Five Past Midnight

By Eva Fischer-Dixon

In this sequel of Five til Midnight, the story follows the love story of the now-married Jake and Helene Mortensen. As Jakes movie career is steadily rising and Helenes novels and movie scripts are in demand, life was simply perfect for them. Jake could not be any happier when Helene found out that she was pregnant. And then, the unimaginable and unthinkable happened. Jake began to wonder if he was the source of all the misfortune that surrounds him. With his familys support, he returns to acting in movies that were previously scripted by Helene. During his next two filming projects, he encounters a beautiful Israeli actress, Ilana Dayan, and Reeva Pieterse, a daughter of a South African billionaire, a supermodel and successful actress in her own right. While both women are interested in Jake, he is tormented by the thoughts of his beloved Helene and simply could not move on. He pours his love into raising his son, Arthur, and when he finally resigned to the fact that there is more to life than living with memories, the shock of his life was waiting. He once again questions himself if he could get over the ultimate lies, betrayal, and learn to forgive and love again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Dec 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514429679

Eva Fischer-Dixon

I came into this troubled world during the early morning hours of June 17, 1950, in the city of Budapest, Hungary. I was the first and last child of my 41-year-old mother and my father who was 45 years old at the time of my birth. As I did not know any better, I could not possibly understand that we were living in poverty, as I was growing up with loving parents and there was always a bite to eat. My childhood was poor and saddened with tragedies. As a six-year-old child I witnessed the bloody 1956 revolution and received the first taste of true prejudice by those of whom I thought liked us, yet turned against my family. That tragedy did not match the untimely death of my beloved father when I was not yet seven years old, on February 14, 1957. My mother remarried in 1959 and our financial situation was upgraded from poverty to poor. After finishing elementary school I made a decision to earn money as soon as possible to ease our financial situation and I enrolled in a two-year business college (high school diploma was not required). I received my Associate Degree in 1966 and I began to work as a 16-year-old certified secretary/bookkeeper. During the same period I began my high-school education, which I completed while working full-time and attending night school. I discovered my love for writing when I was 11 years old after a movie that my childhood friend and I saw in the movie theater. We were not pleased with the ending and Steven suggested that I should write a different ending that we both liked. Voila, a writer was born. With my family’s encouragement, I entered a writing contest given by a youth oriented magazine and to my genuine surprise, I won second price. My desire to live in a free country and to improve my life was so great, that in 1972, leaving everything, including my aging parents behind, I managed to escape from Hungary during a tour to Austria, (then) Yugoslavia and Italy. I spent almost nine long months in a rat infested refugee camp, located Capua, Italy, while I waited for official permission to immigrate to the country of my dreams, to the USA. In 1975 I met and married a wonderful man, my husband Guy. Thanks to his everlasting patience, he assisted me in my task of learning the English language. He is truly my partner for life and I remain forever grateful to him for standing by me in some tough times. It is difficult for me to describe my love for writing. I cannot think of a bigger emotional joy for an author than to see a published novel in somebody’s hand and to see a story come alive on the screen. I yearn to experience that joy.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Eva Fischer-Dixon.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5144-2968-6

               eBook      978-1-5144-2967-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 12/02/2015

Xlibris

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Epilogue

Chapter One

T here was something very special about the sound of the waves when they hit the rocks, or the shore, where the sand and the water tended to each other’s needs. Helene Mortensen, formerly known as Helene Jemison could have just as easily fallen asleep as to be kept awake by the sounds that the waves made. Even when the first moment of consciousness ignited her early morning senses, she listened to the sounds coming from the outside of their beachfront home. Helene was waiting for a clue if the ocean was going to be welcoming and calm, or angry at choppy waters that made the noises when they reached the nearby rocks.

That particular morning it was not the sound of the waves that woke her, it was her body that forced her to get up as fast as she could and rush to the bathroom. She broke out in perspiration, as her stomach tried to get rid of whatever did not please her intestines. Helene was not the type of person who would complain about every little thing, or even big ones, unless she witnessed something that was against the law or her wishes. As she bent over the toilet gagging and spitting out the food that she consumed on the previous night’s wrap party of Jake’s latest movie, she cursed the caterers between throwing up and trying to wipe the moisture from her face.

