Persona (The 'Professional' series) (6 page)

Daniel was
actually enjoying having Ella follow him.  He really got pleasure in her
company.  She was funny and flirty at times when she relaxed.  You
could even have a good debate with her, without anyone getting upset. 
Actually, all three of them were having a great time, they all got on
well. 

Occasionally
though, Daniel had noticed Eric acting a little differently from his normal
behaviour.  Sometimes he seemed to be giving them space, the next he was
acting like her personal bodyguard.  Daniel made a mental note to have to
have a word with him to find out if something was wrong.  Perhaps he was
struggling with his new book, which sometimes made him act a little strange.

Daniel
needed to tell Eric that he didn’t have to worry about Ella and him.  He
still fancied her like crazy, hell, he wouldn’t be a normal male if he
didn’t.  But he made sure that he was never near her in the
evenings.  He knew nothing could come out of his attraction, so it was
simpler to stay away from her at the times that could lead to trouble. 

At first, in
the evenings, he had started trying to hang around with Cassandra.  He had
liked her, he thought, but after a week she had become whingey. 
Why
wasn’t he dragging her into bed?  Didn’t he fancy her?  Did he have
another woman?  
He didn’t have another woman and he did fancy
her.  Half the male population did, but for some bazar reason, he didn’t
want to have sex with her.  He kept thinking of Ella. So he broke it off
with Cassandra and now made sure that he went out with lots of different
women.  He would not then have to worry about the
lack of sex
questions. He was hoping that his feelings for Ella, as quick as they had
appeared, would fizzle out just as fast. 

~~~~

In the
middle of his lunch, Eric looked at the mobile on the table.  The
vibrating had brought his attention to a new message.  “Ah, it’s Stalker X
again.”  

Ella looked
up from her meal.  It was the first she had heard of a stalker.  As
Eric had a smile on his face, it obviously wasn’t a serious one.  She
looked at Daniel with a questioning frown.

Daniel put
his napkin down.  “Don’t worry.  She isn’t too much of a
psycho.  She just wants my body!”  Daniel grinned at Ella and then
directed his question at Eric.  “So what does she say this time?”

“
Looks
like you are playing the field a little at the moment…”
read Eric. 

Ella smiled,
head bowed down to the table.  She wasn’t the only one to notice all the
different women in the magazines then, even his stalker did!

“Enjoy
yourself for a while.  You will only want me soon.” 
Eric finished reading the message
out.

“I don’t
even know who she is to want her!”  Daniel laughed, obviously not bothered
by the messages.

“Come
on.  We have to make a move.  You have an appointment with your agent
and then that film audition later on.” Eric reminded them.

Daniel got
his wallet out of his pocket and threw down the money for the meal. “Put your
money away.  I’ve got this.”

Ella stalled
while pulling her purse out of her bag.   “That’s alright.  I can
put it on my expenses.”

A frown
formed on Daniel’s forehead.  “I said I would like to get it.  I
would like to buy you a meal.  There is no problem with that is there?”

She replaced
her notes.  “No, thank you.”  Why did Daniel buying her lunch
unsettle her so much?

“Right, I’m
going to put some petrol in the car when you meet with Alice.  I’ll meet
you later after your audition, if that’s okay with you?”

Daniel
nodded at him.  “Do you want to go with Eric or me?”  He directed the
question at Ella, hoping that she wanted to spend time with him.  He
caught himself and silently cursed, of course she would come with him, it was
her job not a choice after all.

“I would
like to meet your agent if that is possible?  The more I know about the
people around you, the better.”

~~~~

Ella looked
around the office as she entered.  Photographs hung on the walls, some of
famous stars, which presumably Mz Alice Hall was the agent for. 

The
secretary, wearing a fitted navy suite, looked up as they came through the
door.  Was that a blush Ella saw rising on the secretary’s face?  She
smiled to herself, Daniel certainly had an effect on women.

