grim air had vanished in the pleasure of his brother’s company. As she passed by, both men reached out to catch her hand and drew her to sit with them.
‘I was saying how glad I am to meet my brother again,’ Leonid said, ‘and how sad that tomorrow we must say goodbye, and not know when next we meet.’
Charlene was inspired.
‘But that’s easy,’ she said. ‘The show filmed an episode in London, so why not an episode in Moscow?’
‘That’s brilliant!’ Travis exclaimed.
‘But you are going to do the film,’ Leonid protested. ‘Will you have time?’
‘I haven’t got the film yet, and even if I do there are TV episodes to shoot first. I’ll talk to them about this as soon as we get back to LA.’
‘And they will say yes because you are a very big man and they do as you wish,’ Leonid said triumphantly. ‘Just wait until you get to Moscow and I can boast that this is my brother.’
He seized Charlene’s hand and kissed it.
‘Thank you for your idea. You are a genius. Travis, your lady is a genius.’
‘I know that,’ he said, regarding her with fond gratitude.
‘Come on, I only suggested it.’ She laughed. ‘If they do this it will be to please Travis.’
‘True,’ Leonid agreed. ‘Travis is the great man. But a great man needs a great lady beside him all the time.’
‘He certainly does,’ Travis said firmly. ‘Damn! Why does the phone have to ring now? Hello, Joe!…What’s that?’ Suddenly his face brightened. ‘Are you sure? It’s not a mistake? That’s great. Yes, I’ll make a note of the date. Next month. Right.’
‘What is it?’ she asked.
‘It’s the nominations for the TopGo Television Drama Awards. Joe’s had some advance notice.’
‘And you’ve got a nomination?’ Darius demanded. The family were gathering around them.
‘More than one, apparently. Joe, how many?
Jackson produced a scrap of paper. Leonid shoved a pen into Travis’s hands. Now everyone was riveted as he began to scribble.
‘That’s four!’ Marcel exclaimed, reading over his shoulder as Travis hung up. ‘
‘Let’s see,’ squeaked Harriet. Seizing the paper, she began to read aloud. ‘“Award for the best performance by a leading actor in a television series. Award for the best comedy performance by an actor in a television series.”’
‘It’s a con,’ Travis groaned. ‘There was one episode that was played for laughs, so someone’s been pulling strings to get me this nomination. It doesn’t mean a thing.’
‘Stop being modest,’ Jackson ordered. ‘It doesn’t suit you. What else is there?’
‘“Award for the best dramatic performance by an actor in a television play,”’ Harriet read. ‘You do one-off plays as well?’
‘I did one last year. Just one.’
‘And “best contribution to an educational feature,”’
Harriet read.
Travis’s brothers roared with laughter. ‘Education?’ Darius echoed. ‘You?’
‘Very funny.’ Travis grinned. ‘I made an appearance in a couple of documentaries. I told you, it’s a con. Somebody’s fixed this.’
‘Of course,’ Marcel declared. ‘Nobody could ever think you were “somebody” just because you’ve got more nominations than the rest.’
Everyone cheered and applauded, raising their glasses in salute, while Travis looked modestly embarrassed even through his laughter.
Amos took the paper from Harriet and studied it.
‘It’s a fix,’ Travis repeated. ‘Nobody gets as many as that unless someone’s pulling strings.’
‘Of course,’ Amos agreed. ‘Obviously this is about boosting you for the film part. You will win everything. Your incredible achievement will be in the papers, and the part will be yours. Excellent.’
‘You think that’s good?’ Travis queried.
‘If you want something to happen, you have to arrange for it to happen,’ Amos told him. ‘Clearly you are supported by big, important people.’
It was clear that Travis had gone up in his estimation. In Amos Falcon’s world this was how things were done.
‘You mentioned a date next month,’ Amos said.
Travis nodded. ‘The award ceremony is on the fifteenth, in Los Angeles.’
‘Splendid. I shall be there.’
‘And me,’ Marcel said at once. ‘And Cassie.’
‘And me,’ Darius added. ‘And Harriet.’
Jackson and Leonid joined in, and with dizzying speed it was set up. All Travis’s family, even Amos, would be there for his great event. Both professionally and personally, this would be his night of glory.
On the way up to their suite he was incandescent, whooping, ‘You did it! You did it!’
‘No, you did it,’ she protested.
‘Don’t argue with me. You did it. Come here!’
He pulled her hard against him, kissing her with a fierce eagerness that brought her own desire rioting to the surface, overwhelming her despite her good resolutions. Only the sound of the elevator doors opening brought them back to earth.
‘Come on,’ he said, heading for their suite.
Once inside, he held her face between his hands, smiling into her eyes.
‘Leonid’s right,’ he said. ‘I need you beside me, so now you definitely have to marry me.’
‘But-’
‘No buts. I won’t take no for an answer. Say you’ll marry me.’
‘Travis-’
‘Say yes. Say it.’
Overjoyed but bewildered, she searched his face, desperately trying to understand something that could never be understood.
‘Yes,’ she whispered. ‘Yes.’
‘You mean it? You won’t change your mind?’
‘I mean it.’
‘Prove it to me.’
No need to ask what he meant. Even as he spoke, he was drawing her down onto the bed, and she went eagerly.
In the days after their first loving they’d been wary of each other, making her wonder if it would ever happen again. Now she understood how terrible that would have been. Never to have touched him again, or feel him touch her, never again to know the sweet thrill of being close to him, then closer until finally they were each other’s with a completeness that made her dizzy with delight.
He loved slowly, even hesitantly, as though the first loving had left him still in doubt. But that was his way, she thought, trying to think clearly through a haze of pleasure. It was hard for him to be truly confident, even now, but surely it was in her power to find the way for him. With her arms firmly around him she gave herself up to the sensations and emotions that were like a new world: the world they would find together.
When he was asleep she rose and went to sit by the window, watching his still form on the bed. Common sense was still raging at her, and she knew she must tell it to stop its nonsense once and for all.
Travis could never be second best.
