No Matter What

by Michelle Betham

He came over and kissed her quickly, grabbing himself a coffee before joining her, dumping a pile of papers and letters on the table as he sat down.

  “You sure?”

  She nodded. “Is this movie hard work, Michael?”

  He looked up at her again, putting his reading glasses on as he started opening the letters. “Why do you ask that?”

  “Because you look tired.”

  He smiled again. “No. Everything’s fine.”

  India wasn’t convinced but she didn’t push it. She looked at him as he continued to open the post, reading everything through before putting them back down on the table. She’d forgotten he could be like this when he was directing; a bit withdrawn and introverted.

  He’d been lovely last night though, and she smiled to herself as she remembered seeing him as she ran down the stairs of Reece’s private ‘plane, right into his arms, hugging him tight. She’d missed him so much. She’d only been away from him for a couple of weeks but she’d missed him. Maybe it was the guilt of what had happened with Kenny, she didn’t know, but she’d really needed to be with Michael last night.

  Remembering what had happened with Kenny made her look away from Michael for a second, fresh guilt washing over her. It had just been a kiss, just one stupid kiss. But was there such a thing as just a kiss where Kenny was concerned?

  “You’ve drifted off again, India.”

  She looked at him.

  “Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked, putting down the letter he was reading. “Come over here, come on.”

  She got up and walked over to him, sitting astride him, slipping her arms around his neck.

  “Why don’t you come with me this morning? Spend a bit of time watching your rather talented husband at work? You can drive to Malibu this afternoon, can’t you?”

  She couldn’t help smiling. “Yeah. Ok.”

  He stroked the small of her back, his fingers slipping up under her t-shirt as he kissed her slowly. “Good. I’d like you to come on set. We haven’t got a lot of time before you’re back in Vegas, and I’m sure Reece is dying to see you.”

  She rested her forehead against his. “I wish we could go to the beach together. Now.”

  He squeezed her waist. “Yeah. Me too, baby. But I’ll be there tonight. I’ll come straight there as soon as I’m done.”

  She closed her eyes as he kissed her again, long and slow, and she could have stayed there for hours just kissing him.

  “Come on then, beautiful,” Michael said. “Let’s get going.”

  India reluctantly climbed off him, pulling her t-shirt back down and running her fingers through her hair.

  “I’ll just call Bobby; tell him to meet me there. I’ll be out in a second.”

  He picked up his things from the table and kissed her quickly. “Don’t be long. The car’s outside.”

  “Ok,” she smiled, waiting until he was out of the kitchen before checking her ‘phone that had signalled the arrival of a text message. From Kenny. He’d just arrived in L.A. and was on his way to Malibu.

  ***

  “Oooh, will you look at her!” Bobby said, as he and India sat on the sidelines watching filming going on. She’d been playing about with her ‘phone so she hadn’t been looking up.

  “Sorry, Bobby, look at who?”

  “Layla Boyd. Shameless she is! Did you see the way she just flirted with Mr Walsh there?”

  India sat upright and looked over to where the pretty blonde actress was talking to Michael, twirling her hair round her finger and batting her eyelashes at him. He wasn’t paying her any attention though.

  “That won’t work with him,” India said. “He doesn’t go for all that girlie crap.”

  Bobby looked at her. “Speaks little Miss Tomboy here.”

  She smiled. “If he went for all that girlie crap he wouldn’t be with me, would he?”

  But despite that, India couldn’t help feeling a little nervous, watching the way Layla stood so close to him, the way she touched his shoulder as she spoke to him, even though Michael wasn’t reciprocating any of the attention she was giving him.

  Bobby squeezed India’s hand and looked at her, sensing the slight wariness she was giving off.

  “She’s too obvious, angel. I’d describe her as brassy whereas you ... you’re simply gorgeous.”

  “She’s younger than me.”

  “That means nothing.”

  “Doesn’t it?”

  “No! You put girls half your age to shame and stop fishing for compliments.” Bobby looked at Layla again as she left Michael’s side and walked back onto set, fluffing out her hair as she got ready to film the next scene. “And that’s never her natural colour.”

