‘Monica Watch’ West

They rode in the first row of first class. Monica had the steak. Her lawyer had the salmon. They both passed on the ice cream sundaes. But shortly before landing, Monica indulged in one of the warm chocolate chip cookies being passed out by the flight attendant.

She sat by the window. He sat on the aisle. She read Harper’s Bazaar. He read Newsweek and Time and showed her photographs of herself in the magazines. She chuckled when she saw them.

When United Airlines Flight 45 from Dulles landed at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, 24-year-old Monica Lewinsky and her attorney William Ginsburg were the first passengers off.

A Lincoln Town Car delivered them to the Brentwood home of her father, Bernard Lewinsky. Father and daughter embraced on the sidewalk in front of the house, lingered for a moment and then walked inside. They closed the door behind them.

So ended Act 1 of the Monica Lewinsky show on the first day of its Los Angeles tour, starring the original cast with a chorus of dozens of local media people.

The show moved from the nation’s capital so the former White House intern could visit her father for several days and escape the relentless attention of the Washington media, which had been camped on her doorstep since the rise of allegations that she had a sexual relationship with President Clinton. His denials, as well as hers, are under investigation by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr.

The in-flight Monica sightings were courtesy of Joe Chartoff, a Potomac, Md., investment banker, and his wife, Shelley, who played minor but interesting characters in all this, kind of the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the Lewinsky-in-L.A. saga.

The Chartoffs happened to sit on the other side of the aisle in the first row of first class and had 5 hours and 15 minutes and 2,288 miles to observe Lewinsky and Ginsburg up close--and the burly bodyguard in the middle of the aisle as well.

“He stood over them the whole time--except when the flight was bumpy,” said Shelley Chartoff. He apologized when Chartoff had to maneuver by him to get to the ladies’ room. “He said, ‘I’m sorry if I’ve been in your way.’ ” (Ginsburg told reporters that he had bought coach tickets and that the airline upgraded them at no charge.)

According to Shelley Chartoff, Lewinsky wore black stretch pants, top and boots “with a rounded toe.” Ginsburg wore a shirt with cuff links and a tie.

“I told her, ‘Good luck.’ She said, ‘Thanks,’ ” said Joe Chartoff, who runs a company called Washington Capital Corp. in Rockville, Md.

“We told [Ginsburg] he was doing a good job,” said Shelley Chartoff.

“He said, ‘Thank you for your kind words’ and gave us his business card,” said Joe Chartoff. And with that, the Chartoffs exited this drama, getting back on a plane to continue on to Kona, Hawaii, for a two-week vacation.

The dozens of photographers, camera people and writers who assembled inside the airport terminal got nowhere near that close to Lewinsky. Before the plane even landed, they fretted among themselves about whether she would come through the jetway or walk downstairs onto the tarmac or be let off at another gate, as if the plane were a shuttle bus.

Nancy Castles, the airport public affairs official, delivered the bad news. “The passengers you’re looking for are expected to de-board fieldside,” she said in her most official airport language. Photographers began plastering themselves against the windows hoping for some kind of a shot.

Castles took a look around and exhaled. “This is more than for Cher,” she said. “She had 40 people waiting for her when she came back for Sonny’s funeral.”

Jody Eldred, a freelance cameraman shooting for ABC News, took his place. “Five seconds would be great,” he said.

Later in Brentwood, television camera people were taken out of their misery. Only one pool camera would be allowed. Chastened by mob scenes in front of Nicole Brown Simpson’s condominium--not too far from the Lewinsky house--the LAPD insisted on only one pool camera. But the writing press and still photographers were allowed to witness the reunion of daughter and father.

Still, Monica said nothing to the media on the sidewalk calling out her name as she walked toward the front door. Her father, accompanied by his wife and Monica’s stepmother, Barbara Lewinsky, came out of the house with his arms spread wide and walked up to her. The three hugged, ignoring the calls of, “Monica . . . Monica . . . “ and walked arm in arm to the house. Soon they were joined by Ginsburg’s wife, Laura, and their two teenage children, who brought a bag of groceries.

An hour and a half later, the attorney emerged to say that the Lewinskys and the Ginsburgs would spend a quiet evening at home, eating a dinner cooked by her father. (“Dr. Lewinsky is a gourmet cook and I can affirm that.”) He described Bernard Lewinsky, a radiation oncologist, as “obviously emotionally devastated” by the turmoil surrounding his daughter. “I think he’s taking it worse than the mother or anyone else.”

On the legal front, Ginsburg, whose law practice is based in Los Angeles, said he has had no further talks with Starr’s office about whether Lewinsky will be granted immunity from criminal charges in exchange for her testimony. “There is no news to report. . . . We’re waiting for him to call us. We’re not begging for immunity,” he said. “We would like immunity.”

Ginsburg said Monica “will be spending quiet time with her father. She’s not going to be shopping because she can’t with a mob of media.”

In Lewinsky’s front yard two “No Trespassing” signs were posted.

* Ex-Advisor Testifies: Former presidential advisor George Stephanopoulos appears before grand jury. A13