Lies and Weddings(83)
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* In Los Angeles, complete strangers will give you a full-body hug upon meeting you for the first time, especially if you happen to meet them at Soho House Malibu, E. Baldi, Matsuhisa, or Hinoki & the Bird at lunchtime. These strangers may also say “Love ya” as they are leaving and “Let’s get together soon.” You will never, ever see them again.
III
Cloudline
BEL AIR ? LATE AFTERNOON
“And this is Sir Luis Felipe’s private car museum…,” Tessa, the personal assistant of Luis Felipe, announced as the elevator opened onto the lower level. Freddy stared at the sight before him slack-jawed. His mind couldn’t quite process what his eyes were seeing. Before him were forty, maybe fifty, of the world’s most exotic sports cars, displayed in perfect symmetry on shiny blackened-steel floors that glowed with recessed up-lights delineating each car. It was like a scene out of a sci-fi movie, the entire south wall of the bunkerlike space opening up to panoramic views of Benedict Canyon, with the late-afternoon sun glinting against the rare metallic finish of each automobile.
“I guess he has a thing for cars,” Eden said.
Freddy laughed. “Eden, you don’t understand—this is the 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO. It’s worth sixty million dollars, at least.[*1] That’s the Bugatti La Voiture Noire—that’s twenty million. And holy fuck—that’s the Rolls-Royce Sweptail. There’s only one in the world of these two cars and now I know who they belong to. There’s half a billion dollars’ worth of cars right here alone!”
“These are just a few of his favorites,” Tessa explained as she led Freddy and Eden on the tour of Cloudline.
“How many cars does Luis Felipe have?” Freddy asked.
“Between Sir Luis Felipe and Sir Rene, three hundred and fifty-one.”[*2]
“Only?” Eden quipped.
“Most of the cars are kept in Manila, London, and Dubai,” Tessa revealed.
“Pity he’s not allowed to drive any of them,” Freddy whispered to Eden.
“I suppose he can look at them while he swims,” Eden noted, pointing up at the ceiling, which was actually the glass bottom of the Olympic-length zero-edge pool.
“Yes, ma’am. Sir Luis Felipe likes to sit at the swim-up bar with his drinks and look down at his cars. We always make sure to position his current favorites right below the skylight,” Tessa revealed.
Eden smiled, quietly appalled. She had imagined Cloudline to be some sort of historic Hollywood estate where legendary movie stars might have lived—David Niven, perhaps, or Merle Oberon—but instead she found herself in a hilltop property so humongous and so aggressively modern that it more resembled one of those over-the-top resorts she occasionally saw on Instagram.
All she wanted to do was to see her father, but upon arriving at the gatehouse and going through the security check (this was the first home she had ever visited where she had to go through a full-body scanner), she and Freddy were met by the beautiful petite Filipina personal assistant in a figure-hugging white jumpsuit and five-inch stiletto ankle boots, who immediately ushered them onto a golf cart and took them on this interminable tour. Freddy seemed awed by everything, but Eden wished she could fast-forward through the tour—everything about the place reeked of excess and lacked any modicum of soul.
“The architecture was inspired by the movie Iron Man,” Tessa began as the golf cart made a sharp turn and they caught sight of the gargantuan curved glass, steel, and concrete structure hugging the mountainside.
“Shit, I really need a new house,” Freddy muttered under his breath.
“Why? You have a gorgeous house!” Eden whispered back.
“Sure, but I’m suddenly feeling like I’m only middle-class rich.”
“Because you don’t live in a house that looks like a Hyatt resort?” Eden rolled her eyes and turned to Tessa. “Luis Felipe and his family live here?”
“Sir Luis Felipe is single, ma’am.”
“He lives here alone?” Eden asked incredulously.
“No, he has many animals and guests, and there is always an artist-in-residence.”
“What does Luis Felipe do?” Freddy prodded.
“Sir Luis Felipe is an entrepreneur and philanthropist.”
“Really? What sort of philanthropic causes does he support?” Eden asked.
“Um…let me get back to you on that,” Tessa said.
As they pulled up to the towering brushed-steel front doors, Freddy whispered to Eden, “It’s all Daddy’s money.”
“I’m shocked,” Eden whispered back with a wink.
Tessa proceeded to lead them on a well-rehearsed tour through the main reception rooms, the recording studio, the screening room, the retro eighties video arcade, the casino, the spa and gym, the shisha lounge, the shooting range, the pickleball court, the petting zoo, and the aforementioned car museum. Freddy was left fantasizing about his next house while Eden couldn’t quite believe that all this existed for the amusement of a young man who looked like he’d barely started shaving.
Throughout the house were portraits that Luis Felipe had commissioned of himself from different contemporary artists. There were paintings and murals and a life-size nude[*3] sculpture of him posing just like Michelangelo’s David and even digital video installations of his likeness everywhere. Just as Eden was about to ask a question about the art, they were shown into a vast studio with paint-splattered floors and a huge retractable skylight.