“I’ll bet. Are the boys behaving?”
Jack laughed, “Of course not. They are the boys, after all.” She smiled into the phone. It was nice to hear him relaxed and smiling.
“I have to stay another week. They’ve extended my part.”
“Woah. That’s awesome, Char. You know that’s not normal, right?”
“I wasn’t sure, but it did seem like a positive result. The director has been kind to me.”
“Well, just as long as he’s not getting too cosy with my wife, he’ll have no problems.”
“Speaking of problems, what did you do to Richard James?”
“Nothing. Why?” She knew that fake tone in his voice; she’d heard it occasionally when he was interacting with his fans.
“Because, you liar, he has been on set several times this week and has avoided me like the plague. He won’t even look at me over the lunch table. I thought it was strange, and then one of the extras, who is the director’s niece, whispered that she heard a rumour you had a talk with him last time we were in LA. So, spill. What did you do?”
He sighed. “You weren’t supposed to find out about that. Are there no secrets in this bloody place? All I said was that if he even looked in your direction again, we’d release the recording that you made and I would back you up with a story of my own. I also told him that I better not find out he was hindering your career because of what he did.”
“You have a story?”
“I do. One day, I’ll tell you about it. Now you know what I said, and I’m glad to hear he’s keeping his hands to himself.”
“Hmm… I’m not sure how I feel about all of that. I’ll have a think about it and give you my verdict when I see you. I should be finished next Monday night.”
“Okay, get Freddy to tell you where we’ll be then. I’ll send a driver.”
“No need: I have your schedule in my phone. I’ll pop up wherever you are on the day I’m free.”
I don’t need your fucking robot drivers to come get me.
***
On her last night in LA, Charlotte was at the hotel early and settled in for the night. She had a new book on her Kindle that she’d been dying to start. Now, with just one short scene to shoot tomorrow, she felt relaxed enough to read, instead of studying the script. As she lay in bed, she heard a sound at the door. She sat up to see that a newspaper had been slipped under the door. Knowing she didn’t need it, she got up to put it outside for someone else to read.
As she picked it up, however, she noticed it had been turned to a particular page. There, in the middle of the page, Jack’s smiling face looked up at her. Reid sat beside him, and topless women, whose breasts had been blacked out by the paper, surrounded them. Reid was right in the act of slipping money inside the G-string of one of the women. Charlotte searched for the story to go with the shots and learned that Jack and the band had spent a wild night at a strip club two nights ago. Apparently, they’d stumbled out of there around five in the morning. The article even referred to the fact that Charlotte was out of town.
What do you expect? He doesn’t love you; he’s free to do what he wants.
Not feeling any better with those thoughts, she threw the paper aside and did something she never thought she would do. Charlotte pulled her laptop out and took it back to bed with her. She typed his name and “news” after it in the search bar. As soon as she hit enter, screens and screens of results came up. She gasped as she saw just how much partying the boys had been doing on tour. There’d even been a bar fight on Tuesday.
The night I was scheduled to be there.
Thursday had seen them drink the bar dry at a tiny club no one had ever heard of, and there were dozens of photos of their night—mostly of Reid hitting on girls and of Fergus threatening to remove his pants. In a couple of shots, Jack had various pretty girls sitting on his lap.
On Friday night, they’d been thrown out of a club, and the grainy pictures showed Cindy with her hands on Jack’s shoulders. The weekend would no doubt have been a blur to them all, as they’d hit multiple strip clubs and behaved badly with the girls they’d paid to see. The stories got worse as the weekend rolled on, until Charlotte finally snapped the laptop shut and leaned against the pillows, her book forgotten.
She picked up her mobile phone and dialled Jack’s number. It rang and rang, and she was about to hang up when a sleepy female voice answered. Charlotte frowned, “Can I speak to Jack, please?”
“He’s asleep at the moment. Can I take a message? Is that you, Charlotte?” the smug voice asked.
She sighed. “Yes, Cindy. It’s me. Just tell him I called. Thanks.” She hung up and stared at the phone.
What the hell happened to him this week?
***
Charlotte dropped her bag in their bedroom and headed for the kitchen to get a drink. Mrs. Jones looked startled to see her. “I thought you were going to meet Mr. Fawkner on the road?”
“I was. He’s behaving like a dick, though, so I just came straight home.”
The housekeeper smiled and tutted sympathetically as she offered Charlotte some lunch. “Won’t he wonder where you are?”
“After the big week he’s had, I doubt he even remembers he’s married—or which city he’s in. How they can perform each night when they party so hard afterward is beyond me.” She munched on the apple that had appeared in front of her, cut up and cored, and she frowned and thought of how mad he’d be that she hadn’t flown to meet him.
Tough luck. I’m pretty damn mad about all those damn girls.
As though he could hear her thoughts, her phone rang. Charlotte considered not answering it, but Mrs. Jones was still in the kitchen and she didn’t want to make an awkward situation for her. Pushing the accept button, she put the phone to her ear. “Yep?”
“Hey, baby. Where are you?”
“I’m at home.” Only silence from his end.
“You’re not coming here?”
