by Jade Winters
“Bobby,” she said walking towards him as he sat at a glass fronted restaurant.
He stood and strode over to meet her half way, enveloping her in his arms like a long lost lover.
“It’s so good to see you, hun,” he said, releasing her.
“You too, Bobby. How’ve you been?”
“Can’t complain,” he said, patting his bulbous belly. “How are you? You’re looking well.”
“Yeah, good thanks,” she said nodding her head. “All that country air worked wonders”
“I heard you were back. Are you here for good?”
“I don’t have any solid plans as yet, just going with the flow.”
They stood in an awkward silence, neither knowing how to move the conversation on.
“Do you want to join us for a drink? Alisa’s just nipped to the ladies.”
Her heart skipped a beat. “No, I don’t think—”
“Come on just one,” he said, taking her by the arm and coaxing her towards the restaurant. “It’s such a beautiful day. We can people watch like we used to,” he said, grinning mischievously.
She let herself be led to the table, Bobby pulled out a chair out for her and she sat down.
“Thank you,” she said.
“Right, what can I get you?” Bobby asked, attracting the waitress’s attention by raising his hand in the air.
“Um I. . .”
“The usual, white wine spritzer?”
She looked into his kindly face, his eyes warm and inviting. “Sure,” Hannah replied. He was such a sweet man, she couldn’t say no.
The waitress stopped by the table and took their order. By the time their drinks arrived, Alisa had returned. Hannah couldn’t work out if she was surprised to see her sitting there because her eyes were covered by dark glasses.
“Look who I found wandering about,” Bobby said, good-naturedly. “I convinced her to join us for a drink.”
“So I can see,” Alisa said, coolly nodding towards Hannah as she sat down.
Hannah half rose in her seat. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
Alisa reached out, putting her hand on her arm. “No, please, sit down.”
Lowering herself, Hannah picked up her drink. Maybe it was a sign, bumping into Alisa like this. She didn’t know whether she would have had the nerve to call her again. She had not been exactly friendly to her the last few times she had met her.
“So,” Bobby said breaking the silence, “Alisa tells me Naomi has a script floating around.”
Hannah nodded.
“Have you any idea what you’re going to do with it?” he asked leaning forward with interest.
“Actually, yes,” Hannah answered, feeling a little braver now she had consumed most of her wine.
“And?”
“I’ve decided to go ahead with it.”
He merely stared at her, seemingly tongue tied for a few seconds. “Wow,” he finally said, taking a long gulp of his drink. “That’s just what you need.” Bobby hesitated. “Sorry, I didn’t mean . . .”
Hannah held up her hand. “Don’t worry, you didn’t and yes, you’re right, it’s exactly what I need. I’ve got a great story to work with, now I just need the right cast,” she said looking towards Alisa who remained perfectly still.
Bobby tilted back in his chair. “You know you can count on me if you need any help in that department.”
“Thanks, I was thinking of”—there was a beat of silence—“Alisa for the lead part.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I have something already lined up,” Alisa answered quickly.
“Hey, let’s not get too hasty here, my little cherub, it’s not exactly in the bag yet. Maybe you ought to consider Hannah’s offer,” Bobby said.
Alisa’s face was a mask. “I said no,” she said with quiet chagrin.
“Are you worried about the genre affecting your reputation?” Hannah countered.
Alisa removed her glasses and for the first time met Hannah’s gaze. “Like I’d care about playing a lesbian—I’m just not interested in the part, that’s all.”
“Can I ask why?”
“You can but there isn’t an answer that I can give you,” Alisa replied with amiable casualness.
“Fair enough. I just thought I’d ask anyway.”
“So have you got backing for the film?” Bobby asked.
“I’m still looking into it. It shouldn’t be hard, I have my own contacts that I’m sure would be more than happy to get involved.”
“I’ve just signed a really hot new actress—Skye Daniels. She could be just what you’re looking for. There’s nothing like eye candy to get people through the door and she happens to be very talented as well. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll arrange for her to read for you.”
“Yes, that’d be great. Anyway, it was really great to see you again, Bobby, Alisa,” she said, nodding curtly to Alisa as she rose from her chair.
Bobby looked crestfallen. “Leaving already?”
“I’m afraid so, I’ve left Leah at the house we’re . . . clearing . . . clearing things out.”
He stood and walked around the table to take her in his arms. “I promise it will get easier,” he whispered as he gently squeezed her.
“Thanks, Bobby.”
“I’ll be in touch soon.”
Hannah nodded. “Have a nice afternoon,” she said as she walked away from the table, her heart in her mouth.
Chapter 13
Bobby leaned back and sized Alisa up. “Honestly did you have to be so . . . aloof?”
Alisa shrugged indifferently. “What did you want me to do? Get down on my knees and kiss her feet because she graced the table with her presence? Give me a break.”
“This has got to stop, you know. You’re both the innocent parties in this mess and should be there for each other.”
“It’s not me that’s got the problem.”
“Are you kidding me? She just offered you an olive branch and you threw it back in her face. I’ve never seen you like this before. You’ve really become jaded.”
