The Perfect Location (6 page)

Calypso’s mouth was set in a straight line. ‘Berries, chocolate.’ she answered through gritted teeth.

TG saw her face set and knew she thought he was a dick. Oh well, at least I won’t have to worry about my crush if she hates me, he thought.

Giulia walked over and suggested to TG it was time to sit down for the dinner as the chefs were getting worried their feast would be spoiled.

‘Is Sapphira here yet?’

‘No, not yet but she’s on her way. I rang her driver,’ Giulia replied.

‘Great, we’ll start to get everyone to the table and begin without her.’

‘Excuse me,’ he said to Rose and Calypso, and walked towards a group of people, gesturing at the table.

Rose and Calypso wandered over, setting down their glasses. Rose pulled out her chair and sat down before the waiter standing behind her had time. Patting the chair next to her, she looked up at Calypso, who was debating whether to run away. ‘Come on, sit next to me. This’ll be fun.’

Rose’s enthusiasm was infectious and Calypso decided things would be all right if she stuck with her for the shoot. The party sat down, and TG stood and tapped his champagne glass with his fork. As he did, Sapphira arrived and the whole table fell silent. She stood in the doorway of the courtyard, wearing a white leather Pucci mini dress, with a huge silver and black eagle on the front looking as if it were about to land on its prey. She wore no jewellery and long black hair hung loosely down her back. Her legs seemed to stretch forever, ending in a pair of Balmain suede calf-high boots, with five silver buckles up each side. Her entrance stunned the room; it was dramatic and powerful, not unlike Sapphira herself.

TG spoke, breaking the moment. ‘Well, I was about to make a speech but one of our stars took the words right out of my mouth,’ he said, laughing.

The table joined in his laughter and Sapphira smiled at the group, getting the joke. She felt good tonight; she had slept this afternoon and had a gorgeous swim in the pool. She had lain in the sun and was instantly sun kissed. She looked great and she knew it. Looking along the table, she recognized Rose. Everyone knew Rose, but she didn’t know the young girl sitting next to her looking anxious. Sapphira didn’t watch television or films, preferring books and providing her own entertainment. The industry did not interest her but the craft of acting did, so she tried to read and experience as much as she could so she would have emotions to draw on when she was working.

Rose waved at her and smiled. They had met at a few Women in Hollywood functions and while it was only small talk, they had found each other pleasant. Sapphira didn’t have girlfriends. In fact, she didn’t have any friends; she only had lovers or ex-lovers.

Friendship was not something she’d had growing up. Her mother hadn’t had friends and her father only had people who used him for drugs and parties at his house. The pack she ran with in her teenage years had not stayed together; drug overdoses, rehab and prison time had split the group up and then Sapphira became a star. It was problematic enough trying to maintain a steady sexual relationship, let alone an emotional one.

Walking towards Rose, Sapphira hoped she would be easy to work with and not get too close. People always tried to be her friend but she would have none of it. Besides, she didn’t want people to know her secret. Better she spent her time alone. It had worked for her fine, so far.

‘Hello there,’ said Rose. ‘You look amazing! Well done, you. That dress looks as though it was made for you.’

‘It was,’ said Sapphira, without any arrogance. Designers made her outfits all the time and she chose the ones she could wear, instead of the dress wearing her. She had seen too many celebrities on red carpets overdressed and struggling with their trains and fussing over a lost Harry Winston earring on loan for the night.

‘This is Calypso Gable, our other actress. We’re the three amigos, I guess,’ laughed Rose.

‘Hi,’ said Sapphira.

‘Hello,’ answered Calypso, intimidated by Sapphira’s sexual presence and beauty.

‘Calypso has just made a big impact in her new hit film. Have you seen it?’

‘No,’ said Sapphira, sitting down. ‘I don’t watch films or television,’ she shrugged unapologetically.

‘Not at all?’ asked Rose.

‘Nope, I prefer to read,’ she answered.

‘Well, good for you. Although if people didn’t watch anything then we would be out of jobs, I suppose,’ she said, laughing at her own joke.

The fog of worry began to envelop Calypso again. She was not of this calibre, she thought. Rose, the greatest actress of this generation; Sapphira, an intellectual and sexual powerhouse. And her, little Miss Hollywood. She pulled out her phone and began to text her mother, then took a big swig of the red wine that the waiter had put in front of her.

