Shot Through the Heart

by Matt Cain

  *

  ‘All right mate?’ grinned Leo. ‘I’m here to see Mia – Mia Sinclair.’

  The security guard glowered at him. Leo saw he had a face like a pork pie and when he blinked, only one eye closed. ‘And you are?’

  ‘Leo Henderson. Just a friend.’ Leo wasn’t sure how he was supposed to introduce himself, but one thing he was sure about was that he and Mia weren’t just friends. Not anymore anyway.

  ‘OK. Wait right here.’

  The security guard gave him another one-eyed blink then lifted his walkie talkie to summon a runner. Within seconds a young man with curly blond hair and a thick ginger beard came bounding down the driveway towards him.

  ‘Leo Henderson?’ he beamed. ‘We’ve been expecting you.’

  Leo was surprised to hear that he had a Scottish accent and as he escorted him through the house he explained that he’d come to LA to pursue his dream of being a TV producer. His story abruptly stopped once they came to a closed door.

  ‘Just give us a wee minute?’ smiled the runner. ‘It’s a closed set so I’ll nip in and see if she’s ready for you.’

  A closed set? thought Leo. What does that mean? He told himself that they were probably up against it and didn’t want any distractions.

  He paced around the hall and hoped he’d be let in soon. He was looking forward to seeing what kit the photographer was using and how a shoot like this worked. If things carried on as they were going with Mia, he was starting to realize that he wouldn’t only have to confront some harsh truths about his job, but he might even have to consider a full career change. But that prospect seemed much less daunting than it would have done at one time. For a start, he didn’t get the same adrenaline rush that he used to get from nailing a tough shot. And since meeting Mia, he wasn’t even sure that he craved it anymore. Maybe she’d helped him break his addiction. And maybe photo shoots like this one wouldn’t be a bad option for a second career.

  Before that though there were much more important things to think about. Well, one anyway – what to do about Billy Spencer. At Cooper Kelly’s party Leo had managed to get through a group conversation with Billy but he knew that wasn’t enough. If things were ever going to progress to the next level with him and Mia then he’d have to get on with Billy and not just put up with him. Thankfully, he was feeling much more relaxed about the situation after their last date. Whatever had gone on with Mia and Billy, after spending the night with her, Leo was convinced it was now firmly in the past. So today he’d saunter onto the set smiling and do everything he could to get on with Billy. Who knows? he thought. We might even end up being mates.

  Just then the doors opened and Mia stepped out in a white dressing gown.

  ‘Leo!’ she smiled, flinging her arms around him. ‘It’s so good to see you.’

  ‘You too, princess.’

  She seemed a bit nervous and he noticed that she felt tense in his arms.

  ‘Come with me,’ she sing-songed. ‘Let’s go and hang out in my dressing room.’

  She took him by the hand and led him away.

  ‘Just a minute,’ he said. ‘Don’t I get to see the set first?’

  ‘Erm, we’ve just finished a set-up so they’re de-rigging.’

  ‘Oh OK. But I thought I might chat to the photographer . . .’

  ‘I wouldn’t bother if I were you – terrible capped teeth.’

  ‘But I thought you said she was brilliant?’

  ‘She is.’ She burst through the door of the dressing room and threw off her robe. He saw that underneath she was wearing nothing but her underwear. ‘Now shut up and kiss me.’

  She lunged at him and kissed him fully on the lips. Although he was taken by surprise, Leo soon found his groove and began kissing her deeply in return. After a few minutes, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to a nearby sofa. He worried that his instant hard-on would look ridiculous poking through his trousers. But there was nothing he could do about it; he didn’t think he’d ever met a woman who turned him on so much.

  ‘And what have I done to deserve this?’ he joked mid-kiss.

  ‘Oh you know, just being you.’

  He chuckled. ‘Well if this is what happens every time you do a photo shoot, I’ll have to visit you more often.’

  She jumped up to straddle him. ‘Oh I wish I didn’t have to do the boring shoot. I just want to stay here making out with you.’

  Leo struggled to readjust his trousers. ‘Well, you know,’ he managed between kisses, ‘that’s fine with me. I mean, it’s more than fine.’

