by Matt Cain
It wasn’t that Mia was being cold or ruthless in her search for a man, just that she was trying to look after herself. She’d seen her mother lose her security, dignity and, for a long time, her happiness after her father had walked out on the family when Mia was still very young. Her mom had had to take on extra shifts at the hospital where she slaved away as a nurse and worked herself into the ground over the next ten years, just to survive and bring up her daughter. Ever since then she’d warned Mia not to make the same mistake with men as she had. ‘Don’t fall for a bad boy,’ she’d lectured, time and time again. ‘Find yourself a nice, dependable good guy – someone who isn’t trouble.’ Over the years, Mia had vowed never to fall into the same trap as her mom. There was too much at stake; she’d seen first hand how much could be lost through falling in love with the wrong kind of guy.
‘You know,’ Dan went on, ‘maybe I’m not the most exciting of guys but I never thought Angelique would cheat on me like that. Maybe that’s my problem though – maybe I’m just too nice.’
Bleep bleep! For Mia, a man could never be too nice. She didn’t understand why so many women fell for bad boys, those sexy scoundrels who had trouble written all over them. She was different. She wanted her very own good guy – and perhaps she’d just found him.
*
‘So Leo, let me get this straight. Are you saying you’re breaking up with me?’
Across town, Leo Henderson was in Dirty Dick’s, an English-themed pub popular with LA’s expat crowd, just metres away from the seafront in Venice Beach. Dirty Dick’s was one of his favourite drinking haunts as it was really close to his house, served more than twenty different real ales, and had the atmosphere of a British pub, which reminded him of home. And with its candlelit recesses at the back, it was a surprisingly good setting for a quiet, intimate date. In fact, Leo had used it for that very purpose on several occasions. Tonight though he was here with a completely different purpose. Tonight, he was here to have a difficult conversation with his girlfriend Eden. And by the end of the conversation, she’d hopefully be his ex-girlfriend.
‘Yeah, I’m sorry Eden but I’ve thought about this a lot and things just aren’t working for me at the moment.’
‘But I don’t understand,’ she said. ‘Is it something I’ve done?’
The problem was that it was something she’d done. But he didn’t want to upset her by saying that. He paused for a moment to choose his words carefully.
‘No, no, it’s nothing you’ve done. I just think our lives are moving in different directions, that’s all.’
Is that a cliché? he wondered. He hoped not but he was really struggling to get through this. And anyway, it was true.
When he’d first met Eden six months ago her name had been Barbara and she’d been a Pilates instructor teaching stay-at-home mums and former film stars in a local old folks’ home. He couldn’t deny that he’d been attracted to her stunning good looks and incredible body but more importantly for Leo, she’d been a Buddhist with a bit of a hippie outlook on life. As a paparazzo, he had more than enough madness in his professional life and liked nothing more than a laid-back, calm personal life. Eden had seemed like the perfect fit.
But ever since she’d signed a deal to appear on a daytime TV show as a fitness expert, things had changed. It was as if her first taste of fame had somehow corrupted her. She’d adopted her stage name, given up Buddhism almost overnight and started talking endlessly about her ‘profile’ with a manic glint in her eye. When she released her first Pilates DVD she treated herself to a boob job and went out for a ‘relaunch’, which basically consisted of going to a film premiere in a low-cut top, perspex hooker heels and a mini skirt that looked like a pelmet. When she saw the photos in the press she became almost crazed in her desire for more. She kept pestering Leo to snap her coming out of restaurants with a few semi-famous friends – and he started to wonder if that was the only reason she was going out with him in the first place. As she got more and more angry with him for refusing, it began to dawn on him that the two of them couldn’t last much longer.
‘I’m so sorry, Eden.’ He gave her a smile that he hoped wasn’t too sympathetic or patronizing.
‘Well all I can say is, you sure know how to pick your moments. You do realize I’m on The Wendy Williams Show tomorrow?’
