Angel Uncovered (32 page)

Back at the Bel Air house she phoned Gemma who still
sounded very down. Angel longed to say something that
would make her friend feel better, but knew the grief was
something Gemma was going to have to work through on
her own. When she ended the call she felt so sad for her
friend, and also lonely because she hadn't felt able to tell
Gemma anything about how she was feeling. Angel had
always relied on her friend in the past to help her
through a crisis. Now she didn't feel that she had anyone
she could confide in. She also had several messages from
Cal. She really didn't want to speak to him but knew she
had to eventually.

'Hi, it's me,' she said when Cal answered.

'It's so good to hear you! I've been thinking about you
all the time, how are you? How's Honey?' The words
were pouring out of the usually restrained Cal. She
almost felt sorry for him; then stopped herself.

'We're fine,' she replied coolly. And as Cal went on to
bombard her with more questions about what she'd been
doing, gave only monosyllabic answers, keeping him at
arm's length.

'I hate you and Honey being so far away from me. You
will come back as soon as you finish filming, won't you?

I've got to see you,' he said urgently.

'You'll see us soon,' Angel said abruptly, then made
some excuse about needing to talk to Lucy. She sighed
heavily as she ended the call.
She really didn't know what shewanted to do. Didn't know if she had a future with Cal.

She checked on Honey who was fast asleep in her cot
and then padded into her bedroom trying to decide what
to wear for her night out. Carrie had told her to make a
big effort when she was seen out in public, but right now
Angel didn't really give a shit what she looked like. In the
end she went for black skinny jeans and a black silk top
worn with black satin Christian Louboutin stilettos.

'Angel!' Parker exclaimed. 'I'm so glad you could make it.
Come on, let me introduce you to everyone.' She dutifully
smiled at the tableful of his friends, who were lounging by
the pool. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to come
here. She felt her usual mixture of self-consciousness and
nerves at being with people she didn't know. And to add
to her unease she was at the same bar she'd been to with
Ethan nearly a year ago. She remembered him saying that
he often turned up there on Thursdays which were DJ
nights. But maybe that was why she had come. Deep
down she wanted to see him again.

Fortunately Parker's friends were as nice as him –
mostly actors plus a couple of models who were all
fascinated by Angel because of her beauty and her accent,
which they all thought was 'so cute'. Their comments
made her smile. To think how she was slated by some
people back home for having a Brighton accent! She very
quickly drank a glass of champagne, to give her
confidence.

Parker sat next to her and always made sure that
Angel's glass was topped up and that she was involved in
the conversation. He was very sweet, but Angel hoped he
didn't think he could be anything more than her friend.
After a while a track came on that was one of her
favourites.

'Do you want to dance?' Parker asked, seeing her
tapping her fingers in rhythm on the table. 'Oh, come on,'
he continued as she shook her head, and Angel thought,
Why the hell not?
Parker grabbed her hand and as she went
to pull away, said, 'Angel, we're just friends, right? But it's
my birthday. For one night, can't I be the envy of all these
other men who think that you might, just might, be my
girlfriend? Think of it as my birthday present.'

She laughed and kissed him on the cheek, saying,
'Okay!' then willingly took his hand and headed off for
the dance area.

She had the shock of her life, though, when the two of
them wove their way through the clubbers and she
noticed Ethan, chatting to a group of girls who seemed to
be hanging on his every word.
How typical,
she thought
dismissively. He hadn't seen her. Angel put her head
down and practically legged it to the dance floor. Once
there she made sure that she was looking in the opposite
direction from where Ethan was standing but couldn't
stay focused for long as Parker danced outrageously,
deliberately camping it up to the music, dancing suggestively
close to her or twirling her round and round,
causing her to laugh out loud.

So it was that a dishevelled, out-of-breath Angel was
leaving the dance area, hand in hand with Parker, when
Ethan walked right in front of her. There was no escape
from his intense blue eyes this time. Angel defiantly
shook back her hair and tilted her chin up, as if to say,
Come and have a go then.

'We really must stop meeting like this,' he said dryly.
'One more time and I'll think you're stalking me.'

