Shot Through the Heart

by Matt Cain

  ‘Mate, we need to talk,’ Leo said, practically flinging his bike onto the road.

  Ronnie took one last drag and stubbed out his cigarette. ‘Sure, buddy. What about?’

  Leo took the paper out of his pocket and held it up. ‘This. Have you seen it?’

  ‘Sure I have. Do you like the pictures? Turned out awesome in the end, didn’t they?’

  ‘Never mind the pictures, Ronnie, what about the article?’

  ‘Yeah. I can’t imagine Billy’s very happy this morning.’

  ‘No. And neither’s Mia. She won’t even speak to me now. I reckon that’s it – I think I’ve been dumped.’

  ‘Dumped? But why?’

  ‘Work it out, mate. She thinks I sold the story.’

  ‘But you didn’t, did you?’

  ‘No. Because you did.’

  Ronnie staggered back on the spot. ‘I did? But Leo—’

  ‘But nothing. How could you, Ronnie?’

  ‘But Leo, I didn’t. Why would I do that?’

  ‘You tell me, mate? For the money?’

  Ronnie stared at him in disbelief. Just when it looked like he was turning his life around, his best friend goes and turns against him. Well he hadn’t thought his fate would change quite so quickly. He was so shocked that he didn’t know what to say to defend himself.

  ‘Don’t you think it’s too much of a coincidence?’ Leo steamed on. ‘You know, I only just told you about Billy being gay and then the story appears so soon afterwards, right next to your pictures? What am I supposed to think, Ronnie?’

  Every word of Leo’s stung and Ronnie was finding it tough to take the blows. He hadn’t for one minute expected this and he was completely taken aback by how much it hurt.

  ‘Wait a second,’ he managed. ‘I’m sure you’re real upset by what’s happened but you’re way out of line to come over here and start taking it out on me.’

  ‘Oh yeah? Well you should have thought about that before you went blabbing to the press!’

  His words brought Ronnie’s heart to a canter. ‘Listen Leo,’ he growled, ‘I’ve already told you I didn’t sell the story! And quite frankly I can’t believe you’d think I’d do something as shitty as that. I thought we were buddies – best buddies!’

  ‘Yeah, well so did I – until you went and messed it all up by flogging this story! I don’t know, maybe having a baby on the way’s changed you, Ronnie. Maybe it’s made you start panicking about money.’

  By now Ronnie was so angry he could feel the thick vein throbbing on his forehead. ‘Yeah, well maybe having a movie-star girlfriend’s changed you, Leo! My old buddy would never dump all this bullshit on me. And I haven’t done anything wrong so I won’t sit here and take it!’

  There was a long pause. Ronnie could hear Leo’s heavy breathing; he’d obviously worked himself up into a total state over this. He spotted his packet of cigarettes on the side and had to stop himself from taking one. ‘Answer me one thing then,’ Leo went on, ‘if it wasn’t you – who was it?’

  Ronnie lifted his arms in the air and let them fall by his sides. He gave up – he had no idea. He slumped into a chair, speechless.

  Leo moved back to his bike and picked it up. ‘Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ve got to try and get hold of Mia while there’s still time to convince her it wasn’t me.’

  Ronnie hung his head in defeat.

  ‘OK, well, good luck.’

  As he listened to Leo speed away he felt utterly defeated. He lifted his head and reached for a cigarette. He’d have to give up some other time.

  *

  Rosie stood waiting on Mia’s doorstep biting her nails. She’d just had to fight her way through a battalion of paparazzi, all of them chomping at the bit for an exclusive shot of the next development in the big story. Right now there were two helicopters circling overhead and she could feel countless lenses trained on her in case Mia answered the door. She felt like she was being hunted and it really wasn’t pleasant.

  Even without the paparazzi, Rosie was more nervous about seeing Mia than she’d been the last time they’d met. When she’d first been asked to do her hair and make-up for the premiere she’d been ecstatic and had spent the entire week practising new looks on clients in the salon. But now, following this morning’s newspaper revelations, her excitement had turned to dread.

