Friends & Rivals

by Tilly Bagshawe

  ‘Hey! Hello, stranger.’

  The Lex who stood up to greet her was unrecognizable as the scruffy, slightly downtrodden photographer Kendall once knew. His face was still the same, with its long aquiline nose and the blue eyes that seemed to have made their way into his swarthy features by accident. But in all other ways he looked totally different: older, mature and brimming with a quiet confidence of his own. His unruly nest of curly dark hair had been cropped close, and his scruffy baggies and T-shirt replaced with a pair of preppy Ralph Lauren shorts and a pale-blue polo shirt that worked wonderfully against his tanned, coffee-brown skin. He wore a simple but expensive vintage Omega watch in rose gold, and a classic pair of Ray-Ban aviators lay casually discarded on the white tablecloth. When he kissed Kendall on the cheek, he smelled of expensive aftershave.

  Success suits him, thought Kendall. ‘You look terrific,’ she beamed, genuinely delighted.

  ‘So do you,’ said Lex. ‘But then you always did.’

  They sat down and stared at one another for a few moments, neither of them quite knowing what to say. While Lex might look confident, and had even felt it on the way over here, now that he was actually sitting opposite Kendall in the flesh, his stomach had started doing unpleasant back flips and his palms were slick with sweat. He’d forgotten just how beautiful she was. It was surreal, otherworldly, and horribly disconcerting. As if no time had gone by, he found himself fighting the urge to reach out and touch her, and when she spoke his eyes were drawn mesmerically to her full, unbearably sensual lips.

  ‘So what brings you to LA out of the blue?’ he asked, determinedly keeping his voice casual.

  ‘Nothing really,’ Kendall shrugged. ‘I had an unexpected break in my schedule. It’s just a vacation.’

  ‘You’re visiting your family, I guess,’ said Lex.

  ‘Sure,’ said Kendall tightly, pushing the pain of yesterday’s failed reunion out of her mind. ‘Here and there, you know. I have a ton of people to see.’

  Lex ordered the linguine vongole and a chopped salad. Kendall, still full from her French toast, plumped for tuna tartare. In an effort to impress Lex, she eschewed the white wine she so desperately wanted and ordered an iced tea instead. Lex did the same.

  ‘Ivan not with you?’ he asked casually.

  ‘No. He had to work,’ said Kendall, defensively. ‘We’re not joined at the hip, you know.’

  ‘But you’re still together?’ Pathetic, thought Lex. Why the hell did you ask her that? But the words were out of his mouth before he even knew he’d thought them.

  ‘Of course,’ said Kendall. ‘We’re very happy and madly in love. Ivan’s completely changed my life.’

  ‘That’s great,’ Lex lied. ‘I’m happy for you.’

  Another awkward silence was broken by the arrival of the food. Kendall longed to talk to Lex properly, to have a real conversation about her life and feelings, the way they used to do. But this new Lex was so slick, so together, so distant, at least from her, she was too scared to tell him the truth.

  ‘How about you?’ she said eventually, scooping up a succulent forkful of lemony fish and avocado. ‘Are you still with what’s-her-name?’

  ‘Leila,’ Lex frowned. ‘Yes, I am. She’s great. JSM takes up ninety per cent of my time, but I’m lucky to have a partner who’s so tolerant.’

  A partner? Kendall’s lip curled involuntarily. ‘I’d love to meet her,’ she said, without enthusiasm.

  ‘Well you’re about to,’ said Lex. ‘She’s gonna swing by for dessert. She was curious to meet you too.’

  Kendall could have screamed. It was bad enough Lex only meeting her for lunch. But to invite his bloody dull-as-ditchwater girlfriend along, without even asking her? That was really too much. Grabbing a passing waiter by the elbow she said, ‘You know what? I changed my mind. I’d like a large glass of Cabernet Sauvignon please.’

  ‘Speak of the devil.’ Lex’s face lit up as he pushed back his chair. ‘Here she is now. Hey, honey, you’re early.’ Reaching out both hands, he kissed the tall, brown-haired girl on the lips. Under the tablecloth, Kendall dug her nails painfully into her palms.

  ‘I know,’ laughed Leila. ‘The shoot finished early – never happens, right? And then I actually got good traffic in Beverly Hills. Must be my lucky day.’ She stretched out a hand to Kendall. ‘Hi, I’m Leila. I’ve heard so much about you.’

