Ava Montez, Her Life and Death

  "She said, 'No, I won't go if you can't go.' She turned to Antonio, and said, 'Kim is my best friend and she's helped me a great deal with my lines. Please let her come with me.' She was truly my best friend, jeopardizing her future for our friendship.

  "Antonio smiled, and said. 'Okay, it's my house, my party, so I can invite anyone I want. But you must both use the back entrance. I don't want anyone seeing Ava until the right time. Agree?'

  "We both shouted out together, 'We agree!'

  "For the next three days we went over and over Ava's lines, again and again. She no longer needed the script. She had every word memorized, and would often interject her own feelings, and sometimes her own words. I could tell she wanted to become the person she was playing. She'd read the whole script Antonio had given her, not just her words for the special night, so she got to know her character well. She was truly marvelous.

  "We'd never been to a Hollywood party before, and we weren't sure what we should wear. We splurged and went out and bought ourselves two new outfits. We asked the sales girls to show us something suitable to wear to a very fancy cocktail party. Ava's outfit was red, her favorite color. Mine was deep purple. We both thought each other looked beautiful.

  "The night of the party, at exactly seven p.m. Antonio's driver came and picked us up. We were waiting for him in the lobby, discussing how this was unbelievable to both of us.

  "We rode in silence, looking at each other every once in a while. Whenever we did this, we'd roll our eyes in disbelief of what was happening to us, and start to laugh. We simply didn't know what to expect. We were nervous and excited all at the same time.

  "The house was large, and all lit up. Neither one of us had seen anything like it before, except in movie magazines. The driveway was long and it curved around the entrance where parking attendants greeted the people. The cars were big and fancy. We didn't know all the makes, but we knew they must have been very expensive. It was just as one would imagine how a movie star gathering would be.

  "Our driver drove to the back of the mansion where Antonio was waiting for us. He looked very handsome in his tuxedo. His hair was slicked back, and with his thin black mustache he looked every inch a movie star of that time.

  "He put us at ease right away with his great big smile, and told us to follow him. We could tell he was anticipating that something exciting was going to happen that night.

  "He led us up the back stairs to the second floor bedroom. And in case you're wondering, at no stage had Antonio made any sort of advance on Ava. We had heard stories of producers seducing young women with empty promises of stardom, but we always felt we could trust Antonio completely.

  "On the bed was a big box with a card on top that said, 'To our next big star, Ava Montez.' Ava and I looked at each other and knew that in the large box there would be a beautiful dress, more beautiful than the one Ava had just bought, for her to wear for her grand entrance.

  "Antonio knocked on an adjoining door. It opened and there he was with his personal hairdresser who had brought her makeup artist with her. I remember thinking this is truly going to be an exciting evening, knowing Antonio had thought of everything. I was so happy that Ava had insisted on me being there with her.

  "Antonio told me to go and mingle with the other guests. He said, 'Don't be nervous, Kim. They'll all think you're rich or famous just like them. Go and have a good time. Ava will make her entrance in exactly forty-five minutes.'

  "As I hugged Ava and wished her good luck, I whispered in her ear, 'No matter what the outcome, this is going to be a night we'll never forget. So go out there and knock 'em dead.'

  "She hugged me, and whispered, 'Yes, let's just have a great time. We may never be at another Hollywood bash again.'

  "We were so innocent, we had no idea what the future held for us. Or that Ava would take Hollywood by storm.

  "I went downstairs and mingled with the crowd, just as Antonio had suggested. They were very nice to me, but I wondered if they would have been as nice if they knew I wasn't one of them, but a hard-up business student and a waitress at a local diner.

  "In about forty minutes Antonio came down. He said, 'My friends, please take a seat.' He'd arranged to have fifty chairs facing the piano, with the beautiful winding staircase behind it. When the chairs were filled and the other guests had lined up against the walls, he started to play the piano.