  Ronnie had already told her that the romance with Billy was a fake – he’d had to as she’d seen the photos in the press and knew that Mia was dating Leo, not Billy. But the first she’d known about Billy being gay had been when she’d read about it in the papers that morning. She had to admit to being more than a little disappointed. But more than anything else she’d felt concerned for Mia and Billy. She didn’t have to be an expert on the movie industry to know that the revelations were potentially catastrophic for both of their careers. And if she were in any doubt, the presence of so many paparazzi outside Mia’s gates reminded her just how big a story this was.

  As she waited for the door to be answered, her mind raced with worries.

  Will Mia know that Ronnie took those photos?

  Will she regret the whole thing now that the story’s out?

  Will she even want to see me if her entire world’s collapsing?

  She decided that the only option was to try and avoid the subject altogether, to wait for Mia to bring it up herself if she wanted to. And if she did ask about Ronnie, then Rosie would plead ignorance and say that she didn’t know whether he’d taken the photos or not. There was nothing else for it. For once, she’d have to keep her big mouth shut.

  The door was eventually opened by an ashen-faced Latino who introduced himself as Hector, Mia’s personal assistant. He looked like a different person to the camp, bubbly young man Rosie had imagined when she’d spoken to him on the phone. It had obviously been a long morning for everyone.

  Hector led her through the house, an experience which in itself would ordinarily have had her spellbound. But today the atmosphere in the place was heavy, as if someone had just died. Rosie hardly noticed the domed skylight, the grand staircase or the huge walk-in closet. In fact, she was in such a daze that at one point she almost tripped over a cat. Just as her nerves were reaching fever pitch, she was led through to the salon, where a grim-faced Mia sat waiting.

  The second she clapped eyes on her, she forgot all about her plan to keep her mouth shut and everything she hadn’t wanted to say came bursting out. ‘Oh Mia, I’m so sorry Ronnie took those pictures. We honestly had no idea this would happen. And I’ve been so nervous about seeing you again – I thought you might hate me now the whole thing’s gone so horribly wrong.’

  A smile shimmered across Mia’s face and she stood up to hug her.

  ‘I’ve been nervous about seeing you too, Rosie. We’re going to have to stop meeting like this. But it’s OK, honestly. You really shouldn’t worry about the photos. I kind of expected Ronnie to be involved.’

  ‘Well he only took the bedroom photos – he wasn’t following you around all night or anything.’

  Mia puckered her brow. ‘In that case I’ve got to hand it to him – he’s a very talented photographer.’

  ‘Thanks.’ Rosie felt a rare moment of pride in her husband. ‘I’m glad you think so.’

  ‘Well the truth is that we set the whole thing up so I can hardly complain about the pictures. What bothers me about it all is who sold the story. And there’s no easy way to say this but I’m convinced it was Leo.’

  Mia told Rosie about their big argument and Leo’s parting shot about not being able to live a lie. It could hardly be a coincidence that just a few hours later that same lie was exploded in the press.

  Rosie sat down and gave a loud sigh. ‘I understand what you’re saying,’ she breathed, ‘but Leo just wouldn’t do that. Sure, he told Ronnie how much he was hating the fake romance. It was killing him to see the whole world talking about you being in love with someone else. But that was only because he loves you so much. And that same love woul
d have stopped him from doing anything that would hurt you like this.’

  Mia looked at herself in the mirror and fell silent.

  So Leo loves me . . . He really loves me!

  Even though she’d spent the last twenty-four hours hating him, she was surprised at how good it felt to hear Rosie say the words.

  ‘Well he’s never told me he loves me,’ she said eventually.

  ‘What are men like?’ Rosie scoffed. ‘They’ll tell their buddies but not their girl. Ronnie only told me he loved me on our wedding night. And that was when he was shit-faced.’

  The two of them laughed.

  Just then Rosie’s phone rang from inside her bag but she ignored it. Now really wasn’t the time.

  ‘Well if the boys can have their secrets,’ Mia went on, ‘then so can us girls. I’m in love with Leo, Rosie. Totally, utterly, completely in love. But he’s really hurt me – whether or not he sold the story.’