  ‘Really?’ The chill in Kendall’s voice could have frozen molten lava. She waited for Leila to sit down, then pointedly turned her attention straight back to Lex. ‘So how’s business? I hear great things about JSM.’

  ‘It’s amazing.’ Reaching over, Lex idly massaged the back of Leila’s neck. He was glad she was here. Her presence seemed to have broken the spell that Kendall had cast over him, bringing him back to reality and safety. ‘I’m very lucky.’

  ‘It has nothing to do with luck,’ Leila jumped in loyally. ‘You deserve it. You’ve worked your butt off building that company.’

  ‘I’ll bet you have,’ said Kendall, still looking solely at Lex. ‘Jack always was a great one for cracking the whip. How is he?’

  ‘Fine.’ Lex’s face closed down, giving nothing away. ‘Fine’ could have meant anything from ‘about to marry a supermodel’ to ‘dying of cancer’. The message was clear: Kendall no longer had a right to know.

  Unfortunately, no one had sent Leila the memo. Either missing the tension between Lex and Kendall, or choosing to ignore it, she started chattering away about what a committed partner Jack was, and how close he and Lex had become since they started JSM together.

  ‘And he’s been absolutely darling to me, so welcoming right from day one, hasn’t he, Lex? I thought it was so sweet he named the company after his wife. We just wish he would find someone new to settle down with. All he does is work, but if anyone deserves to be as happy as we are, it’s Jack.’

  This was too much for Kendall. Turning on Leila waspishly she said, ‘Obviously you don’t know Jack very well. He’ll never marry again.’

  ‘Well, maybe not yet.’

  ‘Not ever. He’s never gotten over Sonya’s death because he’s never wanted to. Jack clings to his grief, it’s just the way it is.’

  Leila’s face darkened. She’d heard that Kendall had a bitchy streak, but this was a really horrid thing to say, especially after the kick in the teeth Kendall had already given Jack by defecting to Ivan. She waited for Lex to say something, but he seemed engrossed by the remnants of his chopped salad, so she spoke up herself.

  ‘Well I think you’re wrong,’ she said defiantly. ‘These things take time, but I’m sure Jack will marry again eventually. At least he’s starting to get out more. After Ivan stabbed him in the back and stole all Jester’s clients, he barely set foot out of the house for a year. Did he, Lex?’

  ‘It was a tough time,’ admitted Lex. ‘For all of us.’

  ‘More self-pity,’ sniffed Kendall. ‘Jack had nobody to blame for Jester’s break-up but himself. I should know. I was there.’

  This wasn’t what she felt, but Lex’s girlfriend’s pretensions to closeness with Jack were too irritating to be suffered in silence. Maybe she’d been too quick to reject Sasha Dale’s idea of a staged Lex fauxmance? It would serve Lady Muck Leila right if she did lose her precious boyfriend. Who the hell did she think she was to preach to her, Kendall, about Jack Messenger’s feelings?

  The waiter arrived before Leila had time to think of a suitably cutting riposte.

  ‘Can I tempt anybody with dessert?’

  Three grim heads shook in unison.

  ‘Just the cheque, please,’ said Lex. He tried to ask Kendall a couple of small-talk-type questions about her new album and Ivan’s reality show, but neither of their hearts were in it and it was a relief when the bill arrived.

  As they walked back into the lobby together and made their frosty goodbyes, Leila couldn’t resist one last dig. ‘I’ll give Jack your regards, shall I? Lex and I are having dinner with him tonight at Th
e Brentwood.’

  The knife was well aimed and it pierced Kendall clean through the heart, but she was damned if she was going to show it.

  ‘Do,’ she said, slipping on her sunglasses and flicking back her glossy mane of hair, almost hitting Leila in the eye. With a final peck on the cheek for Lex, she hopped into her flashy sports car and roared away.

  Leila turned to Lex. ‘How on earth were you ever friends with that creature? She’s vile.’

  But instead of agreeing with her, Lex lost his rarely seen temper. ‘Why the hell did you have to keep banging on about Jack?’ he shouted. ‘You were only supposed to stop in and say “hi”.’

  He marched off to the valet, leaving Leila gazing after him, open-mouthed.