  "Everyone was whispering, wondering what was going to happen. After a couple of minutes his playing got louder and louder. Then he stopped as Ava appeared at the top of the stairway, and began playing some beautiful music as she came walking down the stairs. She looked absolutely gorgeous. Her black hair was piled on top of her head, and the makeup brought out every inch of her beauty. The dress was a pale yellow. One shoulder had a ruffle, the other was bare. It was straight across the bosom. The dress had a long train that followed her down the stairs. Her walk was confident. Perfect.

  "If I hadn't known, I'd have thought Ava had practiced her entrance over and over. Everyone was silent. I couldn't help but to look around. Everyone was staring at her and no one could take their eyes off her. Halfway down she stopped, looked up at everyone, smiled and then continued down the staircase, while Antonio kept playing that beautiful tune.

  "When Ava got to the last step, Antonio stopped playing and got up, walked over to her, and announced, 'This is my new friend. She's going to do a scene from Joe's new movie, Gorgeous. Please sit back, relax and enjoy. You are about to witness the making of a star.'

  "It was like watching a movie. Everything was so well planned. There was lots of buzzing in the room. Then the lights went out and silence fell. When the lights came back on, Ava was sitting on a brown sofa that made her pale yellow dress and her bronze-like skin stand out. She looked even more beautiful, if that could have been possible.

  "Everyone was speechless. Her beauty alone captivated the audience. Both men and women were enthralled not only by her looks, but also by her acting. When she was through, the lights went out right on cue. There was complete silence. I wanted to stand up and clap and cheer for my best friend. But I was also spellbound by her performance, as the others were.

  "When the lights came back on, Antonio looked around the room. Ava had disappeared. Then Antonio said, 'Let me introduce you to a new star. This is Ava Montez.' Then he coined the famous phrase, 'The most beautiful woman in the world.'

  "With that, Ava walked out to a thunderous applause. There might have been only seventy or eighty people there that night, but the clapping sounded like seven or eight hundred. There were even shouts of Bravo, Magnificent and Marvelous around the room.

  "Antonio had thought of everything to make this definitely Ava's night. He had such a proud look on his face. It was a very dramatic introduction to Ava!

  "I'm sure I was clapping the loudest. Ava walked over toward me. I didn't know it, but I was sitting next to Joseph Morgan, the film director.

  "As Ava walked toward me, he stood up between us, and said, 'You did very well tonight. I'm sure Antonio discovered you somewhere and wanted me to see you. I'm still looking for someone to play the lead in my new movie. I'd like to give you a screen test. Your acting is very good. It's just a formality, but I want to see how the camera picks up your beauty. Who's your agent? I'd like to call him tomorrow and set up an appointment.'

  "Without missing a beat, Ava said, 'You've been sitting next to her this evening.' Pointing to me, she said, 'This is my agent, Kim Blakely.'

  "I remember thinking, 'I know absolutely nothing about being an agent!' But I also knew that with my work on my degree in business and money management I might be able to see it through. So, not wanting to embarrass Ava, I reached out my hand and shook his. "Yes, I'm Miss Montez' agent. About what time will you call tomorrow? I'll be out most of the day.' Which was absolutely true. We'd be working at Dan's diner!

  "He asked me for my business card. I opened my purse as if looking for one, and said, 'I'm sorry, I must have left my cards in m
y other purse.'

  "Ava, with her great humor, said, 'Maybe I have one.' It was hard to keep my composure as she opened her purse as if looking for one of my cards.

  "She finally said, 'No, I'm sorry, Mr. Morgan, I don't have one either.'

  "So I took out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote our number down on one of our order slips from the restaurant! I said it would be best if he called late afternoon tomorrow. I knew Ava and I would be back from the diner by then.

  "Ava said, 'I'll look forward to my agent's call about doing a screen test.' It was hard for us not to break up in laughter.

  "Ava then excused herself, saying, 'I'm sorry, Mr. Morgan, but I must go home. I have some appointments tomorrow and I have to get my beauty sleep.'

  "When we got into the car, I said, 'Beauty sleep?' And we both broke up!

  "Ava said, 'I didn't know what else to say. I just wanted to go home. I was afraid he was going to ask me questions and I wouldn't know the answers.'

