Authors: Michelle Betham
Michael smiled to himself, suddenly feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
Whatever
India
had said to him back in
L.A.
, she’d been angry.
With good reason.
It was to be expected.
But she’d calm down, and that’s when Michael had to be ready to make his move – again.
‘What’re
you
finding to smile about?’
Michael swung round at the sound of her voice, coming face-to-face with
India
who was now out of make-up and ready for the scene they were about to film that morning.
Her naturally tousled blond hair fell loosely over her shoulders, her long slim legs revealed in all their incredible glory in a short white dress and strappy heels.
She looked stunning.
‘I’m just happy to be alive on another beautiful
Las Vegas
morning,’ he replied, giving her the famous Michael Walsh grin.
She didn’t respond, in fact, her face was stoic as she continued to look at him with an expression bordering on suspicion.
‘Whatever.
Have you seen my dad?
You called him to set this morning too, didn’t you?’
They were filming out on the famous Las Vegas Strip that morning so security was tight and a whole section of The Strip outside the hotel had been cordoned off in order to accommodate filming, but already hoards of tourists, paparazzi and any showbiz reporter worth their salt had gathered by the barriers, waiting to catch a glimpse of the dysfunctional family this movie now seemed to be showcasing.
‘Reece is in make-up.
No sign of Dominic?’
‘I know what you’re playing at Michael, and it won’t work.
I have no idea of Dominic’s whereabouts because this will be the first time I’ve seen him since I left for
L.A.
three days ago.
And you already know that.’
‘Do you think you’ll be able to cope?’ Michael asked, balancing his reading glasses on the end of his nose as he looked at her, sticking a pencil behind his ear.
She stared at him through narrowed eyes.
‘Cope with what, for Christ’s sake?’
‘Working alongside Dominic.
I mean, you two were… close, shall we say.
Until everything happened…’
‘He lied, Michael.
That’s all.
He lied to me, he didn’t kill anyone, so I think I’ll be able to cope just fine, thanks.
And let’s not forget,
you
lied too.
So don’t try and make out he’s the only bad guy round here.
Like I said when you turned up in
Malibu
, you’re both as bad as each other.
Like father like son.’
Michael wanted to retaliate, he wanted to tell her that whatever had happened with Dominic, that would never happen with him.
Dominic had used him too, after all.
He’d kept things secret from Michael, decided to keep the truth from him even though he’d known for a while that he was his father.
He’d wronged them both.
But he knew it was best to back off for a bit, leave things alone.
Wait and see if Dominic could do any more damage, because Michael was sure that he would.
If he let him.
So he just smiled, pushed his glasses back up his nose and started making notes on the clipboard he was holding, almost dismissing
India
’s comment as though she hadn’t said it at all.
‘We’re going to be outside for a lot of the time this morning.
Are you okay with that?
It’s pretty hot, I know, but there’s plenty of drinking water, and if you need a cool mist spray we can get make-up to sort that out, it’s not a problem.’
‘I hate it when you do this, Michael.’
He looked at her, raising his eyebrows.
‘Do what?’
She stared at him for a few seconds then shook her head.
‘Forget it.
I’m going to find Reece.’
Michael watched her walk away, still so beautiful but a much stronger woman than the one he’d fallen in love with almost twenty years ago.
She was harder to crack; she’d learnt too much over the years, seen too many things.
But one day she’d realise that the only place she could be really happy was with him.
He’d make her the happiest woman alive; it was all he wanted to do.
Make her the happiest woman alive.
Again.
And what Michael Walsh wanted, Michael Walsh usually got.
No matter what it took to get it.
***
India
turned away and left Michael standing, unwilling to get into any kind of confrontation with him; she didn’t have the energy.
He was too much to handle at the best of times, but today he was something she really didn’t want to have to cope with in any capacity other than her director.
On a professional level she could handle him, on any other level she didn’t even want to try.
‘Whoa, there!
You look like a woman on a mission.
You in a hurry or something?’
She stopped dead as she almost walked into him – the man she’d been dreading seeing yet, at the same time, couldn’t wait to be close to again.
As she looked down at his hand on her arm, which he quickly removed, she could feel his eyes staring right at her but she tried her hardest not to look at him.
She wasn’t ready yet.
She needed more time.
And she really hadn’t wanted this to happen in full view of everyone, although, how could they really have avoided it?
They’d started this whole ridiculous merry-go-round of crap and now there was no way to get off, but, as far as everyone else was concerned – and that included the studio bosses – the publicity surrounding her and Dominic right now was something money couldn’t buy.
It would guarantee this movie an audience they couldn’t even begin to imagine.
It was a movie they hadn’t even finished shooting, yet the pre-release publicity band-wagon was already on a roll.
She looked briefly over towards the crowds of people at the edge of the set, the paparazzi cameras already clicking away at this first public meeting between her and Dominic since the revelation that Michael was his father.
More fodder for the gossip magazines.
They were practically giving it to them on a plate, no wonder they were constantly hanging around.
