Course of Action

by Gun Brooke

  Annelie stepped inside and closed the door behind her. “You’re right,” she admitted. “We have to talk but not here, like this.”

  “I just flew in today. I went home to change and then came straight here. I…I just don’t know what to think.”

  A slight frown marring her forehead, Annelie remained standing just inside the door. “I’d have thought you’d be paying a visit to your agent first, or hasn’t he contacted you?”

  “Grey? I talked to him when I was waiting for my flight in Miami. He told me about the contracts.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t go by and sign them right away.”

  Not sure if Annelie was being sarcastic, Carolyn recoiled. “I wanted to talk to you first. I’m amazed you’re offering me the role. I’ve wanted it ever since the rumors about the movies started spreading. Now I’m all confused and—” She flung her hands into the air. “Damn it, Annie, I don’t know what to think! You leave me behind with no explanation other than a note that makes me feel like…for heaven’s sake—” She broke off again. “You’re giving interviews talking about people auditioning for the role. What the hell’s going on?”

  Hearing her voice almost break, Carolyn forced herself to stop before she embarrassed herself further.

  “I had important meetings here in New York,” Annelie explained. “I can’t talk now. I have to go back in there.” She gestured vaguely behind her. “As for the media asking me questions at the airport yesterday—that was merely for the sake of appearances. Surely you realize that? We can’t go public with who will star in the movies before the contracts are signed—and if you’d actually read the contracts before you came here, you would’ve seen we added a confidentiality clause. You won’t be able to tell anyone you got the role until a certain date, when Supernova hosts a press conference with the director and the actors.”

  Carolyn noted that Annelie avoided the issue about leaving her alone in Orlando.

  “I understand you’re busy, but this is important too. When I called Grey from the cab on my way to my apartment, he almost bit my head off for not going directly to his office. It’s just that I’m not so sure I should sign the contracts.”

  Annelie’s eyes narrowed. “What are you talking about? What’s the problem? They’re standard contracts for this kind of project. You’re the perfect choice for the role, and you’ve made it very clear you want it more than anything.”

  Carolyn lowered her eyes, a pang of guilt and other undefined emotions exploding in the pit of her stomach. “Not more than anything,” she murmured.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Saturday night,” Carolyn murmured huskily, “something more than the physical part of it happened. If signing the contracts drives a wedge between us…If it means I’ll miss the opportunity to…”

  Suddenly Annelie seemed to relax. Lowering her arms she walked over to Carolyn and gently touched her left shoulder. “Listen to me. I promise we’ll talk, but not here. I won’t be done until late this afternoon. Why don’t we have dinner at my apartment? We can talk uninterrupted in a more private setting and,” she gestured at herself with a faint smile, “in comfortable clothes.”

  Carolyn swallowed hard, forcing her breathing to become even. “Sounds good to me.”

  “And, Carolyn, do me a favor? Go by your agent and sign the contracts. You’re the one we want for the Maddox role. Nothing that’s taken place between the two of us has anything to do with that, nor will it, in the future.”

  “All right.” Carolyn’s voice was noncommittal.

  “Here, let me give you my home address.” Annelie walked over to her desk and pulled out a small notepad and a pen. “I’ll let the doorman know you’re coming. How about sevenish?”

  “See you tonight, then.” Carolyn watched as Annelie turned to walk toward the door. She was elegance personified—the black suit tailored to fit her curvaceous body, the high heels adding to her length.

  Annelie surprised Carolyn by stopping in front of her and raising a hand to cup her cheek. “Yes, see you then.” After she disappeared out the door, Carolyn could hear her talking to someone outside. “On my way.”

  Carolyn reached for her coffee again, taking a large gulp of the still-warm liquid. Her eyes reverted to the Little Women poster on the wall, narrowing as she tried to figure out its potential importance. Something had made Annelie put this up in her office, and she was dying to know what it was. Adding it to the picture Annelie had of her in her house in Florida, Carolyn was indeed mystified.

  “Everything all right, Ms. Black?” Margo poked her head through the half-open door. “Anything else I can do for you?”

