The Perfect Location (13 page)

Lucia smiled broadly as she looked at the men. The younger one was handsome but too young for Rose. The other one looked fine, thought Lucia. Yes, the spiced apples had done their work.

In the kitchen, she checked the food. Pan fried pork ribs for fertility. Rose needed children, thought Lucia. Rice for wealth and sautéed artichokes with mozzarella for blossoming love.

Dessert was a ricotta and sour cream cherry tart. Sex, giggled Lucia to herself. There was no doubt Rose needed sex.

Rose and Max did the best acting job of their lives as they charmed TG through dinner. He was so amused by their humour and their intelligence he didn’t realize that they never actually spoke directly to each other.

When the dinner finally drew to a close, Max and Rose said goodbye to TG and walked out to their cars.

‘So, let’s cut the bullshit, we both obviously recognize each other and while I thought you were a massive tool at the gallery and you treated your kids appallingly, I am nothing if not a professional,’ said Rose. ‘So let’s just do the shoot and then pretend we never met, okay?’ Rose took the keys to her Mercedes from her bag.

Max took a step towards her and Rose felt nervous until he spoke.

‘Please give me a chance. There is no way I can explain my terrible and abhorrent behaviour that day. Milo, well, he’s young and he doesn’t remember his mother at all now. He said she has faded from his eyes. He runs away at any chance he can get. The therapist back home said he is not running from me but trying to run away from the pain inside him. They need a mother, you know. Children need their mother and I’m always getting things wrong – library bags, lunch orders, not signing notices.’

Max wrung his hands as he spoke and Rose was sure she saw tears in his eyes.

‘I’ve tried to do most of it myself. I didn’t want the boys to think I was handing them over to a nanny but I’ll do something and then cry. This is the biggest role of my career, I can’t believe I got it and I thought to bring the boys here would be a new start. New push in my career, a holiday with the kids.’

Rose stood listening and then put her keys in the door of her car and then turned.

‘You make the mistake of thinking that I care. I don’t even know you but you have a responsibility to get it together for your children. You spoke so badly to them that I would hate to see what happens behind closed doors.’

Max winced at her barb but to his credit said nothing.

‘If you aren’t coping then get help before you do something or say something that can’t be fixed,’ she said and sat in the driver’s seat.

‘I will,’ said Max. ‘I just don’t want this to ruin things on-set.’

‘It won’t,’ said Rose tersely. ‘I don’t know how much movie experience you’ve had, but you’ll know that the best actors don’t let personal prejudices get in the way of their work.’

Max let the comment about his film set experience slide also, he deserved to be told off, he reasoned.

‘Well, that’s good,’ he said, trying not to laugh at the haughty expression on her face.

Rose looked at the smirk on his face and sped off and decided that she hated him, hated Italy and that shooting
The Italian Dream
with Max would be a nightmare.

TG lay in the darkness of his bedroom after Rose and Max had left. Sleep was not coming easily these days. The day’s shoot ran through his head. He had to call LA most days and the nine-hour time difference made his schedule hectic. I’ve got to stop drinking all this coffee, he thought as he tossed and turned.

Being honest with himself, he knew it was Calypso who kept him awake. Not that she had any idea. At the shoot, behind the camera, he watched her intently, citing his directorial duties the reason, his heart saying otherwise.

‘You have it so bad, that if I didn’t love you so, I would laugh at you,’ said Chris as they arrived on set together early one morning.

The sun was coming up over the hills and the air was already heating up. TG hung his head in shame like a schoolboy. ‘Did Kelly tell you?’ he asked, knowing the sanctity of marriage allowed secrets about best friends to be shared.

‘No, man. I see the way you look at her, the way you let her take her time, work through her lines and set up the best shots for her.’

‘Fuck, is it that obvious? Do I look like I am favouring her? Are people talking about it?’

‘I haven’t heard anything. I just notice that you’re more careful with her somehow. I think maybe the crew thinks it’s because she is younger and obviously a little bit scared of you. I mean, you were an ogre when we first started. Typical TG, “I have a crush” behaviour,’ Chris laughed.

‘It’s so high school,’ TG moaned.

‘Want me to pass her a note over the craft services table? Here she comes now.’

‘Fuck off, my friend, and go do your job,’ TG replied, playfully punching Chris on the arm.

