"Sure. You can tell me anything," she said.
She rubbed her eyes and tried to sit straight on the edge of the bed. She hoped that Isabella needed to blow off some steam. Her brain was too muzzy to come up with anything more intelligent than vague noises of encouragement.
"Not on the phone," Isabella said. "Are you still visiting Orsino on weekends?"
"Yes," she said sighing. "Do you want to meet up this weekend?"
"Today, if it's possible. Tim is recording all day, so I guess you're not seeing your BFF, either."
Oh, great! This was going to be about Vy. Could this situation get any messier?
"Is 2 o'clock ok with you?" she asked, ignoring the Vy part.
"Yes. We can go to Zorbas's. They have late brunch."
And it's not one of the hot spots of the glamour world, Alice thought to herself. That was fine with her. She didn't want to appear in glossy magazines.
"Sure. See you there at 2."
She wondered if her parents were home. She didn't remember any sign of them when she got home, and they didn't always tell her when they left on some expedition. She smiled looking at the photo in which baby Alice sat on the back of a tiger between her parents. Crazy wanderers as they were, they always took her with them.
She decided to stay in her pajamas and fluffy bathrobe. Her parents would be happy to have the chance to treat her like a child again.
She padded downstairs in the large floppy slippers with tiny cat ears and whiskers they had given her for Christmas. She heard them talking in the kitchen, but she also smelt burning bread.
"The toast is burning," she said, rushing to unplug the toaster.
They had deactivated the sprinkler system some years earlier after they got their research papers wet as a result of a similar breakfast situation.
"Good morning, sleepy-head," her mother said, and gave her a hug while Alice opened the window to clear the smoke.
"Come here, princess," her father said, opening his arms.
"Guys, you have to be more careful. If the house burns down all your rare books will be gone," she said.
The words came out smushed as she was smothered in a bear hug.
"You worry too much," he said.
"I worry the right amount," she said.
"How is school?" her mother asked, plugging the toaster again.
"It's school. I'm fine."
"We're having lunch with some colleagues today. Do you want to come with us?"
"No, mom. I'm having lunch with a friend."
"Do we know this friend?" Lara Lewis asked.
"No. It's someone from the University."
"Does this someone have a name?"
"Yes, she does," Alice said.
She tried to read her mother's expression. Would she assume she was dating a girl?
"We'll be happy to meet her when you want us to," her father said.
Of course they would. They were scholars who had studied among other things the fluid sexuality of ancient civilizations. Alice had found out more about the history of sexuality by the time she was fifteen than most people knew their whole lives.
If anyone in her family would have a problem if she dated Isabella, it would be her grandmother, who would have an issues with the fact that Isabella was from East Orsino, not that she was a woman.
"I'm not dating her," she said. "We're just friends."
"You should be dating someone," her mother said.
Alice grabbed a piece of severely burned toast and turned around to go back to her room.
"I'll be back around six or seven," she said. "Maybe we can do something tonight"
"Sure thing, honey," her mother said.
Crumbs sprayed from her mouth when she bit into the charred bread. It tasted mostly of ashes, but her growling stomach didn't seem to mind.
#
The parking lot outside Zorba's was mostly empty. Rainy weather didn't put people in the mood for Greek food. She cut the engine, and sat in her Mini Cooper, watching the rain drops slide along the windshield, preparing herself for seeing Isabella again after all these months.
They had never had much in common, but she had filled the void left by Vy, who had pursued her dream to be on Sing. During the frightening solitude of her first months in Salona, Isabella's presence had made life more bearable. Now, not only was Vy back in her life, but she had started her first year of Law School in Salona. And on top of that, the impossible had happened, she had met Tim Carter.
The young man who greeted her at the entrance led her to Isabella's table. She looked radiant, and her clothes were chosen to flatter her new figure. Her pregnancy hardly showed.
They both ordered light Mediterranean salads. They differed in choice of coffee. Decaf for Isabella, and Greek coffee for herself.
"Why didn't you get an espresso?" Isabella asked when the waiter left.
"I can have espresso anywhere. This place has the authentic Greek coffee. Well, it's actually Turkish coffee, but," Alice stopped mid-sentence. "I was about to commit a history lesson."
"I like your lessons," Isabella said.
She sounded sincere, but then again, she was a very good actress.
"But it's not why we're here, is it?"
Isabella's shoulders drooped and her eyelashes quivered when she looked at Alice.
"Things are not going great with Tim. I thought..."
Her voice trailed off dramatically. Alice felt ashamed of the thought. It was felt wrong to suspect Isabella of lying only because she could do it so well. She'd been helping her learn her lines the year before, and she had told Isabella about the background of the characters she played. She had been proud that her friend was able to improve so much as an actress. The trouble was, now she didn't know when she was acting, and when she was sincere.
Whether Isabella was going to lie to her or not, it didn't matter. She needed to clear things up.
"You thought that he was going to love you because you carry his child," Alice said.
Isabella's head snapped up. For a second, her mask slipped and Alice thought she saw cold fury in Isabella's eyes.
