As she said it, Rae felt uncomfortable, a creeping sensation making its way up her back. She didn't like being in the office late by herself. The newsroom always seemed so spooky after dark. She was hoping Joseph Morgan would call earlier so that she could be home no later than seven. Or maybe Max would stay with her. There was no choir rehearsal on Thursday night. The director said they needed the night off, as Saturday night was the performance.
Once back home, Rae called Kim Blakely to confirm the appointment for the next day at 1:30. She liked Kim's voice; pleasant, and she seemed willing to be interviewed. Rae again became excited about the story and wondered what new information she would receive about Ava Montez from Kim Blakely. As Ava's best friend and agent, surely she would be a great source of information.
She was also hoping the interview would go as well as the one she had yesterday with Miss Montez' husband, Jake Austin.
Time for choir practice. She rushed out the door, leaving the hall light on. She didn't like coming home to a dark place.
The rehearsal was great. She always enjoyed rehearsals. They usually had someone give a short testimony first, and then after the practice they had snacks and a great fellowship time. It was more than just singing, it was like a midweek service for the choir members.
She looked forward to Tuesday nights, not only to the time spent with her friends, but the times of prayer afterwards. It always picked her up and she went home encouraged, especially when someone shared an answered prayer about something or someone they all had been praying for.
When Rae left the church, she felt a little apprehensive about walking home alone, especially as it was well after ten. Again, she was cautious when crossing streets.
She hadn't shared with the group tonight about her assignment, even though they had been praying for her to get the job. No one mentioned it and she didn't bring it up. She wanted to tell them about last night and the car almost hitting her, but she still thought it could have been an accident. Maybe Max, Sam and the police chief were making it seem bigger than it really was.
When she got to her home, she looked up at her apartment. The window was dark. At first she thought she had forgotten to leave the hall light on. She'd done that on rare occasions. But then she remembered distinctly leaving it on. "Maybe the light bulb burnt out," she said aloud to herself as she looked up.
Still, she was leery about going into the apartment alone. "This is foolish," she scolded herself. "My apartment is very safe."
But before she went in, she listened for a long time at the door to make sure no one was moving about inside. Eventually she unlocked the door and immediately turned on the light switch, noticing that it was in the off position, so the bulb hadn't failed. She looked around and everything seemed okay. But she did have a strange feeling that someone had been there.
Then she realized that her desk chair had been moved, her laptop was open and the screen was at an unusual angle. She wouldn't have left it like this, even if she had forgotten to close it. Anyway, she was sure she had closed it earlier.
She was certain now that someone had been inside the apartment. But why? Nothing else had been disturbed as far as she could tell. Could someone be after her story? Not that they could have read anything. All her files were encrypted. Well, it could wait until the morning. She wasn't going to tell anyone about it tonight, even though she was now positive that someone had been inside her apartment.
She went to bed praying for God's protection, and wondering who that someone might be.
INTERVIEW
THE BEST FRIEND
CHAPTER 11
Kim Blakely Townsend
Rae's appointment with Kim Blakely was at 1:30, and it was only 8:00 a.m. now. She had breakfast: Cheerios, with granola and vanilla soy milk, and a cup of her favorite tea.
She fiddled around in the apartment, thinking again of Max and their time together the day before. She was really looking forward to seeing him this morning at the office. Of course, she was always glad to see him, but now she felt . . . Her thoughts were interrupted when the phone rang.
It was Max.
"Hi, Rae, how about breakfast?"
"Sorry, Max, but I just ate."
Before she realized what she was saying, it just came out, "How about lunch?"
She immediately felt embarrassed and was glad she was on the phone so Max couldn't see the reaction on her face. She had blurted it out without even thinking, like a schoolgirl falling in love for the first time!
There was silence for a few seconds, which seemed like minutes to Rae. Then Max said, "Sorry, I was checking my schedule. How about around one o'clock?"