“Hi
Lindsey.   You’re looking good this morning.”  Daniel was
genuinely surprised.  There was something different about her.  She
had on a lovely, figure hugging suit and had she cut her hair?  She was
still blushing though.

“Yes, thank
you.  This is the suit that you sent me.  Thank you so much. 
I’ve never been given anything like this before.”  After running a hand
over the jacket, she walked over to get the customary coffee, without the usual
scurrying. 

“You’re more
than welcome.” Daniel made a mental note to thank Cassandra for her good
choice.  Lindsey definitely had gained some confidence in the new
clothes.   “By the way, this is Miss Ella Hender.  She is the
reporter that is following me for a couple of months.”  He turned and gave
Ella a knee shaking smile.

“Yes, I know
all about her.”  Lindsey stared straight at Ella, unwavering. 

Ella gave a
shudder.  The words didn’t mean anything, it was the look that the
secretary gave Ella that had her feeling uncomfortable.  Maybe it was
woman’s intuition, but there was definitely something going on between Lindsey
and Daniel.  Perhaps she was an ex-lover, he had given her an expensive suit
after all.  That might explain the uneasy feeling Ella had.  Perhaps
the secretary didn’t like her spending time with him, albeit for work. 

Alice’s
voice broke the frosty stare.  “Lindsey, send Daniel in please.” 

Daniel put his
phone back into his pocket.

“Eric is
running late.  The traffic is awful.  We will have to get the subway
to the audition.  Is that alright with you?”

“Of course
it is.  I’m a reporter.  I’m used to slumming it, unlike you, I don’t
have someone to chauffeur me around.”   She teased him.

Daniel loved
it when she smiled.  Dimples appeared in her cheeks and her grey eyes
glinted.  He grabbed her hand and led her to the station.

“Wow. 
Does that always happen?  I didn’t think we were going to make the train!”
 Ella tried to catch her breath.  She hadn’t run that fast in a long
time.

They
squeezed into the full compartment and she grabbed the bar to steady
herself.  She couldn’t believe how many people asked for Daniel’s
autograph when they entered the tube station.  If they didn’t have paper,
they didn’t mind what he signed!  How did he smile sweetly at each and
every one of them?  He must have been thinking about missing his train, in
the back of his mind, but you would never tell, he gave them all time. 

That is why
they ended up running for the tube.  He had suddenly grabbed her hand and
pulled her along after him.  She was laughing so much and running, she was
surprised her lungs hadn’t burst.

“Hence the
reason why I don’t take public transport too much!”  Daniel replied, while
smiling at some more fans who were staring at him.   He was holding
on tightly to the overhead handles as the train started.  He bent down to
whisper into her ear.   “Luckily the train is so full, most people
are too afraid about losing their seat to ask me for an autograph.” 

Daniel
straightened back up and caught in the corner of his eye, various men looking
straight at Ella’s bottom.  He knew it was beautifully encased in a tight
fitting pair of trousers.  He himself, had had a look earlier, when she
had stood up after zipping up her knee high black leather boots.  A surge
of jealously tore through him, he didn’t want anyone else looking at her peachy
bottom. 

The doors
opened and another crowd of commuters piled into the already overcrowded
compartment.  Daniel was forced to move much closer to Ella, their bodies
now touching as he towered above her.  He noticed that even in heels, she
barely reached his chin.  Normally, he went out with tall models who could
look him in the eye.  Looking down on to her, nearly surrounding her with
his body, his protective instincts all went into overdrive.  He liked the
feeling, he liked it a lot.  He caught her unsteady inward breath as he
moved nearer.

Gosh, Ella
was hot.   It wasn’t just the pure amount of bodies in the
compartment, it was the proximity of Daniel.  His nearness was doing major
things to her heartbeat, she was sure she could feel her nerves
jangling.   She felt his breath tickling the top of her hair, smell
his musky scent with a hint of aftershave and feel his strong thighs on
hers.  Oh gosh, this wasn’t good for her blood pressure! 

