Shot Through the Heart

by Matt Cain

  As soon as Billy had fastened his seatbelt Mia nodded to the driver and the limo glided forwards. They were driving way out of town to Santa Barbara, where Cooper had lived for decades now. A true Hollywood legend, he’d been playing lead roles since the 1950s, when it was rumoured he’d seduced Jayne Mansfield, Lana Turner and Marilyn Monroe. Now entering his ninth decade, he’d only just given up playing romantic leads and had recently married his fifth wife, a Venezuelan beauty queen forty years his junior and the daughter of a former president deposed in a coup. Over the years, Cooper had himself sired a huge family whose amorous antics often made the newspaper headlines. He’d also amassed enough money to design and build a house so grand it was rumoured to have been the model for the Carrington mansion in Dynasty. The last time Mia had been there she’d been knocked out by the extensive landscaped gardens bordering the ocean and the huge ballroom, which she guessed would serve as the main hub of tonight’s party. And the theme for the party was simple – Gold. She really hoped Leo wouldn’t find it overwhelming.

  ‘That dress rocks,’ piped Billy. ‘Is it Gucci?’

  ‘Oscar de la Renta. Isn’t it a dream?’ In keeping with the party’s theme, she was wearing a shimmering gold open-backed halter-neck gown with extensive embroidery. ‘They sent it over with a whole bunch of stuff weeks ago,’ she added excitedly. ‘Honestly, I didn’t step out of the closet for hours!’

  What she didn’t tell him was that before she’d left home that night she’d spent hours in the closet trying on different outfits, all the time working herself up into a panic about the party. She’d been less nervous for her last premiere and this year’s Oscars, when she’d had an army of stylists fussing around her and speculating on what people would think of her dress. She was under no illusion as to the reason behind tonight’s nerves; her frantic state was clearly all down to Leo. And her mind had been racing all day imagining the worst.

  What if we run out of things to talk about?

  What if the spark just isn’t there anymore?

  What if I’ve put him off by revealing too much?

  It had taken a great effort of willpower and concentration to stay calm and now that she was on her way to the party she tried her best not to let the worries build up again.

  ‘And what do you think of the shoes?’ she asked Billy, kicking her feet playfully so that he could take in her sleek shoes with their accents of metallic gold leather and mirrored heels shiny enough for her to check her lipstick in.

  ‘Man, they’re the bomb.’

  ‘Aren’t they just? Leo bought them for me.’

  ‘Oh, so he’s buying you shoes now, is he? Things must be getting serious.’

  ‘Well I wouldn’t say that exactly. But I definitely want to get to know him more.’

  And you’re not worried that all the time you’re getting to know him he’s planning how he’s going to screw your ass? You know, conmen can be very charming, Mia.’

  ‘Billy, he isn’t a conman.’

  ‘No but he’s a paparazzo. Is there a difference?’

  There was an awkward silence while Mia fiddled with the buckle on her clutch bag.

  ‘Well, you know, I guess that’s what I need to find out,’ she breathed, brushing down her dress with her hands. ‘Which is why he’s coming along tonight.’

  Billy pulled a face. ‘You know, I’ve been thinking about that. Couldn’t you have chosen a less intense way of figuring him out?’

  ‘But don’t you see? That’s why it’s so perfect.’ She found herself repeating Serena’s lines. ‘If he behaves himself tonight then I’ll be able to trust him anywhere. That’s the whole point.’

  Billy looked out of the window and shook his head. ‘I sure hope you’re right, sugar. I sure hope you’re right.’

  Another awkward silence fell between them and Mia too turned to look out of the window. They’d already passed through Thousand Oaks and were cruising down the Ventura Freeway with the ocean on their left.

  After a few minutes, Billy turned to look at her with a grave expression. ‘Mia, you do feel safe with this guy, don’t you? I mean, I know I’m being hard on him but it’s only because I’d hate for anything bad to happen to you.’

  She smiled and squeezed his hand. ‘That’s very sweet of you, Billy. But yeah, I do feel safe with him. That’s the weird thing. I know that on paper I shouldn’t but for some reason in real life I kind of do.’