He took a swig of his beer. ‘Well I guess that’s kind of it to be honest, Eden. Boob jobs and TV shows – it’s not really what I signed up for.’
She suddenly perked up, as if hit by a good idea. ‘Actually, I could always tell Wendy about being dumped – open my heart on air and turn on the tears. She loves a good sob story.’
Leo was beginning to struggle not to sound impatient. ‘Eden, will you just listen to me for a minute? It’s this obsession with chasing fame that’s my whole problem.’
‘Well maybe it wouldn’t be such a problem if you’d actually bother to pap me now and again.’
‘But we’ve already been through all that – you know I don’t like to mix work with pleasure. It’s way too complicated.’
‘It’s not complicated at all, Leo. In fact, it’s quite simple. My career’s moving to another level and you just don’t want to deal with it.’
‘But Eden, it’s not that I don’t want to deal with it. It’s that I don’t want to give up my job – not when I love it so much. And I just don’t see how a pap can possibly date a target.’
How many times have we had this conversation? The fact that they were having it yet again only strengthened his resolve that he was doing the right thing.
And it wasn’t as if he had many rules in life. In fact, he only had one, and that was never to let his relationships get mixed up with his work. A paparazzo dating someone famous could never work. For a start, both sides wouldn’t know when they were being used. And the way Leo saw it, whatever trust there was between them could only ever break down.
‘Oh, Leo,’ Eden pouted, ‘but we’ve always been so good together . . .’
She swivelled on her seat and crossed her legs – legs that had always driven Leo wild. As he looked at them stretching out beside him he was reminded of just how gorgeous she was and couldn’t help thinking back to the great sex they’d had. Eden was right: they were good together. So was he really doing the right thing by ending it?
She leaned forward and began nibbling on her finger flirtatiously. ‘Oh it just seems such a shame to throw it all away. I mean, we both know there’s a real chemistry between us. And chemistry like that doesn’t come around every day . . .’
Leo was starting to feel a bit hot and undid another button on his shirt. He had to admit, most men would kill to have a girlfriend as good-looking as Eden. As he breathed down his neck to cool himself down he thought about how tough it would be never to sleep with her again. Oh maybe just one last time, he thought. That couldn’t hurt, could it?
Just then he sensed a buzzing sound from his jeans pocket and realized he’d received a text message on his phone. ‘Look, I’m sorry Eden but I really need to get this.’
As he keyed in his security code he felt relieved to have been rescued from a moment of weakness. The last thing he needed right now was to end up back in bed with her – it would only make things even more difficult. Eden must have realized that her last-ditch attempt to save the relationship had failed as she gave a loud huff and swung her legs back under the table.
On the screen of his phone Leo read a text from his photographic agency, Shooting Stars. ‘Mia Sinclair on date in Sky High – arrived 9 p.m.’
Straight away he wanted to take the job as pictures of the First Lady of Love with a new man always sold for good money. But he couldn’t leave Eden before they’d properly talked things through. He wondered how much longer it would take.
Because this assignation with Mia Sinclair was his kind of date. Totally uncomplicated – and purely professional.
*
As Nice Man Dan told her about his charity work helping to build a vil
lage in a remote part of Africa, Mia Sinclair leant back on the heavily cushioned sofa and relaxed into a date that she was enjoying more and more. She often chose Sky High as the venue for first dates as she loved its tasteful gold and green furniture and the pulsing Brazilian music they played. Most of all though, she loved the fact that the bar was private and heavily guarded from the paparazzi.
Because Mia hated the paparazzi. Without doubt they were her biggest enemy. Ever since she’d had her first hit movie and suddenly become public property, they’d ruined every attempt she’d made at starting a new relationship. In the last month alone there’d been three casualties of their unrelenting pursuit of pictures. First there was Seth, a shy but sexy writer who spent all his time indoors hunched over a computer and consequently looked a bit like a mole. But he was sweet and sensitive and Mia liked him a lot. After their first date she’d kissed him goodbye in front of the restaurant and the two of them had been almost blinded by the camera flashes as the paps had pounced, each of them desperate for an exclusive. As someone terrified of any attention at all, Seth had completely freaked out and ended it with her later that night.
