Unlucky Break (2 page)

‘Is that normal?’ asked Andie, gesturing towards the crowd that had moved outside.

‘Very,’ he said, leading her out of the terminal and stopping before a gleaming Audi. He carefully put Andie’s luggage in the boot and turned to her. ‘I’m Rene, by the way.’

‘Andie,’ she said, extending her hand to shake his. ‘Though I suppose you know that,’ she added, pointing to the sign.

‘Pleased to meet you, Andie,’ he said. He looked as though he meant it.

‘Isn’t Cece here?’ asked Andie, sounding more forlorn than she wanted to.

‘She’s filming,’ explained Rene apologetically. ‘But you’ll see her when she gets home.’

‘Oh right, okay,’ said Andie, trying to sound nonchalant.

Rene opened the back door of the Audi for Andie.

‘Can’t I sit in the front?’ she asked, frowning.

Rene seemed genuinely taken aback. ‘If you want.’

As Andie climbed into the car, she wondered why she felt so disappointed that Cece wasn’t there to greet her. After all, Cece had never made an effort to be part of her life. Why should Andie care about it now?

‘Does my aunt get hassled like that, when she goes places?’ Andie asked. She could see James and Nikki’s large four-wheel drive pulling out up ahead.

‘Not like that,’ said Rene with a laugh. ‘The paparazzi love catching James and Nikki together.’

‘I can see that,’ said Andie.

Rene paused at a zebra crossing to let a group of girls cross. They had backpacks on and were laughing excitedly as one of them read from a travel guide.

Andie felt a stab of jealousy. Before everything had happened with Cameron, she and Marissa had been planning to drive a kombi van around Australia at the end of high school.

Thoughts of travelling had been her lifeline when things got bad with her mum. She and Marissa had spent hours talking about their trip.

Andie pushed her backstabbing best friend from her thoughts and looked for something else to think about.

‘Are you Cece’s boyfriend or something?’ she asked, as Rene veered expertly onto the freeway.

Rene gave an embarrassed sort of laugh. ‘No, no,’ he assured her, looking in the rear-vision mirror as he changed lanes. ‘I’m her driver.’

‘Oh,’ Andie said.

Couldn’t people drive themselves in LA? Surely Cece wasn’t so precious that she couldn’t drive a car.

Rene pointed out LA landmarks as they passed. There was a lot of traffic on the roads but Rene was completely unfazed, weaving through it with ease.

‘You want something to eat, Andie?’ asked Rene suddenly.

Andie realised she was hungry, for the first time in a long time.

‘Yes, actually,’ said Andie.

‘What can I get you? In-N-Out Burger? Sushi?’

Andie rubbed her face. She felt exhausted, and not just from the flight. She had no idea what an in-and-out burger was, and she didn’t feel like sushi.

‘I don’t know. Where does Cece like to eat?’

Rene frowned as he thought. ‘She doesn’t get a chance to eat out much during the day.’ Then he slapped the steering wheel, making Andie jump. ‘She likes the organic vegetarian cafe in Santa Monica. You want to try there?’

Organic food reminded Andie of the weird diets her mum had gone on to try to get rid of the cancer. And anything vegetarian reminded her of Cameron.

Tofu never screams, Andie,
she could hear him say.

‘No,’ she said, a little too sharply.

‘O-kay,’ said Rene slowly, obviously startled by her reaction. Andie felt herself blushing.

He must think I’m mad
, she thought, staring straight ahead.

‘You eat meat?’ he asked Andie.

She nodded vehemently. Rene chuckled quietly and took an exit off the freeway.

Andie turned to look out the window again. She rubbed her eyes, squinting against the LA sunlight.

‘Are you okay?’ asked Rene, glancing across at her.

‘It’s just really bright here,’ she said, pulling out her fake Ray-Bans from her backpack and putting them on.

‘This is Hollywood,’ laughed Rene. ‘Everything’s brighter here.’

He pulled into a drive-through burger place.

‘In-N-Out Burger,’ said Rene, smiling over at Andie. ‘The best thing about LA, besides the weather.’ He ordered for both of them and pulled up to the window to pay.

