Plain Jane in the Spotlight

CHAPTER FIVE

WHEN Travis returned Charlene was ready with everything packed.

‘We have to decide on the PR,’ he said. ‘It’s part of living in Los Angeles. PR gets hard-wired into you. You decide what you’re actually doing, and then decide what you want the world to think you’re doing. They’re not usually the same thing.’

‘Right,’ she said, in the voice of someone trying to hang in there. ‘How do we decide?’

‘We must consider whether we want to be seen together. Last night we were, and it was great, but your priority is still Lee, so let’s be discreet until that situation is sorted. It’s best if nobody sees us leave together, so we’ll go down the back stairs.’

‘But my bill-’

‘That’s sorted. Just take my hand.’

It felt inevitable to put her hand in his and feel him clasp it in a firm, comforting grip. Looking back afterwards, she had the feeling that this moment had shone a light on the path ahead. From now on she would go where he led.

Quietly they descended, to find Rick waiting halfway down. He seized her suitcase and hurried ahead. By the time they reached the door he was there with the car. Nobody saw them get inside and settle in the back as the car glided out of the hotel’s rear car park into Sunset Boulevard.

It was still early in the day and the sun was rising high. Already the street was busy and she looked out at it with fascination.

‘I looked it up online before I came out here,’ she said in wonder, ‘but nothing really prepares you.’

‘That’s true. I grew up here but it still makes me think-get down!’

Next moment he’d seized her, drawing her close so that her head was against his shoulder, everything about him radiating alarm.

‘There was someone I knew,’ he said from above her head. ‘I don’t think they saw your face, but let’s keep it hidden and not take chances. Sorry to grab you like that. I hope I didn’t hurt you.’

‘No, I’m fine,’ she managed to say.

She could feel one of his hands on her hair while the other lay gently over her face, just enough to conceal her features from anyone who happened to be close.

‘Sorry about this,’ he said. ‘I’ll release you as soon as it’s safe.’

‘Don’t worry. I’m quite comfortable.’

She felt him move so that he leaned down over her, concealing his own face as much as possible.

‘Get into the back streets as soon as possible, Rick,’ he called.

The next moment the car swung wildly around a corner so that she had to move quickly to cling to Travis.

‘OK?’ he asked.

‘Sure. No worries.’

‘Charlene,’ he said, as he sensed something amazing, ‘are you laughing?’

‘I guess I am.’ She chuckled. ‘Don’t ask me why. It’s mad, crazy. Whatever I expected, it wasn’t this.’

‘Me neither,’ he admitted. ‘But that’s life, isn’t it?’

‘I guess it’s more fun that way.’

‘Definitely. And at all costs, let life be fun.’

Now he too was laughing, enfolding her in his arms. She felt his body in her hands, against her own body, and she knew a flash of wisdom. It was lucky she was in no danger of falling in love with him, because otherwise this delicious moment could seriously threaten her common sense.

Luckily she was safe. Quite safe.

She repeated that again. Completely safe.

After a while he said, ‘I think we could risk it now,’ loosening his grip and easing her up from his shoulder.

‘I’ve made a mess of your hair,’ he said, brushing it back.

‘And of course my hair is what I’m chiefly concerned about.’

‘Well, some girls would be,’ he said wryly. ‘Never mind. When we get home you can spend the day looking after yourself.’

‘Where do you live?’

‘Beachwood Canyon, part of the Hollywood Hills.’

Soon she could see the land rising steeply above them, crowned by the famous HOLLYWOOD sign that defined this magical place. Much of Hollywood’s activities had now drifted to other parts of the city, but this was where it had all begun. Humphrey Bogart had lived here, also Charlie Chaplin. In this place was enshrined much of the city’s glamorous history, especially in the part known as Beachwood Canyon.

As they climbed higher and higher, Charlene gazed out of the window, riveted. Soon they were driving along a street lined with palm trees, until they came in sight of a three-storey block.

‘I’m on the top floor,’ he said.

His cellphone rang and he answered it impatiently. ‘Yes, I’m on my way-something came up-I’ll call you back.’

‘Am I making you late for work?’ she asked anxiously.

‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll show you in and then dash off.’

Luck favoured them in the elevator ride to the top, and they entered his home without being seen.

‘I’ve got to go now,’ he said at once. ‘The spare bedroom’s over there. Make yourself at home. Raid the fridge. The place is yours. Here’s my phone number. Call me if anything worries you.’

‘I can’t call you while you’re working,’ she said, aghast. ‘What would your bosses say?’

