A Scandal in Hollywood

My cell phone rang just after I was done talking to Erika and I looked down to see Brett’s number flash across the screen. I paused a moment before decided to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Laura, I’m sorry, I just got a little mad, ok? But your parents really shouldn’t expect you to take care of Tammy full-time when you should be getting an education. Look, if you come to California, I’ll buy you an apartment, I’ll pay for your college tuition, and if you want, I’ll pay for a babysitter for Tammy. You won’t have to worry about money. You can get the education you want, and we can be together.” My mouth literally fell open at this. He was offering me everything I ever dreamed of, yet he barely knew me. Why?

“Brett, why are you doing this? I only met you two weeks ago,” I asked with a sigh.

“I know, and this is crazy for me too, but I feel a connection with you that I never felt with anyone else before. I love talking to you and I just want to be near you,” he pleaded. I had to pause for a minute. This was all moving too fast for me-way too fast. Sure, I liked Brett, a lot. But moving to California and leaving my family seemed so…scary. I’d always been with my family, never went away to camp or anything.

“Look Laura, just do what you want, not what anyone else wants you to do…including me,” he added the last part with a sigh. I got up from the couch and walked into Tammy’s room. She laid in her crib with her thumb stuck in her mouth. Even at ten months she had an independent streak and did things her way…something I always wished I could do. I quietly closed the door and thought about what Erika told me. ‘This is your life, what do you want to do with it?’

“You say you could pay for an apartment and tuition for the college?” I asked cautiously.

“Yeah, of course.” For once in my life I was about to jump without looking and hope I landed somewhere good.

“Alright. When should I leave?”



The TV blared in the background as I walked around the house, busying myself. The house was too quiet without it yet, yet I wasn’t too keen on watching it after that episode with it only two days ago. Suddenly the phone on the wall rung. I put down the pan I’d just sprayed with oil and picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Hi, dad. I was wondering if I could ask a favor?”

“Sure, what it is?” I replied, happy to hear his voice.

“I met this really great girl a few weeks back, and I invited her to move to California with me and I offered to get her an apartment and pay for college. I just need a couple thousand dollars to finish the deal with the school for the whole year. Could you lend it to me?”

“You say it’s for a girl you only met a couple weeks ago?” I asked wearily. Brett was always telling me about his new girl of the month, but he’d never done anything like this before.

“She’s the best, dad, you gotta meet her. I’ll bring her over sometime after she moves here.” I mulled it over in my head as I leaned against the counter. He seemed to be rushing things with this girl, yet…he’d never asked for anything much in the past, and maybe this could be my way to get to spend more time with him.

“Alright. Exactly how much do you need, though?”

“Two thousand.”

“Alright, I’ll write a check and you can come at your earliest convenience to pick it up,” I said.

“Awesome. Thanks a lot, dad!” he said before hanging up. I hung the phone back on the wall and went to my desk in the spare room and pulled out my checkbook.



I stood in the driveway one week after my talk with Brett, my bags in my hands as I looked back at my family. My dad stood besides my mom who held Tammy in her arms, who was crying as she reached out for me. A grim expression was on both of their faces as I waited for the cab that Brett had hired to pick me up and drive me to the airport.

After I told them what I’d decided we had a big fight about which, which only consisted of them yelling at me, telling me I was making a big mistake, that I was irresponsible, that I was too young to know what I was doing, and that I was basically abandoning the family. I sat quietly while they yelled at me, and woke up Tammy, but I knew I couldn’t change my mind. I had to do something for myself, for once.

“Say goodbye, Tammy. We probably won’t see Laura for a long, long time,” mom said bitterly as Tammy cried. I knew what she meant: I wouldn’t be allowed back, even if I wanted to come back. The sound of tires crunching over gravel made me turn my head to see the cab pulling in front of me. The cab driver got out and walked up to me.

“Miss Field?” he asked and when I nodded he took my bags and put them in the trunk before opening my door for me. As he pulled out of the parking lot I looked out the window to wave goodbye to my family, but I saw that they’d already gone inside.



Knock! Knock! Knock! I woke up and realized that I’d fallen asleep on the couch and someone was knocking on the door. I got up and stretched before going to answer it to see Brett standing there with a smile on his face.

