No Matter What

by Michelle Betham

  “I know, Bobby. Stop nagging.”

  He looked at her, and then looked behind him to where Michael was now crouching down talking to a couple of little kids whilst their mum watched on in awe.

  “I’m not nagging, India; I’m just reminding you of the time because, when Mr Walsh is on the scene, you seem to lose the ability to use a watch.”

  “Stop calling him Mr Walsh,” India giggled. “It sounds so formal.”

  “I like to think of him as an authority figure,” Bobby winked and India giggled again.

  “Do you fancy my husband?”

  He sat back in his chair and crossed his legs, taking his large black A4 book out of his bag and opening it, clicking his pen. “Now, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?”

  “Bobby!”

  He leaned forward and stole a blueberry from her plate. “Oh, come on angel, you know Kenny’s always been my man.”

  She slapped his hand away from her plate, still laughing. “You’re impossible, do you know that?”

  “All part of my charm, missy. Now, let’s see, who’s been calling you this morning ...”

  India groaned and leaned forward, her chin in her hands as she rested her elbows on the table. “It’s not even 8.30, Bobby.”

  He looked at her with his stern school teacher face. “You’ve been in this industry long enough to know that 8.30am is practically the middle of the day, so don’t give me that.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him.

  “I saw that.” He put his glasses on and started scanning his list as India turned her attention back to watching Michael. He was now trying to make his way over to her but kept getting sidetracked by more fans.

  “And, you see, this is where we have the problem,” Bobby said, without even looking up.

  “What? What problem are you on about now?”

  “Mr Walsh.”

  “Mr Walsh isn’t a problem.”

  He looked at her again; his glasses resting on the tip of his nose, making him look even more like a school teacher.

  “Angel, you’ve had a honeymoon period that’s lasted years, that in itself is weird. By Hollywood marriage standards you should be fighting at least once a day and throwing things at each other by now but instead, he walks into a room and you turn into a lovesick teenager. I notice these things.”

  “You don’t say.”

  He raised his eyebrows and pushed his glasses back up his nose. “I dread to think what you two get up to behind closed doors.”

  “I’m surprised you don’t know. You seem to have a handle on everything else.”

  He looked up at her again and they both burst out laughing.

  “Bobby, will you come and stay with me in the villa? When Michael’s gone back to L.A.? Please. I really need the company.”

  “What would your husband say?”

  “I don’t think Mikey sees you as a threat, somehow.”

  “I could get offended at that remark.”

  “Oh, shut up and tell me you’ll stay with me. We can watch movies, eat chocolate and drink champagne any time we want to. Actually, you can do that in every room in that villa, TV’s everywhere, you’ve seen nothing like it.”

  “Can we play at being Tom Cruise in ‘Cocktail’ behind that bar on the terrace?”

  “Of course we can,” she smiled, folding her arms. “You can give me Slow Comfortable Screws and Sex On The Beach every night, if that’s what you want.”

  “I think I’ll leave that to Mr Walsh, if you don’t mind. I’ll pack my bags tonight and be over as soon as the husband’s out the door.”

  They high five-d each other as Michael came over.

  “What are you two plotting?”

  “Bobby’s going to move into the villa to keep me company.” India kissed him quickly as he sat down next to her. “When you’ve gone, that is.”

  “Obviously,” Bobby smiled, and Michael smiled back.

  He liked Bobby. He was good for India. Not only was he an excellent P.A., but he distracted her from Kenny Ross and anyone who could do that right now was Michael’s best friend.

  “Is that ok with you, baby?” India asked, putting the tip of a strawberry into her mouth, an action that Michael found incredibly erotic. Probably too erotic for this time of the morning.

  “Yeah ... yeah, of course that’s ok with me. India, honey, please don’t do that.”

  She looked at him, all wide eyes and innocence, picking up another strawberry and repeating the action. Deliberately. “Don’t do what?”

  “That ... what you’re doing now, don’t do that.”

  “Why?”

  He raised his eyebrows but India just looked at him, sending out silent messages until his resistance was totally worn down and he leaned forward, taking the strawberry out of her hand and kissing her mouth, and India just melted as his lips moved against hers.

  “Right, that’s it, I’m out of here before you two start re-enacting ‘9 ½ weeks’ on the buffet table,” Bobby said, picking up his bag and ‘phone. “Make-up in fifteen minutes, missy.” He started to walk off then turned round and smiled at them. “Y’know, if you walk fast you may be able to make it to the villa and back with time to spare.” And then he walked off, tapping his watch for India’s benefit.

  “You gotta love him,” Michael said, his hand sliding up India’s thigh.

  “Yeah, I do.” She smiled at her husband, stroking the back of his neck. “But I love you so much more.”

  “You do, huh?” he grinned, his hand sliding further up her leg.

  “Yeah ... I do.”

  Their mouths met again, a kiss that India didn’t want to break away from, even though she knew any paparazzi in the vicinity would be photographing them if they were anywhere near. Which they probably were.

  “You know what Bobby was saying, about walking fast to the villa?” Michael whispered, every single inch of him aching to have her.

  India nodded, her forehead resting against his, her fingers still stroking the back of his neck.

