have small parts in a couple of movies he produced but I never interacted with him. I think I played ‘college coed number four’ in one and ‘barista number two’ in another. He probably never even knew I was involved.”
“Are you sure he didn’t have any influence in you getting those roles?” Trembley asked.
“Yeah, partly because he just wasn’t involved at that level of casting and also because he told me later. When I mentioned the connection, he was genuinely surprised.”
“Later?” Jessie prompted.
“Yes. About a year ago, I was at dinner with my husband. Miller was at the same restaurant with his wife and another couple. We ran into each other near the restrooms. He remembered me from my auditions and we chatted a little, flirted even. He said I should keep pushing for big roles and I gave him my card.”
There was silence on the line and Jessie briefly thought they’d lost the connection.
“Tara?” she said softly.
“I’m sorry,” the woman answered. “This part is just hard for me. He called me the next day. He asked if I wanted to get a drink. I think he knew…he never mentioned it outright but I’m pretty sure he was aware that prior to my marriage, I would sometimes go on ‘dates’ with wealthy industry types. Do you know what I mean?”
“I do,” Jessie said, leaving it at that.
“Well, I think he knew that and maybe thought I would be open to a rendezvous. I’m ashamed to admit that I was. So we met for a drink at a hotel bar. One drink led to four and then we went back to a room he got.”
Trembley opened his mouth to ask a question but Jessie shook her head. She didn’t want to interrupt Tara in the middle of something so raw. The woman, oblivious to this, continued.
“He never offered me any money or a role or anything like that. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope something might come of it. He’s incredibly powerful, as you know. But completely independent of that, it was fun. He’s got this charisma that is surprisingly sexy. Plus, we stayed at this gorgeous hotel where he wined and dined me. And admittedly, there was something exciting about the illicit nature of it all. I’d been married four years and we’d hit a bit of a lull. We’d also been trying to have a child without success. I’m not excusing it, just explaining it.”
“How long did this go on?” Jessie asked.
“Just a few weeks. The guilt became overwhelming. I was going to call it off and then…” She paused.
“You found out you were pregnant?” Jessie finished the sentence for her.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“I didn’t,” Jessie admitted. “But the timing made sense with what we already knew. What happened next?”
“I’d rather not get into all the gory details. But the short version is that I told him and he strongly suggested I get an abortion. I was upset. That’s when I filed in court, excluding his name, and subsequently told him about the filing. I just wanted to protect myself. Pretty quickly, he changed his tune. He said if I settled with him and kept everything confidential, he’d offer me resources throughout the pregnancy.”
“So he didn’t push you to terminate the pregnancy after that?” Jessie wanted to know.
“No. He said his primary concern was that he didn’t want his wife to find out. He asked if I could convince my husband the baby was his. He promised all kinds of financial support as long as I kept his name out of it and agreed to a one-time settlement. I think he was worried I’d blackmail him.”
“So you agreed?” Jessie said.
“Yes. I decided I wanted to move back east. My family’s here. I could still get work. And I just wanted to get away from the whole L.A scene. But I decided I had to tell my husband. We hadn’t been intimate in almost two months so he would have figured it out anyway.”
“Is that when he briefly filed for separation?” Trembley wanted to know.
“Yes. But I managed to talk him down. I said I would have no contact with Miller, that he would give up any parental rights and that we would raise the baby as his own. Our problems conceiving were related to him, so he realized this might be his only chance to have a child. We ultimately found a way through it all. And now our son is two months old. We