It was all very upsetting but she’d picked herself up again and soon felt strong enough to start dating a guy called Hart, a real head-turner of a model who she knew would be used to having his photo taken. He did indeed seem to love being in the spotlight. But when she’d found out that he’d tipped off the paps about their third date so that he could be photographed basking in her spotlight, she’d forced herself to dump him without a second thought. The truth was, though, that she’d been devastated and had gone on to spend the entire weekend stuffing herself on takeaway pizza as she YouTubed over and over again his two-minute guest appearance on America’s Next Top Model.
And finally there was Buck, a tough-talking baseball player with a soft centre who’d said he wanted to take things slowly after recently coming out of a painful break-up. Just when she’d started to think she might be falling for him, photos of them stepping out together had been splashed across trashy tabloids and gossip websites, one of which quoted a so-called friend to come up with the headline ‘Marriage within a month for the First Lady of Love’ – not the easiest read for someone wary of getting serious. Unsurprisingly, Buck had ditched her like a shot. Again, she’d been devastated but this time she’d had to deal with the public humiliation as well.
She sighed slowly like a deflating tyre. The way Mia saw things, the paparazzi really did have a lot to answer for.
‘You know I’ve seen all your movies,’ Dan said, interrupting her thoughts. ‘You’re very talented. And if you don’t mind me saying so, from what I’ve seen on screen you sure do seem like a lovely lady.’
Now it was Mia’s turn to be bashful. ‘Oh that’s very kind of you,’ she said. ‘But I have to let you know that in real life I’m nothing like the characters I’ve played.’
Mia felt that she had to make this point on first dates as she was starting to worry that men were confusing her with the kind of needy, clingy characters she played on screen. Not that there was anything wrong with that kind of person but she’d played so many of them that she sometimes thought men would assume she was a total desperado and run a mile.
Her first hit had been a movie called Harassment, in which she played a naïve young secretary whose boss suggests they fake a case of sexual harassment, sue their employer and split the proceeds. Only their plan falls apart when they fall in love, the harassment suit collapses and they’re left with nothing but each other – although by this stage they’re so in love that they realize that’s all they need to be happy. Then there was Lapping it Up, in which she played a lapdancer with a heart of gold who gives up her dream of becoming a prima ballerina to elope with a customer who tells her he’s a billionaire businessman but is actually a gangster on the run from both the police and the Mob. Obviously, he’s heart-breakingly handsome, so she forgives his deception and falls for him anyway, joining him as he flees across the border to a new life in South America. And her last big hit was The Princess and the Pauper, in which she played a plucky British royal who renounces her title and claim to the throne to marry a dashing American divorcee who whisks her away from the glamour of her family’s palace to live happily ever after on a pig farm in rural Tennessee.
Mia sipped her drink and thought back over her film roles. They might be weak and needy but none of them seemed to have any problem finding somebody to love them. Why was it so difficult for her? Sure, she had more to contend with – a public persona as the First Lady of Love and a squadron of hairy, sweaty paps trailing her everywhere. But however much she reminded herself of this it didn’t stop her from feeling increasingly lonely, an emotion she’d never had to portray on screen. What she wanted now more than anything else was to be on a solid team of two, to know that she always had someone on her side, whatever happened. And she really hoped Dan would be that guy.
‘So how about you?’ he said. ‘How come you’re still single?’
Mia breathed in confidently. This is what she was good at – this was where the acting came in.
‘Oh, you know, I’m so busy with my career at the moment that I just don’t get the time to sit around pining for a man. Although, then again, if one should happen to come along . . .’ She allowed herself to trail off with a giggle.
