‘Will he be staying with us?’ Ellen said. ‘Silly question. I’d better call Lucina, tell her to get one of the guest-rooms ready. We could put him in the suite upstairs.’ She looked at her watch. ‘I’ve got a five o’clock with Rosa and Gerry,’ she said, referring to a couple of the ATI agents, ‘can you call Lucina? Or no, I’ll do it. I’ll have to give her a list for the market. Did you leave her some money for taxis? Oh God, she’s got her driving lesson today, she won’t be back until six. I’ll get Maggie to call her. God, I wish the woman could cook.’
‘Why don’t we order in tonight?’ he suggested.
‘Good idea. Chinese?’
‘Thai?’
“That’s settled then, Chinese it is?’
Michael glanced over his shoulder, as though searching out the extra voice that had voted against him. ‘I was wondering,’ he said, getting to his feet.
Ellen looked up from the script. ‘Wondering what?’ she prompted.
‘If we came to a decision about Michelle?’ he asked tentatively. ‘I’m going to have to call her back …’
Ellen smiled and got to her feet. ‘I’ve had a good idea about that,’ she informed him. ‘Why don’t you ask her if she can put off her visit until the wedding, then she can stay with Robbie while we’re on honeymoon.’
Michael grinned, and tilted her face up to his. ‘You’re a genius,’ he stated.
‘You didn’t ask your mother to take that on yet, did you?’ she said cautiously.
‘No, not yet,’ he assured her. ‘But there’s every chance she’ll stay on anyway. How many guests are we up to now?’
‘I’m keeping it to a hundred,’ she answered. ‘I just wish I knew where everyone was going to stay. Can we do a deal with a hotel, do you think? I’ll get Maggie on
to
it. But my parents and your mother will definitely stay at the house. Matty can put up her own parents,’ she continued, walking over to her desk. ‘Thank God my dad’s worked things out with Aunt Julie and Uncle Melvin. Did you hear, Eugene pulled off a great deal with Sony. He’s using their studios to shoot the pilot of that sitcom we can never remember the name of.’
‘Which means we should find another title,’ he said. ‘Are you producing?’
‘No, I’ve handed over to Kelly. Are you getting involved in the script auction at five thirty, or am I?’
‘Which script? And are we buying or selling?’
She cocked an eyebrow. ‘Remind me, what do you do all day over there in that office of yours?’
‘You mean when I’m not fantasizing about my high-powered mistress?’ he responded, backing her up against the desk.
She could feel his erection pressing against her, and wished desperately that they could just lock the door and have a few precious minutes to themselves. But even as she thought it Maggie’s voice came over the intercom.
‘Rosa’s just arrived,’ she said. ‘Gerry’s on his way. You missed lunch, so do you want me to send out for some food?’
‘We’ll finish this later,’ Michael said, kissing her softly on the mouth.
‘Do you think you can wait that long?’ she teased.
His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. ‘Can you?’ he countered.
Smiling, she leaned over for the intercom. ‘Ask Rosa if she wants something,’ she instructed Maggie, ‘and I’ll have the same.’ She let go of the button just in time, for Michael’s hand was slipping under her skirt and as he pushed it between her legs she groaned out loud.
‘Gerry’s here now,’ Maggie’s voice informed them. ‘Shall I ask them to wait, or shall I send them in?’
Ellen reached for the button again, inhaling deeply as Michael’s fingers moved inside her panties and started to stroke her.
‘Give us a moment,’ she managed to respond, then let go fast as Michael pushed his fingers deep inside her. ‘Oh God, Michael, this is cruel,’ she murmured, as he lifted her skirt to her waist and pulled down her panties. ‘Someone might come in.’
‘They won’t hang about,’ he assured her, making her laugh. ‘And I thought we were supposed to be trying for a baby.’
‘We are,’ she confirmed.
“Then this is the way to do it,’ he said, and unzipping his fly, he took out his penis and pushed it right up inside her.
‘Oh yes,’ she whimpered. ‘Yes, yes,’ and as her legs circled his waist, his mouth came crushing down on hers and his hips began to jerk against her.
Within minutes they were both struggling to silence their orgasms, and almost as soon as it was over they were laughing.
‘Sssh,’ she whispered, stepping back into her panties. ‘I thought we made a pact, no sex in the office. Remember?’
‘I never was any good at playing to the rules,’ he responded. He lifted her face up to his. ‘Love you,’ he whispered.