  ‘Well if it helps, I can promise you that he didn’t.’

  Mia nodded as she took it all in.

  ‘But if it wasn’t Leo then who was it?’

  *

  Next door to the salon, Hector was in the office trying to work. He was finding it hard to concentrate as he could hear Mia and Rosie’s chatter coming down the hall. And no amount of Ricky or Enrique could drown out one terrible idea going round and round his head: was it possible that today’s disaster was all his fault?

  Last night he’d been on a date with an anonymous guy he’d met on the phone app Grindr who went under the pseudonym lookingforlove69. When Hector had arrived at their chosen venue, a gay bar called The Pacific Rim, to his immense surprise his date had turned out to be the comedian turned actor Scott Lamont. Better still, Scott had turned up with a bouquet of flowers and went on to be one of the sweetest men Hector had ever met. In fact, by the end of their second drink he’d been convinced that he was experiencing love at first sight and had ended up telling Scott his whole life story, complete with his most intimate secrets. By the time he was onto his fifth, he’d revealed some intimate secrets of Mia’s and one in particular – that her romance with Billy was fake and that Billy was actually gay. Hector hadn’t meant to cause trouble but he was still feeling hurt that Mia hadn’t shared the secret with him. And besides, Scott had been so keen and attentive that Hector had wanted to impress him. He’d just got a little carried away in the process.

  He’d got even more carried away when Scott had driven him home in his flashy convertible sports car. In fact, he’d got so carried away that he’d invited him in and ended up having sex with him on the kitchen table. Which is when everything had taken a turn for the worse. As soon as the sex was over, Scott had confessed that he had a boyfriend, some guy who was a personal trainer. Apparently he was totally in love with him and was only looking for some fun on the side. Hector had been devastated. And as the devastation had sunk in and the hangover taken hold, he’d been gripped by the fear that Scott would go and reveal the truth about Mia and Billy to the press. Just hours later, the story had been unleashed. Surely that couldn’t be a coincidence?

  Right now he sat listening to Mia and Rosie talking it over next door, plagued by the worry that it was he who was to blame for everything. And from what Mia was saying to Rosie, she’d been convinced that it was Leo who’d sold the story and had therefore been refusing to speak to him. Hector realized now why Mia had banned all her staff from talking to him or answering his calls all day. It was all such a mess. What if Mia had finally found love but now he’d gone and ruined it? Oh what had he done?

  He felt truly terrible. If he were to blame, how could he possibly tell Mia? He’d almost certainly be fired for a start. But if he didn’t tell her and it meant the end of her relationship with Leo then how could he ever live with himself?

  *

  Leo stood on Venice Beach looking out at the ocean, his camera dangling from his arm. He was feeling increasingly desperate.

  He wanted to speak to Mia so badly that he’d tried calling everyone – Serena, Hector and even Rosie. But no one would answer.

  He thought back once again to what he’d said to Mia during their argument yesterday. He realized now how wrong he’d been. He might have said that he couldn’t go on living a lie but what he’d come to realize was that he couldn’t live without Mia, whatever sacrifices he had to make.

  He was filled with a burning compulsion to tell her how he felt – how he really felt about her. There was nothing else for it; if she wouldn’t answer his calls then he’d just have to find her in person. And he’d stop at nothing to speak to her.

  He took out the keys to his bike but before setting off there was one last thing he had to do.

  He drew back his arm and threw his camera out into the ocean.

  He watched it sinking under the waves before turning to walk away.

  14

  When Leo arrived outside Mia’s house, even he was surprised by what he saw. The paparazzi were everywhere; hanging onto the gates, sitting on the wall, standing up ladders and gripping onto trees. Needless to say, his secret tree had been discovered – he counted three or four paps dangling from his usual perch. At the side of the road was a flotilla of vehicles ready to give chase and a handful of helicopters hovered overhead. It was madness.

  One of the paps recognized him and called his name. She was a fellow Brit from Manchester who’d earned the nickname Bruiser because of her tenacity when in pursuit of a picture.

