“Come on, you’ll upset Charlotte.”
“Don’t care. She knows what I’m like. We have an understanding.”
“Really?” Charlotte’s voice echoed down the hall before she made an appearance in the lounge room. “Does that understanding include you pissing me off every couple of days for months on end?”
“Yes, it does, thanks for noticing. Oh don’t look at me like that. It’s not my fault that you won’t take Jack back.”
Charlotte visibly cringed at the sound of his name. “You being here makes it hard to forget.”
“That’s why I’m here.” Both women glared at him as he clapped his hand over his mouth. “That didn’t come out right,” he said as he quickly got up from the couch and took Nikki’s hands in his. “I’m here because I want Nikki to make things more permanent.” He grinned at her, “I can’t go weeks without seeing you.” Then he winked at Charlotte, “As an added bonus, I get to remind you what you’re missing with Jack.” He smiled his most winning smile and Charlotte watched Nikki melt into him, forgiving him in a second.
Why can’t I be that forgiving?
Dismissing that crazy thought she turned and headed back to her room, “Nikki, you’re going to have to move in with him, just so he’ll stop coming around.”
***
The house was quiet without Nikki. She hadn’t been thrilled to leave Charlotte on her own but she was obviously exhilarated to be living with Reid. To pass the time Charlotte bought a whiteboard and set it up on the wall. She plotted her film schedule, down time, and her auditions on the board to keep it all straight. Nikki was still her assistant and kept track of all her appointments, even though she didn’t live here anymore, but it helped her to map it out and she liked looking at it. Jay liked to draw on the board too and she took great pleasure in erasing his markings whenever he left.
On the day of her interview with Jason from the Australian breakfast show, she left the apartment to find three men waiting for her on the front steps. As she opened the door they rushed forward. “Charlotte, can we get your autograph?”
“Sure. Have you guys been waiting here long?” she asked as she took the pen. She was surprised and she tried to hide it by making small talk. How did these people know where she lived?
“We’ve been here since that guy left early this morning. We’ve been waiting to get your autograph. Can we have a photo?” Without waiting for her answer, one of the men turned her around and held up his camera. She smiled for the photo but all she wanted to do was get away. The other two held up more phones, and one of them put his arm around her and pulled her close.
Excusing herself she rushed to her car. As she pulled away from the curb she saw the three men hadn’t left. Instead, they’d sat down on the step and were watching her drive away.
Jesus Christ, that was scary. I hope they’re not there when I get back.
***
Charlotte was relaxed about the interview. She’d promised to answer any questions Jason asked and she was sure she’d already answered anything to do with Jack. There couldn’t be much else that the public wanted to know, could there? He welcomed her to the hotel restaurant and set up his digital recorder on the table.
“That’s cute. I thought people used their phones to record these days.”
“Sometimes I do,” he agreed. “But sometimes interviews go longer than expected and I run out of memory. Can you imagine if I missed half the interview that all of Australia is dying to hear?”
“All of Australia? You could be exaggerating just a bit.”
He smiled as though he was humouring her. “I’m serious, Charlotte. We’ve had so many requests for this interview that I’m big-time in favour at the network. Thanks so much for agreeing to give me the time. I can’t believe it’s taken so long to get it set up.”
“It’s no problem. It’s nice to speak to someone from Australia. You miss the accent when you don’t hear it for a while. Of course Nikki is Australian, but it’s nice anyway. I’m sorry for the delay, I’ve had trouble fitting you in. It’s been crazy since that first premiere.”
“I’ll bet. Just let me push the button. Alright, let’s start,” he said as he checked the red light on the recorder.
The interview went quickly and Charlotte found herself laughing with Jason the whole time. He was charming, and funny, and seemed to understand what she was talking about when she described some of the crazy things she’d seen in Hollywood. Before she knew it nearly two hours had passed with them giggling and sharing their experiences. They decided to order lunch and he continued asking her questions. Eventually, of course, the topic of Jack came up.
“I thought you might be going to let me off the Jack questions.” She laughed as he carefully broached the subject.
“I want to, I really do. You’re so much more than your marriage to a superstar. The viewers want to know, though. They love gossip, especially from the horse’s mouth.” He smiled apologetically as he sat back to allow the waiter to clear his plate.
“I know,” she sighed. “If I’d realised how much people would want to know about it I might not have agreed to get married.”
“You guys only lasted a matter of weeks, right?”
“That’s right. Forty-four days, to be precise. My mother assures me that’s not a record.”
He laughed as he glanced down at his interview notes. “Do you think you got married too quickly?”
“I do. Jack insisted we bring the wedding forward and I stupidly agreed. We would have burned out before the original wedding date and all of this could have been avoided, had we just decided to wait.”
“Have you served him with divorce papers?”
The question caught her by surprise and she stared at him in shocked silence. From the guilty look on his face, it was obvious that he already knew the answer.
“No,” she said quietly before taking a sip of water. She put the glass down and looked straight at Jason, who was now squirming in his chair. “I haven’t had my lawyer draw up the papers.