  "I said, 'Like what?'

  "Ava said, 'I don't know. Maybe like how much do I charge for doing a picture? Or what other work have I done? I didn't want to spoil this night or embarrass Antonio. He did such a great job in showing me off.'

  "I asked Ava, 'Well, what do I say you charge? When he calls tomorrow and asks me, what do I say?'

  "Ava said, 'We'd better call Antonio and get some advice from him.'

  "We were probably being naive, but we knew absolutely nothing about the movie business. We didn't know if the director was supposed to tell us what he pays, or if we had to tell him how much we wanted.

  "We called Antonio just as soon as we got home. We weren't going to take any chances. We didn't want to look like the novices we were.

  "Antonio was still busy at the party. Whoever answered the phone promised to give him the message to call us."

  CHAPTER 14

  Kim -- A Loyal Friend

  "We talked into the wee hours of the next morning, we were so excited about the evening. We tried to imagine Ava being a big star, rich, famous and having millions of fans who would adore her. Maybe she would even marry a prince or a king. We kept looking at each other and roaring with laughter.

  "We both had to be at work in the morning, so around three a.m. we decided to go to bed. Even in our own bedrooms we kept calling out back and forth until we both finally fell asleep.

  "The phone woke us up at five-thirty that morning. It was Antonio. I answered the phone. He said he'd not gone to bed yet after the party and he knew we would be leaving early for work. He told me that everyone at the party last night was truly impressed with Ava. They were in amazement of her acting. Because of her beauty they thought her acting and her speaking voice wouldn't be very good, which was often the case in those days. But everyone agreed that once Ava started the scene they almost forgot about how beautiful she was, and became completely captivated by her acting. He thought that the combination of the two would make Ava an international star. And of course he was so right.

  "Ava was listening to every word he was saying, as we had our heads together and our ears were on the phone. Then she took the phone from me and said, 'Antonio, first I want to thank you for last night. You did a wonderful job. Kim and I both had a night we will never forget. If Mr. Morgan calls, what do we say? Do we give him a figure or does he tell us what my salary will be? We know nothing about the movie world.'

  "Antonio said, 'I talked to him last night. Since you're not connected to any studio he's going to offer you twenty-five thousand dollars to be in his movie, plus a contract to the J.M.A. motion picture studio. It's the studio he and I are part of. It's a great opportunity, Ava. J.M.A. is the number one studio in Hollywood. Many big named stars are contracted there.'

  "We looked at each other. Twenty-five thousand dollars then was a lot of money. Ava pretended she was going to faint. We put our hands to our mouths so we wouldn't laugh out loud and interrupt Antonio.

  "'My advice to you is to take it. Sign just a three year contract. He'll want five years, but say, 'No, three years only.' Because he really wants you in his new movie he'll agree and so will Jake Austin, the owner of the studio. They both feel you're going to be a big star and will make lots of money for the studio.'

  "'Antonio,' Ava asked, 'what do you pay your agent?'

  "He said, 'I have a five year contract which is renewable if both parties agree. I pay him seven percent of my take.'

  "Ava thanked him, and said, 'Maybe we will be on the set together working on the movie, Gorgeous.'

  "Antonio said, 'Not maybe, Ava. We will be on the set working together.'

  "Ava hung up the phone and turned to me. 'Antonio pays his agent seven percent with a contract. I'd like to pay you ten percent, no contract needed. That is unless you want one.'

  "I said, 'Are you sure about the ten percent, Ava? I will be more than happy with seven, or even five. After all, I have no experience as a Hollywood agent, or any other kind of agent, even though I understand a lot about the money business with my degree course.'

  "She was definite. 'To be my agent the fee is ten percent, and that's final. Do you want a contract?'

  "I replied, 'Thanks, friend, but ten percent and no written contract is great with me.'

  "We sealed the agreement with a big hug. For the next twenty years until her death, Ava gave me a half percent raise every year. We never had a contract. We both trusted each other and we had some great times together. She cared nothing about money. And as you know, she gave most of it away.

