120 Blind Dates... And Other Short Stories

A Star Returns

When Ananda Lockridge saw the man enter the TV studio, she knew immediately that he looked familiar in an odd way. But then again, he had to be because Leonard Anderson, the owner of the production company, only hired talented staff, and with the demise of the soap opera genre since the 2000s, he could have his pick among younger actors, actors who had risen to prominence in the 1990s and those who were a bit older, but tended to be the favourites with the fans.

The stranger seemed to belong to the third category even though she had no idea which roles he had played before. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone was obliged to wear masks, so she could only see half of his still handsome face anyway. On the other hand, she should have expected a few established soap opera actors to come in today as there were going to be auditions for the role of Seaview Park's latest villain today.

When she went over to the mysterious stranger to introduce herself as one of the production assistants and wish him good luck for his audition, he said in a deep voice that sounded familiar, too, "Sorry, honey, I'm not doing autographs today."

Ananda had worked in showbiz for five years now, but this one was a first. Who did this man think he was? "I'm sorry, sir. I'm a production assistant here and..."

"You are? Great, then get me a coffee!" the stranger cut her off.

Wow! Even though it was her job to see to it that everyone felt comfortable on the set, she had never been treated like a servant before, not even by some big names whom she had instantly recognised.

When she didn't move, he noticed the obvious problem. His eyes were cold and lifeless as if he couldn't care any less what she thought of him. "You have no idea who I am, do you?" he asked her.

"No, not really," she admitted carefully because she didn't want to offend him in the exact manner he had offended her. "I think you're here for an audition."

He laughed when he heard this. "No, I had my audition years ago... Let's just say I'm the guy who made this show a hit many years ago until I decided I wanted to be more than just a soap star."

His comment sent her pulse racing as she looked him over again. "You are Adrian Palmer," she said incredulously and was shocked when her former idol nodded. 

"Clever girl," he said. 

No, this pale, old man looked too tired and was not nearly as tall as she had always imagined the incredibly handsome "Mr Hunky Hunk" to be! At least "Hunky Hunk" was the nickname her grandmother had always used when the very sexy Adrian Palmer had come on the show. For many years, Palmer had been the greatest male star Seaview Park had ever had. Then he had left. There had been rumors that his agent had demanded too much money, and Leonard had personally fired him after he had not succeeded in convincing him that he didn't need a raise. 

It was true that nobody ever talked about Adrian Palmer on the set even though he was still present as a phantom whose picture stills from the 1980s and 1990s hung in the hallway. Gale Whitney, a veteran actress who had been with the show since it had started in 1985, had once whispered to her that she had been intimate with Adrian Palmer, and Ananda had laughed when she heard that. She was old enough to be his mother and had played his grandmother on the show! "That man slept with almost every woman on our set," she had told her. "He was the greatest lover we ever had here off-screen as well." Since Ananda hadn't been interested in hearing about Gale's sex life, she had asked her whether she could get her anything and retreated when that hadn't been the case. 

"Adrian, darling! Long time, no see!" Seaview Park's grand dame needed a walking stick nowadays, but Ananda had never seen Gale walking up to anybody as fast. When she stood in front of him, she completely ignored the COVID protocol, took off her mask, took off Adrian's and kissed him on the lips. "Oh, how I've longed to do this for 17 years!" she exclaimed when she had finished. 

"Well, you may soon be able to do it again because Leonard has asked me to return," Adrian announced.

"Is that so?" Gale asked and appeared to be flirting with Adrian. All of a sudden, the woman even seemed a lot younger than she was.   

"You know that it was a bad decision to leave the show," Adrian said. "You told me so yourself on the day I left."

"And as always, you refused to listen. You wanted to be a movie star," Gale stated. "Now you need money and have decided to give us a chance again."

"Something like that," Adrian confirmed. 

All of a sudden, Gale noticed that Ananda might not have been properly introduced to Adrian. "Ananda, honey, do you even know who this man is?" 

"She does," Adrian said. "She is not that young."

"But she was barely able to say Mama when you left the show."

"I'm older than that, thank you," Ananda said.

"How old are you?" Adrian asked.

"How old are you?" Ananda asked right back.

"I'll be 72 in October. Never ever ask an actor how old he is."

"If you are Adrian Palmer, you haven't been an actor for a long time. At least, that's what your IMDb page always said when I checked it in the last couple of years."

"So you are a fan?" he asked again. 

"You know, I was a fan until a few seconds ago. That's when my fan dreams got shattered by your behavior," Ananda replied truthfully.

Adrian Palmer laughed when he heard this. "Baby, I really like you. I think we'll have a swell time, and I might really take Lenny up on his offer and return to the show on a salary that is a joke."