And, of course, how this might impact her relationship with David was also going to be interesting.
When she got back to the flat, she found David there with five of his acolytes. Young drama students had always clustered around him like bees around a honeypot, and she had grown used to finding her living room taken over by the cast of whatever production he was working on at the time. Today was no exception and she groaned inwardly. Four girls and a boy were sprawled around the room, while David had fun holding court from her favourite armchair. As she came in, dripping with sweat, he glanced up and waved.
‘Alice, hi. Good run?’
There was the usual flutter of interest from the students at the sight of her once famous face, but she didn’t stop to chat. Instead, she headed straight for the shower to cool off. Refreshed, she changed into shorts and a T-shirt and went back to the living room to find David just ushering the last of his young disciples out of the door. He turned back towards Alice.
‘Feel better for your run?’
‘Much better, thanks.’ She went around, rearranging cushions and picking up the empty cans, wrappers and bottles that his groupies always managed to strew about the place. She almost complained but she knew by now that it would just be a waste of time, so she tried a different topic. ‘You should come running with me instead of staying indoors all the time.’ She knew this was a forlorn hope and she saw him grimace, as ever. ‘Anyway, David, something’s come up and I don’t know at this stage how it might impact my life… our lives.’
He disappeared into the kitchen to emerge a few seconds later with two cold beers from the fridge. He slumped back down into her favourite armchair and passed her a bottle.
‘Tell me all about it.’
Chapter 2
As Amos had indicated, a meeting with the representatives of the studio was arranged for early July. Although this was less than two weeks away, Alice said yes, particularly once she heard where it was to take place. To her surprise, it wasn’t to be in Hollywood, but in what looked like a secluded hotel in Tuscany, Italy, and it was to stretch over five days, presumably to test whether the various egos were going to be able to coexist in close proximity once more. As a venue, this suited Alice down to the ground.
For anybody with an interest in art, particularly medieval and Renaissance art, Tuscany was the epicentre. From Leonardo da Vinci to Michelangelo, from Botticelli to Donatello, this historic region in the heart of Italy had spawned some of the greatest names in the history of world art. The more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea of going there became.
She found David eager to join her – no doubt keen to experience a bit of Hollywood for himself – and they decided to stay on for a few weeks’ holiday in Tuscany after the meeting ended. This would serve two main purposes, as far as she was concerned: she would have the opportunity to visit the region more fully and seek out as many incomparable works of art as she could. Additionally, she and David would get three or four weeks together, uninterrupted, to see just where their relationship was going. She still liked him a lot and she felt confident she had even loved him at some point, but she sensed they had reached a crossroads, or a point of no return. She had been feeling for quite a few months now that they were just going through the motions and she sometimes felt herself slipping more into the role of housekeeper than lover. If things were on the slide now, what were the chances of them improving as the years went by? Some big decisions needed to be made about the two of them, as well as the direction of her future career. A bit of alone time amid the scenic beauty of Tuscany would give them the chance to talk, to think and to come to a decision – one way or the other.
The week after the bombshell email from Conrad Chesterfield, Alice took the train up to London for an interview with a big international auction house who were looking for an expert to work with the valuers in the Medieval and Renaissance art department. This had been arranged before Conrad Chesterfield’s email and, although the pay on offer didn’t compare with the kind of money she might be able to make with a return to her acting career, the job sounded fascinating and Alice arrived for the interview in good spirits. However, once again, her past threatened to get in the way.
Throughout the early years after her return to university, she had often had to struggle to be taken seriously, whether by fellow students, lecturers or potential boyfriends. The problem was that Pals had been a massive hit in the UK, as well as the USA, and she was a very recognisable face, but people often appeared unable to grasp the fact that she and Polly – the character she played – were not one and the same. Polly, her alter ego, had been a flirty and fairly superficial sort of girl, with a penchant for tarty clothing, and whose romantic exploits had occupied much of the five series. As she had lurched in and out of relationships with a never-ending succession of random men, including Richie, Polly had gained a reputation for being a bit loose, a bit of a good-time girl. Slipping out from her shadow had been hard for Alice.
In reality, she was very different from Polly the flirt. Her mother had brought her up to accept that she had had the good fortune to
