Free The Truth about My Success by Dyan Sheldon Page A

admitted. “She’s all I have.”
    Jack said that there’s nothing to worry about. He bought Abbot a laptop so he can talk to and see Oona every day. “Besides which, I’ll look after her like she’s my own,” promised Jack. “I’ll protect her with my own life. You have my word.” He had his lawyer draw up a contract guaranteeing payment from him and confidentiality from the Ginnesses. “I’m afraid it’s pretty iron-clad,” said Jack as he watched Abbot and Oona sign the agreement. “You know what these legal beagles are like.” He’s arranged for Maria to visit Abbot every two days to keep an eye on things and do anything he needs done, so that, said Jack, Abbot will hardly know that Oona’s gone.
    Jack drives Paloma to the airport himself. He even does her the favour of taking her house keys from her so she doesn’t have to worry about losing them the way she often does; she doesn’t need them, he’ll be picking her up when she comes back, of course. Jack Silk stands waving and smiling as Paloma goes through the gate.
Bon voyage, sweetheart. Have a great time!
    That very same morning, as Paloma’s plane noses into the clouds, Oona leaves El Paraíso for Paradise Lodge in the cab provided by Jack Silk. Abbot followed her around while she packed.
Don’t forget your parka. Don’t forget your vitamins. Make sure you drink plenty of water
. “I hope these people are good drivers,” Abbot fretted. “I don’t care what fancy cars they have, that’s not going to save you if they drive like kamikazes on a mission.”
    Mrs Figueroa, who thinks that Oona is going to visit an aunt in Minneapolis, gave her an elaborately engraved silver locket that once belonged to Mr Figueroa’s mother for good luck. “So you come back safe,” whispered Mrs Figueroa. Abbot, who knows that Oona is only going across town and will talk to him at least twice a day, cried. “You text me as soon as you get there,” he ordered. “So I know you got there all right.” “I love you, Dad,” said Oona. Abbot said he loves her, too.
    It’s a reluctant afternoon, muggy and close. The cab carrying Oona and Harriet slowly climbs the canyon, and eventually turns into a lushly tree-lined road. On the plain down below, the light is blurred and the air almost grey, but up here all is vivid and clear. When they finally come to the Minnicks’ driveway there is a splatter of men with cameras standing around or leaning against their cars. “Somebody pretty famous must live here,” says the cabbie. “Not really,” says Oona, “I think they must have the wrong address.”
    Once they stop in front of Paradise Lodge, Oona sits in the cab for a few minutes, Harriet on her lap and her backpack beside her, just looking at her new home. It’s a house from a movie or a magazine. She tightens her hold on Harriet and concentrates on breathing normally. Up until now she’s tried very hard not to think about today. She has kept her thoughts focused on a few weeks from now – when it’s all over and she and Abbot have some money and things finally change for the better. But now, sitting here in the back of the cab, a miniature castle looming in front of her and a posse of paparazzi behind her, all Oona can think of is what happens next. She gives Harriet a hug. So the Minnicks live in a big fancy house and their daughter’s a TV star. So what? They’re still just people. They’re no different from anybody else. Everything’s going to be all right. Harriet’s tail thumps against her arm. It has to be.
    “OK, this is it,” the driver says a little more loudly than he did the first two times. “I can’t get the cab no closer than this. She don’t do stairs.”
    Oona will have to get out.
    “Thanks.” She thrusts a few crumpled bills over the seat.
    “Keep it.” He pushes the money away. “It’s all been taken care of.”
    Jack Silk thinks of everything.
    “Thanks,” she says again, and opens the door. On the flats down below,