putting my way means that Charley’s is really up there now. I just wish you were here to celebrate with me. I mean, Lily’s great and all that but, she’s not really all that big on adult conversation just yet. I miss you, Vince.’
‘Hey, I miss you too, baby.’ And he did. He missed her like crazy but just hearing the excitement in her voice was enough to make him realise the only thing he wanted to know – that she was happy. Besides, he had enough things here in Vegas to keep him occupied, because whenever Michael and India were in close proximity to each other then a complicated scenario was never that far away. And one such scenario appeared to be materialising right now.
‘How’s India?’ Charley asked, waving goodbye to Saskia, her salon manager, through her open office door.
Vince sighed down the phone, something which made Charley think that maybe things weren’t going all that smoothly over in Las Vegas. A sigh like that was never a good thing with Vince. ‘Well, she seems fine.’
‘So, why the big sigh?’
‘Because I’m not sure Michael’s quite got the message. She’s made things pretty clear to him, but… well, I kinda knew the two of them working this closely together wasn’t gonna be a breeze.’
‘I’ll call her. I could do with catching up on some girly gossip.’
‘Yeah, you do that, honey. I’m sure she’d be real happy to hear from you.’
‘She won’t do anything stupid, Vince. I know her, I know she’s changed over these last few months. She’s stronger now, she’s put a lot of things behind her, so I know she won’t do anything stupid. Ooh, by the way, how’s the lovely Dominic MacDonald? I’ve heard so much about him back here in L.A., I can’t wait to ask India what he’s really like.’
‘Well, she certainly seems to be working fine alongside him. They’re getting on like a house on fire.’
‘Really?’ Charley gasped, now desperate to talk to India.
‘Yeah, really.’
Charley was all too aware of the heavy sigh still evident in Vince’s voice. ‘Is that proving to be a problem? India and Dominic getting close, I mean?’
‘Only for one person.’
And it was obvious who Vince meant by that. ‘What do you think of Dominic then?’ Charley asked. Her husband was usually a very good judge of character so she’d be interested to hear what he thought of India’s co-star, because she only knew him as this hot-looking actor whose movies she never said no to watching.
‘I haven’t really had all that much to do with him to be honest… Oh, gotta shoot, baby, there’s a call on the other line that I’ve really gotta take. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? I love you, Charley.’
‘Love you too, Vince.’ She smiled as she hung up the phone, sitting back in her chair and closing her eyes as she let the day’s events wash over her. Today had been a good day, but then, every day had been a good day since she’d met Vince Maine. It was just the days before he’d arrived in her life that she chose to forget.
The sound of a window banging shut made Charley jump, and she leapt up from her desk, that feeling of unease suddenly creeping back over her. She’d thought everyone had gone. Saskia had been the last to leave, she’d told her to make sure of that, to make sure that everyone else had left before she did.
Grabbing her bag and keys she locked her office door and went to do one last check of the salon, going into every room, closing every window, locking every door. This was crazy! She’d never been this paranoid before, what was wrong with her? Why was she so jumpy?
The noise of a car backfiring outside made her swing round, her heart almost stopping dead in her chest. Jesus! She needed a drink. Her nerves were shot to pieces all of a sudden. Maybe she just needed some time away from L.A., some time with Vince. Things had been pretty manic round here and she hadn’t really had a day off in months. No wonder she was on edge. She needed to take some time out and relax, that was all.
She leant against the reception desk and tried to get her breath back. She had to pull herself together. She had a lot of work to do, and this show was only a day or so away now. All she had to do was get through