I’m glad I didn’t have to be presidential that day, because from that point on, things got a little blurry. On the plus side, I’m a fairly happy drunk, unlike a few of Marilyn’s brothers. Luke and Rafael, for instance, are mean drunks, and getting them lit up is a good way to start a fight. I didn’t tell my wife, but I told the Secret Service agents watching over everything to keep an eye on a few of them. Rafe, in particular, was a mouthy hard core Republican, and I didn’t need him getting drunk and spouting off to the Senate Majority Leader! Some of the others, like Michael and John, were happy drunks and the more they drank the more they smiled and laid back.
The group was much too big to do a formal receiving line and have all the guests come through, to shake hands and congratulate us. I did a top of the head calculation, and if each guest spent only 30 seconds with us, that would make the line three hours long! Instead, we simply had the wedding party troop into the East Room two by two, and then did a quick champagne toast. After that, it was party time.
And it was a very nice party! To a certain extent, the politician joined in with the proud father as I ended up circulating and working the room. In some cases I was acting the politician, shaking hands with people, and inviting them to donate to the McCain campaign, and I know I introduced John to several of my business acquaintances over the years. Holly’s date, Jerry the grad student, seemed pretty dumbstruck by the whole affair. I asked my wife if they were serious, and Marilyn told me she wasn’t sure. I asked her if this was a trial run for them, and she simply gave me a mystified look, and I told her it was up to her to find out. That earned me an amused salute.
Megan, on the other hand, seemed quite at ease in the setting. Charlie was away for a moment, and I had a chance to talk to her. She really was a beautiful girl, about 21 or 22, long golden blonde hair, figure like a centerfold’s, and leggy. In heels she was probably as tall as he was. “Enjoying yourself?” I asked her.
She smiled and nodded. “Yes, thank you. It reminds me in a way of some of the big parties in Hollywood, all the famous people, I mean.”
“Oh? I never moved in those crowds.”
She smiled. “Hollywood… it’s all image and glamour, who you know and who you’re seen with. I’ve been to a few Oscar and Emmy parties, where it’s just wall to wall stars and producers and directors. I mean, I was just somebody’s date, eye candy for the crowd, but you know what I mean.”
“Is that how you met Charlie?” Eye candy? I found that a bit disturbing.
“No. Charlie’s not into that. We met on the set of Vapor Lock. He was only there for a few days, and I was just a random biker babe, standing in the background during a party scene, drinking colored water and pretending it was something else. Charlie had to keep saying his lines over and over again, because the co-star was too coked up to remember his own lines.” She gave me a nervous look at that. “I mean, Charlie wasn’t doing anything… this isn’t going to cause trouble, will it?”
I snorted at that. “The Attorney General is sitting at a different table. If you don’t tell him, neither will I.”
“Okay. Anyway, it was so bad they decided to shoot the whole thing again in the morning, before anybody had a chance to get too stoned. Charlie had been hitting on me — nicely, I mean, not creepy — and asked me to dinner, and I said yes. He was a real gentleman, too, which was a big improvement over some of the people you get out there. So the next morning, Charlie did the scene again, and then he was out of there, but he had my number, and he called me a few times, and we managed to meet up again. We’ve been seeing each other since then.”
“Marilyn told me that was when you met. Did you like being in the movie? I know absolutely nothing about that business.” That was true, too. Most Hollywood donations go to the Democrats.
She gave a laugh. “Yes, I mean, I am trying to be an actress, and it was a paycheck, but I could tell, even as we were shooting it, that the whole thing was a disaster! I mean, it was just straight to video, $200 million down the toilet. I cashed my check as soon as I could!”
“Acting isn’t working out for you?” Did this girl see Charlie as her next meal ticket?
“Just not like you think it will. It takes longer than you imagine, and there are so many idiot roles like that one. I think everybody goes out there thinking that they are going to wake up the next morning doing Shakespeare and Spielberg, and it sure isn’t like that. I think I am going to end up doing commercials and character roles at some point. In another year or so I’ll be past my sell-by date anyway.”
“You’re kidding me! How old are you, 21, 22?”
“I’m 23. Right now, I am competing against girls straight out of high school who are even prettier, and look better under hi-def. I figure if I haven’t made it by 25, the only starring roles I will land will be with studios and movies where you don’t get invited to the White House, you know?”
“A lot of that happen? The non White House stuff”, I commented.
“Easy money, but I don’t think I want to go down that path. I think I’ll head back to Omaha first.”
I smiled at that. Just then, Charlie returned. “Hey, Dad, hitting on my girl?”
“Not while your mother is in the same room. Here, have a seat while I circulate. Megan and I were just having a very nice talk.” To Megan I said, “We’ll talk some more, later.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to take Megan. She was a smart girl, that I was sure of. Was she also a gold digger? I didn’t think so, but she was an actress. Maybe she was acting like a nice girl? Or was I over thinking things? Maybe they were in love. She was Charlie’s problem, anyway.
I wandered through the room some more, and found myself at the table the Buckminsters were at. After Harlan’s death I had wondered if they would move back to Mississippi, but Anna Lee had told me that she had built a new life in Alexandria, working as an OB-GYN nurse at a clinic. There were nine of them there. Anna Lee had brought a fellow about our age that she introduced as a real estate agent. It had been six years since Harlan’s death, so I suppose enough time had passed for mourning. Mary Beth and her husband were there, along with their daughter, a three year old who was running circles around the table and chasing after some of the Lefleur grandchildren. Mary Beth was expecting a second child, too.
Neither Roscoe nor Tyrone was married yet, but both had brought their fiancés. It was amusing, in a way, when I approached the table. The two boys were chatting to each other, and facing the dance area, as I came up from behind and said hello. The two of them were in their dress uniforms, and they popped up and whirled around, coming to attention like a pair of cadets facing a surprise inspection by the Commandant. I had to laugh. “Captain Buckminster, aren’t you looking spiffy with your medals all shiny. What is that, a Silver Star I see? And you, Second Lieutenant Buckminster, fresh from the Academy and all bright eyed and bushy tailed!” Behind me I heard Anna Lee start to laugh. “Oh, for the love of God, at ease, you two, before your mother and sister die of laughter.”
The boys relaxed as Anna Lee and Mary Beth laughed at them, and I shook their hands and let them introduce me to their ladies. Roscoe was on leave from his outfit in Germany, and had brought Elizabeth with him; Marilyn and I had met her last year when we flew into Ramstein. Tyrone was there with a girl from Rhinebeck that he had met while at West Point. “You still with your company in Vilseck?” I asked Roscoe.
He nodded. “Yes, sir. I still have the company, but I’m also the Assistant S-3 for the battalion.”