Smothering a groan she leaned back into her chair. “Yeah, well life has a way of doing that to you.”
Bobby’s normally brightly lit face changed and looked despondent. “Don’t blame life, Alisa. You had a choice on how to deal with this situation and you chose the one which you thought was right.”
“Either way, she would have ended up hating me—for being the one who told her or the one who withheld it from her.”
Bobby looked down as he traced the rim of his glass with his finger. “But now you’ve got a chance to change that. You’ve been given an opportunity to try and work past your differences.”
“How’s that then? She’s nice to me one minute and hostile the next.”
A muscle twitched on his eye lid. “Accept the part.”
She looked incredulously at him. “Are you insane?”
He stared at her blankly. “No.”
Taking a deep unsteady breath she said, “Do you know what you’re asking of me?”
“Yes, I do.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “Let me get this right. You want me to take part in a film which was written by my best friend about a love affair she had with another woman. Do you know how sick that is?”
“Why? Affairs happen all the time,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“What? You believe it’s a regular occurrence for a woman’s employee and alleged friend to have an affair with the love of her life? Right under her nose?”
He looked at her with mock resignation. “Wake up, Alisa, this is the reality of the world. You see this shit happen every day. I don’t understand why this was such a shock to you.”
“Because they were my friends and I thought Naomi was different—that their relationship was different. They made me believe in love.”
“Not meaning to sound harsh here, but that’s your problem. Naomi never asked you to put her on a moral pedestal. You did that all
by yourself, and you are the one who suffered the consequences for that.”
Yes she had, and Alisa fully accepted that but what could she have done? She hadn’t asked to get caught up in their sordid affair. All she had done was to innocently walk in on them when Hannah had been away filming. Not only could she not believe that Naomi was cheating on her with Hannah’s personal assistant but that she would do it in the home she shared with the woman she supposedly loved.
The whole episode had shocked her to the core, so she had gradually decreased contact with Hannah. She found it difficult to look her in the eye when they spoke. She knew how much Hannah loved Naomi and knew that the affair was not going to end—she’d heard as much from the horse’s mouth. She would rather lose Hannah’s friendship than break her heart. Which is what she had done.
She hadn’t known what yarn Naomi had spun about her at first, but heard through the grapevine that Naomi was blaming the breakdown of their friendship on Alisa making a pass at her. Not only had she not taken Naomi for a cheat, she hadn’t taken her for a liar either.
Alisa smoothed her hands over the starched linen table cloth. “Well, it’s something that I’ll just have to live with.”
Bobby placed his drink on the table, the ice cubes clinking against the glass. “That’s my point, you don’t have to. Do the film, get rid of your demons, get it out your system and use the time to get your friendship back on track. This is a win-win situation.” He raised his drink in the air to her triumphantly.
Alisa placed her hand on his arm, pulling it down before he had a chance to move the glass to his lips.
“Er, correct me if I’m wrong but weren’t you the one that’s been pushing me to audition for a part you said I couldn’t afford to miss?”
He gave her a boyish grin. “And I’m also the person who told you that I can put my hands up and admit when I’m wrong. All I’m saying is, think about it.”
She wasn’t about to tell him but she had been thinking of nothing else since Hannah had mentioned it.
Chapter 14
Hannah didn’t blame Alisa for turning down her offer. It’s my own fault for blowing hot and cold, she thought to herself as she shut the front door behind her. Half way down the hall she stopped as she heard three short taps on the door. In her experience that meant it could only be one person. Hannah walked back to the door and turned the handle. Her shoulders fell as her suspicions were confirmed. Her intuition was spot on, as usual.
“Hi, Mum.” She groaned as the whirlwind that was her mother, stood on the doorstep.
“What? ‘Hi, Mum’ that’s all you have to say, after I drop everything to come here to comfort my darling daughter?” Maggie stepped across the threshold.
Hannah rolled her eyes and shut the door. “Won’t you come right in?” she mumbled under her breath as her mother stormed into the living room and immediately homed in on the concealed drinks bar near the fireplace. Maggie slung her bags onto the sofa and poured herself a double brandy, which she downed in one go just as Hannah joined her. The antique clock on the marble mantelpiece read quarter past one.
“Gosh, Mum, that’s not your first of the day, is it?” Hannah asked, her voice laced with sarcastic concern. “You’ll fall behind schedule.” She gathered her mother’s bags and dumped them unceremoniously on the floor, then slumped dejectedly onto Naomi’s leather seat and curled her feet underneath her, still reeling from her mother’s rude but completely in-character interruption.
“Oh, ha ha, very funny. I’m glad to see you’ve still got a sense of humour after being stuck out in the bloody middle of nowhere, living like a hermit,” Maggie muttered as she poured a second round whilst mimicking her daughter’s eye roll. A soft groan of frustration escaped her lips as she noticed Hannah shaking her head but she remained otherwise silent as she sipped her drink.
Brushing a few of her bottled platinum blonde strands behind her ear, Maggie sat on the end of the sofa opposite Hannah. “So, enough of the formalities, how have you been holding up? It would have been nice of you to let me know how you were now and again, I’ve been worried sick,” Maggie said, genuine concern creeping into her voice.
