The Hollywood Effect (15 page)

“Some interior decorator lady I hired. She has good taste, no? And the flowers are Alba’s touch. She’s my housekeeper person.”

I shook my head. People I knew didn’t hire interior decorators or housekeepers. They went to Ikea. And
maybe
had a cleaner that came over once a fortnight. It was a strange world that I had entered.
 

As I stood there, hovering on the threshold and soaking up the luxurious atmosphere, a scruffy man in track pants and not much else came meandering into the room. He didn’t even glance in our direction as he slid over to the fridge, opened it and started drinking from a milk carton.
 

With a loud burp, he slowly turned around.
 

“Oh, hey,” they man said in a distinct American accent. He put the milk down and scratched his chest. “I didn’t think you’d be that quick.”
 

Liam snorted. “Jen, this is my friend Mike. Mike, this is my friend Jen.”
 

Mike came over and held out his hand. I tentatively shook it, wondering vaguely if he’d washed it in the past week.
 

“Nice to meet you,” I said, somewhat lamely.
 

“Likewise. Any friend of Liam’s, is a friend of mine.”
 

“Mike’s been crashing here for a few weeks,” Liam whispered in my ear as Mike turned on his heel and slouched back out of the room. “We did a movie together back in the early days.”

“Oh. I don’t remember him…”
 

“He hasn’t been in much since. But he’s a good bloke. Just, uh, don’t trust the milk or juice if you’re afraid of cooties…”
 

I laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind…”
 

“Here, let me show you to your room,” he said and, touching my elbow lightly, guided me through the living areas and down a long hallway.
 

“My room’s down the end there,” he nodded towards it. “Mike’s staying in the basement, just don’t go down there and you’ll be safe. You can have the room next to mine. Dan can have that one there,” he said and nodded towards the room we were passing. I glanced in. It had a respectable queen size bed and dresser and not much else in there. The bedspread was surprisingly tasteful.
 

“Let me guess, your interior designer picked your haberdashery as well?”
 

Liam smirked. “You should be grateful. If it was up to me, you’d have Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle doona covers from Walmart. Trust me, these are much nicer. Or so Nicola assured me.”
 

“Nicola?” There was that really unwanted twinge again. Was I going to do that every time he mentioned a girl? That would get old quick. Get over it, Pike.
 

“The decorator,” Liam said like I was a half-wit. “Keep up with the times, Jen.”
 

“Oh, right, sorry. Maybe you should email me a list of your entourage.” I rolled my eyes at him. He looked shocked for half a second and then laughed.
 

“I miss you when you’re not around. You should move to L.A.”
 

Now it was my turn to laugh.
 

“And do what, exactly?”

Liam looked taken aback.
 

“They do have schools here, you know.”
 

I quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah, and the teachers here have such a great international reputation for pay rates.”
 

He paused for a moment. I reminded myself that Liam Burns had probably not thought about money much for a few years now.
 

“What if I said it would be fun?”
 

“I’m sure it would be. On weekends. But so would London.”
 

“You want to move to London?” Liam said, slightly taken aback.
 

“I didn’t say that. The thought has crossed my mind though. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do when this contact at Tarang is up. I don’t like the thought of leaving Dad when he’s… like this… but I never saw myself settling down in the country. At least, not til I was married with a kid or two or something.”
 

“Oh yeah, and who are you planning on marrying?” Liam asked with a strange look on his face.
 

“I have no idea. Spot’s still open to applicants. Now show me to my room.” I paused. “That came out wrong.” I could feel the beginnings of a blush creeping up my face.
 

Liam juts laughed and kept walking.
 

“This is your room,” he opened the door and stood back. I peeked in.
 

“Oh, it’s lovely,” I breathed. “Is this your ‘girls guest room’?” I asked after a moment. Liam shrugged. “Blame Nicola. I kept shooting down all her ideas for my room, so I let her go nuts in here.”

The furniture in the room was lovely and elegant. There was a huge vase of lilies sitting on the dresser.
 

“Alba,” Liam quickly
 
said when I glanced at him. I grinned. I’d like to meet this Alba lady. She had good taste in flowers. “I’ll give you the grand tour, then I’ll let you freshen up or have a nap or whatever you want.” He put my suitcase down in the doorway of the room and gestured for me to follow.
 

“This is my room,” he said, leading me to the room next to my appointed room.
 

“Wow,” I breathed. It was a huge room. He’d furnished it pretty simply. A king sized bed was in the middle of the room, but the main thing that grabbed my attention was the floor to ceiling windows along one wall that had a stunning view over the gardens and surrounding hills.
 

“How do you even get up in the morning? I could just stay in bed all day, looking at that.” I laughed.
 

“This was one of the main reasons I picked this place,” he said, coming to join me by the window. “And it’s one-way glass, so we could stand here stark naked and no one outside would know.”
 

“Kinda creepy,” I said after a moment. Liam punched me softly on the arm.
 

“I’m not a creep,” he said.
 

“Sure you’re not. You just stand there in the buff watching people all day, don’t you.”
 

“Uh huh. Not like I work or anything…”
 

I laughed. “It’s beautiful, Liam. Now show me the rest of your palace.”
 

Liam nodded and took my arm as if we were from the eighteenth century.
 

We walked past a few rooms that he barely paused for. “More guest bedrooms,” he muttered.
 

“You could open a B&B,” I said.
 

“Sometimes it feels like one. Remember Jonathon and Ben?”
 

“Your brother’s friends?” I asked. They had been a couple of years ahead of me at school. We’d hung out a bit over many summers spent at the Burns’ pool.
 

“Yeah, them. They were here for a few weeks. They only left on Monday. I was starting to think I should charge them board.”
 

I laughed.
 