  He gave a resigned shrug. ‘Well I’m no expert on these things but that must count for something.’

  ‘I hope so. And I know you think I’m going crazy but sometimes I think I’ve been way too sane for years now. Do you know what I mean? I’m starting to think that maybe it’s time I let myself go a little crazy.’

  He seemed lost in his thoughts and didn’t reply.

  ‘And if Leo is a conman,’ she went on, ‘maybe it’s best that I find out for myself. Otherwise I’m going to spend the rest of my life wondering what might have been.’

  Again there was a thoughtful silence. The low hum of the limo’s engine filled the space between them.

  When they passed the Four Seasons on the left and the entrance to the Montecito Country Club on the right, both of them knew that they were approaching their destination. Soon the car turned off the road and onto Cooper’s driveway, where it joined a queue of purring limos.

  ‘Now this is your last chance, Mia,’ said Billy. ‘Are you sure you know what you’re doing?’

  ‘Yep. One hundred per cent sure. Well . . . maybe ninety per cent.’

  ‘OK then let’s do it. If anything goes wrong I’ll be right behind you.’

  As the car inched forward, Mia realized that just because she was sure she was doing the right thing, that didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous.

  She took a deep breath and swallowed.

  *

  At the top of the red carpet Leo stepped aside to let through Tyler Bracket, dressed in an outfit that made her look like Big Bird from Sesame Street. A few paces behind strode an actor Leo recognized as Morrison De Vere, a former wild child who’d recently announced that he’d conquered his long-standing addiction to casual sex and hookers by settling down with his new wife, an Eastern European skiing champion who always reminded Leo of a transsexual he used to see hanging around the bus station in Watford on his way home from school.

  He looked down at a carpet that was so red it was almost psychedelic. Leo knew from experience that even though it looked garish in real life it would be the perfect shade of red for the cameras. At the opposite end of the carpet he spotted a cluster of event photographers, who the public often confused with the paparazzi although in reality they were an entirely different breed who’d opted to spend their careers shouting out stars’ names from behind crash barriers at the entrance to parties and premieres. Standing just ahead of them was the usual line-up of TV crews dressed in black, a mass of middle-aged, jaded cameramen accompanied by anxious-looking young reporters clutching stick mics, knowing they’d get only two minutes with each interviewee in which to nail a dynamite sound bite. Amongst their ranks he spotted the familiar on-screen faces of E.T., Access Hollywood, Extra, E News Daily and Jillian and Dorothy. Leo felt a sudden surge of conviction that he’d chosen the right job in life; he knew that being part of the world on view before him would bore him to tears.

  But his commitment to his job was about to be put to the test as he stepped behind enemy lines. He had no doubt that he’d be able to resist using any gossip he heard for his own professional gain. But he did have one big worry: after he’d mixed with stars and chatted to them about their lives, how was he supposed to switch off his feelings and think of them only as targets? He remembered that this was one of the reasons he never mixed business and pleasure. He quickly dismissed the thought – he was in way too deep to worry about that now.

  He adjusted the collar of his shirt and breathed up onto his forehead to cool down. It was a hot night and he hated being buttoned up at the best of times.
He felt much more at ease in casual clothes and the rigid formality of wearing black tie was doing nothing to calm his nerves. He began looking forward to his first drink and then remembered that at this kind of party it was highly unlikely they’d serve his favourite beer. Oh well, he thought, I’ll just have to drink champagne.

  But if he was honest with himself, Leo wasn’t nervous about what he was wearing or what he’d be drinking. He wasn’t even that nervous about how tonight would affect his work as a paparazzo. No, there was one thing that was making him much more nervous. And that was seeing Mia.

  What if I don’t fit into her world?

  What if next to all these film stars she thinks I’m boring and dull?

  What if we find out we have nothing in common after all?

