Chapter 5

‘HEY! ELLEN! HOW’RE you doing? Where are you?’

‘Hi, Joey.’ Ellen laughed, switching the carphone on to the speaker. ‘I’m in the car on my way to a new life. Want to come?’

‘OK, you talked me into it,’ he replied. ‘But if I do, you got to do this commercial.’

Ellen laughed again. ‘No way, Joey,’ she said, spinning the wheel hard left as she pulled out of Riverside on to Laurel Canyon.

‘Ellen, you’re breaking my heart,’ he warned. ‘I got it all set up. I showed the client your picture, the guy’s ready to roll. You’re the face of America, Ellen. You’re beautiful. You got it all!’

‘Who is this guy?’ Matty murmured, her eyes simmering with laughter as she sat in the passenger seat, listening.

‘Joey Mancini,’ Ellen answered. ‘He’s in advertising. Come to the point, Joey,’ she said into the speaker.

‘Hang on, someone’s coming through on my other line,’ he said. ‘Don’t go away.’

Matty leaned forward to centre the cool air on her face. ‘What’s the commercial?’ she asked as Ellen slowed up for a red light.

‘There is no commercial,’ Ellen chuckled. ‘This is just something we go through before he gets to the real reason for calling. Which, unless I’m greatly mistaken, will be to try to get me to lean on Hal Gates for some home-loan commercial that Hal Gates doesn’t want to do. So, we’ll just waste each other’s time for a while, then Joey’ll go back to his client who’ll probably come up with even more money for Hal Gates to turn down.’

Joey’s voice came back over the speaker. ‘Ellen! I love you,’ he called.

Matty gurgled with laughter, then, leaning back into a comfy corner and putting her feet up on the dash, she listened as Ellen took the call which went pretty much the way Ellen had predicted. It took a while, though, and Matty couldn’t help but be impressed at the way Ellen handled herself. Of course, she’d had a lot of practice by now, and plenty had been written about her unique mix of charm and ruthlessness, but it wasn’t too often that Matty got to see her in action, and she had to confess that each time she did, her respect and admiration just grew. No one would ever know that beneath all that wit, beauty and confidence she had as many insecurities and vulnerabilities as any other woman on earth. In fact, there were times when even Matty wondered if they existed, Ellen was so good at hiding them.

As Ellen punched out a number to make another call, Matty rested her head on the chair back and studied her profile. With her coppery chestnut hair that was so thick and curly and cut bluntly around the collar, her rich, creamy skin, soft brown eyes and gorgeously full mouth, she was probably the most sensuously feminine woman Matty knew. What was more, everything about her was real, from the full, pert breasts to the slender curves of her hips and thighs, even the flat stomach and tastefully manicured fingernails.

‘Did I hear you mention Ted Forgon just then?’ Matty said as Ellen finished her call.

Ellen nodded.

‘So how is he now?’ Matty asked. ‘When did he get out of the hospital?’

‘A couple of weeks back,’ Ellen answered. ‘He’s been recuperating with his sister in Florida.’ She glanced quickly in the rear-view mirror, then slipped into the middle lane to avoid a line waiting to join the Freeway. ‘Well done, Gene,’ she murmured as Matty’s boyfriend kept close on her tail in the jeep behind. As he was transporting most of her worldly possessions over to her new apartment, Ellen was particularly concerned he should keep up, especially as he had a tendency to forget where he was going.

‘I didn’t know Ted Forgon had a sister,’ Matty said. Then, after a pause, ‘It seems an age since he had that coronary. How long ago was it?’

‘Three months,’ Ellen answered. ‘Did I tell you he fired the secretary he was screwing at the time?’

Matty laughed. ‘Get out of here,’ she said. ‘Is she suing?’

‘Not that I’ve heard,’ Ellen replied. ‘But Carleena, the secretary he fired a few years back, is still on his case, or so the rumour mill has it. I heard he already paid her fifty thousand bucks, some say it was five hundred thousand, but you know how these things get exaggerated.’

‘I take it he was screwing her too?’

‘Of course. It’s what a secretary’s for,’ Ellen responded with a droll glance.

‘So, are they saying he can return to a normal life now?’

‘I’ve got no idea,’ Ellen replied. ‘All I know is he’s flying back to LA tomorrow and wants to see me first thing Monday. Just like these last three months didn’t happen.’

Matty unfolded the visor and studied her reflection in the mirror. Her long, shiny dark hair needed a wash, her attractive, olive-skinned face was pale and her usually vivid dark eyes were shadowed with tiredness. ‘God, I look a mess,’ she grumbled. ‘Did I wake you when I came in this morning?’