  As she began to unbutton his shirt, his whole body buzzed with the same excitement he used to feel when he was on a job and melting a great shot. Except that this felt so much better. And he was already starting to think that if he had to make a straight choice between the two, there’d be no contest.

  ‘You’re very frisky today, princess,’ he breathed into her ear.

  She stopped kissing and rested her forehead against his. ‘It’s your fault, Leo. What have you done to me?’

  She nibbled his cheek and he let out a little moan.

  ‘Mmmm.’

  ‘Ten minutes!’ a Scottish voice shouted from outside in the corridor.

  ‘Spoilsport!’ Mia called back in a sulk.

  ‘Make-up’s on its way!’ barked the reply, its businesslike tone at odds with the sexually charged atmosphere in the room.

  Leo cleared his throat and disentangled himself.

  ‘Come on,’ he croaked, backing away reluctantly, ‘I don’t want to get you into trouble.’

  Mia let out a little giggle and he realized that she’d spotted his hard-on straining at his trousers.

  ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled, plunging a hand into his underwear to reposition himself. ‘I guess I got a bit carried away.’

  ‘Oh don’t apologize,’ she grinned. ‘Just save it for later.’

  She moved in to give him one last kiss.

  ‘This is like torture.’ Leo struggled. ‘I think you’re going to have to get dressed.’

  Mia made her way over to the clothes rack with a pout. Leo took in a deep breath. Come on, mate, calm yourself down!

  She began thumbing through the options and he moved to stand next to her. For some reason, all he could see was row after row of underwear and tiny outfits that left little to the imagination. That’s funny, he mused, I thought this film was set during the Second World War.

  ‘So what exactly are you wearing on this shoot?’ he asked.

  She concentrated on the clothes rack and avoided his gaze. ‘Erm, not much really. It’s kind of a love scene.’

  ‘What? You mean you’re in character?’ He looked at her uneasily. His hard-on was finally starting to fade.

  ‘Not exactly. Oh forget about the shoot, Leo. We’ve still got five minutes – come here.’

  Once again she launched herself at him, smothering him in passionate kisses. But this time Leo wasn’t feeling it and didn’t respond. He could tell that something wasn’t quite right and wanted to get to the bottom of it.

  ‘I need to change my briefs,’ a male voice called out from the other side of the door. Just then, an almost naked Billy walked into the room, his back to them as he continued talking to somebody in the distance. ‘These ones are really tight around the balls.’

  Billy turned round just as Leo prised himself away from Mia. The two of them came face to face.

  Leo took one glance at Billy in his underwear and then looked Mia up and down.

  ‘Just a minute,’ he said. ‘What exactly’s going on here?’

  *

  ‘Oh hi, Leo,’ Billy managed, desperately trying to pretend that nothing was wrong. ‘How’s it hanging?’

  ‘From this angle I’d say to the left,’ Leo quipped, looking at Billy’s tight underwear. He obviously wasn’t too pleased.

  Oh no, thought Billy. How am I going to act my way out of this one?

  ‘Yeah, sorry,’ he smiled weakly. ‘They are a little ti
ght. I think that might be the point.’

  ‘The point of what?’ Leo spluttered. ‘Will somebody tell me what’s going on?’

  ‘Oh it’s nothing, Leo,’ Mia soothed. ‘They’ve just decided to sex up the shoot, that’s all. Apparently it’ll be good for the movie.’

  ‘Really? But I thought you were hoping this film would get you taken seriously.’

  ‘She was,’ breathed Billy. And so was I.’

  ‘Well I’ve got news for you, mate – you’re not going to be taken seriously in your underwear. Especially not in bright red undies like that.’

  Billy tried laughing to break the atmosphere. ‘Yeah,’ he struggled. ‘They are pretty awful.’

  Leo looked at him stony-faced.

  What a disaster, thought Billy. And I was ready to make such an effort with him.

  ‘Look, let’s not over-react,’ begged Mia. ‘Leo, just try thinking of it as another love scene. Honestly, it doesn’t mean anything, I promise.’

