Illusions of Love

chapter 8



‘You look amazing,’ Dominic smiled, kissing India’s cheek as she sat down opposite him at a table on the terrace, the late evening sun still warm on her back. ‘I took the liberty of ordering some champagne, I hope you don’t mind.’

She smiled too, taking the glass he handed her. ‘I love champagne. Thank you. And thank you for this afternoon. You were a real pleasure to work with, considering we had some scenes that could well have been quite awkward, for our first time working together.’

He gave a quiet laugh, and India liked the way his eyes crinkled up when he did that. He had a very expressive face. A strong face. ‘Hey, spending the afternoon kissing you wasn’t exactly a chore.’

She suddenly felt a touch shy, looking down at her hands as they fiddled with the stem of her champagne flute.

‘Does it feel, y’know, uncomfortable? Doing scenes like that with your ex-husband directing?’ Dominic asked.

She looked up at him. ‘No. Why should it?’ She was aware she’d sounded slightly defensive there and she sat back in her chair, trying to relax, but she couldn’t help feeling a little on edge, for some reason. As if something was about to happen that she couldn’t quite predict.

He sat back too, holding up his hands. ‘Hey, it’s okay. I didn’t mean to ask anything personal. I just wondered, that’s all. I guess it’s because I’ve never been in the position of working so closely with someone I used to be married to.’

She sighed, sitting forward again, taking a long drink of champagne, because she needed it. She needed something to help her relax. She suddenly felt quite anxious, and she had no real idea why. ‘I’m sorry, Dominic. I think the day’s just caught up with me, that’s all. Filming, looking after Ethan, fending off a disapproving father at the age of forty-two… it’s bloody tiring.’

He gave that laugh again and she couldn’t help laughing too. ‘I really like you, India. And, well, you and I – we’ve got a lot more in common than you think.’ He looked right into her eyes. ‘A lot more.’

She was about to ask him what, exactly, when that unpredictable situation she’d been half-expecting suddenly happened. ‘Oh, Jesus, what’s he doing here?’

Dominic turned around, following India’s gaze. ‘Who?’

‘JJ Foster. My husband.’

She finished her glass of champagne and stood up, pushing her chair under the table as Dominic stood up too. ‘I’m sorry, Dominic. Maybe we can do this again, another night?’

‘How about dinner? Tomorrow?’ Had that sounded slightly desperate?

She smiled and nodded. ‘That’d be nice. Look, I’d better go see what he wants. I really am sorry.’

But not as sorry as Dominic was. Because, when India found out just what it was that they had in common, this whole game was about to change. Big time.



***



Charley had the best team of stylists behind her. They were some of the most talented and sought after in L.A., many of them having defected from rival salons to work for her as Charley’s reputation continued to grow. And this fashion show they were working on needed the very best stylists she could get because the list of names taking part was becoming bigger and more important as each day went on.

They’d now not only be styling the hair of the models taking part, they’d also be working with some big celebrity names from the worlds of TV, music and movies that had agreed to hit the runway in the name of charity. But Charley was no stranger to the world of celebrity. She had many big-name clients who used Charley’s on a regular basis, but some of these names taking part in the fashion show were huge. And she didn’t want to let anyone down. So, she’d gathered together the absolute best team she could, with stylists and colourists at the top of their game, ready to do work that could put both of her salons right on the map and, maybe, help get her that New York-based salon she’d started to dream of. She hadn’t thought it possible when she’d first started out, but now it was very much within her grasp. She just needed to work that little bit harder.

‘Who’s got the hairpieces?’ Charley asked as her team set up for yet another meeting with Candice at her Brentwood studio.

The models were due to arrive within the next hour and she couldn’t find the blond and red hairpieces that she’d laid out back at the salon. She’d assumed somebody had picked them up and brought them with them, but she should have been more on the ball and checked herself. Her fault, really.

‘Nobody? Great. I’d better go back to the salon and get them then.’

