Chapter Twenty Six
Emma could barely open her
eyes, she groaned at the throbbing in her head, and the pain behind her eyes.
What the hell was she doing? What the hell had happened? Her last memory was going
into a club called Winston’s late, very late. Finally opening her eyes she was
glad to see she was in her apartment, but that was all she was glad about. The
clock showed she had half an hour to get to the studio for the biggest day of
filming she had. The only consolation was that presumably Theo was in a similar
situation to her.
Picking up her phone, she
dialled his mobile number, he answered with a groan after five rings.
“White! What the hell have you done to me?”
She laughed, “I was about to ask
you the same thing. My greatest day and I feel like shit!”
Theo chuckled then groaned at
the pain that caused, “the makeup guys are experienced, if we need to reshoot
any close ups I’ll take that rap, ok?”
“See you in five?”
He groaned again, and it was
then that her door bell rang, that would be her studio taxi.
She’d never been more grateful
to slump into her bed than she had that evening. It should have been her most
euphoric moment, her first full day of filming. And whilst she nailed her
scenes, she did it feeling like shit. She barely saw Theo all day, but she
blamed him entirely. When his name flashed in her mobile phone half an hour
after entering her apartment she almost disconnected the call. Reluctantly she
answered.
“Hi!”
He sighed, “sorry. Shouldn’t
have dragged you out last night. Feel like death!”
She laughed, “me too! How did
you manage to avoid me today when we were meant to be in two scenes together?”
It was his turn to laugh,
“perks of being the director! Had something ‘crop up’, gives us both time to
reschedule our big scene.”
Big scene. Ah yes, she
remembered...the kiss. She’d wanted to forget that she had to kiss him. Their first
attempt in London had been almost comical, and whilst she had got to know Theo
a little better, the desire to kiss him was less than ever.
“We should have practiced last night...after all
apparently I need some coaching!”
She cringed two fold, firstly
she still couldn’t believe she’d said that to him, and secondly, she was
dreading it...and yet he seemed quite keen.
“You’ll be fine, you’re a pro!”
It was an ineffective comment,
but he bought it a hundred percent.
The next morning came and
there was an issue with the recordings of a scene from the previous day, not
one that included her. So she sat around whilst the continuity editors had a
meltdown.
“Emma, we’ll need you after lunch, scene six, we may
not fir in nine today,” one of the executive producers called over to her, so
she took a long lunch, disappearing into one of the trailers to read the book
she’d brought with her from home. She skipped actual food; she was still
feeling fragile from her hangover of the previous day. She wished she could remember
exactly what she’d drank, whatever it was it was lethal, and she’d ever touch
it again. For the umpteenth time in the last twenty four hours she cursed Theo
Samuel.
Scene six was the first time
her character Marian had a flirtatious moment with Theo, or Jim Dieter, they
were high school sweethearts in the show, but
she was a quiet, naive school girl, he a popular jock type who was
fancied by the masses. He didn’t know she existed until they literally bumped
into each other at a school dance. But he was smitten, though it took Marian a
while to believe it.
In the second scene he follows
her after the dance, and that was where they kissed. But the scene was
postponed by a couple of days, something to do with the weather...it was an
outside night scene, and there were heavy storms forecast, so she was surplus
to requirements the following day.
So Emma decided to do the
tourist thing, Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard, she didn’t have time for
Disney, but that was definitely on the horizon. With a grin f relief, she burst
out into the beautifully sunny July day...aware that come five pm it was predicted
to lash down.
Emma had lasted ten minutes on
Hollywood Boulevard. She had no idea why so many people stared at her, but then
a few women approached her and threw derogatory comments in her direction, and
she couldn’t handle it any longer, was this the unfriendly face of tourism? She
really wasn’t sure. As she flagged down a taxi, her phone rang, and with a sigh
of relief at seeing Clarence her agent’s name flash on the screen, she
connected the call.
“Daaarrrling. Why haven’t you answered your telephone?
I’ve been calling all day!”
She sighed, “sorry, been
busy.”
He laughed, “so I see, and BOY
am I jealous! He is SO, SO hot!”
“Have you seen People magazine?”
Jacob groaned at the voice
that had woken him from a very disturbed sleep, “yes! And OK and US Weekly.
What you didn’t send to me I had pointed out by Walt when I escaped to his bar
for a few drinks!”
“Ah!” Andy sighed, “so you didn’t take my advice and
ignore it, you acted on jealousy? You are a dick sometimes!”
“Only sometimes?” Jacob asked ruing the half bottle
of whisky he’d used to chase down a half dozen beers. But he’d needed that at
the time. Seeing the gossip mags had all but broken him in two. Each one was
adorned with both romantic and drunken photos of his wife...his wife with the
dislikeable overly smooth Theo Samuel, and they were definitely digging the
co-star thing. If they hadn’t slept together, they were about to. And whilst
that hurt, nothing hurt as much as noting that she wore those shoes, his shoes,
the shoes he saw on her feet at the end of her legs every time he closed his
eyes. A thousand dollars worth of erotic dreams disappeared in a flash and he
hated her, and he hated Samuel in equal parts. No, he definitely hated Theo
bastard Samuel more. That was a no-brainer.
“You want me to send her divorce papers?”
Jacob spluttered and sat up in
bed, “Andy, you are supposed to be my friend first, and my lawyer second. Can’t
you feel my pain here?”
Andy sighed, “I don’t
understand you Coren, not over this, but I’ll humour you. I’ll be over in an
hour, to help with a contingency plan.”