Calypso walked past TG and Chris and headed towards a table laden with coffee, fresh fruit and breakfast pastries. All the cast and American crew were slowly becoming addicted to the Italian caffeine, although Sapphira claimed she always drank between eight and ten cups a day. Calypso was drinking more and more coffee, finding it helped her stay awake after the long nights of pleasure with Marco.

TG poured himself a coffee and stood next to Calypso as she served herself some fruit. ‘Morning, how are you today?’

‘Great,’ she smiled.

Things were decidedly less tense between them as the shoot went on. She had relied on TG more and more since the other women had left the set for the time being, until they were needed later. TG had only been too eager to help her when she had tentatively approached him for his advice. Together they bonded a little, talking over her character and the choices she had made as a person compared to the choices of the character.

‘You know the feeling, when you realize you can do anything you want. The feeling when you leave school and the world is at your feet? That’s how your character feels.’

Calypso looked awkward. ‘Not really. I left school when I was twelve. Mom homeschooled me.’ Leaving out that Leeza did nothing and Calypso was largely self-taught in everything.

TG looked at her, fascinated. She was worldly on set and yet seemed so innocent. Unprepared for life, he thought as he watched her make notes in her script with a pink highlighter pen. TG was shocked at Calypso’s upbringing: no high school, no prom or dating, no football games or sleepovers.

‘Thanks for the help yesterday. It was so good. I was thinking about you this morning when I was in the shower.’

TG looked startled, then she blushed, remembering Rose and Sapphira teasing her in regards to TG’s supposed crush on her. ‘You know the work we did, not you, that would be weird. Not that you are weird or ugly, I mean I’m sure people think of you in the shower. Shit. I’m sorry, I must sound learning impaired.’ Calypso felt nervous, although she wasn’t sure why.

TG laughed and blushed too. She noticed how funny his laugh was, like a little boy’s giggle.

‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘I really feel I’m learning a lot here, with the other girls and you, it’s turning out okay. Thanks,’ she smiled shyly.

TG felt his heart break into a thousand pieces. ‘No problem, I’m happy you’re okay. I know we kind of got off on the wrong foot. I was a bit stressed but that’s no excuse. I need to work on that stuff, try to be less angry and a little more empathetic.’ TG rubbed the dirt on the ground with his shoe.

Calypso touched his arm. ‘I’ve a few books you could read. They’re back in LA but maybe when we get back, you can come over and I can lend them to you. There are some really good exercises you can do. I can help you.’

TG felt his heart mend instantly and although he had never been into the whole self-help thing, he realized Calypso’s offer was genuine. Mindful that she was sensitive, he smiled. ‘Thanks, Calypso, I would like that. It’s a date!’

As she walked away towards make-up with coffee in hand, Chris sidled up to him. ‘You sure you don’t want me to drop a note in her lap while she’s in make-up?’

TG stared after her. ‘Man, you never stop, do you?’ he laughed.

‘Nope, never. I am the Caped Cupid!’

TG smiled as he stared at the ceiling, remembering. Sleep avoided him as he tossed and turned. ‘Fuck,’ he said into the darkness. He turned his pillow over and thumped it. Count sheep, come on, he thought as his face hit the cool pillow. Then his phone rang. Who the fuck … He was thinking it was LA. Picking up his BlackBerry, he saw the Hotel Brufani number come up on the screen.

‘Hello?’

‘Hello? TG? I need you.’ Calypso’s voice sobbed down the phone.

‘Okay, I’m coming to see you.’ He jumped out of bed. ‘What’s happened? What’s wrong?’ he asked as he was pulling on his jeans and t-shirt.

Calypso cried down the phone. He couldn’t understand her, she was talking and crying but all he could make out was ‘Marco’ and ‘Raphael’ and ‘ciao’ and then more weeping.

Slipping on his Converse sneakers with no socks, he ran downstairs and out to his car.

‘I’m in the car. I will be there soon, I promise.’

‘Don’t hang up,’ he heard her cry down the phone. ‘Stay with me.’ Her voice was frightened and pained; he felt himself breathe in sharply. He felt her anguish as he sped down the road, not caring what speed he was at in the Mercedes. ‘I will keep talking to you, you don’t have to answer. I will tell you twenty facts about TG and when I get to the last one, I will be outside your hotel room, I promise.’

