by Jade Winters
Alisa looked at him reassuringly. “No, she’s just drunk—she’ll be alright. I’ll get some fluids down her then I’ll put her in the shower.”
“Is there anything else I can do?”
“Help me get her to the bathroom in a bit.”
“You came,” Skye slurred as she came back to life, eyeing Alisa with unfocused eyes.
“Yes, I came. You could have at least waited before consuming the whole bottle, though,” she said jokingly, trying to relax the moment.
Skye let out a grunt.
Alisa took her hand and started a slow comforting massage, feeling relieved as she watched Skye visibly relax. “Skye, come on, I need you to drink some water.”
Bringing the glass to her lips she held the back of her head whilst Skye gulped, the clear liquid running down the sides of her mouth and directly onto Alisa’s jeans.
“Thank you,” Skye muttered.
After managing to get a pint of water down her, Alisa held her around her waist. “Let’s get you into a cool shower and then bed.”
“You’re taking me to bed?” Skye smiled. “I knew you couldn’t resist me.”
Step by step, Alisa, with the help of Bobby, led Skye along the hall until they found the bathroom. “Tonight, the only thing you’re going to be doing in bed is sleeping.”
“Will you stay with me, Alisa?”
Alisa inwardly sighed. “Yes, I’ll stay with you.”
The feeling of relaxation was a distant memory as she helped Skye undress and coaxed her into the shower.
Chapter 24
As Leah edged her car into the crammed car park she was surprised to see Alisa and Skye exiting a taxi together. She could see Alisa hesitate for a moment, glancing around curiously and saying a few words to Skye before disappearing into the building. Leah raised an eyebrow. Maybe she wasn’t so wrong after all. Stepping out of her car, she smoothed down her black skirt before walking over to the entrance where Skye stood smoking a cigarette. Leah approached her with a beaming smile.
“Good morning, Skye,” she said full of cheer.
“Hi.” She took a deep lug of smoke into her lungs.
“How are you?”
“Alright.” She grunted as she released a mouthful of smoke.
This was what she hated about most actresses, unless they were told what to say, they never had much to say for themselves. Regardless, Leah pressed on. “Did you have a good night last night?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me to mind my own business if you like, but were my eyes deceiving me or did you just get out of the taxi with Alisa?”
“What if I did?”
Leah contemplated her. “Nothing, I mean that’s impressive—you know, she never normally has anything to do with her co-stars. You should count yourself extremely lucky.”
“Yeah, well I always get what I want—she even spent the night.”
“Wow, you must be something special. She must really like you, not that I can blame her. Anyway, see you inside,” she said, side stepping her and pushing open the entrance door. Silly girl, they never learn.
Spotting Hannah leaning over a table surveying the storyboards, she quickly poured her a coffee and took it over to her.
“Morning, Hannah.”
Hannah looked up at her and smiled.
“Coffee?” Leah said, handing it to her.
“Thank you.”
“Guess who I just saw getting out of the taxi together.”
“I have no idea.”
“Alisa and Skye.”
When Hannah failed to respond she leant closer to her ear. “Skye just told me they spent the night together.”
“Oh.”
“Yep. Poor girl thinks it’s the real deal. I didn’t have the heart to tell her what Alisa is really like.”
“Good luck to them both. Oh, while I’ve got you, can you pop over to the caterers and have a word with them about lunch. The crew were less than happy with the food they provided yesterday. See if they’ve got anything decent.”
“Sure, I’ll go in a while,” Leah answered, noticing Alisa making a beeline towards them.
“I’ve got everything covered here, thanks, Leah. You can go now before they start making anything.”
Leah searched her mind for anything that would give her a reason to stay just five minutes more, but nothing came to mind. She wouldn’t worry that much, she didn’t think Alisa would discuss personal matters on the set. Reluctantly she turned and walked away just as Alisa reached Hannah. She would let it go this once but she’d have to be more careful in the future.
***
“Hi, Hannah, how are you feeling today?” Alisa asked as she took a seat beside her on set.
Hannah kept her head down, focusing on her storyboard. She was feeling a little embarrassed that Alisa had seen her at a weak moment the day before. “I’m fine, probably just overdid it a bit.”
“That’s good.”
Alisa stood up and turned to leave.
Raising her head she met Alisa’s eyes. “Thanks for asking, Alisa, I appreciate it.”
“That’s what friends are for, Han.”
Hannah smiled. “Looks like we’ve swapped places today. Late night?”
Alisa shrugged. “You could say that. Don’t worry though, the make-up artist will work wonders with my bags.”
So it was true, it wasn’t just a rumour, Alisa really was involved with Skye. Hannah didn’t know what to feel. She felt unbalanced by her conflicted feelings. Why did she care? It wasn’t as if anything could happen between them. She tried to brush the thoughts aside as she watched Alisa make her way to the make-up room.
