Author's Chapter Notes:
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“Is she alright?”Ola asked Gabriel as she placed a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee and water on a tray for Salomi. Gabriel thanked her and picked it up as well as the morning’s paper
“She’ll be fine. She doesn’t know her drinking limits”Gabriel said with a smile as he started to walk out of the room with the tray,”Oh and make sure to let me know about your trip”he said to her
She nodded,”I will, do you need anything else?”
“No thank you”he said and left the room and carried the tray upstairs. He chuckled a little bit as he looked at Salomi sleeping peacefully but sprawled out on the bed. Her makeup was smeared and her mouth hung open, but she was still so beautiful to him. He set the tray on the small bedside table and looked at the paper and gasped when he saw what was on the cover,”What?! Holy shit!”
“Huh uh…what?”Salomi asked as she opened her eyes. The smell of Ola’s hangover soup had woken her but Gabriel’s swearing made her actually try to sit up and look like a normal human being, she felt like shit!
“I cant believe this”Gabriel said as he read something that was in the paper
“Cant believe what? What happened?”Salomi asked
Gabriel looked at her, noticing that she was awake.”Oh Im sorry for waking you like that baby”he said
“Its fine, the soup smell did”she said,”But whats going on?”she asked and then she sat there and listened.”Whats all that noise?”
“Oh there are going to be parades all week”he said as he looked out the window,”The first boat of troops just docked earlier this morning. There will be more to come”he said
“Oh”Salomi said sadly, wishing that Uncle Vernie would have had a chance to get on that boat,”Whats in the paper?”she asked as she slowly took a spoonful of soup and sipped it, it was still a little hot.
Gabriel sighed,”Um….nothing”he said, how could he tell her? Was she ready for news like this. “How are you feeling?”he asked her
“I have a headache but Im ok”she said,”But it isn’t nothing…the thing in the paper, or you wouldn’t have reacted like that”she said, pressing him,”What? Is it something about the war?”
“No….look Salomi, you arent feeling well…we’ll talk about it later, you need to eat”
“Gabriel just tell me!”she said
Gabriel sighed and handed her the paper,”I just don’t think your ready for this kind of news”he said as he got off the bed and paced around the room. He heard a gasp from Salomi as she read the paper in silence.
The headline said,”ACTRESS DOROTHY GIBSON IS BRULATOUR’S MISTRESS!” There was a picture of her driving Julian’s car last night and she didn’t look too good either, the article explained that she was driving drunk and out of control. The article also explained that Julian was married….this was ridiculous!
“You don’t believe all this do you?”she asked him as she threw the paper to the side,”Its bullshit”
“Is it? I mean that Julian guy is always around her-“
“Hes an advisor and he has backed many of her films-“
“Which shes very much done with! Why does he need to stick around?”
“I don’t know, they’re friends. I mean he did introduce her to that photographer. Maybe hes her manager”Salomi said. She had bought a photo of Dorothy and they hung it up in their living quarters
“I bet he is”Gabriel said
“Hey stop it”Salomi said to him,”You know how papers talk about the rich and famous these days. A lot of the things they say are twisted and contorted. I mean you know Dorothy just as well as I Gabriel, she wouldn’t do a thing like that”
“Theres a picture Salomi, you see the picture don’t you?!”
“I do see the picture and I know that something isn’t right. She doesn’t look too good and I don’t think its because it claims shes drunk. You know Dorothy, if she caught any of us driving out of control and drunk, she would kill us. She had a fit when Darla taught me how to drive, this isn’t like her”
“Shes seeing a married man. I mean what happened, why would she do something like that?”
“Maybe she didn’t know?”
“Bullshit Lomi. Everyone knows who Julian’s wife is. You know about Greta Brulatour don’t you?”
“I mean Ive heard the name…”
“Do you know what she does? Shes a jeweler and very rich in fact, I bought your engagement ring from one of her stores. Shes a powerful businesswoman. Wait til she reads this! Wait til she says something, then what?”
“I have to call her”Salomi said as she set the bowl on the tray and put it on the bedside table and reached for the phone,”The only way to really know anything is to ask Dorothy herself, shes probably miserable. This is bad press for her, this may ruin her career Gabriel…have some….class”she said. She was upset that Gabriel was believing this bullshit. Salomi knew Dorothy, better than Gabriel, better than Julian. Something obviously wasn’t right. She called Dorothy’s apartment and there was no answer. She put the phone on the receiver,”No answer”
“Shes probably out with him”Gabriel said
“Shut up”Salomi said to him and then picked up the phone again
“Hello?”Ruth asked
“Ruth, its me. Lomi”
“Oh hello Salomi, where were you last night? Out partying with the wild and crazy kid?”
“As a matter of fact I was..and I had a great time”Salomi said,”But Im calling about Dorothy-“
“You’ve seen the paper?”
“Yes…Im guessing you have too?”
“Oh yes and I went over there to confront her about it too. I mean I cant believe this, I had to talk to the police and endure all the hard work while she was running around with Julian!”
