Hollywood Calendar: A Lover's Sting

By Lloydd Marshall

Two Friends. Two Stories. But one’s already dead.

Sophia Russo considered her life to be on the right track – she had goals, plans, and a dream that was incredibly important to her. Her life was normal: friends, work, and the daily stresses of life.

Then her best friend dies in a tragic car accident and the entire world believes she killed herself. Broken and confused, Sophia feels guilty for how their friendship had drifted in recent years, partly because of Karen’s double life as celebrity superstar, Megan Hart. Her world is spiraling and she needs some answers. Or, at the very least, some closure.

Little does she know that she is about to be drawn into the whirlwind lifestyle of a celebrity herself when she’s “discovered” at her best friend’s funeral. Now Sophia has to navigate the glitz and glamor of being a star on the rise along with the mystery surrounding Karen’s death.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BLGM Reserve Estate
• Release date: May 2, 2016
• ISBN: 9781943549917

Lloydd Marshall

I grew up all over southern California and Washington state, with a smattering of locations about Oregon, Nevada, and Hawaii, and with each move I learned about new cultures and ideas. Moving has always been a constant reality for me, which has exposed me to various people and ideas about the world; it has increased my love of writing many times over. With each book, I hope to reach new people who will enjoy what I create. Many people have interests in literature and fiction, but few people have ever thought themselves so ambitious that they would choose to write and publish a book every single week. This is my promise.

Book preview

Foreword

If you can imagine a world where the Hollywood lifestyle dominates our attention span, then you, too, might be living in the world of Sophia Russo.

Your life, your choices, and your future are determined by the Calendar. So you might as well enjoy the ride. It’s going to be crazy.

Prologue

The night of the accident…

It was cold, but she continued moving through the darkened halls of the lavish home. How she could still consider the home exquisite was beyond her, but even when she gripped the blood stained baluster, she knew it was the most gorgeous home that she had ever lived in… that she would ever live in.

Karen Winkler looked up, hair soaked with sweat stuck to her face, but it did nothing to obscure her vision of the moonlit hallway. The wall of glass had given her a perfect sight in this hot, Los Angeles evening when the power to her home had been savagely cut. She breathed hard, heavy, and full of fear when she met the steel-hardened gaze of the man she knew had been sent to kill her.

To kill her for what she knew and for who she planned on telling. It was horribly ironic that he had come to do this himself, rather than let one of his stars do his dirty work.

Karen’s grip on the newel knob of her banister tightened, and she felt her other arm move out towards the tall console table that lined the part of the stairs that led up to the upper floors of her home. Floors that would betray her if she tried to run up to them in search of an escape or a safe hiding spot.

Her fingers brushed against a picture frame, and she let out a maddening scream, throwing it at the man. He barely flinched, but it was long enough for her to grab the vase beside the picture and throw it at his stomach.

It made him double over and then she ran for the front door. Her hand instinctively reached for her purse before she slammed into the door and cried out. Her hand shook violently while she tried to unlock the door. Her gaze darted over her shoulder, and she saw him… he was coming for her. Still.

Finally, the door which barred her from escaping opened and she ran, throwing it open wide, hoping it would hit him in the face and leave him dying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Karen looked over her shoulder, fearfully, and saw that it hadn’t and she cursed the skies for her misfortune.

Her hand slipped into her purse as she crossed the emerald green lawns, freshly manicured and still damp from the sprinklers’ dew not ten minutes before. She didn’t slip, though the threat of it remained when she knelt down, wasting precious seconds to keep from breaking her ankle, and she pulled out her key fob and unlocked her car all the while making a mad dash for the car.

She made it.

The car started without issue, and she jammed her foot against the pedal and peeled out of the driveway. She slapped the wheel, a small cry of relief coming out in a whimper. Tears tried, but failed, to blind her vision, and she looked in the rearview mirror. He wasn’t there, and she continued along Santa Monica Boulevard, wiping some of her smudged mascara aside.

She reached for her center console and whimpered, Call, Sophia!

Calling-!

Her car slammed into a light post, Karen gasping and gurgling in response.

And then…

Chapter One

Sophia Russo slammed the front door of her small, two-bedroom apartment and stalked across the living room and into the dining room. She opened the first cupboard on the right and grabbed the bottle of rum that she kept for these very trying occasions.

With a deep sigh, she grabbed the glass next to it and poured, heavily.

Didn’t go as well as you’d hoped? she heard her best friend, and roommate, ask as she walked up to the counter and leaned in beneath the hanging cupboards. Sophia’s nod was curt, and her expression did nothing to betray her annoyance. Sophia knew that Alice couldn’t help her grin, which warred with the sympathy she was exuding. It was an admirable effort that just happened to fall flat. "Don’t worry, babe, I know you’ll get the next one."

