No Matter What (12 page)

He turned his attention back to the crowd, back to the job in hand, smiling as he realised she may not look at him that way right now, but that just meant he’d have to work that little bit harder.
 
And Michael Walsh was no stranger to hard work.
 
If he wanted something he usually got it.
 
And he wanted India Steven.

***

Terry had already gone inside the theatre.
 
He was standing near the entrance, watching his sister as she mingled with the other stars, talking to reporters with the ease of someone who’d been doing this sort of thing for years and it was a strange thing to watch.
 
He’d never imagined her doing this.
 
She’d always been the kind of person who hated being the centre of attention, despite her outgoing personality.
 
Attention seeking was definitely more Charley’s bag.
 
But she was right there now, someone who was commanding attention everywhere she went and she was handling it so well.
 
She looked just like the professional young actress she was.
 
And the movie star she was going to be.

Kenny was never far from her side though, Terry noticed.
 
Although glued to it would be a better description.
 
But he had to remember this was their movie, they were the stars, they were going to be doing a lot of promotional work together, he had to get used to that.
 
He just wished he was closer, wished he could keep a better eye on her.
 
Being so far away in
Britain
when she was here in
L.A.
wasn’t something he felt comfortable with.

“You worry about her, don’t you?”

Terry turned to see Reece Brogan standing next to him, and he couldn’t help but flinch slightly at the close proximity of such a famous movie star.
 
He still couldn’t quite get used to being in
L.A.
 
“Of course I do.
 
I’m her brother.
 
And we’ve really only got each other.”

“What about your parents?” Reece asked, watching
India
as she talked to a TV reporter.
 
She’d taken to this so naturally.
 
She was born to do it, but he already knew that.

Terry looked back out at the crowded red carpet.
 
“Hasn’t she told you anything?” he replied, starting to fiddle with his watch again.
 
It was becoming a nervous habit.

“She’s told me you don’t have the same father.
 
That she doesn’t know who her real father is.”

 
“Then you’ll understand that she needs looking after.”

Reece nodded.
 
“I want her to be ok too, Terry.
 
I’m only looking out for her, you have to believe that.
 
There’s nothing sinister going on.
 
I just want her to be ok.”

Terry relaxed slightly.
 
He really had to start letting himself do that.
 
Some things he just couldn’t control, no matter how much he wanted to.
 
Reece had done nothing but care for his sister since she’d moved over here; finding her somewhere to live, making sure she got the right advice, saw the right people.
 
Maybe he should cut him a bit of slack and start trusting him.
 
If
he
couldn’t be there to keep an eye on
India
then maybe Reece could do that job for him.

“It might take some of the weight off you shoulders,” Reece said, almost reading Terry’s mind.
 
“She really will be ok.
 
I’ll make sure of that.”

Terry smiled, holding out his hand for Reece to shake.
 
“Thanks.”

Reece smiled back, glad that Terry was finally letting someone in.
 
He needed
India
’s brother’s trust more than anything.
 

“It’s my pleasure.
 
Come on.
 
Let’s go and get a drink.”

One step at a time, thought Reece, as he followed Terry to the bar.
 
One little step at a time.

***

Charley was irritated.
 
They’d been herded up that red carpet like they didn’t matter, and Terry had told her they didn’t, in reality.
 
Nobody was there to see
them
.
 
They wanted
India
, Kenny, Reece and Michael.
 
But Charley wanted to be noticed too, especially here in
L.A.
 
The city of dreams.
 
Because
she
had dreams too, didn’t Terry realise that?

They were all inside the theatre now, photographers and reporters still milling around looking for that perfect picture, that exclusive interview and she’d tried to make sure she was seen, tried to get close to Kenny Ross especially, but anyone who might provide a photo opportunity was fair game to Charley.

She’d been grateful to India for bringing her forward and introducing her to a couple of people as her close friend from England, although she wished she’d told them she was a model, let her talk to some of these people for a bit longer.
 
Everything was so busy, moving along at such breakneck speed that Charley was finding it hard to keep up with it all, and even Terry had disappeared now.

She stood up on her tip-toes, scanning the room, suddenly spotting Kenny Ross on his own.
 
Grabbing her chance she made her way over to him, moving alongside him, gently bumping into him with her handbag as nonchalantly as she could manage.

He looked around, recognition taking a few seconds to sink in.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Charley said, smiling at him.

  
He gave her a small smile back as he finally recognised
India
’s friend.
 
“Charley, isn’t it?
 
You having a good time?”

“It’s amazing!
 
I’ve never experienced anything like this before!”

Shut up Charley
, she thought,
you’re gushing
.

He was still smiling at her, and the jealousy she felt at
India
being so close to this man washed over her with an intensity she’d never felt before.

