“I won’t bother any of you again. I promise.”
“Well, forgive me if I don’t pay much attention to your promises.”
“I mean it this time, Reece. You can call Max when I’ve gone, get him to put any measures in place he needs to but I promise you, you won’t see me again. None of you will.”
Reece needed to believe her; he really needed to believe her. “India is a very special young lady. She doesn’t need you turning her life upside down.”
“I know. She seems happy. I mean, she’s got the big house, fame, money ...”
“She has everything she needs.”
Angie paused for a second, looking at Reece. “I’m sure she does.”
He signed the cheque and handed it over to her, just wanting her out of his house. “Now go. Get out of here. I’ll handle Terry and India. You’ve got what you came for. I’ll be calling Max as soon as you’re out of here and this time ... this time there’ll be no more room for negotiations. I’m going to make damn sure of that.”
She reached out and took the cheque from his outstretched hand, tucking it into her bag, turning to go.
“Don’t you even want to know how she is?” Reece couldn’t help asking, still totally confused as to how she could just walk away from her daughter without asking anything about her.
Angie turned round and looked him straight in the eyes. “I know how she is, Reece. I read the newspapers and magazines. She’s in enough of them.”
“And that’s it? By doing that you think you know how she is?”
She shrugged again.
“Have you even seen any of her films?”
“A couple. I saw that one she did with Michael Walsh. Isn’t that who she’s shacked up with now?”
Reece gave a cynical laugh, pushing a hand through his hair. “They’re together now, yes.”
“That’s nice. Bit old for her though I would have thought.”
Reece couldn’t stand anymore. He just wanted her out now. “Goodbye, Angie.”
She looked at him one more time and, without saying another word, she just turned and left, bumping into Terry on his way back in, but saying nothing to him.
“Where’s she going?” Terry asked, looking at Reece.
“Out of our lives.”
“Hang on, what about explanations? She can’t just leave; I want to know what the hell’s going on here.”
“Sit down, Terry.”
“I’d rather stand, thanks.” Terry was still staring at Reece, and suddenly it all started to fit into place, what it was that had made him think there was something familiar about Reece, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. India had his eyes. She actually had his eyes, and his mouth, Jesus! There were so many resemblances he could kick himself for not working it out sooner. But then, how could he have had any idea that India’s real father was a Hollywood movie star? Although it went a long way to explaining where she got her acting talent from.
“Do you want a drink?” Reece asked, because he certainly needed one. “Then we can talk. Believe me, there’s a lot to get through.”
***
India sat on the large cream sofa in their huge bedroom suite, hugging her knees to her chest as she watched Michael get ready for their evening out, although neither of them really wanted to go.
He turned around and smiled at her, that wonderful smile that could literally make her heart stop for a second, and she felt her stomach do that funny little flip. She couldn’t help but smile back, even though she wasn’t sure she had the energy. She just couldn’t shake this tired feeling she’d had all day.
“You alright?” Michael asked, fastening the towel around his waist a bit tighter.
She nodded. “I’m fine. Tired, but fine.”
“It’s been a long day, I know, honey. But we’ve really got to go tonight. Even if it’s just for a couple of hours.”
She yawned, really just wanting to curl up in bed and watch some trash TV. “I know.”
Her stylist and hairdresser were waiting downstairs and she knew she’d have to make a move in a minute and go and get ready, but she really did feel incredibly tired, drained almost, and she had no idea why. It wasn’t like today had been an unusually busy day on set. Most of her scenes had involved sitting down.
“Are you sure you’re ok?” Michael asked, coming over to her, putting a hand on her forehead. “You don’t look too good, baby.”
“I’m fine,” she smiled. “Really.”
He sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him and she snuggled into him. He’d just come out of the shower and he was still warm and damp.
He gently kissed her forehead and she looked up at him, her stomach flipping over again. There was something about this man that had got her so bad she didn’t know what to do with herself some days. He wasn’t good looking in the same way that Kenny was, but he was still handsome, with those beautiful eyes and that gorgeous mouth and that ability to make her smile just by looking at her and she loved that. She loved everything about him.
His mouth touched hers gently and she moved closer, putting her hand to his face, kissing him back. “Thank you,” she whispered, gently stroking his face.
He smiled. “For what?”
“For loving me.”
“Oh, believe me, honey, that is not a problem … Jesus, you’re killing me here …”
She kissed him again, slowly. “It’s my job, Mr. Walsh.”
He took one last look at her before reluctantly dragging himself up off the sofa. “Well, I suppose we should make a move or we’re never gonna get anywhere tonight,” he sighed, tightening the towel around his waist as he quickly kissed her forehead. “Back in a second. Just gotta go get the suit on.”
She watched him leave the room and pushed herself up off the sofa, sighing heavily, untying her robe as she made her way over to her walk-in closet. If she didn’t start getting ready soon she’d lose what limited motivation she had left altogether.
