The Secret Love of Marlon Brando

Universe.

THE SECRET LOVE OF MARLON BRANDO

Chapter 1

Gosh, what a guy he was!

Who? Your dear husband? Claire asked amused.

Oh no! Marlene replied dismayed by such an inappropriate consideration.

Who, then? Claire continued curious.

Marlon. Marlon Brando, of course.

Oh, silly me, commented Claire with more than a hint of irony in her voice, I didn’t know you knew each other...

Of course we did! replied Marlene, almost amazed by the fact that Claire appeared or pretended not to know.

Forgive me, Claire said bedazzled then she continued calmly,

You never spoke about him. Not to me at least! Were you keeping a story like this a secret from your best friend? Shame on you, Marlene, Claire Reynolds, an ex-actress, said with tears in her beautiful blue eyes to her best friend Marlene Parker, a philosopher, writer and celebrity of a few decades ago.

Well, there are things in the life of a person that should remain a private part of her existence, said Marlene smiling slightly.

Was he nice? When did you meet him? On the set of one of Ronald’s films? Claire continued.

Oh no, no, replied Marlene emphatically, We met many years before I started writing and selling my stories to Hollywood. I was Miss Nobody when I met him. He was already a star, quite famous.

Well, that’s something! You have met Marlon Brando somewhere, sometime ago and you never told me anything about it before. Not a word to me, your best friend! That’s really despicable Marlene. I have told you everything about my life while you have kept such an interesting event a secret from me, said Claire.

Marlene smiled sheepishly, I am telling you now...

Yes, only now. I could have died without knowing the story of you meeting Marlon Brando, the sublime actor, Mr. Corleone... Shame on you, Marlene, Claire repeated visibly upset.

Marlene laughed and looked cheekily at Claire.

We didn’t just meet... We had a love story together. In fact he is the only man I have ever loved.

What?!? Marleeene, what a terrible thing to say! Your husband Ronald just died a few months ago and you are now telling me that you never loved him! You only loved Marlon Brando.

Well, there always comes a time in life when the truth has to come out. Ronald was a nice guy, devoted husband, hard worker... but I never really loved him.

You never really loved him?!? You two were considered one of the most happily married couples in Hollywood...

Yes, so what? We were partners in business. He was my Producer, my friend and companion... that’s all. I married him because a girl has to get married at some point in her life and it was so convenient to marry Ronald, I never had to worry where the next piece of bread would come from... Marlene laughed.

You married Ronald out of convenience? Claire asked in disbelief.

Yes, of course. I have been a very good, terrific actress, Marlene laughed again. Nobody ever realised I did not love him.

Claire opened her eyes wide. I do not believe you, you are making it up, just to spice up the day.

Marlene grabbed her handbag from the nearby chair and looked inside. She then pulled out a small wallet and there, hidden among the credit cards and the bus pass, was the photo of a very young and attractive Marlon Brando.

She turned the photo and on the back was the dedication: To Marlene, the true love of my life. With devotion, Marlon.

See, now do you believe me? Marlene said to her friend while smiling profusely.

Oh my God! Claire couldn’t contain her surprise and dismay. Were you two lovers? she asked her friend.

No, it was just platonic! Of course we were lovers, what a silly question, really Claire. One doesn’t meet Marlon Brando, the hottest property in Hollywood and keep her pants on, does she?

Claire opened her mouth but no sound came out.

After a small pause she recomposed herself, shook her head and said to her dearest friend with a look of sympathy in her eyes, You’ve got Alzheimer’s, that’s for sure. In Hollywood you were always considered a very proper woman, a woman of substance, a woman with principles. I cannot believe what you are telling me. Are you saying that you betrayed Ronald, you had an affair with Marlon Brando under his nose?

Oh no, Marlon and I were lovers long before Ronald. Anyway we were good at keeping it secret, weren’t we?

Claire shook her head again and dived into the ice cream cup.

Marlene, smiling at the memories, lit a cigarette and checked her hairdo in the big mirror that adorned the wall facing their table in that expensive coffee shop.

The hair that was once dark was now light blonde - courtesy of Clairol - and the beautiful, intense face that had enchanted so many men apart from Ronald, was now shamelessly showing the signs of time.

The scars of disappointment and sorrow that life inevitably inflicts on all of us, were all mapped on that beautifully aged face.