Andie’s burger was heaven. Juicy, meaty, delicious heaven. Maybe she just needed to leave Melbourne to get her appetite back, she thought as she took another messy bite.

Andie gazed out the window as she ate. She noticed the streets becoming wider, the stores more prestigious. Everywhere she looked, she saw expensive cars driven by balding men in polo shirts and botoxed, fake-breasted women.

Andie had assumed LA was going to look dirty and a bit scary, like that documentary on the gangs of LA she’d seen a while back. But this bizarre, plastic paradise was unlike anything she’d imagined.

The further they drove, the bigger the houses became.

‘They’re like castles!’ said Andie, her face almost pressed against the window. ‘Does Cece’s house look like these ones?’

Rene shook his head. ‘Hers is much nicer than these.’ He turned a corner and pulled into a driveway, pressing a button on a small remote to open the huge gates. ‘Here we are,’ he said.

Andie tried not to let her jaw drop as the gates opened to reveal her aunt’s house. It was unlike the other houses they’d passed, which were so obviously trying to impress. Cece’s house was a white art deco mansion with an enormous green copper door. The door was flanked with bamboo, and the driveway was lined with palm trees that waved gently in the breeze.

It was definitely the most beautiful house Andie had ever seen. She felt a twist in her gut, thinking of the house she and her mum had rented, and how hard they had tried to make it a home. Suddenly, she longed for the creaky floorboards and the faded Buddhist prayer flags strung from the verandah. A wave of homesickness swelled inside her and she felt her eyes burning with unshed tears.

Andie focused on getting out of the car. She would not cry. She took a deep breath, looking around at the lush, green garden to avoid catching Rene’s eye. She was sure her emotions were written all over her face.

The front door opened and a small, grey-haired woman appeared. She stood on the front step, beaming, dressed in a white maid’s uniform.

‘Hello, Miss Andie,’ the woman called, as though she were delighted to see Cece’s long-lost niece. ‘I’m Marta. I look after Cece – and now you too!’

Andie broke into a relieved smile. It was impossible not to – the woman had a wonderful, kind face.

‘Hi, Marta,’ she said, walking over. ‘You can just call me Andie.’

Marta turned to lead the way inside the house. Rene carried the bags inside and Andie followed, trying not to gape.

The place was incredible. A huge bunch of orchids sat on the glass table in the centre of the foyer. Beyond, wide stairs curved around and up. Thick navy-and-cream striped rugs covered dark floorboards.

Andie felt as though she had been dropped into an oasis.

‘Come and we’ll put your things in your room,’ said Marta, leading the way upstairs. Rene followed them, insisting on carrying Andie’s suitcases even though she tried to take them from him. The carpet was so thick and soft that Andie felt like she was bouncing as she walked along the wide hallway at the top of the stairs. Art lined the walls – not pretend art, like the prints from local art exhibitions that had covered the walls in her Melbourne home, but original canvases and beautiful framed photographs.

Marta stood outside a set of white double doors. ‘Miss Cece said you must have the south-facing spare,’ she explained as she opened the doors with a flourish.

Andie stood in the doorway and looked at her dream bedroom. A queen-sized bed with crisp white linen was framed by huge windows. Two armchairs in pink-and-green striped silk sat in one corner. An art deco wooden desk and chair stood near a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf, which was lined with books.

Andie walked into the enormous room as Rene carefully set her bags down in a corner.

Marta opened another door. ‘This is your dressing room, and then through there is your bathroom.’

‘Okay, thanks,’ Andie said, trying to sound less incredulous than she felt. She’d known Cece was rich, but this was beyond anything she’d imagined.

‘You have a rest now. Call me if you need anything,’ said Marta firmly, and she and Rene left the room.

As soon as the door clicked gently shut, Andie kicked off her boots and dropped her jacket on the chair. She dragged her suitcase over and unzipped it. She dug through the clothes in it, throwing them out onto the floor until she found what she was looking for. Gigi, her beloved teddy bear. Gigi was balding in parts and missing an eye. She had a bandaid sewn onto one ear. Andie loved her more than anything else she owned.

