The Perfect Location (42 page)

‘Don’t be a dick. That’s only if you’re married,’ she laughed.

TG set her down inside the house. The moving men were still undoing the doors to the truck and setting up the ramps to bring the furniture inside. They stood in the empty house and looked at each other and Calypso giggled. ‘All right then, show me around.’

TG led her into the living room, which looked out over the pool and the stone deck. It was gorgeous. ‘I love it!’ squealed Calypso.

Then they walked through the kitchen and into the study that was on the other side, also looking over the back garden. It was perfect, with built-in bookshelves and lovely light.

‘It’s perfect,’ said Calypso, clapping her hands.

Then he walked her upstairs to their bedroom. The room was empty except for a semi-circle box frame on the wall. ‘The owners have left something here,’ said Calypso, walking into the room, squinting her eyes in the half-light. TG opened the shutters and Calypso’s hands flew to her mouth. Tears fell from her eyes. A huge vintage poster of a mermaid in a martini glass was framed on the wall. The girl in the poster had a remarkable likeness to Calypso and she stood entranced by the image.

‘I saw it and bought it even though we weren’t together. I hoped one day you would see it,’ said TG.

‘I love it and I love you,’ she said, spinning to look at him.

‘Then marry me,’ he said softly into her ear.

She pulled back and looked at him strangely. ‘Did you just say what I thought you said?’

‘Yes,’ he said sheepishly.

‘Are you sure? You know I’m a handful, I’m emotional and moody and you will have a shocking mother-in-law,’ she tested him.

‘I can handle Leeza,’ he said.

‘But can you handle me?’ she asked seriously. ‘For the first time ever, I’ve no idea where my life is heading and who knows where I’ll end up.’

‘Well, I’m hoping it will be with me,’ he said, looking at her intently.

‘Then okay,’ she said simply.

‘Okay? Okay? Is that your answer? Like I asked you whether you wanted Mexican food for dinner?’ He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her into his arms.

‘Get over yourself, you’re nowhere near as good as Mexican food but you’ll do.’

She laughed as he spun her around the room till they fell over, dizzy and hysterical. They were home.

The Italian Dream
US premiere brought everyone together again. The women walked the red carpet together, holding hands. Their genuine joy at seeing each other again was caught by the international media and the images of Sapphira, head thrown back laughing at Calypso dancing on the red carpet with Rose, made newspapers across the world the next day.

Sapphira in an emerald snakeskin print, silk strapless Lanvin dress and an antique silver Ethiopian Coptic cross around her neck, looked for Alex, who stayed at the back of the carpet. He nodded at her, smiling and giving her a wink. She loved him and had finally allowed someone to take care of her occasionally. Alex and Sapphira’s union was strong and she had learned over time to let go of controlling her life and make room for Alex and Melesse.

When they had first brought Melesse back to the US, she had been sick and Sapphira didn’t know how she would have survived the long nights in hospital without Alex beside her, taking over when she needed to sleep on the uncomfortable cot in the tiny room. Now Melesse called for her daddy and mummy and when she did, Sapphira thought her heart would burst.

Calypso in a pale yellow Vera Wang chiffon 1920s style dress, with a diamond butterfly brooch on one shoulder, glowed. Partly from the tan she had got in Mexico the week before after her wedding to TG and also from being happy with where she was in her life. ‘College is great,’ she told one reporter. ‘I just finished my first year. Lots of work, but everyone has been really kind to me on campus and Tim lets me study with no interruption. We’re both really busy.’

‘You two got married recently, I heard. How was the wedding?’ said the female reporter.

Calypso gushed with the joy of a new bride. ‘It was last week, actually. Tim and I have to travel the world soon for the film’s release and so we thought we should do it while I’m on a break from my studies and we can see each other while we’re on the road.’

‘Tell us all, what did you wear? Where was it? Who were the guests?’ said the single female reporter, swept away by the idea of a wedding.

‘Um, it was on the beach in Mexico, we had a big party, Mexican food, which I love and just close family and friends. I wore a vintage tulle prom dress actually, with bare feet and frangipanis in my hair,’ said Calypso, smiling at the memory and looking for TG on the red carpet.

‘I hear your mother has just released a budget clothing line for JC Penny? How’s that going?’