  "Ava had many offers of marriage, and yes, she had one king and two princes who wanted to marry her. But of course she said no. She wanted to marry for love, which is exactly what she did when she married Jake Austin.

  "Right after I became her agent, she sat me down on the sofa. She was on one side and I was on the other, with one cushion in between us.

  "She became very nervous. She said, 'Now that you're my agent, there are things you should know about me. I want to tell you about my past life. Just in case sometime in the future it's discovered, you'll be able to say, Yes, I know that about Ava.'

  "I had no idea what she was going to tell me. Actually my first thought was that maybe she had stolen the money that was in her purse the day she paid me for six months' rent in advance. As I remained silent waiting for Ava to say something, I saw tears creeping into her eyes.

  "I asked her, 'What is it, Ava? You know you can trust me. You're my very best friend. Whatever you tell me will be our secret. If you feel I should know something about your past, I'm listening.'

  "She said, 'I know I can trust you, Kim. It's just that I'm finding it hard to talk about it.'

  "That's when she told me about being married at an early age and giving her baby up for adoption. Don't worry, Rae. Jake told me on the phone that he'd told you about the baby.

  "After she had met Michael Conrad and was sure he was her son, the three of us, Ava, Jake and I got together to discuss what we should do. After a long discussion we felt that it would be Ava's decision and that whatever she decided, we would be behind her one hundred percent. She chose to remain silent for the time being.

  "She said, 'Someday I will tell him, but not now. His career is just taking off. As much as I want to tell him that I'm his mother, I'll wait for the right time. I'm longing to hold him in my arms and explain to him why I had to give him up. For now, I'll be happy holding him in my arms on the set, as we play brother and sister.'

  "The tears came streaming down her face, along with Jake's and mine. Of course she never got the chance to tell Michael that she was his mother, for she died prematurely, murdered at age thirty-eight. And probably by a so-called friend."

  Kim finished her story by wiping tears from her eyes. "Even after more than forty years, the memory of Ava is still strong in my heart. I'll never forget her and the great times we had together. She was a truly trusted and loyal friend."

  Rae knew the interview was over. As she got up to leave, she said, "I noti
ced the Bible on your table."

  Kim smiled. "About ten years ago I became a Christian. Well, actually both my husband Frank and I did. It happened at a Billy Graham Crusade. We both went forward. That list beside it is of the people I pray for each day. If you look at the last name, you'll see it's yours. I put your name on there when Jake called and told me you were writing a story about Ava. I was praying that you would be a believer and would write an honest story, not repeating the lies that have been so often written about her. I want you to tell what a great person Ava really was. How she helped people and gave most of her money away to different charitable organizations. Of how she helped the homeless, and how big her heart really was."

  Rae stood up and gave Kim a hug. "Kim, you are truly a loyal friend to the memory of Ava Montez. And yes, I am also a Christian and will write a story about your friend that is honest, and a tribute to her life."

  Kim walked Rae to the door. Rae thanked her for the interview, and said, "By the way, our church choir on Saturday night will be doing an Easter cantata. I'd love to have you come and hear us."

  Kim seemed pleased with the invitation. "I'd love to go. Frank and I were just talking about finding an Easter music program somewhere."

  Rae gave Kim the instructions of how to get to her little church. And then she noticed the rain blowing strongly along the street. It hadn't stayed dry after all. She searched in her bag, before remembering she had left her umbrella drying in her apartment.

  "You'd better stay a bit longer," Kim said.

  Rae looked at her watch. "I really have to get home. I have a date this evening. Don't worry about me, I'm almost rainproof, and the doorman can call me a taxi."

  Kim fetched a scarf. It had a letter K embroidered in one corner. "I'm not sure an umbrella would be any good in this wind, but I don't want to think of you looking like you've been fished out of the pond. Borrow this. At least your hair will be protected."

  RAE

  THE REPORTER

  CHAPTER 15

  Their First Date

  Rae felt happy with the interview. She liked Kim very much. It gave her a good feeling knowing she was being prayed for.