Ella looked
up to try and start a conversation, which in retrospect was not a good
idea.  Daniel was staring at her, with a strange look in his eyes. 
She noticed him quickly scan her face, before his gaze was brought back sharply
to her lips, which sent a jolt through her.  A little smile was playing on
his lips.  If they were not in a crowded subway compartment, she would
swear he was just about to kiss her.  Everyone around seemed to blur away,
the noise of the train and conversations merged into one noise.  Oh gosh,
he was bending closer. Here comes the kiss…

“Ours is the
next stop.” Daniel straightened back up.  When he looked at her, all amusement
from his eyes had fled.   Christ, he was just about to kiss her, but
luckily he got bumped back into reality by another commuter. Desire, that was
all it was, desire, which would go as quick as it erupted. 

He looked
around at the sea of faces. Outwardly, his strong, handsome features were
passive, inside a storm was raging.  He silently cursed, he was on the
subway with lots of people with cameras on their mobiles.  It would not do
either of them any good to get photographed kissing.  With desire stabbing
at him, he sure wasn’t planning on a little kiss either!  He liked Ella,
no, he liked her a lot. Kissing her on a public subway, then her boyfriend
seeing the photographs, was the quickest way to hurt her.  Daniel did not
want that. 

He settled
on placing his hand on the small of her back, to guide her out of the train.

Ella hid in
the shadows watching him deliver his lines.  Gosh, he was
convincing.  She leaned against the steel rebar,  it would have to do
as she didn’t want to sit in the seats that were within Daniel’s eye
line.  She was sure her heart was still skittering around after the
incident on the tube. 

“Are you
Daniel’s new
plaything
?”  The voice whispering in her ear made her
jump.  She had been concentrating on Daniel, so she had not heard anyone
approach.

“What me? No, I’m a reporter.  I’m following Mr Spittle
around for a couple of months.”  She turned to look at who was talking to
her.  The stunning red headed woman smiled back showing off a row of
perfect white teeth. 
Typical!
 
I am surrounded by the
beautiful! 
 Ella thought and quickly put on her professional
mask to hide the sudden surge of inadequacy that she felt.  She held out
her hand, “Hi, I’m Ella Hender.”

“Hi, I’m
Scarlett.  He’s good isn’t he?”  She nodded in the direction of
Daniel.

“Yes, he
is,” agreed Ella.  “I really didn’t know what I expected today.”  She
said, more to herself than Scarlett, looking towards Daniel once again. 
He looked so calm and in control delivering his lines.

“I worked with
him on a low budget film a couple of years ago. Obviously, before we both made
it.”  She flashed her perfect smile.  “He was amazing on and
off
the screen.  If you know what I mean?”  She gave a husky laugh deep
in her throat.

Ella turned
to hide her blush, yes, she knew
exactly
what she meant!  Goodness,
did the man go anywhere without having a conquest?  Ella wasn’t too keen
at the sick feeling at the bottom of her stomach.   She watched as
Scarlett’s violet eyes flicked towards Daniel, indicating that he had finished
the audition.

Daniel was
pleased, that had gone well.  He searched the shadows for Ella, he had
felt her watching him.  He was surprised that it didn’t bothered him, he
had actually liked that she might think that he did his job well.  He
spotted someone talking to Ella, it was Scarlett.  He hadn’t seen her in a
couple of years.  Christ, he had had some good times with her. 
Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable, she might be sharing those
good times
with Ella, so he quickened his steps.

“Why, Scarlett! 
Looking as beautiful as ever.”  He gave her a killer smile before he
kissed both her cheeks.  “What on earth are you up to these days?”

“Why, the
same as you darling!  I might even be your leading lady, if I get the
part.  I am sure you remember how amazing it was last time we were in a
film together?  The chemistry
on and off
the screen.  
Oh là
là!
”  She placed her hand on his face and gently kissed his
lips. 

Daniel felt
awkward with Ella standing there.  She must have too, as he noticed her retreat
slightly.