‘Ring Brad,’ Callie smiled. She was the youngest of the stylists on Charley’s team, but incredibly talented none-the-less. She was examining one of Candice’s dresses from the collection she was debuting at the show and Charley was just pleased to see that at least one of her team had thought to look over the garments with a view to matching the hair and make-up. Candice had a brief, but she also wanted any ideas Charley’s team were willing to put forward. ‘He could get someone to bring them over, couldn’t he? Alex has got a motorbike, he could be here in no time.’

Charley smiled at Callie, grabbing her handbag. ‘No. Alex has a client in this morning, and a very important one at that. It’s okay. I might as well go get them myself, it won’t take long. There’re a few things I want to check over at the salon anyway. Will you guys be alright on your own for a while? Do you all know what you’re doing?’

A cacophony of ‘yes’ and ‘of course’ echoed round the room and Charley smiled again. They were a great team. Of course they’d be okay.

‘Oh, and you could all do a lot worse than following Callie’s example. Get a look at the clothes Candice is showing and think of the kind of hair and make-up that would compliment those garments. I know she’s got her own brief but if we can get a couple of our own ideas out there than that’s great news for our salon. And for you lot. Back in a bit, kids!’

She ran out of the building and jumped into her car, pulling away probably a touch faster than she should have done. Beverly Hills wasn’t exactly miles away, she had plenty of time.

Switching on her iPod she quickly settled on a playlist of summer songs, tracks that sounded good in the sunshine, and she turned up the volume as the climate control kicked in, tapping her fingers along to Don Henley’s Boys of Summer as she drove. She felt good. Those silly feelings of unease she’d felt a couple of days ago had disappeared now. She’d just been tired, that was all. Tiredness, and an empty, echoing salon had a habit of playing tricks on the mind. She knew nobody was watching her. Why would anyone want to watch her? She was nobody special. She almost laughed at the idea that somebody could think her important enough to follow. What a ridiculous thought!

But what Charley didn’t know was that somebody did think her important enough to follow. Somebody who was about to make his presence felt very soon. And Charley couldn’t have been less ready for what was about to happen.



***



‘What are you doing here, Joe?’ India asked, grabbing her husband’s arm and dragging him away from the terrace, back inside the hotel.

‘A bit predictable, isn’t it?’

‘What are you talking about?’

He stuck his hands in his pockets and adopted an expression akin to that of a bored and spoilt child. ‘Come on, India. Dominic MacDonald?’

‘He’s my co-star, Joe. We’re going to be working together for a good few weeks, what is so wrong with having an innocent drink and getting to know him?’

‘You might think it’s an innocent drink but he’ll be eyeing you up with a view to gaining another notch on his leading-lady bedpost. Is that what you want, huh?’

‘Jesus, Joe, what the hell is this? Have you come all the way to Vegas just to start on me? Because I’m really not in the mood. I’ve had a long day…’

‘With Dominic MacDonald? Leading Lothario?’

‘Have you heard yourself?’

He leant back against the wall and closed his eyes for a second, sighing heavily. ‘And I thought I was coming here to find Michael Walsh the threat.’

India looked at him, unable to believe what she was hearing. ‘Hang on. What exactly is going on here? Nobody is a bloody threat, Joe, because we are getting a divorce, which renders any relationships I may or may not be having absolutely nothing to do with you.’

‘He opened his eyes and stared at her. ‘May or may not be having?’

‘Absolutely nothing to do with you,’ she repeated, staring back at him.

‘So, that’s it then? We just give up, we just walk away from this marriage?’

‘Yes, Joe. I thought we’d been through all this? Baby, we had some great times, and don’t think that I didn’t love you because I was crazy about you…’

‘Was?’

She looked up into those deep, dark eyes and the guilt she still felt at letting him down so badly almost overwhelmed her, as it always did when she thought too much about it. But she couldn’t live a lie. She’d tried, but she couldn’t do it. It wasn’t fair on either of them, but especially not on him. He deserved better. He deserved so much better than her. ‘It’s over, baby.’ Her voice was quiet as she reached out and took his hand, wrapping her fingers around his. ‘You know we couldn’t go on the way we were, Joe.’

‘And what way was that, India? Me crazy in love with you but you never quite being able to love me back?’