"I can’t even get into a herpes commercial, Alice," Sophia said with dry amusement. It was a silly concept, but when you padded your tuition with acting on the side and all throughout the summer, it truly was a lamentable issue. Alice’s burst of laughter was duly noted and accepted, and Sophia didn’t even try to fight off her own laughter.

She leaned forward, tapping the rim of her glass and contemplated it. For once I thought this might be easy, but it never gets any easier.

I know, sweetie, Alice said, walking around the counter to slide a comforting arm around her. Alice was a sweet woman, though she wasn’t one who could hide what she was feeling very well. Sophia appreciated that aspect of her friend. Honesty was desperately needed in this world.

Alice brushed back her limp, brunette hair, which Sophia noted paled in comparison to her own full locks of dark brown hair. It seemed to be an unwritten rule that actresses need three aspects: Voluminously bouncy locks, a slim yet full figure, and a face that people could imagine… well, it was one thought she tried to ignore. Sophia knew that people considered her a staggering beauty as Alice had called her once before. She had pouty, naturally red lips, ample breasts, a long slender neck, a slim, yet full figure, and beautiful olive skin.

No one ever said she wasn’t beautiful, and Sophia knew that better than most.

Alice was pretty, too, with sharp features that gave her a rather strong pair of high cheekbones. Sophia took in the woman with her cool brown eyes and smiled. Her beauty was enhanced with makeup, clothes that accentuated her best features and disguised her worst, though only she seemed to see herself as flawed. Sophia thought she was downright perfect.

However, they had known one another for years, so her bias was evident.

"This just means that you’ll have to go out again and again until you do get something, Alice said, pulling out her phone and scrolling through the auditions they had put down together over the last few days. You’re going to get something eventually."

"Let’s just be glad my day job manages to pay for all this," Sophia said with a wide gesture about their small home. The Los Angeles heat filled the building, even with the air conditioning on. Granted it barely worked. It was affordable and, as college students, that was the best reason to rent an apartment.

If you want me to get more hours, I’m sure I can swing that, Alice said as she leaned back, placing her hands on the small of her back. She flashed a devilish grin and did a seductive little dance, flipping her hair about her as if she were a stripper and not a barista.

I’m pretty sure that would get you fired before it got you more hours. Sophia couldn’t help but laugh, quickly raising her hand to try and stifle it. She failed spectacularly, and the glare that Alice shot her was frightening, but in her mood, it only made her laugh harder.

"I love your show of support, Soph, Alice said with dry amusement. She ran her hands through her hair, swayed her hips, and sauntered back over to the couch. Come on; let's decompress, waste our time with a movie, and enjoy the fact that we have our whole lives ahead of us."

All right, spill, Sophia said with raised brows. What happened to make you so giddy?

Alice giggled and then climbed over the top of the couch and settled in under a thin sheet, "Hank happened, obvi. She folded her arms over the top of the couch and smiled at Sophia. I think he might be asking the big ‘Q’ soon."

Ooh, I see, Sophia said with an anticipatory smile. Alice had been waiting for Hank to pop the question since sophomore year. Sophia had been waiting for it to happen since the end of last year, and she had known about the ring for three months now. Keeping this little secret had been growing tougher with each passing day.

I’m glad someone else sees it, Alice murmured as she patted the other half of the couch. Come on; I’m thinking something scary.

You? Scary? I would never have guessed.

Hardy, har, har, Alice said dryly. Now get down here so it can be all about me. You know the drill.

Oh, don’t I ever, she said with a smooth smile and a shake of her head that did nothing to hide her smile. She walked around the couch and slid into the comfort it provided with a satisfactory sigh.

Sophia didn’t even argue when Alice grabbed the remote and turned the television on. Instead, she scrolled through the listings of gigs with a slowly forming frown. There were always so many options, and it seemed that with each passing year it grew harder and not easier… And this was despite her resume, which was thicker than most with a few guest roles on television, several commercials, and even a few as an extra in a film here and there.

It simply wasn’t enough, though. At least, it wasn’t enough anymore.

Rather than dwell on that, she reached down on the side of the couch and pulled out the textbook she had purchased for next semester and started to leaf through it. Politics, they were an interesting dance that she had always found a passion for. It was the part of the world that made everything run. Decisions, power, and alliances could all be formed or made with politics at the base.

The pictures of some of the hardest working women in government gave her a sinking feeling. Sure none of them were homely, but those who had the beauty she did seemed to be looked at as jokes. Their positions were laughed at rather than lauded, and their importance was marginalized. Beauty was as much a curse as it was a gift, no matter what others thought.

