Authors: Michelle Betham
India
shook her head.
‘Of course I haven’t.
I’ve come to see
you
.
I can get a massage anytime.’
‘From anyone in particular?’ Charley smiled.
‘Or is all of that still very much up in the air?’
‘Don’t even go there,’
India
sighed, taking her friend’s arm and leading her towards the elevator.
‘Come on.
Let’s go talk.’
‘
India
…’
Charley groaned, not really in the mood to talk about anything.
She came here to forget, she had enough of the talking at home with Vince.
‘Don’t “
India
” me.
We’re going to talk, okay?’
‘Okay,’ Charley sighed.
She didn’t have the energy to fight this one.
‘And have you got any wine in that office of yours?’
India
asked as the elevator opened it’s doors, leading them out onto the first floor.
‘I could do with a
really
large glass of anything cold and white.’
Upstairs in Charley’s office
India
couldn’t help but notice how Charley’s demeanour seemed to change in an instant the second the door closed behind them.
That calm and in-control look had changed to one of a person who spent a lot of time putting on a front, someone who didn’t feel quite as calm as her outward appearance might have you think.
But that was only to be expected.
Charley was a professional out there on the floor, but behind closed doors didn’t she have a right to feel slightly more uneasy?
‘So, how are you holding up?’ India asked, sitting down on one of Charley’s huge brown sofas, crossing her legs and smiling her thanks as Charley handed her a glass of Californian chardonnay, straight from Vince’s vineyard.
‘I’m fine.’
‘Liar.
You can’t kid a kidder, Charley.
Come on, this is me you’re talking to.’
Charley sighed, leaning back against her desk, folding her arms.
‘It’s a nightmare,
India
.
And I just don’t know what to do.
I really don’t.’
‘I thought Vince had got some kind of injunction in place, y’know, to stop Jimmy from distributing any more of those films?’
‘He had.
I mean, he has.
But do you honestly think a man like Jimmy Cash is going to take notice of any injunction?
Why would he?
He doesn’t play by the rules, he doesn’t work that way, and you know that.
You know what kind of a man he is.’
India
stared down into her glass for a few seconds, remembering her brother again – her incredible, amazing brother and even now, fourteen years after his murder, she could still feel tears welling up in the back of her eyes.
The pain of losing him would never go away, and it never really got any easier.
She’d just learnt to deal with it.
‘I want to be there for you, Charley.
You know that, don’t you?
I’ve always wanted to be there for you, no matter what.
So why didn’t you tell me about all of this when it started?’
‘I couldn’t,
India
.
I just… I couldn’t.’
‘But you told Kenny.’
Charley looked right into
India
’s eyes, and she knew in an instant that Kenny had told her everything.
‘It was a mistake,
India
.
A stupid, ill-thought-out mistake.’
‘You and Kenny seem to make a habit of those kind of mistakes,’
India
said quietly, and Charley couldn’t help but feel she’d asked for that.
Even after all this time it was obvious
India
still hadn’t forgotten how one small, stupid mistake with Kenny had wrecked their short marriage.
Another pointless, ill-thought-out mistake.
Just like the one they’d made here in Vegas except, this time, it wasn’t
India
’s marriage at risk.
It was her own.
‘It shouldn’t have happened,’ Charley whispered, still looking at
India
, hoping that she understood these were exceptional circumstances, a situation that made people do things they didn’t always mean to do.
‘Vince, he… he doesn’t know.’
‘No, I’m sure he doesn’t.
Come on, Charley; don’t look at me like that.
I’m not going to tell him.
Jesus… What kind of person do you think I am?
I know the circumstances, Kenny told me.
And I know you’re sorry.
But you can’t let any of this put you and Vince at risk, not you and Vince.
You guys are solid.
He loves you like crazy, Charley.
You do know that, don’t you?’
Charley nodded, blinking back frustrated tears.
‘And I love him too.
But in my stupid, mis-guided way I thought keeping him in the dark about all of this was the safest thing to do… after what happened to Terry.’
India
looked down into her glass again, swirling the amber liquid round for a few seconds until she realised what she was doing and took a drink instead, banishing any more memories of her brother’s tragic death to the back of her mind.
‘He’ll sort this out, Charley.
Vince.
He’ll sort this out, I know he will.’
Charley said nothing; she couldn’t, because every time she thought about what she was putting Vince through it ripped her apart.
He shouldn’t have to be doing any of this, not when he had his own shit to deal with – the hotels, the movie.
He was a very busy man.
But a man who – and Charley knew
India
was right here – could make this better.
Somehow.
She hoped.
‘Anyway,’ Charley said, smiling at
India
, signalling a subject change was on the way, and
India
knew just what that subject was going to be.