  “Well, I think it was good advice. Don’t you?”

  ***

  Charley knew she had to be careful when leaving Vince’s apartment. To all intents and purposes she was dating the boss and she knew it wouldn’t go down well with the other girls. They may be preoccupied with the appearance of Kenny Ross right now but any one of them would also give anything to be Vince Maine’s girlfriend. She’d heard them talking about it often enough. Those that wanted to break into acting and get their faces known in Hollywood were particularly keen to snare him, with his connections to Michael Walsh and the fact he co-owned a movie production company.

  Vince was a good looking man, tall, dark haired, now in his mid-forties and with a notorious reputation as a staunch bachelor, but he’d made his move on Charley and she couldn’t say no. Despite having been involved in no relationships since Jimmy, and vowing that she never would again, Vince had won her over. Eventually.

  She’d seen him standing by the side of the room during her first few outings as one of the lead showgirls at The Maine Resort. She’d noticed him watching her and, at first, she’d just thought it was because he’d recognised her from the brief times they’d met before. Which he had, Of course. He’d finally put two and two together and realised why she’d seemed so familiar to him. So he’d sought her out after one of the shows one evening and asked her if she would join him for dinner, because he’d been curious. He’d wanted to find out more about Charley Miles and, despite initial reluctance, she’d been won over by his smile. From the minute he’d started talking over dinner she’d known his sincerity was real, his charm wasn’t an act. But she’d still played hard to get, reluctant to start anything, especially with Vince.

  But Vince wasn’t one to give up. He’d been fascinated by Charley. He knew the history, he was only too well aware of the circumstances surrounding her and India and the past that had pulled their friendship apart, but he was totally fascinated by her. And he couldn’t let i
t go. He’d sent her flowers, left messages on her ‘phone and turned up to watch the show she was in at every opportunity, such was his need to get to know her better. It was then that Charley had realised that she liked it, she liked the attention, she liked the fact he wasn’t willing to give up on her without trying his hardest. But it was still early days. Very early days. They’d only been dating a matter of weeks and it was nothing serious. But she had a feeling it could be.

  “Are you going already?” Vince asked, coming out of the bathroom and finding Charley brushing her hair, her bag sitting beside the private elevator in his apartment on the top floor of the hotel.

  She turned round and smiled at him. “I’ve got to be somewhere at 10 and I want to stop off at home first and get changed.”

  He came up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist. “You can’t stay another five minutes?”

  She turned round, kissing him quickly. “Casey is starting to wonder where I am, Vince. I shouldn’t really be staying over at all.”

  “Why don’t you just tell her, Charley? Why don’t we just tell everybody?”

  “You know why. It’s too early.”

  “Are you ashamed of me?”

  She smiled again. “No, of course I’m not. Far from it. Just ... don’t rush me, Vince. Please. You know as well as I do why this relationship could get very complicated.”

  He squeezed her waist and smiled back. “Ok ... ok, I get it. I’ll stop going on about it.”

  She kissed him one more time, letting go of him and grabbing her bag, pressing the button for the elevator, still smiling at him. “I’ll call you later.”

  She was right, of course. This was a relationship with more than its fair share of complications. He knew India had put Charley right to the back of her mind, never talking about her or even mentioning her since the night of Terry’s death, and he knew she really had no desire to ever see her again. So to tell her that he was dating her, that they were together, well, it wasn’t really something he looked forward to doing. But if things continued to go the way they seemed to be going then he couldn’t hide it forever.

  He’d never meant to fall for Charley, he’d never meant to fall for anyone, he’d always avoided serious relationships of any kind, preferring to keep things quick and casual. But that seemed to be changing rapidly as each day with Charley went by.

  He’d known, that day he’d seen her at the showgirl auditions, he’d known that he’d seen her somewhere before. So he’d gone back later, sat at the back of the theatre, and watched, until he was absolutely positive it was her. And when he’d heard that she’d got one of the lead showgirl jobs he’d gone to as many of her performances as possible, watching from the sidelines, watching everything she did, for no reason other than to see how this girl had changed from the days when Jimmy Cash had had her trapped in a world that could only be described as hell. And it seemed that she’d finally found her feet – and her new home – in Vegas.

  Vince had managed to find out quite a bit about Charley Miles, and he admired the way she’d turned her life around, the way she’d managed to put everything that had happened before behind her. Just like everyone else had done, really. But he’d wanted to know more, he’d wanted to find out who she really was, and although it had taken a lot longer than he’d thought it would – one dinner date hadn’t worked quite the way he’d wanted it to – she’d eventually said yes to him. She’d eventually agreed to see him, and even though it had only been a few weeks, he knew she’d changed him and his whole attitude to relationships, which is why he knew she was special. Nobody had ever managed to convince him that settling down was an option before, but now – now he was actually thinking about it. This pretty, dark haired girl with a past she didn’t like to talk about, a past that affected everyone around him, she’d made Vince Maine give commitment some serious thought for the first time in his forty-five years.

