Chapter 6 - Claire & Marilyn
Claire stood up, straightened her clothes and clutched her purse. She slowly walked up to the patio, trying not to scare Marilyn. Marilyn noticed her figure approaching and jumped up in her chair.
“Please, don’t be alarmed, Miss Monroe, I’m not a nut or anything, I won’t hurt you.”
“Well that’s good to know, sweetie, but what exactly are you doing here?” The Marilyn Monroe persona was back.
“I’m so sorry to bother you, Miss Monroe, but I have to tell you something, it’s really important.”
“Well, if you can’t tell me from there, sweetie, I’m going to scream and there are about five people in that house who will rush to my aid,” Marilyn said as sweetly as she could.
“No, please don’t do that, I’ll stay right here, please, it’s important.”
“Well, alright, shoot, sweetie.” Marilyn looked weary.
Claire was flustered by this point and didn’t know how to say what she had come to say. “There’s no easy way to put this, Miss Monroe, and it’s going to sound crazy to you, but I have to tell you that there are a lot of people who love you, your family, friends and your fans, everyone loves you and I’m just asking you please, please, please,” Claire hesitated, “Don’t kill yourself tonight.”
“Kill myself?” Marilyn looked alarmed. “Are you a nut or something? I have no intension of killing myself tonight or any other night, now if you don’t leave right now, sweetie, I’m going to have to call for help,” Marilyn said, slamming the script down on top of the others.
“No, please Miss Monroe; I can prove it to you if you just give me a chance. I know everything about you. Your favorite flowers are delphiniums and roses. Your favorite drink is Dom Perignon, 1953. Your favorite perfume is Chanel No. 5. Your favorite restaurant is Romanoff’s. Your favorite colors are beige, black, white, and red, in that order.”
“OK, I get the idea, sweetie, you’re a fan, but most fans don’t come wandering onto my property and...”
Claire cut her off. “I know this sounds completely nuts but if you’ll just let me show you what I have in my purse, it will prove what I’ve been saying.”
“HELP! Someone come quick, there’s a nut back here!” Marilyn screamed, fearing for her life when she saw Claire reach into her purse. The moment Claire had been waiting for all this time was ruined. The Marilyn Monroe persona was gone once again and fear took over as Marilyn jumped out of her seat, screaming louder and louder.
“No, wait, it’s just a magazine, I just wanted to show you a magazine!” Claire yelled, pulling a Life Magazine out of her purse. “See, it’s just a magazine, I would never hurt you.” Claire’s face went white; she knew she had made a horrible mistake that could have affected the timeline in a negative way. She decided to take off before anyone else saw her. “Please listen to what I said; please don’t hurt yourself, please!” Claire desperately screamed as she was running away. She could see the sunroom door opening as she ran around the side of the house. She could also see that Marilyn was watching her in confusion. She took off down the driveway and out onto the sidewalk of Fifth Helena Drive. There was a wooded area at the end of the street and Claire ducked into it, breathing heavily. “Oh, my God, what did I do?” she thought.
“Marilyn, are you alright?” Pat exclaimed as she came flying out of the sunroom with Eunice and Norman on her tail.
“Yes, I’m fine, sorry to frighten you. There was a fan back here and I thought she was a nut, but it just turned out she wanted an autograph, I guess.” Marilyn looked confused and was staring off in the direction Claire left in.
“Do you want me to call the police, Miss Monroe?” Eunice asked.
“No, that won’t be necessary, Eunice. I think she was harmless.”
“Just the same, I will go out and make sure all of the gates are locked.” Eunice and Norman went back into the sunroom and out the front door to secure the gates.
“So what was that really about?” Pat asked skeptically.
“It was just a fan, Pat. It was nothing really, I over-reacted.”
All was quiet for the next hour as Claire sat under a tree and snacked on a granola bar, berating herself. “Stupid, stupid, stupid, you’re supposed to convince her NOT to kill herself, not make yourself a suspect in her death, you moron.” She kept watching the road waiting to see police cars. None ever showed up. She figured if a big star like Marilyn Monroe called the police they would surely show up quickly, but she was going to wait a while longer just to be safe. She could hear the seconds of her arm timer ticking away, wasting precious minutes. After another precious half-hour went by, Claire saw a car coming down the road. It stopped in front of Marilyn’s house and honked twice. Eunice came running out of the house to open the driveway gate.
“Fine, if she doesn’t want to listen to me, I’ll just keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t hurt herself,” Claire said to herself.