It was the first time that their production company contracted out the catering and she was less then pleased when she learned the caterer’s specialty was fish, as Helene never was a fish person. The caterers did a great job with the visual preparations and there indeed was a variety of food, unfortunately for her, three thirds of the nicely arranged spread had some sort of fish, oyster, calamari and sushi, lots of sushi. Since Helene spent most of her day on the film set, after all, she wrote the movie script, she made a point about the caterer’s food offering by taking some of the food home. The previous night was different, they celebrated the wrapping up of the three month long production. Yes, the same caterers prepared the food for the night party as well so she had no choice but to eat some of their food. Yet, there she was, kneeling in front of the toilet when she would have knelt in front of a makeshift altar.

Honey, are you alright? Jake asked knocking on the bathroom door. There was no way in hell that she would allow him to see her so disheveled.

Yes, I am, I just got a stomachache, she said a little white lie as she never lied to Jake, her husband of one year. He was a man who was ambushed and was taken apart by magazines and newspapers for marrying an older woman, regardless of how popular, talented and good-looking she was, not to mention that she loved him deeply and honestly. Not that either of them cared what others had to say, and the fact was, they didn’t even try a bit to prove them wrong that it was not a May/September romance. The beauty of it was that they didn’t have to prove anything, their love was genuine, and there was nothing fake about it.

Of course, there was the other matter, the money. When their former manager, the so called super-agent Armin Willinger’s will, who sadly died in a car crash of his own doing, went public. The media frenzy began when the news that Helene Mortensen would be receiving 800 million dollars, plus properties if she would comply with the clause in the will, that she would not marry her twenty-three year old boyfriend, Jake Mortensen, the heartthrob actor that almost every woman wanted to get to know up close and personal.

Jake Mortensen, son of the movie mogul Harvey Mortensen, knew exactly what he was doing when he proposed and married a woman almost twice his age, and who looked better than some women of the same age as he was. The fact was that Jake was as wealthy as Armin Willinger was, if not wealthier, being the sole beneficiary of his father’s over two billion dollar business ventures, which he didn’t care about, and yet he would eventually become entitled to after his father passed away.

Helene Mortensen was an entirely different woman, unlike any woman Jake had ever met in his young life and in his early adulthood. When he first saw her on television doing an interview about her recently published novel, he got up from his chair and leaned closer to the television set. He found her incredibly attractive and what stunned him the most that she was not shy about her age and she did not have make up, not even lipstick. When she explained to the reporter that while monitory compensation for her hard work was appreciated, it alone would not have given her the satisfaction. To her, she said, seeing a person on the bus, in a restaurant, or any other place having her book in their hands and reading it, that is what gave her the pride and gratification. She enjoyed nothing more than to see a person smile, being emotional or simply just nod that yes, it was a good book.

Jake realized by just watching her during that interview, that besides the beauty and the simplicity, she was a very lonely person. Her smile was pleasant but not joyful, as if something inside of her soul was hurting or holding her back from feeling completely happy. He became determined right away that he was going to find her and meet her as soon as possible. Just like Helene, nobody would ever suspect about him, the happy-go-lucky, up-and-coming new hot movie star, Jake Mortensen with the winning smile, girls around him by the dozen, driving expensive and fast cars, was nothing more than a show. What he recognized in Helene’s eyes and her movements was himself, the loneliness that he felt even when he was surrounded by dozens of people.

And then, one day it happened. Someone found Helene’s book in an airport waiting area and the finder, who happened to be a movie producer and one of Armin’s clients, liked the book and suggested to the agent to make a project out of it. Armin called Helene and the rest just happened.