Andie pulled off her jeans and lay back on the huge bed, hugging Gigi to her chest. She felt the tears prick her eyes again, and this time she didn’t stop them from falling.

Letting go isn’t easy, Andie, but eventually everyone dies. Be at peace with it,
Cameron had told her after her mum was gone. That was before he’d crushed what was left of her shattered world by sleeping with Marissa.

Andie looked at Gigi and kissed her nose. ‘I’m such a mess, Gigi,’ she sobbed.

She cried herself to sleep.

2

Andie woke with a start in the dark, unfamiliar room.

She fumbled around for the lamp beside the bed. The room suddenly flooded with light and she scrunched up her eyes in pain. Her head throbbed.

She checked her watch. It was 11.30. At night, she assumed.

Had Cece come in and seen her, and gone again? Andie had no idea. She felt confused and disoriented and extremely thirsty.

Stumbling across to the bathroom, she found a clean glass resting upside-down on the bench. She filled it and drank thirstily. Refilling it, she walked to the window and looked outside as she sipped the second glass more slowly. The lights were on in the house next door. Every single light was on, in fact. Cameron would’ve had a fit. He would have marched over and lectured them about their carbon emissions.

Andie remembered the time he’d had his big nose broken for yelling at a group of guys who were throwing beer cans into the gutter. She felt a sort of vindictive pleasure at the memory of the pain on his face when the doctor reset his nose. ‘It was worth it, Andie, if we saved even one dolphin,’ he’d said, wincing.

You and your dolphins can go and drown,
Andie thought – and then felt she was being unfair to the dolphins.

She turned back to the room. On the small coffee table was a large pink box with a white ribbon around it. Had it been there before? Andie couldn’t remember seeing it when she arrived. Had Cece or Marta brought it in while she was sleeping? She blushed at the thought of them seeing her sprawled on the bed in her underwear and Ramones T-shirt.

She walked over and picked up the box, carrying it back to the bed. She undid the ribbon and lifted off the lid. The first thing she saw inside was a box of Godiva chocolates. Suddenly she realised she was starving again. She ripped it open, popped a chocolate into her mouth and savoured its creamy sweetness. Between this and the burger she’d had earlier, nothing had tasted this good for a long time. LA was clearly good for her appetite, at least. She ate four more chocolates in quick succession as she continued to go through the box.

Next to the chocolates was a fine china cup with ‘Andie’ written on it in a script font. Andie turned it in her hand. It was pretty.

There was a selection of make-up from somewhere called Smashbox. This, combined with the cosmetics she’d scored from the plane, was more than Andie had ever owned in her life. Cameron didn’t like make-up. Marissa did – Cameron had always thought she wore too much.
I bet she’s not wearing any these days
, thought Andie bitterly.

At the bottom of the box was a silver MacBook Air. Andie breathed in sharply. She ran her fingers over the smooth surface of it, hardly daring to believe it was there. She had always wanted a Mac, but felt weird having it now, like this. Andie knew it was silly, but it felt like a betrayal to her mum, who had always worked so hard but could never really afford to give her nice things.

Tucked to one side, half-hidden by tissue paper, was an orange leather wallet with the words ‘Miu Miu’ written on it in gold. Andie opened the wallet and saw a stack of American money inside. She counted it quickly. Five hundred dollars.

A gold credit card peeked out of the wallet. ‘Andrea Powers’, it said in raised letters.

Andie’s eye was caught by something sparkling, diamond-like, in the nest of pink tissue paper. She picked it up and turned it over. An iPhone, with a pink bejewelled cover.

Andie thought about who she could call now she finally had an iPhone.
No-one
, she realised.

She lay back on the bed, navigating idly through the apps installed on the phone. She clicked through to the contacts. There was only one number listed – Cece’s. Andie stared at the number and felt tears well up. She screwed her eyes closed to try to stop them coming.
So much crying
, she thought. When would it end?