The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo(71)
“To suggest that Paramount sign you and Rex to a three-picture deal.”
“What?”
“They want three movies, produced by us, starring you and Rex. Sam said to name a price.”
“Name a price?” Whenever I had too much to drink, I always woke up the next morning feeling as if I were underwater. Everything looked muted, sounded blurry. I needed to make sure I was following. “What do you mean, name a price?”
“Do you want a million bucks for a picture? I heard that’s what Don’s getting for The Time Before. We could get that for you, too.”
Did I want to make as much money as Don? Of course I did. I wanted to get the paycheck and mail a copy of it to him with a photo of my middle finger. But mostly I wanted the freedom to do whatever I wanted.
“No,” I said. “Nope. I’m not signing some contract where they tell me what movies to be in. You and I decide what movies I do. That’s it.”
“You aren’t listening.”
“I’m listening just fine,” I said, shifting my weight onto my shoulder and changing the arm that was holding the phone. I thought to myself, I’m going to go for a swim today. I should tell Luisa to heat the pool.
“We choose the movies,” Harry said. “It’s a blind deal. Whatever films you and Rex like Paramount wants to buy. Whatever salary we want.”
“All because of Anna Karenina?”
“We’ve proven your name brings people into the theater. And if I’m being entirely clear-eyed about this, I think Sam Pool wants to screw over Ari Sullivan. I think he wants to take what Ari Sullivan threw away and make gold out of it.”
“So I’m a pawn.”
“Everyone’s a pawn. Don’t go around taking things personally now when you never have before.”
“Any movies we want?”
“Anything we want.”
“Have you told Rex?”
“Do you honestly think I would run a single thing by that cad before running it by you?”
“Oh, he is not a cad.”
“If you had been there to talk to Joy Nathan after he broke her heart, you’d disagree.”
“Harry, he’s my husband.”
“Evelyn, no, he’s not.”
“Can’t you find something to like about him?”
“Oh, there’s plenty to like about him. I love how much money he’s made us, how much he will make us.”
“Well, he’s always done good by me.” I told him no, and he walked out my door. Not every man would do that. Not every man had.
“That’s because you both want the same thing. You, of all people, should know that you can’t tell a single thing about a person’s true character if you both want the same thing. That’s like a dog and a cat getting along because they both want to kill the mouse.”
“Well, I like him. And I want you to like him. Especially because if we sign this deal, Rex and I will have to stay married quite a bit longer than we originally thought. Which makes him my family. And you’re my family. So you’re both family.”
“Plenty of people don’t like their families.”
“Oh, shut up,” I said.
“Let’s get Rex on board and sign this thing, OK? Get your agents together to hammer out the deal. Let’s ask for the moon.”
“OK,” I said.
“Evelyn?” Harry said, before getting off the phone.
“Yes?”
“You know what’s happening, right?”
“What?”
“You’re about to become the highest-paid actress in Hollywood.”
FOR THE NEXT TWO AND a half years, Rex and I stayed married, living in a house in the hills, developing and shooting movies at Paramount.
We were staffed up with an entire team of people by that point. A pair of agents, a publicist, lawyers, and a business manager for each of us, as well as two on-set assistants and our staff at the house, including Luisa.
We woke up every day in our separate beds, got ready on opposite sides of the house, and then got into the same car and drove to the set together, holding hands the moment we drove onto the lot. We worked all day and then drove home together. At which point, we’d split up again for our own evening plans.
Mine were often with Harry or a few Paramount stars I had taken a liking to. Or I went out on a date with someone I trusted to keep a secret.
During my marriage to Rex, I never met anyone I felt desperate to see again. Sure, I had a few flings. Some with other stars, one with a rock singer, a few with married men—the group most likely to keep the fact that they’d bedded a movie star a secret. But it was all meaningless.
I assumed Rex was having meaningless dalliances, too. And for the most part, he was. Until suddenly, he wasn’t.