  Leo opened his mouth but was interrupted by the Scottish voice on the other side of the door.

  ‘Mia! Billy! Make-up’s here!’

  ‘Shoot,’ said Billy. ‘We really need to get dressed.’

  ‘You took the words right out of my mouth,’ huffed Leo.

  ‘Just a second!’ called Mia. ‘We’re not quite ready!’

  ‘OK, we’ll be back in five minutes.’

  Mia moved in to touch Leo’s arm but he pulled away.

  Something about the look on his face at that moment told Billy that he might have been too hard on him – maybe he wasn’t just a heartless pap looking to make a quick buck but he really cared about Mia and was struggling with his feelings. And even though Billy found himself on the receiving end of Leo’s jealousy, in a funny way it only made him understand Leo better. And just for a second he could imagine himself one day growing to like him.

  ‘Look,’ Mia said, desperately trying to calm Leo down, ‘maybe inviting you here was a bad idea. I can see now that it was pretty insensitive of me. Maybe we should just call it a day and meet up tomorrow.’

  ‘Are you joking?’ he sniffed. ‘Why would I want to go home now? The fun’s only just beginning.’

  As Billy watched him turn and stomp out of the room, he knew that fun was the last thing they were in for.

  *

  Leo took his place in the crowd of hangers-on, all standing around waiting for Mia and Billy to arrive on set. He had no idea what was really going on between them but however he looked at it, it didn’t add up. He understood that posing for photos half-naked would be great promotion for the film but if they weren’t in character, wasn’t the implication that they were together in real life? And if they were together, where did that leave him? He liked to think he knew a lot about how things worked in the movie business but he had an eerie feeling of unease about this. In fact, he felt sick with dread.

  Mia and Billy stepped onto the set in bathrobes and when they took them off he saw that they were wearing flesh-coloured underwear. His heart sank. He watched open-mouthed as a team of stylists appeared and began sticking pages from books onto their underwear so it looked like they were naked underneath. He felt utterly shattered. Just this morning he’d been thinking that meeting Mia was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Now he didn’t know what to think.

  He wove his way through the crowd to take his place at the back, where Mia and Billy couldn’t see him. He watched as the photographer directed them onto a Chesterfield chaise longue and they began striking various suggestive poses as she merrily snapped away. Even though he knew they were both actors, it didn’t seem to him that they were faking an attraction to each other. He’d spent enough time around actors to know that the chemistry between these two was real – acutely real. And with each click of the camera, he felt like a bit of him was dying inside.

  He turned away and at the back of the room caught sight of a laptop lying open on a table. Displayed on the screen were the sexy shots they must have taken that morning. As he looked through them he felt like he’d been winded and struggled to catch his breath. He knew that he and Mia had only spent one night together but already he couldn’t bear to even think of her being touched by another man. Having to confront the evidence glaring out at him in full colour was more than he could take. He felt vulnerable, desperate and utterly heartbroken.

  He knew that he should just turn around and go home but for some reason he couldn’t tear himself away. All he could think about was what a fool he’d made of himself. He’d gone and fallen for someone who was just having a bit of fun and playing with him, an actress who obviously hadn’t felt what he’d felt but had faked her way through their entire sham of a relationship. Maybe Ronnie had been right when he’d said that girls like Mia didn’t go for guys like him. The evidence was staring him in the face – girls like Mia went for guys like Billy Spencer.

  From where he was standing he could hear a waspish woman barking orders at the photographer. He resumed his position at the back of the crowd and peered over to see Mia sitting on top of Billy with her arms wrapped around him. He thought that he was going to throw up.

  ‘OK, we’re done with that set-up,’ boomed the woman, who he now saw looked just like Cruella de Vil. ‘You two lovebirds go off and take five. I’m sure you can think of plenty of ways to amuse yourselves.’

  As he listened to her dirty cackle echo around the room, Leo could feel the anger rising up within him. So he was being taken for a ride. Mia and Billy were seeing each other and everyone else clearly knew all about it. He’d been so stupid. Why hadn’t he seen what was happening earlier? They were probably in the dressing room right now having a good old laugh at his expense.

