Part 45 (1/2)
She sighed and twisted herself away from him. ”No, Jimmy, I wasn't bulls.h.i.+tting you. You just don't understand.”
”What don't I understand?”
”That Joe loves me.”
”I love you.”
She giggled, combed her fingers through her hair, and turned back toward Jimmy. ”You love to make mud pies.”
”No, I mean it.”
”I know you do, Jimmy. But you know what I mean; it's different with Joe. He loves me before himself. You and me ... I don't know. No matter what we do, it's different somehow.
Joe loves me more than his career.”
”That's why he wants you to give up your career.”
”I'm divorcing him, isn't that enough? But I just can't be cruel to him. I can't do that. And no matter what, I'll always love him.”
”Aren't you worried he'll get s.h.i.+tfaced again with his pal Frank Sinatra and break into your apartment like they tried to do last year? Christ, that was something. Did he go to court for that yet?”
”I don't know,” Marilyn said.
”If you love Joe so much, what are you doing with Arthur Miller? Christ, he looks old enough to be your father.”
”He's not old; he's only forty.”
”I expect to be dead by then.”
”You probably will be.”
”So why are you getting rid of Joe, who loves you so much, and chasing this other guy?”
Jimmy asked.
”What makes you think I'm chasing him?”
”You didn't tell me he loves you.”
”Well, he does. He's crazy about me, and if he had his way, he'd have left his wife and kids for me, but I wouldn't let him do that. If you can believe it, I tried to talk him out of divorcing her. I don't want that on my conscience. But he says he can't live without me, and I love him.”
”I can't believe that. But then I never understood your thing with Joe, either. Different strokes ...”
”Joe and me tore each other apart. I couldn't be what he needs. But everything is different with Arthur. He's smart in a different way. He teaches me things I didn't even know I needed to know, and he's behind my career a hundred percent. With Joe, well, you know.”
”Joe must know, the gossip's everywhere.”
”I was going to tell him, so he wouldn't read it in the rags, but I just couldn't. I'm such a coward.””You want to go back to my place?” Jimmy asked.
”Yes, but I'll drive.” They switched places, and Marilyn turned the car around and sped back toward Beverly Glen.
”So what's your news that you wanted to tell me?”
Marilyn laughed. ”You won't believe it, I can't believe it. It would certainly solve all my problems.”
”Tell me.”
”I was approached by a guy who publishes Look magazine. I met him last weekend at the Greens in Connecticut. He told me that he was approached by some big shot who works for Aristotle Ona.s.sis, who practically owns Greece. You know about him?”
”Nope.”
”And he owns half of Monte Carlo.”
”How can you own half a G.o.dd.a.m.n country?”
”I don't know. It could all be bulls.h.i.+t, but that's what I heard. Anyway, this Gardner Cowles, the publisher, who's actually a sweet guy, he asks me if I'd be interested in marrying Prince Rainier, he's the prince of Monte Carlo. I was so shocked I laughed at him, but he was dead serious. He asked me if I thought the prince would want to marry me, and I told him to give me two days alone with the prince, and he'll want to marry me. I'd be a princess, all my troubles would be over.”
”So what'd you say?”Jimmy asked.
”I told him to set it up. At least I'll get a trip to Monte Carlo and meet a prince.”
”You're bulls.h.i.+tting again, aren't you, you b.i.t.c.h.”
”No, Jimmy. I swear on everything holy, it's true.”
”Why the h.e.l.l would this prince want to marry you?”
”Thanks a lot.”
”You know what I mean.”
Marilyn turned onto Beverly Glen. It would be dawn soon, and she looked pale and worn and fragile in the dim, ambient streetlight. Her hair was frizzed by the wind. ”It all has something to do with problems in Monte Carlo. The country is having a hard time, and Ona.s.sis figured that if the prince married someone glamorous, it would make the country more glamorous and bring in more money. Or something like that.”
”So you think it's for real,” Jimmy said.
”Yeah, I do.”
Jimmy waited for her to laugh or joke about it, but she stared ahead and drove slowly up the winding road, as if she wanted the ride to last as long as possible.
”Did you have a fight with Miller, is that what this is all about?”
”No, it's about my life and not getting anything right.”
”What would make it right?”
Marilyn laughed and said, ”If I knew that I wouldn't be here. If the prince makes the effort, maybe he'll get me. Or maybe it will be Arthur. Or some secret somebody else you don't even know about.”