Freddy Perkins comes to California hoping to become a movie star. Changing his name to Les Banister, he surrenders his principles as he gives into the demands of a casting director to secure his first role. He relinquishes control of his personal life so the studio can build an image of him as the next American heartthrob. This means giving up Russ, his loving and supportive boyfriend, to hide the truth from his fans. He’s gay.<br><br>These sacrifices pay off for the young actor and he becomes a star. But as Les continues to pay the price for fame, he realizes at the height of his success that it’s cost him too dearly. Will he have the courage to take the chance of losing it all to be true to himself?

The Price of Fame

“And Marti, that’s Marti…with an i,” the girl chimed in.


Les looked at the boy. The lad apparently was unimpressed that he was in the presence of a star, and just shrugged his shoulders. With some difficulty, as he was using a crayon and writing on a flimsy strip of paper, Les wrote what was requested. 


He did his best to be gracious, in spite of the stress he was feeling, and asked if they would mind removing their grocery cart from the fender of his convertible.


The mom sharply yelled to the boy, as if he’d been the one to allow the cart to crash into the vehicle. “Henry! Take the cart away from Mr. Bannister’s car right now! Right now, I said!”


Les thanked her and began to pull away. Tessa and Marti stood and waved, Tessa clutching the autographed cash register receipt to her breast. 


Unless I do something to fix this mess, that may be the last ‘graph signing I have,he thought ruefully as he watched the family shrink from sight in the rearview mirror. 


Chapter 20