Illusions of Love (8 page)

‘We stay purely professional, Michael.
 
We’re here to work together, that’s all.
 
You got that?’

He got it.
 
Loud and clear.
 
But it still didn’t stop him from hoping that, one day, things might change.
 
Because Michael Walsh never gave up on anything without one hell of a fight.

CHAPTER 6

He opened the drawer and reached for the file, sliding out the photographs that had been placed between the paperwork, studying each one carefully.
 
She’d changed.
 
She was hardly recognisable to him now and that angered him slightly because it showed disrespect.
 
And he wasn’t used to that.

Lighting up a cigar he stood up, throwing the photographs down onto the table, walking over to the window, pulling up the blinds to let in the early morning Californian sunshine, squinting slightly as it bounced off the surface of his huge oval swimming pool.
 
Maybe he’d grab a few minutes outside in the sun, get used to his new surroundings.
 
But he didn’t want to hang around too long.
 
He had work to do.
 
He had things to sort out.
 
He had scores to settle.
 
And he just hoped she liked surprises, because he couldn’t wait for this one to unfold.

***

The heat was searing as Kenny sat down opposite Layla, taking a chance to grab a quick coffee before he went back out on set.
 
Filming of this movie was almost at an end for him now and he’d enjoyed it, it had been a fun movie to work on, but he was missing
India
already.
 
He’d been out with her a couple of days ago, a last night out together before she’d left for Vegas, and they’d had a great time.
 
It had been one of those nights when he’d felt as though the old times were back, the nights when they’d just hung out at their favourite bars with their biker friends with nothing there to get in the way.
 
But stuff was always in the way now, no matter how hard they tried to pretend it wasn’t.

‘Penny for them,’ Kenny said.

Layla smiled as she looked at him.
 
‘That’s a very English turn of phrase.’

‘Well, that’s probably because I’ve spent nearly half my life hanging out with an English girl.
 
You kinda pick things up.’

She watched him as he looked down into his coffee.
 
‘You miss her, don’t you?’

Kenny looked at Layla, the harsh, almost fake appearance she’d adopted in the past having given way to a softer, so much prettier side of her.
 
She really was a very beautiful young woman.
 
‘I’ll always miss her.
 
She can be right beside me, Layla, and I’d still miss her.’

‘That’s not really missing
her
though, is it?
 
That’s missing what you had.’

He gave a small laugh, looking back down into his coffee.
 
‘There’s nothing I can say to that, is there?’

Layla stood up, pushing her chair back under the table.
 
‘You should have tried harder with Casey.
 
She was good for you, you were happy with her.
 
You were
never
really happy with
India
because you were never really
with
her, were you?’
 
She leant over and kissed him on the cheek, stroking his face gently.
 
‘Stop doing this to yourself, Kenny.
 
You don’t deserve it.
 
Find a woman to fall in love with, and be happy.’
 
She stood up straight and repositioned the top of her dress, smiling at him.
 
‘I’ll see you on set.’

She walked off, heading towards her trailer, catching sight of a familiar face sitting on the steps as she reached it.

She sat down next to him and he turned to look at her.
 
‘Did Michael go to Vegas early?’ he asked, his hands clasped between his open knees, his handsome face clouded with sadness.

Layla reached out and touched his hand.
 
‘What are you doing here, JJ?’

‘Did he go to Vegas early, Layla?’

She sighed, pulling her hand away.
 
‘He left yesterday.’

‘So did
India
.’

She looked at him again as he stared straight ahead of him.
 
‘So…?’

He turned to face her, the sadness now giving way to something bordering on anger.
 
‘So, you don’t think that’s a bit too coincidental?’

She shrugged, not really knowing what to say.
 
Michael had left early because he always liked to be ahead of the game.
 
Maybe
India
just felt the same way.

‘How
are
things with you and Michael?’ JJ asked, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on Layla’s.

She sighed again, leaning back against the trailer steps.
 
‘There
is
no me and Michael.
 
Not anymore.
 
I mean, we haven’t officially split up or anything, I suppose you could say we’re in some kind of relationship limbo but… well, it’s all but over.
 
Whatever we had – and I’m not sure it was ever that much – it’s gone.’

‘Do you still love him?’

‘Of course I do.’

JJ stared straight ahead again.
 
What the hell was it with Michael Walsh?
 
Sure, he had money, power, status; there was no denying that.
 
But Layla didn’t need any of it, not really, not from him.
 
And
India
certainly didn’t need anything from him, especially after what he’d done to her.
 
Yet still they gravitated towards him like moths to the proverbial flame.
 
‘Then fight for him, Layla.’

She sat up, hugging her knees to her chest.
 
‘What’s the point?’

He looked at her.
 
‘The point
is
that you still love him.
 
So fight for him’

‘And, do you want me to fight for him because you think that’s what would be best for
me?
 
Or, do you want me to fight for him because you think that’ll stop him from getting your wife back into bed?’

