cover of CelebNation showed Martha walking down the street in dark glasses, with a shawl over her head, looking as mournfully dignified as a widow at a state funeral. The getup was not actually meant to conceal anything. Instead it announced her as herself in disguise. She so captured every bit of attention in the frame that Eddie didn’t immediately recognize his apartment building behind her.

“Dr. Drake Makes House Call,” he read. “Martha goes in person to comfort Susan.”

He flipped inside the magazine to find a story about the two women banding together, showing solidarity.

“We had a great talk,” Susan told CelebNation after her meeting with Martha, which those in the know said lasted nearly an hour and included plenty of tears. “It meant so much that she would travel all this way just to see me.” But as for the deets on her convo, Susan was tight-lipped. “You’re going to have to tune in to the premiere of Desperately Expecting Susan, only on the 2True Network.”

The one mention of Eddie was a poll question at the bottom of the page— What do you think Martha and Susan talked about? A) Prenatal care; B) What it’s like to be in the spotlight; C) Life after Handsome Eddie.

How many times had he dreamed of seeing her again? Though they’d lived together for years, Martha had since become as unreal to Eddie as she was to everyone else, and he couldn’t quite believe that she’d been in his apartment. Whatever she was doing there, he knew it had nothing to do with “comforting” anyone. Perhaps she’d gotten jealous of Susan’s popularity and wanted to remind everyone who had the real star power. Eddie called Susan almost reflexively, expecting to hear her voice mail, as he had dozens of times in the past few weeks. When she picked up he responded with panicked silence.

“Is that you?” she asked.

“It’s me.”

There were countless things they might have talked about, but the only one that came to his mind was Martha’s visit, and he didn’t want Susan to think that Martha was the reason he’d called.

“Where are you?” she asked eventually.

“I’m at the Cue Hotel in SoHo,” he said. “I didn’t think staying at Blakeman’s was such a great idea.”

“That didn’t turn out so well.” She seemed almost amused.

“Nothing happened with that girl,” Eddie said.

“Of course. I give you that much credit at least.”

“I don’t like living this way. I’ve barely been outside in a week. I want to come home.”

“Not now,” Susan said. “I’m not ready yet.”

This seemed to suggest she’d be ready eventually. It was the first bit of hope she’d given him. Somehow progress had been made.

“I’ve been watching you on the talk shows,” Eddie said. “You’re really good at it.”

He tried to keep the edge of bitterness out of his voice. He couldn’t justify blaming her for this star turn. The best he could do was keep the feeling from her.

“I didn’t ask for it,” Susan said with a laugh. “But I’ll admit I’m enjoying myself.”

“So you’re going to do this show?”

“It just seems to make sense. It’s like I’m discovering a side of myself I’d lost for a while, and I really like it. Besides, they’re not that bad.”

“The people from the show?”

“For starters. But everyone, really. The press, the photographers and all. They’ve got a job to do, but they’re actually sort of friendly if you’re nice to them. I’ve gotten to know some of the guys who hang around all the time. They run errands and stuff for me, help me carry things upstairs if I agree to give them good shots. Of course you know all about that. I’m sure you’re getting hounded the same way I am.”

“It takes some getting used to,” Eddie said.

“Martha gave me some advice for dealing with it.”

Eddie was glad she’d brought Martha up, so he didn’t have to do it himself.

“I read about her visit,” he said dumbly.

“We wondered what you would make of it.”

The idea of Martha talking about him pleased Eddie, no matter what they might have said.

“There must be something in it for her. She wouldn’t just come without an agenda.”

“She actually seemed really nice. For the first time I understood why the two of you were together for so long.”

“We were different people back then.”

“She said good things about you, as crazy as that might sound. She was surprised that you hadn’t leaked the tape years ago, the moment she walked out the door. She’s been waiting for it ever since, and she’s kind of relieved. This baggage from her past is out there, and she doesn’t need to worry about it anymore. Now she can go about the rest of her career. It wasn’t that bad, she said. It would have been worse if it had happened sooner, when she was just getting started. Or later, once she was married and her baby was born. The timing worked out well. It’s just like you told me, it’s good for her at this point.”

“Everyone seems to have come out all right except me.”

“Don’t sound so bitter,” Susan told him. “You deserve to suffer a little. And she helped you out, too. She’s the reason I picked up the phone when you called. She’s the reason I’m starting to think about taking you back. She told me to give you another chance. I think she’s felt pretty guilty all this time about the way things ended between you. Now you guys are even.”

“However it happened, I’m glad you’re thinking about it. I love you.”

“Stay out of trouble,” Susan said.

EDDIE WANTED TO TELL CelebNation or Entertainment Daily or even the people on Teeser that he’d been forgiven. They’d both forgiven him. The story was over, and everyone could leave them alone. But it didn’t work that way. The story would only be over when people got tired of it. Martha wasn’t going to let him off the hook, wasn’t going to go to the press and tell them that she’d deserved it, that he wasn’t such a bad guy. She had said these things to Susan, which was more than she’d had to do, but she wasn’t going to tell the rest of the world. Even if she did, it wouldn’t end the story. Martha lived to have the story told about her. It was her job. Soon it would be Susan’s job, too.

He called Talent Management, and he was put straight through to Alex.

“Did you see Martha going to my apartment?”