Travis had no idea what he was talking about. He still hadn’t read the contract, despite telling himself he needed to do so.
“As for me, I’ll stay with her and take care of her while she finishes the next five months here.”
“Yeah, I don’t get that. If she has another project, why does she not need us on it?”
“She intended to be the belle about town. Sort of one last hurrah before she goes out. There is no project, just her flitting about town seeing the sights and sucking up the accolades for wanting to hang around and enjoy the sights after coming off a local film.”
“Goes out? She’s retiring?”
“No. She’s dying, man. Advanced ovarian cancer. They’ve done everything they could to stop it, and now, it’s just a matter of time. That’s why she acted like she did storming off set. She’s tired, and it was draining the last of her energy only to be able to get a job on some hack em up horror story running around in her underwear.”
“I’m sorry, Bob. Listen, I don’t know what the story is between you, but you obviously care about her. This must be tough for both of you.”
“It is. She’s the love of my life. I’ve been with her since she did her first movie twenty years ago. She was barely eighteen, and I was twenty. We’ve been inseparable since then. We got married fifteen years ago at a cheesy wedding chapel in Vegas while she was filming there. She’s my heart, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without her.”
“Wow. I had no idea, Bob.”
“I trust you to keep that in confidence, all of this. I guess I just needed to talk to someone myself.”
“I can understand that. Secrets are hard things to keep for so long and losing your love ... I just don’t have the words.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you get on with things then. Hopefully, you’ll choose to hang around and maybe have dinner with us every once in a while during our stay. She chose here because she wanted away from the glitz and glam, somewhere that she could walk down the street unnoticed when she starts to ... not be herself.”
Bob’s voice cracked a bit as he spoke the last words; tears threatened to spill from the corners of his eyes. Travis pulled him into a half hug and said goodbye, leaving him to regain his composure and maintain his dignity in the hallway before returning to Vivianne’s room.
Letting himself into his room with his second key, he was surprised to find that Kat wasn’t there. Fishing out his phone, he dialed he number, getting voicemail instead of an answer. His phone dinged with a message before he even had it. It was Kat telling him she was getting the money and would be back soon.
He wondered where she was getting it from and hoping she hadn’t truly had to put up her house as collateral for it as she had said. While he was waiting for her, he fished out his contract and sat down to read through it. A lot of it was just legal speak telling him the consequences for breaking confidentiality and laying out the terms of the agreement. He scanned down through it until he got to a part that listed separation terms and began to read.
“Fuck me,” he said aloud.
The contract stipulated that if his employment ended due to reasons which were no fault of his own, he would be paid out his full wages for the six months, plus severance pay equal to twenty percent of his wages. He was literally making money off being canned.
He sat back and just contemplated this for a moment. Not only did it mean he could get started now on his dreams for the future, but he could help Kat without her having to put her house or anything else up as collateral. Of course, he was probably too late for that, and she might not accept his help, but it felt good to at least be in a position to offer the assistance.
A part of him felt guilty about profiting from Vivianne’s peril, but none of this had been his decision. She’d set up the contract, and she’d decided to end it. Still, he felt like he owed her something and, despite being no longer in her employ, decided he would take the time to show her some of the lesser-known spots in the area while she was still able to get out and see them.
For now, he was still a bit tired from his injuries and lack of sleep. He decided to snooze for a bit while he waited on Kat. He sent her a text and just told her he was done early and was going to lie down. After a few minutes, he got a response from her that she would be a while longer and to get some rest. She didn’t have to tell him twice.