Chapter 14 -- They're All Sick!
Monday October 10
Before I left the hospital, they'd given me instructions on how to rehab my hip pointer. They called the first few days the 'acute phase.' I assumed that meant pain level because I agreed it was 'acute.' The suggested treatment was to rest, ice it down, take pain and anti-inflammatory meds, and to wrap it. They warned me not to try to do too much until the pain subsided some. My instinct was to stretch and exercise, but they'd warned that I had to let my injuries heal before I began to do that.
I could have ditched the wheelchair and used crutches if my arm and ribs didn't hurt. The good news was that the swelling around my elbow had gone down. That was frankly my biggest concern. They'd thoroughly examined my elbow and a sports medicine doctor, who was also an orthopedic specialist, had assured me that it was all soft-tissue injury and nothing structurally was amiss. Besides the scare of possibly not being able to throw a ball, it frustrated me not to have the use of my right arm. Simple things you take for granted, like tying your shoes, are a major hassle when you essentially lose the use of your dominant arm.
Something I discovered was that being in pain is exhausting. I'd managed to hobble around enough to take a shower and get dressed, but when I was done, I could have used a nap. I felt like I was a ninety-year-old, the way I had to move slowly and worry that I might tip over at any moment when pain would radiate from my hip if I moved wrong.
I ordered room service for breakfast and got the guy that delivered it to tie my shoes. When Fritz finally came to pick me up, I was ready to go.
"I expected I would have to help you get ready."
"Yesterday, you would have had to. I hate feeling helpless," I admitted.
Fritz helped me ease into the wheelchair and grabbed my bags. It was a little awkward because his wrist was broken, but we somehow managed to get downstairs. I was glad that they had express checkout so I didn't have to get in line to do that.
The plan for today was to go to IDC--Public Relations' offices and prep for our press conference. Frank pulled Fritz into a meeting for Fritz to have his own prep. Rita and Halle hadn't arrived yet.
I found Caryn in the conference room where she'd set up shop for the week. We got all the 'how are you feeling' stuff out of the way and then she wanted to talk about Lexi.
"I had Kendal reread your contract, and she confirmed there is a provision for you to hire what they term as 'staff' for the 'duration' of the movies. I've got a call into the studio to clarify what that means and what our budget is. I also need to determine whether that allows us to hire them or if the studio has to. I know that Kent said Craig was able to hire people directly, but I want to make sure of that."
"What does Kent plan to do with Lexi?" I asked.
"We need to hire some support staff to assist the managers and help with the day-to-day operations. Until I meet with her, I won't know where she'll fit in. Kent is hopeful she might make it easier to open some doors for our clients. I also want to find out her long-term plans. She's just out of high school, and I would guess that at some point she plans to go to college. I'd hate to assume anything. If she's only here for the short term, it will limit how much training we would invest in her."
I had no idea if Lexi even wanted to go to college. I'd assumed that this would be her first 'real' job. There was a soft knock on the door, and Caryn told the person to come in.
"Speak of the Devil. I bet your ears were burning," I said as Lexi came in.
"I'm here for my interview, Ms. Buckley. I can wait if you need to finish up with Mr. Dawson."
I suppressed the urge to laugh at Lexi being so formal. I had to remember this was a business situation and allow Caryn to handle it.
"I was just leaving. Good luck, and if I don't see you before I leave, it was good seeing you again," I said.
Lexi showed that she was nervous when she wiped her palms on her pants before she shook my hand. Caryn told her to get comfortable and then helped wheel me to where Frank was holding court.
---
On our way to the press conference, I had time to reflect on this budget/splurge dichotomy that had been used to torment me over the past year. During the prep meeting, Rita and I had disagreed on where to hold our meeting with the press. She wanted to do it at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, right in the heart of Beverly Hills' swanky area. I'd wanted something more economical. We were talking about the people that hounded us, not studio executives. Guess who won that argument. I should have just shut up because she'd been doing this kind of thing for years. Halle teased me and called me cheap, which irritated me and made me dig my heels in.
I knew I wasn't winning when Caryn joined us and agreed with Rita. Talk about killing my crusade. If anyone was cheap, it was Caryn.
That was how I found myself on the Rodeo Terrace that overlooked the legendary Rodeo Drive. We'd originally planned to hold the press conference in the early afternoon so that the information would be released in time for the evening news on the East Coast. Bev Mass had been correct when she warned us about our time window because the police had requested an interview for just after lunch. Luckily, Frank and his team worked their magic, and we were ready at 11:00 a.m.
