Obsession

by Susan Lewis

  ‘I did it to get her out of the way so I could make you the producer,’ he answered simply.

  ‘You can’t possibly think I’d want the job based on that!’ Corrie whispered angrily, hoping no one could hear.

  ‘I’m afraid I did, but obviously I made a mistake. A very big mistake.’

  ‘Yes, you did,’ Corrie told him. ‘I don’t understand you, Luke. I thought you loved her.’

  ‘I do,’ he said in a broken voice. He turned away, but not before Corrie had seen the sadness that had suddenly filled his eyes. She noticed then how stooped his shoulders seemed, as though he could no longer support the unsupportable burden of misery and Corrie found her heart touched with compassion.

  ‘Luke, what is it?’ she said, putting a hand on his arm.

  Briefly he shook his head. ‘Nothing,’ he answered. ‘Nothing except that I might have lost her. I deserve to lose her, I know that, but …’

  Corrie stepped round in front of him, and saw the tears shining in his eyes. ‘Luke!’ she gasped. She look quickly back over her shoulder to see how the crew were doing, then taking his arm, she said, ‘Let me take you outside. The air’s not too fresh,’ she added in a lame joke, ‘but … Come on, let’s get out of here.’

  ‘No, it’s OK,’ he said. ‘I’ll be all right. It just got to me for a minute, that’s all.’ He lifted his eyes then and looked so pleadingly into her face that Corrie tightened the hold on his arm. ‘I know I’ve fucked everything, Corrie,’ he said, ‘and I know that you hate me for it … But will you … Oh God, I’ve no right to ask this, I know, but will you talk to her for me?’

  For a long time Corrie simply looked at him, then very slowly she started to shake her head. ‘I’m sorry, Luke,’ she said, ‘I can’t do that. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. You see, I don’t trust you not to do it again.’

  ‘But I won’t,’ he said, with such sincerity that had it been anyone else Corrie would have believed it.

  ‘No, Luke,’ she said. ‘No. Because there’s more to this than what happened with Felicity. A lot more. I don’t know what, I’m not sure I even want to know, but …’

  ‘You’re talking about me making you a producer, aren’t you?’ he interrupted.

  ‘Well, yes. That’s part of it. I mean, why was it so important to you to do that?’

  ‘I wanted to give you something you wanted,’ he answered. ‘OK, we’ve already agreed I went about it in the wrong way …’

  ‘Corrie! Ready to rock-n-roll,’ the cameraman called out.

  ‘We’ll continue this conversation later,’ Corrie told Luke. ‘Are you all right for now?’

  He nodded. ‘Yes. Thanks.’

  Twenty minutes later they were done with the reverses and on their way to Mulholland up in the Hollywood Hills. Luke went with them, and seemed, to Corrie’s profound relief as she watched him sparring with the sound man in the front of the car, to have pulled himself together. But when they reached Mulholland where she had intended they take some high wide panning shots of the city, the yellow green smog was so thick and so low that almost nothing was visible.

  ‘We’ll have to re-schedule,’ Corrie told the crew, ‘so we’ll call it a day today. We’ll pick up the other shots on Friday. I’ll knock out a list for you, they’re mainly to cover voice-overs.’

  ‘I wanted to talk to you about the voice-overs,’ Luke said as they rode back into Beverly Hills. ‘Have you written them yet?’

  ‘I’ve made some notes,’ Corrie answered, ‘I was going to let Perkin perfect them when we get back.’

  ‘Good. But we might as well get something valuable going while we’re here. You haven’t written anything yourself yet, have you? I mean, not a complete script?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then we’ll take a look at it when we get back,’ he smiled. ‘You never know, you might have a God-given talent for it.’

  Half an hour later they were sitting next to the pool back at the mansion, involved in a healthy, witty and, Corrie realized, genuinely helpful debate on what the voice-overs should say. Felicity was in the solarium, reading through the scenes she was shooting that night, and kept yelling to them to keep the noise down.

  ‘It’s her big scene with the murderer tonight,’ Corrie whispered to Luke.

  Luke’s lips curled in a smile, which, had Corrie seen it, would have sent a shiver down her spine. ‘Then we ought to leave her to it,’ he said, getting up. ‘I’m off to take a shower. Maybe you’d like to call Annalise. No, not to speak up on my behalf, but because she wants you to.’

