The Perfect Location (37 page)

‘Thank you, Ms Nightingale,’ he said warmly. ‘You staying in New York for a while then?’

‘I might stay here forever,’ said Rose, smiling, feeling like she was about to burst from happiness.

‘Well, we would be glad to have you,’ he said in his Bronx accent and left Rose alone.

Rose rang Lauren. ‘Hello, darling, I’m in. I feel like I did when I went to university, ridiculous really.’

‘No, I get it, freedom, all that stuff,’ Lauren said down the phone from LA. ‘What do you need me to send over to you from here?’ she asked.

‘Nothing, really, I’ve got everything I need. Just let people know where I am if they ask. Also, I’m available for social events in New York, if invitations come my way. I might as well get out and live a little while I’m here.’

‘Absolutely,’ said Lauren. ‘I have a few already, hang on, and let me get them.’

Lauren put down the phone and Rose walked upstairs to her bedroom. Looking at the large number of boxes and cases on the floor and the bed, she felt overwhelmed.

Lauren came back on the line. ‘Okay, so there is a cocktail party at the Whitney. A dinner with some historical art society at the Frick and an opening night party, VIP at the MOMA. Also some opera invites and theatre you’re already going to. Any of those appeal?’

Rose was unzipping a dress bag with a navy Chanel silk evening gown with a white camellia at the waist inside. She hadn’t worn it yet; it was only bought at the insistence of Sophie. ‘Yes, they all appeal. Schedule them in and RSVP yes to all, as long as there are no clashes.’

‘Really? Wow. I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m surprised. You never went out in LA.’

‘That’s because I was hiding in LA, Lauren. No more hiding, time to get a life, as they say.’

‘I’ve got some messages I will email over, nothing important, a few I’ve taken care of myself for you.’

‘Thanks, you are a doll,’ said Rose gratefully.

‘A man called Max Craydon has rung a few times also, the guy from the picture. He said he really needs to talk to you but your cell phone isn’t working. I didn’t tell him you changed the number. He sounded nice though, not crazy.’

‘I can’t talk to him, not yet anyway,’ said Rose, sighing. ‘I just want to get settled in New York, and then I will deal with that. Tell him I’ll contact him at a later date. Actually, tell him nothing. Just say I’m not available to speak to at this time,’ said Rose harshly.

‘Sure,’ said Lauren, knowing not to pry into her boss’s life but thinking that Max did sound lovely on the phone; they’d spoken for quite a while, about nothing really, but it was one of those easy conversations which flowed.

Lauren hung up from Rose and sat thinking. She knew Rose and Max had had an affair in Italy; her sources on set had told her. They also said he was very nice, and that Rose was smitten with him and the boys when they visited the set. Lauren wondered what had happened, why they had split so quickly. One minute Rose was flying to London, now she was moving to New York. Running away is more like it, thought Lauren.

Picking up the phone, she dialled London. ‘Max? It’s Lauren Grasser, Rose Nightingale’s PA. How are you?’

TG pulled up to Calypso’s house in a red convertible Corvette with a surfboard in the back seat and sounded the horn. She ran outside. ‘Where’s your Porsche?’ she asked, looking at the car.

‘This is my other car,’ he said. ‘You ready?’

‘Oooh, my other car,’ she teased and ran back inside and collected her favourite straw bag and hat and locked up the house.

Climbing into the seat next to TG, she kissed him lovingly. ‘Hello, you.’

‘Hello, mermaid,’ he said and started the engine.

As they roared off down the road, she yelled to make herself heard over the engine. ‘Where are we going?’

‘Surprise,’ answered TG and turned up the Beach Boys CD on the car stereo.

Calypso laughed. All TG had told her was she had to bring her bikini and a book, which she had. The rest was to be discovered as the day went on. Driving out of LA, they headed along the picturesque coastline. It was a glorious LA day and Calypso could not have thought of a better place to be than with TG in the car, singing ‘Help Me Rhonda’ at the top of their lungs.

‘How do you know this song?’ asked TG as they drove along. He turned down the stereo slightly.

‘My dad loves the Beach Boys, we always used to sing to them when I was a kid.’