  Carolyn shook her head and put the coffee cup down. “No, thank you, Margo. I’m fine. I’ll be going now, so thank you for being so obliging.”

  “Not a problem.” She escorted Carolyn back to the reception area. “If you need a cab, this young lady will be glad to call the company we use.”

  “That would be great.”

  Margo motioned for the receptionist to make the call, smiled, and said goodbye to Carolyn before returning into the inner regions of the office.

  “The cab will be here shortly.”

  “Thanks. I’ll head downstairs, then.”

  Riding the elevator, Carolyn glanced at her reflection, noticing she had more color in her cheeks than when she’d arrived. Meeting Annelie for the first time after their night together had gone reasonably well.

  Squaring her shoulders, Carolyn took a deep breath and willed herself not to return to her previous confused frame of mind. Right now she would take Annelie’s advice and go by Grey’s office. She had contracts to sign.

  *

  Annelie pondered what to wear. Riffling through the rack of clothes in the walk-in closet, she let her fingertip bounce off the hangers and finally settled for dark blue stretch jeans and a white T-shirt.

  She’d called for Italian takeout, though not pizza this time. Glancing at her watch, Annelie tried to ignore the butterflies cavorting in her stomach.

  The doorbell startled her, making her drop her hairbrush. Chastising herself for being so jumpy, she picked it up and placed it on the dresser before walking to the front door and opening it.

  Dressed in a long black coat, Carolyn looked completely calm as she leaned against the wall, one leg bent over the other, her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Hi, Annelie,” Carolyn said, a slow smile making goose bumps appear on the other woman’s arms. “Colorful fellow downstairs. Chatty.”

  “Yes. He’s quite a character, but somewhat overwhelming.”

  “I could tell. I think he likes me. I thought he was about to propose before I could escape to the elevator.” Carolyn paused, raising an eyebrow. “May I come in?”

  Blushing faintly, Annelie stepped aside. “Forgive me. Of course you can. I might as well level with you—I’m nervous.”

  Something vulnerable flickered across Carolyn’s features before she smiled and patted Annelie’s arm. “Don’t worry, so am I.”

  “Want to look around the apartment?” Annelie asked, knowing she was stalling. “It’s going to be another ten or fifteen minutes before our food gets here.”

  “I’d love to see your home. Lead the way.”

  Annelie took Carolyn’s coat, noticing the other woman had changed into khaki chinos and a chocolate brown turtleneck. She started the grand tour by showing Carolyn the large living room with the open fireplace, then moving through the kitchen and the long hallway with oak parquet floors. The guest bedroom was decorated similarly to the one in Florida, but the rest of the apartment was more of a mix between East Coast style and Scandinavian influence. Walking toward the recreation room, Annelie looked at Carolyn as she opened the door, not about to miss the other woman’s reaction to what was hiding behind it.

  “Oh, my God. A pool!” Carolyn’s jaw actually dropped.

  “Thought you’d like it,” Annelie grinned. “Actually, it’s more than just a pool. It’s ca
lled an Endless Pool. Let me show you.”

  She pressed a button next to the eighteen-by-eight-foot pool, causing the water to move.

  “You swim against the current,” Annelie explained.

  Carolyn looked impressed. “You know about me and swimming…” She smiled.

  “You’re welcome to try it anytime.” The words left Annelie’s lips before she realized what she meant to say. The invitation hung between them, and Carolyn had opened her mouth to reply when the doorbell interrupted them.

  “The food’s here. We can finish the tour later.” While switching off the controls to the pool, Annelie wondered if she sounded as relieved as she felt.

  After she took the bags from the delivery woman, Annelie carried them out into the kitchen with Carolyn in tow.

  “Did you mean it?” Carolyn’s voice was low.

  Not about to pretend she didn’t understand what Carolyn meant, Annelie busied herself with the bags of food. “Of course I did. You can use the pool if you like.” She took heated plates out of the oven and arranged their meals on them.

  “You said anytime.”