Her heart did another of those flip-flops as it seemed to be doing lately whenever she was talking to Max or seeing him face to face.
"Sorry, Max, but I forgot. I have an interview at one-thirty with Kim Blakely." She wanted to ask him out for dinner, but held her tongue. She could feel her face turning red just thinking about it.
"Well then, Rae, how about dinner?"
She got those palpations again. "That sounds great. Is seven too late? I'm sure I'll be through with the interview by six. That will give me time to come home and change."
Max said, "That sounds wonderful. See you at seven."
"I'll be seeing you soon in the office, anyway."
"Sorry," Max replied, "but I'm not coming in today. I have to do some interviews myself for the Reader. That's why I thought breakfast would be good. Don't worry, dinner sounds great, and it will give me something to look forward to for the rest of the day."
Rae liked Max's comment, "Something to look forward to . . ."
After they hung up, she remembered it would be Wednesday night fellowship at her church. She wanted to call Max back and cancel dinner, but decided against it as she was too excited about their first official date.
Since Max wasn't going to be in the office, she decided not to go in either. She called Sam and asked if it was okay if she worked on the story from home, and then go for the interview with Ava's best friend and agent, Kim Blakely after lunch.
Sam said that was okay, but he wanted her in the office tomorrow, with an update on the storyline and the interview.
Rae worked on the story a few more hours. She wanted Sam to be happy about what she had done so far. She made a backup onto her memory stick and closed the laptop. She had re-written and re-worked the story many times over, and was very happy with it, and was sure Sam would be too. She made a note to call Jake Austin and ask when he would be ready for her to go through the box of photos.
She made a chicken salad for lunch with all the trimmings, and thought of Max and their relationship, wondering where it would go, and of course, about their date this evening. Where would he be taking her?
She got her notes ready for the interview, took her shower, then dressed and headed out the door to Kim Blakely's place. The wind was blowing strongly, but it didn't look like it was going to rain.
The apartment Miss Blakely lived in was not as beautiful as the Golden Towers, but still nice. It was called the Shadow Arms, and had fifteen floors with three apartments on each floor.
Rae felt curious as to how the apartments were arranged and decorated inside, as the building was only four years old and she remembered it being built. She had looked into buying there, but quickly discovered it was much too expensive for her pocket book, so she had never seen any of the apartments.
Two large wrought iron gates greeted her into a beautiful garden. Then the next thing she saw was a waterfall spilling over into a pond with people sitting around its edges.
A gardener was planting even more flowers, and digging in the dirt. He smiled at her as she walked by.
Rae gave the receptionist her name and said she had an appointment with Miss Kim Blakely. The gentleman behind the counter picked up the phone, pressed a button and waited for a few seconds. "Mrs. Townsend, a Rae Collins is here. She says she has an appointment with a Miss Blakely . . . Thank you."
r /> He turned to Rae. "Sorry, but I had to make sure. Only a few people call her Miss Blakely nowadays. Her full name is Kim Blakely Townsend. She's on the twelfth floor, apartment 1200, the corner unit. She'll be waiting for you." He pointed to the elevators. "Any of them will take you to the twelfth floor."
Rae could have kicked herself for making such a basic mistake. "Of course, she's married now." Then she wondered why Jake Austin hadn't corrected her.
As Rae stepped out of the elevator, Mrs. Kim Townsend was waiting for her. She stretched out her hand, giving Rae a big smile as she welcomed her into her home.
Rae liked the woman instantly. The apartment was large, nicely furnished and comfortable. Rae noticed a Bible on the coffee table. Next to it was a notebook and pencil. The notebook was open revealing a list of names. Rae tried to read it without appearing to be too nosey. The last name on the list was the name Rae, which was spelled just like hers. She hadn't met too many other Raes.
The sofa was beige, with large, soft, multi-colored throw pillows on it. As she sat down, she wanted to take her shoes off and tuck her feet under her. It all looked so inviting that she could have curled up with a good book and eventually fallen asleep.
