Shippers, imagine Boooby's face on the body of that creepozoid's body during the club exit scene in TBD. You know the one. It's where Frank hoists Rachel up in his arms and kicks the death threat note writer in the face before carrying her out. Well, imagine if KC actually did that for Whitney in real life. I know, it's highly unlikely. But the events leading up to a rescue confrontation are not too hard to imagine ...
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Hollywood Hills, Calif.
May 2000
Kevin is sitting in the spacious study of his house, where a concert is playing on TV. The sound is muted while he talks on the phone, and for a while he's more involved with the conversation than the show. At length, he sees Danny Glover approach the microphone and he sits up. Whitney had told him that the actor would introduce her as the headline act for Arista's televised 25th anniversary, so he begins wrapping up the call. The crowd gets to its feet, cheering wildly as Whitney takes the stage in a tight copper gown. Kevin smiles broadly and leans forward.
"OK. I'll call you back tomorrow. Sounds good. I've GOT to run now, though."
Kevin quickly swaps the phone for the remote, and turns the volume up until it is almost blaring. Whitney launches into a clubby version of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and works the crowd with flashes of the same fun loving girlishness that first endeared her to him eight years earlier. He grabs a rock glass from the coffee table and leans back into the corner of the couch as Whitney points to Clive and says "This one's for you." She starts a sparkling version of "I Believe in You and Me" to Clive. That's his cue to listen up, he thinks, and takes a sip if his drink. When she finishes that song, she begins "I Will Always Love You." As the string section accompanies her to the lines "bittersweet memories, that is all I'm taking with me ..." Kevin smiles softly and begins to remember the day he first brought that song to Whitney.
EIGHT YEARS EARLIER, ON THE SET OF "THE BODYGUARD" ...
Kevin walked through the set, carrying a portable stereo and a stack of CDs. He had just found out from the musical side of the project that they couldn't go with their original choice of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" as the tie-together for the film and soundtrack. A remake was charting on Billboard, which would certainly steal Whitney's thunder.
He climbed up the short flight of stairs to her trailer and knocked. Whitney was sitting alone, reading the latest "Variety" and "Billboard" magazines. So the necessity of choosing a new song was fresh on her mind, too. She scrambled out of the small couch where she was and opened the door to let Kevin inside.
"Oh, Kevin. You didn't have to. My birthday isn't for months!" Whitney lifted the stereo out of Kevin's hands, and their hands brushed. She smiled at him as she placed the stereo on a small round table, pushing aside the floral centerpiece.
"Well, you know how our first song choice just charted," Kevin said, sliding a chair close to the table and sitting in it.
"Such a pity, too. I would have killed it," Whitney said, twisting a chunky curl around two of her fingers. "But life goes on. Are you bringing me bigger fish to fry?"
"I am," Kevin said. He rested the stack of CDs near the stereo. And for the next half hour, they sifted through the CDs and played songs from a range of popular genres--soul, rock, R&B, standards. Nothing pleased Whitney. Then Kevin pulled out a Dolly Parton CD out of the stack.
"Busting out the country music, Kevin? Is it that bad? Please don't say we have to dig THAT deep," Whitney flopped back onto her chair and giggles heartily for a few minutes.
Kevin shook his head and leaned over, and reached for her arm. He guided her to sit in his lap as he opened the CD case.
"There is this one song of Dolly's that I've always loved . If we pick it, we'll be hearing the song again when we shoot the bar scenes ..."
"You mean the dive, greasy spoon scene!"
Kevin dropped his head in mock frustration, grinning.
"Hear me out, Kevin. It's not like Frank actually SPENDS any of the gobs of money he makes beating people up and taking bullets and stuff. Why can't he take Rachel to a nice place? Can't you say something to the director?"
"Whitney, if you take up my time campaigning to shoot that scene at a snotty restaurant, we'll go over schedule and over budget," Kevin said. "Is that how you want to make headlines for your first film?"
Whitney rested her hand on Kevin's head, and he smiled at her touch on his soft hair, already outgrowing its buzz cut. With the director's coaching and their off-day rehearsals, she was meeting, and in some ways exceeding, everyone's expectations.