Hannah merely shook her head, unable to meet her mother’s eyes.
“I’ve been okay,” she said at last, the tremble of her words belying the emotion behind them. Hannah clutched the cushion she held tighter and tried to wall up the tears that threatened to spill yet again from her tired eyes.
“Honey. . .” Maggie said softly, drawing her daughter’s attention, “I’m sorry that you’re in such pain. I truly am, and I wish I could take it away from you and give you peace. But Hannah, I really am worried about you, sweetheart. When your father passed, God rest his soul, I mourned that man for two years straight. I thought I’d never get over losing him, but eventually, I just couldn’t cry anymore. I simply didn’t have any tears left. And I knew your father would have had a fit if he could have seen me spending all my time in mourning. So, I had to pick myself up and learn to move on.
“Honey, that’s what you have to do now Naomi is gone, but you’re still here—still alive. Life is for the living, and it’s time you started again, darling. It’s making me ill watching you suffer like this.”
Hannah’s expression hardened and she ground her teeth as tears blurred her vision.
“Well, I’m sorry if losing the love of my life is making you feel ill,” she said with a choked tone, curling into an even tighter ball and looking away as the tears finally burst through the dam. “I didn’t know grief was supposed to run on a timetable!” Hannah’s voice was racked with sobs as she snapped at her mother. “I’m glad you were able to just pick up and go on, but I can’t, okay! I just can’t!”
“That’s exactly my point, Hannah,” Maggie said, her tone caring but with an edge of caution. “How do you know you can’t? If you won’t even try.”
Leah appeared in the doorway. “I’m not interrupting am I?”
Both women turned to look at her. “No, my mum’s turned up out the blue for a quick visit,” Hannah said as she wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand.
“This isn’t a flying visit, darling. I’m here to stay for a while,” she said nodding toward her bags. “At least until you get on your feet.”
Hannah’s eyes widened. “I’m fine, Mum.”
Maggie gave her a stern stare. “You don’t look fine from where I’m sitting. When was the last time you had a decent meal and what are you going to do about work? This fancy place isn’t going to pay for itself is it.”
Hannah straightened her shoulders. “I’m going to be starting a new project soon.”
“I see, and what is it?”
“A film with a script Naomi wrote.”
“Really? Why am I only hearing about this now then?”
“I only found out about it yesterday, Alisa had it.”
“Alisa! Please don’t tell me you’re having anything to do with that woman.”
Hannah turned to Leah. Was she imagining things or did she just see Leah smirk? “Yes, Alisa, Mum. Naomi gave the script to Alisa who in turn gave it to me.”
“And what’s her part in this? What is she after? The lead role?”
“I offered her the part,” she said enjoying the smile disappear from her mother’s heavily made up face. “But she turned it down.”
“I should think so after putting Naomi in such an impossible position—poor woman. Who needs friends like that?”
Who indeed? Though it had shocked Hannah that Alisa was capable of such a thing, it was to be expected she supposed. Naomi had that sort of way of drawing people in. What she couldn’t get over was the fact that Alisa was someone she loved dearly and trusted but she’d betrayed her.
Letting out a long sigh, Hannah stood up. “Anyway, have you got plans for today? I really need to carry on sorting through some paperwork.”
“Don’t mind me, I have some shopping to do. I’m sure Leah won’t mind accompanying me?”
Maggie looked questioningly at Leah.
Leah smiled. “Of course not, Maggie, it’d be a pleasure.”
“Good girl.” Maggie turned back to Hannah. “You pop off and finish whatever you’re doing and we’ll catch up later.”
“Okay.” She didn’t know what else to say. She was still in shock that her mother was there to stay. Not that she was a bad person she was just . . . she searched for a word to describe her . . . draining.
Hannah made her way back to Naomi’s office. She opened the filing cabinet for the first time that day and was surprised to see a tag with Caught by Love written on it. She pulled out the sheets of paper. At the top of the page in Naomi’s familiar handwriting, the name of a well known producer, Larry Conner, and his details were written.
Maybe Naomi had been in touch with him about her script she thought, taking the file with her back to the desk. She didn’t have the heart to call him, instead she fired off an email asking if he would be interested in taking on the project. Later that evening she would approach some of her own contacts as well—the extra money would come in handy.
The door creaked open and Leah stood half way in the door frame. “Is it safe to come in?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You look seriously pissed off.”
“I could really do without the hassle of my mother right now.”
“She’ll be alright.”
“That’s easy for you to say, she’s not your mother.”
“I’d trade mine for yours any day of the week.” Leah clasped her hands together as she stepped into the room. “So when did you offer Alisa the part?”
“I bumped into her and Bobby by the river having drinks.”
“Oh.”
“I didn’t stay long. Just long enough to know that there isn’t any future for our friendship.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Are you? I thought you’d be pleased.”
Leah unclasped her hands and brushed down the front of her jacket. “I’m just watching your back, Hannah. You’ve been through enough as it is.”
“Thank you—I appreciate it.”
“So what you doing now?” Leah asked, peering down at the paperwork laid out on the desk.