Calypso smiled at the memory. Leeza and her father were always on her mind. This was the longest they had not spoken and while she enjoyed the peace at some level, she missed the contact with her mother and father. She had not yet approached her mother, or answered her father. She had instead taken some much-needed time away from them to think things through. For the last two weeks, she and TG had spent most days together. He had kept his promise to date her and they had been to the movies, out to dinner at casual places, and had seen Kelly and Chris, who were excited about their baby’s arrival in a few months.

Calypso was enjoying the downtime and had been reading, surfing the net and moving furniture around in her house, one of her favourite pastimes. She and TG had still not slept together since Italy; not that they didn’t want to, but Calypso was enjoying the waiting. TG didn’t stay, much to his chagrin, but he took it well, prepared to wait for the girl of his dreams, he told her.

As they rounded the coast in the red car, TG pulled off onto an unmade road and drove down a bit further. ‘Where are we?’ asked Calypso, not recognizing her surroundings.

‘We’re at my beach, baby,’ said TG as he stopped the car and jumped out. Pulling the surfboard out of the back, he opened the trunk of the car and pulled out a cooler, towels, a beach umbrella and two fold-out chairs. ‘You grab the umbrella and the towels and I’ll get the rest,’ he said.

He picked up the items and walked into the scrub. Calypso hurriedly picked up the umbrella, threw the towels into her bag and followed him, afraid of being left behind and lost. They walked through the scrub and came to the top of a cliff. They stopped and Calypso looked over; the drop down was terrifying but the water in the distance sparkled and the beach below was practically deserted.

‘Only locals come here,’ explained TG as they carefully navigated their way down the path in the cliff. ‘It’s where I surf when I get the chance.’

Calypso walked behind him, minding her footing until they were on the sand.

‘We can set up anywhere you like. I’ve brought food and drinks and you can chill while you watch your boyfriend catch some pipes,’ he said, adopting a surfer accent.

Calypso laughed. ‘This is really funny, you know that don’t you?’

‘You said you wanted to date like they did in high school, so this is what we’re doing. You watch your man surf and tan up to look pretty for me. You know, if you really loved me, you would cut out the letters of my name and stick them to your stomach so when you tanned it would say “Tim” across your belly and then the entire world would know you were my girl. Or you could wax my board for me?’ he said suggestively.

‘Never gonna happen, my man, but nice try,’ said Calypso, laughing hysterically. ‘Do girls really do that?’ she asked as she wrestled with her fold-up chair.

TG took it off her and set it up easily. ‘I don’t know, I saw it in a surf movie years ago. Made me laugh then and still does.’

‘I can see that. All right, surfer man, get into those waves so I can be impressed,’ she said and took off her denim cut-off shorts and perched under the umbrella, rubbing lotion into herself.

‘No, I’ll help you first, I think,’ he said, eyeing her toned legs.

‘I’m fine, thanks anyway,’ she said primly.

‘You’re doing my head in, Calypso. I think about you every night and every morning. When can I get into bed with you again?’ he asked as he took off his t-shirt.

As he stood with his back towards her, looking at the surf, she saw the mermaid tattoo on his back. ‘Don’t pressure a girl,’ she said, laughing.

He turned around quickly and knelt down to her height on the chair. ‘I’m sorry, babe. I don’t want to pressure you. You take as long as you like,’ he said, worried he was pushing her, remembering Raphael in Italy.

She smiled at him. ‘It’s fine, just give me some time. I’m enjoying getting to know you, Tim. I think things moved too fast in Italy for us. I was lonely and scared. Now I want to hang out with you, learn you. You know?’

He kissed her nose. ‘I get it, I do. I just miss being in you,’ he said.

He grabbed his board and ran for the water. Calypso watched her namesake on his back and thought about TG, her parents, the blackmailer and her career. Whatever Leeza had planned for her life did not include the last few months, she thought to herself as she watched TG in the surf. Rifling through her bag, she pulled out the booklet she had brought with her and started to read.

An hour later TG emerged from the surf happy. ‘Did you see me catch that big one at the end?’ he asked breathlessly.

‘Yes, I did, it was very good. Well done,’ said Calypso, as though speaking to a child.

‘Fuck off,’ he said good-naturedly, flicking her with his towel. ‘Lunch?’ he asked as he opened the cooler. ‘I’m starving.’

He pulled out containers from the cooler.

‘What is there?’ Calypso asked, hungry.

TG was opening lids and spreading them out on the towel. ‘I’ve no idea. I asked the deli round the corner from my house to pack it. Vegetarian items included also,’ he said, shaking a container of salad at her.