  In his hand he was holding the invitation to tonight’s event, which in his nervous state he realized he was grasping a little too tightly. Mia’s wide-eyed assistant Hector had been round to his house earlier that week to drop it off. Delivering it in person had seemed above and beyond the call of duty and Leo had wondered whether Hector was also checking out his place – either to satisfy his own curiosity or Mia’s. Needless to say, he hadn’t spoken to Mia since their last date and still didn’t have her number. And the shoes hadn’t been mentioned at all, which made him think that she obviously hadn’t liked them. He supposed that she was sent free clothes all the time so was probably blasé about that kind of thing and wouldn’t even have noticed the sentiment behind the gift. That’d teach him to be cheesy in future.

  Just then he spotted Mia stepping out of a stretch limo in the distance. His stomach did a little somersault and he held onto the railings to steady himself. Phew! he thought. She’s properly fit. Or ‘hot’ as Ronnie always corrected him. Actually, he was going to make a point of using neither word tonight. It was much more polite to say ‘beautiful’ or ‘pretty’ when in the company of a woman he wanted to impress. And thankfully, Mia was both – and a whole lot more besides.

  Stepping out of the limo behind her, Leo spied Billy Spencer. His stomach sank. He watched as Billy took his place next to Mia and the two of them posed together for photos.

  ‘Mia!’

  ‘Billy!’

  ‘Are you two an item?’

  The photographers yelled at their subjects, their flashbulbs exploding in a riot of light.

  All Leo could see was Billy’s hand on Mia’s naked back. Everything else disappeared into the flickering brightness. And all he could feel was jealousy rising up within him. What is it about these two? he thought. Why do I get so angry when I see them together?

  He told himself to calm down; he had no hold over Mia and she was free to do whatever she liked. And besides, she’d told him that she and Billy were just good friends and he had no option but to believe her – even if he was staring at evidence to the contrary.

  He looked on as the two of them turned to face a new batch of photographers. Peeping out from under Mia’s dress he spotted a pair of shoes he recognized.

  He breathed a sigh of relief and felt a flutter of excitement. Suddenly he wasn’t nervous anymore and he could almost sense his jealousy ebbing away. He felt a smile spread its way across his face.

  It looked like he was in for a good night.

  *

  ‘Hi Mia,’ Leo grinned. ‘Nice shoes.’

  ‘Thanks,’ she beamed. ‘A sweet English guy I know sent them to me.’

  They looked each other in the eye and felt that by now familiar crackle of attraction almost buzz between them. Forget ‘sweet’, she thought. Make that ‘sexy’.

  ‘That dress is a knock-out too,’ Leo went on. ‘You look beautiful – really beautiful.’

  Well done, mate, he thought. You didn’t say ‘fit’. Or even ‘hot’.

  There was an awkward moment when Mia suddenly remembered that Billy was standing next to her. ‘Oh, sorry. Leo, this is Billy. Billy, this is Leo.’

  Billy stepped forward and shook Leo’s hand but he didn’t smile and there was something formal and noticeably cold about his greeting.

  ‘Good to meet you,’ he almost growled.

  ‘Yeah, you too,’ snarled Leo.

  Mia picked up on a quite different energy buzzing in the air now – the unmistakable crackle of aggression. Uh-oh. If tonight was her chance to see if Leo could fit into her world then his trial run had just hit a serious hitch.

  Thankfully, Billy soon made an excuse about spotting someone he knew. ‘Would you excuse me?’ he smiled thinly. ‘There’s someone I’ve got to speak to.’

  Leo nodded gravely as he turned to leave. Hmm, he thought. If I’m not mistaken, that’s the retreat of a guilty man. His short introduction to Billy had only confirmed his worst fears: there was obviously something going on between him and Mia.

  ‘See you soon, Billy,’ Mia trilled somewhat desperately.

  ‘Yeah, see you later,’ Leo called after him, trying not to sound too taunting. Whatever was going on between Mia and Billy, it explained why she’d been holding back and playing hard to get with him. ‘Just good friends’ was nowhere near the whole story. No, he obviously had competition. And that was some serious competition – if you believed what you read in the magazines, Billy Spencer was only the most eligible bachelor on the planet. Any woman would give her right arm to be his girlfriend. And why should Mia be any different?