“
India
’s handling it like a professional though, don’t you think?” Kenny asked, looking around the room as if searching for her.

Why did he have to start talking about
India
again?
 
She’d had a whole speech planned and now he’d thrown her right off track.

“Oh, great, just what I need,” Charley muttered under her breath as India ran over to Kenny, almost flinging herself into his arms, and Charley felt that stab of jealousy again.
 
She couldn’t help it.
 
They way they were with each other, it was something she’d kill for.

“Charley!”
India
squealed, all smiles and Californian tan.
 
And what was with that outfit anyway?
 
Both of them looked like they should be at a rock concert not a red carpet premiere.
 
But then,
India
had never really had much sense of style, Charley thought, pulling the hem of her dress down slightly.

“Come over here and talk to Vince,”
India
went on.
 
“You’ll like Vince.
 
He’s Michael’s co-producer and business partner and he owns this amazing hotel in
Las Vegas
.
 
We always wanted to go to Vegas, didn’t we?
 
Maybe if we’re nice to him he’ll give us some free rooms, huh?”

She grabbed Charley’s hand and pulled her away from Kenny, dragging her over to meet Vince Maine, and all Charley could do was run with it.
 
She’d bide her time, and that time would come.
 
Charley would make sure of that.

CHAPTER 10

The screening was over and the post-premiere party was in full swing.
 
It was crawling with famous faces Terry recognised and it had to be the most surreal experience he could remember having in a long time.
 
All these people he’d seen in magazines and movies, and they were just feet away from him.
 
He was finding it all a bit weird, especially as his sister was now one of them.
 
She was a movie star!
 
And if the movie he’d just watched was anything to go by she was going to be a very
big
movie star.
 
Where the hell had she got
that
talent from?

He took another swig of beer and watched his little sister as she flitted from person to person, a smile never leaving her face.
 
Watching her up there on the big screen had been a strange experience.
 
It was hard to believe that just a few months ago she’d been an ordinary legal secretary living an ordinary life in an ordinary city.
 
Now she was on the road to becoming a
Hollywood
actress and it was still quite hard to take in.

He’d been so sceptical when she’d told him all about Reece and coming over to
L.A.
, he’d been more than suspicious of everything, but it looked as though she’d proved him and all those other doubters wrong.

He grabbed another beer from a passing waiter and watched
India
as she joined Kenny Ross to talk to a group of journalists, slipping her hand down the back pocket of his leather jeans.
 
Was there something going on there that he didn’t know about?

“Go and get me a drink will you, Terry?” Charley appeared by his side, twirling her long dark hair round her finger.

“When did I become your bloody slave?”

She looked at him, giving him one of her best smiles, kissing him quickly.

“Go on, babe.
 
My feet are killing me in these shoes.”

He wasn’t sure he believed that one considering she’d done nothing but spend this entire party wandering around and talking to people.
 
Why didn’t she sit down if they were hurting her that much?

“What do you want then?” he sighed, suddenly feeling very tired.
 
They were back on a ‘plane and back home to the
U.K.
tomorrow and he was quite looking forward to getting back to normality.
 
Whatever that was, he wasn’t quite sure anymore.
 
He couldn’t keep up with the pace of things round here though, that was for sure.

“Any of those fabulous cocktails will do,” Charley smiled, watching him leave before turning her attention back to the room.
 
She’d been talking to a lovely man who claimed he owned his own movie company and he’d been really impressed with her.
 
He’d told her she had what it took to be a star thus proving her right.
 
She’d known it was only a matter of time before somebody spotted her potential.
 

She turned his business card over in her fingers before sliding it discreetly down the front of her dress, smiling to herself.
 
He wanted her to come back to
L.A.
and do a screen test and she hadn’t had to think twice.
 
She had everything planned already.
 
She’d go back to the
U.K.
with Terry, grab everything she needed, and come back here as soon as she could.
 
It wouldn’t hurt to get a few more photographs taken while she was back in
Britain
though, maybe do a couple more modelling jobs.
 
The more exposure she could get the better.
 

A wave of excitement coursed through her as she thought about what the future might hold.
 
Maybe one day she’d get her chance to walk the red carpet just like
India
.
 
And maybe one day she’d also get the chance to walk that red carpet with Kenny Ross.
 
He’d see sense, she figured.
 
He’d soon see that
India
wasn’t the exciting one; he’d see she wasn’t the one he should be hanging around with.
 

Shaking her hair out and fluffing it up, making sure her dress was positioned over her greatest assets just right, she smiled to herself once more.
 
Time for one last mingle with this Hollywood crowd; make sure they knew her name, because, when she came back to L.A., she was going to make sure they never forgot it.