The two women were in a well renowned Café where you had to be a member to be admitted through the doors, one of the few public places where smoking was allowed. They would go there every Wednesday, to spend some time remembering the past glory of Hollywood, recollecting the old gossip linked to the most idolised people of the silver screen, while indulging themselves and enjoying all the treats of greediness denied to them in the Residential Home where they were now living. Not to mention the occasional cigarette smoked by Marlene in defiance of her doctor’s orders.

Oh my God! Claire almost shouted glancing at the wall clock behind the counter. It is almost 3 o’clock. Hurry up, Marlene or we will miss the last bus of the afternoon.

Marlene, hearing the anguished cry of her friend, glanced at the clock herself and then jumped promptly out of the comfy chair.

It is all your fault, Claire. You made me go back down memory lane and look, now we have to rush to the bus stop. I hate rushing. At our age we should take life at a more relaxed pace, you know. It is all your fault. You talk and talk and distract me then we have to hurry.

Ah, it is my fault now. You really are something, Marlene... No wonder you and Marlon had a great love for each other, you are, well he was, two disjointed people, each one of you for different reasons...

What are you saying, Claire? That Marlon and I are, were, both nuts, that’s why we were attracted to each other?

Well, Marlene, I did not say that word but now that you mention it, yes, I believe that only a fruitcake like you and a disjointed character like him could have had the perfect love story together.

Marlene had stopped gathering her gloves and handbag from the chair on her side and was now looking at her friend in rage.

How dare you call Marlon a disjointed character?!? He was the most talented actor in Hollywood...

Yeah, yeah and also the greatest sex machine and crazy guy I can recall.

Marlon was not crazy. Absolutely not! reiterated Marlene with an irritated tone of voice. You are mad, Claire.

I am mad?!? Look who is talking. It takes you a warm afternoon in a boring café, two brandies, a pot of tea, a couple of cigarettes to finally disclose to your best friend the shocking news that you had an affair with Marlon Brando.

I never felt it would have been appropriate to talk about it, never before, replied Marlene with a hint of venom in her voice.

"You are surely showing signs of Alzheimer’s. In fact, now that I think about it, lately you have been acting very strangely. I have caught you a few times wandering around with your eyes wide open and a stupid smile on your face. These days when I talk to you it takes a lot of my energy to make you follow what I am saying.

Why have you suddenly become so dreamy, almost vacant? Marlon, I suppose. Why did you remember him all of sudden and just now? Alzheimer’s, you have got Alzheimer’s. No doubt."

Stop it. You talk like an old village spinster, always repeating the same sentence... over and over again.

Marlene, how many times do we go together to the cemetery and bring flowers to your late husband’s tomb. How many times have I had to hand you my hanky because you would start crying like a fountain? You are no longer the Marlene I used to know. Why are you crying over your husband’s death if your real love was Marlon?

I feel sorry for Ronald.

Sorry because he is dead? asked Claire, puzzled by her friend revelations.

No. Sorry because he thought I loved him when in reality I didn’t, I never did. I feel guilty about it.

"Oh, good for you, Marlene! At least you have the decency of being finally honest.

You never loved him?! Come on, Marlene. What are you doing, trying to fool me with a master class rehearsal of some dated play you once recited in some old fashioned theatre somewhere..."

Claire, what kind of friend are you if you do not believe a word I am telling you.

Being in love with a man and married to another because it is very convenient, that really takes a cold heart. I am not sure I want to be your best friend anymore. You are despicable, Marlene. But then again it is not really your fault, you have Alzheimer’s and I won’t abandon you just when you need me most. I will remain your best friend nevertheless, Claire said trying to look sympathetic.

Claire’s face was now red due to the outrageous conversation Marlene, her best friend, had inflicted on her.

I believe you, Marlene, she continued. I believe you all right. Tell me, then. Why did you marry Ronald if you loved Marlon and Marlon reciprocated your love? He had a few bucks of his own and could very well have provided for you... Isn’t that a bit strange?

No. I married Ronald because I couldn’t have possibly married Marlon, Marlene replied icily.

And why not? Why not if, as you imply, he was madly in love with you?

He disliked marriage. He was terrified of it.

Was he?!? He got married all right, didn’t he? Just not with you, darling.

He got trapped in bad relationships and paternity claims and a few times he felt he had to oblige and get married.

Marlene, what appears strange to me is the fact that he loved you, you loved him but nevertheless he never felt the need or the irresistible impulse of passion to get married to you, while doing it with other women, that according to you he never really loved, was no problem for him...

Anyway I would have never consented to marrying him even if he had proposed to me and he knew it well, Marlene replied hastily.