  ‘All right Leo,’ she boomed. ‘Great story, isn’t it?’

  He smiled and gave a shrug.

  ‘You know, I was just saying to the boys, I haven’t seen anything like this since the days of Princess Diana.’

  Leo raised his eyebrows in response.

  ‘Where’ve you been anyway?’ she asked. ‘We haven’t seen you and Ronnie all day.’

  ‘Oh I think Ronnie’s taking a day off,’ Leo managed. ‘He did well last night so I’m covering things today.’

  ‘And where’s your camera?’

  Leo was stumped for a second. ‘Oh it’s erm, it’s in the bike.’

  ‘Well you’d better get it out quickly,’ she grinned. ‘It looks like it’s going to kick off any minute.’

  There was a flurry of excitement as someone came out of the house on the other side of the gates. From the almost deafening sound of so many cameras snapping, Leo could only imagine that it must be Mia. While everyone’s attention was diverted, he slipped away and took his place on his bike at the side of the road. He might have thrown away his camera but there was no way that he was ever giving up his bike. And right now it looked like he’d need it.

  *

  Mia walked down her front steps in a loose pastel pink gown with floral details along the bust and matching kitten heels. Serena had warned her not to dress up too much as it was important today for her to look warm and approachable rather than the distant, untouchable movie star she usually played on the red carpet. It was a look she felt much more comfortable with anyway so she hadn’t complained. Although comfortable was the last thing she was feeling today.

  As she stepped into the back of her limo, she noticed a marked change in the paparazzi’s attitude towards her. Sure, their cameras were snapping away as usual and everyone was calling her name. But there was a much more aggressive tone to their voices and she wondered whether Leo had been right when he’d said that by inviting them into her life she’d made a pact with the devil – and from now on there’d be no turning back. As the door clicked shut she felt an enormous relief.

  In the shelter of the limo she took a deep breath and prepared herself for the task ahead. Tonight would be the biggest night of her life. And she was facing it alone.

  She remembered what she’d always said about why she wanted a boyfriend, about being sick of going through life as a lone ranger and wanting someone who’d always be on her side. Well with Leo she’d got much more than she wanted – much more than she’d even known she’d been looking for
. But right now she’d gone back to being a lone ranger. And she felt crushingly alone.

  The car pulled out of the gates and she watched as the paps jumped down from the walls, trees and ladders and scrambled to their cars and bikes, ready to give chase. At the front of the pack there was one motorbike that caught her eye. Winking at her from the back was a little sticker of the British flag.

  *

  Leo darted after the limo with a head start on everyone else in pursuit. It wouldn’t take them long to catch up but he knew from experience that he could outride any pap. And today he had an added incentive; if his plan failed then he’d lose forever the woman he loved.

  He drew up alongside the limo and tried looking through the windows for Mia. But they were blacked out and he couldn’t see anything. He knew she was in there. He only hoped that she was watching him.

  In the distance he could see a fleet of cars and bikes racing to catch them up. He had no time to lose.

  He unzipped his jacket and pulled out a big card, onto which he’d written, ‘It wasn’t me.’ He angled it towards the window and held it there for long enough for Mia to read. If she did, he knew that she’d understand.

  He then pulled out a second card bearing the word, ‘Honestly’. He hoped to God that she was looking.

  As the pursuing paps reached the tip of the limo he revealed his third and final card. It said simply, ‘I love you.’

  He held it in the air for what seemed like forever. With all his heart he hoped that she was reading. But the limo glided on. And every second that passed felt like agony.

  Just as the paps surrounded the limo, Leo spotted an indicator light flashing. And in the midst of the chaos, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, the limo pulled over.

  The back door opened.

  *

  Mia moved along the seat to make room for Leo. He stepped in and flashed her his lop-sided grin.

  ‘Hello princess,’ he said. ‘You look beautiful.’

  All around him, paps were poking their way into the limo, holding out their cameras and flashing indiscriminately in case they got a half-decent shot of this latest twist in a story that had them all pumped up. Mia was past caring.