  India giggled quietly. “You are such a bitch, Bobby Castle.”

  “It’s a talent, angel. Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to see my dad. I’ll be back in five. Go get me a coffee, will you.”

  Bobby looked at his watch. “Oh, you’ll drink coffee now will you?”

  She kissed his cheek as she got up, smiling. “It’s past 10am, so yes. Back in a bit.”

  She found Reece in his trailer looking through his script.

  “Oh, hi there, sweetheart,” he said, smiling broadly as he saw his daughter come in, getting up and hugging her. “How are you, my darling?”

  “I’m fine, dad.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Why’s everybody asking me that today?”

  “Because we’re worried about you … seeing Charley again...”

  “It’s ok. Really,” India sighed. She sat down on one of the sofas, crossing her legs up underneath her. Reece leant back against the wall, his arms folded. “I think I over-reacted, y’know. To the whole situation.”

  “What makes you say that?” Reece asked, genuinely concerned for his daughter. It had taken a long time to put the memories of that night behind her and he didn’t really think anyone needed to have them dredged up again. Least of all her.

  She looked at him, playing with her wedding ring, something which had turned into a nervous habit for her. “I had a go at Vince. I blamed Charley for Terry’s death ... for me losing the baby … that wasn’t fair.”

  “Maybe not, but it was understandable.”

  She looked down at her hands, still fiddling with her wedding ring. “I don’t feel good about it. Now I’ve had time to think about it I know I shouldn’t have said those things but, at the time that’s how I felt. Maybe part of me still does feel that way; I mean, if it hadn’t been for her Terry would never have done what he did ... maybe I would have been a mum ...” She felt tears start to threaten again and she took a deep breath, pushing her hands through her hair. “No. It’s pointless going there again; it’s not doing anyone any good.”

  Reece sat beside her, taking her hand in his. “You just weren’t prepared, India. That’s all.”

  She looked at her father, knowing he was right. “I will talk to Charley. When I get back to Vegas. But I have no idea what to say to her, and the fact she’s with Vince ... why didn’t he just tell me she was there? All of this could have been avoided.”

  Reece pulled her in for a hug. “I’m sure there are a lot of lessons being learnt here, sweetheart. But Vince wouldn’t have done anything to hurt you on purpose. You know that.”

  She snuggled into the warmth of her fathers arms, realising how much she missed him when she was away from him, loving how he made her feel like a little girl when he hugged her like this. Sometimes a hug from her dad could make everything feel better and today was one of those times. She could deal with the whole Charley situation, she could deal with her and Vince being together, she could deal with it all in reality. If there was one thing she’d learnt after everything that had happened was that looking back was never a good idea. Moving forward was the only way to go. Oh, she’d never forget her brother, the pain of losing him would never go away, not really, but time had made it that little bit easier to cope with.

  She
pulled away from Reece and sat back up. “Do you know much about Layla Boyd?”

  Reece got up, going over to the cooler to get a glass of water. “Why do you ask?” The last thing he wanted was for India to have to worry about the stupid games Layla was playing. So far he had no evidence that Michael was anywhere close to falling for whatever it was she had planned anyway.

  “Me and Bobby, we just noticed her flirting with Michael.”

  Reece turned round to look at her, smiling. “I wouldn’t let it worry you, darling. She’s trying it on with anybody who she thinks can progress her career. Michael’s shown her no attention, infact, if anything he’s being rather cold with her.”

  “Yeah. That’s what it looked like out there.” She fiddled with her wedding ring again and even Reece had started to notice the nervous habit she’d suddenly developed.

  “Have you got something else on your mind?” he asked, noticing how she’d drifted off into her own thoughts.

  “Sorry?”

  “You seem a bit distant. Is everything alright?”

  She looked at him as she got up off the sofa. “Everything’s fine.” She wasn’t going to tell him about Kenny. No way did he need to know about that. There was nothing to know anyway, at least, that’s what she kept telling herself.

  “When are you off to Malibu?”

  “In an hour or so. Bobby’s going to drive me over there. Michael’s coming down once he’s finished here. Do you and Martha fancy coming over for dinner tomorrow night? At the beach house?”