And why not if you loved him?!? pressed Claire.

Because we were really in love and we would have never wanted to hurt each other as always happens in a marriage.

What? You surely have Alzheimer’s. No, dementia. Definitely dementia. I wish you could hear the stupid things you are telling me and expecting me to believe them too... For God’s sake Marlene, what a nonsensical conversation we are having...

You do not understand. You could never understand the love Marlon and I had for each other because you have never been in love in your life!

Excuse me, great oracle. Who told you that I have never been in love in my life? The Magician of the tarot cards that you keep playing with, instead of watching television like all we other normal human beings do in the evening at the Residence?

What?!

"What my ass, Marlene. Do you think that you are invisible and nobody can see you displaying the tarot cards on the little table beside your armchair when we ordinary human beings all sit in the Lounge intent in watching Home and Away?

You, instead of joining us in the exhilaration of the entertainment, are always busy shuffling and moving around those dirty, worn tarot cards of yours. What the hell do you have to ask the prophetic cards? That tonight is the night you won’t fall asleep in the armchair watching the news, if tomorrow is the day you will meet the love of your life while shopping at the food market in the alley? Ah no, excuse me. I forgot. You have already met your Prince Charming and what a Prince Charming you met!

Come on, Marlene. Give me a break. At my age I have had enough emotions for one day."

You have no right to insult me with your innuendo. I will not speak to you for a week, an entire week, proclaimed Marlene with an utterly irritated tone of voice.

You mean that when we come back here next week we will sit in front of each other like in a silent movie, looking at other people and pretending not to see each other? Well if you will not speak to me I suppose there is no point in looking and smiling at each other like old friends... Oh, what a bore you are, my darling. Come on, hurry up! We’ll miss our dinner.

See, you are calling me names again. You insulted me, again. I am not a bore, not any more than you are. It is you that has Alzheimer’s, not me, Marlene replied with indignation.

All right, all right. Come on now, we are late for the bus. Can you walk a little faster with those ridiculous shoes you have put on today? Claire asked her friend apprehensively, staring at Marlene’s feet.

These shoes are not ridiculous, they are Prada shoes. Very stylish and trendy, Marlene replied angrily.

Yeah, if you say so. I see that you can hardly walk in them. You have to go very slowly because the heels are too high for you and from time to time to keep up with me, you leap ahead almost losing your balance. I don’t know how you manage not to fall over, not yet... You are ridiculous, Marlene. At your age you should show more common sense. When will you accept that we are old and leave the fancy shoes to the young generation?

I am not old, just mature.

Yeah, laughed Claire. Mature like a piece of rotten cheese. Come on, Marlene, at our age we are old...

I am not old! repeated Marlene emphatically. Then with a cheeky sparkle in her eyes she added. How can I be old? I still believe in Santa Claus.

Yeah, yeah. Gosh, what have I done to deserve an old mad hatter like you as a companion?

Both displaying a grumpy expression to each other, they finally managed to get out of the shop and reach the bus stop.

Chapter 2

Where have you been, you two? asked the receptionist of the Residence for elderly people when she finally saw them appearing in the hall.

We were starting to worry. It is almost 6 o’clock. We have already finished serving dinner. Everybody is in the lounge watching television, she added with a hint of reproach in her voice.

There were strict rules about meal times and those two should have known better than just coming and going as they pleased.

Marlene avoided her eyes and pretended to be looking for something in her handbag while Claire, with the most charming smile she could manage, was trying her best to appease her,

"Eunice, darling. You have no idea what we had to go through today!

We waited more than half an hour at the bus stop, later we were told that they were experiencing a shortage of drivers and couldn’t replace the one that should have driven us back to the Residence. You know these days, people do not want to work hard, they get tired easily of shifts and demanding timetables, they phone the depot saying they are sick even when they simply have a slight cold.

When the next bus finally came not only was it extremely crowded but, can you believe it, it broke down in the middle of the junction between Little Cow Street and Horsepath Avenue... We had to wait for the engineer to come and rescue us... Unbelievable! We are so glad that we finally managed to get back.

Oh, you look really splendid in that blue shirt, it does suit your complexion beautifully! Any chance of eating some leftovers, my darling Eunice?"

Marlene could hardly contain her laughter. What a magnificent liar you are Claire! she muttered between her lips.

She had always secretly admired the way Claire could talk herself out of the most awkward situation with no difficulty at all, just by blatantly delivering the most unbelievable lies and with such a skilled acting poise that nobody ever would wonder about the veracity of her words.