TG tapped his glass again. ‘Thank you, everyone. If I can have a moment … Sapphira, is that okay with you?’

The table laughed again and Sapphira nodded majestically towards him, as if allowing him his time in her spotlight.

‘This is a big thrill for me, having such a great team to do justice to this wonderful script. For those I’ve worked with before, thanks for helping me out again. For those I’ve not yet worked with, I look forward to building a great relationship.’

As he said these last words, he felt his eyes drawn to Calypso. She was looking at her mobile phone, not listening to him at all. Probably texting her boyfriend, he thought. Maybe Kelly was wrong; maybe she is just a spoilt little brat.

He paused. Hearing the silence Calypso looked up at him. He felt a shock run through his body. ‘So, thank you. I’m available for any of you night or day. Please let me know if you need anything – and here’s to a great shoot.’ He raised his glass as did everyone else at the table. ‘Salut!’ he cried.

‘Salut!’ the table cried in unison.

‘Let’s eat!’ Rose called out.

The dinner was a great success, the food amazing. Bruschetta, fresh asparagus, seven types of pasta dish, some with the black truffles of the region grated over them, fennel and orange salad, duck breast with cabbage and glazed vegetables, three cheeses from the region. The Umbrian red and white wine flowed all night and they finished with chocolate and crema di fragola, with fresh strawberries on the side.

It was a decadent feast, with Rose the only one allowing herself to try several of the pastas. Calypso, still smarting from TG’s comment, stuck to the salad and vegetables and some cheese. Sapphira took some duck and salad but pushed it around the plate. She did eat the chocolate, however, allowing herself to indulge as her body always craved sugar.

None of the male co-stars were on set yet. TG wanted to shoot all the collective scenes with the women first, then he would shoot their individual scenes later.

Rose was working hard to draw more information out of Sapphira, as she seemed a little glazed. Probably just jet-lag, thought Rose.

‘How’s your villa?’ Rose asked. ‘Mine’s lovely.’

‘It’s okay. I haven’t really looked around much,’ Sapphira said vacantly.

‘Oh,’ said Rose surprised. Once she had awoken from her sleep, exploring the house and the garden was the first thing she did. ‘Well, plenty of time for that, I’m sure.’

‘How about you, Calypso? How’s your villa? The views from mine are amazing.’

‘Um, I’m staying in a hotel,’ she said, instantly regretting her reply. Now I look like the child in the hotel and not grown-up enough to have a house, she thought. ‘I was offered a villa,’ she added quickly. ‘But I wanted to be in the city.’

‘Yeah, I get it,’ said Rose. ‘That’s where Kelly and I were when we were young. Any good shops I should visit?’

‘Did you know Kelly before LA?’ asked Calypso.

‘Yeah, we went to school together, best friends since we were fourteen,’ laughed Rose.

‘How great, and now you are here together,’ marvelled Calypso. She would have done anything for a best friend from school.

‘I know, amazing, really,’ said Rose, looking fondly at her best friend telling TG off for something.

TG came over and pulled up a chair opposite the women. ‘Hello, ladies,’ he said, in his smoothest professional lounge voice. ‘We’re all getting to know each other?’

Calypso and Sapphira were silent, so Rose spoke. ‘Yes, it’s lovely, we’re all becoming fast friends now, I think?’ She looked to the other women; Sapphira and Calypso smiled.

‘Thank you for this, TG. I’m really excited to explore my character with you,’ said Sapphira.

There was an open invitation in her voice and Calypso was startled. Jesus, the eagle on her dress wasn’t just for show! She was a hunter and TG was her prey.

TG smiled. ‘Sure, I think we’ll all do great work on this. Please speak to me about any ideas you may have on the character or the scenes and we can work through it all together.’

Calypso noticed that he didn’t seem to take Sapphira up on her offer; instead he kept his professional mask on. Probably didn’t want to mix business and pleasure, she thought, although Sapphira was incredible in her beauty and presence.

TG was called by Giulia and Calypso watched him walk away. ‘Is he gay?’ Sapphira asked.

‘No, no, he just broke up with someone in LA, I think,’ Rose answered vaguely.

Sapphira watched him walk away. A shame, she thought. Might have been some fun while in Italy. Oh well, there’s always my co-star.