Armin Willinger, who was also Jake’s agent was actually more than just that, he was also his father’s closest friend, and in some way, he at times acted like a second father to him. He was there for him in the most crucial time of his life, when his stepmother seduced the barely teenaged Jake, and would not let him out of her clutches until Armin caught them in flagrante delicto. He immediately dropped her as a client, even if she was Lydia Christiansen, who appeared to be more than just a beautiful face, she actually had some talent as well. Jake never told anyone what happened with the exception of Armin, who immediately removed the then barely sixteen years old Jake from his home and moved him into the Willinger Mansion. They told Harvey, Jake’s father that Armin was trying to mold Jake into a movie star. Later, when Jake turned eighteen, although he was grateful to Armin for everything that he had done for him, he asked and received permission from his father to move and live on their yacht, Emilia, named after his beloved and departed grandmother.

Jake patiently waited outside the bathroom door and Helene was surprised to see him still standing there. Are you alright? He asked again with concern. She meant everything to him and the thought that something may happen to her, if she got sick or whatever scared him more than anything.

One thing about Helene and Jake, they seldom read an article that addressed them, or had anything to do with them. They ignored all of them with the exception of one television program on celebrities, when a much-hated reporter talked about their relationship and mentioned that she could not imagine that a gorgeous young man like Jake Mortensen was having sex with a much older woman, like Helene. What she said next caused the loss one of their most expensive ceramic vases, because Jake smashed it to the floor in rage. The reporter said that Jake possibly was missing his late mother so much that he could only be happy if he lives with a woman who was approximately his late mother’s age.

Helene tried to calm him down despite the fact that she was also upset. She reminded him that she did not care what others said, but Jake could not be calmed down. After a half an hour of continuous cursing, he picked up the phone and called his family’s attorney and instructed him to file a libel lawsuit against, Vera Thomas, the reporter who said things that were nothing less than insulting. Within four months, the reporter was fired from her television station and had to apologize in a public statement that she just made the whole thing up and there was no merit to her claim, it was hers and hers only. In exchange, Jake dropped the lawsuit but on the same breath, he made sure that Ms. Thomas never worked in any California media ever again.

It was a Sunday and leisure time for them. The weather outside was nice, not too hot and there was a gentle sea breeze that both enjoyed. Are you up for a boat ride? Jake asked. Helene thought about it for a moment.

What if I get sick on the boat? She replied.

The water seemed to be calm, I checked the weather report and there is no storm in the horizon. I think that you actually would enjoy a little fishing, Jake said and wrapped his arms around her. He sighed. I love you, Helene.

Helene made a face. It’s the first time you mentioned that, she joked, and then she added. In the last ten minutes that is. He laughed.

So what do you say, sailing or not sailing, fishing or not fishing? He wanted to know.

Okay, but you release the fish, we agree? Helene said in a serious tone of voice. Jake knew her so well that there was no point to argue. She barely ate any meat at all, although she denied being a vegetarian.

As you wish, all caught fish will get a second chance in life, like I did, he remarked and pulled her closer. Helene let her bathrobe drop to the floor and pulling Jake by his t-shirt, backed up to the bed.

Oh, yes, Jake murmured in her ear. You know what a good wife is supposed to do.

And what is that? Helene asked as she pulled off Jake’s t-shirt, and then she reached down and pushed his shorts off too.

This, Jake said and his lips went down on hers, pressing his tongue inside her mouth and she moaned because she felt his hands everywhere on her body. While his tongue did its own dancing and she could barely breathe between his demanding kisses, he entered her with care, yet with urgency, that is what it always seemed like to her. He wanted her anytime and anywhere. He was lucky because she felt the same way. If there was ever a partner who was a perfect match in an intimate way, Jake and Helene was a perfect match.

Before and since they were married, they learned the meaning of every facial expression, every movement, and all of the timing about each other. It was one of the reasons that their love was equal with their sexual desire. He looked at her as her arms tightened on his back and she raised her hips to meet his every stroke, every move. He knew that she was close to feeling the ultimate sexual pleasure and he also knew that she liked nothing more than when they exploded in ecstasy together. Jake was ready too, he brought her to climax as he did himself as well. Afterwards, their breathing still labored, they remained wrapped in each other’s arms and they just laid there, savoring the sensation that each gave to the other.

