Chapter 9
The summer seemed to drag, each day the same as the one before and she was becoming restless. She had met several boys during the two months and had had her affairs, not counting her frequent meetings with her mother's lover, Mr. Jacobs, but still she felt she wanted something else. She knew that she would never be happy going back to boarding school, it would all seem so juvenile, so unimportant now, and she decided that she would not go back. She knew that her parents would insist upon her finishing her education and she didn't know how she could avoid telling them, but she'd have to work something out!
She had always wanted to try acting like her father, in fact she had always wanted to do everything that her father did, so she decided to apply to several acting schools in Hollywood. She knew that her last name would pull some weight, but there were hundreds of children with famous actors for mothers or fathers so she couldn't count too strongly on that alone.
She had often heard Mr. Jacobs brag about all his connections in the movie world, so she decided that the next time he wanted to make love to her, she would turn the tables and bribe him. She knew that he was becoming quite infatuated with her, her youth, her energy and her love-making, so she knew that he would probably help her. If he did refuse, she could threaten to expose him to her mother and she knew that his ego wouldn't stand for that, so she felt fairly safe in her blackmail.
One afternoon she called him up and told him to meet her at the house, that her mother was out for the day and she wanted to see him. She tried to make her voice sound sensual and desperate, as though she couldn't wait to be with him in bed again, and he told her that he would rush right over. She giggled as she hung up the phone, just picturing him rushing through the door, his clothes half off and a huge erection bulging out from underneath his pants. He was such an overly anxious man, and he thought that he was absolutely irresistible. The thought made her want to be sick or laugh hysterically.
She went to her room and put on the scantiest pair of shorts and halter she could find, freshened her make-up and lounged casually in a big chair on their patio. She heard the maid let him in the front door and she pushed her breasts up higher so that most of them were revealed above her tight halter.
"Well, there you are, my love," he said, his breath thick with passion. "What can I do for you today?" He laughed, thinking that she would just fall into his arms and let him make love to her. After all, she had called him, so what else could she want?
She looked up at him and said, "Sit down, Henry. I want to have a talk with you." Her voice was cold and calculating, not the warm and sensuous tone he had detected on the phone.
"It sounds serious," he said, wondering exactly what she had in mind. "What can I do for you?"
He reached down and ran his hand caressingly over the protruding, inviting soft bulge of her breasts and drew a sharp breath.
"I'm not going to make love to you anymore," she said bluntly, knowing that his pants were about ready to burst at that very moment. "The first time you forced me into it, but from then on it was more of a game, something for me to use against my mother, so you see, I don't care if you tell her about the pictures now. I think she suspects that you have been seeing me and she's liable to tell Daddy if you ever admitted it, so I doubt that you would."
"But, baby," he stammered. "I'd never show those pictures to anyone now. You know that. In fact, I'll give them back if you want, but don't say we aren't going to make love anymore."
She knew she had him just where she wanted him and she loved to watch him squirm.
"Well, there is one other condition that I have to offer, and then maybe we can work something out. You interested?" she asked coyly.
"Of course," he said, "I'd love to hear it."
I bet, she thought to herself.
"I've decided not to go back to school this fall, and I want to take my chances in Hollywood. After this summer, everything at school would seem so childish. I've matured so much and my tastes have changed, if you know what I mean."
She paused and waited for a reaction, but he just sat there listening.
"How does that involve me," he asked finally. "I doubt that your parents will let you drop out, anyway."
"Oh Henry, you're so slow," she added, "let me be more specific."
"I know that my parents would have an absolute fit if I didn't go back to school, but I've made up my mind, so I thought that you might set up some interviews there for me, with your connections and all, then if I have a contract or at least a bid to a studio, my parents couldn't very well stop me. I'd be on my own and have a job."
"I'm not sure that I could go against your mother and father like that, they've been my friends for years," he replied.
"Aren't I your friend, too," she said, softening her voice. "After all, we're not exactly strangers!"
"No, we're hardly strangers, but that has nothing to do with it."