  Corrie nodded. ‘OK, I’ll call her now,’ she said.

  But when she got through to Annalise’s schoolfriend it was to discover that Annalise had taken herself off shopping. Corrie left a message to say she’d called, then went to ask Felicity if she could help by reading in for her. She’d never done it before, and really didn’t know if she’d be any good, but she had to do something to stop herself fretting about whether or not Cristos would call.

  By six o’clock she was so edgy that Felicity thanked her for her help, took the script back from her and told her to go pour herself a stiff drink. Corrie did, but it didn’t seem to help, if anything it made the churning in her stomach worse. As she started to pace Felicity dropped her script in exasperation.

  ‘What time’s he due to wrap?’ she said.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Corrie answered.

  ‘Then what the hell are you getting yourself into such a state about? He’ll have dailies after he’s wrapped as well, so if he is going to ring at all it won’t be until nine thirty at the very …’ She broke off as Corrie made a dash for the telephone.

  ‘Hello?’ Corrie gasped.

  It was the third assistant on Felicity’s film, telling Felicity that her call time had been put back by an hour.

  ‘This is awful,’ Corrie wailed an hour later, now pacing around the pool. ‘He said that it wasn’t just for the night, but …’

  ‘Hey, come on,’ Felicity chuckled, ‘you’re a big girl now, you know better than to believe what a man tells you when you’re in the sack with him.’

  Corrie’s face turned ashen white as she looked back at Felicity. ‘You mean you think he was lying?’ she said.

  ‘Not lying, exactly,’ Felicity answered uncomfortably. She hadn’t expected Corrie to look quite that distraught. ‘In fact he probably meant it when he said it.’

  ‘But he doesn’t now?’

  Felicity sighed heavily. ‘Corrie, you’ve got to face it honey, he’s a big-time director. He’ll have been in that same situation he was in with you last night a hundred times before. These things trip off the tongue real easy with men like him. They know all the lines. Jeez, they should, they wrote most of them,’ and getting up from her chair she went to answer the phone which had started to ring again.

  With a horrible paralysis in her heart, Corrie listened as Felicity repeated the number.

  ‘Oh hi,’ Felicity said. ‘How are you? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just getting ready for my big scene tonight.’

  Feeling the disappointment draw at every bone in her body Corrie started to walk away. But at that moment Felicity turned to look at her. ‘It’s him,’ she mouthed.

  Corrie’s entire body turned so weak she couldn’t move.

  ‘Yeah, it’s tonight,’ Felicity was saying. ‘Oh thanks, thanks very much. Yeah, she’s right here, I’ll put you on.’

  As she handed the receiver to Corrie she put her hand over the mouthpiece, saying, ‘OK, I made a mistake and I’m sorry.’

  Kissing her on the cheek Corrie took the receiver and put it to her ear. ‘Hello?’ she said.

  ‘Hi. How you doing?’

  ‘Oh, I’m fine,’ she said, feeling herself respond to the dark intimacy in his voice. ‘How are you? How was your day?’

  ‘Pretty good. We wrapped early, I’ve just watched yesterday’s dailies.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘They work.’

  ‘Of course,’
she laughed.

  There was a pause, then he said, ‘I’d kinda like to see you.’

  ‘I’d like that too,’ she whispered.

  ‘Then how about I stop by?’

  After she’d given him the address Corrie rushed straight out to the pool where Felicity had taken her script in search of what was proving unattainable peace.

  ‘What time’s he getting here?’ she said when she saw Corrie’s face.

  ‘I don’t know. I think he’s coming straight away. But he didn’t say where he was. Oh Fliss! Fliss! I just can’t believe this is happening.’

  Laughing, Felicity once again put down her script, then taking Corrie in her arms she danced her around the pool. ‘Now,’ she said, breathlessly when they’d finished, ‘what do you say that we two take a swim to try and calm you down before he gets here?’

  ‘You’re on,’ Corrie laughed.

  Five minutes later she was running back down the stairs in her swimsuit and robe when the doorbell rang. ‘I’ll get it,’ she called out to whoever was listening.