  Reece smiled. “We’d love to. Martha can’t wait to see you again. She’s already chosen her wedding dress you know.”

  India smiled back, giving him one more hug. “I know. She e-mailed me the pictures.”

  “And?”

  “And nothing. You’ll have to wait until the big day to see her in it.” She opened the door of his trailer and turned back to look at him. “Thanks, dad.”

  He smiled at her again. “What did I do?”

  “Be you,” she replied. “It’s just good to see you.”

  He watched her run back out into the studio lot, knowing she wasn’t telling him everything, he could read her too well. There was something on her mind, of that he was sure, but if she’d wanted to talk about it then she would have done. Reece knew, however, that there was one thing she would never talk to him about. One person, and that was what worried him. If whatever was on her mind involved Kenny Ross then Reece knew he had every right to be worried. And somehow he knew that he should be.

  ***

  Michael watched India as she laughed hysterically at something Bobby was telling her. She looked beautiful when she laughed. He loved her so much it physically hurt. That she’d fallen for him was still something, to this day, he couldn’t get his head around, but even after all these years, even after marrying her, after listening to her vows and looking into her eyes and knowing she meant every word she said, even after all of that he couldn’t kick this unending fear of losing her. But it wasn’t just a fear of losing her full stop, no, he didn’t for one minute think that she’d just up and leave him. It wasn’t as simple as that. Michael had one fear and one fear only and that was the fear that she’d leave him for the only person that still came between them, in Michael’s eyes. Kenny.

  But Kenny was still in Vegas and she was here in L.A. and that gave Michael some much needed time with his wife, time he wanted to use to try and get her used to the idea of trying for a baby again. He wanted to take that final step forward, he wanted to make her see that having a family was the right thing to do but he knew he had to pick the right time. Malibu was definitely the right place. India loved the beach, she felt calm and relaxed there and that was exactly what he needed her to be.

  He smiled as she came running over to him. She looked incredible, even in her simple outfit of jeans, baseball boots and a t-shirt, her long hair loose around her shoulders. She never really did the whole Hollywood glamour thing unless she needed to. She felt far more comfortable in her jeans and boots and that’s what Michael loved about her. She wasn’t high maintenance, which was fine with him. He’d been down that route before with an ex-wife and he hadn’t enjoyed it.

  “Hey, beautiful,” he said, still smiling as she threw herself against him, sliding a hand round the back of his neck, kissing him slowly. “And what did I do to deserve that?”

  “Do I need a reason to kiss my husband?”

  “No. You absolutely don’t.” He slipped an arm round her waist and pulled her closer, noticing Layla Boyd and her mother watching and wanting to get the message across that he was in love with his wife. He was off limits.

  “Me and Bobby are leaving for Malibu in a minute.”

  “Already?” Michael stroked the small of her back. “You’ve only been here an hour or so.”

  “I know. But you’re busy and I really want to get to the beach.”

  “So, you don’t want to be with me then?” he smiled, kissing her gently.

  She stroked his face, smiling back. “I want to be alone with you, not sharing you with everyone else. It’s bordering on frustration just sitting watching you, thinking about what I want to do to you ... what I want you to do to me ...”

  “You really know how to kill a guy, don’t you?” Michael groaned, pulling her closer against him.

  She was still smiling, stroking the back of his neck, her mouth close to his. “I’ve only come over from Vegas to distract you.”

  “It’s working.”

  She kissed him slowly. “You can punish me later.”

  Leaving him with just a smile and a look that left him more than a little hot under the collar she ran off to Bobby, waving goodbye to Reece and a few members of the crew she was familiar with as she left the set.

  Michael closed his eyes for a second and ran a hand through his hair. He’d give anything to drop everything he was doing and follow her straight to Malibu but that wasn’t an option. He had to get himself back on track. India was a beautiful distraction but she’d be waiting for him tonight, and that thought would keep him going all day.

  “Is India leaving us?” Layla asked, walking over to Michael, touching his arm as she stood next to him. He stared at her hand on his arm, then looked at her.