Slipping on the most beautiful underwear, the kind of things she’d looked at in magazines but could never have afforded before, she looked at herself in the full-length mirror, cocking her head slightly. She really did look tired. The make-up artists had some work to do with her this evening but they’d already proved they could work miracles, and they’d need to tonight.
Wrapping her robe back around herself she walked out of the closet just as Michael came back into the room, already dressed in his suit, and it never failed to amaze her how quickly men could get ready.
She walked over to him, smiling, straightening his tie and kissing him quickly.
“You look very handsome, Mikey.”
He smiled back. “Why, thank you, Ms. Steven. And you, I have to say, are looking incredible.”
“Shut up. I look like crap.” She certainly felt like it, that was for sure.
“Never,” he whispered, his mouth so close to her ear it made her stomach flip again.
But, as a very strange feeling suddenly washed over her, combined with that overwhelming tiredness she’d been experiencing all day, India knew something was wrong. Something was very wrong. She just didn’t feel right, she felt light-headed and sick and she held onto Michael as a wave of dizziness cascaded over her, that overwhelming tiredness that she just couldn’t control coming back with a vengeance, causing her to feel so weak she was finding it hard to stand up.
Michael looked at her as she suddenly went limp in his arms, falling against him like a rag doll and he quickly grabbed her, picking her up as her eyes closed. But, for India, the world had already gone black.
***
Terry listened intently as Reece told the story, trying to explain everything as best he could because it wasn’t easy. And the events of today had proved that leaving it this long had only made things worse, but Terry listened as he told him how he’d met their mother in the spring of 1967, whilst he’d been working in the North East of England as a young session musician.
Terry had always been led to believe that India was the result of a one night stand, nothing more, but that wasn’t the way it appeared now. If what Reece was telling him was true, and he had no reason to disbelieve him, it had been a full on affair. Reece and his mother had, at one time it seemed, been in love. It was just so hard to imagine that could ever have been the case. But, as Terry watched Reece explain about his past, about the person he’d been before Hollywood, he could understand just why his mother had fallen for him. Reece had been the kind of man his mother had always really wanted, the proverbial ‘bad boy’. The complete opposite of his father.
“She came over to Ireland,” Reece carried on, looking at Terry all the time, trying to make him understand as best he could. “I’d moved back over there but I wanted to see her ... I still wanted to see her even though I knew it was wrong. She was married, she had a child ...”
“And she thought so little of her family that she just dropped everything and went over there, to see you,” Terry said, leaning back against the breakfast bar, a glass of brandy in his hand. “Jesus, I was barely three years old!”
Reece took a large swig of his drink, refilling his glass immediately, holding the bottle out to Terry, who shook his head. He still had to go into work at some point today, no matter how little he felt like it now.
“I’d got myself into all kinds of shit,” Reece went on, looking out of the French windows. “I’d got involved with these guys ... I was young, they told me I could make loads of money and I needed the cash. I had plans. I wanted to move to London, I needed the money to put myself through drama college.”
“What kind of shit?” Terry asked, putting his empty glass down and folding his arms.
“Drugs.”
“Taking them?”
Reece shook his head. “No. I never touched them, well, apart from smoking the occasional joint. I was involved in dealing.”
“Jesus, Reece ... did mum know?” Reece nodded and Terry gave a cynical laugh. “And she didn’t care?”
“She got the benefits. Expensive gifts, nights out, new clothes. That’s all she cared about.”
Terry couldn’t believe he was listening to this. He hadn’t even been aware that his mother had briefly left his father when he’d been a toddler, but it explained a lot about the reason why their marriage had never been the same again once she’d returned.
“We were at a festival,” Reece continued. “It was the late 60’s, drugs were rife at these things, we could make thousands over a weekend ... but at this one ...” He broke off, looking out of the window again.
“What?” Terry asked. “What happened?”
Reece sat down. He had a headache that was getting worse by the minute.
“Somebody died, Terry. A young student. Others were taken ill; it must have been a bad mix we were selling. I never knew where it came from, I just did what I had to do. But people started asking questions and I started panicking so to make sure I kept my mouth shut I was paid a lot of money and told to get out of Ireland.”
“Christ,” Terry sighed, pushing a hand through his hair again.
“I did as I was told, Terry. That was all I could do. You didn’t mess with these guys. If they told you to do something you did it so I took the cash and moved to London. I changed my name, became a whole new person. It was the only way.”
“And you didn’t tell mum?”
He shook his head. “There wasn’t time. I didn’t want to leave that way but under the circumstances I had no choice. I had no idea she was pregnant, Terry. If I had - well, who knows ... but she couldn’t get in touch with me because she didn’t know where I was. She obviously went back home to Newcastle. Back to her family … it was probably for the best.”
“You think?” Terry sighed again. How different everyone’s lives would have been if things had played out that other way. “So, when did you find out about India?”
“When your mother decided to start blackmailing me for money. I gather it was just before she divorced your father. To be honest, I’m surprised she waited as long as she did.”