‘Nothing. The only thing that upsets them is if I damage my public image. But if I behave like a spoilt brat on-set it’s just dismissed as part of my “great star” personality.’

The wicked gleam in his eyes robbed the words of conceit. To him it was all a joke, she realised, and if the joke was against himself he enjoyed that best of all.

‘We’re not filming today, just rehearsing again. So call me if you need to.’

‘All right, I’ll do whatever you think best.’

‘Now that’s wisdom talking. And don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine.’

He vanished.

Yes, she thought. He could make her feel that all would be well as long as he was there. It was a rare gift.

The apartment was luxurious but in a down-to-earth way that pleasantly surprised her. Instinct told her that the man who lived here wasn’t ‘full of himself’ as he might so easily have become. He just liked his own way. Which was fair enough, she reckoned.

Charlene spent the day as he’d said, making herself at home, eating a snack from the fridge, always alert for a call from Lee. But when the phone rang in the late morning it was Travis to ask how she was. Later he called again to say he was on his way home.

But from Lee, not a word.

When Travis arrived he gave her a searching look and said quietly, ‘Nothing?’

‘Nothing.’

‘He just needs a little time to think about it. Now, let’s have supper, if you can stand my cooking.’

He was no chef but his cooking was edible. As they devoured chicken he said, ‘Lee kept giving me some odd looks today. He doesn’t know whether he’s coming or going.’

‘I think he’d like to be going,’ she said sadly. ‘Then he could get away from me.’

‘He’s probably just confused. He might be a father, or he might not. He needs to know for sure before he can decide how he feels.’

‘You talk as if you know,’ she said curiously.

‘It happened to me once. We’d known each other a while, then she said she was expecting but she didn’t know if it was mine or not. In the end we found that it wasn’t.’

‘Did you mind?’ she asked, struck by a new note in his voice.

‘It might have been nice. A baby anchors you to reality, tells you where you belong.’

‘But you have all those brothers.’

‘Yes, but at a distance. I hear about them, and about my father, and it’s like getting messages from another universe. If her baby had been mine nothing could have kept me away, and Lee will probably be the same when he knows.’

‘Yes,’ she said, knowing she didn’t sound convinced.

‘Are you really in love with him?’

‘I don’t know. We had that time together-and it was so sweet, so close. I really wanted that closeness.’

‘I know the feeling,’ he said quietly. ‘And at least I had my brothers, even if they lived at a distance. But you have nobody except your grandparents, is that right?’

‘I have a stepbrother, James, but we’re not in contact. My mother and his father took a trip to celebrate their wedding anniversary, and never came back. Their plane crashed. The last time I saw James was at their funeral.’

‘And your grandparents? Are they any comfort to you in this situation?’

‘I haven’t told them. They know I’m in Los Angeles but not why. If it works out badly I don’t want to spoil their African holiday.’

‘So you knew it might work out badly,’ he said, ‘right from the day you came out here?’

‘Yes, well-you always hope for the best, don’t you?’

‘That’s right. Keep on hoping.’

Travis squeezed her hand and they sat in silence for a moment.

‘What do you think of this place?’ he asked at last, rising to fetch more coffee.

‘Fascinating. Especially your bookcase. All that Shakespeare.’

‘You were naturally surprised to find that a TV actor is bright enough to understand Shakespeare.’

‘No, I didn’t mean that,’ she said hurriedly.

He grinned. ‘Didn’t you? All right, I’ll take your word for it. Actually, the only play I know well is A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s how I understood what you were saying about how you met Lee. I acted in it once, years ago.’

‘Were you Lysander or Demetrius?’ she asked, naming the two young male leads.

‘Neither. I played Puck.’

Of course, she thought. Puck, the fiendish but delightful elf, described by one person as a ‘shrewd and knavish sprite’ and by himself as ‘that merry wanderer of the night’. He spent the play performing roguish tricks and laughing at the chaos that resulted.

Strangely, Puck was the perfect role for Travis. His ‘romantic hero’ looks might seem more suitable for one of the lovers but the sense of delightfully wicked mischief that pervaded him suggested a different story. And something told Charlene that this was his true self.

‘I’m just staggered by the window in my room,’ she said. ‘Enormous. Floor to ceiling. And that long view down to the city. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘The ones in my room are even better,’ he said. ‘Come and look. It’s a sight you’ll never forget.’

Taking her hand, he drew her into his room and made a gesture of revelation. Charlene gasped as she saw the two huge breathtaking walls of glass, angled to form a corner. It wasn’t yet completely dark, but evening was closing in and the lights of Los Angeles gleamed against the shadows.

‘I was wrong before,’ she breathed. ‘This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Nothing else could ever be like it. Oh, goodness!’

