Starshine

by Melody Winter

  I expected a response. I wasn’t sure whether he’d shout, curse or even laugh. Would he forgive me, or would he have already returned to the snarling man I had initially met?

  He didn’t move. I slipped my hands into the pockets of my jeans and tried again. “Alex, I’m sorry. Please, talk to me.”

  He placed the script on his knee before lifting his gaze.

  “Sorry?”

  I nodded, shifting nervously from one foot to another under his uncomfortable stare.

  He sniggered, shaking his head. “You think a fucking sorry will make everything okay?”

  My heart sank. He had reverted to the person I had met at the beginning of the week.

  “No, just—”

  “Save it!” he snapped. “I’m not interested anymore.”

  “But, Alex, can we please talk about this? Perhaps later.”

  “No.” He straightened up in his chair. “I’ve chosen to scrub the last week from my mind. I suggest you do the same.”

  “But I don’t want to. Please, Alex, we need to talk. I need to explain myself properly. I want to tell you why I reacted how I did. Please?”

  His expression softened slightly, but then it hardened as he composed himself. “It’s like I said earlier. I thought you were different. You’re not. You’re the same as all the other bitches that fill my fucking life.”

  “Alex, you don’t—”

  “What? You think I don’t mean it? Well I do. Now leave me alone, I have work to do. If you bother me anymore, I’ll have you escorted off set, and you’ll never return. Understand?”

  I took in a shuddering breath before nodding.

  “Don’t talk to me, and I won’t talk to you. It’s quite simple,” he added coldly.

  I sniffed, and turned away from him, but he wasn’t finished. “Amy doesn’t want you here, Rowan doesn’t want you here, and neither do I. Do you think you’ve got the message, Work Experience Girl?”

  I blocked him out, all sights and sounds merged into one as I move across the studio to my usual chair. How had things spiralled so out of control and ended up like this? One word sprung to mind—Amy. If she hadn’t interfered, I wouldn’t be in the position I was in now. Alex and I would still be in our little bubble. Us against the world.

  I couldn’t help but glance over to where he was sitting, expecting him to be sneaking a look at me like always, but he wasn’t. He was reading his stupid script again, with his face screwed up in concentration. His actions reminded me of my first day here. I had hated that day, and this was like living it on repeat, only much worse.

  The one thing that kept me from running out of the studio and escaping was that I refused to let Amy think that she had won. I had until Wednesday afternoon to make the most of Alex’s presence. Once he left for Los Angeles, I would probably never see him again. I couldn’t even class him as a quick, cheap thrill, not that I’d ever wanted that from him. Regardless of what he’d said about me being like all the others, I didn’t think he meant it. I believed everything that he had told me up until our misunderstanding. He cared for me, and I doubted that he could completely shut down, ignoring everything he had felt for me. He was hurting, and his reactions were the only way he knew of coping. I’d accused him of acting with me over the past few days, but as he rose from his chair and swaggered across the studio to the set, I saw the true acting taking place. He was currently giving the performance of his life, and it was before the cameras had started rolling—it was purely for my benefit.

  Rowan joined me, sitting in his chair. A huge sigh escaped him. He didn’t seem any happier than me.

  “Congratulations,” I growled sarcastically. “Yours and Amy’s little plan worked a treat, but I’m not as shallow as you both seem to think I am. I’m not giving up. Amy wants a fight—she’s got one.”

  “Ella, I’m sorry, it was all her idea.” He didn’t look at me as he spoke.

  “And you went along with it? Why Rowan? I didn’t take you for the vindictive sort.”

  “It’s complicated.”

  “I somehow suspect life is whenever you let Amy get under your skin.”

  “Meaning?”

  “I’ve seen the way you jump when she says jump. I’ve seen the way she seems very possessive over you. It isn’t healthy Rowan. I mean, do you actually like her?”

  Rowan started laughing but it was a quiet nervous laugh. “I slept with her a couple of times, but the answer as to whether I like her or not is a definite no.”

