Page 35 of Seven Minutes In Heaven
The woman was so white with fear that she looked evenmoredifferent from that afternoon Claire caught her in bed with Arthur.You and your little pink convertible! Who the fuck are you? Barbie?Wait. Why was she white with fear? This wasn’t a woman having a romantic rendezvous with another Carter boy. Or at least Claire doubted she would drop by Jake’s place for romance wearing nothing but gym sweats. She had no makeup on, and her ponytail was greasy. The only reason Claire recognized her was because that faraway afternoon was etched into her memory.
“Ms. Finn!”
“Claire,” Jake said behind them. “I’d like to formally introduce you to Ms. Ophelia Walter. You might know her by the stage name Ophelia Wells.”
“I know who she is.” Claire rounded on him. “She’s the woman I found in bed with your father.”
“See?” Jake said to Ophelia. “I told her she didn’t think of him as her fiancé first. He’ll always be my father.”
“What’s that have to do with anything?”
“Have a seat, Claire. You might be interested in this.”
Confusion settled over her as she sat down at the dining table. The same table she had dined at with Jake more times than she could count. Mexican food. Thai food. Chinese food. BLTs and Boston Market. What did it matter anymore? This woman clearly ate with Jake, as recently as… what time was it? An hour ago? Looked like Indian takeout in the trash.
Ophelia joined them. Jake sat at the end of his table with both women on either side of him. “Go on,” Jake said with a sigh, “ask.”
Claire blurted, “You two sleeping together too?”
“No.” Jake said that, while Ophelia looked as if she wanted to die. “Feel better now?”
“No. What the hell is going on?” Her manila folder of sonogram photos crinkled against her small baby bulge. She had half a mind to stick this man’s hand on her stomach and ask if he remembered how it got there. She didn’t care if it was in front of Ophelia. She could feel it too if she fucking wanted!
Jake put a hand on Claire’s and gave it a squeeze before crossing his arms on the table. “Ophelia is interested in filing a suit against my father.”
“A… suit?”
“I’m not the only one, Ms. Finn. What you saw at the house a couple of weeks ago… I feel so terrible. I only got into that mess because… oh, it’s all my fault. I should’ve said no.”
Claire almost choked on her words. “Are you saying that Arthur…?” How in the world? Because what Claire saw in that master bedroom had Ophelia in a position where she could have easily gotten away if it had not been consensual.
“It’s not like that.” Ophelia’s cheeks were as pink as her Corvette. “Please. You’re his fiancée… I don’t want to…”
“I’m not going to be his fiancée for long.” Claire believed it when she said it, too. “If you think I love the man, you’re sorely mistaken.”
Jake filled in the information on Ophelia’s behalf. “Ophelia and about a dozen other women are filing a suit together. Because my father has a terrible reputation for sexually intimidating young actresses and putting them into situations where they must either submit to his whim or risk being blacklisted.” He looked toward Claire. “Sound familiar?”
She ignored that last bit. “She’s tellingyouabout this?”
“It was my idea. I’m helping to pay for a good attorney, because I know my father’s, and he’s one of the best in LA. These women have raised some of their own funds, but not enough.”
“If they win a suit against your dad, you might lose more than your relationship with him! What about your own career? You’ll always be associated with him!”
“It’s the right thing to do. My father’s only the tip of the iceberg in this town. After seeing what it did to my mother and how she got offeasy…I’m sick of it. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. Actresses should only be expected to use their talents and training to get roles.”
“Like you’ve never taken advantage of it.”
“I used to, yes,” Jake admitted. “When I was younger. I didn’t understand why women threw themselves at me, other than deluding myself into thinking I wasthatgood looking. Eventually I realized they were doing favors for my dad because he said sleeping with either meorhim was the only way they could get even a bit part in a subpar movie. I felt so disgusted. When I told my mother, she didn’t even raise her eyebrows. She said she knew the day would come when my father wrapped me up in his web of good old boys and the influence they wielded in Hollywood.”
“It’s not as simple as sleeping for roles!” Ophelia interjected. “The underlying threat was always there. Please believe me, Ms. Finn. If I didn’t do what he said, I could have lost everything. I had already spent everything I had coming to LA to be an actress. I have no home to go back to. The jobs in this town areshit.What am I supposed to do? I had already given up everything for my dream. So I…” Tears formed at the corners of her eyes.
“Stop, please.” Claire couldn’t stand to look at this child. Because that’s all she was to Claire.What if she were my daughter?She couldn’t believe she was already thinking like that. Claire was only twenty-five, and Ophelia was twenty at the oldest. Probably legal, but she would have never given Arthur the time of day unless she felt incredibly pressured to give in to him.
Didn’t Claire know something about that?
“You’re right,” Ophelia continued. “I shouldn’t be telling either of you about this.”
“No, what I mean is…” Claire swallowed. “I’m only marrying Arthur for my career. I have enough nepotism because of my grandfather to get away with only having tomarryhim.” Unfortunately, it was a thought she had more than once as of late. Arthur was keen to marry her because she was young, hot… and the granddaughter of Hollywood royalty. If she were a mere nobody who only happened to be young and hot, then there would be no marriage offer on the table. She wouldn’t be “respectable” enough for that. Arthur couldn’t get away with taking advantage of Mr. Finn’s granddaughter like that. No. Of course not. He only did that to total nobodies who would be too afraid to say no. Like Ophelia.
