Plain Jane in the Spotlight

CHAPTER TWO

WHEN they entered the rehearsal room the director raised his eyebrows, but a smile from Travis and his arm around Charlene’s shoulder evidently answered all questions.

He saw her comfortably seated and flicked open the script. ‘Which scene is it this morning?’

‘The one where you try to talk Myra out of being in love with Dr. Baker,’ the director said, ‘and Baker overhears you-if those two would only turn up-ah, Lee, Penny, there you are!’

Charlene stiffened as Lee appeared in the doorway, with the girl she’d seen him with earlier. She turned her head but not quickly enough.

Lee had seen her.

He’d recognised her.

She tried to interpret his stunned look as pleasure. Now he would hurry across the floor to greet her.

But he stayed where he was, confused, troubled. Not delighted.

‘Right, Lee,’ the director said, ‘we’ll have a camera on you, to get a reaction shot. Travis, start at, “You should forget Dr Baker.”’

They took their places and Travis began.

‘You should forget Dr Baker. I know he’s incredibly handsome, but looks don’t really matter. Try to believe me. A man’s face is the least of him.’

‘Oh, they do matter, Dr Harrison, truly they do.’ Penny sighed. ‘He’s so attractive that I can’t help loving him.’

‘But is he generous, affectionate, honest? Will he always put you first?’

‘You mean is he dull and reliable?’ she challenged.

Dr Harrison took her hands in his and spoke with feeling. ‘I promise you, when you come to marry, dull and reliable is the best.’

‘Fine,’ the director said. ‘Lee, you should try to look as though you’ve just had a terrible shock.’

Which he has, Charlene thought sadly.

The actress called Penny gave Travis a look of laughing camaraderie. ‘“Dull and reliable is the best,”’ she teased. ‘You sounded like you believed that nonsense.’

‘I’m an actor,’ Travis protested. ‘I’m supposed to talk nonsense convincingly.’ He grinned. ‘However little I believe it.’

‘Well nobody ever accused you of being dull and reliable. That picture-’

‘You didn’t see it,’ he said hastily. ‘There’s no picture.’

‘If you say so.’

They rehearsed the scene several more times. Never once did Lee look in Charlene’s direction, and perhaps Travis realised this too, because when there was a break he went over to him. Charlene couldn’t hear what they said but she saw him take Lee’s arm and draw him towards her. She noticed, too, the uneasy glance he gave Penny.

As Lee sat down next to her he managed a polite smile, but his words brought a chill to her heart.

‘Fancy seeing you again.’

‘Why do you sound surprised? I’ve been sending you texts-’

‘My cellphone needs repair. Never mind. It’s great to see you again. What are you doing here? Did you come to see Travis? I hear you’re an old friend of his. OK, I’m just coming!’

The last words were called to Penny, who was standing by the door, signalling him and mouthing a word that looked like Lunch.

‘Old friend and good friend,’ came a voice above Charlene’s head. It was Travis, who’d been shamelessly eavesdropping. ‘It made my day when you turned up here, Charlene. Now, make it even better and have lunch with me.’

His hand on her arm brooked no resistance. Not that she wanted to resist. She was too grateful to him. Lee gave her a meaningless smile and vanished out of the door with Penny.

There was no doubt that Travis had saved her dignity. All eyes were on them as he escorted her out of the studio, into the corridor, into the elevator, finally the canteen. Heads turned, people stared at him in the company of a girl nobody had seen before.

Charlene struggled to collect her thoughts. Lee’s blank manner had told her everything she needed to know. But would that change when he heard her news? She had a terrible fear that it wouldn’t.

‘Thank you,’ she said when they were sitting at the table. ‘You saved me from looking a complete fool.’

‘Don’t call yourself a fool. That’s just playing his game. Presentation is all important.’

‘It’ll take more than presentation to stop me looking pathetic,’ she said in a tone of self-contempt. ‘I came all this way for a man who isn’t interested.’

‘But nobody has to know. Smile at me. Let them see us enjoying each other’s company. Go on, smile. More. That’s better.’

She was aware of the crowded canteen, and even more aware of Lee and Penny sitting together.

Good, she thought defiantly. Now he knew she wasn’t desperate for him.

‘So you’re a financial genius,’ he said.