I love you, Jake, Helene said while she was trying to catch her breath.

Don’t you dare say that to anyone else, Jake threatened her playfully.

I will try to control my raging desire for any members of the Douglas family, she replied and closed her eyes. Helene always took a nap after their lovemaking.

Can you sleep on the Emilia? Jake asked.

I suppose, Helene said and unashamedly yawned.

Sexyyyy, Jake stretched the word and reached for her as she tried to get up.

Can you do that on Emilia? She mimicked him. He laughed and jumped off from the bed. Jake reached for the phone and called his yacht’s Captain to tell him that they are going to take the boat out for a day cruise. After a quick shower, they drove down to the Marina where Jake’s yacht, the Emilia was docked. Harvey Mortensen signed over the ownership of his yacht to Jake out of sheer guilt after finding out, although great many years later, what his second wife Lydia did to his young son. Needless to say, the inevitable divorce followed shortly and Lydia Christiansen’s career took a nosedive. Somehow the media got hold of the supposedly sealed divorce documents, which gave detailed accounts of the sexual abuse of a minor by the famous actress. Shortly thereafter, she was labeled a pedophile, and the only job offers she began to receive was for pornographic movies.

Helene felt better after she drank some Pepto-Bismol and for a safe side she took some with her as well. The yacht was ready to sail by the time they got to the harbor and after she changed into a bathing suit, she joined Jake up on the sundeck, where he and a deck hand were setting up the fishing lines. Another deck hand, a young woman prepared the soft and foldable deck loungers with a pillow where Helene got comfortable. She glanced around to see if Jake was around, but he was busy with preparation to fish, so she placed her always present bag next to her with the hidden cell phone that Jake forbid her to have on their leisure time.

The weather could not have been any better and Helene dozed off while Jake patiently waited in the elevated chair for the fish, any fish to bite. A couple of hours later the yacht lowered its anchor and it was real time for the fish to show. Only a short time passed when the fishing line almost jumped out of the holder, Jake barely had enough time to grab it. The deck hand ran back up when he heard Jake’s yelling. The fish was most definitely large and when it jumped out of the water, to Jake and the crew’s amazement it was a huge marlin. They were about to haul closer to set it free when Jake glanced down at Helene and his face went ashen white. Helene was rolled into a ball and was grabbing her stomach and side in a great deal of pain.

Jake left the fishing rod in the hands of the crewmember who after a big fight with the fish, set the marlin free. Jake knelt down to Helene and asked her what was wrong. Helene lifted the towel from her lap and underneath her and next to her was a pool of blood. Jake screamed for the Captain to call for a helicopter to evacuate Helene to the hospital right away. It took twenty minutes before the medical helicopter landed on the helipad of the yacht and the medic flooded Helene with all sort of questions. She was in so much pain that she glanced up at Jake who took over answering questions. After taking her vital signs, the medic started an IV and notified the nearest hospital to prepare for their arrival.

Chapter Two

J ake had never been so scared in his entire life, not even when bullets, RPG’s and IEDs were flying above or going off around him during his tour with the Marines in Afghanistan, as he was looking at the semi-conscious Helene. He ran along side of the gurney as she was rushed into the Emergency Room of Marina Del Rey Hospital. He insisted upon going inside the triage, but he was quickly ordered out for lack of space. Seeing the nurses and lab technicians rushing in an out, Jake couldn’t sit and could not stand, he kept on thinking that if something was going to happen with Helene, he wouldn’t know how to go on. He was certain that his life as he knew it would end without her. All the dark thoughts that he ever had and he never wanted to think about surfaced in the hospital’s waiting room.

Almost forty-five minutes later a doctor appeared and Jake could not take his eyes from the physician’s face while he tried to read any emotions. Excuse me, he called out to Jake. Are you related to Ms. Helene Mortensen? He asked, obviously not recognizing him.

I am her husband, Jake Mortensen, Jake introduced himself. The doctor, as if a light bulb just went on, cleared his voice.