‘Love you too,’ she smiled. Then she started to laugh again. ‘Do you think they’re going to know?’ she asked.
His eyes twinkled. ‘Who cares?’ he responded, and kissing her briefly on the lips he turned back towards the door.
As she watched him go she was surprised to find herself thinking about Sandy Paull. It was this very kind of relationship Sandy had always wanted with Michael, to be his partner in every way, though why on earth that
should
have come into her mind now, she didn’t have a clue.
‘Oh by the way,’ he said, turning back as he opened the door. ‘Thanks.’
Ellen’s eyes widened.
He grinned. ‘About Michelle,’ he said. ‘I’ll call her tonight.’
After greeting Rosa and Gerry he returned to his own office and the mountain of work that was piling up on his desk. Though his mind was fully on what he was doing, it was only a few minutes before he was stopped by his conscience and his thoughts returned to Ellen – or, more precisely, to the conversation he’d had with Robbie a couple of nights ago.
It was the first time Robbie had mentioned anything about wanting his mummy and daddy to get back together, and though common sense told Michael that this problem was long overdue, he couldn’t help but be uneasy when it had happened to coincide with Ellen’s own insecurity over Michelle. Were it not for that, he might have discussed it with Ellen so that the three of them could try to work through it together, but with the way things stood he really wasn’t sure how to play it.
Nor was he feeling very comfortable with the way he had as good as lied to Ellen when he’d claimed not to know what Chambers and Michelle were cooking up. Not that either of them had actually told him what they had in mind, but he had a pretty good idea. And, if he was right, he didn’t even want to think about how Ellen was going to take that.
‘Do you know what’s most interesting about this script?’ Sandy said, looking up as Nesta came into the sitting-room of the flat they shared in Chelsea.
‘What’s that?’ Nesta yawned, sinking down on the adjacent sofa and kicking off her high heels. ‘I thought you’d have been in bed by now.’
‘The message from Michael that came over the e-mail with it,’ Sandy replied. ‘Did you have a good time? Where did you go?’
‘It was OK. Ronnie Scott’s. What message?’
‘He’s asked me not to discuss the script with Ellen for the time being,’ Sandy answered.
Nesta yawned again. ‘Do you think I’m getting too old for all this?’ she said, looking down at her expensive purple and black dress that was cut so low in the front that her breasts were barely covered.
‘Probably,’ Sandy answered. ‘You’re back early, so I take it it was just a date, no extras?’
‘No extras,’ Nesta confirmed, her small, kittenish face looking pale and tired. ‘So what’s it like, the script? Any good?’
‘Not bad, what there is of it. Apparently Ellen’s going to work on it with the writer, you know, Tom Chambers, to get it in shape. Apparently that’s her forte, whereas the role I’ve been allocated is coming up with some of the finance. I’ve made a start, but I could do with some help.’
Nesta chuckled. She was a good person to ask, for there were any number of men she could call on who might be interested in coughing up the odd ten grand or more. In fact, it wouldn’t be the first time Sandy had found backers through Nesta’s private network, though so far she had only been seeking to raise finance for World Wide UK projects. This was going to be a much bigger deal, meaning that the brokerage fee Nesta would receive would provide a serious boost to her early-retirement fund. ‘I’ll get back to you on it,’ she said. ‘Any news on Maurice, by the way?’
Sandy shook her head sadly. Right up until three weeks ago, when he’d had a stroke from which he wasn’t expected to recover, Maurice Trehearne, the well-known property tycoon and Sandy’s mentor, had continued to pay someone to advise her and take care of
her
interests. It wasn’t that she really needed his support any more, it was simply that the old man had wanted a professional excuse to stay in her life, and being as indebted to him as she was, as well as caring for him deeply, Sandy was happy to do whatever he wanted.
‘His daughter was at the hospital earlier,’ she said. ‘Looked right through me.’
Nesta’s eyebrows rose with interest. ‘Makes you wonder what’s in the will,’ she commented. ‘Could be you’ll end up backing this movie yourself.’
Sandy threw her a look.
‘Just a thought,’ Nesta said. ‘So what about Michael asking you not to discuss the script with Ellen? What do you reckon that’s all about?’
Sandy shrugged. ‘Probably that he hasn’t told her yet that he’s making me a producer,’ she answered. ‘That is, provided I come up with some finance, of course. Anyway, it doesn’t exactly speak of total harmony between them, does it? And long life to all the discords in their cosy little opera, is what I say. Except, to continue with the musical theme, there don’t appear to be enough bad notes for them to call off the wedding.’ Her eyes were dancing as she added, ‘Stay sitting for this one – I’ve been invited.’
