I could see it in her eyes, the realization that this interview was not going to go at all how she imagined. And it was for one simple reason: she, like everyone else, did not truly know me. They just thought they did.
Chapter Nine
Amelia
“Thank you once again for coming, Ms. London.” The same woman from last night shook my hand once more as I got into the car.
“Thank you for having me. I hope you have a good day,” I said to her as I slid into the car’s backseat.
It was only when the hotel was nothing but a building in the distance that Austin’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror.
“You sure you are up for this?”
I nodded but didn’t answer, staring at my own reflection in the car window. My heart pounded so loudly that my ears were ringing. Every once in a while, I would look at the street signs. River Run Ave.—that’s were Bo had disposed of her body. I had no idea what to expect, and Austin didn’t want me here as it was, but like I said, the only way this didn’t look suspicious was if I was there as well.
“Amelia.”
“Yes.”
“Relax.”
How? “I’m trying.”
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
“Earlier, you asked me why I have to work so hard and if I thought Noah was an actor worth working for. And my answer is yes. I think Noah is that type of actor. However, I didn’t always. I didn’t take this job because I thought he was the next Daniel Day-Lewis. The truth is, I was selfish, plain and simple. I also grew up in Southbend. I lost to my brother to a gang. My sister took her own life, and it was hard on me,” he said, pausing, and I could still tell it was hard on him.
“But,” he went on, “I thought maybe I could help stop families from going through the same. But after a few months as a social worker, I realized it wasn’t possible. So many kids, not adults, had given up. They didn’t fight, and as much as I tried for them, they still didn’t care. It was slowly draining me. And the week I thought of quitting, I got Noah’s case. I would never forget how he sat down in front me. Total confidence, no fear, not even of Frank. He even tried to bribe me to close his case because he had a plan to get him and Bo away from Frank for good. It was a shitty plan. But I respected him for it—the lengths he was willing going to go. And I thought I’d at least help him before I ditched my life. When I did, he offered me a job, and I took it, not knowing a thing about Hollywood but desperate to get out of this damn city. It wasn’t a smart choice for him. I could have totally screwed up his life. In fact, I fucked up many times in the beginning, and he paid for it. But over the next ten years, I grew to truly believe in him and truthfully, it’s so much easier to fix other people’s lives than it is to deal with mine. That is why I work so hard. That’s the story.”
“It’s sad,” I whispered, playing with the necklace around my neck. “All of this, our lives— why are they so sad?”
“The moment you start thinking like that, you lose sight of some of the miracles. Like the fact that you met the love of your life at age nine and he is just as in love with you as you are with him. Or how both of your careers—careers that you are not only talented in but truly love— have returned with a vengeance, and for the most part you both are completely healthy. Yes, some awful shit has happened to the both of you, and you have the right to be sad at times, but your life isn’t sad. You being who you are, Noah being who he is—and you found each other. It’s a series of miracles.”
“And you? What about you? Your whole life is us?”
He smiled, looking into the mirror. “I’ll have my day … and we’re here.”
Quickly glancing outside, I saw it—the green street sign above me. And when he turned, to my surprise, it was a small hospital.
“Bo brought her here?”
“It’s actually the smartest thing he has ever done,” Austin whispered as we drove around to the back. “There is a morgue here … where better to hide the dead than in plain sight?”
“So we just waltz in there and take her out?” For some reason it seemed too easy.
Parking, he turned back to me and grinned. “Were you expecting us to get shovels and dig her up in the woods?”
I opened my mouth to reply then shut it, thinking better of it.
“Follow my lead, and don’t make eye contact with anyone,” he said, handing me a pair of sunglasses.
Nodding, I putting them on as we stepped out of the car. He walked in front of me, completely relaxed, and when we walked in, and I noticed that the place was mostly run down. And we attracted way too much attention.
“Austin—”
“Trust me.”
Maybe I had seen and acted in too many damn movies, but this was not at all how I planned this going in. My heels clicked across the lobby as we headed to the elevators. Somehow Austin knew exactly where to go. Relaxing when no one else was on the elevator, he hit “up” instead of “down”—I was about 90 percent sure they kept bodies in hospital basements.
When the doors opened, he glanced to the right and then left, nodding to himself when he saw the room numbers before going left. We walked down the hall until we stood at room 207. Tapping twice, we waited. Looking through the glass, I saw a fat sweaty man dressed in blue scrubs, with a fountain drink in his hand, walk around the curtain towards us.
“Austin, long time no see, man,” he said, smiling wide before taking a gulp of his drink.
“Not long enough,” Austin replied, walking in.
“Holy shit, you Amelia London? I love you!” He said when I walked in.
“Thanks.”
“This new movie—are you going to be fully naked, or is it one of those—”
“Joe!” Austin snapped his fingers, trying to get him to focus. However, that didn’t change the awkwardness that just took place.
“Right,” he said, rushing back over to the bed. “What do you think? Not bad for being in the freezer for three months, right?”
I froze when I saw her, her skin pale and white. But her hair was curled, her nails perfectly manicured and painted red to match her lips, along with the rest of her makeup. She was dressed in black with a pair of Gucci heels. I felt a chill go up my spine staring at her like this.
“You got probably about another hour, maybe less, before she defrosts completely and the funk really kicks in,” Joe added, taking another long swig of his drink, his eyes drifting to me. “So who is she?”
“An icon,” I replied. And the fact that he didn’t know that for some reason bothered me. Getting a wheelchair, he sat her as best he could, and even went so far as to put shades and a sunhat on her.
“It’s perfect.” Austin reached into his jacket pocket and handed him a thick envelope.
“Thank you,” Joe said, trying to bow. But his stomach got in the way.
“I got her,” I whispered, stepping behind the wheelchair. For some reason, the moment Austin and Joe said their goodbyes, my mind went blank with the realization that I was pushing my mother’s dead, glamourized body in a wheelchair. I thought of the verbal and emotional abuse she put me through. I thought of how she always put herself, her needs, before me, and I reminded myself that she was behind the murder of one my friends and the fact that she was the reason Noah and I spilt up.
She was selfish.
She was mean and vindictive.
But she was still my mother, and the fact that I was doing this to her when she was gone—I was sad. But most importantly, I was sorry. So very sorry.
“We’re almost out,” Austin said, and I hadn’t realized until I saw the exit come into the view.
“Excuse me?”
Freezing, we stared at the nurse who rushed up to us. “Are you Amelia London? I’m a huge fan. There are some girls here who are also—”
“Sorry, we’re running late, and Ms. London isn’t feeling well,” Austin pushed her to the side slightly, making room for me to make my escape. But not before hearing a few of their comments.
“What did I tell you? Total bitch.”
“Whatever. She’s a piss-poor actress anyway.”