“The police…wait, why did you have to talk to the police?”Salomi asked and Gabriel stood next to her. If the police were in it then it must be serious.
“Oh you didn’t hear? Of course not since I was the only one dealing with the club and no one seems to care about it!”Ruth said as she was slowly starting to freak out, she could hear a male voice in the background and she sighed and took a deep breath,”Maisy’s was broken into last night”
“What!? Why didn’t anyone call me?”
“Its fine Salomi, I took care of EVERYTHING. As usual, either Dorothy is always out with Julian on some ‘business meeting’ or you are out with Gabriel attending parties and partying with the wild and crazy kid, I took care of everything as always”
Salomi frowned, when did Ruth become so bitter? “Well what happened to the club Ruth? Are there any damages?”
“Just broken windows and 4 stolen bottles of wine”Ruth said.”I was up early this morning calling any window repair man in New York City while Dorothy was doing God knows what. The windows have just been repaired and I even made a few calls so we wouldn’t be behind money wise due to those stolen bottles. I just literally finished all of that, so Im kind of sick and tired”
“Well I mean, did you see her? I mean you know Dorothy, she isn’t like that”
“She used to not be, but Salomi you arent around much either so you haven’t seen whats been going on. A lot of times Dorothy leaves the club with me in charge! You know how I hate to be in charge!”Ruth said and Salomi nodded, she knew all too well when Dorothy filmed the Titanic film, Ruth went nuts. “Always having to see Julian about business, bullshit! They’ve been fucking!”she said and then the male voice said something,”Sorry”she said,”I cant believe this. I mean Salomi, the club is supposedly her baby. She put all her blood, sweat and tears into it but she didn’t even show up when I called her to tell her that the club had been broken into! She calls me and tells me there is an ‘emergency’ and I ended up taking care of everything. Then I see the paper! She was riding around in Julian’s car while I was cleaning up her mess! I go to the apartment this morning and she looked like shit. Like she had been drinking a lot and I know Julian was there, even though he was hiding in her bedroom. I could smell his cologne”Ruth sighed,”I do all this work Salomi and frankly I feel like shes been using me, she doesn’t even say thank you anymore….”
Salomi sighed as she listened to this, Ruth’s story was very justified but she didn’t know that all of this was happening. Why didn’t Dorothy tell her? What has gotten into the level headed and practical Dorothy? “Im sorry Ruth….really I didn’t know you felt like this and I didn’t know any of this was happening”
“Of course not, your too busy partying and cutting your hair like a boy and wearing clown makeup”Ruth said harshly
“That’s enough Ruth”Salomi said firmly back and Gabriel gave her a what-did-she-say? look.”Ok I know that you are upset with Dorothy but you don’t have to take it out on me. That’s very childish don’t you think? Im very much worried about her now and shes not answering her telephone. I know Dorothy, Ruth. Theres something else to all of this. There has to be an explanation, what did she say when you saw her this morning?”
“I asked her what the emergency was and she didn’t want to talk about it. Then I showed her the paper and what was worse is that she looked guilty as sin. Her bloodshot eyes gave it away. Look Salomi Im sorry, but this could ruin Dorothy’s career and if it does, it could ruin mine. Working at the club pays for my schooling”she explained to her,”Its all I have.Now that this scandal is out, theres a chance that no one would want to support the mistress, as they call her. That means business will slow down which means we wont get paid! You see? This could have lasting consequences and repercussions”
“Yes but if its true”Salomi said,”I don’t know Ruth, something is missing. Theres something else. Im going to go and see her. I need to hear everything straight from the horses mouth”
“You do that”Ruth said,”I’ll see you later”she said and then hung up.
“So? What did she say?”Gabriel asked her
“Its more complicated than it seems”Salomi said with a shake of her head
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Dorothy sighed as her phone rang yet again. Her phone has been ringing constantly and she was sick of hearing it, she unplugged it and Jules looked at her.
“That’s not a smart idea. Im waiting on a lawyer to call me back, he wont be able to reach us or represent you in court if the phone isn’t working”Jules said to her sternly
“What does it matter? Im a whore now!”she said as she pointed at the paper,”All I am is your mistress!”
“You know that you are more than that to me”Jules said to her,”But our secret is out, maybe we were stupid to think that we could keep something like this forever. Now we just have to deal”
“No I have to deal. Not we, you didn’t do anything. Im the bad guy! You know what a mistress is? How they are looked at? Now Im going to be known as some femme fatale that was after a married man. No matter what or how the circumstances are between you and Greta, you are both still very much married and it stinks because you don’t love each other but no one knows that!”she said as she sank down into a chair,”This could ruin me. No one would want me in their films, no one would dare to have a photo of a mistress hanging up in their living rooms…the club…no one will come to my club! Its all I have!”