She made a face. ‘That’s what I used to think, but it seems not.’

‘Hey, if you’re good with figures then I’m impressed. I’m rubbish at them.’

‘But it’s possible to be good with figures and rubbish at everything else,’ she said quietly. ‘It doesn’t make you good with people. I thought being good at the job was all I needed to get promoted, but the promotion went to some little doll-face who’d learned the job from me in the first place. When I protested I was told that they relied on me to keep an eye on her.’

‘So you’d do the work and she’d get the credit?’ Travis said sympathetically.

‘And the company car. And the increase in salary. So I told them to forget it.’

‘Good for you!’

She gave a brief laugh. ‘I wasn’t very clever. They offered me a bonus if I’d stay there, look after her and promise to keep quiet about “everything”.’

‘Meaning your boss and the girl he was sleeping with?’

‘Right. I could have had it made, but I lost my temper. I was really violent. They say the building shook when I slammed out.’

‘You?’ he queried. ‘Violent?’

‘Well, you’ve already found that out, haven’t you?’

‘No, you didn’t hit me on purpose. Pure accident. You seem so sedate, I just can’t imagine you slamming out.’

He might have added that her clothes, hair and make-up told the same story: austere, severe, sober, stern, unyielding. There was nothing fiery about her. Not on the surface, anyway. But inside he guessed there was something else.

Perhaps Lee had tempted it out into the open, which made it all the more strange that he was avoiding her.

‘Well, I’m paying for it,’ she said. ‘If I’d been clever I’d have driven them to fire me, then claimed unfair dismissal and sued.’

‘Admirable, but could you have driven them to fire you?’

‘Maybe. People can be tricked into doing what you want.’ She smiled. ‘I expect you know that.’

‘Sometimes,’ he conceded. ‘But I have a feeling I’m not as good at it as you.’

‘Well, I wasn’t good at it this time. First I lost my temper, then I realised I shouldn’t have, and by then it was too late. I did everything by the virtuous book, but sometimes you can have too much virtue.’

‘How true,’ he murmured. ‘So how did you find the cash to come here?’

‘My grandparents paid. They brought me up since my parents died. They’re lovely, adventurous people. Right now they’re on holiday in Africa, looking for elephants. They said I could go with them but I chose to come here instead.’

‘To find Lee?’

‘Yes.’

‘Where are you staying?’

‘The Howley. Why do you shudder? Do you know it?’

‘Not the hotel but that part of town. Depressing. I’d get out if I was you, find something better.’

He could have bitten his tongue out for his own tactlessness. Obviously she was making the money last, not knowing how long she would be here.

He took hold of her hand. ‘Charlene, listen to me. Don’t do anything crazy. It’s not-’

‘Well, this is nice!’

They both looked at the man who’d appeared just behind Travis. He was middle-aged, bulky, and his smile was a little too broad to be convincing.

‘Hello, Denzil,’ Travis said. ‘Charlene, this is Denzil Raines, my boss.’

‘None of that “boss” stuff,’ Denzil said jovially. ‘We’re all friends here. So you’re Charlene. I’ve been hearing about you. Nice to meet you. Hope you’re having a good time. Travis, make sure you treat this lady well. All right, all right, I’ll leave you two alone now.’

He took himself off, only turning at the last moment to give Travis a thumbs up sign and a beaming grin. Travis gave an inward groan.

‘He seems nice,’ Charlene observed. ‘Is something the matter?’

‘Everything’s the matter. I’m sorry about that. Denzil is thinking how he can make use of you.’

‘Of me? How?’

‘The fact is-I’ve been a bit of an idiot, and if there’s a disaster it’ll be my own fault.’ Caution made him stop there, but then he saw her face, kindly and understanding, as so few faces were in his world, and something drove him on to say, ‘I went to a nightclub with some friends, and there was this girl-’

‘The one that sat on your lap? Is that how they got the picture?’

He groaned. ‘You’ve seen it? Yes, it was in the newspaper, wasn’t it? I’m finished.’

‘No, she’s a bit blurred. You can sort of vaguely tell what she’s up to, and the fact that she’s hardly wearing anything, but the only face you can see is yours.’