"It could have happened with another man," Alice went on. "I told you he's too damaged and I can't predict all his reactions. You never even mentioned that you intended to trap him with a child."
"It's not a trap," Isabella said hotly. "It was an accident, but I want this child!"
It was probably true, but that didn't mean that Isabella would not use the child to get the other things she wanted out of life. Money. Fame.
"What's going on between Tim and Vy?" Isabella asked.
Alice expected the question. She answered honestly, knowing that Isabella wouldn't believe it.
"Nothing. They're working on her album."
Isabella remained quiet while the waiter brought their coffees.
"He spends his nights with her, Alice. This week he came back at 3 in the morning. And he admits he was with her. Who stays in the studio all night long just for music?"
"Andrew King for example," Alice said. "He stayed with us long past midnight and then we went all went out together. Musicians get pretty obsessive when they work on something."
She picked up her cup and closed her eyes to appreciate the smell before taking it to her lips. She loved savoring the thick foam of the coffee
"Do you feel like that?" Isabella said, interrupting Alice's ritual. "If King asked you to go to the studio after midnight, would you go?"
"Probably. We owe him-"
"Not the band, Alice. If he asked you alone to be in the studio with him."
"It's not the same. He signed us as a band. TC signed Vy alone."
"So, if you signed a contract with King you'd go be with him after midnight or whenever he feels like it? Wouldn't you think there's something weird about that?"
"I wouldn't sign with anyone on my own," Alice said. "I'm not a solo act."
"Do you even like music?"
"Of course I do."
"The
n why are you still in Salona when your band has a contract with King's production house?"
Isabella made a very good point. The truth was that she was still in the band because she didn't want to abandon her friends when they got the chance to work with Andrew, but she wanted out. If Sebastian didn't get the hint soon, she would have to tell him directly. And she wasn't sure how she would manage to do it without hurting his feelings. First Vy had left the band, now she was deserting them.
"Because I'm not Vy," she said. "I don't want to be a rock star."
Isabella didn't care if she stayed in the band or not. She was trying to solve her own problem.
"What the hell is so special about her?"
How could she explain to Isabella what kind of person Vy was? Isabella hadn't met anyone with Vy's purity of soul. Vy was an idealist who fought for her values. There were no odds that would make Vy hesitate to try to fix what she thought needed to be fixed.
"I'm not comfortable talking about her."
"The hell with your comfort," Isabella lashed out. "You got me into this, you have to help me. I'm sure your precious Vy wouldn't like to find out how well we know each other."
Another good point. Vy could understand her friendship with Isabella, but she would never accept that she had helped Isabella seduce TC.
"Come on, Isabella, why would you tell her?"
"Because she's taking him from me," Isabella said harshly. "And from what you're saying, she doesn't even want him."
Her shrill voice was heavy with tears of frustration. Alice felt sorry for her, but not enough to hold back the truth.
"It's not Vy's fault you're losing him."
"Well, her being around sure isn't helping."
She could understand both Isabella's jealousy over Vy, and Vy's tension when it came to her mentor's pregnant girlfriend. Vy had mentioned Isabella's visit to the studio. If even oblivious Vy had noticed Isabella's jealousy, the scene had probably been pretty strong.
She pursed her lips, unwilling to ask a question to which she knew the answer.
"And what do you want from me?"
"Work your black magic. Tell me what can I do to get him to love me and his son."
Black magic. That was how it felt sometimes. Nudging people to do what she wanted them to do. Figuring out their fears and their secret desires. Planting subtle suggestions in their minds, and guiding how they developed. They were simple, little things which added up to massive results.
"It might actually take black magic to make him love you. Isabella, you expect too much of me. I had a few tricks to get you close to him. That's all."
"Give me other tricks. I need him to pay attention to me again. He asked me to move in when I came back, but he's hardly living there anymore."
"Has he moved out?"
"No. But he just comes to change his clothes and sleep for a few hours."
That made sense. Between the time he spent with Vy at the studio, and the time he spent in the Sing House, it was a miracle he could still go to the Rose theater and perform once a week. No wonder he didn't have time left to spend with Isabella.
"He's a busy guy. And it's likely to get worse until the Sing final."
The final was only a few weeks away. She was looking forward to that moment. No matter how much she cut school, being on Andrew's team in the House was eating much of her own time.
"That's why I have to do something now."
"Don't you want to go back to acting? You can ask him to help you prepare for auditions."
"I can't go to auditions. Even if I can play while I'm pregnant, which is unlikely, what will I do after the child is born? Not that anyone would be crazy enough to hire me pregnant. Don't you have anything else?"
Sadness marred Isabella's face. And yet even in her despondency, she was beautiful.
In the past, Isabella had used her beauty to get what she wanted from men, but it wouldn't work with Tim and they both knew it. Her beauty bought her a one night in his bed. Alice's advice had ensured there many other nights followed.
Maybe the child was an accident. Maybe she planned to have the child to tie Tim to her. It didn't matter. That child deserved to have two parents in a loving relationship. She had to help Isabella regain the lost terrain, to reclaim Tim's heart.
