The Property of a Lady - Elizabeth Adler [206]
“When she was eighteen we gave a little birthday party for her, just Rosa and Sam, Rachel, Dick, and Hannah. We went to the Cocoanut Grove and there was a cake with candles and she blushed when the band played ‘Happy Birthday.’ She was just the most sweet, naive, innocent girl you could ever imagine, and she looked so lovely in a pale-green dress and the ruby heart pendant O’Hara had given her when she was our bridesmaid. The table was full of little presents from everyone, especially Zev, who believed presents should come in multiples of at least a dozen. But his biggest present was the news that he had commissioned a script especially for her, a musical to be called Flying High.”
“I remember it,” Cal exclaimed, smiling, “from too many sleepless nights in college watching the Late Late Show. She was wonderful.”
“Wasn’t she? And she enjoyed it so much. The doctor had given permission, and we all kept a careful eye on her, vetting everyone from her costar to the lowliest gofer on the set. Zev produced and Dick Nevern directed, and her sheer youth and exuberance came through.
“It was 1932 and Magic, like most of the big Hollywood studios, had weathered the Depression. Zev put a lot of money into promoting the movie but interviews with her were kept to the minimum, just the top Hollywood and New York reporters. Still, her photograph was in all the fan magazines and suddenly she was a star.
“It didn’t go to her head. She just accepted it and carried on as usual, taking Rex, her dog, to the studios every day along with Baby, the puppy. By this time Rex had had his way with Zev’s bitch, Juliet, and we now had a household of six borzois. Azaylee loved them all so we kept them. She was busy learning her new dance routines for the next movie and at last she seemed completely happy, though of course her life was still very protected. Rachel was her only close friend. Rachel practically lived with us, and she also had a role in all the movies. By now she was dating Dick Nevera seriously and they were in love.
“The first signs of trouble came when Azaylee was twenty-one. She announced she had rented an apartment in Hollywood and was moving out. Soon after she met the man who was to become her dance partner, Milos Zoran, the son of a Polish immigrant farmworker who looked like everybody’s idea of a blond Greek god. She met him at dance class and saw immediately he was good, but of course it was when they danced together that the magic happened. They looked so perfect, both so blond and beautiful, he in white tie and tails and she in those soft, clinging chiffon gowns, dancing to Cole Porter and Jerome Kern. All those old standards were new to us then.
“The first movie was an instant success. The pair were ‘an item’ in the gossip columns, and of course we realized what must be going on. We tried, but there was no way to stop her, and when Zev threatened to fire Zoran she said if he did she would go too. Azaylee was on her own and living the life she wanted. Or was she?” Missie shook her head helplessly. “We never really knew.”
“Zoran’s influence grew stronger; soon he was choreographing their routines so he became the important figure and Azaylee told Zev that she wanted all billing to be changed to ‘Zoran and Adair,’ with his name in front and hers second, and that he should get top billing over title in the next movie. Zev said sure he would do it, but of course he didn’t, and when Zoran strutted in to complain, he grabbed him by the lapels of his fancy new suit and told him that he had already put one guy behind bars who had tried to exploit Azaylee and he was not averse to putting another there. Zoran backed down but he walked out in the middle of the next movie. It almost destroyed Azaylee and we were right back to square one: the therapy, the protected private life—and no more movies until she was better.
“This became the pattern.