America 1982-Chapter 321 - 21: The Vacation is Over
Tommy didn’t have Page do it, instead he poured two glasses of light alcohol himself and walked over to the sofa, handing one to Vanessa who was sitting across from him, then turned his head to look out the window.
Outside the window, his own black bodyguard, Martin, was spitting fury at Mark Warren, venting on behalf of his housemate Vanessa.
"I’m so sorry, Vanessa," Tommy said earnestly with the glass in his hand, "You should have told me earlier."
After returning, Tommy first met with Mark, then saw Vanessa alone, understood the whole story from both perspectives, and now here both of them were, sitting in the living room drinking while Mark was outside getting an earful from Martin.
Frankly speaking, Mark receiving the threat letter was entirely his own doing.
The one who took Vanessa’s two songs was Donna Summer, known as the Queen of Black Disco, who happened to be testing sound at West Lake Recording Studios in Los Angeles that day; it wasn’t that Summer wanted to snatch the songs from an unknown junior like Vanessa, but that during a break, Donna went to the restroom and stumbled upon Vanessa touching up her makeup, clearly having cried. Donna asked a question out of concern, and Vanessa shared her troubles.
After that, Mark ran into trouble: the two songs were taken by Donna Summer, Vanessa insisted on keeping those songs, and Donna sent Mark a threat letter.
This gave Mark a headache because if he couldn’t get those two songs for Vanessa, she, already dissatisfied with him, could use the agency contract to make things difficult for him, pushing for a forcible termination.
So, the whole incident was a case of a black female singer, moved by compassion, creating an opportunity for Vanessa to turn against Mark, helping her to rid herself of the demon agent, Mark.
"He’s indeed not right for me, Tommy. He’s not worthy of your trust, he... he’s a downright rotten guy!" Vanessa mustered her courage and said earnestly to Tommy.
Tommy sipped his glass and said seriously, "I understand. The attorney will soon cancel your agency contract with this horrible guy. It’s my fault. If you need any financial compensation or anything, just let me know, since I was the one who brought you to Los Angeles."
In Tommy’s eyes, while Mark was at fault, the problem wasn’t that he was a bad person, but that he treated each of his signed clients the same way. The problem was, not every woman dreaming of stardom is a Michelle Pfeiffer or a Laura Dunn, willing to trade their beauty for a chance. The mixed-race woman sitting in front of him, Vanessa, educated and with parents who are private school teachers, wasn’t someone that you could arrange her work as though she were a prostitute, even if she wasn’t successful.
Mark wanted Vanessa to become famous quickly. In Hollywood, the quickest way for a woman to do so is to sleep with an influential man in the industry. Mark continually urged Vanessa to be more open and brave, to adopt the fearless attitude she had when shooting for "Penthouse" when facing Hollywood.
He thought since Vanessa had done those photos, she must be very open, but actually, it was quite the opposite. This woman was willing to expose herself for the sake of artistic perfection, but not to earn money or chase so-called on-camera opportunities by sleeping with others.
What completely disillusioned Vanessa with Mark was when one day, while walking in the community garden of her Beverly Hills Estate, she ran into a male college classmate, a stage actor currently looking for opportunities to perform in various theaters around Los Angeles. Since performances were scarce, he had also taken a job as an assistant to a professional acting coach, visiting Beverly Hills Estates to teach female stars. The two had performed together in college, and seeing each other again was naturally joyful, so Vanessa invited him back to her nearby residence to chat.
Somehow, this news reached Mark, and the next day he confronted Vanessa at her home, accusing her of sneaking a man over to sleep with her, and if it was for that purpose, why she couldn’t accept the producers he arranged.
From Mark’s perspective, Vanessa’s sleeping with a chosen poor male achieved nothing for her, even requiring her to provide accommodation.
But if she slept with the men he arranged, she could get a guest actor role in the latest season of the hot TV series "L.A. Law," get a chance to be seen on popular TV shows.
In anger, Vanessa threw water in Mark’s face, and the two parted on bad terms, following that was the incident at the recording studio, where Donna Summer extended her help and put Mark on the spot after seeing Vanessa crying and touching up her makeup.
"You’ve been sending Vanessa off to those portly producers? To hell with that! A tall, cheerful black girl like her, you expect her to be violated by those ugly old white bastards?" Martin was outside, cursing out Mark through the window.
Mark, dissatisfied, looked at Martin and retorted, "I’m creating opportunities for her! You think those guys will just sleep with any woman that comes knocking..."
"So great, why don’t you create opportunities for your mother then! Let her sleep with those guys? Maybe her charm will win you a few rich stepfathers! I’ve heard such talk, after the old man’s death, as his son and spouse, you could inherit a double share of the estate!" Martin cut Mark off before he could finish, continuing to talk non-stop:
"If Vanessa wants to sleep with rich men, why not choose Mr. Hawk? He’s young and wealthy, much better than those old fools! Haven’t you noticed, every time the boss sees Vanessa, he drools? And when Vanessa sees the boss, she drools too? Them sleeping together would be the perfect ending in a movie..."