‘Yeah, me cuddling a nearly naked girl,’ he groaned. ‘Actually, I was fairly tipsy by then and I just sat there and let her…well… And I’m paying for it. I’m supposed to be virtuous in private as well as in front of the cameras.’

‘And you’re not,’ she said sympathetically. ‘Not below the waist, anyway.’

‘Right,’ he said, relieved to find her so mentally in tune.

‘Well, I have the answer,’ she said. ‘The perfect solution to all your problems.’

‘Tell me.’

‘It’s simple. All you have to do is take up residence in a monastery. There, your life will be unassailably righteous, your career will be protected, and the studio profits will be safe.’

He stared. ‘You…you…’ Then he saw the wicked glint in her eyes and joined in her laughter. ‘You evil hussy!’ he choked. ‘I ought to…oh, but it was a good joke. You really had me scared for a moment.’

‘Well, at least you’re laughing,’ she said.

‘Yes, but it’s no laughing matter. I could lose so much.’

Travis’s phone rang. He answered quickly and seemed on edge.

‘Mom, it’s all right. Honestly. I can handle it. Stop worrying, I’ll call you later.’

He hung up, looking harassed.

‘She thinks I’m going to be brought down by scandal,’ he said. ‘When she was making films nobody could have survived what’s happening now.’

‘A film actress? Hey, that’s it. I thought you reminded me of someone, and now I can see. Julia Franklin.’

Julia Franklin had been a promising film actress some thirty years ago. For a while she’d shone brightly, and her old films were still shown on television.

‘That’s right,’ Travis said. ‘She’s my mother. You’ve seen her?’

‘One of her films was on television last night, and they’re often shown in England. Everyone thought she’d go on to be a big star, but for some reason it didn’t happen.’

‘That’s because she had me. Total disaster.’

‘Did your father make her give up acting to be a full-time wife?’

‘They weren’t married. My father’s English, a businessman who’s always travelled a lot. Thirty years ago he was in the States to make some deal, met my mother briefly, and I’m the result.

‘He was already married to his second wife, his first having chucked him out for playing around. My mother’s film career was just taking off but he wanted her to throw it all away and follow him to England. Not for marriage, just to live as his mistress, be there when it suited him and keep quiet when it didn’t.’

‘I hope she told him what he could do with himself,’ Charlene said indignantly.

‘I’m proud to say that she did. In fact she did more than say it. If you met him you’d see a tiny little scar on his chin where she…let’s say, put her feelings into action.’

‘Do you mean Amos Falcon?’ Charlene said suddenly. ‘Hey, you’re one of the Falcon dynasty.’

‘In a sense,’ Travis said so quietly that she barely heard.

‘Amos Falcon was in the papers last week,’ she went on excitedly, ‘and there was a picture with this little scar-’

Travis groaned. ‘All right, yes, but please forget it. I shouldn’t have told you.’

Charlene began to chuckle. ‘The journalist went on about that scar, how the “heroic” Amos Falcon confronted a robber and drove him off, at the cost of injury to himself.’

Travis gave a shout of laughter. ‘Robber, my foot! Mom chucked an ashtray at him. She must have been a bit like you, losing your temper and storming out of the bank. She’s got her violent side too. I reckon you two would like each other. She really scared my father. Not that he’d ever admit it, but after that things tended to be at a distance.’

‘Do you mean you don’t see him?’

‘We meet occasionally, but we’re not close. His second wife booted him out as well and he married a third time. I told Mom once that he ought to have married her-I was very young and naive in those days. She said she’d sooner marry the devil himself, except that the devil wouldn’t be nearly so interesting as Amos Falcon.’

‘He sounds a colourful character.’

‘I believe his business enemies say the same. A falcon is a bird of prey, and he’s known for preying on people. But enough about him. I must tell Mom the nice things you said about her. She’ll be so thrilled that someone remembers her. What was the film they were showing?’

‘Dancing on the Edge,’ Charlene remembered.

‘That’s her,’ Travis said at once. ‘How often have I heard her say, “If it isn’t on the edge, it isn’t fun”?’

‘She played the hero’s sister, the one who was always putting her foot in it, but everyone forgave her because she had that lovely cheeky grin.’

‘True. And it’s just how it is in real life. She blurts out all sorts of outrageous things, then says “Sorry, honey”, and gives you such a smile that you have to forgive her.’

