“It was an act,” Pauline told her. “They did not want to go public with the separation until after Us and Them had its run. They were actually hoping to keep things under wraps until after Celia came off tour.”
“Why did she file now then?” Tapp asked. “My understanding is that she postponed a concert in Phoenix that was supposed to be tonight. Did she fly home just to file for divorce?”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that,” Pauline told her.
“She did, didn’t she? And, if true, that implies that something happened to change the timeline, right?”
“No comment on that,” Pauline said.
“How did they manage to be separated from each other for four months without anyone telling us?”
“Oh ... I don’t know,” Pauline said. “Maybe it’s because they have this strange idea that their personal lives are private and that they are not obligated to notify the entertainment press when they’re having marital problems.”
“Don’t be naïve,” Tapp said. “I know that these celebrities seem to feel they have a right to privacy and would not disclose anything themselves. I’m talking about how no one else ever let it slip. I mean, someone will usually contact us when something this juicy is occurring. A member of the house staff, a friend, a landlord or real estate agent who provides housing for whichever party moved out of the primary residence.”
“Well, in this case, all of Celia and Greg’s friends are loyal and respect their right to privacy, as do their house staff. And, as for the housing situation, if you must know, Celia has been staying in Jake and Laura Kingsley’s house in Grenada Hills when she’s in LA, but she has not been in LA much since the separation. She’s been out on tour since the first of the year, remember?”
“Jake and Laura Kingsley?” Tapp said. “What do they have to do with this?”
“They’ve been friends with Celia and Greg for years,” Pauline said. “Jake sang at their wedding, remember?”
“Oh ... yeah, now that you mention it, I do remember that.” A pause. “So ... Jake is taking Celia’s side in this thing?”
“Jake is taking nobody’s side,” Pauline said. “He’s just helping out a friend.”
“Oh ... I see,” she said. “Well ... does Celia have any statement that she wants me to quote in the article?”
“Just that she confirms that she has filed for divorce, that she and Greg are parting on good terms and will remain friends, and that she would request privacy in this trying time.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s all,” Pauline confirmed.
“Kind of boring,” Tapp said.
“I’m sorry that their divorce is not more entertaining for you,” Pauline said.
“That’s okay,” Tapp said. “It’s not your fault.”
After writing up her notes from her conversation with Pauline, Bernadette Tapp opened her notebook to a fresh page and then called John Stapleton, Greg Oldfellow’s long time agent. She was not expecting him to tell her anything but ‘no comment’, was not sure that Oldfellow even knew that his wife had filed for divorce yet, but, to her surprise, Stapleton was not only aware of the filing, but was willing to talk a little bit about it. He told her much the same things that Pauline had just shared: The marital problems between the two of them had been going on for some time, they had separated from each other back on October 10, had played nice together for the Us and Them premier, had been hoping to put off the filing until after Celia’s tour, but that something had occurred that upped the timeline. As to what it was that might have occurred, Stapleton was mute.
After ending the conversation, she got on her computer and went right to work. In only two hours she was able to pen a four-thousand-word article on Celia Valdez’s divorce filing, complete with background on the wedding, quotes from both Pauline and Stapleton, a strong implication that Celia had cancelled her Phoenix show just so she could fly home and file for divorce, and even a little bit about Jake Kingsley, not forgetting, of course, to mention that he had once snorted cocaine from a girl’s butt crack (allegedly). She then saved her work to a file on the computer and then walked over to the editor’s office carrying her documentation.
“Hey, Chief,” she greeted once she was in his office. “I got something you’re going to want to run in the morning edition. An exclusive.”
“Yeah?” he grunted. “What is it?”
“Celia Valdez filed for divorce from Greg Oldfellow today,” she said.
That got his attention. “This is legit?”
She dropped the copy of the State of California Form FL-100 on his desk. “It’s legit,” she said. “I’ve called the spokespeople for both of them and they confirmed it. They’ve been separated since October 10 and Celia cancelled a show in Phoenix for tonight and flew home to LA. She filed this afternoon, citing irreconcilable differences. She’s scheduled to make up the Phoenix date tomorrow night, so, presumably, she’s planning to fly back to Phoenix in the morning. Her manager would not actually say that she flew home just to file for divorce before the close of business hours today, but her actions certainly imply it.”
“Interesting,” the editor said. “And nobody else knows about this yet?”
“Nope,” she said. “We’ll be the ones to break the story.”
This put a smile on his face. “Let’s see what you got,” he said.
She told him where to find her file and he quickly opened it and began to read. He liked it, only making a few minor changes and not cutting anything out.
“We’ll put it on the front page,” he said. “Below the fold. I’ll need to dig up some file photos of the two of them.”
“Shouldn’t be that hard to do,” she said. “Maybe we could get that one of the two of them at the film premier back in late October.”
“I like it,” he said. “Let’s get to work.”
They got to work, and the next morning, the subscribers to the LA Times were treated to a front-page story about the pending divorce of the hottest popular music star of the past two years and her A-list actor husband.
Once the story was broken, it took on a life of its own. Before the day was out, Greg and Celia were top stories on television news broadcasts across the country. The entertainment press, miffed to have been behind the eight-ball on this, scrambled to catch up and pen or produce their own reports. They called Pauline and Johnny, fishing for more information, more quotes, more background. They got nothing. Neither of the agents even answered the phone; they just instructed their secretaries to say ‘no comment’ on the issue. Undeterred, they sent their reporters out into the field, usually with a photographer or a videographer in tow. They stalked Greg in Los Angeles, staking out his home, but he never left it.
Celia, on the other hand, was easier to find and stalk and did not have the luxury of seclusion. She had flown back to Phoenix and performed her show that night, apologizing to the crowd for the postponement but offering no other hints at what was going on in her personal life. When the band left the arena that night after the show, dozens of photographers, videographers, and reporters were waiting for her. They swarmed around her, flashing their cameras, shouting questions, so intent on getting something out of her that they did not even notice that Jake Kingsley was part of her entourage. She said nothing to them, not even ‘no comment’.
The break between the Phoenix shows and the Salt Lake City show had been intended to be an extended travel day. Unfortunately, because of the postponement, that was not to be. The roadies worked quickly and tore down the set, packing it into the trucks. Instead of heading off to hotel rooms, however, they climbed onto the buses and started the ten-hour drive to the capital of Utah. There was a show to do tonight and they needed to start setting it up by ten o’clock in the morning. They would sleep on the buses. The truck drivers would sleep when they got where they were going. Nobody was really happy about this, but once they heard the reason for it (all had seen the newspaper article, or the television reports, and a few had even been approached by reporters sniffing for details), they understood. Most could not help but wonder what kind of idiot would piss off Celia Valdez. After all, she was smoking hot and a great boss.