The Principle Of Chance (7 page)

Her career had started by chance.
She slept with a top TV executive, hoping to get a part in his TV series.
Unfortunately he wasn’t supplying the goods, he even laughed at her when she
asked. Jasmine decided to teach him a lesson. She was tired - men who only
wanted sex bored her. It was a tough business, but she had talent! She wasn’t
giving it up! After an exhausting night of full on sex, the guy fell asleep!
Jasmine was quick to grab the opportunity. She took pictures on her phone of
his sprawled, naked body and sold the lot for mega bucks! She didn’t even need
to blackmail the guy. Magazines paid her big time and, offered extra for more
photos. She was in business!

There was a small problem of dealing
with the ‘injured’ celebrity’s muscle men, but Jasmine had connections!

Now she was after Jack Harvey.
Nobody could get any dirt on him, but Jasmine was reassured he had a lot to
hide. With Jack’s reputation it was only a matter of time before she warmed his
bed!

Chapter Eight

Justin
left the guys to their drinks after toasting the movie. He stood on the brightly
lit terrace. Jack’s guests were scattered around the pool enjoying the soft
music and drinks. Most of them had already left; it was a lot quieter than
earlier.

Justin liked the late night chats
with Frank and Jack. They used to fill his head with stories about their
younger years. He’d always thought that their stories would make a great movie,
so he’d done it, he’d written a screenplay.

It only took him three months to
finish it. When he presented it to Frank, his reaction wasn’t what he’d expected.
Frank informed him that he’d waited a long time for Justin to make a story out
of their tales. Frank was an expert at weighing up people, Justin didn’t
surprise him.

A voluptuous blonde was rushing
towards Justin. It was too late to escape!

‘You are a bad boy Justin darling!’
She buzzed. ‘You haven’t called!’

He quickly brushed her away. ‘I
never said I would.’

‘But, you did darling, remember?’
She insisted.

‘Look, I don’t know who you are.’

The blonde couldn’t believe what she
was hearing. ‘You said … I was a great singer!’ She blurted out, adjusting her
invisible bra.

Justin searched his brain for when
he may have said that. Women came up to him with ridiculous excuses – he was
kind of used to them.

He caught sight of his sister and
excused himself.           

‘You are looking lovely tonight.’ He
whispered into her ear.

‘I know!’ She kissed him gently on
the cheek. ‘Who was the blonde?’

‘Don’t know, she told me that
I
said she had talent!’

‘Did you?’

‘Did what? I’ve never seen her in my
life.’

Amy was standing next to Monica
thinking fast; what to do. Here was Justin Blakes looking the picture of cool
innocence.

Amy didn’t know much about Justin,
but he had a reputation for being a
selective
record producer. She
recalled, there was a story about him signing a band to his label when he’d
seen them playing in a run-down bar. It wasn’t long afterwards that the guys
hit number one in the charts with a catchy song.

When Amy arrived at Jack’s house,
she considered turning back. There were a lot of people around and even more,
expensive cars.

Definitely, it had been a mistake to
come; a chance meeting with Jack Harvey wasn’t everything. Talking about
chance, meeting Ed was one for a start. 

Amy had just started the car up,
when Monica marched up to her.

‘Is your name Amy?’ She said,
opening the car door.

‘No!’

‘You look like the Amy I was told
about.’ Monica was checking her out.

‘Who are you?’ Amy asked her after
she’d stepped out of the car.

‘I’m Monica.’ She said. ‘Jack called
me…. he said not to let you go if I saw you.’

Monica was a film director with a
prestigious award to her name. She was different to all the usual blondes, with
her dark hair in a simple knot and hardly any make up on. Monica didn’t have a
glamorous dress on; she was clad in skinny jeans and a silk top.

She suggested they walk up to the
house and wait for Jack there. With her bubbly personality she made Amy feel
much more at ease. They talked easily until Justin arrived on the scene.

‘Justin, let me introduce you to Amy
who is Jack’s
friend
and a lawyer.’ Monica watched Justin’s reaction.

‘Amy, this is my brother Justin
Blakes who is a … what do you do again?’

For a moment, he couldn’t help
staring. ‘We have already met.’

‘You have?’ Monica asked curiously.

‘Jack introduced us in Nonna’s.’

‘Ah, Jack again?’

‘I noticed a shiny, black Aston
parked outside with your name on it.’ Justin looked at Amy; this was a foolish
line, and one he’d never used before, - not that he
used
chat up lines!

Amy tried to suppress a giggle
without much luck. She started laughing helplessly and was soon joined by
Monica.

‘Printed in pink, glittery letters.’
Amy said.

That’s a relief, Justin thought -
she didn’t give him the cold shoulder. ‘Don’t know about the pink, but shiny
enough.’ He said, desperately trying to cover up his embarrassment.

‘Are you hitting on Amy already?’
Monica said, surprised to notice fiery sparks. Amy must be doing something
right, Justin doesn’t do sparks!

‘Women! Always reading into things!
I am sorry Amy, I’m not trying to pick you up but that car’s license plate
reads AMY!’

‘You must like cars.’ Amy said.

‘That’s the understatement of the
century.’ Monica volunteered. ‘Justin has a whole parking lot full of cars.’

‘It isn’t my car, but I am driving
an Aston Martin tonight, which has an AMY license plate, - Ed insisted I take
his
car.’

‘Oh, that ….. I can understand.’

‘Can you?’ Their eyes met - instant
attraction. Monica stared; the two of them were standing rooted to the ground,
lost to the world.

Justin needed a quick diversion.
‘Have you met the other guests, Amy? Monica is here with the whole crew of her
latest movie.’

‘Your sister kept me fully
entertained.’ Amy said.