  Jack held the candle up next to the menu and struggled to make out the specials. There was mood lighting and then there was The Brentwood, a West-side favourite so dimly lit it was like trying to feel your way around in a mine shaft. Perhaps the gloom was designed for privacy, so that the industry insiders who dined here could enjoy their Dungeness crab cakes without being gaped at and hassled by the hoi polloi. Or perhaps it was an attempt to make the fat, overdressed divorcees at the bar look less unattractive. Either way, it was giving Jack eyestrain. Why on earth had he agreed to come out tonight?

  Lex and Leila had obviously invited him out of pity. They were nice kids, but Jack wished they’d turn their compassionate attentions on someone else and leave him to stay home with a good bottle of claret and his boxset of 24 DVDs. The truth was, even when Sonya had been alive, Jack hadn’t been much of a one for dining out. As a manager, he had to socialize constantly for work. On the rare chances he got to switch off, all he wanted to do was bolt the front door, turn on the TV and shut the world out.

  ‘Here, take this.’ Leila pulled a pen-light out of her purse and handed it to him. ‘I use it to do close-up make-up work, but it’s a neat little gizmo.’

  Jack flicked it on. The tiny bulb spewed light over the menu like a supernova, making it instantly legible. He laughed. ‘That’s cool. I have to get one of those.’

  While he scrolled through the entrées, Lex said quietly, ‘So, you’ll never guess who I saw for lunch today.’

  ‘Who we saw,’ Leila corrected him.

  ‘Who?’ asked Jack, not really interested.

  ‘Kendall.’

  Jack’s head shot up as if he had whiplash. ‘Kendall’s in LA?’ The idea seemed to upset him, or at least to throw him off his stride. ‘Did you know she was coming?’

  ‘No,’ said Lex. ‘I don’t think she knew. She said it was a last-minute thing.’

  ‘Is Ivan with her?’

  ‘No.’ Both Lex and Leila noticed Jack’s shoulders visibly relax at this answer. ‘I got the sense that maybe all wasn’t well back in London. But we didn’t have a chance to get into it.’

  Jack felt as if the floor beneath his chair had been replaced by a spinning plate. He had horribly mixed emotions about Kendall, from anger to nostalgic affection and everything in between. He certainly didn’t want to see her. He wasn’t ready for that. But at the same time, the fact that she was in LA and had seen Lex but not him bothered him more than it should have.

  ‘Was she apologetic? About what happened with Jester. Did she seem regretful?’

  Leila choked on her breadstick, but after a sharp look from Lex, said nothing.

  ‘She asked after you,’ said Lex diplomatically.

  ‘Hmm.’ Jack returned to his menu, the subject apparently closed, but throughout dinner it was clear his mind was racing. Lex talked about the Grammys and the deal he’d just cut for one of JSM’s clients, a jazz singer from New Orleans, with Sony. Jack nodded and smiled at the appropriate moments, but when he got up to go to the bathroom, Leila said, ‘I don’t think he heard a word you said, honey.’

  Lex agreed. ‘This Kendall thing really floored him. I thought about not saying anything, but I don’t like the idea of keeping secrets and … oh my God.’

  ‘What?’ Leila followed his gaze. Standing just inside the door, with two girlfriends from her old, pre-Jack partying days, was Kendall. In skin-tight black leather pants, spiked boots and a Rick Owens distressed denim jacket, she looked fiercely sexy. Everything from her body language, to the slashes of black rock-chick eyeliner ringing her amber eyes, seemed to be a challenge. Try not to look at me. Try not to want me. I dare you.

  ‘She knew we were going to be here!’ Leila said furiously. ‘She’s stalking you.’

  ‘She’s stalking someone,’ said Lex bitterly, ‘but it isn’t me.’

  ‘Well you needn’t sound so disappointed about it,’ said Leila, who hadn’t forgotten Lex’s outburst of temper at The Polo Lounge earlier. She didn’t know what hold Kendall Bryce had over her normally considerate boyfriend, but she didn’t like it. ‘And for goodness’ sake, stop staring. She’ll see us.’

  ‘Too late,’ said Lex. Whispering something to her girlfriends, Kendall headed over. Every head in the restaurant turned to stare as she glided up to Lex’s table.

  ‘Hey, guys.’ She smiled disingenuously. ‘This is so weird, running into you again.’

  ‘No it isn’t,’ said Leila, all pretence at politeness now abandoned. ‘I mentioned at lunch that we’d be here tonight. You came here deliberately.’

