perfect house situated on a prime piece of Broad Beach property.
He didn’t feel like staring out at the black ocean or switching on his movie-size TV screen.
He didn’t feel like making conversation, or anything else for that matter, with Ling, his Asian girlfriend—a twenty-nine-year-old lawyer with a serene attitude and amazing sexual skills.
What did he feel like doing?
He felt like being by himself, getting drunk, and thinking about Lucky Santangelo.
Lucky was always on his mind. Always …
So that’s exactly what he did.
Tomorrow was another day; he could forget about her then and resume life as he knew it.
Only that never happened. Lucky was his secret obsession, and as long as Lennie was around, he knew it had to stay that way.
Chapter 9
If it wasn’t for Lucky Santangelo, Henry Whitfield-Simmons might have been a big star. Or at least that’s what he believed. He knew he was far superior to Billy Melina, the actor who had stolen his role in the Alex Woods film that Henry had been so sure he was about to get.
Henry considered Billy Melina to be an inferior human being, with no acting ability whatsoever. He’d seen his movies. He’d sneered at his movies. It was a travesty that Billy Melina had been hired in his place, and gone on to become a famous star.
Even though his failed audition had taken place many years previously, Henry brooded about it on a daily basis. He knew for a fact that if it wasn’t for Lucky Santangelo, he , Henry Whitfield-Simmons, would have been the one up there on the screen with Venus Maria in Seduction . Even now, although the day of his audition was eight long years ago, Henry had never forgotten nor forgiven. Lucky Santangelo, a producer on the film, was the one to blame; she was the one who hadn’t wanted him. He was positive of this because while auditioning, he’d observed Lucky sitting across the table with the casting people, staring at him with her black unfriendly eyes while tapping her fingertips impatiently on the table. Alex Woods wasn’t present that day, nor was Venus Maria.
Henry was about to read a second scene when he’d noticed Lucky signal to the casting people that she’d seen enough. How unspeakably rude!
Henry was justifiably angry, for not only was she rude, Lucky Santangelo had ruined his future. She’d taken his one chance and thrown it away with her careless actions.
Shortly after his failed audition, Henry had been summoned to go on a fishing trip with his father. It was just the two of them on a small fishing boat out on the lake, because Logan Whitfield-Simmons truly believed that getting back to the simple things in life was the best way to bond with his uncooperative and unambitious son, whom he didn’t understand at all. Logan never understood anybody who was unproductive and had no work ethic. He was determined to instill some sense into his only son.
“When are you going to join the family business?” he’d asked, bristling for the right answer.
It was a leading question that initially Henry ignored, until eventually it led all the way to a vicious argument.
“You know perfectly well I want to be an actor,” Henry had yelled, filled with frustration. “It’s my ambition, and you can’t stop me.”
“Can’t I?” Logan had answered, his long face grim.
“No!” Henry had shouted. “Not you, not Mother, nobody .”
“You’ll be an actor over my dead body,” Logan had shouted back.
Soon the yelling had escalated into a serious screaming match. Logan was very angry with his useless son, who refused to listen to reason, and Henry had no intention of giving up his dream.
They screamed insults back and forth, until the older man suddenly fell silent. His face paled and he clutched his left arm. “Je … sus,” he’d managed, before collapsing onto the bottom of the boat. “Get… me … my … pills.”
Henry did nothing. He merely sat and watched as his father writhed in agony for at least five minutes
He didn’t feel like staring out at the black ocean or switching on his movie-size TV screen.
He didn’t feel like making conversation, or anything else for that matter, with Ling, his Asian girlfriend—a twenty-nine-year-old lawyer with a serene attitude and amazing sexual skills.
What did he feel like doing?
He felt like being by himself, getting drunk, and thinking about Lucky Santangelo.
Lucky was always on his mind. Always …
So that’s exactly what he did.
Tomorrow was another day; he could forget about her then and resume life as he knew it.
Only that never happened. Lucky was his secret obsession, and as long as Lennie was around, he knew it had to stay that way.
Chapter 9
If it wasn’t for Lucky Santangelo, Henry Whitfield-Simmons might have been a big star. Or at least that’s what he believed. He knew he was far superior to Billy Melina, the actor who had stolen his role in the Alex Woods film that Henry had been so sure he was about to get.
Henry considered Billy Melina to be an inferior human being, with no acting ability whatsoever. He’d seen his movies. He’d sneered at his movies. It was a travesty that Billy Melina had been hired in his place, and gone on to become a famous star.
Even though his failed audition had taken place many years previously, Henry brooded about it on a daily basis. He knew for a fact that if it wasn’t for Lucky Santangelo, he , Henry Whitfield-Simmons, would have been the one up there on the screen with Venus Maria in Seduction . Even now, although the day of his audition was eight long years ago, Henry had never forgotten nor forgiven. Lucky Santangelo, a producer on the film, was the one to blame; she was the one who hadn’t wanted him. He was positive of this because while auditioning, he’d observed Lucky sitting across the table with the casting people, staring at him with her black unfriendly eyes while tapping her fingertips impatiently on the table. Alex Woods wasn’t present that day, nor was Venus Maria.
Henry was about to read a second scene when he’d noticed Lucky signal to the casting people that she’d seen enough. How unspeakably rude!
Henry was justifiably angry, for not only was she rude, Lucky Santangelo had ruined his future. She’d taken his one chance and thrown it away with her careless actions.
Shortly after his failed audition, Henry had been summoned to go on a fishing trip with his father. It was just the two of them on a small fishing boat out on the lake, because Logan Whitfield-Simmons truly believed that getting back to the simple things in life was the best way to bond with his uncooperative and unambitious son, whom he didn’t understand at all. Logan never understood anybody who was unproductive and had no work ethic. He was determined to instill some sense into his only son.
“When are you going to join the family business?” he’d asked, bristling for the right answer.
It was a leading question that initially Henry ignored, until eventually it led all the way to a vicious argument.
“You know perfectly well I want to be an actor,” Henry had yelled, filled with frustration. “It’s my ambition, and you can’t stop me.”
“Can’t I?” Logan had answered, his long face grim.
“No!” Henry had shouted. “Not you, not Mother, nobody .”
“You’ll be an actor over my dead body,” Logan had shouted back.
Soon the yelling had escalated into a serious screaming match. Logan was very angry with his useless son, who refused to listen to reason, and Henry had no intention of giving up his dream.
They screamed insults back and forth, until the older man suddenly fell silent. His face paled and he clutched his left arm. “Je … sus,” he’d managed, before collapsing onto the bottom of the boat. “Get… me … my … pills.”
Henry did nothing. He merely sat and watched as his father writhed in agony for at least five minutes
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