Terry couldn’t believe this. It was like some plot from a movie. You couldn’t make it up. “When you saw her, that night in Newcastle, when you saw India ... did you know then?”
Reece nodded. “Coincidence meant I’d been filming over there and it just seemed like the perfect opportunity. I’d had people looking for her ... I’d known where she was for a while.”
“And bringing her over to L.A.? The screen test …”
“That wasn’t planned, no. Something just kind of clicked the second I laid eyes on her and I … I took a chance, a very big chance. The whole premise I used was ridiculously far fetched. It was a huge risk. But I had to do it, I had to see her, I had to know who she was, this young woman I didn’t even know had existed for all these years. I had to go back to L.A., and if the only way I could spend some time with her, get to know her, was to bring her back with me then that was the only choice I had. I did the only thing I could do. I had no idea if she could cut it acting; I had no fucking idea, Terry. But I didn’t care at the time. I just wanted to meet my daughter.”
Terry looked at him. “I don’t get it, though. Why didn’t you just tell India who you were there and then?”
“There was no time, Terry. And you can’t just come out with something like that. As much as I wanted to.”
“Ok ... so why didn’t you just tell my mother to fuck off? How did you even know she was telling the truth anyway?”
“She was threatening to go to the press, threatening to tell everyone about my past. She’d put two and two together and realised I’d had something to do with the death of that boy and I wasn’t willing to call her bluff.”
“Jesus, Reece, what a fucking mess! How the hell did you let it get this far?”
“I don’t know, ok?” He was tired and he was shouting, which wasn’t helping his headache.
He sat down, putting his head in his hands for a few seconds before looking back up at Terry, his voice quieter now, calmer. “I’m sorry, Terry. I’m sorry. But I’ve had this weight on my shoulders for so long ... y’know, it’s almost a relief to have it out in the open at last.”
Terry looked at him, a man shattered, drained of all emotion and understandably so. “Is this the last you’re going to see of her?”
Reece looked up. “Angie? Yes. She’s gone now.”
“You’ve paid her off?”
Reece nodded. “I had to, Terry. I had no choice.”
“How much did she want?”
“A million.”
“A million? Jesus Christ …”
“She’s already had various pay offs. I’ve bought her a house back in England, a car ... but this is the last time.”
Just when Terry thought it couldn’t get any worse something else came along to hit him head on. Had he ever really known his own mother? “How can you be sure she won’t come back again? Because she’s done it before, obviously.”
“There’ll be no chance of that happening, Terry. Max – my lawyer – he’ll see to that.”
Terry didn’t want to ask how. He didn’t care. Right now he felt like he’d just run two marathons. He was worn out. There was only one thing that mattered now, anyway. “So, what do we do about India?”
Reece stood up, walking over to the coffee machine and switching it on. “I’m going to tell her, Terry, of course I am. But the time has got to be right. Please understand that. The time has got to be right.”
Terry felt sorry for him. What had happened was a mess, no doubt about that, but in a way he could understand why Reece had let it get this far. What mattered now though was the future and how they dealt with that. The past was done, that couldn’t be changed. Reece was a good guy, a decent man who obviously loved India and now it all made sense, how he’d always cared for her, always worried about her, always wanted to make sure she was ok. There was a time when Terry had thought it all a bit weird, the way Reece was always overly
concerned about his sister, but now, well, now it was obvious why.
He looked at Reece again and smiled. “I understand, y’know.”
Reece’s shoulders sagged with relief and he visibly relaxed. “That means such a lot to me, Terry.”
“We both love India. We both want what’s best for her. All that matters now is that she finds out the truth, from you. As soon as possible.”
“Will you help me?” Reece asked, suddenly overwhelmingly grateful that Terry was on his side. He needed that more than he’d ever imagined he would. He didn’t think he could do this on his own, not now.
Terry smiled again. What a fucking day! He wasn’t going to forget this one in a hurry. But, now he knew what India had ahead of her, he was even more determined to make sure that this was all made as easy as possible for her.
“We’ll sort this out, Reece. Together, ok?”
Reece smiled. “Thank you, Terry. I mean that. Thank you.”
“Come on then,” Terry said, grabbing some mugs from the cupboard. “Let’s have that coffee and try and work out exactly how we’re going to go about this. Because the sooner India finds out the truth, the sooner we can all relax.”
***
Michael felt his heart race as he crouched down beside the sofa, stroking the hair away from India’s face, watching as her eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times as she tried to focus on him.
He smiled, relieved she was waking up. “Hey there, sleepyhead.” He squeezed her hand, almost frightened to let go of her. “You gave me a bit of a scare there, angel.”
She tried to sit up and Michael sat next to her, putting his arm around her, holding her close, kissing her forehead.
“What happened?” she asked. She felt like she’d been in some kind of fight, and she still felt so unbelievably tired.
“You passed out, baby.”
She cuddled up against him, the urge to just go to sleep overwhelming. “Please tell me we’re not going out now, Michael, because I really don’t think I’ve got the energy.”
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