She sighed, letting go of his hand. ‘Whatever you want to think, Joe. I’m not doing this to hurt you, believe me. I never wanted that to happen.’

‘I don’t give up without a fight, India. I can’t do that. I still love you, baby, don’t you get that? I still love you.’

‘I know you do…’ She really didn’t want to get into this, especially not here. Especially not now. ‘I know that, Joe, but… Jesus, why have you come here?’

‘Because I think we have something worth fighting for. But it seems obvious to me that you don’t feel the same.’

India just stared at him, unable to say anything because she just couldn’t find the words. She’d told him how she felt, she thought they’d done all the talking they needed to do. She’d had no idea he was so determined to keep fighting, and she should be happy that here was a man who loved her so much he was willing to exhaust himself in his efforts to win her back, but all she felt was sadness. Because she couldn’t fight that same fight.

JJ broke the stare, turning away from her for a few seconds as he blinked back furious tears he’d been so determined not to cry, but he was tired now. Tired of fighting a battle that she wasn’t willing to be part of anymore. But it was a battle he still didn’t want to lose, even if he could feel any chance of victory slipping away by the second. ‘Are you going back to Michael?’ he asked, voicing a question he’d been terrified to ask, but one he needed to know the answer to.

She shook her head, and he looked at her through narrowed, slightly confused eyes. ‘No. I’m not. I never was, Joe.’

‘Then… why are we doing this, India? If you’re not going back to him?’

‘Baby, please, don’t do this to yourself. It’s killing me, Joe. I can’t do this anymore, okay? I just can’t do it anymore.’

He came closer, leaning forward, resting his hand on her hip as he breathed in the smell of her, wanting to be this close one more time before he let her go completely. Something he knew he had to do, even though it was the last thing he wanted.

She put a hand on his cheek and smiled, letting him pull her closer, looking into his eyes as she remembered those dark days just before her accident, those days that had followed the shattering revelations that had caused JJ to walk out of her life. Those days when she’d thought she couldn’t go on if she didn’t have him by her side. Was she really ready to believe that she could say goodbye to him so easily after all of that? Yes, she was. She had to. To stay with him just wouldn’t be fair, because she wasn’t in love with him the way she used to be. And she couldn’t live a lie. ‘I’m sorry, Joe. Really. I’m sorry.’

He pulled away from her, certain now that his initial fears were nothing but true. She’d never really put her feelings for Michael Walsh aside, and until she finally managed to do that she was never going to be able to truly move on. But this time JJ knew that he was going to have to accept that he had to, because this had just turned into something he really didn’t have the energy to fight for anymore.



***



Candice had chosen two of her stylists’ designs to appear on the runway and Charley felt stupidly excited. To anyone else it might not be that great an achievement, getting a hairstyle out there on a fashion runway, but Charley felt like a proud parent as she punched in Vince’s number, eager to tell him everything.

‘Vince, guess what? She’s using two of our hair creations in the show!’ Her voice was loud and excited, bypassing “hello” or “how are you?” and Vince laughed as she carried on talking, far too quickly, but he loved hearing her so happy. ‘I tell you, we’ve got ourselves one hell of a team here in L.A., I am so proud of them!’

‘I’m so proud of you, honey. You’re the one out there, working them hard and getting results.’

‘But without you giving me this chance… Oh, Vince, I’m just so excited! The contacts Candice is putting my way means that Charley’s is really up there now. I just wish you were here to celebrate with me. I mean, Lily’s great and all that but, she’s not really all that big on adult conversation just yet. I miss you, Vince.’

‘Hey, I miss you too, baby.’ And he did. He missed her like crazy but just hearing the excitement in her voice was enough to make him realise the only thing he wanted to know – that she was happy. Besides, he had enough things here in Vegas to keep him occupied, because whenever Michael and India were in close proximity to each other then a complicated scenario was never that far away. And one such scenario appeared to be materialising right now.

‘How’s India?’ Charley asked, waving goodbye to Saskia, her salon manager, through her open office door.

Vince sighed down the phone, something which made Charley think that maybe things weren’t going all that smoothly over in Las Vegas. A sigh like that was never a good thing with Vince. ‘Well, she seems fine.’