“Is it because of his album? Every song sounds like it’s about him and his devastation about losing you. He announced after the band broke up that his album would be all about his heartbreak, didn’t he?” he blinked and forced himself to go on. “My sources tell me that he hasn’t dated a single woman since you. Hasn’t even been seen out with so much as his mother. Once you left, it’s like he shut himself away.”
“You saved the best until last didn’t you, Jason,” she said shakily as she took another sip of water. She sat back in her chair and thought about how much she wanted to tell him the truth. No matter what happened, no matter how much Jack pissed her off, she would not be the one to tell the press about the contract.
She squinted her eyes at him and he had the good grace to look away. Her face had paled and her hands were tingling and she had the desire to hit something. Why hadn’t she got that paperwork done? Why couldn’t she just put this behind her and write it off as a bad experience.
You know why.
“I’ve been too busy with auditions and filming. Getting divorced takes time and effort and I didn’t want to devote my energy to something so meaningless. What difference does it make if we’re legally married or not? We’re not together, so it’s irrelevant.”
“You’re on record multiple times saying there’s no chance of you two reconciling. I would have thought you’d have made time to legally divorce.” He wasn’t going to stop pushing. “If you could say anything to your estranged husband right now, what would it be?”
She stood up from the table and collected her handbag, without saying a word. She put on her coat and slowly buttoned it as she looked at him. She signalled to the waiter that she’d like the check and Jason insisted he’d get it. She refused and glared down at him as she paid. “Fuck. Jack. Fawkner.” She said as she signed for her credit card. Pushing her chair back she threw over her shoulder, “You can print that. He and I are done.”
CHAPTER TWE
NTY ONE
On a cool night in April, the call came.
Nikki was at Jack’s first solo concert with Reid. Charlotte had refused to attend, no matter how much Nikki begged and pleaded. The concert was in LA; she knew he’d done that on purpose, hoping she would come. He’d even sent her tickets and a backstage pass. She’d mailed them back and told Reid to tell him to stop contacting her. She was searching the internet for airfares back home for Nikki and her when her phone vibrated.
“Speak of the devil, Nikki. Why aren’t you at the concert?”
“I was, but there’s been an accident Charlotte.” Nikki sounded worried and Charlotte sat up straight in bed as she waited to hear the news. “Jack fell off the stage.” Her heart leapt up into her throat and started pounding. “He’s in hospital and we need you to come.”
“Why?”
“You won’t believe it. They’ve sedated him and his mother is out of the country. They need a next of kin to sign the paperwork authorising them to treat him, and assuring the dickhead hospital that they’ll get paid.”
“Wow, seriously? Can’t Reid sign for it? Or pay them in advance or something? Where the fuck is Freddy?”
“Nope. They’re insisting on next of kin.”
“Jesus-Fucking-Christ. Am I never going to be rid of this man?” She immediately felt bad as she started pulling on her shoes and looking for her jacket. “How badly is he hurt, Nikki?”
“It’s bad, but he’ll be okay. Do you need me to send a car?”
“No, I’m fine. Text me the hospital details and I’ll be there as soon as I can. Get the doctor to call me if they’ll accept a verbal okay.”
“Will do.” She hung up and a moment later the address flashed up on Charlotte’s phone. She grabbed her handbag and was out the door and hailing a taxi.
***
“If I’d known this is what I had to do to get you to see me, I’d have thrown myself off a stage sooner.”
She looked up from her book at the sound of his voice. Despite the plaster cast he was sporting from hip to ankle he was grinning at her like a fool. “Oh, you’re awake. Lucky, I thought I was going to have to authorise your funeral as well.”
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
“More than you know. I’d make you pay for it yourself, too, before you start thinking I’ve gone soft.”
He laughed and held out his hand to her. She slipped her book into her bag and hesitantly moved to his side. She wanted to leave but she had to make sure he was going to be okay first. “Why the hell didn’t you let the ambulance take you when you fell?”
“I wasn’t finished with the concert. I promised myself after we cancelled those last two concerts in Vegas last year that I wouldn’t let my fans down again.” He touched her fingers, “So I had to finish.”
“You must have been in agony.”
“It was not pleasant, I agree.” He rubbed the back of her thumb, “but it’s worth it now.” She leaned over and pushed the button to summon the nurse. “What are you doing?”
“The doctor wanted to know as soon as you were awake. They have to test the feeling in your foot, or something.”
“Sweet. Will you stay with me while they do it?”
“I guess. Wouldn’t you rather have your privacy?”
He grinned at her. “Fuck, no. I can’t believe you would ask me that.”
“Yeah, well, I’d forgotten that I have seen everything you have to offer, thanks to my good friend Cindy and her wandering mouth.”
He looked pained as she reminded him of the reason they’d broken up. “I’m sorry Charlotte. I don’t know how many time you want me to say it.”
“I don’t want you to say it because I don’t care. Here’s the doctor.” She stepped back to her chair and picked up her book as the doctor examined him. She wasn’t paying attention to their conversation as she battled the feelings she was experiencing at seeing Jack again. He looked so helpless and she’d been so worried that he was seriously injured. So she was surprised when the doctor announced he was fine to go home as soon as the cast could be removed.