"Quite the contrary," she said. "It has everything to do with it, everything in the world!"
"I don't see what you mean ... or do I?" he stammered.
"In layman's terms, Henry dear," she said sarcastically, "unless you do set up the interviews for me, I'll go to mother with my sad tale of woe about how you seduced me the first day I was home and how you've kept after me, screwing me half to death and threatening me if I ever told."
He looked at her shocked, not believing that she had turned the tables so neatly.
"I really think that I'd make an excellent actress anyway," she continued, "I'm sure I could give my mother a realistic performance, tears and all, sobbing about how I wish she'd get rid of you!"
"You don't have enough nerve to pull a stunt like that," he told her. "You'd never do it!"
"Bet me!" she challenged him. "Would you like to take the chance?"
He didn't speak for several minutes, then answered, "No, I wouldn't like to take the chance."
"That's just great then. You can use the phone in the den and start calling some people. I want all the interviews I can get. Oh, one more thing . . . you'll have to lend me some money to live on when I first go there so I will be able to get around and eat."
He nodded, resigned to the fact that she did mean what she said, and there was nothing else he could do.
She followed him into the den and sat there while he made several phone calls to producers, agents and studios in Hollywood and set up appointments for her in two weeks.
When he had finished his last call, she put her arms around his waist and hugged him, rubbing her breasts teasingly over his thin cotton shirt.
He grabbed at her roughly, trying to crush his mouth down on hers, his fingers tearing at the cloth of her halter.
"Take it easy, you don't want to bruise your property," she teased him, moving away and walking back onto the patio.
"Now, let's make love," he whispered, walking in back of her. "I want you so badly."
"So will a lot of other people once I get to Hollywood," she said, "and I wouldn't want to wear myself out. Thanks very much for your help though, Henry, I do appreciate it."
She knew that he was going crazy. She could see the pulsing, thick bulge in his pants and she reached out and squeezed it gently.
"My, you do excite easily," she chided, laughingly. "Maybe mother will take care of you when she gets home."
"Damn you," he spat, grabbing her harshly and clawing at her brief top. He was about to rip it completely from her body and throw her down on the grass and take her right there, but they both stopped short, as they heard footsteps coming toward them.
Her mother stood in the doorway for just a second before walking out on the patio. She looked at Jennifer and then at Mr. Jacobs, trying to detect if anything had been going on. There were several red marks on the bulging fullness of Jenny's breasts and Mr. Jacobs seemed to be out of breath, but she said nothing to let them know she suspected.
"Jenny," she scolded, "that's no way for a young lady to go running around. Go put some clothes on. Have a seat, Henry."
Jenny went to her room, smiling to herself, knowing that her mother must have sensed something was wrong, but her pride wouldn't let her say anything.
The two weeks seemed to pass slowly, when finally the day came for her to leave. She had gotten some money from Mr. Jacobs and had gotten her ticket. Her step-mother was gone that evening, so she decided to leave them a note telling her what she had decided and that her father wouldn't worry when he found out. She knew that they would probably send someone after her, but if she already had signed a contract by that time, she wouldn't be able to break it!
She didn't want to hurt her father, but she couldn't tell him all the reasons why she had made this decision, that would be worse. She didn't care what her mother thought, but she was still a little apprehensive about what her new life would hold for her.
She had heard her father speak so many times about all the young girls who went to Hollywood in hopes of getting a contract, and what they had to sacrifice and do to even get an interview. He had told her, "I'm glad you don't want to get into the business. It's a rough haul."
She knew that it would not be easy, even though she was Carter Rhodes' daughter, in fact in might even be more difficult, the others might resent her. She had faced that problem in school and she was sure that now she could face it without difficulty if she had to, but she tried to look at the more optimistic side.
She was on her own! She wouldn't have to listen to professors, dorm mothers, her own mother, or anyone, ever again.
Her new found sense of freedom elated her and she could not keep from smiling as the train rolled over the miles of track that was taking her to her Mecca... Hollywood.