No Matter What (64 page)

“Are you going already?” Vince asked, coming out of the bathroom and finding Charley brushing her hair, her bag sitting beside the private elevator in his apartment on the top floor of the hotel.

She turned round and smiled at him.
 
“I’ve got to be somewhere at 10 and I want to stop off at home first and get changed.”

He came up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist.
 
“You can’t stay another five minutes?”

She turned round, kissing him quickly.
 
“Casey is starting to wonder where I am, Vince.
 
I shouldn’t really be staying over at all.”

“Why don’t you just tell her, Charley?
 
Why don’t we just tell everybody?”

“You know why.
 
It’s too early.”

“Are you ashamed of me?”

She smiled again.
 
“No, of course I’m not.
 
Far from it.
 
Just ... don’t rush me, Vince.
 
Please. You know as well as I do why this relationship could get very complicated.”

He squeezed her waist and smiled back.
 
“Ok ... ok, I get it.
 
I’ll stop going on about it.”

She kissed him one more time, letting go of him and grabbing her bag, pressing the button for the elevator, still smiling at him.
 
“I’ll call you later.”

She was right, of course.
 
This was a relationship with more than its fair share of complications.
 
He knew
India
had put Charley right to the back of her mind, never talking about her or even mentioning her since the night of Terry’s death, and he knew she really had no desire to ever see her again.
 
So to tell her that he was dating her, that they were together, well, it wasn’t really something he looked forward to doing.
 
But if things continued to go the way they seemed to be going then he couldn’t hide it forever.

He’d never meant to fall for Charley, he’d never meant to fall for anyone, he’d always avoided serious relationships of any kind, preferring to keep things quick and casual.
 
But that seemed to be changing rapidly as each day with Charley went by.

He’d known, that day he’d seen her at the showgirl auditions, he’d known that he’d seen her somewhere before. So he’d gone back later, sat at the back of the theatre, and watched, until he was absolutely positive it was her.
 
And when he’d heard that she’d got one of the lead showgirl jobs he’d gone to as many of her performances as possible, watching from the sidelines, watching everything she did, for no reason other than to see how this girl had changed from the days when Jimmy Cash had had her trapped in a world that could only be described as hell.
 
And it seemed that she’d finally found her feet – and her new home – in Vegas.

Vince had managed to find out quite a bit about Charley Miles, and he admired the way she’d turned her life around, the way she’d managed to put everything that had happened before behind her.
 
Just like everyone else had done, really.
 
But he’d wanted to know more, he’d wanted to find out who she really was, and although it had taken a lot longer than he’d thought it would – one dinner date hadn’t worked quite the way he’d wanted it to – she’d eventually said yes to him.
 
She’d eventually agreed to see him, and even though it had only been a few weeks, he knew she’d changed him and his whole attitude to relationships, which is why he knew she was special.
 
Nobody had ever managed to convince him that settling down was an option before, but now – now he was actually thinking about it.
 
This pretty, dark haired girl with a past she didn’t like to talk about, a past that affected everyone around him, she’d made Vince Maine give commitment some serious thought for the first time in his forty-five years.
 

Part of him wished he hadn’t fallen for her, he wished he didn’t have to think about what everyone else thought, but he did.
 
He had to.
 
India Walsh was someone he loved and cared about, she was the wife of his very best friend and a person who’d been through so much as a direct result of Charley’s past life and he
had
to worry about what she’d think.
 
He had to.
 
But he wasn’t going to give Charley up, he couldn’t do that now.
 
She was different and he needed that.

Taking a few quick sips of coffee he looked at his watch.
 
He was late for a morning meeting, something which was so unlike him.
 
But these past few weeks had changed Vince Maine, and that was all down to Charley.
 

He smiled at the thought of her as he grabbed his jacket and pressed the button for the elevator.
 
Maybe it was time he cut back on the workload a bit, delegate more.
 
He’d think about it.
 
And the fact he’d even considered that thought almost shocked him.
 
For the first time in his life Vince had things on his mind other than work.
 
And he liked it.

***

Kenny whistled as
India
walked onto set.
 
She looked stunning, but then she always did.
 
He was going to enjoy these next few weeks if she was going to look like this every day.
 
And she was using her own accent in this movie too, something that Kenny had always loved about her, that North East English accent.

“Pack it in, Kenny,”
India
said.

“Why?
 
You look incredible.”

“Because you’re putting me off.”

“Nothing puts you off.
 
You’re the epitome of professionalism on a movie set.”

“And that’s usually a movie set without you on it.”

“Did you get out of bed the wrong side this morning or something?
 
Or was old man Walsh unable to give you the wake up call you needed?”

India
looked at him, narrowing her eyes.
 
Kenny and Michael’s relationship had never really got off the ground.
 