Sapphira’s ego was large enough not to take TG’s snub as insulting. She factored it down to him being broken-hearted – something she could have fixed, but she wasn’t going to chase after him. She stood up, smoothed her dress, drained her wine glass and set it on the table.

‘Rose, Calypso, I look forward to working with you both. Goodnight.’ Then she turned and walked out to her driver and car.

Rose and Calypso sat staring after her. ‘Well, that’s lovely,’ said Rose unconvincingly.

‘She’s weird,’ Calypso replied and Rose couldn’t disagree with Calypso’s assessment.

Sapphira was certainly more than unusual, thought Rose, but it was more than being eccentric. Rose understood eccentric, she was friends with Kelly after all. No, Sapphira was troubled, Rose was sure of it. Behind the façade of fabulous was fear.

Rose wondered what on earth Sapphira had to fear. The girl had everything.

‘What do you mean they can’t find the time?’ Rose barked down the phone to Lauren as Lucia placed a bowl of apples in front of the apricots on the table.

‘Well, I tried to tee it up but they’re really busy, and it’s the wrong time of the year for some of them with school and work,’ said Lauren.

‘Bloody hell. Now I have this fucking giant villa filled with stuff and no one to use it. No wonder the housekeeper thinks I’m mad. She keeps mumbling “ghost children” at me in Italian and now it makes sense,’ said Rose, biting into the crisp fruit.

Lauren laughed, ‘That’s too funny!’

‘Really? You think?’ rebutted Rose.

‘I know you’re sad but your family have lives also, Rose. I know you may think I’m out of line but you can’t expect them to drop everything just because you have a villa and a box of Snakes and Ladders.’

‘I know that. It’s just I never see them. My niece and nephew never see me anymore except in
Hello!
magazine,’ said Rose sadly.

‘Well, maybe you can head over there before you start shooting the next film and spend some time with your family. I can move a few things and make some more room in your schedule.’

Rose could hear Lauren tapping at the keyboard. ‘Maybe, we’ll see,’ said Rose.

It was irritating that her family never met her halfway when she asked them. They had no understanding of her fame or if they did, they were unaffected by it. In fact, Rose was certain her parents had not even seen her last two films. Rose had offered them premiere tickets but they declined, saying they had promised to babysit for Rose’s brother and look after the grandchildren.

Rose had yelled at her mother down the phone from her hotel suite, claiming she didn’t care, which her mother gently pushed back onto Rose. ‘Rosie,’ she had said, ‘I had promised Martin I would help him and Fiona months ago. I cannot drop everything just because your face is on the trams. First in, best dressed,’ her mother had explained in her usual unemotional way.

Rose had begrudgingly apologized to her mother and later, with her therapist, had acknowledged that her parents’ refusal to be spellbound by her job and instead retain equal relationships with their children was to be commended. Sometimes though, Rose felt a little left out, being so far away from England and with no grandchildren for her mother to babysit.

Rose’s temper was legendary in her family. If anyone threw a tantrum, they called it ‘doing a Rose’. It was something she was able to keep a lid on when she worked, but privately she could rage and rage. It never had any effect on Paul; in fact, it became worse when she was married to him. She would yell and throw things just to be heard but he just ignored her. His cruelty was astounding, something she did not realize he had in him till it was too late. His favourite way to punish her was to ignore her; he would literally cast her out of his life till he decided to forgive her. She never knew when this would be. He would eat at the same table, sleep in the spare room but he would not answer her, not even flinch when at times she slapped him. If he had a message for her, he would leave it with their bewildered Mexican housekeeper. Once, her parents came to visit in the middle of one of these episodes. Whenever they were around he would act as if they didn’t have a care in the world. The minute they were out of the room, he started ignoring her again.

Her ex-husband, Paul Ross, had been a teen heartthrob and had become a household name, loved by critics and the public alike. After seeing Rose in a small independent film that she had made when she was first in LA, Paul had pursued Rose relentlessly.

Rose, at twenty-two and fresh out of acting school had been entranced by his fame, good looks and energy. But the more Rose learned about Paul after the ring was on her finger, the more she realized he was unhinged. Taking huge doses of vitamins and prescription and non-prescription drugs, convinced that they would help him stay young. Drinking a bottle of tomato ketchup every day to prevent prostate cancer. His obsession with immortality even went to the extreme of his forging an obsessive relationship with a South American plastic surgeon, whom Rose secretly called Doctor Dorian Gray.