  “You slept with her?” I was stunned. “Why?”

  “Because she made herself very available. She flirted when nobody else was around, she teased me. She also wants to star in the next film I’m scheduled to be directing.”

  “Rowan, you took advantage.” My eyes widened. Here was another example of the shady way in which the film industry worked.

  “Not really. She used me.”

  I didn’t answer him. It seemed Alex’s earlier outburst about her and Rowan sleeping together had been completely accurate.

  “That’s why I had to help her today. I didn’t want to, but she told me I had to make sure you went off to Alex’s dressing room all fired up. I did try to warn you earlier, I told you to follow your heart.”

  Suddenly what he had said in Alex’s dressing room made sense. He had known what was going to happen.

  “She planned for Tessa to be there,” he said. “I can only guess what you opened the door to.”

  “It wasn’t much. I over-reacted. History and all that.” I didn’t want him to know how bad things were between us. He’d report it straight back to Amy.

  “So why has Alex shut down again?” he asked.

  “We argued about something. It seems he’s not the easy forgiving sort.” I tried to make light of the situation.

  Rowan sucked in his breath. “I’m sorry, Ella. If there’s anything I can do to help you two sort it out, just tell me.”

  I turned away from him. I’d never ask for his help, not now.

  “If you’re so willing to help me and Alex sort things out, why did you help Amy try to mess things up? What’s she got on you Rowan?”

  He looked away, took a deep breath and then turned slowly to face me. “She pregnant, Ella. She says the baby’s mine.”

  “What?” I shrieked.

  Rowan shot me a panicked look. “Don’t you dare breathe a word of this to anyone.” His eyes darted across the studio, and I followed his gaze as it landed on Alex. He must have heard my loud shriek. He was frowning. Was he concerned? His face set as hard as stone and he turned his back as soon as he caught me looking at him.

  I tutted at his childish behaviour, and shook my head, pushing all thoughts of Alex from my mind for the time being.

  “Is it definitely yours?” I asked. I knew her history, and her track record with pregnancy.

  “I’m not convinced. She says it is. What else can I do? She refuses to get rid of it.”

  My stomach twisted. “You want her to get rid of it?”

  Rowan frowned as if I had asked him the most ridiculous question in the world. “I don’t want a child now, and definitely not with her. She says she’s keeping it, she refuses to kill a child.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It would have been so easy to tell Rowan about how she’d behaved when she was last pregnant, and there had been a chance that it was Alex’s baby. I kept that information to myself.

  “But there must be a chance that it’s Simon’s,” I said.

  He nodded. “Of course there is. She was sleeping with her boyfriend when she was seeing me.”

  “Then why does she think it’s yours?”

  “She’s confident it’s mine. She says she’ll find out for certain when it’s born.”

  “She’s one seriously fucked up woman,” I muttered.

  “I know that now. I even managed to feel a bit sorry for Alex over the last few days. I began to understand how he could hate her so much.”

  “You have no i
dea,” I whispered under my breath.

  “So, what do I do?” Rowan asked. “I don’t want the baby. I don’t want her. She’s adamant the baby’s mine, refusing to get rid of it unless I help her split you two up.” He inclined his head in Alex’s direction.

  “Hang on a minute. You just admitted that she’s using this to blackmail you. She’s basically saying that she’ll get rid of it if you help split me and Alex up?” I had to make sure I had heard him correctly.

  “Yes.”

  “So one minute she says she won’t kill a baby, then she’s saying that she’ll get rid of it if you help her. She’s just saying that to make you feel guilty, and force you into doing her dirty work.”

  “I just wish there was something I could have on her. Something that would just make her go away and never bother me again.”

  He wasn’t alone with his thinking. Maybe I had the perfect way to bring her down, to let the paparazzi, that she so voraciously fed information to, know what she had done to Alex. How easy would it be for me to call Anthony and tell him the whole story?

