Now That I've Found You - Kristina Forest Page 0,42
Milo and his friends. But it isn’t for me. I have a good reason not to be big on friends, and these videos are a great reminder.
I try to go to sleep, but I can’t. My brain goes on a loop: video, getting fired, backlash, how to make it better. Over and over. Finally, after too much tossing and turning, I get out of bed and go into Gigi’s office, carrying Candice’s USB. I watch the old videos until I feel myself dozing off at Gigi’s desk.
Footage from homemade video—August 12, 1970
*Evelyn Conaway and James Jenkins sit side by side in a limo on their way to the premiere for Every Time We Meet. Evelyn is wearing a black sleeveless silk gown with clusters of tiny pearls sewn into the bodice. A white fur shawl is wrapped around her shoulders. James, with his arm resting on Evelyn’s knee, has on clean-cut black slacks and a maroon blazer. Candice Tevin sits across from them, recording.*
Candice (off camera): How are you feeling about tonight? Are you nervous?
*Evelyn looks away from the camera and shifts in her seat*
Evelyn: No.
*James chuckles*
James: Yes, you are. You just told me—
Evelyn: I’m not nervous.
Candice: James, are you nervous?
James: Nothing to be nervous about. We worked our butts off and put out a good film. The way I see it, all we’ve gotta do now is smile for the cameras and look good.
Candice: Well, the reviews are positive so far. Everyone is talking about your chemistry.
*James smiles and nudges Evelyn. She rolls her eyes but also smiles*
Candice: The press doesn’t know that you’re officially dating … Are you going to tell them tonight? You do make a lovely couple, I have to say.
Evelyn: Thank you, Candice. But no, we’re not telling them. It’s none of their business.
*James turns to Evelyn, frowning*
James: So, if they ask, you want me to lie?
Evelyn: We can tell them that we’re friends. That’s not a lie, technically. I just want to keep what we have between us for as long as we can. Before they start writing about us in the tabloids. You’re too important to me. Is that such a bad thing?
*James stares at Evelyn for a beat. Then he puts his arm around her shoulder, pulls her close, and kisses her on the mouth*
James: No, it isn’t.
*James turns to Candice*
James: I’m gonna marry this girl one day.
*Evelyn laughs and shakes her head*
Evelyn: You’re mad. But I love you.
James: You hear that? Candice, did you get that on camera?
Candice: Absolutely did.
*recording ends*
Chapter Eleven
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14
There are a ton of videos on Candice’s USB, so many that I was too tired to watch them all last night. There’s a video of Gigi standing backstage at the 1970 Academy Awards, the year she was nominated for her role in Every Time We Meet. She’s slowly swaying back and forth with her eyes closed and her head angled toward the floor. It almost looks like she’s having a peaceful moment, but after what Candice told me about Gigi not always being so confident, I’m wondering if she was just trying to calm her nerves. There are videos of Gigi traveling to different countries or on the sets of her photo shoots. At one point, it looks like Gigi must have owned the camera, because James often recorded her around the house.
When I’m fully awake, I rewatch the footage from each of Gigi’s weddings. The first time she and James got married, only a few months had passed since they’d filmed Every Time We Meet. She wore a simple white dress, and her hair was big and curly. James wore a button-up and a pair of slacks. They stood in the living room of the house they shared in California. Apparently, lots of people were married in their homes back then. Gigi said they got divorced because they thought it was too hard to focus on their careers and their relationship at the same time. But that mind-set didn’t last for too long, because in 1974 they remarried. Gigi wore a white gown that was clearly more expensive, and James actually wore a tuxedo. They shared the same wide, youthful smiles, almost naively hopeful, as if they expected everything to work the second time around. It turned out that Gigi wanted kids, but James didn’t, so they divorced again.
The third wedding video was recorded in 1979, and Gigi stood across from my grandfather Freddy. This time her dress had an empire waist because she was five