The problem with beauty was that people tended to underestimate the intelligence of someone who had natural beauty. The other problem was that beautiful people were a dime a dozen.

She smiled, humorlessly, tapping her book. Her drink long forgotten. ‘The beauty of politics is that it always works, even when it doesn’t’ she read, and she went over that line a half-dozen time.

‘Works, even when it doesn’t’…

You’re still seeing Karen tomorrow, right? Alice asked, crossing her legs after she sat up. Sophia nodded absently as she continued flipping through the book, though she looked up at Alice when she said, Why don’t you see if she can help you out? What’s the point of friendship if a little nepotism can’t help you out now and again?

For the same reason I don’t get you all huge discounts on food at Crown, Sophia said under her breath. It wasn’t a bad idea, and she had considered it from time to time. Karen was well connected in Hollywood, but it just wasn’t her passion and all of Karen’s work was… notable.

Yeah, but that doesn’t really compare, Alice pointed out and Sophia bit the inside of her bottom lip at that. You know that Hank and I could get a reservation, three years out, to Crown. And maybe by then we could afford an appetizer.

They just raised the prices, Sophia pointed out, and Alice glared at her. Oh. If you really want to go, I think I might be able to do something; it’s just… this position is the most stable job I’ve ever had.

"And I’m not about to put it in danger with a little quid pro quo," Alice said with a slow nod as she unmuted the television for a brief moment, allowing Sophia to return to her book for a little while.

…The President’s speech about the riots in Barcelona sparked national inter-! the television was quickly muted, and Sophia barely looked up before her textbook reclaimed her attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the television, noted how the President looked exceptionally pale, and turned to Alice, who was furiously searching through the guide for something, anything, for them to watch tonight.

Boring, Alice sang out while Sophia shifted on the couch.

Sophia saw Alice frown at her, then, but she smiled innocently and said, I might as well take the time now. If I want to understand it all when we get back, I have to start sometime.

"Yes, but I thought the point of summer was to make sure we had fun before you head off into a Master’s program, and I never see you again," Alice pouted, and Sophia found herself relenting with little more than a token effort.

She snapped the book closed and slid it over onto the table, asking, All right, so what batch of teenagers are we going to watch make poor decisions and get brutally offed tonight?

"Obviously, the one where simply staying out of the water eliminates all of the danger, Alice came back with a sly grin. Otherwise, it’s just serial killer after serial killer going about killing teenagers who don’t even know they’re in danger. Boring!"

Her voice rang out in melodic tones and Sophia chuckled behind her hand. Alice loved her horror movies, but she especially loved her stupid horror movies. If anything held something close to intelligent thought, she turned her nose up at it. If only because she believed that supposed intelligent people should be able to figure out how not to get offed by a serial killer.

Like avoiding an area where dozens of people had already died.

Her chuckle was dryer, then, and she shifted again to face the television. Pragmatically speaking, Sophia couldn’t answer one way or the other how she might act in a situation like that. Morality told her to save her friends, but morality was anything but pragmatic. But then, what was one life compared to hundreds or more? If the option presented itself…

Turn that up! Sophia suddenly gasped. She’d caught the picture in the corner of the screen that was still visible with the guide open. She recognized that woman, with full red locks of hair, vibrant blue eyes and a flirtatious smile that had captivated the hearts of men and women alike across the United States and beyond.

Alice looked at her peculiarly but still did as Sophia had asked and unmuted the television and exited out of the guide. As soon as she did, Alice paled at what they were both watching and hearing.

…That’s right Jim; we can now confirm that the dramatic, single car accident just a few hours ago involved ‘Hollywood Darling’ Megan Hart, the reporter said, looking directly into the camera. Sophia could tell that the woman speaking was doing everything in her power to maintain her composure, but the slight quiver of her lip and twitch of her eye gave her away to Sophia.

She was about to break down.

Eyewitness reports state that Miss Hart’s car swerved uncontrollably along Santa Monica Boulevard, drawing the attention of the police who then promptly pursued her, the woman went on. There are, as of now, unconfirmed reports of the involvement of others. That Megan Hart may have suffered a similar fate to the late Princess of Wales. We’ll keep you updated for… as long-!

The camera cut away too late, and all of Los Angeles, and no doubt the country, watched Diane Westland break down on television. To say that Megan Hart was beloved would be an understatement. There were few people who hadn’t known of her and her work.

Sophia and Alice, however, had known Megan Hart before all of that. When she had been Karen Winkler and had lived right here in the master suite with Sophia during their freshman year. When they had walked to high school together every day until they could drive there.