‘You and Dominic.’
‘There
is
no me and Dominic.
Not at the minute, anyway.’
‘Have you spoken to him?
Since it all happened, I mean.’
‘I work with him, Charley.
Of course I’ve spoken to him.’
‘Outside of the movie set,
India
.
Y’know, Kenny’s right, you do have a tendency to revert to flippancy when faced with something you don’t want to talk about.’
Charley watched her famous friend closely, her body language immediately changing the second she’d mentioned Dominic’s name.
‘So,
have
you spoken to him?’
India
sighed, sitting back against the soft cushions of the extremely comfortable sofa.
She felt like kicking off her shoes and curling up in the corner with an old movie and a huge box of chocolates, and she felt like doing all of that with just one man.
One man she was trying very hard to ignore, but failing miserably.
‘I saw him about an hour ago.
Outside, by the pool at the Coconut Palm Bar.’
‘And?’
‘He wanted to talk, I couldn’t be bothered to sit through any more of his excuses.
We’re no farther forward.’
‘So, that comment alone would indicate that you’d
like
to move farther forward.
Am I right?’
India
just looked at Charley, finishing the last of her wine but saying nothing.
‘What about Michael?
Have you spoken to
him
?
And I mean, again, outside of the movie set.’
Charley walked over to
India
and took her empty glass, immediately re-filling it with more wine.
‘No, I haven’t spoken to him.
But what freaks me out more than anything is that
he
hasn’t even
tried
to speak to
me
.
It’s like he’s waiting for the right time to hit me with something else, y’know?
I just can’t trust him.’
Charley handed her the newly-filled glass of wine and poured herself a fresh glass.
‘Did you see JJ when you were back in
L.A.
?’
India nodded, absent-mindedly looking at the
JJ
tattoo on her left wrist, the tattoo she’d had done when he’d been her world, when she’d thought she’d finally found the one man she could settle down with.
The one man she’d once loved more than anything.
And part of her wished with all her heart that she still felt the same way,
that she wasn’t having to go through all of this.
She should have had the strength to make that marriage work because JJ was one in a million.
But he deserved so much better than her.
‘The divorce should be final in a day or so.’
She looked up at Charley.
‘So, that’s it.
Marriage number three, done.
Finished.’
Charley sat down next to
India
, taking her hand and squeezing it gently, smiling at her.
Her beautiful best friend.
But a woman who just couldn’t seem to find someone to settle down with, someone who could truly make her happy.
Although, deep down inside, everyone – including
India
– knew that only one man had ever really been able to make her happy, but that man had also hurt her in the most painful of ways and she knew that
India
would never get past that.
Even if she wanted to.
And that was still the root of all her problems, complicated even more, Charley suspected, by the appearance of his son.
‘I’ll be fine,’
India
smiled back, wiping stupid tears from her eyes.
‘Jesus, how did this end up about me?’
Charley pulled her in for a hug and India held onto her tight, closing her eyes, and for one brief minute she wished they were both back in England, back behind their admin desks in that solicitor’s office in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, living an uncomplicated, carefree life.
But she knew that, even with all the crap that was going on, neither of them really wanted to be anywhere else.
They just wanted the circumstances to change.
‘Really.
I’ll be fine.
I’m just being stupid, a little over-emotional.
I guess divorce is never easy, and I’m missing the kids but, hey, I’ve got mum
and
dad here now, haven’t I?
Plenty of people to keep an eye on me.’
‘And Kenny,’ Charley smiled.
‘Yeah.’
India
gave a small laugh, pulling away from Charley, sliding her dark glasses down over her eyes.
The last thing she needed was anybody seeing she’d been crying.
‘I’ve always got Kenny.’
And for another of those brief moments, Charley couldn’t help but feel – for that one reason alone – incredibly envious of
India
.
All over again.
CHAPTER 27
The Coconut Palm Bar was full of its usual mix of curious tourists and bohemian regulars, the latter of which always arrived just as the sun was setting, when the atmosphere was more mellow and the drinks were flowing.
Although, that party atmosphere that always surrounded the bar in the daytime and early evening still hung heavy in the air with loud, rocking music and people dancing amongst the cabanas that lined the poolside and the tables closer to the half-moon shaped bar that was draped in fairy lights and lanterns, giving the place an almost Caribbean feel.
India sat back against the super-sized zebra-print cushions that were scattered over the white corner-sofa in the private cabana that she, Kenny and Bobby had commandeered for the evening, although Bobby had spent less time in the cabana and more time outside by the pool.
Miguel was working bar for the night, showing off his cocktail-making skills to an enthralled crowd, but nobody was more enthralled than Bobby, who was just loving having his partner back in Vegas for a few days.