‘Okay,’ he heard a tiny voice say down the line.

‘All right, let’s go …

1. My middle name is Ernest. I like to think I live up to it.
   
2. I like to eat in bed.
   
3. My favourite flower is a frangipani.
   
4. I want to retire to Bali and surf and have my kids visit me whenever they want.
   
5. I want kids.
   
6. I hate cats.
   
7. I hate people who love cats and have cat fridge magnets.
   
8. I didn’t bring enough clothes to Italy and I have to go shopping here and I am scared I will end up with a leather jacket and a shiny Guido shirt.
   
9. I don’t believe in God, but I believe in The Force.
   
10. My best friends are Kelly and Chris.
    
11. I would prefer to be called Tim, but everyone calls me TG.
    
12. My secret favourite film is
    Truly, Madly, Deeply
    but I always say
    Citizen Kane
    in interviews. I’ve never seen
    Citizen Kane.
    
13. I’ve got three sisters who try to marry me off to their girlfriends.
    
14. My last girlfriend broke up with me to go out with someone who would be better for her career.
    
15. I want a dog and I want to call it Luna.
    
16. I wish I wrote the Harry Potter books.
    
17. I wish I had made
    Star Wars
    .
    
18. I play pinball every night before I go to bed when I’m in LA. I have a Kiss machine. Ace Freely’s tongue comes out when you get a free ball.’
    

By this time TG was at the hotel, parking at the front door. He threw the keys to the doorman, who was half asleep and ran inside and jumped in the lift.

19. I like LA more than New York, although I never say this in interviews.

20. When I like a girl, I treat her bad, so she won’t know and then can’t reject me. Every girlfriend I’ve ever had, they’ve had to chase me.

He knocked on the door. ‘I’m outside your door, Calypso.’

Calypso had not said a word while he spoke; he didn’t even know if she was listening, but while he talked he heard her breathing calm down.

The door opened a tiny crack. Her swollen eyes peered out the door. She was wrapped in a bed sheet and upon seeing him, she started to sob.

He walked in and took her in his arms in a bear hug. ‘It will be okay, whatever has happened. I promise. I will help you fix it. Okay?’

He pulled her away and stood with his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. ‘Okay,’ she said wanly.

Glancing around the room, he saw the bed was messed. There was what looked to be vomit next to it. Maybe she was drunk, he thought, but he could not smell alcohol and she seemed genuinely distressed.

Leading her to the bed, he tried to get her to sit down, but she screamed and stood up. ‘Not the bed,’ she cried.

Jesus, he thought, what has happened in here?

‘Okay, it’s okay, let’s sit here.’

He led her over to the sofa on the other side of the suite. After getting her to sit down, he went over to the wardrobe and found an extra blanket on the top shelf. Wrapping it around her to try to stop the shaking, he realized it was not cold she was shaking from, it was fear and shock. He went and put the kettle on in the small kitchen area and waited till it boiled, watching her. She was pale and dazed, her hair was a mess, more than just standard bed hair. Bringing her a cup of black tea with four sugars, he placed it in front of her and waited to see if she would speak first. She was silent.

Unsure of what to do, he thought about his mother. What did she do when they were hurt or upset? Maybe a bath, he remembered from his own childhood. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the taps. Opening the gift basket on the bench, which presumably the producers had sent to her filled with bottles and lotions, he took a few and poured a little of each under the running tap. The fragrant water steamed up the bathroom and he walked out to where Calypso was still sitting, not having moved. He tried to get her to stand, but she seemed too weak. Lifting her gently, he carried her to the bathroom. Kicking off one of his sneakers, he tested the water with his foot, while holding her frail, shaking body.

Leaving her wrapped in the sheet, he lowered her gently into the comforting water. Sighing, Calypso closed her eyes.

Ensuring she was settled, TG walked back and fetched the tea from the table near the sofa. Leaning down next to the bath, he whispered, ‘You need to drink a tiny bit, sweetie, just to help your body. The sugar will help the shock. Just a sip.’

He held the now warm tea to her lips and she drank a little.

Slipping her head under the water, she was entirely submerged. Having been under there for almost a full minute, just as TG was beginning to look in to ensure she wasn’t drowning herself, she emerged again, a giant, violent wave splashing water across the floor.