“I’m serious,” he said, but the smile playing around his mouth belayed that seriousness. “Sometimes it feels like everyone who I halfway know from home has slept on my couch. Whenever they come over to America, I get messages, wanting to catch up, and usually stay.”
 

“Are you actually complaining because you’re popular?” I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. Liam scowled and then laughed as well.
 

“I know, I shouldn’t complain. But sometimes I just want my own space, and some of the people that come out of the woodwork just surprise me. I got a friend request from Jacqui Lyons the other day.”
 

“Oh god, you didn’t accept her, did you?”
 

“Hell, no. Spiteful woman. I don’t even know how she found my profile.”

“And you’re such a prolific poster…” I snorted.
 

Liam rolled his eyes. “You know I only use it to stalk you,” he said with a wink.
 

It was my turn to punch him. “I’d better make an effort to update more often then.”
 

“You should,” he said. “And this is the library.” I peeked in.
 

“You need more books,” I said. Half the shelves were bare, but it was a lovely room, with a wide window complete with window bench overlooking the gardens.
 

“Yeah, I know.” He moved on and I followed. “Music room,” he gestured. There was a keyboard, drum kit and even more guitars.
 

“I think you have a guitar addiction,” I said.
 

“You might be right,” he admitted, rather sheepishly. “Use it as much as you like while you’re here. It’s mostly soundproof, so don’t worry about disturbing anyone.” I nodded, my fingers slightly itchy to try out the keyboard.
 

I trotted after Liam as he kept walking, feeling slightly turned around.
 

“This room is pretty cool, even if I do say so myself,” he said and opened the door for me.
 

“Awesome,” I breathed. It was a mini-theatre. The seats were more like couches. It looked very comfortable. Liam was a total movie buff, so it made sense that he’d have his own theatre. It was a long way from the old second hand tv that Mr Burns had picked up from the side of the road and
 
VCR from our childhood.
 

More rooms, some of them empty. We didn’t go down into the basement.
 

“I leave that alone at the moment. I’m actually a little scared to go down there,” he laughed. It’s basically just like another apartment down there. You could rent it out, theoretically. It’s got its own little kitchen and entrance, although for some reason Mike always come up to use the upstairs kitchen. Probably because it has food in it…” Liam trailed off. I yawned.
 

“Anyway. That’s my house. I’ll let you settle in.” He led me back through the warren of corridors to the bedroom he’d designated at mine. “You’ve got an ensuite through that door.” He pointed behind me. “There should be some fresh towels in there. Holler if there aren’t.”

“All righty. Thanks, Liam. Your house is great. And… thanks for the ticket. It was pretty amazing.”
 

Liam grinned at me and backed out, shutting me in the room.
 

“So when’s Dan get in?” I asked. We were sitting out on the deck, overlooking the pool and gardens. It was late afternoon, but the sun was still shining brightly, lighting everything with a nice afternoon glow. I’d had a wash and a nap and felt very refreshed. There was a bowl of chips and dip in between us, and a couple of beers. Music was playing softly from somewhere. I couldn’t figure out where exactly the speakers were.
 

“In a few days. I need to confirm the exact date with him, actually. Thanks for reminding me.” And with that, he whipped out his phone and stared intently at it for a few minutes, tapping away.
 

“Don’t worry, you’re definitely both here for the same few days. I triple checked. We’re gonna have so much fun. I really want you to meet my friends.”

“I thought I did, last time.”

Liam shrugged dismissively. “They were mainly Holly’s friends, to be honest.” He stared into the bowl of chips for a moment. “She didn’t like many of my mates.”
 

“Oh. Why not? Are they all like Mike?”
 

Liam laughed. “Nah. Well. Yeah. Some of them. But… I dunno…”

“Do you still talk to her?” I asked, and then held my breath. I’d never be able to compete against Holly Monroe. Wait, where did that thought come from? Liam was my
friend.
Friend, friend, friend, I reminded myself. Nothing more. I didn’t need to be competing with anyone, let alone Holly Monroe.
 

Liam sighed. “A couple of times. Not really.”

“Ah…” I didn’t know what to say. I’d ever been very good at knowing what to say when someone was upset. I think I took after my dad in that. Mum had always seemed to know what to say.
 

“At first she wanted to get back together, but I think she’s moved on now. At least that’s what she wants me to think. I think.” He frowned into his hands.
   

“Sounds complicated,” I said after a moment.
 

“Not really,” Liam shrugged. “I’m done with her. I mean. I wish her well, and I don’t hate her or anything… but I don’t want to get back together. You get it, right? I mean, you and Evan? You said you got over that pretty quick.”
 

I thought for a moment.
 

“Yeah. I was a bit shocked at first - I wasn’t expecting him to break up with me, especially not on the first night of an five night holiday up in Queensland, but in hindsight it was the right thing to do. Being up there gave us time to work things out without real life butting in, and by the end of the trip I agreed with him. We’re not right for each other. He’s so materialistic it’s not funny, and… well, it just would have been a lot of heartache and arguments if we’d stayed together and had kids or anything. He’s a total snob as well. He thinks teaching is a stupid career. He wanted me to become a lawyer, did I ever tell you that?”
 

Liam snorted. “You? A lawyer. Hah. You’d be wasted in that field. I’m sure you’re a fantastic teacher. You’re smart and conscientious and you care about people.”
 

“Aww, shucks. You made me blush.” I held my hands up to my cheeks to hide the fact that I actually was blushing. “Evan was surprised that you can get a Masters in teaching, and how much work I had to do. I think he was under the impression that teachers just did a two-week certificate or something and then were let loose on the youth of Australia.”
 

“I still have no idea what you saw in him, Jen.” Liam leaned back in his chair and took a swig of beer.
 

I shrugged. “He was kinda cute. And we had good arguments.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. We agreed on nothing. It was very mentally stimulating.”