Kim smiled. "Please make yourself comfortable, Rae. And before we begin, you must call me Kim."
Rae thanked her, and said, "You have a beautiful place here, Kim. It's so comfortable looking, I just love it. May I take off my shoes?"
"By all means please do."
With that, they both removed their shoes and tucked their feet underneath them. And then the interview began.
CHAPTER 12
Kim, Best Friend and Agent
"I met Ava in April 1947, when she was seventeen years old and I was nineteen. I was working at a diner in Hollywood where we served breakfast and lunch only. I had a great boss who was also the cook. Tips were good and many movie stars came in when they didn't want to be bothered by fans and reporters."
Rae raised her eyes in questioning, and Kim smiled.
"Let me explain. Dan, my boss, never advertised that the stars came in. There was a private dining area round the back with its own entrance. He knew they wanted to be left alone. His wife Paula helped out when we had special parties. We were like family.
"When he hired me the year before I met Ava, he told me not to make a big deal about the stars. He said, 'Just give them their privacy and they'll make it worth your while.' I did, and they did! It was a great place to work.
"I was going to college five nights a week, and had another year and a half to go before I'd receive my degree in business and money management.
"Ava was walking by the restaurant early one morning and saw the sign Dan had put out a couple of days before: HELP WANTED, CONGENIAL, LIKES PEOPLE AND WEARS A SMILE. Paula and I laughed when he put it out. We told him it would scare people away. He said he didn't care, because the sign described the kind of person he wanted.
"Although we were not open yet, Ava tried the door and came into the front room of the diner. She was extremely pretty, neat and had a great smile on her face.
"Dan took one look at her, and said, 'If you're wanting the job, you're hired.' He'd interviewed four other girls, but didn't like any of them. He was very particular about who worked there, and he had a knack for hiring just the right person.
"He looked at Ava and said, 'When can you start?'
"Ava said, 'Well, I could start today, but I'd rather start tomorrow. I've just arrived from Hawaii and need to find a place to stay. My luggage is in a locker at the airport.'
"Dan said, 'No problem. This is Kim. Give her a few hours to train you first, then you can go looking for accommodation. We open for breakfast in about a half hour and close right after lunch.' Then as an after-thought, Dan asked, 'By the way, what's your name, and how old are you?'
"With a little hesitation, she replied, 'Oh, I'm Ava Montez and I'm eighteen years old.' She even made her age sound convincing. She walked over to me, stretched out her hand, and said, 'Okay, Kim, show me the ropes.'
"Right from that moment we hit if off really good. We laughed at each other and joked around. It was like we'd known each other for years rather than just a morning.
"Dan was watching and enjoying every minute of it. He knew he'd picked just the right person to work there.
"Ava stayed until closing and we walked out together. It so happened that my ex-roommate had just returned back home to somewhere in Virginia. I told Ava I had to find a roommate because I needed the money to help pay the rent, so I asked her if she'd like to stay with me for the night.
"She said, 'That'll be great. Dan said I could have tomorrow morning off to look for an apartment.'
"When she walked into my apartment, she said that she really liked it and asked me how much the rent was.
"I told her it was three hundred dollars, and whoever moved in would have to split it right down the middle.
"She looked at me with those beautiful eyes and said, 'May I be your roommate?'
"Even though I'd thought about it all day while we were working together, I wasn't sure. I wavered for a moment. She looked disappointed, so I reminded her again that I needed the money in advance. I told her I was already one month behind in my rent.
"But I really liked her, so I said, 'Yes, I'd love that. I'll talk to the landlord tomorrow and ask him to wait just a few more weeks. I'll tell him that you have a job and we'll pay him just as soon as we can. We can also talk to Dan about giving you an advance on your salary.'
"Ava said it wouldn't be necessary. She opened up her purse, took out a wad of bills, and said, 'Here's nine hundred for six months' rent. Is that okay?'