Alice's own heart broke when she made the decision. She had one more trick to share with Isabella, but it meant betraying his confidence. For his own reasons, Tim Carter didn't want the world to know of his interest in history. Unlike the year before when she had helped Isabella almost like an intellectual exercise, now she knew him. He was no longer TC, the rock god. He was more than Tim Carter, her favorite actor. He was Tim.
Despite her attempts to stop analyzing him, she knew more about the real him than she had known the year before. She knew that Tim wanted to be a good father. She could see that in his dedication to his contestants on the show, and his involvement in their careers after the season was over. Helping Isabella this time, would help Tim and his unborn son. Compared to that, betraying his confidence didn't seem like such a great sin.
"He likes military history," she said. "He probably has many books on the subject. See what he reads, read them yourself, but don't tell him. Let him discover this on his own."
"How can he discover it if he's gone all the time? I try to stay up, but he comes in so late, I'm usually asleep on the couch when he gets home."
She clenched her jaw, fighting the rising guilt that threatened to suffocate her. The knot in her stomach became painful.
"Leave the TV on a history channel when you wait for him. Fall asleep watching war documentaries or old war movies if he comes home too late. Try to find ways he can figure out that you're interested in military history. Strategy. Battles. It's ok if he realizes you became interested because you found his books, as long as he gets to share what he likes with you."
It hurt to get the words out. Her own interest in history was genuine, but now it felt like she'd been tricking Tim all along.
"Thank you, Alice. I really made a mess of this, didn't I?"
Alice shook her head.
"Not just you."
She felt the burden of her own guilt. She should have seen that Isabella's need for stability would push her to tighten her hold on TC. A relationship with him offered her financial stability and sudden fame. For someone with Isabella's humble background, it made sense she wanted fame and money. Her drive to become rich and famous made perfect sense. If she managed to get herself to a certain level she would never be in danger of going back to the slums of Orsino East.
"It's going to be fine," she said. "He wants to be a good father. It hasn't been easy for him growing up without his own. He was a war correspondent and he died reporting on a war that had nothing to do with us. Maybe reading about wars was the only way he could connect with his father. Now he has the chance to be there for his own son."
She needed to believe that it was going to be fine. In time, TC would grow to love Isabella for who she was even if he had fallen in love with the image the two of them had crafted for him. Until that happened, Isabella would have to pretend for a while longer.
The warmth in Isabella's gaze didn't quite make up for the knot in her stomach or the stinging in her eyes. Maybe she had done it for a good cause, but she had betrayed Tim's confidence.
Chapter Twelve
Tim
HE HEARD that the TV in the living room was on as soon as he opened entered the apartment. Great, she was still up. The thought rose before he could stop it, and he hated himself for it. He should be glad that the mother of his unborn child missed him enough to wait up for him. He was a jerk to hope she'd be asleep so he could sneak into his corner and read a few pages of Great Contemporaries.
He took off his watch and set it on the counter. It was only 10pm. A reasonable hour for her to be up, but late enough for him to come from Sing. He took in a deep breath, and stepped into the living room, bracing himself for Isabella's recriminations.
The sounds of gunfire and explosions coming from the TV surprised him. He wondered if another war had started while he'd been busy ignoring the news. A look to the screen was enough to recognize the movie.
On the couch in front of the TV, Isabella had fallen asleep with a book on her chest. He saw it was a volume of the collected articles his father had written during his years as a war correspondent. He had forgotten he even had it.
He took the heavy book as gently as he could. She opened her eyes a fraction, her eyelids weighted with sleep.
"Fell asleep," she mumbled.
"Sorry I woke you," he whispered.
"No. I didn't mean to sleep here." She turned her face toward the screen. "Oh, damn," she said. "I missed half the movie."
She sat up to make room for him, but he stopped her.
"Come on," he said, sitting at the far end of the couch. "Put your head in my lap."
He put one of decorative cushions on his lap and Isabella rested her head on it.
"What do you want to watch?" she asked.
"I like this movie."
"I know," she said sounding a little guilty. "It was marked as favorite in your account."
She was trying. That was a good sign. On his part, he was also trying.
"When did you fall asleep?" he asked, settling in on the couch. "We can go on from there."
"I saw about half an hour," she said with a yawn.
He ran his thumb over the buttons of the remote, prepared to switch back to a tv channel, to the celebrity gossip shows that were on when he found her asleep waiting for him.
"Or we can watch something else."
Isabella shook her head.
"No. I really want to see how it ends."
"Ok," he said, and rewound the movie toward the thirty minute mark.
"How was your day?" she asked.
He heard the tremor in her voice. Poor girl. Did she expect him to say he was in the studio with Vy again? He threaded his fingers through her hair soothingly.
"It was quite nice actually. King wasn't there again. He's been gone a lot this season."
"Is that ok with IBC? To leave his team untrained?"
He shrugged. It was all the better for him if King lost focus. He didn't have to work so hard at messing with his mind.
Rockstar vs Heiress Page 7