  ‘Believe it or not,’ said Kendall witheringly, ‘just because Lex hangs off your every word doesn’t mean the rest of us do. I never heard you say anything. This happens to be one of my favourite restaurants. I always eat here when I’m in town.’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ sneered Leila.

  Before Lex could say anything, Jack arrived back from the bathroom, looking as if he’d seen a ghost. Even Kendall seemed to blanch, although it was hard to make out anything clearly in the candlelit gloom.

  ‘How are you?’ Jack asked stiffly. He made no move to hug her or kiss her hello.

  ‘I’m great, thanks,’ said Kendall.

  There was that defiance again, thought Lex, the chin jutting forward and upwards, shoulders thrown back. What’s she trying to prove?

  ‘How are you?’

  ‘Thriving, thank you. JSM’s going gangbusters. Lex and I are having the time of our lives,’ said Jack, sitting back down at the table but pointedly not offering Kendall a seat. To Leila’s intense annoyance, Lex grabbed a free chair from a neighbouring table and rectified this state of affairs.

  ‘I can’t stay long,’ Kendall muttered gratefully. ‘I’m here with some friends.’

  ‘Don’t let us keep you,’ said Leila, earning herself a withering glare.

  Jack went on. ‘Of course it helps working with a partner I can trust,’ he said snidely. ‘Speaking of which, how is Ivan? Is the world of reality television all he dreamed it would be?’

  You could have scooped up the sarcasm and eaten it with a spoon. Kendall was hurt. After two years she’d hoped for more forgiveness from Jack, or at least for the bitterness to feel less raw. She also wanted him to ask about her, not Ivan. But she kept her game face on.

  ‘Talent Quest’s a huge hit, as I’m sure you know,’ she said coolly.

  ‘Yes, I’ve seen a few episodes,’ said Jack. ‘Some of the contestants are extremely gifted. I wouldn’t mind signing Ava Bentley myself.’ Kendall winced inwardly at the mention of Ava’s name. ‘But the judging panel are an embarrassment.’

  ‘Nothing embarrassing about their salaries,’ snapped Kendall. ‘It was absolutely the right move for Ivan to go into television. I think his only regret is that he was held back for so long.’

  ‘Guys …’ said Lex, trying to make peace, but it was no good. Jack’s fire was up now. There could be no turning back.

  ‘Yes, I can see he’s made it a priority over management,’ said Jack, leaning forward on his elbows. ‘Your last album’s sales are a pretty strong indicator of that. As are Jester’s profits. Still, as long as you’re both happy.’

  ‘We are,’ Kendall shot back. ‘Blissfully. There’s nothing like tripling
your income and having really great sex to put a smile on your face. You should try it some time, Jack. You too, Lex.’

  ‘You bitch!’ shouted Leila. ‘Who the hell do you think you are?’

  Kendall stood up. Lex noticed her hands were shaking. ‘You know, it’s a shame, Jack,’ she said. ‘You’ve changed. You’re not the man I remember.’

  For a moment Jack looked genuinely wounded. Then he said quietly, ‘We’ve all changed, Kendall. Good luck.’

  Back at the bar with her friends a few minutes later, Kendall watched Jack leave, alone, without so much as a glance in her direction. All of a sudden she was twelve years old again, watching her father, Vernon, walking out of the house, as cool as a cucumber, while her mum lay collapsed and sobbing on the front step. ‘Don’t make a fool of yourself, Lorna.’ Those had been his last words as a member of Kendall’s family. He hadn’t even glanced back at his stricken daughter, so eager was he to move on and begin his new life.

  A stony-faced Leila followed a few minutes later, followed by a distressed-looking Lex.

  ‘He doesn’t mean it, you know,’ Lex whispered kindly to Kendall on his way out. ‘Take care of yourself.’ Then he, too, was gone.

  Leila drove Lex’s Range Rover back to Malibu, staring resolutely at the road ahead. She was angry, understandably so, but what bothered Lex more were the tears brimming in her eyes and threatening to spill out at any moment.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said lamely.

  ‘For what?’ asked Leila. ‘For sticking up for her after her atrocious display of spite at lunch? Or for not sticking up for me when she said I was shit in bed tonight?’

  ‘She didn’t exactly say that.’

  ‘You see? There you go again! Defending her. Putting her first. As if she’s ever, ever put you first.’