He stood up, digging his hands deep into his pockets, unable to stand still.
 
‘Is that what you think is happening?
 
Is that why they’ve gone to Vegas early?
 
Do you think he wants to… Would he do that, Layla?
 
Is… is that what you think is going on?’

She stood up too, going over to him, touching his arm in an attempt to try and make him stand still for a second.
 
‘I don’t know, JJ.’

‘Is that why
she’s
gone early too?
 
So they can be together?
 
Alone?’

‘JJ… Come on, what’s the matter with you?’

He shook off her hand and sat back down, pushing a hand through his short dark hair.
 
‘Jesus… I don’t know, Layla.
 
I thought I’d accepted this, y’know?
 
I thought I was okay about the fact we were growing further apart but… if she goes back to him…’

‘Who says she’s going back to him?’
 
Layla sat back down, giving JJ’s shoulder a gentle squeeze.

He looked at her.
 
‘Do you honestly think he won’t try, Layla?
 
Do you honestly think he won’t try to get her back?’

She squeezed his shoulder again.
 
‘Are you absolutely sure that the reason you and
India
can’t make it work… Is it really just because of Michael?’

He narrowed his eyes as he stared at her.
 
‘Of course it’s because of him.
 
What other fucking reason is there?
 
We were solid, Layla…’

‘Were you?’

He shook her off again, standing up, shoving his hands back in his pockets.
 
‘We were solid, okay?’

‘JJ!’
 
She stood up too, trying to decide whether or not to go after him.
 
‘Where are you going?’

He stopped and turned back around to face her.
 
‘
You
might not want to fight for the man you love, Layla.
 
But I’m sure as hell gonna try one more time to fight for my wife.’

***

India
sat at the breakfast bar, watching Bobby as he scrubbed down the counter tops in a pair of pink rubber gloves, singing along to a Lady Gaga song on the radio.
 

Resting her chin in her hands she couldn’t help smiling.
 
She was happy.
 
Yeah, she was happy.
 
She might be close to another divorce, and ex-husband number two seemed to be trying his hardest to break her down again, but she felt stronger now.
 
What had happened with Michael last night had shown her that she could do this.
 
It wasn’t going to be easy – he’d proved that by what he’d done – but when she’d looked at him she hadn’t felt all those old feelings come rushing back.
 
When he’d kissed her she hadn’t felt as though she was home, that
he
was where she needed to be.
 
She’d felt nothing.
 
Except a knowledge that maybe now she could finally move on and not always need him around.

‘Everything okay, Princess?’

India
shook herself back to reality and sat up straight, picking up her script, flicking through it but not really taking anything in.
 
‘Everything’s fine.
 
Why wouldn’t it be?’

Bobby shrugged.
 
‘No reason.
 
You just looked deep in thought, that’s all.’

She smiled slightly, not looking up from her script.
 
‘Are you saying that’s not something you’re used to seeing?’

‘Those words didn’t come from
my
mouth, Angel.’

She looked up, sticking her tongue out at him.
 
She didn’t know what she’d do without Bobby.
 
He just made everything feel better.
 
‘Have you finished cleaning yet?
 
You do realise they have people to do that for us, don’t you?’

‘Ooh, get her!
 
Twenty years a movie star and
now
she finds her inner diva!’

She pulled a face at him and he pulled one back, causing her to laugh out loud.
 
‘I am so not a diva, Bobby.’

‘Whatever you say, Princess… Oh, my… who is
that
?’

She leant over to pick up some papers that had fallen out from between the pages of her script, stuff she’d printed out and almost forgotten about.
 
After a couple of glasses of wine the previous night, curiosity regarding her new co-star had got the better of her so she’d decided to do a bit of research on Dominic MacDonald, just to give her a heads-up on who she was going to be working with over the next few months.
 
She’d known a little bit about him – he was hard to ignore at the moment, being one of the biggest stars around right now – but she wanted to know more.
 
And what was so wrong about that?

Bobby came up behind her, peering over her shoulder, sighing as he looked at the picture of Dominic MacDonald staring back at him, that movie star smile in full evidence.
 
‘Oh, the
gorgeous
Dominic MacDonald.
 
What a
dream
!
 
How handsome is
he
?’

India
looked at the photograph.
 
She couldn’t deny he was one hell of a good-looking guy, that wasn’t in question.
 
He made JJ look ordinary, and that was saying something, because JJ Foster was one of the hottest men around right now.
 
But Dominic MacDonald, he was in a league of his own.
 
‘Yeah, he’s okay.’

‘
Okay
?’ Bobby gasped.
 
‘Are you looking at the same guy
I’m
looking at?
 
He is burning up that photograph, Angel.
 
And he’s playing your
husband
in this movie!
 
Aren’t you
excited
?’

She swung round on her stool and looked at her wonderful personal assistant.
 
‘Excited?’
 
She couldn’t help laughing.
 
‘No, I’m not excited, Bobby.
 
It’s a job.’