Amy had moved on - great, he pulled
himself together. ‘So you haven’t met them?!’ He asked.

‘No.’

‘They are a nice enough group of
people; it isn’t your usual celebrity crowd.’ Justin explained. ‘Unless they
are allowed to bring a guest!’ He thought of the blonde who’d finally
disappeared.

Justin started to talk about the
movie business. He wished he could stop himself talking! Amy preferred Ed, a
womaniser, for company. What was he supposed to do about it?! Why did that
matter?

‘What sort of a crowd is it?’ Amy
asked lightly, regaining control.

‘These people work on a movie and
keep a tight ship; they read the screenplay here – as you can see.’ Justin
pointed to a group of people, by the pool. ‘They in fact are reading their
lines.’

‘I never thought they did that in
groups.’ Amy was amused.

‘They don’t! This is a different
group. If you work for Frank, you do things differently.’ Monica said.

‘Who is Frank?’

‘I don’t suppose you are into the
movie business?’ Justin was puzzled.

‘No, I’m not. I don’t have much time
to get to know the business.’ The reason was that she couldn’t stand stuck up
actors and self-important people.

‘To answer your question, Frank
Orban is financing the movie. He does things his way – you might say he is
unconventional.’

‘Frank Orban?’

‘That’s the one.’ Justin said,
wondering why he was talking about Frank. He wanted to know about Amy and
forget she was with Ed. He had seen Ed many times in nightclubs with several
different women. His poor reputation preceded him. Why again?

They were standing outside by one of
the wrought iron tables. The huge pool was glittering in the moonlight
surrounded by a manicured lawn and a high stone wall.

Monica checked her phone. ‘I’ve got
to go, unfortunately.’ She said, her voice strained. ‘I’m meeting Al, ….. I
forgot.’

‘Your boyfriend?’

‘I suppose he's my boyfriend.’

‘Look after this girl Justin, until
Jack finishes his host duties.’ Monica turned to Amy. ‘Nice talking to you
Amy.’ She said sincerely.

‘Yes, you too.’ Amy answered,
distracted and hardly able to take her eyes off Justin.

‘Here’s my number Amy, please call me.’

‘Thanks, I will.’

Monica was sorry that Al wanted to
meet her. Oh, how much she wanted to stay! - but she had a boyfriend with a
problem
.
What’s new?!

‘We have to do lunch Amy!’ Oh dear
God. ‘I sound like a Hollywood housewife!’

‘Yes you do
darling
!’ Amy
answered smiling. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’

‘Amy dear, you are here!’ Jack
showed up suddenly.

Monica gave Jack a disapproving
look. ‘You told me to wait for a girl. You never told me she wasn’t
your
type of girl Jack! Keep your hands off Amy. She’s not for you!’

‘I know she isn’t Monica, she’s a
friend.’ Jack acknowledged. ‘Maybe I can show Amy the house?’

‘I am ready for a house tour Jack –
it’s striking.’ Amy was ready to move on, it was late and she wanted to get
back home.

‘Then we shall go.’ Jack said, very
pleased. ‘Follow me, Amy.’

Justin offered to walk Monica to her
car, knowing she had a list of questions.

‘Is there anything you need to tell
me Justin?’

‘Nothing at all.’

‘Liar.’

‘The answer is no.’

‘It is yes, if you ask me.’ Monica
knew her brother! - she detected an interest.

‘No, she is seeing a guy.’

‘Who?’ If Amy was in a relationship,
why did she come here? Without that boyfriend?

‘A real estate guy, you don’t know
him. He’s coming later.’

‘The way I see it ….’

‘You don’t see anything Monica.
Where are you going now?’

‘Meeting Al, … he had to work late.’

There was something in Monica’s
voice, which he didn’t like. ‘You two are ok?’

‘We are ok, brother.’ Monica opened
her car door.

‘Look after yourself.’ Justin said.

‘You too.’

She took off at full speed. There
was an unpleasant task ahead of her to deal with!

Chapter Nine

Justin decided to go for a walk on
the beach located at the back of Jack’s house. He walked towards the tall,
stone wall which surrounded Jack’s property, opened the wrought iron gates in
the skilfully shaped archway and there it was, the gleaming, dark night sea.

He set off to go down to the beach -
he needed to make a call, deal with a hitch. This time his lawyer was the major
hold up. Was it too late to call people? – no! He dialled his lawyer. The guy
answered after one ring.

‘Mr Blakes, what an unusual time to
call.’ His lawyer said.

Justin didn’t waste time on
pleasantries. ‘You’re fired; the sale of my label is off. Please inform the
relevant party. Have all the paperwork on my desk tomorrow morning.’ He said
calmly.

‘Mr Blakes, what has happened? Do
you not wish to sell anymore?’ The lawyer sounded agitated.

‘Let’s just say, you got found out!
You screwed with the wrong guy!’ Justin was surprised he wasn’t even angry.

‘But …’ He protested.

‘I want you in my office tomorrow
morning at eight am sharp.’ He clicked his cell off.

He hated dealing with nasty people.
He was also disappointed that he’d let the situation go this far. From the
second meeting with the purchaser, he had his suspicions. His lawyers had drawn
up a profitable purchase but
not
a lucrative sale. He was surprised at
their stupidity.

On an impulse, he phoned Frank.

‘Justin, have you left?’ Frank
answered the phone.

‘No, I’m down by the beach. I made
the call Frank.’

Frank wasn’t surprised and didn’t
need to ask what call. ‘Need my lawyers? He asked.

‘I am not even going to ask how you
know.’ Justin said. ‘Yes, I do, tomorrow morning. I called it off. The jerk is
coming to my office first thing tomorrow morning.’

‘I’ll get a lawyer to call you
tonight Justin.’