'I'm just here with some friends,' she said quickly. 'I
had no idea you would be here, but don't worry, I'm just
leaving.'

'Heading off with your new boyfriend?' Ethan asked
sarcastically.

She remembered with a pang their easy conversations
in the past.

'He's not my boyfriend, he's in a film I'm in,' she said
hotly. Then she turned to her dance partner and said,
'Parker, this is Ethan Taylor.'

Parker was looking totally starstruck, and stuttered,
'Oh, I know who he is.' He reached out a hand to shake
Ethan's and said, 'It's awesome to meet you. It's my
birthday and it would be so cool if you could join us for a
drink? I had no idea you were a friend of Angel's.' He
looked at her as if to say, Why the hell didn't you tell me!

Angel was expecting Ethan to politely decline the
invitation, but to her surprise he replied, 'Sure, I can stay
for one drink before my date gets here.'

He was no doubt referring to cling-on Kasey. The
three of them made their way back to the table, Parker
leading the way with Ethan and Angel trailing along
behind.
God, this was so embarrassing.
She just prayed no
one asked how she knew Ethan.

She had imagined that he would play his cool offhand
public persona with Parker's friends. Instead he was
charm itself when they arrived at the table, shaking all the
men's hands, kissing all the women, signing autographs.
Everyone was in total awe of him and bombarded him
with questions about how he thought the season was
going and what he thought the Dodgers' chances of
winning were. His replies were friendly and self-deprecating.

Angel had forgotten what a truly nice guy
he was, or at least she had willed herself to forget . . . She
felt so awkward sitting with him, wondering what on
earth he must think of her. Every now and then he would
glance over at her and Angel would quickly look away,
unable to meet his eye. She was just wondering how she
could sneak away when Parker asked the question she'd
been dreading: 'So, how do you two guys know each
other?'

'We met briefly last year, when Angel's husband was
over here playing soccer in the World Cup,' Ethan
replied. He didn't mention her last visit. He was staring
right at her while she did her best not to squirm in her
seat with embarrassment. But she knew she was blushing,
there were just too many memories.

'Anyway,' she said abruptly, making a big show of
looking at her watch, 'I've really got to go, I'm still feeling
pretty jet-lagged.' And she quickly got up and made as if
to leave.

Ethan got up as well, saying, 'I'll walk you out,' then
lowered his voice so that only she could hear. 'There are
things you and I need to talk about, Angel.'

Oh, God.
Angel's stomach plummeted at least twenty
floors.

''Bye!' she said brightly to the group, giving Parker a
quick kiss and waving to everyone else.

As she and Ethan walked away, she said, 'Thanks for
coming over, it must have made Parker's birthday.'

Ethan put his hand on her shoulder and Angel could
feel the heat of his touch through her thin silk top, which
sent her stomach into another free fall. 'I didn't do it for
Parker,' he said, and when Angel looked up at him his
eyes had become warm again.

She was just wondering what to reply when Kasey
appeared in front of them. She was wearing a few more
clothes than at Larry's party, but only just – a pair of tiny
white shorts and a white cropped halterneck top – and a
very sulky expression. 'There you are!' she said
petulantly. 'I've been looking all over for you, Ethan.' He
abruptly removed his hand from Angel's shoulder.

'Angel, you remember Kasey?'

Angel nodded and, feeling Kasey's eyes boring holes
into her, said, 'I'll see you then, Ethan.' Before he could
stop her, she quickly wove her way through the clubbers
to the exit, feeling simultaneously relieved and disap-
pointed that she hadn't been able to hear what he had to
say to her.

Angel had had no idea how knackering and boring it
could be, appearing in a film. She'd naively thought she
would breeze in, spend a bit of time in make up, rehearse
her scene a couple of times, do a take and then go. Two
days after that chance meeting, two long days during
which she had tried and failed not to obsess about Ethan
or Cal, she was on the film set at 5 a.m. and in make up.
She felt more like a thing than a person as the make-up
artist covered her in body paint to ensure that her skin
looked absolutely flawlessly tanned. Her long hair wasn't
deemed long enough and she had to be fitted with a
blonde wig, which practically came down to her bum and
instantly made Angel feel so hot she was sure she could
feel the make up sliding off her. Then she was presented
with her costume – a tiny red bikini top with a matching
thong – and a full-scale row erupted because Angel drew
the line at the thong.