‘That’s how I feel,’ Travis agreed. ‘I look at the view every night before I go to bed.’

‘And the HOLLYWOOD sign,’ she said, pointing into the distance. ‘Just to remind you what it’s all about.’

‘All about,’ he murmured, his eyes fixed on the view. Briefly he glanced at her over his shoulder. ‘Do we ever really know what it’s all about?’

‘Perhaps it’s better not to,’ she suggested.

‘That could be the wisest thing you’ve ever said.’

He gazed at the view a moment longer, then pulled the huge curtains closed and led her out of the room.

‘An early night for me. After this morning I was warned not to be late again.’

Charlene tidied away plates in the kitchen, then glanced briefly out of a small window that looked out over the front of the building. Suddenly she tensed. Beneath the lamp at the gate she’d just glimpsed a woman followed by a man.

And the woman had red hair.

Pictures raged through her mind. The lap dancer who’d set her sights on Travis in the club-she had red hair, didn’t she?

It was impossible.

Was it?

Like the sound of approaching fate, she heard the elevator rise and come to a halt. The next moment Travis’s bell rang.

She flew into the hall as he approached the front door, catching him just as he reached out to open it. By using all her weight, she was just able to stop him.

‘Hey, what-?’

‘That girl who sat on your lap. She had red hair, didn’t she?’

‘Yes, but-’

‘It’s her out there.’

‘What? Are you sure?’

‘I caught a glimpse of her hair as she went under the lamp. Don’t you see what they’re doing? If you open up, she’ll grab you and the photographer will pounce. Frank Brenton warned us that he’d try something else.’

‘Then it’s time I hit back. Stand aside.’

He made a lunge for the front door. By using all her strength, she was just able to slam him back against the wall.

‘Hey, what are you doing?’

‘Stopping you making the biggest mistake of your life. Open that door and you’re finished. But you’re not going to, because I’m not going to let you.’

‘Oh, you’re not?’

‘No, I’m not.’

‘Look, I know you mean well, but it’s time for action. I’m going to put a stop to their tricks.’

‘But you won’t. You’ll simply hand them another weapon and there’ll be no end to it. Your only hope is to play it cool. Let them hammer on the door as much as they like. It won’t open.’

‘Won’t it?’ he growled.

‘No, because with your usual brilliance you’ve seen through their rotten little trick and you’re one up on them. That’ll teach Frank Brenton. He won’t enjoy being made a fool of.’

Travis had been trying to free himself from her, but now he stopped, staring into her face as light dawned.

‘It could work,’ he said.

‘It’s going to work. Here’s what we do. Make sure all the lights are off and go to bed. When you’re in your room don’t be tempted to pull open the curtains. You’re not there. You’re not here. You’re not anywhere. And don’t answer the phone.’

He gave her a stunned look. ‘Remind me never to get on your wrong side.’

‘That’s a promise.’

The doorbell rang again. She felt Travis tense, and tightened her grip in case he yielded to temptation. But he stayed completely still, seemingly turned to stone while the bell rang and rang.

Then the knocking began. Fists thundered against the door, growing louder when they received no response.

‘Let’s leave them to it,’ Charlene said softly, drawing him away.

‘Will they never stop?’

‘Probably not. So what? Let them go on all night. If you don’t go to the door they’ll gain nothing.’

‘You think they really would keep that up all night?’

‘Unless your neighbours lose patience and threaten them with the police.’

‘Think what a story that would make,’ Travis mused, beginning to laugh.

‘Oh, yes.’ She laughed with him and they stood together in the dim hallway, shaking, holding on to each other.

‘Hey!’ From outside the door came an angry yell. ‘Stop that noise. Some of us want to get some sleep.’

Mumbles, arguments, exasperation. Finally silence.

But then came the sound of Travis’s cellphone.

‘Don’t answer it,’ Charlene said quickly.

‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to. I can see it’s a number I don’t recognise. Take no chances.’

‘And you won’t answer it if it rings again later?’

‘I promise you can safely let me out of your sight. Play it cool. I’m learning a lot from you.’

Another noise from below.

‘That sounded like the front door being slammed.’ Travis went to the tiny window and peered through the crack. ‘Yes, they’re going. It’s over.’

‘Yippee! We beat them.’

‘You beat them. I’d have walked right into the trap.’ He regarded her with a touch of awe. ‘What was that remark about my usual brilliance? Someone was brilliant, but it wasn’t me.’

He hugged her, not briefly or lightly, but with both arms folded around her, holding her tight.

‘Goodnight,’ he said softly. ‘Thanks for everything.’