Charlene wondered if he realised that he had the same smile-mischievous, delightfully wicked. He was nice too, courteously paying her as much attention as if she’d been a raving beauty. Not like Lee Anton, she had to admit with an inner sigh.

As if reading her thoughts, Travis said suddenly, ‘Why do you bother with him?’

‘Maybe because I’m a fool,’ she said lightly. ‘We got close during the play-all those scenes we had together-’

‘But they weren’t love scenes,’ Travis pointed out. ‘Demetrius rejects Helena until the last minute-’

Charlene nodded. ‘Saying things like, I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. But Helena won’t get the message. She follows him saying, Neglect me, lose me, only give me leave, unworthy as I am, to follow you. What a twerp she is!’

She gave a grim laugh at herself. ‘Listen to me, saying that. Follow him. That’s exactly what I did.’

‘But Helena won Demetrius in the end,’ Travis pointed out.

‘Only because someone cast a spell on him. It wasn’t true love. It doesn’t happen in real life. Oh, look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be going on like this, making you listen. You’ve been really nice to me, although I can’t think why, considering that I assaulted you.’

He’d been wondering that himself. He had a kind heart and often went out of his way to help people, but he didn’t normally linger. Strangely, her clout across his face had been a turning point. Her horror and dismay had aroused his pity, making him want to defend her. He didn’t fully understand it, but she ignited his protective instincts in a way that only one other person did. And that other person was his mother.

‘I’ll get out and stop bothering you-’ she hastened to say.

‘You’re not bothering me.’ He took her hand in both his and spoke gently. ‘Look, I’ll be honest. I have a selfish motive. I don’t like Lee. I’m not sure why. There’s just something about him that gets up my nose. It’ll be a real pleasure to annoy him. You wouldn’t be so hard-hearted as to deny me that pleasure, would you?’

It was a performance. The twinkle in his eyes revealed as much, and also the fact that he expected her to share the joke. And why not, she thought, since she gained from it?

‘How could I be hard-hearted enough to deny you anything?’ she said lightly, matching his theatrical fervour with her own.

He brushed his lips against her hand. ‘That’s good,’ he murmured, ‘because Lee’s watching. No, don’t turn your head. Just look at me. Try to seem entranced.’

She sighed, throwing back her head and giving him a glance of adoration, plus a brilliant smile.

‘Well done,’ Travis said. ‘That’ll teach him.’

‘If he saw.’

‘He did. He edged just closer enough to see everything. Trust me, I’m directing this production. Am I doing a good job?’

‘They should give you an award,’ she assured him, and he grinned. ‘Is he still watching?’ she asked.

‘I’m afraid not. He’s concentrating on Penny, which makes sense because she’s the female star of the show.’

‘And she can do him a lot of good,’ Charlene mused.

So Lee’s interest in Penny was mostly professional. She would cling to that thought.

Travis read her mind and burst out, ‘Forget him. He can’t matter that much.’

‘He does,’ she said softly. ‘But I can’t talk about it.’

‘All right, I won’t press you. We’ll talk some more tonight, over dinner.’

‘I can’t promise that-’

‘You mean you want to stay free for him. But he’s engaged this evening. He’s got to go to this ghastly dinner they’re giving for Frank Brenton. He and I can’t stand each other so I won’t be- Wait a minute!’ He slapped his hand to his forehead. ‘What am I thinking of? It’s been staring me in the face all the time.’

‘What is?’

He didn’t answer but grasped her hand, looking round and calling, ‘Denzil!’

Denzil had appeared in the doorway and Travis hailed him loudly. He came straight over. Charlene felt Travis tighten his grip on her hand, urging her to say nothing.

‘What’s up with you suddenly?’ Denzil asked, sitting down.

‘I’ve been thinking about tonight, and maybe I was a little unreasonable. I’d like to attend that dinner after all, if they can accommodate me at the last moment.’

Denzil beamed. ‘I don’t think there’ll be any problem about that,’ he said.

‘Fine, I’ll want a table for two. Charlene will be my guest.’

Denzil nodded slowly, as though something had just become clear to him.

‘Leave it to me. I’ll fix it.’ He vanished.

‘So that’s settled,’ Travis said. ‘Lee will be there tonight, so dress up to the nines. Let him know what he’s missing.’