Nesta’s large hazel eyes grew bigger than ever. ‘You’re kidding! They’ve invited
you
!’
‘You don’t have to say it like that,’ Sandy objected. ‘And if you think about it, they don’t really have a lot of choice. I mean, they can hardly invite every other agent at McCann Paull and not me, can they?’
‘So, are you going?’
Sandy yawned and stretched. ‘To LA, of course,’ she said. ‘But not to the wedding. How can I, when there’s not going to be one?’
Nesta looked at her and shook her head in dismay. ‘I’ve never known a woman hold on to a lost cause for so long,’ she said bluntly.
Sandy was unruffled.
‘You really think you can break them up?’ Nesta said.
Sandy pulled a face as she thought, then, looking Nesta straight in the eye, she smiled and nodded.
Chapter 6
‘OK, EVERYONE,’ ELLEN
said, calling the meeting to attention. ‘Grab your coffee and take your places. I think we’re all here now. Tom Chambers won’t be joining us, I’m afraid. He flew in late last night, so he’s catching up on some sleep. And for those of you who haven’t yet met Michael, this is he. Be nice to him because he’s paying the bills.’
Everyone laughed and, as they settled down at their desks, they turned their chairs to face Ellen and Michael who were sitting on the edge of a very long table at the front of the office. Ellen was about to speak again when Maggie put her head round the door and waved at her.
‘I’ve got someone from
Marie Claire
on the line,’ she said, ‘wanting to know if you’ll talk to them about being a working stepmother. Or maybe that should be wicked,’ she added, frowning curiously at her notebook.
Michael laughed and Ellen nudged him. ‘If there’s time in the schedule,’ Ellen answered. ‘When do they need it by?’
‘I’ll ask. They want to bring their own photographer as well, and I think they want to do it at the house. I’ll check all that, but in principle, are you up for it?’
‘Yes,’ Michael answered. ‘We need all the publicity we can get.’
‘OK, let’s get started here,’ Ellen said, as Maggie disappeared. ‘Cissy Carr and her assistant, Kyle, just
joined
us today. I’m sure you’ve all met already, but just in case, Cissy’s in charge of casting. And Joe Kenyon, who’s sitting at the back over there, is our art director, who Vic Warren appointed a couple of weeks ago. Obviously, you all know that Vic’s going to be directing the movie, but as he’s still tied up on another project, which he’s currently shooting over in France, he won’t be joining us for a while yet.’
She glanced down at her notes and was about to continue when a voice just in front of her said, ‘Uh, before we really get started, there’s something I’d like to say.’
Ellen looked up and gave a smile of encouragement to Billy Christopher, the tall red-headed guy from Texas, whose explosion of freckles was as sunny as his nature.
‘Um, I’d just like to say on behalf of us all here,’ he began, getting to his feet, and glancing round at the dozen or so of his colleagues, ‘that we’re all real proud to be getting involved in this movie, and that it’s a big honour to us all to be working with you, Ellen, and you, Michael. And thank you, both of you, for giving me my stripes as a fully-fledged production manager. I promise I won’t let you down – and thank you for all the courage you’re showing in giving a lot of other people in this room their breaks too, I know they won’t let you down either.’
‘Hear, hear!’ Cissy called out. ‘We’re right with you, Ellen and Michael.’
As everyone broke into applause, Ellen turned to Michael and tried not to laugh, for she knew how uncomfortable he was with this kind of Californian emotion.
‘Thank you for that,’ Ellen said, once the applause had died down. ‘Speaking for both Michael and myself, we know what a great team we have here, and I think we’re all in agreement, considering the story and what you’ve seen of the script, that we’d have to work pretty hard to fail at this one.’
Everyone laughed and murmured agreement, then Ellen turned to Michael for him to take over.
‘OK,’ he said, ‘I’m going to start the ball rolling by talking to you a bit about the financing of the picture, and then we’ll get on to your individual budgets. You all know what a risky business it is, raising the investment, and keeping the whole thing rolling, and it’s my intention to keep you informed every step of the way, even if we’re in danger of running out of funds – which frankly we’re pretty damned close to now. Yeah, believe it or not we’re already heading fast towards the wall, but I’ve had word from one of my partners in the UK that something could be coming through over there any time, so no need to start sweating just yet.’