‘So, why the big sigh?’

‘Because I’m not sure Michael’s quite got the message. She’s made things pretty clear to him, but… well, I kinda knew the two of them working this closely together wasn’t gonna be a breeze.’

‘I’ll call her. I could do with catching up on some girly gossip.’

‘Yeah, you do that, honey. I’m sure she’d be real happy to hear from you.’

‘She won’t do anything stupid, Vince. I know her, I know she’s changed over these last few months. She’s stronger now, she’s put a lot of things behind her, so I know she won’t do anything stupid. Ooh, by the way, how’s the lovely Dominic MacDonald? I’ve heard so much about him back here in L.A., I can’t wait to ask India what he’s really like.’

‘Well, she certainly seems to be working fine alongside him. They’re getting on like a house on fire.’

‘Really?’ Charley gasped, now desperate to talk to India.

‘Yeah, really.’

Charley was all too aware of the heavy sigh still evident in Vince’s voice. ‘Is that proving to be a problem? India and Dominic getting close, I mean?’

‘Only for one person.’

And it was obvious who Vince meant by that. ‘What do you think of Dominic then?’ Charley asked. Her husband was usually a very good judge of character so she’d be interested to hear what he thought of India’s co-star, because she only knew him as this hot-looking actor whose movies she never said no to watching.

‘I haven’t really had all that much to do with him to be honest… Oh, gotta shoot, baby, there’s a call on the other line that I’ve really gotta take. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? I love you, Charley.’

‘Love you too, Vince.’ She smiled as she hung up the phone, sitting back in her chair and closing her eyes as she let the day’s events wash over her. Today had been a good day, but then, every day had been a good day since she’d met Vince Maine. It was just the days before he’d arrived in her life that she chose to forget.

The sound of a window banging shut made Charley jump, and she leapt up from her desk, that feeling of unease suddenly creeping back over her. She’d thought everyone had gone. Saskia had been the last to leave, she’d told her to make sure of that, to make sure that everyone else had left before she did.

Grabbing her bag and keys she locked her office door and went to do one last check of the salon, going into every room, closing every window, locking every door. This was crazy! She’d never been this paranoid before, what was wrong with her? Why was she so jumpy?

The noise of a car backfiring outside made her swing round, her heart almost stopping dead in her chest. Jesus! She needed a drink. Her nerves were shot to pieces all of a sudden. Maybe she just needed some time away from L.A., some time with Vince. Things had been pretty manic round here and she hadn’t really had a day off in months. No wonder she was on edge. She needed to take some time out and relax, that was all.

She leant against the reception desk and tried to get her breath back. She had to pull herself together. She had a lot of work to do, and this show was only a day or so away now. All she had to do was get through the next few days and then she and Lily could pack up and head to Vegas for some time with Vince. That thought alone would keep her going. Not long now and she could take a break from this place, because she obviously needed it.

Taking one last glance around the salon, finally satisfied that this sudden paranoia was nothing more than her tired mind playing tricks on her, she punched in the alarm code before letting herself out and double-locking the doors behind her. Another day was over. And she was one step closer to another dream. That’s all she should be focusing on. That’s all she needed to be thinking about. Because anything else she might be feeling really was just all in her imagination.



***



He threw his cigar down on the floor, standing on it with his boot, squashing it into the concrete as he watched her from across the street, his eyes never leaving her. She was still one hell of a good-looking woman, even if she had changed somewhat over the years. She was a mother now, a wife. A businesswoman, and who’d have thought? Charley Maine – an upstanding pillar of the Beverly Hills community. Did any of them know about her past? Did any of them know what she’d used to do before she’d turned into the perfect woman she was so obviously trying to be? Or did they just choose to ignore her past because of who she was connected to?

Pulling his hat down further over his eyes he stepped back into the shadows as she walked away from the salon, tossing her long dark hair back over her shoulder. But what if those connections were taken away from her? How would she cope then?

He smiled to himself before turning and walking away, reaching into his jacket pocket for another cigar. It was almost time. And he didn’t expect her, for one second, to be anywhere near prepared for what was about to happen.