He saw her to her door before going to his own room. There he lay awake for a while, enjoying a feeling of contentment. It was strange to feel that way, he thought, given how recently his nerves had been jangling, but all was well. Instinct, stronger than words, told him that.

Just once he got up and went out into the hall, lingering outside her door, wondering if by chance Lee was calling her. But there was only silence, and after a while he went back to bed. Smiling, he snuggled down and slept the sleep of the innocent.

When they met in the kitchen next morning Travis eyed her with an air of caution.

‘Is everything OK?’ she asked.

‘I’m not sure. I’m becoming nervous of you.’ He rubbed his shoulder where it had rammed against the wall in their tussle. ‘Women are supposed to be the weaker sex, but I guess that’s just a myth.’

‘Just beware us when we’re really determined.’ She laughed.

‘I learned that last night.’ He rubbed his shoulder again. ‘I’m getting used to you beating me up.’

Suddenly he dropped his joking manner.

‘But I’m glad you did. You really saved me from disaster. Why I was crazy enough to argue with you-if I’d opened the door-’

‘It did seem strange. I thought you were being cautious.’

‘I was, but I lost my temper. It doesn’t happen often, so when it does I don’t tend to think straight.’ He touched her face. ‘Thank you. Thank you more than I can say.’

She placed her hand over his and held it against her cheek, moved by an emotion for which there were no words.

‘I told you about my doctor friend,’ he said. ‘I’m going to send her to see you. She’s a nice lady. She’ll do that test, then you’ll know and you can make decisions.’

Charlene nodded. ‘Yes, that’s the best way. Thank you.’

‘Don’t thank me. I’m in your debt, not the other way around. I’ll call you. Bye.’

He kissed her cheek and departed.

Dr Grace Hanley arrived an hour later. She was in her forties with a mature, kindly face. Charlene tried not to feel too nervous. This was it. The final answer.

They got quickly down to business and soon Grace was studying the test cylinder with a face that revealed nothing.

‘Were you hoping to be pregnant?’ she asked.

‘I’m not sure. Does that mean it’s a negative?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’

‘But at least…now I know. Thank you, Doctor. Can I make you some coffee?’

She was trying to sound normal and untroubled, but the doctor evidently understood her inner turmoil because she declined, patted her hand gently, and departed.

The walls of the apartment seemed to crush Charlene in bleak, hopeless silence. So that was that. It had all been for nothing. She’d made a fool of herself by pursuing a man who didn’t want her.

She lay down, trying to control her flickering memories. There was Lee, or was it Demetrius, smiling as they came offstage after a rehearsal, complimenting her.

‘Hey, you really played that scene for all it was worth. Wow!’

And herself, dazzled to receive a compliment from such a knowledgeable source, gazing at him, starry-eyed.

She could see him now, warming to her, holding her in his arms, smiling as they made love.

Or was it love? Perhaps on her side, but whatever he’d been making it wasn’t love. She should have faced that earlier.

Yet if there had been a baby, might his feelings not have warmed, flowering into family affection that would embrace her and their child?

Instead-nothing.

Nothing!

She was seized by a fierce longing for Travis to be there, wrapping her in his arms, offering brotherly comfort that would have made this bearable.

No!

The ferocity of her emotion made her sit up. Hell would freeze over before she became a pathetic, needy creature, clinging to Travis. He would be kind, she knew, but soon the kindness would become forced, as he strove to conceal his exasperation.

That mustn’t happen. The moment she sensed him thinking, How long must I put up with this? was the moment she would inwardly die. Or run a mile. Or both.

When he came home she was waiting for him, calm and smiling.

‘Everything all right?’ he asked.

‘Everything’s fine.’

He didn’t ask her for the test result. It would have been dishonest when he already knew. As promised, Grace had discreetly texted him one word: No. It might be a disgraceful violation of professional confidence, but friends did that for each other. So he waited for Charlene to speak, which at last she did.

‘I’m not pregnant, so that’s that.’ She made a gesture of finality. ‘I’ll make some coffee.’

She turned away but he detained her. ‘Wait a moment. “That’s that”? Nothing more? You don’t care?’

‘Not really. This always seemed likely. And besides, something else has happened.’ She laid her hand over her stomach.

‘You mean you’ve finally-?’

‘Yes. I don’t know what made me late in the first place, but perhaps it was caused by tension because it started barely an hour after the doctor left. Anyway, it’s the clincher. There’s no baby. There never was, thank goodness.’

Her voice was bright and efficient, informing him that all was well.

But he didn’t believe it. All was far from well with a woman who could wear such a dead smile.