  Pausing, Annelie shot Carolyn a glance. Carolyn looked serious, and she had an unreadable expression in her eyes.

  “I meant that too.”

  Carolyn moved closer, standing next to Annelie at the counter. Frowning, she pressed her lips together before she spoke. “Why did you run? I mean, I can think of several reasons, and I have, ever since yesterday morning when I woke up alone.”

  Reaching for the bottle of Bettinelli chardonnay breathing on the counter, Annelie carried it over to the table she had set for two when she came home. Picking up the two plates, she motioned with her chin toward the table. “Please have a seat.”

  Carolyn complied, not taking her eyes off the other woman.

  “I guess I did run. I panicked,” Annelie admitted. “You must have seen by now how I live my life. Inviting you to stay at the garage apartment was out of character for me, but I wanted to help. Usually, I’m not this open with someone I hardly know.”

  “You’ve treated me very well,” Carolyn allowed. “I know about your reputation for keeping a low profile.”

  “And I told you about my rule never to get involved with curious, married, or straight women.”

  “You saw me as all of the above, I assume. Until last Saturday.” Carolyn speared a mushroom.

  “Some of them, I still do.” When she saw Carolyn flinch, Annelie regretted her harsh tone of voice. “And I was very angry with you for showing up uninvited and forcing my hand. You left us with no other choice but to allow you to hijack the convention.”

  “I’m not apologizing for fighting dirty when it comes to the Maddox role…but about what happened later…it certainly wasn’t anything I had planned to do.”

  “And you still fit the description of women I stay away from.” Annelie’s voice sank.

  “I’m aware of my ineptness in making love to another woman,” Carolyn murmured. “However, you know by now Jared and I are just friends, and I’ve never questioned my sexual preference. I always assumed I was heterosexual. Until you.”

  Feeling bad for the hurt she detected within Carolyn, Annelie sighed. “Ineptness doesn’t factor into it. I don’t think you’re that type of curious either. But you have a reputation for going after what you want—no holds barred.”

  “Yes, you’re right. I have done that. I did that by showing up in Orlando. But ending up in bed with you was not part of my plan!”

  Annelie stopped with the fork halfway to her mouth. “But we did.”

  “Yes. We did.” Carolyn’s voice became huskier. “We did. And now I don’t know what to do.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Carolyn hesitated and then shrugged. “I simply don’t know how to proceed. I’m puzzled. I guess I should have second thoughts about what happened and disregard it, but I can’t.”

  Cocking her head, Annelie reached for her wineglass. “That’s a very honest reply.”

  “Coming from someone like me, you mean?” Carolyn made a face. “Will you give me an equally candid answer? Do you regret making love to me?”

  Annelie was about to say yes, even knowing it wasn’t true. Rolling the wine around in the glass, she stared down at the minivortex forming. “No, Carolyn, how could I?” she whispered. “You were beautiful…wonderful, in my arms.”

  “I’ve never experienced anything like it in my entire life,” Carolyn confessed. “Nobody’s ever made me feel that way. Nobody.”

  Something in Carolyn’s voice gave Annelie courage to meet her gaze. To her surprise, the other woman’s eyes shimmered a bright blue. “I couldn’t resist you,” Annelie admitted hoarsely. “I wanted to. I knew you might be in my arms for all the wrong reasons.”

  “What reasons are those?”

  “You have a reputation for being an opportunist, Carolyn. The last few weeks, I’ve felt your interest and just didn’t know what to make of it.”

  “My interest?” Carolyn raised her voice. “Your interest in me is just as plain!”

  Annelie carefully put her utensils down and leaned back in the chair. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about the picture of me, a very young me, on your desk at the house in Florida. I’m talking about the old theater poster of me when I did Little Women that I saw in your office today. It’s a little too obvious to be a coincidence.”

  Annelie felt herself pale. She rubbed her forehead, looking into Carolyn’s angry eyes. “Touché.”

  “You’ve obviously followed my career.” Carolyn sounded calmer. “Want to tell me about it?”

  “You’ll laugh.”