  When she opened the door Cristos was leaning against the side of the porch, and when she saw the look that came into his eyes the smile froze on her lips.

  ‘Hello,’ she murmured as he took her in his arms.

  ‘Hello yourself,’ he said, and lowering his mouth to hers he started to suck gently on her lips. Then he was kissing her, pushing his tongue against hers and holding her so hard against him she knew that the desire she had seen in his eyes was very real. He stopped for a moment and looked down at her, then he was kissing her again.

  ‘I’ve thought about you all day,’ she laughed, between kisses. ‘Have you thought about me?’

  ‘From time to time,’ he answered, running his hands over her bottom. He wasn’t about to tell her the problems she’d given him, or that he wasn’t even too sure he was happy about being here now, so he said, ‘What are you wearing under this thing?’

  ‘My swimsuit. Felicity and I were about to take a swim. Can you stay tonight?’

  ‘Hey, you two,’ Luke called out, ‘are you going to stand out there all night, or are you going to come and join the party?’

  ‘Go take that swim,’ Cristos said. ‘I’ll watch.’

  Corrie wasn’t too sure she felt happy about that. The idea of Cristos seeing her in a swimsuit next to Felicity, who was so tall and slender and so … well, Hollywood, was disheartening to say the least … But then she reminded herself that he had already seen her in the nude, so it was a bit late to be thinking of modesty now. So, as they walked out to the pool she dropped her wrap on a chair, and with her shoulders held well back she marched over to the swimming pool – and belly flopped in.

  When she resurfaced she could hear Cristos still laughing, but deciding to ignore it she swam on down the pool.

  ‘She is one crazy lady,’ Cristos murmured to himself as he watched her. He was startled when Luke agreed, since he hadn’t known Luke was so close.

  ‘So you had a good time with her last night then?’ Luke said.

  Immediately Cristos’s jaw tightened.

  Pretending not to notice Luke said, ‘She’s got one helluva body, don’t you think? Yeah, she’s got it all there, all right. Some might say too much of it, but not me. Can’t get enough of her myself. Those tits of hers just drive me wild.’

  By now Cristos’s face had turned very dark, but feigning surprise Luke pressed on, ‘Hey, she hasn’t got to you, has she? Shit, I didn’t think you’d fall for that, mate. I mean, didn’t she tell you? Didn’t she say one word about me? Well, I don’t suppose she goes round advertising the fact that I’ve been screwing her ever since she joined TW, she wouldn’t want everyone to know that’s how she got her job. Mind you, I’d have screwed her anyway with a body like that. You know, come to think of it she wasn’t too backward in telling us about you today. She rates you pretty high, you know? I’ve been wondering what she was thinking she might get out of you.’ He shrugged. ‘Who can say? Generally she’s known as my property, but feel free to enjoy it. She’s a star-fucker, and a bloody good one at that. You’ll be quite a feather in her cap.’

  Cristos was on his feet, a murderous rage blazing in his eyes, ‘One of these days, Fitzpatrick,’ he hissed, snatching up his keys.

  But Luke kept going. And he kept on going until he heard the front door slam behind Cristos.

  Corrie was out of the pool by now and had gone into the changing room to pick up a towel. When she came out she presumed that Cristos had gone inside for something and went to the bar to freshen her drink. When he still didn’t materialize after five minutes she looked across at Luke and said, ‘Where’s Cristos?’

  ‘He left.’

  Corrie frowned. ‘What do you mean, left?’

  ‘He’s gone. Said he had another appointment and went.’

  Corrie’s face was so strained she could barely move her lips. ‘Without saying goodbye,’ she whispered.

  Luke shrugged, then seeing the way Corrie’s eyes began to narrow he held up his hands, ‘Now hang on a minute …’

  ‘What did you say to him!’ she yelled. ‘What did you say, you bastard!’

  ‘I didn’t say anything. You were there, in the pool, you’d have known if I was talking to him.’ But she hadn’t been looking, and Luke knew that. ‘He just sat here, watching you swim,’ he went on, ‘then when you got out he said something about having made a mistake and that he was leaving. And he left.’

  ‘What do you mean, a mistake?’