  But I couldn’t do it. No matter what she had done, I didn’t want to cause Alex any more aggravation and upset concerning her aborting his child. The ridiculous situation that Rowan was in was all down to him not being able to keep his trousers buttoned up when she laid herself out for him. It was his problem, not mine, and he needed to deal with it.

  “I presume Simon knows she’s pregnant,” I said.

  “I would imagine so. She’s throwing up all over the place first thing in a morning. Her head’s in the toilet for nearly half an hour as soon as she’s out of bed.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “That’s very specific?”

  Rowan lowered his gaze.

  “You’re still sleeping with her? For god’s sake Rowan, what’s wrong with you?”

  “She says she needs time away from Simon. He’s too intense for her.”

  I laughed—I knew it was completely out of place to find any humour in what he was telling me, but I couldn’t help myself. Rowan and Amy deserved each other. I felt sorry for Simon. He was the innocent in all this. It seemed that whatever man Amy wanted, she got, sod the consequences. I also wondered whether it was the reason she couldn’t stand to see me and Alex together. I had something that she couldn’t have any more.

  I suddenly had an idea. “So, let me get this straight. Amy is pregnant. She says it’s yours. You don’t want it. She is refusing to get rid of it unless you do as she says. In reality, this baby could be yours or Simons.”

  Rowan nodded.

  “You need to tell Simon,” I said. “Let him know that there is a chance the baby is not his.”

  “Ella, I can’t do that. How? I mean—”

  “Simon deserves to know that she could be pregnant by someone other than him. He may be a forgiving man, but everyone has their limits. I strongly suspect that it could end their relationship.”

  I was possibly being just as much of a bitch as Amy. But my mind was running through all the scenarios in my head. If I was Simon, I’d want revenge, and I suspected that he’d know just where to hurt her.

  I slipped Anthony Edward’s card out of my pocket and placed it in Rowans hand. “I’m sure you can work it out, Rowan. Talk to Simon, give him that card.”

  I stood up and headed for the studio doors. I was thirsty and needed a drink. My purse was in Alex’s dressing room.

  As I crossed the studio, I was aware I was being watched. Alex was following my every move. If he was paying me this much attention when he was supposedly ignoring me, it was only a matter of time before things between us got sorted out. I couldn’t forget about the time we had spent together, and I was sure he couldn’t either. The man I had got to know would return at some point.

  I strode toward Alex’s dressing room. It was only as I neared the door that I caught shouting from inside. It sounded like an argument. I pushed the door open.

  Amy spun around to face me. “What are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same,” I shot back before glancing over to Erin who looked as if she’d been crying. “What’s going on?”

  “Get out!” Amy shouted. “Get out, you useless whore!”

  I moved further into the room ignoring her order. I was concerned about Erin.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  She nodded quickly, before glancing at Amy.

  I wasn’t convinced. It looked very much like Amy had upset her, and I had heard them arguing before I entered the room. I turned my attention to Amy.

  “What have you said to her?” I asked.

  Amy shrugged.

  “I’ll find out, Amy. What have you said to Erin that’s upset her so much?”

  “I haven’t said anything, have I Erin?”

  Erin didn’t speak. Her fear of Amy seemed to have taken a hold.

  “What is it about you?” I said, stepping closer to her. “That makes you such a complete and utter bitch?”

  “Huh? So speaks the queen of bitches.”

  “Me? I don’t think so. Have you forgotten just what I know about you? You well and truly have the queen’s crown on your head. And why exactly are you in Alex’s dressing room?” I repeated my earlier question.

  Amy ignored my query. “Why are you here?”

  “I’ve come for my purse.” I nodded toward the ledge that ran under the mirrored wall. My purse was laid at the side.

  “Well get it, and get out!”

  “No,” I said calmly. “You have no right to be in here in the first place.”

  “I have more right than you. I’m Alex’s co-star. What are you now?”

  “Now?” I queried. “What do you mean, now?”