“Hey, dad. How are you doing?” he asked as he walked in.

“Fine. Just waiting for the filming on the movie to begin. I just got the script for it yesterday and I’ve been up all night reading it.

“Is it any good?”

“Yeah, pretty good so far, but I haven’t gotten to the end yet.” I led him into the kitchen and picked up the check that had been laying there for about three days and handed it to him. “And here’s the check. You might wanna go to the University soon, the semester starts in about two weeks and I know the deadline will be closing soon.”

“Don’t worry, dad. They’ll let anyone in late if you have the right amount of money,” he said, waving the check around. “Well, I’d love to stay, but I gotta go and pick Laura up from the airport in thirty minutes. I’ll bring her around in a week or two, to give her time to settle in her new apartment.”

“Yeah, make sure you do. I’d love to meet her,” I said with a fake smile before he walked out the door and drove away.

I walked back to the couch and picked up the script, picking up where I left off late last night.



When I arrived at the airport I tentatively took a step into the bustling, overcrowded room while I watched other passengers run up to friends or family who were waiting for them. I walked over to the crowd and looked around for Brett before spotting a familiar head of light blond hair coming towards me. When I looked at the face and recognized Brett’s blue eyes I smiled before walking over to him. He pulled me into a hug before letting go after a couple seconds.

“So good to see you again,” he said before grabbing my hand. “Let’s go get your luggage and I’ll drive you to your new apartment in the city. It’s only a few blocks away from the University, so you’ll be able to walk if you want, or take the public bus. I’m going to drop off the check for your tuition today, do you already know which classes you want to take?”

So much happened in the last week, so much planning, packing and organizing that my head was skimming with numbers, conversations and which clothes I’d packed in which suitcase.

“Um, I went on the school’s website and I have a list of the classes I want to take. It’s somewhere in one of my suitcases.” Because I didn’t have much stuff, I hadn’t had to pack much, leaving me with only six suitcases packed full of my belongings. We went to the place where you pick up luggage and he grabbed three bags while I grabbed the remaining two, with my carry-on bag already in my hands.

“Alright, well I’ll help you unpack and after you find it I’ll swing by the school and let you have some time to get used to your new home.” He said as we approached his car. He opened the trunk and we put the bags in it. Before he could go around and open my door I stopped him.

“Thanks Brett, for everything.” He gave me a smile and shrugged.

“It was nothing.”

When we got to the apartment he helped me unpack before I found the list in the first suitcase I opened. After that I hauled all my suitcases to the one bedroom in the apartment and began unpacking as I looked at the bed and desk Brett had already put in my bedroom. He was such a great guy, I was starting to wonder why he didn’t already have a girlfriend before I came along, even though I’m sure he must have had a couple girlfriends in the past.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket and I pulled it out without looking at the ID. I knew only one person would be calling me.

“Hey, Erika!”

“Hey, Laura. How is the new apartment?”

“It’s pretty nice,” I said as I got up and walked into the living room. I went over to the window and looked down from my third story room at the cars honking at each other down below and off in the distance, the college buildings stood taller than some of the buildings aound my apartment building.

“It’s really close to the University, and not too shabby of a view either,” I said with a smile.

“I’ll have to come visit sometime, unless you’ll be coming back to Tennessee to visit your parents…”

I frowned and went to sit down on the couch in the middle of the room that Brett had provided. “They’re really mad at me right now, so I might not be coming back anytime soon,” I said as I wrapped an arm around myself. The room suddenly felt colder.

“I’m sure when they have time to cool down and think about it they’ll realize you had to do what’s best for you,” she comforted me.

“They can hold grudges for pretty long,” I said with a shrug.

“Well, at least you have your son-of-a-movie-star boyfriend there to keep you company.”

I laughed. “Yeah. Well, I should get unpacking. I’ll call you later, ok?”

“Sure, and good luck!” she exclaimed before I closed the phone and walked back into my room. I started unpacking and found a picture of the whole family right after Tammy was born. Mom was holding her in her arms and we were all smiling and laughing in the picture. Things were simpler back then, before mom decided she wanted to go back to work two weeks after Tammy was born. I stood up with a sigh and placed it on the desk beside my bed and went back to unpacking the rest of my belongings.