Gun Brooke - Course of Action

Sylvia's eyes widened. "Thank you, Ms. Black. Please, call me Sylvia. I'm too young to be uptight about titles."

"Then call me Carolyn, Sylvia."

Annelie could have sworn there were icicles hanging from Carolyn's words.

"I'm a huge fan," Sylvia gushed, pointing at a chair. "Won't you join us?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have time. I have errands to run before I participate in tonight's major event."

"Yes, I heard you were speaking. What a great way to say goodbye to the audience." Sylvia's smile became razor sharp. "Your career has been so inspirational and a wonderful motivator for me. It's great that you can still find challenging parts at this late stage in your professional life."

Holding her breath, Annelie darted a look at Carolyn, stunned to watch her eyes turn slate gray. "Yes, it's a welcome development when the moguls in Hollywood and Broadway realize that an actress with talent, no matter her age, is worth much more than a young starlet who slept her way to her position."

Wanting to hide her face in her palms and groan out loud, Annelie refrained from both, watching the two women stare at each other. On the surface they maintained their composure, but the undercurrent was wild and unbending. Wondering if the rest of the lunch guests were going to witness an honest-to-God catfight for free, Annelie sighed with relief when Carolyn suddenly laughed and shook her head.

"Well, I'm off to find as stunning a dress as I can possibly scare up at the last minute." She placed a soft hand on Annelie's shoulder, its warmth permeating the thin shirt and making Annelie jump. "I'll see you later in the suite, then."

"Yes, see you later."

Flustered, Annelie saw Sylvia's jaw drop. Wanting to throttle Carolyn, but at the same time forced to admire how her roommate had handled the situation, she speared another shrimp from her salad. "You were saying about the screen test, Sylvia?" Frowning at the menacing look in the actress's eyes as they followed the disappearing competitor for the role, Annelie tried again. "Sylvia? The screen test?"

Turning her attention back to Annelie, Sylvia altered her expression completely. All smiles and charm, she gushed in her breathless voice, "That's right. I know I can convince you…"

Annelie's mind drowned out Sylvia's words with Carolyn's voice. Low and with a definite purr, along with the soft touch, it made it impossible for her to think of anything else.

***

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce the woman who made all this happen. Delia Carlton wrote the books"—Gregory was interrupted by the roar echoing through the large auditorium when the audience acknowledged the mention of the author's name—"but had this lady not seen the genius, the potential, in Ms. Carlton's manuscript, who knows? So put your hands together as the owner of Key Line Publishing joins us to introduce the next guest. Here she is—Annelie Peterson!"

Annelie felt a rush of awkwardness as she walked onto the stage. The large audience rose in their seats, and she was met by thundering applause, whistles, and cheers. The noise went on for half a minute before she raised her hands to calm the crowd.

"Thank you, thank you very much. Please take a seat. Thank you." She paused as people sat down. "Wow, that's some welcome—and I haven't really done anything apart from printing the books." Loud cheers erupted again, and Annelie smiled, shaking her head. "Thank you again. Now, I have two treats for you. First, I have a message for you from someone who has chosen not to be a public figure."

Annelie glanced to the left, searching for Carolyn among the faces in the wing. She could not spot her but knew she was out there, probably pacing back and forth, focusing hard and looking pale, like she had been doing only a minute ago. She came here on her own volition, forcing her participation on all of us. Why should I worry whether she's pale and nervous? Pulling out a piece of paper, Annelie read a short message from the author of the Maddox books, making the audience go wild again.

"We are taping parts of this convention, and I'll be sure to send a copy to Delia. Am I wrong in assuming you're having a great time?" The audience applauded and cheered again as Annelie pulled the microphone from its stand. "Have all of you listened to the Maddox audiobooks?" The crowd went wild as the majority yelled yes. "Then you know who the star of these books is. You've already met the lovely Helen St. Cyr, and now it's time to introduce…"

Annelie glanced to her left, seeing Gregory give a thumbs-up.

"…the lady who gave Diana Maddox her first voice. Please welcome Carolyn Black!"

The response from the audience was deafening as Carolyn stepped onstage. Walking toward Annelie, the actress surprised her by wrapping her in an embrace and kissing her on both cheeks before taking over the microphone. What was that about? Annelie raised a hand as if to touch her cheek but quickly turned it into a wave while walking hastily out of sight of the audience. Was that for show? Or for me?

"Thank you, everyone." The trademark throaty voice rose over the whistles and cheers. "I'm so glad to be here among you. Thank you!"

Annelie was relieved to be back in the wings again. Standing as close as possible without being seen, she watched Carolyn in action as the applause slowly dissipated. The audience seemed ecstatic, cheering loudly as Carolyn posed. Red highlights sparkled in her auburn hair, and her pale complexion, emphasized by skillfully applied makeup, made her look beautiful and fragile at the same time.

Photo flashes hammered the actress as she stood center stage. Waving at the audience, she raised the microphone to her lips again. "Can we make a deal, my friends? How about I walk slowly along the stage and give you the opportunity to take pictures; then you won't have to do it while we talk. The flashes blind me, and I want to be able to see you lovely people."

Annelie watched Carolyn slowly parade along the stage, smiling at the people who rushed forward with their cameras. After a few minutes, the actress held up her hands, and the audience obediently retook their seats. Amazed at Carolyn's control over the crowd, Annelie decided to just sit back and see how the performance would unfold.

"We all love Diana Maddox, don't we?" Carolyn began. "Let me tell you how I came to portray her in the audiobooks. Would you like to hear that story?"

A loud yes resounded throughout the auditorium.

"I had read the first Maddox book. You know it takes place in New York, at the School of Performing Arts. Of course that setting captivated me. Key Line Publishing approached me about a year later to do a theater version, really, of the books. I was intrigued. You younger people may not know this, but in the old days, first on the radio, and later on television, actors gave live performances—entire plays. Key Line's concept was similar. They had already signed Helen, Harvey, and a few other actors, and, for some unfathomable reason, they saw me as a good candidate for Maddox."

The audience cheered, making Carolyn smile and give an exaggerated shrug. "I was of course eager to get such a high-profile part—I mean, who could resist playing a savvy, headstrong criminal investigator?" Laughter broke out, and some people applauded. "I see you agree with me," Carolyn continued.

"So I accepted, and it was the most fun I've had in years. Harvey is, of course, a delight to work with—when he's not driving the rest of us crazy with his pranks. It was an honor to work with Helen St. Cyr, whom I admire so much. The kids in the story were handpicked, just like the rest of us. All in all, doing the audiobooks was one of the best things I've ever done."

Carolyn waited until the applause had died down. "Now, I see a long line of people in the aisle who need to know things. Please, fire away."