The magic worked wonders this time too.

The expression on Eunice’s face changed from reproach to commiseration.

Oh my goodness! Poor souls! Of course we are going to feed you, you deserve the best of meals after all you have been though, don’t even mention leftovers. For God’s sake. We are human beings after all, not despots.

She picked up the internal phone and ordered the chef to prepare two very nutritious meals for poor Claire and Marlene who were late for dinner because of the terrible ordeal that they had had to go through that afternoon. Thanks to the degeneration of our society nothing was functioning anymore the way it used to and poor old pensioners sometimes had to endure the worst circumstances...

We are going to refresh ourselves, just wash our hands really, then we will immediately go to the dining room to have our meal. Thank you, Eunice. You are the best.

With a sad face and pretending to limp the two elderly impostors left the hall and waited for the lift to take them to their rooms.

Swiftly they entered the lift and could hardly wait for the doors to close before they both erupted into a hearty laugh.

You really are something, Claire, proclaimed Marlene with a sparkle of admiration in her eyes.

At your service, my dear. At my age I have finally managed to acquire the talent of fooling people exactly the way they like to be fooled! said Claire with a look of complacency in her eyes.

The lift stopped at the second floor where they had adjacent mini apartments and, hurrying each other up, they disappeared into their respective private spaces.

They emerged just a few minutes later.

Claire had changed her silk shirt for a cotton one, as she firmly believed in the famous French saying, ‘A time and place for any occasion’.

The outfit for going out, shopping and relaxing at the Cafe, would not have suited the unpretentious dining room of the Residence for old folk.

Marlene, vain as usual, had put on a fresh layer of cherry coloured lipstick, retouched her mascara and taken with her the before and after meals prescribed tablets that she would remember to take only when she was inside the Residence.

She was suffering from high blood pressure and palpitations, the curse of old age.

Do you think we could manage to go down without taking the lift!? Claire teased Marlene, smiling profusely as she was anticipating her reaction.

Marlene looked at her with open disapproval and ostentatious reproach, without saying a single word.

The lift soon came and she rushed inside before her friend could say another word.

Claire laughed openly. What a stuffy pussy you are, Marlene. No wonder in the end you preferred to marry the easy going Ronald instead of the rampant Marlon. You wouldn’t have been able to keep pace with him for long, isn’t this true?

Marlene turned to her with a straight face and said, You are a rascal, Claire. No wonder no man would put his life in peril marrying you.

The two old ladies, forgetting the advice that old people should live graciously, stuck their tongue out at each other and when the lift stopped they briskly walked away from it, heading straight to the dining room.

It was deserted except for the maid who was still collecting dirty dishes from the tables onto a large tray full of cups and cutlery.

Hi, you two. Where have you been? Forgot you had to eat?

Shirley, the part-time cleaning lady, smiled profusely at them, never missing the opportunity to make a fool of those two bizarre eccentric ladies, once famous and successful but now old and frail.

As usual it was Claire who engaged in conversation with her.

"Just outside the Mall we were approached by a couple of handsome young men who invited us to go for a drink and a quick one. How could we have refused?!

It does not happen every day to face such a thrilling encounter, especially on the 56 bus route. Unbelievable experience!

Oh, Shirley, you should have been with us. Who knows, maybe you would have found a date too. Maybe you would have had the opportunity to exchange this miserable life of yours, collecting dirty dishes twice a day for a glamorous one on a Council Estate with, I don’t know, a postman or a fork lift driver... Ah Shirley, you should have been with us!"

Shirley, just for a second, grimaced and whispered ‘bitch’ in the air then she went back to her usual easy going attitude.

Claire always had the last word, that indomitable epitome of glamour and wit who, even at her mature age, looked good enough to adorn the front cover of Vogue.

Yeah, yeah, I have to work hard enough to support just myself, surely I do not wish to work for two, Shirley mumbled to Claire while quickly leaving the room with her precious cargo of dirty dishes.

The two women took their places at their usual dining table while glancing at the kitchen door hoping to see some food being brought to them soon.

Suddenly Anne the cook appeared carrying two large covered plates on a trolley.

She graciously placed them on the table in front of the two women, removed the lids from the plates and with a large smile said, There you are, enjoy yourselves!

The women looked at the contents of the plates and displayed a satisfied expression on their faces.

Roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, carrots and peas.

Wow! commented Claire. Just what I need.

The women started eating voraciously