As much as he loved Andy,
they’d been through so much together, and no one knew him as well as his
friend, he couldn’t cope with him tonight it was all still too raw, and he
wasn’t the most understanding. So he called for a flight to LA, he had to
confront her, he had to tell Emma White how devastating and embarrassing it was
to see her to by throwing herself around town with another man, and a Hollywood
heart throb to boot, did she have no thought over what he felt? Hell what her
parents felt?
Emma didn’t want to leave her
apartment, the photos of her and Theo in various stages of sobriety had leaked
both sides of the Atlantic, and so far she had been inundated by phone calls
from family and friends for most of the night. She was mortified, especially
after a deep and meaningful with her mother, a one-sided one at that, where her
mother ranted and raved about her loose morals and the abuse and humiliation
she’d landed at poor Jacob’s door. She wished with all her heart that Isobel
wasn’t halfway across the globe on her honeymoon at that moment, selfishly. Why
her parents couldn’t support her unconditionally she didn’t know. Yet again
Jacob comes out smelling of roses. It wasn’t as if anything had happened. They’d
had a few too many drinks, but Theo hadn’t touched her, other than his arm
around her shoulder to lead her into the bar they were photographed outside.
The only person she hadn’t
heard from was the much maligned husband of hers, oh and the man she’d been
photographed with. Several calls to the latter were unanswered, and Emma wanted
to scream. She’d been spiralling into hell for years, this was her chance, this
was her opportunity to shine, and it was being ruined by some gossip mongering
photographs. Was there no better news in the world?
When Theo didn’t answer for the fifth time, she threw her phone across the room, she was in no rush to speak to anyone else, all this before her big scene with him the next day. As if she was going to sleep! Incognito she changed and headed out for a jog along the seafront, she needed to do something!
The boarded walkways were
perfect for running, if you dodged the inline skaters and dog walkers, but as
she pounded the miles between Santa Monica and Marina del Rey, there were
definitely worse places to run, and whilst she wasn’t the biggest fan of
running, with the Pacific to her right she didn’t feel too hard done by.
It was late when she finally
got back to the apartment and she was glad of a shower and then bed.
The next evening she had her
big scene, her screen kiss with Theo. She hadn’t seen him since the photos had
broken in the tabloids and she was still angry.
She’d spent the afternoon in makeup, and the continuity editor was
having kittens over her hair and dress. When
she was deemed ready she didn’t want to sit of rest for fear of messing up her
clothes. It was nervous energy, she knew that, but wanted to justify it in a
far more practical manner.
“Right scene forty one, let’s go guys!”
Emma heard the tannoy
announcement and sighed, here it was. Fortunately the scene was being filmed
outside the studio, but not on location, that would have prolonged this even
more. Instead, they had an area of the outdoor parking lot transformed
Hollywood style into a dark quiet street, which in the story was outside the school
gymnasium, where the characters had been at a party.
Her friend Paula was played by
an actress she’d met earlier, this was her only scene and she was excited, Emma
could tell that.
“Right! Let’s go people, positions...” they’d
rehearsed this scene several times earlier in a studio, but this was the first
time they were acting it out fully, she only hoped the first take was enough!
“Places everyone...three...two...one....”
Jacob was amazed he’d got this
far, announcing that he was Emma’s husband had got him into the studios, and
now, as he looked at the scene unfolding, on to the set. He was amazed, and a
little intrigued.
Emma looked so young her hair
pulled into a pony tail, her face fresh, she was talking to another woman and
from his distance he couldn’t hear the dialogue. So he stepped closer to the wall of people
and cameras that spread out in front of him.
“I can’t
believe he saw me...” Emma sighed looking wistfully up to the sky, a hand
lifting to her chest. “After all this time Paula. Did you see him watching me?”
The other woman smiled,
placing a hand on her shoulder, “I did, he only had eyes for you Marian. Lucky
you!”
Emma’s head snapped down and
she turned to stare at her friend excitedly, “and now, I just need to find away
to land in his path...”
There was a pregnant pause
before a voice called out her name, “Marian!”
Both women glanced to the left
and then gasped as they saw Theo Samuel, stood there. He strode purposefully
towards her, stopping in front of her.
“Jim...I...I...” Emma stepped towards him, and Jacob
could almost believe the look of wonderment, excitement and anticipation on her
face. “I didn’t think you’d leave the party this early.”
Theo smiled as he stepped
closer, “the light went out when you left!”
“Really? But...”
“Marian, you keep hiding from me, but you have
to realise that I like you...a lot.” He took her hand and led her away from her
friend.
But Emma protested, “I don’t think you know me,” she snatched her
hands free of his. “How do I know that this isn’t some joke?” She turned and
stepped away from him, keeping her back to him. “This would be the perfect way
to make me look stupid!”
Theo chuckled then, a sound
that brought sighs from the women watching, and a groan from Jacob, he had
never wanted to punch a man more than he did him, at this moment. Instead he
had to watch as his rival reached up to grab Emma’s shoulders, make her face
him.
Her response was to shake her
head, “I know what you’re going to say Jim, but you’ve spent enough time
laughing at me, why would I believe that you’ve changed?”
His head lowered to hers, and
barely a hair’s bread the separated them, pain lanced Jacob’s chest as Theo mumbled
“because of this!” then kissed her.
Jacob felt sick, he kept
telling himself this was just drama, they were acting, but the images that had
filled the papers and magazines this week were real, and he couldn’t help the
anger that started to build.