  “Well, he’s dumped you, hasn’t he?”

  I narrowed my eyes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  The confused look that crossed her face was almost comical. She’d just dropped herself right in it. She shouldn’t have had any idea about what had gone on between Alex and me, and the only way she could have suspected that we’d argued would have been because of her little set up. She’d shot herself in the foot. Her face turned ghostly white.

  I couldn’t help but gloat a little bit.

  “They’re waiting for you in the studio so they can start filming. I’m surprised your ears aren’t burning with what’s being said through there about your un-professionalism.”

  She glared at me before striding toward the door. I grabbed her arm just before she opened it. “Don’t think for one minute that you’ve fooled me. I know what you planned with Tessa. You’re sad and pathetic. I seriously hope that you get what’s coming to you very soon,” I hissed at her.

  Her face turned even paler as she shot out of the room.

  “Oh. My. God!” Erin exclaimed.

  “What?”

  “I have never, ever seen Amy so flustered. You were amazing.”

  I scowled. “I hate the woman. I mean, how can I have such a strong hate for someone I’ve only just met. She is complete and utter poison.”

  Erin nodded.

  “Are you sure you’re okay. Was she being nasty to you just before I came in?”

  “In a way. She was trying to get me to cause trouble between you and Alex. She wanted me to pretend that I was sleeping with him.”

  I raised my brow. “I’m sorry Erin, you shouldn’t have to put up with that.”

  “Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault she’s deluded. Anyone can see that he’s madly in love with you.”

  “Well . . .”

  “You’re amazing for him. Honestly, Ella, I have never seen him as happy as he has been this week, and I’ve worked with him for years. Of course, Amy didn’t like it when I told her what she could do with her stupid idea. She threatened to get me sacked. She got angry. I just threatened to tell Alex everything she’d said. She knows that he’d believe me over her.”

  I smiled weakly. “Thank you for the support, but Amy has already worked her poison o
n Alex and me. He’s currently ignoring me, and I’m afraid that his snarling former self seems to be back even worse than before.”

  “What? Ella, no! How? Sit down and tell me everything.”

  “I can’t. I need to be in the studio. I only came back for my purse. I need to buy a bottle of water.”

  “Here,” Erin said as she picked up a large bottle of water from the floor. “I always carry it around with me. She spun the chair to face me and nodded at the seat. “Sit. Now!”

  I sank onto the chair.

  She spun the chair around again and jumped up on the counter so she was facing me. “Spill. And it had better be good. I’ll be slapping you and him if either of you have cocked this up.”

  I managed a grimace. “It was all me, so, you know, slap me now.” My tears pushed behind my eyes and my throat burnt as I swallowed.

  “Ella, what did that bitch do?”

  “I don’t know all the details. But I thought I saw Tessa giving Alex a blow job. I walked in on them.”

  “Tessa? Titty Tessa? The woman who starred with him in Starworld?"

  I nodded, my tears disappearing as I heard Erin’s nickname for her.

  “She’s a complete whore! God, when I think about all the times I had to save Alex from her. He couldn’t go anywhere without her following him. He couldn’t stand her. He would never let her near his peen.”

  “I know that now. But when I saw her on her knees . . .” I shook my head, knowing how stupid I’d been.

  “You thought she was actually doing it?”

  I nodded again. “I panicked. I ran away. He came after me, but I wouldn’t listen.”

  “Let me guess,” Erin said. “As soon as you stopped listening, he shut down, or rather, his defences went up again. He went back to being horrible to you.”

  “Yep, and I have no idea how to make it right between us.”

  Erin jumped down from the counter and wrapped her arms around me. “We’ll think of something,” she said. “God, I could strangle him at times.”

  “It’s not his fault. I should have listened to what he had to say, and I shouldn’t have jumped to the wrong conclusion so easily.” The lump in my throat wouldn’t disappear, and I swallowed several times trying to ease the ache away.