The rest of the day flew by with yet more raunchy scenes. She had never known Naomi to write so many sex scenes in any of her work. That aside, she was excited to see her work coming to life. Alisa played the part of the confused lover as though she owned it. With every move and the tone of her voice, she morphed into her exact vision of Naomi’s character. She couldn’t wait to see the film when it was finished. This is what she lived and breathed for in her work—bringing stories to life, giving authors a voice on the big screen. She couldn’t deny that Alisa shone—she had such an aura about her that everyone on the set was entranced once the camera started rolling, including herself.
***
Hannah descended the stairs to the car park when the day finally came to an end. As she reached her car she heard a voice call from behind her.
“Would you like me to come over to yours tonight?” Leah shouted from the top of the stairs.
Hannah wheeled around and looked up. “No, go home and rest. I’ve got to look over the script for Monday,” she called back as Leah skipped down the stairs and walked over to her.
“That’s okay, I can help you. Two sets of eyes are better than one.”
Hannah fished inside her bag for her car keys. “Thanks for the offer but I think I’ll work quicker by myself.”
“If you say so,” Leah replied flatly.
Hannah touched her shoulder and smiled. “It’s Friday night, Leah, go out and have some fun.”
She grinned. “Yeah, you’re right. I might call up a few friends and go to dinner.”
“Good, take your mind off work for the weekend. You deserve a break.”
“Have you got any plans?”
“Just work.”
Leah’s face suddenly darkened. “Is everything alright, Hannah?”
“Yes, fine why’d you ask?”
“You just seem distant.”
“I’m sorry, Leah. You, more than anybody, should know what I’m like when I’m working. Maybe we can do dinner next week sometime?”
Leah smiled. “I’d like that.”
“Good, me too.”
“Okay then, I’ll see you Monday,” Leah said as she turned and walked back up the stairs.
“Yeah, see you Monday.”
Hannah opened her car door and slumped inside. She was exhausted. Her head ached and her mind
wondered as it did so often lately about what Alisa would be doing this evening. Would she be with Skye? She started the engine and eased her car into the busy road and headed home. I wonder if she ever thinks about me, she pondered as she pulled her car up outside her house. She didn’t think so. No doubt Skye was more than enough to keep her mind occupied, she thought with another stab of jealousy.
***
Alisa changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She switched on the TV for background noise as she prepared a quick pasta meal for dinner. I really am going to have to learn how to cook something that isn’t so basic, she thought as she looked down at her plate of penne pasta in a basil pesto sauce. When was the last time she had a real home cooked meal? She couldn’t actually remember. Bobby, who was a great cook, always called her over for dinner but whilst she was filming she liked nothing more than to spend the evening alone. Being surrounded by people all day drained her.
She took the plate of food and settled in front of the TV, flicking through the movie channels while she absentmindedly forked the pasta into her mouth. She let out a snort as she found nothing that she fancied—just repeat after repeat. It was a shame there wasn’t a gay channel. Apart from the BBC showing lesbian drama’s now and again, she couldn’t recall ever seeing a lesbian romance film on TV. Maybe Caught by Love would set a precedent.
Hearing the telephone ring she considered not answering it for a minute before finally relenting. She put her plate on the arm of the sofa before flipping open her phone, a smile on her face.
“Hi, Dad. Yes, I’m good. How are you?”
She listened as he told her about his latest tour. He played the sax in a blues band and seemed to be always on the road.
“So when am I going to see you?” she asked, waiting for his usual response—which was to ask her to fly out to see him perform.
“Dad, I can’t just up and leave. I’m in the middle of filming—when are you back in town?”
She could hear him shuffling papers. He was so disorganised she was surprised he managed to get to his shows at all. She thanked God her mother did his itinerary.
“Okay, well if I’m still here, I will definitely make it to your show—I promise. Love you too, tell Mum I send my love and thank her for the newspaper clippings. Okay, speak to you soon.”
She snapped her phone shut. She missed her mum and dad so much but it was sod’s law that they were never in the same country at the same time. Her parents had been married for thirty years and were still like teenage love birds.
She longed for a relationship like that—where you couldn’t bear to spend a day apart from the woman you loved, not out of a misplaced neediness but because you just genuinely want to be with that person. At one time she had believed that Hannah and Naomi’s relationship had been like that but Naomi’s actions had proved her wrong.
What an idiot, she thought. If Hannah ever loved her like that she would be the happiest person in the world. But what was the likelihood of that happening? She couldn’t imagine a time when Hannah would ever love again.
Chapter 25
The set was quiet as Joe pushed the camera along the tracking, focusing on Alisa as she made her way along the hallway.
Amy walked into the bedroom where Courtney sat on the bed wearing only her underwear. Amy stopped beside her and swept her into her arms.
“I can’t live without you,” Amy said, tears brimming in her eyes.
“But you won’t live with me, will you? You’re never going to leave her!”
“I just can’t. It would break her.”
“But what about me?”
“You’re strong—you don’t need me like she does.”
Courtney pushed Amy’s hands away, picked her clothes up from the floor and began to get dressed.