They’d tried to be friends, tried to get on but it seemed as though it was never really going to happen so she’d stopped trying to pursue it.
 
It wasn’t worth the hassle, but sometimes the way they sniped about each other wore her down.

“I’m sorry, ok?” Kenny smiled.
 
“Come here.”

She went over and hugged him.
 
“Michael and I have great sex.”

“Yeah, I know you do,” Kenny sighed.

“And stop calling him old.”

“If it keeps you happy.”

She kissed him on the cheek and smiled.
 
“It does.”

She let go of him and walked over to Scott, her hairstylist, who started messing about, completely unnecessarily in Kenny’s opinion, with
India
’s already perfect hair, whilst a make-up artist did something to her eyes.
 
Then he noticed Michael behind the monitor, talking to the director.
 
Was he going to be hanging around all day again?
 
He had been for the past few days so why should today be any different?
 
Only one more day, though, and then he was flying back to
L.A.
, so as far as Kenny was concerned he’d grin and bear it.
 
Tomorrow he’d have
India
to himself for a while.
 
Well, almost.
 
He had stiff competition from her P.A. these days.
 
She was spending more and more time with him, and not just working.
 
They were often out partying in
L.A.
when Michael was out of town.
 
Kenny knew Bobby was an absolute legend in the world of personal assistants and he knew he cared a lot about
India
, but getting past him to see her could be harder than infiltrating
Fort
Knox
sometimes, even for Kenny.

He looked over at
India
again.
 
She was definitely pre-occupied with something, he could tell.
 
He knew her too well.
 
And he couldn’t help noticing Michael glance in her direction and then her look away from him.
 
What was
that
all about?
 
She was normally all doe-eyes and loved up whenever Michael Walsh was around.

He went over to Bobby, who was standing by the side of the set chatting to
India
’s make-up artist.
 
“Bobby, can I have a word?”

Bobby looked at him and smiled the smile of someone who had more than a little bit of a crush on the person they were looking at.
 
This didn’t escape Kenny’s notice.
 
India
’s gay P.A. might have a thing for him but he still wouldn’t let him anywhere near
India
if his mood wasn’t right.

“Sure. What is it?”

Kenny moved out of earshot of anyone else, Bobby following him like a little puppy.
 

“Is everything alright with
India
?” Kenny asked.

Bobby looked over at
India
.
 
She was laughing at something the director was saying.
 
She looked ok to him.
 
“Everything’s fine.”
 
He looked back at Kenny.
 
“Why?”

“Nothing ... it just seems like things with her and Michael are a little, I dunno, tense this morning.”

“Are they?
 
Last time I saw them they were practically making out over breakfast.”
 
His expression suddenly changed to that of the ultimate professional. “Anyway, even if I
did
know something I wouldn’t be at liberty to divulge any information to
you
now, would I?
 
If
India
wants to tell you anything I’m sure she’ll do so herself.”

“I knew I’d get nothing out of you,” Kenny sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Bobby smiled again.
 
“Well, that depends on what you’re looking for, doesn’t it?”

Kenny looked at him.
 
Ever since Bobby had started working for
India
he’d been flirting with him and Kenny was more than used to it, and when he could be bothered he’d play along and flirt back because it was all harmless fun.
 
Bobby knew Kenny was never going to swing his way, not a chance.
 
But today he just wanted to know what was up with
India
, and if Bobby knew nothing then prolonging this conversation was pointless.
 
And Bobby could see that, turning to leave with a final wink at Kenny.

Whatever was going on he’d find out.
 
He wasn’t
India
’s best friend for nothing.
 
She’d tell him, he knew she would.
 
And if something
was
going on with her and that hot-shot husband of hers then he’d make sure he was there for there.
 
He’d make damn sure of that.

***

India
was, as usual, a director’s dream.
 
She had no problem with lines, and most of her takes were in the can first or second time.
 
She always knew what she was doing and nobody had to tell her anything twice.
 
Michael knew that better than anybody.
 
He’d directed her three times now, acted alongside her twice and every time she made it all look so easy, no matter what part she was playing.
 
And as he’d stood and watched her that morning, watched as she played her part so well, taking on the personality of the character with so much ease, he knew she really was a special talent.

As the director called for a break she walked off set and he immediately ran over to her, trying to take her hand.

“
India
, come on, baby, talk to me.”

She looked at him, pulling her hand away.
 
“Are you going to continue the way you were going this morning, Michael, because I haven’t got the energy for that, I really haven’t.”

When they’d gone back to the villa that morning, both of them desperate for sex, taking each other on the stairs in the hallway because they couldn’t be bothered to make it to the bedroom, everything had been fine.
 
Until Michael had started on the one subject
India
had no time for but
he
just wouldn’t let go of.
 
And it wasn’t so much the subject matter but the timing that had bothered her.