“Nope. You’ve got enough to keep you entertained without adding me to the mix.”
“Ah… you’ve seen the photos, then.”
“Surprisingly, I have. You took my advice to heart about going out and being normal, didn’t you?”
“I might have some learning to do in the balance department. A week of being out every night has wrecked me. I was looking forward to your arrival, so I would have an excuse to stay in.”
“You don’t need an excuse, Jack. Just say no like other adults do.”
“How can I change your mind?”
“You can’t. I’m tired and I’m staying here.”
“Please?” He sounded down and she felt bad for saying no, until she thought of the pictures of the girls on his lap and of Cindy answering his phone late at night.
“No. Get Cindy to stay with you—you won’t even have to beg.” Without thinking, she hung up the phone. She hadn’t meant to, but she’d gotten so angry all of a sudden. The phone immediately rang again and she saw Mrs. Jones nodding at her to answer it. With a sigh, she pushed the button. “‘Lo?”
“What was that supposed to mean?” he demanded in a loud voice.
“Why don’t you ask Miss No Knickers?”
“Can we please not play games, Char? What are you talking about? Has she spoken to you?”
“Check your phone history, Romeo. Two nights ago, I called you. The lovely Cindy answered, because you were apparently asleep.” She saw Mrs. Jones shake her head from the corner of her eye. “Guess she tired you out.”
He was quiet on the other end. “I didn’t know you called.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m hanging up now, Jack.” She clicked the phone off again and slipped it into her bag. As she ate her apple, both she and Mrs. Jones pretended not to hear it vibrating madly in her bag.
“Guess he’ll be unhappy when he gets home a month from now.” She smiled. “You might want to ask for that day off.”
The other woman looked surprised. “You’re not going there at all? For the whol
e tour?”
“Nope, he can suffer. He keeps telling me Cindy means nothing and that I shouldn’t overreact when there are girls hanging around at every turn, but he doesn’t get rid of them. If I had someone hanging around, making him that uncomfortable—especially if they kept taking off their clothes and trying to get me into bed—I’d get rid of them. He doesn’t want to do that, though, so he can suffer the consequences. I’m not going to stand by while she throws herself at him and he allows it.”
“You’re brave. I could never do that to my husband.”
“It’s different when you’ve been married a long time. Didn’t you say you’ve been together for twenty years?” She paused as a nod confirmed her recollections of their previous conversations. “So your husband is trained, by now. It appears that mine still has a long way to go.” With a short laugh, Charlotte left the kitchen and went in search of a hot shower.
***
She was woken at three in the morning by someone breaking into the house. The front door rattled and she was instantly awake as she looked around the room for a weapon. For the first time ever, she wondered why Jack didn’t have any home security. He had an alarm, but it was only turned on when everyone left the house; when they were home, they were largely unprotected. Finding nothing much to defend herself with, she took up a position behind the bedroom screen that she previously hated, but right now loved with all her heart.
Quiet footsteps came down the hall and she could hear the carpet moving underfoot. Reverting to that trusty advice to go for the groin, she crouched, ready to attack should the intruder enter their bedroom. A shadow filled the doorway and as she leaned back to launch herself, the light clicked on. She let out her breath with a screech and jumped forward to slap Jack on the chest.
“What the fuck are you doing here? You scared the shit out of me!” she shrieked as he looked amazed. “I nearly punched you in the balls, you idiot!”
“Why? This is still my house, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but you could have let me know you were coming home in the middle of the night.”
“I decided to come right after the concert. I didn’t want to call and wake you up.”
“Well, you fucked that up. I’m bloody wide-awake, now. I may never sleep soundly again.” As her heart rate returned to normal, her curiosity got the better of her. “What are you doing here? What happened to the tour?”
“The tour may or may not go ahead, depending on how this conversation goes.” He dropped his bag in the doorway and grabbed her wrist.
“What are you doing? Let me go, Jack.”
“No. Shut up and listen to me.” He pushed her toward the bed, “Sit.” She ignored him until he crossed his arms and glared at her. She finally relaxed onto the bed, ready to jump up at any moment.
“Thank you. Now, time for a serious talk. If you don’t come with me in the morning, I’m cancelling the tour.”
She glared up at him. “So cancel. I don’t care.”
He was shocked at her answer and missed a beat before he answered. “That’s not what I wanted you to say.”
“You shouldn’t have fucked Cindy, then,” she said sweetly.
He let out a growl and swore under his breath. “For the millionth time, I have not slept with Cindy! The big week caught up with me and I went straight to bed after the show. She had my phone, unbeknownst to me. I can just imagine what other messages she didn’t pass on.” He sat next to her on the bed and she moved away slightly. “Anyway, forget Cindy. I’ve been waiting for you to arrive, like I told you. I was looking forward to it. I’d much rather be sightseeing during the day with you than partying all night with the boys.”
“And the whores—don’t forget about partying with the whores.”
“You saw all the photos?”
“Hundreds of them. Someone dropped a newspaper under my door with the first couple, and then I made the mistake of breaking my own rule and doing an internet search.”
