Lisa’s favourite film was ‘A star is born’. In fact her favourite films were ‘A star is born’. The 1954 version with James Mason and Judy Garland was her favourite of the three. She had seen the Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson movie first and loved it, but the Garland version was hard to beat. She had, of course, also made a point of seeing the original 1937 film with Frederick March.
After Lisa first got together with Rob she had indulged herself in fantasies that pretty much followed the pattern of the movie. Rob had already broken up the band and despite doing a couple of things since, he had pretty much given up. Lisa meanwhile had been slowly building up a TV career. She had started as a junior reporter and was now the lunchtime entertainment anchor on the Scottish news. What’s more she’d managed to get a few slots on a networked holiday programme which had led to her own cable TV show. She was also in the running to present a new networked daytime show, Doghouse Makeover.
The idea of the show was to do a house makeover for dog lovers whose homes had been wrecked by their pets. The program would also build a state of the art kennel for the pooches to be relocated to in the garden after the makeover was complete. There were three people short listed for the show – Lisa, a weather girl and a former Miss Great Britain who was married to a footballer.
If Lisa could pull off the job, she would be living the movie. He was a declining star, she was a rising star. Of course it couldn’t last, she knew that, they were constantly arguing. As cruel as it sounded, though, she would really like to hit the big time before they split up. It might not be the romantic view of the movie but that is what happened in it. The rising star was helped on her way by her partner before he crashed and burned.
Rob had not opened any doors for Lisa, but he had made her more interesting in many people’s eyes. When she got a mention in TV World magazine she was introduced as holiday presenter and Rob’s girlfriend. He had been a national figure and to some extent he still was, although his fame was fading fast.
Lisa was well aware of her own cynicism and was untroubled by it. She had put a lot of effort into Rob. She had tried to steer him back to the music business, tried to motivate him. He had done a soundtrack for some low budget movie but that was it. If he didn’t take the opportunities when they came along there wasn’t much else she could do. It was a source of regret. A bittersweet regret, but regret nonetheless.
Lisa stood at the door of the media room looking at him. He was asleep in his recliner chair with a comic on his lap. A comic! This did not happen with Frederick March. It did not happen with James Mason. It did not happen with Kris Kristofferson.
A fucking comic! Where was the tragic dignity in that? True, he had taken all his gold discs down off the walls, but to lie there with a half drunk pot of coffee, a plate with the empty silver wrappers from some chocolate biscuits and some kind of kids comic on his lap! This was not the stuff of dreams.
Rob woke up, yawned and noticed Lisa standing, staring at the doorway.“Hi honey, how was your day?”
“Fine, how was yours?” she asked.
“Yeah good, I met up with Jack and Scott for lunch.”
“Scott told me. What’s that you’re reading?” she asked.
“Oh,” he sat up. “Orpheus Jones! You remember Frank McCusker, don't you?”
“Not really,” she said cutting him off. “What do you want for dinner?”
“Why don’t I head down to Byres Road and bring us both back a Chinese carry out?”
“Whatever,” she said. As soon as Doghouse Makeover comes through, that’s it, she thought to herself.
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