  As soon as Billy was safely out of earshot, Leo couldn’t resist making a comment. ‘He seemed in a hurry to get away,’ he ventured. ‘What’s all that about?’

  ‘Oh mind your own business,’ Mia snapped, frustration getting the better of her. Straight away she regretted it but she’d so wanted tonight to go smoothly and already it was looking like she’d made a major mistake. ‘Sorry, Leo, I mean, I don’t know.’

  ‘OK. Well, erm . . . Shall we go inside?’

  ‘Yeah but, you know, let’s just go through those ground rules again first.’

  ‘OK.’ He felt like a naughty schoolboy being told off by the teacher. Maybe he’d been wrong to ever imagine they could make something work between them. ‘Go ahead – I’m all ears.’

  ‘Just, you know, if you see or hear anything tonight, you can’t use it for professional gain – that’s all. In fact, it’s probably a good idea if you keep quiet about your real job. Tell people you’re a photographer, sure, but then try and change the subject.’

  ‘And if anyone asks, what should I say I photograph?’

  ‘Erm, I don’t know. Shoes?’

  ‘Shoes?’

  ‘Yeah, well somebody has to photograph them . . .’

  ‘OK, right. In that case, for tonight and tonight only I’m a shoe photographer.’

  There was a pause as they stood looking at each other stiffly. The earlier buzz of attraction had given way to a chronically nervous tension. Leo didn’t care what alcohol they were serving anymore – he badly needed a drink.

  He tried to lighten the mood and held out his arm for her to link. ‘Come on then, princess. Shall we go in?’

  She stopped him in his tracks. ‘Oh and one other thing.’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Please don’t call me princess. I feel like I’m back on the set of my last picture.’

  Leo nodded grimly. Things really hadn’t got off to a good start.

  *

  It was nearly nine o’clock and Serena had been at the party for just over an hour. She was standing at the far end of the ballroom on a little balcony overlooking the action. The enormous ornate dance hall had been decked out entirely in gold for tonight’s party and a small stage had been constructed in the middle in the shape of the number eighty. There were gold helium-filled balloons everywhere, waiters and waitresses dressed as characters from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and a 1930s jazz band wearing gold bow ties and little gold hats.

  Not for the first time that evening, Serena felt a flicker of anxiety, worried that any minute someone would come over and denounce her as a fraud. She was perfectly fine when she was
talking to people; she switched on her confidence and easily fooled everybody into thinking she’d never experienced a moment of self-doubt in her life. It was in quiet moments like this that she struggled. What am I doing here? she thought, I don’t belong here at all. She took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. She had just as much right to be here as anyone else. She took a sip of champagne and forced herself to smile.

  Standing next to her and feeling even more awkward than Serena was her husband Mitchell. All night she’d made a big effort to look after him and make sure that he didn’t feel too out of his depth. Mitchell was an accountant for a major multinational corporation in downtown LA and had nothing to do with the movie business. In fact, he was one of the few people in the city who wasn’t even interested in film. Serena had a hard time persuading him to watch her clients’ movies and once he’d even fallen asleep at a premiere. In a funny way that was one of the reasons she loved him so much. The fact that he was so different to everyone else she knew only made him more attractive. But it did mean that he struggled at parties like this, which was why she always made a special effort to put him at ease.

  ‘You OK, Mitch?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m doing fine. Isn’t that Brad Pitt over there?’

  She followed his gaze. ‘No darlin’, that’s Matt Damon.’

  ‘Huh? Who’s Matt Damon?’

  She smiled at him fondly.

  Casting her gaze further around the room, Serena spotted Buck Andrews, a baseball player who’d once dated Mia and had recently been cast as an action hero in his first film. He was talking to the film’s director, Randy Foster, a man with such a catastrophic alcohol problem that Serena always said he couldn’t direct a wank and who, at the end of a particularly heavy night on the drink, would work his way around the room telling everyone he loved them. From the look of him now, Serena estimated that the guests in this particular room had only half an hour to wait before they were treated to that pleasure.