She ventured further out onto the salon floor, taking a look around at the busy work stations, every stylist smiling and working and chatting away to clients and colleagues, the air filled with the excitement and glamour of a high-end, cutting-edge establishment. It was business as usual at Charley’s. Just another day. Except, Charley knew it was anything but. Things had changed, but she was going to make it her mission to get them back to normal as soon as she possibly could.
CHAPTER 26
The late afternoon sun beat down on the tourists lying by the huge circular pool that was situated right beside the Coconut Palm Bar. It was one of the more popular hang outs at The Amber Palace due to its almost 24/7 party atmosphere that began some time after breakfast and didn’t finish until well into the early hours, when the bar took on a more bohemian vibe and the cabanas found themselves filled with the more laid-back and chilled out.
India particularly loved this bar, especially after dark. There was just something about the people who hung out there; the way they acted, the cool image they exuded. Nobody bothered her here, at least, they hadn’t last night when she and Kenny had spent a good few hours kicking back in a private cabana, giving her a little more time away from the crazy on-set goings-on that surrounded her working days right now. Days that involved hiding from the press, avoiding questions she just didn’t know the answers to, and filming on a set that was now under such constant tight security it was ridiculous.
She sat back in her chair and pulled her dark glasses down over her eyes as she continued to watch everyone around her enjoying the afternoon sun, the shaded end of the pool crowded with people trying to cool down. It was good to be away from the movie set for a little while, good to be away from the madness, although she wasn’t away from it completely – she had a bodyguard with her at all times now, and even though he always kept a discreet distance, he was still there, watching her every move, making sure nobody got near her, nobody bothered her. But sometimes she wanted to be bothered, she wanted to feel normal. But, at the minute, that just wasn’t going to happen. Not with things the way they were.
‘You ready to have that talk yet?’
She looked up quickly, turning away just as quickly as Dominic sat down beside her, pushing his dark glasses up onto his head, staring straight ahead of him at the crowded pool.
‘Daddy not keeping you busy?’ India asked, not looking at him, keeping her dark glasses down over her eyes.
‘A bit below the belt that one, don’t you think?’
She said nothing, just continued to stare out ahead of her, although her heart had started racing and the urge to face him was overwhelming.
‘It’s been really hard, y’know. Working alongside you, after everything that’s happened.’
‘Then you should have thought about that before you started keeping secrets from me.’
‘India, will you just look at me?’
She didn’t respond, because if she looked at him she was too frightened of letting her guard down, of letting him see how she was really feeling. In front of the cameras it was easier, somehow, because she was playing a different person, she could be someone else, someone who was allowed to look at him a certain way because that was the part she was playing. But this wasn’t acting. This was real life. And she still wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do next.
Dominic got up and moved round the table so he was sitting opposite her, blocking her view of the pool and she knew it would look totally childish now if she turned her back on him. And it would only draw unnecessary attention in their direction anyway, which was something they could both do without.
She sighed, removing her sunglasses, sitting back in her chair. ‘What do you want me to say, Dominic?’
‘I just want you to talk to me.’
‘I’m talking to you now, aren’t I?’
He looked at her with those ice-blue eyes of his, staring right at her, and she swore she felt her heart flip over, causing her to take a deep breath as she briefly turned away from him, looking over towards her bodyguard who raised his eyebrows, silently asking her if she was alright. She nodded, throwing him a small, reassuring