‘Didn’t hear a thing,’ Ellen replied. ‘What time was it?’

‘After three. I can’t go on like this, it’s killing me. What am I saying, tonight’s my last night at the club, so as from tomorrow it’ll just be the trusty old coffee bar.’ She sucked in her cheeks, then let them go with a pop. ‘So, when did you find out Forgon wanted to see you?’

‘Julie, his secretary, told me on Tuesday. She also had a file delivered to my office so’s I could get some background on the British guy I told you about. So that about confirms my worst fears, wouldn’t you say? I’ve got to go headhunt Michael McCann, only in this case the meaning’s more literal, because it’s McCann’s head on plate that Forgon’s after. There’s a supermarket up ahead,’ she said, pointing. ‘Let’s go pick up some groceries to take over to the apartment.’

‘Do you have a refrigerator?’ Matty asked, as Ellen pulled into the parking lot.

Ellen laughed. ‘Sure I have a refrigerator,’ she answered. ‘I told you, I had everything delivered on Thursday, so the place is pretty much in shape already.’

‘Has Clay seen it?’

‘Not yet. He’s coming over tomorrow night when he gets back from San Diego.’

‘San Diego?’ Matty echoed. ‘What’s he doing there?’

‘The kids are staying with Nola’s mother,’ Ellen answered, checking to make sure Gene was still with them.

‘What news on the divorce?’ Matty asked. ‘Any idea yet when it’s going to happen?’

Ellen shook her head. ‘Nola’s really dragging things out,’ she answered, pulling up to wait for someone to vacate a space. ‘It’s really starting to get to him,’ she said, gazing absently ahead. ‘He doesn’t care so much for himself, it’s what it’s doing to his kids that upsets him. He’s crazy about them and Nola just doesn’t seem to care what she’s doing – to any of them.’

Matty sighed. ‘You know what gets me,’ she said, ‘is what the hell the woman’s got to be so bitter about? I mean, she was the one who had the affair, she was the one who wanted out of the marriage and she’s the god-damned superbitch who’s dishing all that garbage out to the press about him being some kind of drunk and wife-beater and God knows what else. So what does she want, for Christ’s sake?’

Ellen was shaking her head. ‘Believe me, if he knew he’d give it to her. Anything, just to get this mess over with,’ and putting her foot down hard she swung her gleaming white Pontiac into the empty space.

An hour later, after stocking up on everything from Windex to whisky, they returned to their cars and rejoined the traffic crawling up to Mulholland. It was an unseasonably hot day for January, even by California standards, and the Santa Ana winds which had torn through the night had cleared the sky of cloud and smog, leaving it a perfect, crystalline blue.

Matty rested an arm on the edge of the door and gazed up at the wooded hills ahead. ‘I’m going to miss you,’ she said.

‘I’m going to miss you too,’ Ellen said, pulling out around a mail truck, and smiling at Gene in the rear-view mirror as he came up behind her. ‘It’s really good of him to give up his Saturday like this,’ she commented.

Matty looked bemused, then realizing who Ellen was talking about gave a dismissive wave of her hand. ‘You know Gene,’ she said, ‘he was happy to help. Did he tell you he did an audition yesterday for the new Scorsese movie?’

Ellen nodded. ‘The bystanding body-builder with a heart. I read the script. He should be good for it.’

Matty chuckled and adjusted the visor mirror so she could see him. ‘I swear he’s not just brawn,’ she said. ‘He’s got brains too, it’s just with a body like that he doesn’t get much call to use them.’

The look Ellen threw her caused her eyes to dance.

‘Hey listen, you didn’t get back to me about the ex-con’s script I gave you,’ Matty said. ‘Did you get chance to read it?’

‘Oh, yeah,’ Ellen answered. She threw Matty a glance. ‘My honest opinion?’

Matty deflated. ‘It stinks,’ she said.

Ellen laughed. ‘It’s got no focus,’ she said. ‘The characters aren’t defined and the story’s just not there. You need to work on why he got involved with the other guys, where his motivation is. Take a look at his mother, his father, his kids, if he’s got any. They’ll tell you everything you need to know about him.’

‘But his mother’s not in the movie,’ Matty protested.

‘Whether you cast her or not, a mother’s always in a movie,’ Ellen told her. ‘Did you see Looking Up yet?’ she asked, nodding towards the five-screen cinema on the corner of Crescent and Sunset as they drove by.

‘No. Should I?’