  ‘How do I know? That’s all he said, that he’d made a mistake.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Felicity said, coming into the solarium in the briefest of swimsuits. ‘Where’s Cristos?’

  ‘Gone,’ Corrie stated.

  ‘What? Gone where?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Corrie answered, verging on tears, and picking up her wrap she ran up to her room.

  Felicity found her half an hour later, sitting on the edge of her bed, staring sightlessly out of the window. Apart from the red rings round her eyes, her whole face was drained of colour. Hearing the door open she looked round and seeing it was Felicity turned back to the window.

  ‘How are you feeling now?’ Felicity asked, going to sit beside her.

  Lowering her eyes to her hands Corrie simply shook her head.

  ‘Have you tried to call him?’

  Corrie nodded. ‘The answerphone’s on.’ She turned to look at Felicity then and Felicity felt her own heart turn over at the very real pain in her eyes. ‘I don’t understand, Fliss,’ she whispered. ‘I just don’t understand. If he didn’t want to see me, then why did he come? And what did he mean about making a mistake?’

  Sighing heavily Felicity took her in her arms. ‘I didn’t want to tell you this, Corrie,’ she said, ‘but I think I’ll have to. I mean, I don’t know if it’s got anything to do with the way he just left like that, or with what he said, but … Well, before you got here, to LA, there were rumours going around about him and Paige Spencer – the lead actress in his movie. I don’t know if they’re true, but there are those who think that it’s pretty serious between him and Paige. I’m only telling you this so that you’ll understand just what you’re up against here.’

  Corrie’s heart was a red hot furnace of pain, and every word Felicity was saying was a torch making it burn all the hotter. Just the thought of him with another woman was so pure in its torment that Corrie didn’t think she could stand it. It hurt too much even to cry.

  ‘I have to go now,’ Felicity said, a few minutes later. ‘I just popped in to say goodbye. There are some sleeping pills next to my bed if you want them. Don’t take any more than one though, will you? He’s not worth it, babe, honestly. None of them are.’

  When Felicity returned from her night shoot the following morning Corrie was already up and had breakfast waiting for her. Felicity was so tired she wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed, but not wanting to seem ungrateful she slumped into the chair Corrie
pulled out, and dropped her bag on the floor.

  ‘How are you feeling this morning?’ she asked, stifling a yawn.

  ‘Oh, I’m fine, thank you,’ Corrie answered, brightly. ‘How did last night go?’

  Felicity sighed, ‘Well, we got there in the end. I’m just about all in though. I’ll eat this then get off to bed.’

  Corrie went off to the kitchen to fetch the coffee, but from the breakfast room where she was sitting, Felicity saw how badly she tensed up when the telephone rang. She made no move to answer it though, so Felicity picked it up herself. It was her director, ringing to ask if she’d like to go see dailies that evening.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said to Corrie as she sat down again and picked up the coffee Corrie had just poured. ‘Aren’t you having anything yourself?’

  ‘No, I don’t feel very hungry,’ Corrie said.

  ‘No man is worth starving yourself for,’ Felicity remarked.

  ‘I’m not starving myself, I’m just not hungry,’ Corrie answered tersely.

  Felicity watched her as she sat down with her own coffee and started to flick through the pages on her clipboard. Corrie’s suffering was so near the surface it was plain for anyone to see, and Felicity knew precisely what was happening inside her. Last night the pain, today the anger, tomorrow the hurt, confusion and disillusion. It was the way it always went in situations like this. But during the endless hours of waiting for the moon to appear last night, Felicity had thought a lot about Corrie and Cristos and though it went right against the grain with her to give a man a second chance, since to her mind not one of the bastards was worth it, she was of the opinion that in this instance Corrie should. She couldn’t say exactly why she felt that way, except that she just couldn’t get it out of her head that in some way Luke Fitzpatrick was behind Cristos going off like that. Exactly what Fitzpatrick stood to gain from breaking them up, Felicity didn’t know, but what she did know was that she’d rather rot in hell than sit back and watch some man screwing up the life of a friend of hers.

  Putting her knife down and picking up her coffee, she looked across the table at Corrie. This wasn’t going to be easy, she could sense that already, but to hell with it, she was going to give it a go anyway. ‘Corrie,’ she said, ‘I think you should try calling him again.’