“What did he mean?”
“Not sure. I want to say something before the nurse comes back.”
“I should go now that you’re awake. I signed all the forms they needed.”
He looked at her strangely and grabbed her hand before she could move away. “Sit on the bed Charlotte, let’s talk.”
She sighed as she sat, “I’ve said what I want to say, Jack.”
“Well, I haven’t. You know I want you to come home. I’ve been asking you for nearly six months now. I’ve had Reid ask you, and Jay and Nikki. You keep saying no and I’ve been wondering why. I thought we got along well. I was enjoying your company and I thought you were enjoying mine. I got rid of Cindy. I admit, it’s hard not to have sex with anyone,” she rolled her eyes as he continued, “I didn’t have sex with her, no matter what you think.
“I wrote a whole album about how I felt about you. The world lapped it up, but you didn’t. I’m fucking confused, to say the least, and I guess I’ll never understand women. I wasn’t clear when I said we should have a baby together and I can see it might have upset you. What I was really getting at was that we should relax the no sex clause with each other.”
“What about the no sex clause? Explain.”
“We both have needs. I was trying to say we should agree to meet each other’s needs. Unfortunately I was an idiot and it came out as a request for us to have a baby. So, Char, imagine the last six months apart haven’t happened. Imagine that you can stand to come home with me. What if we agreed to meet each other’s needs in that respect?”
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Four days after Charlotte arrived home in Australia with her heart in pieces for the second time, her phone beeped. She’d set it up with separate ring tones so she knew who it was from before she picked it up to look.
Jack.
She didn’t want to read any messages from him, but she couldn’t resist. She’d left his hospital room in a shocked daze with him calling down the hall after her. Nikki had been a trooper, helping her escape by booking them tickets to Melbourne for the very next day.
She’d spent two months with Jack, with them together almost every day. Then they’d had six months apart and she could finally admit now that she missed rolling over and knowing he’d be right there. Whatever differences they’d had, he’d been great company, and she missed the closeness they’d shared, even if it was all make believe. Giving in to the inevitable, she picked up her phone and scrolled to his message. It was simple and to the point:
I MESSED UP, CHAR. PLEASE TEXT BACK.
She put the phone on the table and thought about what to do. If she answered, would he assume he was forgiven? Would it start a flood of texts that she couldn’t ignore? What would it take to make him stop, once he’d broken the ice this time? On the other hand, if she ignored the message, what would he think of her?
What will he think of me? I’m not the one suggesting we bang each other for fun!
If they didn’t sort out their relationship soon would he decide she’d never cared about him, or wonder if she’d met someone else? There’d been a rumour a few months ago about her and Jason Madigan, after the feature piece he’d written had been published. His interview with her had gone live and had been a raging success. Several media outlets commented about the intimacy of their time together. Reid had told her Jack had mentioned it to him, so she knew he was aware of Jason. She should have had a reasonable conversation with him in the hospital, but after he’d requested they start having sex as part of a change to the contract, she’d panicked and fled.
What the fuck was he thinking, asking me that?
Did she want to continue ignoring him? They would be moving in similar circles for the foreseeable future, so it would probably pay to be on speaking terms. The media was making quite a big deal about the fact that she’d left, again, after a visit to his hospital bedside. On th
e plane she’d decided to get the divorce papers drawn up as soon as she got home. She knew now, that the moment they were drawn up and lodged, she’d be reading about it online. At least she knew what irreconcilable differences meant now. They wouldn’t be able to come back from this, would they?
Before she could change her mind, she picked up the phone and quickly tapped out a reply:
BACK.
She pressed send before she could change her mind, and then she waited:
CUTE. STILL A SMARTASS, I SEE.
Then another text from him straight after:
SORRY, DON’T TAKE THAT THE WRONG WAY :)
Charlotte sighed. She didn’t want to spend her whole day texting him stupid messages, so she put the phone in a drawer and went outside to help her mother weed the vegetable garden.
Two hours later, dirty and sweaty, she headed straight for the shower. When she emerged, wrapped in a towel, Sharon handed her the phone. Without thinking, she took it and said, “Hello?”
“Char?” She glared at her mother, who put her hand up to her mouth and chuckled. “Why did you run away?”
“Why are you calling me, Jack?”
“You didn’t answer my text messages.”
“I’m busy. What do you want?”
“Please, Char,” he paused and she thought he sounded miserable. “I didn’t want anything. I just wanted to hear your voice and make sure you’re okay. Maybe we can talk for a bit since you didn’t say anything before you left. I still want to know when you’re coming home.” He was silent as she thought about how to answer. She didn’t want to talk to him. Any conversation would lead to him wanting to meet again, and she wasn’t ready for that. Spending time with Reid had been difficult enough, while he was with Nikki these last few months; seeing Jack would bring her undone at the seams all over again. She’d thought she was over him after six months apart, but his suggestion in the hospital and the sound of his voice now reminded her she was nowhere near cured.
Contracted For Love: Famous Love Series Page 19