“Please just give me time, I will leave her, I promise—just not now,” Amy pleaded, embracing her again from behind and pressing her hard against her body. Courtney disentangled herself from her arms and tried to walk away. Amy grabbed her again and pulled her onto the bed, holding her down, looking into her eyes with a powerful intensity.
“And cut,” Hannah called out. “Great stuff.”
“I hope I wasn’t too aggressive,” Alisa said to Skye as she rolled off her.
“You can be what you like, you’ll get no complaints from me,” she replied, licking her lips.
Alisa laughed and edged herself to the end of the bed, picking up Skye’s clothes and handing them to her.
Skye crawled down to sit beside her, pulling her top over her head, deliberately taking her time to get dressed as all eyes watched her. “What would you do, Alisa?”
“About what?”
“Would you stay or go if you were in Amy’s position?” Skye asked.
“I’d like to think I wouldn’t place myself in the situation from the beginning.”
“But what if you did—say you just couldn’t help yourself.”
“I—”
“Don’t be so self-righteous, Alisa. Everyone always says that they would never cheat but it doesn’t always work out that way.”
“Okay, hypothetically speaking, if I cheated I would seriously reconsider whether I really and truly loved that person to begin with and I would make my decision based on that. Is that answer good enough?”
“No, it’s a cop out.”
“Well, what would you do?”
“Me personally, I would leave.”
“Do you mind me asking why?” Hannah said as she joined them. Alisa stiffened. She didn’t realise Hannah was listening in on their conversation.
“It’s really not worth answering,” Alisa said quickly before Skye could speak.
“Yes it is. I think it’s a good thing to try and understand why the characters behave the way they do.”
“I agree,” Skye said smiling at Hannah. “I would leave because I wouldn’t stay with someone out of pity. I think it would be disrespectful not only to my partner but to myself. So many of my friends settled for partners that they weren’t really into and then when they finally came across someone who hit all the right buttons they were off like a shot. I think it’s better to leave, to let the person find someone who can truly love them for who they are.”
“Yes. I think I agree with you,” Hannah said.
“Really?” Alisa said. “But what if it wasn’t about chemistry, what if it was merely about someone wanting to have their cake and eat it?”
“In that case. . .” Skye began.
Leah who had been circling around like a shark smelling blood suddenly let out a scream followed by the sound of crashing plates.
“Oh, shit. I’m so sorry, I leaned against the table by accident,” she said looking down at the broken plates at her feet.
“Don’t worry,” Meredith said, before calling out for the runner to grab a broom to clear up the mess.
“I’m sorry, Hannah.”
“Don’t be silly. Accidents happen.”
Leah glanced at Alisa with a smirk on her face.
“I’m going to get some fresh air,” Alisa said to no one in particular before flicking a look of disgust at Leah and walking out onto the roof terrace.
She gripped the rail, wishing she could squeeze the metal to mush. She had obviously rattled Leah’s cage and was pleased about that. It was about time Leah started to realise that the likelihood of Hannah finding out about their tryst could be a reality. Maybe that would take her down a peg or two.
Chapter 26
By the end of the week Hannah had finally found her footing. Everything had been running smoothly on set apart from the tension she could feel between Alisa and Leah. She knew they were never close but there was a deep undercurrent of dislike between them both. She wondered whether or not she had missed an altercation. Sitting on her sofa at home, she frowned as she put the script down on the coffee table.
“What’s the matter, Hannah?” her mother enquired from across the room.
&n
bsp; “Er. . .” Her first response was to say ‘nothing’ but lately she found herself wanting to confide more and more in her mother about the issues in her life, in spite of the barriers that were present in the past.
“It’s just Leah and Alisa.”
“What about them?”
“Oh, it’s most probably nothing, don’t worry about it.”
“Come on now, let’s go to the kitchen and I’ll make us a drink.”
Before Hannah could protest her mother laughed. “I’m talking about a drink of tea.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t. I know I’ve been drinking quite a bit lately.”
“I didn’t want to say. . .” Hannah was grateful that she wasn’t going to have that conversation with her now. How could she broach it diplomatically without inferring she had a drink problem?
Maggie gestured for her to follow her. “Well, you don’t have to worry anymore.”
“Are you going tee total?” Hannah asked, scrabbling to her feet and following Maggie into the kitchen.
There was a moment of silence. “No, I won’t be going to that extreme but I’ll only be drinking on special occasions.”
Hannah leaned casually against the worktop. “Are you trying to tell me something?” Were things more serious than she thought between her mother and Clive? she wondered.
Maggie laughed. “Behave yourself,” she said with humour. She switched the kettle on and grabbed two cups from the cupboard. “Anyway, you were saying about Leah?”
“And Alisa. There’s something going on between them. I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“Well, Leah was pretty disgusted with what Alisa did.”
“Mum, she didn’t do anything to her.”
“Maybe not, but Leah’s your friend and she’s very protective of you. She was protective of you both. If someone hurt my friend I’d react exactly the same way.”
“Hmm, maybe you’re right.”
“What else could it be?”