Was that all right? she wondered. I hope I’m not coming across as too cold.
Dan asked about her next film and Mia explained that she was about to finish making a movie with Billy Spencer, who everyone was calling the hottest actor in town. It was a period piece called War of Words and she was hoping it would be a big departure for her. True to form, she played a romantic novelist volunteering as a nurse on the frontline in the Second World War who has an explosive and passionate affair with a radical war poet. But the difference this time was that there was no happy ending and her soldier lover dies on the battle-field, leaving her character desolate and heartbroken. Mia had never starred in a weepie before so there was a whole different emotional journey for her to get her teeth into. And because the film didn’t have a formulaic happy ending, it was being taken much more seriously – it wasn’t even finished yet and there was already talk of film festivals and awards.
‘I just heard we have to do a few reshoots for the ending,’ Mia explained. ‘But we’re all excited about it – and I’m hoping it means I get to play more serious roles from now on.’
‘Well I think we should drink to that.’ Dan held out his glass and she brought hers to meet it with a cheery chink.
‘To new beginnings!’ Mia smiled.
‘New beginnings!’
They sipped their drinks and held each other’s gaze.
All I need now, Mia thought, is someone to walk me down the red carpet.
*
‘Well I don’t need you,’ Eden spat. ‘My DVD was the fourth biggest seller in Walmart last week!’
Leo sat there and took the flak. As he was breaking up with her he thought it was only right to let her express her anger – even if it was all directed at him.
‘Exactly,’ he offered, ‘I’m sure you’ll find someone much better than me. Someone who’s famous too and then you can go out and be photographed together.’
‘You know, when I think of all the men I turned down because I was dating you,’ she ranted. ‘You do realize I was hit on by Hart Blakemore last week? I mean, he’s only the most famous male model in the world! His last girlfriend was Mia Sinclair!’
At the mention of Mia’s name, Leo wondered how her date was going in the Mirage. He really hoped he could make it across town in time to catch her exit.
‘You know, I always knew you’d be trouble,’ Eden rattled on. ‘My girlfriends warned me you were a bad boy. And man were they right.’
Leo wondered what time it was and if he could have a quick look at his watch without her noticing.
‘And don’t think I don’t realize that all your bullshit about hating fame is just
a cover. I can see right through you, Leo. You just don’t want to admit that you’re a dog – a dirty dog who can’t commit.’
Leo was happy to sit there and take it like a man but this kind of comment really hurt him. He tried not to show it.
‘You’ll probably have another girlfriend by next week – if you haven’t got one already!’
He stared at his beer and tried not to let her get to him. It was proving difficult.
Leo was aware that lately he’d built up a reputation as something of a bad boy, purely because he’d had so many girlfriends. His friend Ronnie joked about him being irresistible, having to fend off female admirers wherever he went. He had no idea why they all seemed to fall for him. Was it the British accent? Was it the motorbike? Was it that wonky grin they all seemed to talk about?
Whatever it was, the problem was that he had a knack of attracting girls who wanted to be famous – and who wanted his help to get there. Before he knew it he’d racked up a string of failed relationships, Eden being just the latest example. But the truth was, he’d only ever wanted one special girl – just one who didn’t want to be famous.
Leo’s phone vibrated again and he apologized and fished it out of his pocket.
‘The problem with you paps,’ Eden snarled, ‘is you’ve got no feelings. You’re just a bunch of cold-hearted sleazeballs!’
He tried to block her out and read the message. Apparently Mia Sinclair had just asked for her check and looked to be winding up her date. He really needed to get going soon or he wouldn’t make it to the Mirage in time. If Eden didn’t hate him enough already, she was going to hate him a whole lot more when he walked out on her, leaving her with a wad of cash to pay the bill.
‘Well screw you, ass-wipe. Screw you!’
He took a deep breath and prepared to tell her that he was leaving. Across town he had an urgent assignation with Mia Sinclair, the First Lady of Love.