“See, this is what I told you would happen. Keeping a firm grip on your privacy is the only way.”
“You fascinate me with how you think this is not your fault.” He looked at her and she could see he didn’t understand what she meant. “I said go out and be yourself, Jack. That means doing the things you’d normally do and not worrying about anyone watching you. I didn’t say to go to strip clubs, hit on girls, drink yourself silly, and expect that no one would notice. Those are totally different situations. If you behave badly, the whole world will want to see. When you said you couldn’t reverse any changes you made in your behaviour, I argued with you, but now I see what you meant. The bullshit photos will never go away, Jack, and you let this happen.”
“I know. I regret it.”
Charlotte got up from the bed and paced the room. “You’re not going to like what I have to say,” she paused. “Those photos are exactly what you need, if you’re going to be taken seriously as a rock god.” His mouth fell open as she made that announcement. “It’s the fastest way to make your mark. The question is whether that’s really what you want. I don’t think it’s you.”
“What do you mean? I’m not cut out for rock and roll?”
“Of course you are. What I mean is you’re not a womaniser, Jack. You don’t treat women the way that Reid treats them, but you’re pretending you are that person and trying to hide the good man underneath for the sake of fame and money. Sometimes, I wonder what’s more fake: your public persona or our marriage? Can I please go back to bed, now?”
He grimaced as he glanced at the clock. “Sure. We can talk more in the morning.” Jack flicked the overhead light off, and before her eyes had gotten used to the dark, he’d switched on his bedside lamp.
To her surprise, he stripped down to his boxer shorts. Once he climbed into bed, he looked up at her and indicated she should get in too. She was wearing his shirt, so it wasn’t too dangerous. He put his arm out as he normally did, and she slid into the space that seemed to have been made just for her. He pulled her close and kissed her hair.
“Please tell me tomorrow that you’ll come with me,” he whispered before they both settled down to sleep. It should have been awkward after their fight, but Charlotte found herself nodding off immediately.
She awoke early and lay cradled in his arm while she thought about their conversation last night. Once again, he’d told her that no one out there in crazy-tour-land meant anything to him. Why did it always feel like that wasn’t quite accurate, though? Why did she even care? Maybe she should just relax the no sex clause, so she could stop worrying about it.
“What are you thinking about?” his voice carried through her body.
“I’m thinking maybe you need a mistress.”
“What?” his voice was loud and surprised as he pulled away to look at her.
“Maybe we need to relax the sex clause.”
“Who do you want to have sex with?”
“Not me. My pictures aren’t all over the papers with a bunch of strippers.”
“Point taken. I don’t need the clause relaxed, though. I already told you.”
“I don’t think you’re going to make it three years.”
“Can we not talk about my sex life, please?”
“We seem to be doing nothing but that, lately. A conversation now, instead of the next time I find Cindy wrapped around you, might be wise.”
“That’s not going to happen. Anyway,” he pulled away to look at her, rolling on to his side so she had to look at him, “I want you to come on the rest of the tour with me.”
“I don’t want to. I hate Cindy, and I don’t see how she can do her job while I’m hanging around, shooting her the evil eye.”
“Fuck that. Cindy has worked in worse circumstances. After her and Reid stopped sleeping together, he went out with one of the roadies. They fought every day for weeks and she did her job just fine.”
“You have some weird ideas about the world.” She said, as she pulled away and rolled onto her back. “Why wo
uld anyone want to put themselves through that? No wonder she thinks she can do no wrong: you idiots put up with her, no matter who else is around.”
“Hey, don’t turn away.” Jack rolled her to face him again.” Say you’ll come. I promise I won’t have a single night out.”
“Did you marry me so quickly so I could be your babysitter? That’s what this smacks of.”
“No, I didn’t. I married you because we agreed to marry. Now we are both sticking to the contract, as agreed.”
She pushed his hands off and got out of bed as he watched her drag her clothes from the floor and throw them on. “I should have put in the contract that you couldn’t be a dick.”
Jack smiled up at her as he sensed victory. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Charlotte joined him on the tour the next day, much to Cindy’s obvious disgust. She had three weeks until her scheduled few days of filming began in New York. It was another small part in an art house film that might never see the light of day, but she didn’t care; she loved her character, and the film technique was cutting-edge. With so many reasons to take the part, she happily added her signature to the contract. Jay was happy with her progress and kept thanking her for taking his advice and getting married.
What she hadn’t had time to tell Jack was that she’d auditioned in LA for the lead role in a historical romance. She had no idea if she was right for the part, but if she could just snag that one, it would mean she’d have several films released next year. A bulk of work coming out one after the other was a guarantee that she’d finally get a solid foot in the door to a sustainable acting career. Charlotte crossed her fingers every night before she went to sleep and imagined all of it coming together.
The tour was exciting, and she went anywhere Jack requested. They did radio interviews with the rest of the band, as well as a few publicity spots for her upcoming movie. Several times, she was recognised on the street, and she tried not to worry that it was only because of the Paris photos and the wild nights Jack had spent in Denver.
Contracted For Love: Famous Love Series Page 15