"Kevin, I would never get you into trouble. Let me hear what you've got." Kevin began loading the CD in, and Whitney started moving to an imaginary dance tune. "Do it. Kevin. Do it, do it, do it!"
Kevin put a finger to Whitney's lips as Dolly's voice began crooning "I Will Always Love You," but Whitney was not impressed. She takes a deep breath and closed her eyes to listen, but wasn't moved.
"Kevin I have to say, I'm not sure I feel this one yet," Whitney said. "Maybe we could go back to the Motown CD you brought."
Kevin rested his hand softly on her shoulder and told her to listen harder. He explained why Rachel and Frank need to be represented by this song. Whitney took a deep breath and closed her eyes to try again. Then she began humming along to the music, and Kevin ran his hand gently down her arm.
"Now do you see it?"
"Yeah. Actually, it's a simple, pure message, and it's in the chorus," Whitney said.
"That's right," said Kevin. "Even if this couple has to go their separate ways afterward, after he does this amazing thing for her, they will always love each other."
Whitney and Kevin gaze at each other briefly, until Whitney looks away and giggles shyly.
"Come here and let's try this on for size," Kevin said. He placed Whitney to stand up and moved the simple furnishings in her trailer out of the way. Then he took her in his arms and they began to slow dance to the song. While dancing, she tried humming it with different vocal arrangements.
"I see what you mean," Whitney said. "This is a beautiful song, really. At long last, I can see why you love it so much."
"That sure took you a spell," Kevin said, holding Whitney away a little. ""To see why I would love something so beautiful. And simple and passionate. Why I would love you."
Then Kevin leans in close, and they stand still kiss lovingly while the CD moves on to another song.
BACK TO THE PRESENT
Whitney is still working the concert crowd. She carries the mike stand upstage as the band kicks up "My Love is Your Love," and for the next few minutes, Kevin smiles as Whitney sings the first verse, then summons her label mates to join her on stage. She looks like she's genuinely enjoying herself, at least a little. It's a rare sight these days. His smile disappears as B----- takes the stage and Whitney hands him the mike. Kevin shakes his head as the lesser one tries to make like a dance hall king, but merely looks like a desperate attention seeker.
Kevin is relieved when Whitney reclaims the mike, and closes out her set working the crowd and the band. He decides to call her, first to congratulate her on her performance and hold her to the promise she made to leave her husband.
After four rings, Whitney picks up.
"Hi Kevin," she says softly. She sounds tired.
"Evening, beautiful," Kevin speaks tenderly as he walks the glass into the kitchen and puts it into the sink. "I saw your concert. And you made me proud."
Whitney laughs and sniffs a little.
"Well, I told him that it's over. Really over this time," Whitney says. "I said, ' B-----, it's not a separation like before.' We're done and I won't be coming back. Maybe I miscalculated. Perhaps I should have waited a day, when he'd have less time to react."
"React how?" Kevin dropped the rock glass into the sink and held onto the edge. "What did he do?"
"That's not important. It's over. You're coming to pick me up, right?"
"Of course I am," Kevin says, leaning on the sink. "Swooping in and out of town to get my precious cargo."
Whitney exhales a long breath. “Well, I have to go. I have packing to do."
"OK, beautiful," Kevin says, pressing a hand against the wall. "Hang in there for one more night. I'm proud of you, I love you, and everything will start to look up after tomorrow. I promise."
"Good night, Kevin. I love you, too."
Back in Georgia, on the same night, Whitney is sitting alone in the living room of her house, silently crying through drags of a cigarette. She's watching something burn in the fireplace, then turns to look at a small pile of photos and other mementos-remnants of the last eight years with B-----. Holding the cigarette in her mouth, she stands up with something in her hands. It's her wedding album, which B----- had defaced by cutting her face out of some of the photos. She dismantles it, page by page, and puts it into the fire. The embers hiss and leap, momentarily illuminating her tear-streaked face. There's a fresh bruise on her cheek.