I worried that we wouldn't be able to get the press there in time but underestimated the lure of a scandal. Frank led us out to a table with a lectern at the end. I was joined by Halle, Rita, Fritz, and Lexi, who'd volunteered to talk about what she'd seen. Frank stood at the lectern and got the press to quiet down.
"Halle James will read a prepared statement, and then we will show you videos of what happened. We will then have the other people you see up here make statements, and then we'll open it up to questions," Frank said and sat down.
Halle's statement outlined the different times Zander had crossed the line, on and off the set. Bev Mass's background as a district attorney had paid off when writing the statement. Words matter when describing what happened, especially the legal definitions. Bev assured us that with just the written statement, any rookie DA would be able to put together the case against Zander. Putting bad guys away was her passion, and once Bev knew we'd made the decision to go after him publicly, she wanted to make sure we didn't mess up the case once it went to trial.
Once she'd read her statement, Halle went off-script.
"I think about young girls today--I don't want my future daughter, or your daughter, or any person to be afraid that they will be punished if they speak out about being abused, especially if their abuser is in a position of power. I was lucky in that I have a powerful mother who supports me, and that support negated much of the leverage my attacker had over me.
"Even with that support, I was forced into a room, and I absolutely believe that if my friend hadn't been with me, I would have been raped. When he was thwarted, he thought he could do even more damage, and attempted to kill me and the people I was with. Unfortunately, my close friend David A. Dawson was injured when our car was rammed by Zander Lewis's bodyguard. The coward then fled the scene," Halle said as she became overcome with emotion.
If I could've gotten up without almost passing out from pain, I would have gone to her. I was glad to see her mother step up and give her a hug of comfort.
"Mark my words. Zander was just doing what he assumed from prior experience he could get away with. In the coming days, others will come forward and share their experiences of this predator," Halle concluded, then collapsed into her mom's arms.
I was impressed. I'd never seen this many people from the press sit that quietly before. Their usual M.O. would be to start shouting questions. Frank had one of his people begin showing the videos. He ran through them all before having the rest of us comment on them.
I hadn't seen the whole thing before.
Brook and Halle were pushed into the room by Zander's security, and then Zander walked in and made a big show of locking the door.
"Finally, we're alone. Have you had time to figure out what's best for you?" Zander asked.
"I thought I made it clear. I'm not sleeping with you," Halle said.
You could tell that Zander was losing his self-control. I had no idea why Halle seemed to be trying to reason with him.
"Look. I've been patient, but if you ever want to work in this industry again, you might want to reconsider. Plus, I will be the best you ever had," he said with a leer.
"I said, 'No!'" Halle barked.
"Calm down. I thought you wanted a threesome," Zander said.
"No, you and your goons dragged us in here," Brook said.
"Listen, bitc ..." was all he got out as he grabbed Brook and Halle, and tried to throw both of them onto the bed.
Halle had a look of complete shock as she stumbled backward onto the bed from the force of Zander's shove. Brook winced with pain and then gave Zander a look of pure hatred.
That was a look I never wanted to see on her face when she looked at me.
Brook bounced up from where she'd been thrown, rubbing her arm, and then punched him in the throat. He'd started to unbuckle his belt. Zander's smirk instantly changed to a look of disbelieving pain. Brook then kneed him where it counts, and he curled up in a ball.
Halle scrambled up and watched as Zander uncurled and started to get up with a look of pure murder on his face. She kicked him in the side, he went back down, and she and then Brook kicked him a few more times.
A couple of seconds later Fritz and I burst in. I scooped them up to keep them from killing him, and almost got my own beatdown. As soon as they figured out it was me, they both broke down crying and clung to me, visibly shaking. It was like all the adrenaline left them, and all that was left was two very scared little girls.
I was impressed by Brook's handling of Zander. He was completely surprised when she didn't just cower in fear. Cassidy would be proud of her. I cringed when I saw Halle and Brook start to kick him in the sack and the side. You would have guessed they thought he was a piñata full of chocolate. He was lucky when I rushed in and snatched both girls up before they could do any more damage.
Then again, seeing how the girls broke down as soon as they realized they were safe made me realize just how traumatized they were by Zander's actions. I looked around, and it seemed like most of the reporters were having the same thoughts as me.
In the van, Fritz had set up two cameras, one pointing at all the passengers and one straight ahead. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, and then suddenly they were being tossed around like they were rag dolls. I said a silent prayer of thanks that they all had their seatbelts on, and wondered why the airbags didn't go off. I guess we were hit at a weird angle when Fritz swerved. I closed my eyes when I saw what happened to me. From the way I hung in my seatbelt, it was obvious I was out cold.