‘We need to talk,
India
.’
The sound of his voice made her look up at him, like an almost involuntary action, her eyes finally meeting his and she tried hard not to let her heart rule her head as those ice-blue eyes of his looked back at her.
‘Not here, okay?’ she said quietly.
‘I think we’ve revealed enough in public to be going on with, don’t you?’
And with that she turned and walked away, knowing that to get embroiled in any kind of conversation with him here would be a mistake.
The paparazzi had their photos, and doubtless they’d be getting an airing before filming had even broken for lunch.
But that was all she was willing to give them.
For now.
Dominic was right, though.
They
did
need to talk, and they needed to talk soon.
She just needed a little bit more time to get her head around what she was feeling, and how she planned to deal with those feelings.
Because letting Dominic MacDonald back into her life could be the only way to go, given how she really felt, deep down inside.
Or it could be the biggest mistake she’d ever make.
***
Dominic pushed a hand through his hair and threw his head back, sighing heavily, closing his eyes for a second as the sound of cameras clicking away filled the air, catching every second of the frustration he was feeling as the woman he’d fallen head-over-heels crazy-in-love with walked away from him once more.
She’d been unable to even look at him for more than a few seconds.
And yet all he really wanted to do was tell her how sorry he was, how stupid he’d been – how much he loved her, because these past few days without her had proved that to him.
For the first time in his life Dominic MacDonald knew what it was like to miss someone so bad it physically hurt, to have one person invade every waking thought and every sleeping dream; to make you realise that, without them, you don’t really feel like carrying on.
It was strange, and they were feelings totally alien to him but they were there, and he knew it was because he loved her.
India
Walsh – model, movie star, mother.
He loved her.
Simple as that.
***
‘Everything alright?’ Reece asked as
India
threw herself down in the chair beside him in the make-up trailer whilst Scott – her hair stylist – fussed unnecessarily around her.
‘Everything’s fine.
I’m in a movie being directed by my ex-husband, starring alongside the man who’s just been exposed as his long-lost son and, oh, let’s just add another complication to that already off-the-page scenario – I’ve also slept with him.’
Reece looked at his daughter out of the corner of his eye as the make-up girl finished off her work, dusting powder over his tanned skin.
‘And if
that
wasn’t enough…’
India
continued, taking the glass of water Bobby held out to her, smiling briefly at him, ‘… my best friend’s porn-star past has just been resurrected by her psycho ex-boyfriend who’s out of jail and back in town.
The
Hollywood
gossip machine must be partying non-stop at the amount of shit we’re giving them to work with.
I’ve seen movies with less convoluted storylines than this.’
‘You’re working yourself up into an unnecessary state, Princess,’ Bobby said, leaning back against the counter in front of her, fanning her with a copy of the day’s call sheets.
‘And it’s no good for the skin, y’know.
All this stress.
Especially at
your
age.’
She stuck her tongue out at him, but she couldn’t help smiling.
‘I’m not stressed, Bobby.’
‘No.
Not much you aren’t.’
He leant over and kissed her cheek, giving her hand a quick squeeze.
‘Right, I’m off to make some phone calls.
I’ll see you on set, okay, Angel?’
She nodded, throwing her head back and closing her eyes.
Despite a good eight hours sleep she still felt as though she could go another eight and still need more.
She was exhausted.
‘Have you seen Dominic this morning?’ Reece asked, swinging round in his chair to face his daughter.
India
opened her eyes and looked at him.
‘Yeah.
Just now.
Why?’
‘And?’
‘And, nothing.
We bumped into each other – quite literally, actually – but I was hardly going to conduct a conversation with him in full view of a crowd of tourists and waiting paparazzi.
They got the pictures they wanted and that was bad enough, but unavoidable.
Giving them anything else wasn’t an option.
I think Dominic and I have aired enough of our lives in public, don’t you?’
Reece just looked at her.
She seemed tired.
This movie wasn’t turning out to be the fun father/daughter experience he’d hoped it would be, but then, they were working on a Michael Walsh film, weren’t they?
They both should have known better.
‘He was so… nice, y’know?
When I first arrived in Vegas.’
‘Who was?’ Reece asked, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs, watching her as she fiddled with the bracelet on her left wrist.
‘Michael.
It felt as though we’d finally turned that corner, actually got to the point where we could be friends, good friends, despite…’
‘Despite, what?’
India
looked down at her hands which were now clasped in her lap, suddenly remembering what she’d told Martha and hoping to God that Martha had kept her promise and not told Reece what she now knew.
That really wouldn’t help an already volatile situation.
‘Nothing.
Just, after everything we’d been through, being able to be friends would have been nice.
It would have been good for Ethan, and made things a lot easier for me.’
She sighed, throwing her head back again, pushing a hand through her hair, which only alerted Scott to the fact that she’d messed with his creation, causing him to appear by her side with comb and hairspray to put it right.
‘But I’m not sure we can ever be
just
friends.’