‘Well, I can see it solves one problem,’ he said cautiously.

‘It solves all the problems. Think of the catastrophe if I’d been pregnant while Lee… Ugh!’ She shivered. ‘It doesn’t bear thinking about.’

Travis was troubled by an inner desire, as mysterious as it was illogical, to hear that she was saddened by the news. But she was bright, breezy, practical. And she froze his heart.

In the kitchen she made coffee, talking without stopping.

‘I’m really sorry to have given you all this trouble. Just think of me making so much fuss about nothing. You must be good ’n’ mad.’

‘Not at all,’ he said in an equally unrevealing voice. ‘These things happen. You have to deal with matters as they come up. Sooner or later we all of us-’

Stop burbling, Travis told himself in disgust.

‘I hope you don’t mind but I have to vanish,’ he told her. ‘I’ve got a lot of lines to learn. Goodnight.’

He grabbed a sandwich and fled to his room.

So all was well. A potentially awkward situation had vanished. He could continue on his way, planning, calculating, arranging things for his own benefit, doing everything with an eye on his career.

It was absurd to be disappointed at her sensible reaction. What had he expected?

As the light failed he rose and drew the curtains across the great windows, shutting out the view. Just to the side was Charlene’s window, already almost covered by curtain, with just a gap of a few inches left.

There she was, a shadow standing in the gap. Her light was off and in the near darkness it was hard to discern her. He switched off his own light so that he could watch, unobserved in the darkness.

She stood quite still, looking down at Los Angeles, then gazing up into the sky. Now he could see her face a little more clearly. It was sad, and there was a hint of tears on her cheeks. The mask had fallen away, revealing loneliness and despair.

Then she did something that broke his heart, leaning her head against the glass, clasping her arms about her body as though to protect herself from some unknown danger, and rocking back and forth.

That was the truth, he thought, cursing himself for stupidity. And she didn’t trust him enough to let him see her grief. How had he been so easily fooled?

For a few minutes he paced the floor, then walked out into the hall, heading for her room. But at her door he stopped, aghast at what he could hear from the other side.

‘What’s the next flight to London?’ came Charlene’s voice. ‘Midday tomorrow? Right, I’d like to book a ticket-’

The crash of her door being thrown open made her look up. ‘Hey, what are you doing? Give me that phone.’

‘Like hell!’ Travis said, shutting it down. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

‘Booking my flight home.’

‘And no thought for anyone else,’ he raged. ‘Who cares about the damage you’ll do to me? I put my neck on the line for you, Charlene. I’ve done everything I could to help you. And this is how you thank me. People saw us together, it gave them ideas. Just how do you think I’ll look if they know you’ve fled the country without a backward glance? They’ll laugh themselves sick. I can just hear them-Guess he must be losing his touch! Ho, ho, ho!

‘I didn’t make an issue of this when Lee was still in the picture, but now it’s different. You can rescue me or make a fool of me, and you didn’t give me a thought.’

‘Travis, please, I didn’t realise-’

‘No, you didn’t. I still have problems about that lap dancer. Brenton isn’t giving up, and you’re the only person who can help. So what do you do? Abandon me.’

‘I’m sorry. You’re right; I do owe you some help.’

‘Yes, I think you do, but of course if you don’t want to bother-’ he retorted.

‘I do, I do! I just didn’t think-I’m really sorry-tell me what to do.’

‘I want you to stay here, in this apartment. Let the world think we’re a couple.’

‘But will that help your image? If people believe we’re living together-is that respectable?’

‘It is these days. At one time it would have been a scandal, but now a lot of unmarried couples share a home, and as long as they’re faithful to each other nobody thinks anything of it. It’s lap dancers that get you into trouble. While you’re here, you’re my protection against Brenton and his nasty tricks.’

‘All right; you give the orders.’

‘That’s what I like to hear.’

She was baffling, he thought. Nobody, seeing her now, could have suspected the agonised despair that had consumed her only a few minutes ago. She must be a better actress than he’d realised.

But then, his own performance had been admirable. Outraged pride, indignation at her ‘ingratitude’; these had been master strokes born of desperation. When he’d thought of her returning to England to sit alone in an empty house, he’d known that he had to stop her at all costs. So he’d assumed a new character, aggressive, self-centred, as different from the real Travis as it was possible to get.

If he said it himself, it had been an award-winner of a performance.

At her bedroom door he said, ‘You’ll still be here tomorrow?’

‘Word of honour.’

‘Goodnight. Sleep tight.’

He walked away without even the briefest backward glance. It took a lot of self-control, but he was getting good at that.