  “Not that it’s any of your concern, Layla, but yes, she’s leaving us.” He pulled his arm away and she let go of him. He saw a fleeting look of frustration pass across her face and that made him feel almost angry. Whatever was going on here he just wished it would stop. It was tiring. “Back on set please, Layla. We’ve got a movie to shoot and a schedule to keep to and right now you’re making me late.”

  She didn’t move, just continued to look at him.

  “Have we got a problem here, Layla, because, if not, could you please just get back on set?”

  She turned on her heels and walked away, but Michael didn’t miss the look her mother threw him. He really didn’t need this crap.

  “Everything ok?” Reece asked, coming over.

  “Yeah,” Michael sighed. “Everything’s fine.”

  Reece looked over at Sofia, who was now talking to Layla, frequently looking over at Michael as they talked. Layla’s manner was that of a frustrated child and it would have amused Reece if what they were doing wasn’t so dangerous.

  “Are you handling that ok?” Reece indicated to Sofia and Layla.

  “Of course I’m handling it ok.” Michael knew he’d sounded a bit short then and he sighed again. “I’m sorry, Reece. I’m just a bit stressed. I want everything to be right, you know. With the movie. And I can do without a lot of the extra shit I’m having to deal with.”

  Reece smiled at his son-in-law, and it was still quite odd to think of him as a son-in-law when there was only a few years between them age wise. “I suppose India being around doesn’t help either.”

  “No, she’s a distraction that actually helps. I wanted her to stick around. I really did.”

  “I’d better get back out there then. The s
ooner we get done today the sooner you can join her at the beach.”

  Michael looked at Reece and smiled. He was actually proving to be the one thing keeping him sane during this movie. “Thanks.”

  Because the sooner he got to India the sooner he could start work on talking her round. Maybe they could even start trying for a baby before she left for Vegas. And with that thought, Michael walked back out onto set and back to work, the prospect of India, the beach and a possible new baby there in the forefront of his mind, because he wanted that future, and he’d get it. He had absolutely no doubt about that.

  CHAPTER 39

  India walked out onto the deck of her and Michael’s Malibu beach house and looked out over the Pacific Ocean, the heat of the midday sun burning her back. She’d changed out of her jeans and t-shirt into something more appropriate for the warm Californian summer – white denim shorts and a white bikini top, her hair tied back – and she saw no harm in trying to grab a bit of a tan while she had the time.

  Bobby had gone out to get some food and alcohol. She really fancied a glass of wine, red or white, she didn’t mind, she wasn’t fussy. She couldn’t even think about becoming a wine snob, and in reality she preferred a beer but Bobby was constantly telling her it wasn’t ladylike to always be swigging out of a bottle but she knew he was only teasing, and if she didn’t do what she did then he’d have nothing to go on about.

  Checking her ‘phone again she saw another text message from Kenny had arrived. He was in Malibu now. He was just a matter of minutes away but she wasn’t sure she should even be thinking about seeing him. One stupid kiss back in Las Vegas had really shaken her. It was ridiculous. They’d had to kiss God knows how many times over the past few weeks for this movie and she’d felt nothing, yet one small kiss in her trailer and he had her heart beating faster all over again.

  She put her ‘phone on the table beside her and continued to look out over the beach, remembering how much she loved this place, remembering how her whole life here had started with a small beach house, bought for her by the man who, at the time, she’d had no idea was her father. Such a lot had happened in the past ten years. When she stopped to think about it she still couldn’t believe it sometimes. There were things she would change, of course there were. Every day she still wished her brother was here, but she wouldn’t change who she’d fallen in love with. Michael was a wonderful man and she couldn’t think of her life without him. Just the sound of his voice could calm her down when she felt stressed and tired, and when he kissed her she could close her eyes and pretend the whole crazy world they lived in was nowhere near them. But there was always Kenny. He’d never go away. She couldn’t think of her life without him either, but in her head she was confused. Her and Kenny’s relationship was and always had been a strange one for anyone to understand, but when the lines became blurred like they had done now, when that happened it scared her. Because she loved Michael, didn’t she?