  “Maybe, but who cares. It’s just the two of us.” Carolyn sipped her wine. “Fire away.”

  “When I was twelve, my mother was holding two jobs to support us. During the summer break, I began watching The Passing of Time. I fell in love with you as Devon. The network aired reruns every weekend and I didn’t miss a single episode. I would watch every Sunday morning, five episodes in a row. Whenever you were in a scene, I’d move closer to the TV, watching your every move, every facial expression. When you quit the show, I was devastated and stopped watching it. I kept track of your career from a distance, watched your TV movies and feature films, as well as all the other appearances you made, like talk shows and so on.”

  “I’m flattered, Annelie. I really am. What’s there to laugh about?”

  “I was trying to get to know you through the media, even though I realized that image couldn’t capture all of you. You’re as private as I am, if not more so. There’s very little known about your family, other than the basic stuff, which I respect completely. When I said you have a reputation for being an opportunist, I meant it literally—a reputation. I’m aware of how wrong it can be but, then again, it’s all I had to go by.”

  Carolyn frowned. “I went by my agent’s and signed the contracts. I don’t want you to misunderstand. I’d rather tear them up if signing them somehow means losing your friendship…”

  “No, Carolyn, I’m not sure why you think I’d ask you to make such a sacrifice. Don’t even consider it.”

  “Because you left the note the way you did. It suggested you thought I’d seduced you to get the role, and this was your way of saying I’m on to you. The night was so wonderful. Nothing we did or felt gave me reason to think otherwise—but the note did. You say you want nothing but honesty from me, and the truth is, the note was like finding money on the nightstand. It hurt like hell.”

  “I’m sorry, Carolyn. I should have stayed. I’m normally not such a coward.” Annelie pressed her lips together. “The note was a bad idea and certainly not meant to hurt you.” Noticing Carolyn had barely touched her meal, she gave up on the idea of eating. “Why don’t we put the food away and sit on the couch and talk?”

  Carolyn nodded. “Yes, please. It’s delicious and deserves more attention.”

  They put their meals in the refrigerat
or and then walked into the living room. Annelie motioned toward the big leather couch by the fireplace. “Want a blanket?”

  “Yes. I’m cold for some reason.” Carolyn nodded.

  Annelie took a wool blanket from the armchair next to the couch and spread it across both of their laps as she sat down next to Carolyn.

  “Better? Good. Now listen to me. You’re perfect for the role. The convention proved it. Everyone in the audience identified you as Diana Maddox. You’re a most professional, conscientious actress, and your reputation in that respect is impeccable. Of course, some of your female colleagues have made catty personal remarks about you, and a few men have made acid comments, probably because you’ve turned them down. I can’t think of anyone else doing a better job with Maddox than you.”

  Carolyn looked stunned. “And personally? You idolized me for years, and now that you’ve known me for more than a month, are you disappointed?”

  Thinking to herself, In for a penny, in for a pound, Annelie inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled. “You’re more than I ever thought.”

  *

  Carolyn studied the telltale pink cheeks of her hostess. Annelie looked embarrassed but also strangely relieved after her confession.

  “In true Hollywood manner, I have no problem calling perfect strangers darling, sweetheart, and honey.” Carolyn smiled ruefully. “And now, when it counts, all I can think of is I called you Annie last Saturday.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  “Did you mind?”

  “No, not at all, coming from you. You must’ve realized how…turned on I was by everything you said.”

  “That was another new thing for me,” Carolyn admitted. “I’ve never been that vocal in bed before.”

  “Your voice is amazing. Now—your turn.” Annelie leaned her head against the backrest, her legs pulled up underneath her.

  Carolyn knew she had to stay truthful or she would lose any of the ground she had gained.

  “I’ve always considered myself heterosexual, though I’ve had plenty of chances to experiment. I simply wasn’t interested in the women who came on to me, so I didn’t need to reflect on my sexual preference until I met you. In the kitchen, when we were fixing dessert, I didn’t mean to try and kiss you. I just had this overwhelming urge and—”