  Well he wasn’t going to stand for it. Mia might be a star but that didn’t entitle her to toy with his feelings like this and go out of her way to wilfully hurt and humiliate him. The more he thought about it, the more angry he became. But strangely, his anger did nothing to smother his more tender feelings for Mia. He still wanted her to run over and tell him that the whole thing was some kind of mix-up and it was him she wanted to be with, not Billy. But that obviously wasn’t going to happen. And the only thing worse than imagining Mia and Billy laughing at him in the dressing room was the thought that right now they might even be getting it on.

  Something inside him snapped and he knew he had to act. He stormed out of the library and down the corridor towards the dressing room.

  Without stopping to think he strode right up to the door and threw it open.

  *

  ‘Leo!’ squealed Mia, standing there topless. ‘I thought you’d left.’

  ‘I know,’ he snarled, ‘I can see that.’

  She quickly grabbed a towel and tied it around herself.

  ‘Yeah that’s it,’ he seethed, ‘cover yourself up for me but not for Billy boy here.’

  Billy was also naked and struggling to protect his modesty with his hands. Mia threw him another towel. The three of them stood still for a moment’s excruciating silence.

  ‘Well come on then,’ growled Leo at the pair of them. ‘Somebody owes me an explanation.’

  Billy looked at the floor and scuffed his feet awkwardly.

  Mia threw her hands up in the air. She hadn’t wanted this to happen and it all felt so unfair. She was frustrated and angry and all her emotions came tumbling out at once. ‘Look, I already told you, Leo – we’re just filming a love scene, that’s all. This is acting, this is what we do.’

  ‘Well I don’t believe you. What was all that talk about you two being lovebirds? Everyone in there was acting as if you’re a couple. I mean, am I being totally stupid here?’

  ‘No, you’re not being stupid,’ said Billy. ‘And I’m not surprised you’re so pissed about it. I think it’s about time we told you the truth.’

  ‘Too right it is,’ Leo spluttered. ‘So come on – let’s have it.’

  ‘Leo,’ Mia breathed. ‘What you’re witnessing today is the start o
f what’s known in Hollywood as a show-mance. Apparently they go on all the time.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah, I know what a show-mance is: when people pretend to be going out with each other.’

  ‘Well this town’s practically built on them.’

  Mia realized that she was starting to sound like Violet and stopped before she went any further. She looked at Leo and felt truly awful – guilty for putting him through all this upset but terrified too that just when she’d found the happiness she’d always wanted, it looked like she was in serious danger of losing it.

  ‘Listen, I’m really sorry you’ve been dragged into all this,’ ventured Billy, ‘but if it’s any consolation, we’re not particularly happy about it either.’

  ‘Hmpf! From what I saw in there you looked perfectly happy to me, mate. Romance or show-mance, you couldn’t take your hands off her!’

  Billy didn’t know what to say and shuffled on the spot sheepishly.

  ‘Leo, that’s not fair,’ piped Mia. She wished that she could just tell Leo that Billy was gay – it would solve all their problems. But it wasn’t her secret to tell and she knew that Billy would be mortified if she let it out.

  ‘And anyway,’ Leo recovered, ‘if you don’t like it, why are you doing it?’

  ‘Oh don’t you know anything about this industry?’ Mia almost snapped. ‘We don’t have any choice about these things. We have to act all the time. We’re never allowed to switch off. It’s a way of life – whether we like it or not.’

  ‘Oh so you’re acting now then, are you? Prancing around the dressing room with good old Billy boy, both of you stark bollock naked.’ He made a point of looking around him. ‘I can’t see any cameras in here, Mia.’

  ‘Leo, it’s not what you think. Honestly it isn’t.’

  ‘“It’s not what you think”? Did you really just say that? We’re not in one of your films now, Mia.’

  She winced at the sting of injustice. She didn’t think she could handle such animosity from a man she was starting to care about so much. In desperation, she was on the verge of blurting out Billy’s secret when she pulled back; she couldn’t get herself out of a mess by causing a whole new one for Billy. She opened her mouth feebly. ‘But Leo—’