‘Old friend and good friend,’ came a voice above Charlene’s head. It was Travis, who’d been shamelessly eavesdropping. ‘It made my day when you turned up here, Charlene. Now, make it even better and have lunch with me.’
His hand on her arm brooked no resistance. Not that she wanted to resist. She was too grateful to him. Lee gave her a meaningless smile and vanished out of the door with Penny.
There was no doubt that Travis had saved her dignity. All eyes were on them as he escorted her out of the studio, into the corridor, into the elevator, finally the canteen. Heads turned, people stared at him in the company of a girl nobody had seen before.
Charlene struggled to collect her thoughts. Lee’s blank manner had told her everything she needed to know. But would that change when he heard her news? She had a terrible fear that it wouldn’t.
‘Thank you,’ she said when they were sitting at the table. ‘You saved me from looking a complete fool.’
‘Don’t call yourself a fool. That’s just playing his game. Presentation is all important.’
‘It’ll take more than presentation to stop me looking pathetic,’ she said in a tone of self-contempt. ‘I came all this way for a man who isn’t interested.’
‘But nobody has to know. Smile at me. Let them see us enjoying each other’s company. Go on, smile. More. That’s better.’
She was aware of the crowded canteen, and even more aware of Lee and Penny sitting together.
Good, she thought defiantly. Now he knew she wasn’t desperate for him.
‘So you’re a financial genius,’ he said.
She made a face. ‘That’s what I used to think, but it seems not.’
‘Hey, if you’re good with figures then I’m impressed. I’m rubbish at them.’
‘But it’s possible to be good with figures and rubbish at everything else,’ she said quietly. ‘It doesn’t make you good with people. I thought being good at the job was all I needed to get promoted, but the promotion went to some little doll-face who’d learned the job from me in the first place. When I protested I was told that they relied on me to keep an eye on her.’
‘So you’d do the work and she’d get the credit?’ Travis said sympathetically.
‘And the company car. And the increase in salary. So I told them to forget it.’
‘Good for you!’
She gave a brief laugh. ‘I wasn’t very clever. They offered me a bonus if I’d stay there, look after her and promise to keep quiet about “everything”.’
‘Meaning your boss and the girl he was sleeping with?’
‘Right. I could have had it made, but I lost my temper. I was really violent. They say the building shook when I slammed out.’
‘You?’ he queried. ‘Violent?’
‘Well, you’ve already found that out, haven’t you?’
‘No, you didn’t hit me on purpose. Pure accident. You seem so sedate, I just can’t imagine you slamming out.’
He might have added that her clothes, hair and make-up told the same story: austere, severe, sober, stern, unyielding. There was nothing fiery about her. Not on the surface, anyway. But inside he guessed there was something else.
Perhaps Lee had tempted it out into the open, which made it all the more strange that he was avoiding her.
‘Well, I’m paying for it,’ she said. ‘If I’d been clever I’d have driven them to fire me, then claimed unfair dismissal and sued.’
‘Admirable, but could you have driven them to fire you?’
‘Maybe. People can be tricked into doing what you want.’ She smiled. ‘I expect you know that.’
‘Sometimes,’ he conceded. ‘But I have a feeling I’m not as good at it as you.’
‘Well, I wasn’t good at it this time. First I lost my temper, then I realised I shouldn’t have, and by then it was too late. I did everything by the virtuous book, but sometimes you can have too much virtue.’
‘How true,’ he murmured. ‘So how did you find the cash to come here?’
‘My grandparents paid. They brought me up since my parents died. They’re lovely, adventurous people. Right now they’re on holiday in Africa, looking for elephants. They said I could go with them but I chose to come here instead.’
‘To find Lee?’
‘Yes.’
‘Where are you staying?’
‘The Howley. Why do you shudder? Do you know it?’
‘Not the hotel but that part of town. Depressing. I’d get out if I was you, find something better.’
He could have bitten his tongue out for his own tactlessness. Obviously she was making the money last, not knowing how long she would be here.
He took hold of her hand. ‘Charlene, listen to me. Don’t do anything crazy. It’s not-’
‘Well, this is nice!’
They both looked at the man who’d appeared just behind Travis. He was middle-aged, bulky, and his smile was a little too broad to be convincing.
‘Hello, Denzil,’ Travis said. ‘Charlene, this is Denzil Raines, my boss.’
‘None of that “boss” stuff,’ Denzil said jovially. ‘We’re all friends here. So you’re Charlene. I’ve been hearing about you. Nice to meet you. Hope you’re having a good time. Travis, make sure you treat this lady well. All right, all right, I’ll leave you two alone now.’
He took himself off, only turning at the last moment to give Travis a thumbs up sign and a beaming grin. Travis gave an inward groan.
‘He seems nice,’ Charlene observed. ‘Is something the matter?’
‘Everything’s the matter. I’m sorry about that. Denzil is thinking how he can make use of you.’
‘Of me? How?’
‘The fact is-I’ve been a bit of an idiot, and if there’s a disaster it’ll be my own fault.’ Caution made him stop there, but then he saw her face, kindly and understanding, as so few faces were in his world, and something drove him on to say, ‘I went to a nightclub with some friends, and there was this girl-’
‘The one that sat on your lap? Is that how they got the picture?’
He groaned. ‘You’ve seen it? Yes, it was in the newspaper, wasn’t it? I’m finished.’
‘No, she’s a bit blurred. You can sort of vaguely tell what she’s up to, and the fact that she’s hardly wearing anything, but the only face you can see is yours.’
‘Yeah, me cuddling a nearly naked girl,’ he groaned. ‘Actually, I was fairly tipsy by then and I just sat there and let her…well… And I’m paying for it. I’m supposed to be virtuous in private as well as in front of the cameras.’
‘And you’re not,’ she said sympathetically. ‘Not below the waist, anyway.’
‘Right,’ he said, relieved to find her so mentally in tune.
‘Well, I have the answer,’ she said. ‘The perfect solution to all your problems.’
‘Tell me.’
‘It’s simple. All you have to do is take up residence in a monastery. There, your life will be unassailably righteous, your career will be protected, and the studio profits will be safe.’
He stared. ‘You…you…’ Then he saw the wicked glint in her eyes and joined in her laughter. ‘You evil hussy!’ he choked. ‘I ought to…oh, but it was a good joke. You really had me scared for a moment.’
‘Well, at least you’re laughing,’ she said.
‘Yes, but it’s no laughing matter. I could lose so much.’
Travis’s phone rang. He answered quickly and seemed on edge.
‘Mom, it’s all right. Honestly. I can handle it. Stop worrying, I’ll call you later.’
He hung up, looking harassed.
‘She thinks I’m going to be brought down by scandal,’ he said. ‘When she was making films nobody could have survived what’s happening now.’
‘A film actress? Hey, that’s it. I thought you reminded me of someone, and now I can see. Julia Franklin.’
Julia Franklin had been a promising film actress some thirty years ago. For a while she’d shone brightly, and her