‘What ya been reading?’ he asked with his mouth full, pointing at the booklet on the towel next to Calypso.

She turned it over and held it to her chest. ‘Okay, so here’s the thing. I’ve been thinking about my life and where the hell I’m going. I want to do something different for a while.’

As she spoke, the nerves came into her voice.

TG looked at her closely. ‘It’s okay, tell me what’s on your mind. I’m cool with whatever you want to do.’

Calypso took a breath. ‘I want to go to college.’

‘That’s great,’ said TG, tabbouleh flying from his mouth.

Calypso laughed. ‘I have to sit some exams to graduate high school but then I want to go to UCLA and study. I’m not sure what, I’ve narrowed it down to production and some literature studies. I don’t know which but that’s part of the fun, the not knowing. What do you think?’ she asked, pushing her tortoiseshell vintage Cutler and Gross sunglasses back on her head.

‘I think it’s fucking great,’ he enthused. ‘I’ve always wanted to go out with a college girl.’

‘No, be serious. Do you think I’m kidding myself?’ she said, touching his arm.

‘I think it’s great, I really do. You want to learn about the world and experience real life, then why not start where so many others have started their adult life? College is a blast and I think you’ll soak it all up. Enjoy it, baby, you’ve earned it.’

Calypso felt relieved. ‘I don’t know why I was so nervous about telling you. Maybe that you wouldn’t want to be with me if I wasn’t acting.’

‘What you do doesn’t matter to me, you should know that.’

‘I guess I’ve been defined by my job for a long time.’

‘Eat up, girly, then I am gonna teach you how to surf,’ TG said. ‘If things at college don’t work out then maybe you can join the pro surfing comp and travel the world.’

Calypso and TG spent the afternoon lying in the sun and swimming, and TG attempting to teach her how to surf, unsuccessfully. Back at Calypso’s house, she ran into the bathroom. ‘I’ve gotta have a shower, I have half the sand of the Pacific Ocean in my hair from being dumped so many times.’

TG started to unpack the cooler and put the dirty items in the dishwasher. She stood, looking at him, so domesticated and kind. Whoever said a man packing a dishwasher was foreplay was right, she thought. ‘You coming?’ she said playfully, standing in the kitchen doorway.

‘You sure?’ he asked, holding a container of olives.

‘Hurry up before I change my mind,’ she said as she walked down the hallway, stripping off her clothes seductively.

Calypso turned on the water in the large shower and TG stepped under. They soaped each other all over and TG washed her hair of all the sand. TG was hard as soon as he had got into the shower, but Calypso pretended not to notice. As they washed the soap off their bodies, she held his face. ‘Make love to me,’ she said simply.

TG took her from the shower, dried her gently and then led her to the bedroom, where he lay her on the bed and explored every part of her body. Calypso let herself be loved, instead of fucked. She let him kiss her in every crevice of her body, to be touched and stroked. When finally TG entered her, their eyes locked as they met the rhythm of each other’s bodies and they came together quickly, the past few weeks of denial catching up with them. TG rolled off Calypso. ‘Sorry that was a bit fast,’ he laughed.

‘It was perfect,’ she answered lazily. ‘I missed you being inside me also.’

He kissed her nose again and held her tight.

‘Do you know what I want to do?’ she said from the crook of his arm.

‘What?’ he answered.

‘I want pizza, Antiques Roadshow and then for us to spend the night in the same bed. Sleep or no sleep, you decide.’

‘Done,’ he answered.

And that’s what they did, with a little sleep but not much.

In the morning Calypso was calm. She knew she had to face her mother at some stage; she had just wanted to know exactly where she was in her own life before she let Leeza barrel her way back in and start to try to take over again.

Calypso put a new coffee filter in the machine and turned to TG. ‘I’m going to see my mother today.’

‘That’s good, isn’t it?’ he asked carefully.

‘We’ll see. I deserve an apology and an explanation. Leeza isn’t so great at owning her shit though, so I have no expectations. I want to see Dad though.’ She poured milk into two mugs with Disneyland characters on them.

‘Then go in with an open mind and an open heart, babe. Just listen and then decide later.’

Calypso handed him the mug with Goofy on the front. ‘Is there something you’re trying to tell me?’ he asked, turning it to face him.