Yes, of course, he said and then continued. Your wife was taken into surgery, but you can wait here if you like. I will make sure that you will be kept updated.

Surgery? Jake was taken aback hearing the news. We thought that she just had an upset stomach, he said to the doctor.

Your wife had an ectopic pregnancy and that was the cause of the bleeding. The embryo must be removed before it ruptures the fallopian tube, he tried to explain. Technically her own body was sending her a warning by bleeding that there was something unnatural inside her body.

Jake sunk down to the couch. She was pregnant? He said and had to swallow hard to get rid of the tears that made an attempt to cloud his vision. The doctor nodded.

I am sorry but I have to go, she should be prepared by now, he explained and without further delay he disappeared into the operating theater’s direction. Jake felt devastated for more than just one reason. First, they had never talked about the possibility of having a baby, he naively thought that Helene no longer could get pregnant and that is why they never used contraceptives. An additional reason that caused him emotional pain was that now that he knew about the pregnancy, he thought about the possibility that he almost became a father. He gathered his thoughts and he told himself that he had to re-group and focus on Helene’s well being.

Helene, and Helene alone was Jake’s top priority. He would have given up acting on a moment’s notice if that is what Helene wanted, but on the contrary, she encouraged him to be choosy and take on projects that had meaning, that had something to say. She told him that was the only way to prove to the world what she already knew, that he was an extremely talented actor and movie making did not mean the same to him as money making.

She had to get well soon, he murmured to himself. Jake was not a fool and he knew that he should have planned for something a long time ago if Lord forbids something would happen to either of them. He knew for a fact, and nobody had to remind him, that he depended more on Helene than he should have. Those who thought about his dependence did not understand the deep and unconditional love that he felt for her, and Helene for him. Helene was the true beginning and the very end to Jake, whenever they may occur. With Helene, Jake felt complete and not only on an intimate level, but as partner in everyday life. He enjoyed helping her to cook in the kitchen, taking care of shopping. They had no choice but to hire a housekeeper because their work schedule was becoming much too hectic, more then they liked. They both preferred being home or out at sea, basically just being domestic.

Jake, as a sought after actor, and Helene a popular novelist and later on screenwriter, made a pact to never be apart, not if it took more than two days. Helene set up shop wherever Jake’s film shoot would take him, either overseas, in a desert town or down under into the Australian bush. That was the deal. If the filmmaker’s did not like this clause in the contract, Jake immediately declined the movie offer. It happened in the beginning but he was such a hot ticket that they would have given them a hot air balloon if they asked for it.

He nervously glanced at the clock on the wall and then toward the door. A hospital volunteer stopped by and asked him if she could get him anything. Jake stared at her and finally asked her if it was not too much trouble, bottled water. She returned a short time later and handed the Perrier to him. He was surprised to see Perrier; he only expected regular bottled water. How did you get this? He asked her. The volunteer’s face turned cherry red.

I stole it from the doctor’s lounge, she admitted and was about to leave when Jake noticed the hesitation in her movement. He glanced down on the dozens of magazines lined up on the coffee table and noticed a movie magazine with his picture on the cover. He put down the Perrier, pulled out the magazine and looked at the volunteer who reached into her pocket and gave him a pen. He autographed the magazine and thanked the young woman once again for the drink. She blushed and quickly disappeared from the waiting room while clutching the magazine. Jake glanced up at the ceiling.

Dear God, I try to be good to people, help me to get my Helene back, he quietly prayed. Less than ten minutes later a young woman wearing a green smock appeared and after confirming that he was Helene Mortensen’s husband, she informed him that she was the assistant surgeon during Helene’s operation. She gave him the good news that everything was going to be fine; Helene came out of the surgery with no complications. She was in recovery at that moment, but in about twenty minutes he should be able to see her in room 1020. Jake thanked her and then buried his face into palm of his hands and murmured a thank you to God for listening to his prayers.

Jake impatiently watched the clock and as soon as he noticed that twenty minutes passed, without waiting a moment longer he rushed to find room 1020. There she was, laying on the bed, her face pale as expected after a lengthy surgery. In her left arm