"I must have looked stunned and confused. Ava said, 'Don't worry, I didn't steal it. It was an insurance policy that came due. Remember, I just got here and haven't had a chance to find a bank. Maybe tomorrow you can take me to your bank and I can open up an account.'
"From that moment on, and for the next twenty years, we became the best of friends. We laughed together, cried together and told each other our darkest secrets.
"One year later, when she was really eighteen, Antonio, who was at that time one of the most famous movie stars in Hollywood and across the globe, came into the diner. Ava by now was not only pretty, but with a little makeup around the eyes, lipstick and a touch of rouge and her hair pulled back off her face, she went from being pretty to beautiful. As I watched the transformation, I wondered how long it would take for someone to want to put her in pictures.
"And that's what Antonio was about to do. He wasn't the best actor, but his looks were marvelous, and up on the screen he was the most handsome of any man you could have seen. The rumor was that he had just signed to do a new feature called Gorgeous, and that they were looking for the female lead. They wanted an unknown, and of course someone who was not only beautiful, but someone who could act as well.
"Antonio had been in France making a movie, so he hadn't been in the diner since before Ava started working there. One look at her and he knew she would fit the bill perfectly. But his question was, could she act?
"He approached Ava with the idea. He told her he would help her with the lines for the audition if she was willing to work hard. If she was willing, he would introduce her to Joseph Morgan, an up and coming director at the studio. Ava in her innocent way said, 'Yes, I'd like that.'
"Ava and I had already talked many times about her trying out for the movies. I'd even suggested that she come to the college I was attending for my business degree, because they offered a night course in acting. She wasn't sure she could do it. Her excuse had been that she didn't want to disappoint me by failing. Now here it was being dropped into her lap. She looked at me when Antonio gave her the run-down of what she'd have to do. I, of course, nodded my head, folded my hands like I was praying, and said 'Yes, yes.' Antonio had his back to me so couldn't see me egging Ava on. That is when she said to Antonio, 'Yes, I'd like that.'
"Antonio said in a month from t
hat day he was having a get-together in his home, and many famous and important people would be there, including the director Joseph Morgan -- Joe, as he called him.
"He said, 'I have to leave for ten days. While I'm gone, I want you to enroll in an acting class.'
"Ava sheepishly looked at me, and I gave her that I-told-you-so look. Antonio continued, 'When I return, I'll bring the script and we can go over the lines. If I feel you're the one, we'll do the scene that night at the party. It'll be a surprise to everyone there. It'll take a lot of work, but I can guarantee it will be worth your while. I believe with your looks you can go a long way in the movie world. Far beyond your imagination.'
"When Antonio left, we hugged and screamed at each other. I told Ava, 'After work I'm going to march you right over to the college and sign you up for those acting lessons!'
"Ava's first acting lesson was that very night. I stayed and watched. She was so at ease. I believed then, and still do, that she was born to act. When the teacher would ask her to say a line or look a certain way, it was amazing how well she did it. And in front of an audience, she lit up. At the end of the class her instructor told her she was a natural.
"While watching her, I remember thinking, 'Ava, you could be the most beautiful woman in the world!'"
CHAPTER 13
Kim Becomes an Agent
Rae was busy making notes as Kim Blakely, or Kim Blakely Townsend as she now was, continued.
"When Antonio came back, he brought the script just as he said he would. Every night after work for the next two weeks they went over and over their lines. Then after we got home, I'd go over them again with Ava.
"I could tell Antonio was impressed. He was very gentle and kind to her, and also very encouraging. I knew by his actions that he was building up her confidence because he saw great potential in her. I could tell he was thrilled by her acting ability.
"Three days before the gathering at his house, he told Ava she was ready to perform in front of his guests. He said he'd send his car over to pick her up. She asked him if I could go with her. He hesitated. I said, 'It's okay, Ava, you go and have a great night. You can tell me all about it after you get home. I'll be waiting up for you.'