‘Great, really great. She’s always wanted to be in fashion and since she’s no longer my manager she has found other opportunities, which is making her happy. She’s here tonight with my dad somewhere.’ Calypso waved inside at the people milling in the theatre.

‘Your parents were in Mexico with you for your wedding?’ asked the reporter innocently.

‘Of course,’ said Calypso.

The truth was it had taken a long time and some serious family therapy to reunite Calypso and her mother. It was a caveat of TG’s that she tried to work things out with Leeza before they married. Calypso did it for him, not for her mother, but slowly, over time, they reconnected again. It was better and different this time. Leeza had been offered the chance to collaborate on the clothing line with other mothers of famous children and she relished the opportunity. It gave her and Calypso something to talk about other than Calypso’s career and TG. Leeza thought she was the next Donna Karan and her clothes were actually wearable and flattering, if not a little loud with the prints and the colours.

Calypso and TG spent time with them, and Leeza relished having a young handsome son-in-law in show business and Calypso’s father enjoyed having another man around. TG liked having a family in LA.

‘And you have been at college for the last year? How is that?’ asked the reporter, ignoring the calls from the other reporters for her to let Calypso go.

‘It’s great. I love it. Everyone is really nice and smart. I’ve had my work cut out for me,’ laughed Calypso.

‘And what’s next for you and TG? Babies on the cards?’

‘Noooo! We do have a new baby in our home though. Our new puppy, Luna. She’s all we can handle right now,’ laughed Calypso.

Rose and Max walked the carpet, stopping for an English reporter whose accent they recognized. ‘Hello, we have Rose Nightingale and Max Craydon. You look lovely, Rose, who are you wearing?’

‘Alexander McQueen,’ said Rose, touching the delicate beading on the silver bodice.

The reporter continued. ‘People are declaring you the next Burton and Taylor, Olivier and Leigh. Film, Broadway, marriage and now six-month-old twin daughters, what else is there for you both?’ asked the reporter.

‘None of those couples had happy endings,’ laughed Rose, hanging onto Max’s arm. ‘I hope we do better than them.’

‘And I can’t afford the jewellery Richard gave Liz, so the comparison is out, I’m afraid,’ said Max drolly.

Rose interrupted. ‘Can we say hello to the boys, who I know are watching with my parents who are babysitting back here for us tonight?’ Looking into the camera, she waved. ‘Hello, Dom, Jasper, Milo. Fifteen more minutes and then bedtime, okay? And don’t wake Hero and Viola. Love you.’

The reporter laughed at Rose. ‘You certainly have the right tone. How is it being a mother to five children within twelve months?’

‘Happily chaotic,’ answered Rose honestly.

‘She is brilliant,’ said Max, leaning in to the microphone. ‘She’s always doing something with them, taking them somewhere, with a baby on each hip and loading a plastic bow and arrow for one of the boys. She’s an amazing multitasker, my wife.’

Rose looked at him, smiling and blushing.

The reporter spoke to Max directly. ‘Now, you’re filming on your new hit TV show, which is huge in the UK and the US. Any chance Rose will make a guest appearance?’

‘I’m just enjoying being a wife and mother right now,’ said Rose. ‘I don’t know when I will work again. Not for a while, although I’m directing the kinder Christmas concert, if that counts. And then next year we will take the play
Private Lives
, which we did on Broadway, to London which will be wonderful.’

Married in London, Rose had worn a blush silk Carolina Hererra dress and Max a proud smile, with the boys as his groomsmen, and the whole family went straight into domestic bliss. Rose was happy at home with the children. The boys were a handful, Dominic and Jasper testing her early on when she and Max first married, but they settled once they realized Rose was there to stay. Rose noticed her Jo Malone Orange Blossom perfume had found its way onto Milo’s bedside table and sat next to Alice’s half-empty bottle of Diorissimo. She left it there and bought herself a new one. It made her happy, sharing the table with Alice.

The twins were a surprise. Rose and Max agreed to let the universe decide whether they would have children. Twelve months later, on their first wedding anniversary, Hero Alice and Viola Elisabeth arrived at 11.01 am at the Hospital of St John and St Elizabeth in St John’s Wood.