America had lost ‘Hollywood’s Darling’ tonight. Sophia Russo had lost her best friend.

I… I can’t believe it, Alice said, and she looked at Sophia, her face drawn and her tone barely an echo of its usual liveliness. Sophia felt the same way. It was too unreal. They had just talked… yesterday.

She called you, didn’t she? Alice asked then, and Sophia felt as if Alice were reading her mind. Sophia nodded absently, though, her gaze fixed on the television. She could feel tears of her own forming in the corners of her eyes. What did she want to talk about?

I… I don’t know, Sophia said honestly, and she leaned forward, propping her leg up and folding her arm over it. Her mind whirled while she tried to think of what it was that Karen had wanted to talk about. However, she kept coming up blank.

She was in a hurry, but she didn’t sound upset, Sophia said under her breath. Her eyes darted about, her mind moving crazily at what she was hearing. She couldn’t distance herself, though. Her friend had just died. There was no way she could emotionally distance herself from that fact. It was just…

Who just dies like that? Alice asked, but Sophia knew that Alice wasn’t asking her, but the world at large. Then she did turn to Sophia and said, Soph, this doesn’t feel right. Karen wasn’t a reckless person, at least-!

Alice bit her lip and looked away before Sophia ever had to say anything. In the last three years, Karen had kept in touch, although less frequently with every passing month. Of course, they saw her on the news and in magazines and online. Who she was before she had died was not who she was when they had braided one another’s hair while talking about what they wanted to do with their lives.

Who was to say that Karen, now Megan, was anything but how the media had depicted her? Rash, impulsive, and prone to bad decisions when under the influence of alcohol. What little she let Sophia and Alice see as of late, was carefully controlled.

She would always be their friend, but Sophia knew that Karen had ‘died’ long before Megan had.

And that hurt beyond words.

Chapter Two

Five years before that night…

Karen watched Sophia pick through the clothes, her brow furrowed and her lower lip looking as if it were about to have a piercing. Karen couldn’t help her chuckle, and it only grew more raucous when Sophia looked up at her with mock-indignation coloring her face.

Come on, Karen! Sophia said with dry amusement. She pulled out a slim, but conservative, black dress and held it against her before doing a little twirl. Karen eyed it and her friend in approval. Do you think this would look good for a first interview? She moved her arm down in front of it as if she were displaying it for Karen’s imagination, and she asked, Pair it with a blazer, maybe a nice comfortable pair of heels?

No, black is definitely not going to wow them, hon, Karen said with a quick shake of her head and then scanned the little boutique they’d wandered into in Hollywood. It was chic, to be sure, but it had enough options that suited them to have caught Karen’s eye. Her mother had always told her she had an eye for clothes and people, and what went well together and what did not.

She looked up over the circular rack and noticed that Alice still hadn’t come out of the changing room, so she quickly moved around the rack and picked out the little red number that Alice had been spying a few minutes before. Then she practically jogged it over to Sophia, who looked it up and down in quaint surprise.

Really, Karen? Red? Sophia asked and looked at Karen as if it were the most out of this world choice. For Sophia, Karen knew, it probably was. But she grinned and held it up to Sophia’s body and snapped her fingers for the store employee to come over with her trained, but paid for, eye.

Yes, red, Karen said, looking it up and down while the woman strode over with a warm, but clearly fake, smile. Do you have a pair of those new black pumps that came in this month? My friend needs to kill it at this interview.

I’m certain we have something that will meet, and hopefully exceed, your expectations, the woman said, all but selling her services to them before she turned around and walked away to collect said pumps.

Karen, Sophia said sternly, looking at her with a look that told Karen she’d done something wrong. She looked back, and then over towards the woman and rolled her eyes.

Sorry if I’m being a bitch, it’s just-! Karen’s words cut off when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around, while Sophia simply looked up, and took in the tall, slender man who had distracted her. Can I… help you?

You’re Evelyn Winkler’s daughter, aren’t you? he asked, all but gushing at her. I mean, you’re that Karen Winkler?

How exactly do you know my mother? Karen asked instinctively looking the man over. He was handsome, with sandy-blonde hair and almond-colored eyes. He had prominent, attractively so, cheekbones, and a pleasing face and build. All in all, he was gorgeous.

Who doesn’t know Evelyn? he asked, looking to Sophia for confirmation that Karen silently refused to let her friend give. Thankfully, Sophia seemed to be just as weirded out by this as she was, and remained silent. The man, realizing that, changed tactics and said, From Deep Love!

That got her attention, and by then the man had deftly pulled out his card and closed Karen’s hand around it. "My agency would love to represent you if you want. And believe me, you’re always going