Her head was in a spin. Travis was making everything happen so fast, it was like being taken over by a whirling dervish. But a kindly dervish.

‘It’s nice of you to take so much trouble for me-’ she began.

But he shook his head firmly. ‘Let’s be clear about this. I’m not being nice. I’m doing it for myself. You’ll make me look respectable and that’ll get them off my back. That’s why I strong-armed you into it without asking your opinion first. Sheer bullying to get what I want. So don’t praise me. I’m just being selfish.’

She regarded him fondly. ‘So you’re being selfish?’

‘Horribly selfish.’ There was a twinkling devil in his eyes. ‘I don’t know how you can stand me for a moment.’

‘Neither do I,’ she agreed. ‘In fact, all I can say is-’ she paused for dramatic effect ‘-if that’s your idea of being selfish, I wish there were more selfish people in the world.’

‘So you’ll come?’

‘Just try to stop me.’

‘Fine, then it’s time for you to go back to your hotel and prepare for tonight. Rick, my driver, will take you.’

A quick phone call to summon the car, then he escorted her out to where it was waiting with Rick behind the wheel. He was an elderly man with a good-natured face.

‘Rick, this is Miss Wilkins, who’ll be coming to the Brenton dinner with me tonight.’

Rick was astounded. ‘But you said-’

‘Never mind that. Things have changed. I want you to take her to her hotel now, and return there for her tonight. See you both later.’

He waved and stepped back as the car headed out into the traffic.

‘Did I hear him right?’ Rick called over his shoulder. ‘The Brenton dinner?’

‘Yes, what’s the big deal? I know he’d planned not to go-’

‘You can say that again. Travis gets on well with most people, but not that one. Brenton tried to ruin his big chance.’

‘How?’

‘His son’s an agent, and he had his own candidate for the role. Brenton did all he could to talk the studio bosses out of giving it to Travis. He failed, so then he set out to get him fired. Spreading rumours, bad stories in the press. Didn’t work. Since then it’s been armed truce. Nobody expected Travis to go tonight. But now he’s going so that he can take you. Lady, you must be really something!’

The habit of years made her begin modestly, ‘Oh, I don’t think I’m-’ But then her courage rose. ‘As long as he thinks so, that’s all that matters.’

‘You said it!’

Charlene leaned back against the upholstery. Suddenly she was enjoying this, despite everything.

Rick delivered her to the hotel, waited while she collected her key, smiled and departed. She knew he’d regarded the surroundings with surprise. It was the kind of hotel described as ‘budget’, which meant that she had a dormitory room, shared with two other women. It wasn’t ideal, but the place was clean and efficient, and she could connect her laptop to the Internet. This she did as soon as she arrived, looking up Travis Falcon, and growing more wide-eyed the more she learned of him.

The basics she already knew. He was the son of Julia Franklin and Amos Falcon of the international Falcon dynasty. But now she learned that he’d started his career on the stage, graduated to tiny roles in films before being pounced on by the studio and cast in the series.

There were hints that his private life was colourful. He was a playboy who never seemed to stay with one girlfriend for long. He indulged in flirtations, not love. But until now his liveliness had stayed within acceptable bounds. The nightclub picture marked the start of a new phase, and Charlene could see why his bosses were concerned.

Studying the photographs, she had to admit that he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen. And the most charming. It wasn’t a matter of looks. His face had a magical ‘something’ that spoke of a lust for life, a readiness to dive in anywhere and try anything. He was filled with humour, sometimes bawdy, sometimes cheeky.

Actually, she mused, the man from heaven can be a bit of a devil. Good for him!

She remembered how he’d treated her that afternoon-kindly, gently, with warmth and understanding, and she thought she could see those things in his face. Most people would have missed them, she reckoned, but she knew better.

All right, he was making use of her. But in a way she was making use of him. It was a fair bargain. Now it was time to prepare for the evening in such a way that she would be a credit both to herself and Travis.

I ought to be grateful, she thought. Lee’s turned his back on me-

But the next moment she clasped her hand across her stomach, still slim despite her suspicions.

But things may change, she told herself. I won’t know anything until I’ve told him.

She refused to believe that he could have dumped her completely after what they had shared. There was still hope.