Rose took to mothering with the zest of a woman ten years younger than herself. Max was right, she was a born multitasker, and in between parenting, she worked on a script idea with Calypso, to whom she had become very close since filming in Italy. They sold Rose’s apartment in London and Max’s house and bought a larger house in Belgravia. It was large enough to accommodate all the children and with a much-needed garden for Rose’s sanity. She kept her home in LA, finally able to fill it with the family she yearned for. She was at peace in both houses but loved it more when her parents came to babysit her children when she and Max went out in London.

The reporter looked at Rose again. ‘How did you react when Paul Ross recently announced his retirement from films and moved to South America? Is there any truth to the rumours that he’s planning to come out as a gay man?’

Rose looked at the reporter with a steely gaze. ‘I thought it was wonderful for Paul to move and start a new life. I speak to him occasionally and he sent us a lovely gift when Max and I had the twins. As for his sexuality, that’s none of my business and certainly none of yours either. Are you gay?’ she asked the reporter who everyone knew was, but who insisted on claiming his heterosexuality to anyone who would listen.

The reporter bowed his head, embarrassed to be reprimanded on live TV.

That was the sound bite that went across the world, taking the heat off Paul and putting it on the reporter instead.

TG was being interviewed by an Italian reporter, who quizzed him about Raphael’s departure from
The Italian Dream
. ‘You know, he says he never took the heroin. Do you think he will work in the US now with this against his name?’

TG scratched the side of his blond head. ‘I’m not sure. It’s a very sad situation and I hope he gets the help he needs.’ Looking into the camera, TG smiled and said, ‘Get better, buddy. We are all praying for you.’

The reporter continued, ‘You replaced him with Dante Sanzrio who has become a big star in America now. Did you know he would be so good?’ said the reporter, preening at the thought of his countryman being so famous in the US.

TG smiled. ‘Yes, I did know. He was great on set. Everyone loved him. In fact, I’m about to shoot a new film with him, Jack Reynolds and Alex Wright soon, a heist movie, which should be a blast. Shot all over Italy and France.’

Across the carpet, Sapphira rested her head on Alex’s shoulder while Jack stood beside them, his arm around Alex, smiling. They were almost blinded by the flashes of the cameras going off in their direction.

The tabloids made much about Alex splitting up Jack and Sapphira. However, media savvy as ever, Alex and Sapphira returned to Venice with their baby, Melesse, and made several well-timed public outings with the three of them and the baby. Jack’s blessing was everything to the media and he gave it willingly.

Staying in Venice, they married quietly at Jack’s palazzo with only close friends and family present. Sapphira wore a simple white strapless silk Dolce and Gabbana dress, with beaded Ethiopian bangles and earrings and held the sleeping Melesse during the vows. She and Alex made vows to each other and to the tiny Melesse. Calypso and TG attended, Rose was heavily pregnant and was forbidden to fly but she made a sizeable donation to Sapphira’s foundation.

During Alex’s speech he showed the video of him and Sapphira in Africa and the first time they saw Melesse. He explained it meant ‘eternal’ in Ethiopian and that Sapphira always knew she would come into her life. There was not a dry eye in the house. Jack cried the most, of course.

Settling down in Monaco, to stay out of the crazy life in LA and to be close to Jack, with the only real family Sapphira had ever known, was suiting her. The climate, the people and the proximity to the rest of Europe didn’t cause Sapphira to feel claustrophobic – and Alex was happy to be wherever she and Melesse were.

Now she was the face of Kelly’s successful make-up line called Blessings. This was a job that suited her as she got to work from home with Melesse and Alex, with part of Kelly’s profits being donated to Sapphira’s foundation. The first season of make-up had sold out and Sapphira had just signed on to do another season. Shot by Alex at their home, with Kelly doing the make-up and Sophie styling Sapphira, the photos were beautiful and fun and showed Sapphira and Melesse playing together in their garden and inside the house. Alex’s favourite was of Sapphira asleep between takes, on the day bed outside on the terrace, with a sleeping Melesse on her chest, her chubby hand clutching at Sapphira’s pink silk singlet, her new tattoo of an eternity symbol for Melesse on her upper arm, covering where she had been burned by Ethan in Italy. This photo became the hero shot for the campaign and Alex had it as his wallpaper on his phone.