'My agent said there would be no nudity,' she told the
dresser.

'You won't be nude, you'll be wearing this,' the dresser
insisted, sounding very pissed off, holding up the tiny
garment in her hand.

'I count having my arse cheeks hanging out as being
practically nude, I'm not doing it,' Angel said stubbornly.
She might have guessed something like this would happen.
Eventually a self-important-looking woman showed up
wearing a headset and gripping a clipboard, to try and
solve Thong Gate. After trying and failing to persuade
Angel to change her mind, they agreed that she didn't
have to wear the offending item.

After that she was left waiting in a robe for three hours
before she went anywhere near the camera. Parker
popped by to see her so at least she had him to talk to. As
the time dragged by Angel grew increasingly nervous.
She had learned her lines by heart but she also knew she
was no actress and didn't want to make a complete idiot
of herself. Parker was very sweet and gave her some
pointers but Angel still didn't feel at all confident.

'And how come you're my brother when you've got an
American accent and I've got an English one?' she asked.

'Oh, don't worry about it, no one will notice,' he said
casually. Angel could only hope that he was right. 'So
have you seen Ethan Taylor again?' he asked.

'I've no plans to,' Angel replied, somewhat abruptly as
she was unsettled by the question. 'And I don't know him
very well at all.'

'Pity, he's such a cool guy and you two would make a
great couple. Oops, sorry, I forgot. You're married,
aren't you?' Parker replied.

'Yes, I'm married,' Angel answered, turning away so
he wouldn't see the look of pain in her eyes.

Her first scene was being shot at the poolside of her
boyfriend's mansion. Her 'hard man' Russian boyfriend
(oh, yes, this film really had left no cliché unused) was
lying by the pool, on the phone to one of his henchmen,
and all Angel had to do was hand him a drink, say, 'There
you are, baby,' and then recline on the lounger next to
him. Simple, or so Angel had thought, but it took over
twenty takes before the director was satisfied, by which
time she felt she would scream with frustration.

She was definitely not cut out for the acting world, she
thought as she wearily returned to make up to get
changed. By the time she returned home it was nearly six
and Lucy was giving Honey her tea. It was so good to see
her daughter. After hugging her, Angel collapsed into a
chair at the kitchen table. 'I'll take over now, Lucy,' she
told her. 'Go and have a swim or go shopping, I'll pay for
the cab.'

She watched her daughter contentedly eating her
yoghurt, spooning most of it over her tee-shirt but
refusing all offers of help from Angel. 'You're so stubborn,'
she told her, 'just like your dad!'

'Dada!' Honey said happily, looking round the room
expectantly.

'Oh, Honey, Daddy's not here! But you'll see him soon,
I promise,' Angel exclaimed, feeling that she was
somehow keeping the little girl from her father.

She sighed and reached for her mobile to phone Cal. It
went straight to voicemail so she simply left a message
telling him that everything was fine, Honey had asked for
him, and that she'd be going to bed soon as she was
knackered from filming so there was no point in him
calling her back.

It was true that she was exhausted but she could have
spoken to him, just didn't want to. She was wiping off the
yoghurt from Honey's face and right ear when her phone
rang. She frowned when she saw it was not a number she
recognised.

'Hello,' she said, instantly wary, dreading that it would
be a journalist. But it was Logan, inviting her to a
barbecue at his house. She was all set to refuse him but he
managed to persuade her, telling her that his wife really
wanted to meet her and that they had a little boy the same
age as Honey. She wanted to ask if Ethan was going to be
there as well, but couldn't bring herself to mention his
name.

As soon as she put the phone down she wondered if she
had done the right thing. What if Ethan was there? She
felt so awkward in his company, and although she didn't
want to admit it to herself there was still an attraction
between them.