  Part of him wished he hadn’t fallen for her, he wished he didn’t have to think about what everyone else thought, but he did. He had to. India Walsh was someone he loved and cared about, she was the wife of his very best friend and a person who’d been through so much as a direct result of Charley’s past life and he had to worry about what she’d think. He had to. But he wasn’t going to give Charley up, he couldn’t do that now. She was different and he needed that.

  Taking a few quick sips of coffee he looked at his watch. He was late for a morning meeting, something which was so unlike him. But these past few weeks had changed Vince Maine, and that was all down to Charley.

  He smiled at the thought of her as he grabbed his jacket and pressed the button for the elevator. Maybe it was time he cut back on the workload a bit, delegate more. He’d think about it. And the fact he’d even considered that thought almost shocked him. For the first time in his life Vince had things on his mind other than work. And he liked it.

  ***

  Kenny whistled as India walked onto set. She looked stunning, but then she always did. He was going to enjoy these next few weeks if she was going to look like this every day. And she was using her own accent in this movie too, something that Kenny had always loved about her, that North East English accent.

  “Pack it in, Kenny,” India said.

  “Why? You look incredible.”

  “Because you’re putting me off.”

  “Nothing puts you off. You’re the epitome of professionalism on a movie set.”

  “And that’s usually a movie set without you on it.”

  “Did you get out of bed the wrong side this morning or something? Or was old man Walsh unable to give you the wake up call you needed?”

  India looked at him, narrowing her eyes. Kenny and Michael’s relationship had never really got off the ground. They’d tried to be friends, tried to get on but it seemed as though it was never really going to happen so she’d stopped trying to pursue it. It wasn’t worth the hassle, but sometimes the way they sniped about each other wore her down.

  “I’m sorry, ok?” Kenny smiled. “Come here.”

  She went over and hugged him. “Michael and I have great sex.”

  “Yeah, I know you do,” Kenny sighed.

  “And stop calling him old.”

  “If it keeps you happy.”

  She kissed him on the cheek and smiled. “It does.”

  She let go of him and walked over to Scott, her hairstylist, who started messing about, completely unnecessarily in Kenny’s opinion, with India’s already perfect hair, whilst a make-up artist did something to her eyes. Then he noticed Michael behind the monitor, talking to the director. Was he going to be hanging around all day again? He had been for the past few days so why should today be any different? Only one more day, though, and then he was flying back to L.A., so as far as Kenny was concerned he’d grin and bear it. Tomorrow he’d have India to himself for a while. Well, almost. He had stiff competition from her P.A. these days. She was spending more and more time with him, and not just working. They were often out partying in L.A. when Michael was out of town. Kenny knew Bobby was an absolute legend in the world of personal assistants and he knew he cared a lot about India, but getting past him to see her could be harder than infiltrating Fort Knox sometimes, even for Kenny.

  He looked over at India again. She was definitely pre-occupied with something, he could tell. He knew her too well. And he couldn’t help noticing Michael glance in her direction and then her look away from him. What was that all about? She was normally all doe-eyes and loved up whenever Michael Walsh was around.

  He went over to Bobby, who was standing by the side of the set chatting to India’s make-up artist. “Bobby, can I have a word?”

  Bobby looked at him and smiled the smile of someone who had more than a little bit of a crush on the person they were looking at. This didn’t escape Kenny’s notice. India’s gay P.A. might have a thing for him but he still wouldn’t let him anywhere near India if his mood wasn’t right.

  “Sure. What is it?”

 
Kenny moved out of earshot of anyone else, Bobby following him like a little puppy.

  “Is everything alright with India?” Kenny asked.

  Bobby looked over at India. She was laughing at something the director was saying. She looked ok to him. “Everything’s fine.” He looked back at Kenny. “Why?”

  “Nothing ... it just seems like things with her and Michael are a little, I dunno, tense this morning.”

  “Are they? Last time I saw them they were practically making out over breakfast.” His expression suddenly changed to that of the ultimate professional. “Anyway, even if I did know something I wouldn’t be at liberty to divulge any information to you now, would I? If India wants to tell you anything I’m sure she’ll do so herself.”

  “I knew I’d get nothing out of you,” Kenny sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

  Bobby smiled again. “Well, that depends on what you’re looking for, doesn’t it?”

  Kenny looked at him. Ever since Bobby had started working for India he’d been flirting with him and Kenny was more than used to it, and when he could be bothered he’d play along and flirt back because it was all harmless fun. Bobby knew Kenny was never going to swing his way, not a chance. But today he just wanted to know what was up with India, and if Bobby knew nothing then prolonging this conversation was pointless. And Bobby could see that, turning to leave with a final wink at Kenny.

  Whatever was going on he’d find out. He wasn’t India’s best friend for nothing. She’d tell him, he knew she would. And if something was going on with her and that hot-shot husband of hers then he’d make sure he was there for there. He’d make damn sure of that.

  ***

  India was, as usual, a director’s dream. She had no problem with lines, and most of her takes were in the can first or second time. She always knew what she was doing and nobody had to tell her anything twice. Michael knew that better than anybody. He’d directed her three times now, acted alongside her twice and every time she made it all look so easy, no matter what part she was playing. And as he’d stood and watched her that morning, watched as she played her part so well, taking on the personality of the character with so much ease, he knew she really was a special talent.