“Dorothy please calm down”Jules said to her as he knelt in front of her,”You know that almost every man in Hollywood has mistresses. The rich and famous. Hell, I bet the King of England has a London gal that he can have it off with-“
“But they are all secrets. The wives may suspect but they accept it or they are total secrets that never get out. Greta didn’t know! She’ll hate me! She’ll design a whole jewelry collection called ‘Kill Dorothy’”
Jules laughed,”Dorothy please you cant be serious-“
“I am. Now Im upset that your laughing at me because obviously your not!”
“Dorothy this happens all the time-“
“That doesn’t make it right! If I were in Greta’s shoes I would hate me too. Divorce her Jules. Save my name, my reputation”she asked him. Jules sighed and shook his head, he wasn’t saying no but he was saying it wasn’t that easy. Then there was an urgent knock at the door.”Don’t answer it”she said when he got up.
“It may be a lawyer. You did unplug the phone”he said as he plugged it back in and looked through the peephole.He smiled and opened the door. It wasn’t a lawyer, but they could probably help.”Hello Salomi”he said to her as Dorothy unplugged the phone again
Salomi looked at him, shocked..he answered the door. It must be true. “Hi”she said quietly. She saw Dorothy standing in the kitchen, looking tired, pale and distraught. She went over to her and hugged her.”Its ok Dorothy. I saw the paper but I know you. Its all wrong right? Please explain it to me”
Dorothy sighed and sat her down and told her everything. How she and Julian met, their secret and why they kept it and everything that happened the night before. Salomi was very understanding which was a breath of fresh air, it seemed that no one did, not even Ruth which was a surprise. Jules plugged the phone back in and soon they received a call from a lawyer. They sat down and talked about the court charges and what would happen. Salomi sat there and held her hand. Dorothy helped her through so much, it was now her turn to be the grown up now. She needed her.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
The next day, more boats filled with soldiers arrived and there were more parades. But it seemed that the end of the war was old news compared to the ‘Dorothy Gibson scandal’. Not only was the story about her being Jules’ mistress sent out the day before, but the day after it was all about her hitting a man. So now she was a mistress and a murderer. Dorothy was distraught. Many thought that she was a disgrace and she even closed the club down for a few nights, she just couldn’t deal and who would go anyway? That pissed Ruth off even more. She needed that money! What was worse was that not only was she going to court over hitting a man, whose name was James Mills. Julian was going to court too. Greta was suing him for divorce. It was a huge mess and her lawyer advised her to open the club. Court was expensive.
However, to her surprise, the night that she opened the club, it was a packed house. She seemed to be more popular now. Everyone wanted to see the scandalous Dorothy up close and personal. She lost two performers due to the scandal since they couldn’t ‘support a person who would do such things’, but she was getting offers from many other performers wanting to take their place. It was astonishing. Ruth still worked but was happier, they were making more money than ever! If she was bitter, she never spoke about it. It seemed like the scandal made Dorothy more famous. Her paintings and photos were selling fast too and William called her and asked if she had time to pose for newer pictures. That had to be placed on hold, the court cases were much more important. But still Dorothy was weary, what happened to Dorothy Gibson- film star? Now it was just Dorothy Gibson- trouble making murderer/mistress and it seemed people liked her even more for that.
Word got out about Greta and Julian’s separation and the reason behind it but Greta wasn’t leaving without a fight. She was suing Julian and wanted half of everything, which was absurd since they had been separated for the past few years. Julian spent most of his days in court, either testifying for Dorothy or testifying against Greta’s wishes to take basically everything from him.
Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year went by and the ‘James Mills’ case was getting even more complicated. He did have a wife and three children but it turns out, the night that he was killed, he was seeing one of his mistresses. He had many. He was also drunk out of his mind, the alcohol content found in his body was too much to even fathom for one person. Mrs. Mills hated her husband and actually thanked Dorothy since he wouldn’t let her divorce him, he hit her and the children. So she wasn’t pressing charges. But all in all, she did kill a man and had alcohol in her system but not much. By the end of that summer, Dorothy had to pay a huge fine, her license was revoked and was on house arrest. Which was a huge sigh of relief. She didn’t want to go to prison.
Julian and Greta’s divorce was finalized by that fall. Greta ended up getting half of everything Julian had, which was a low blow. But he was finally free. His lawyers suggested that he and Dorothy legitimize their relationship and he proposed. Their wedding was to be in April of the following year. Soon Thanksgiving and Christmas came around yet again and this time the two could enjoy it. The same time the year before, the scandal was just heating up. Now they were old news, Clara Bow was the trouble making actress, but still the hottest trendsetter and an unknown jazz singer had a hit song called “Trouble” and it was a favorite among everyone. Trouble was the new trend indeed.
Things seemed like it would get better now. But only there was more trouble to come. Darla has been having suspicions of Leon cheating on her and she wasn’t happy about it, even though their rum rows were making them rich. Salomi broke down and agreed to buy coke from Darla again and hiding it from Gabriel. Gabriel was getting anxious about he and Salomi’s wedding, but it seemed like she was never ready and he and Leon were only getting busier and busier. Would there be more trouble on the way?
*_________________________*