‘If you want to see a good structure, then yes,’ Ellen answered. ‘It’s not the best movie you’ll ever see, but the characters are solid and the story is sound. How did you come across this ex-con guy, anyhow?’

‘He’s someone Gene met at voice class,’ Matty answered. ‘He reckons he’s got a lot of interest in his story, he just needs some help with the dialogue.’

‘So you and Gene offered? If you want my advice you’ll tell him to find some other suckers to share his load, because getting involved in someone else’s grudge against the government, which is what that script’s really about, is never a good idea. And if he’s got the kind of interest he says, why is he asking two actors to help him out, instead of two writers?’

Matty looked at Ellen, waited for Ellen to flash her a grin, which she did, then turned to look straight ahead. ‘You didn’t have to call me a sucker,’ she grumbled.

Ellen laughed. ‘OK, I take it back. But you get what I’m saying. The story’s no good. It’s not going to work and if you’re asking me, you’re crazy to get involved.’

Matty started to reply, then thought better of it. When it came to knowing what would and wouldn’t work on the screen Ellen had a natural born instinct, which was how come she was one of the top agents at ATI with more big names on her list than was decent. God only knew how much she had made for the agency in the two years she’d been there, but whatever it was, more than half a dozen wannabes, who’d been waiting tables and tele-marketing two years ago, had her to thank for their sudden rise to international stardom and millionaires’ row. There were also the dozen or so box-office big shots who’d debunked from other agencies to sign up with ATI once word started getting out that was where destiny’s darling, in the guise of Ellen Shelby, was currently to be found. Everyone wanted to be on the bandwagon, even Forgon had put some of his bigger clients with Ellen when she’d started getting so many movie and TV packages off the ground. So, in Matty’s book, Ellen was in a better position than most to give a judgement on this ex-con’s story.

‘They’re throwing a party at the club when I get off tonight.’ She yawned as Ellen’s carphone rang again. ‘Are you going to come?’

‘It’ll be too late for me,’ Ellen answered, putting the call on the speaker. ‘Hi, Ellen Shelby speaking,’ she said.

By the time she got off the line they were crossing the city limits into Beverly Hills and Matty was wincing. ‘Tell me that’s not where I’m headed,’ she implored, referring to Rita Norman, the old-timer actress who had just been begging Ellen not to let her career disappear down the can.

‘If you keep off the booze, I’ll guarantee it,’ Ellen told her.

‘It was the booze that ruined her?’ Matty said, gazing out at the tree-lined avenues and million-dollar homes they were passing.

‘Drink, divorce and crooked lawyers,’ Ellen expanded.

Matty turned to look at her. ‘You know, I remember her from when I was a kid,’ she said, sounding and even feeling slightly offended that one of her most cherished icons had proved so depressingly mortal. ‘To tell you the truth, I thought she was dead. So how come you’re her agent?’

Ellen’s smile was sardonic. ‘I inherited her from Phil and Flynn. She never works, she’s not capable of it, but she needs to speak to someone from time to time and having an agent to call at least gives her some dignity.’

‘God,’ Matty murmured, ‘makes you wonder what those who don’t have agents do, doesn’t it?’

‘They call radio shows,’ Ellen responded.

Matty laughed. Then, remembering something she had read only recently about Ellen she said, ‘So you really are the Hollywood Oxymoron?’

‘What?’ Ellen said, screwing up her nose.

‘A decent agent?’

Ellen laughed. ‘Don’t believe everything you read,’ she advised and turned into a neat, sloping courtyard that fronted two gleaming white villas. Running between the villas was a gated driveway where she pulled up to speak to a security guard.

‘Hi,’ she said, as he strolled out of his booth. ‘I’m Ellen Shelby. Apartment fifteen. I’m moving in today.’

‘Shelby. Apartment fifteen,’ the guard repeated, squinting against the bright sunlight as he checked the clipboard he was holding. ‘You got some ID?’

Ellen’s driver’s licence was already in her hand.

‘OK,’ he said, ticking off her name. ‘You’re the second floor, right? I’ll have a couple of guys come over to help you up the stairs.’

‘Thanks,’ Ellen said, preparing to drive on. ‘The guy behind’s with me, by the way.’

The guard gave her the thumbs up and Ellen accelerated the car forward into a horseshoe-shaped inner courtyard where decorative fountains and a couple of Japanese-style gazebos were glistening brilliantly in the mid-winter sun. The two-storey complex of apartments with its simple, moorish-style arches, white-washed walls and occasional green-and-white-striped awning, lined the outer edge of the drive which dipped at the apex to the underground parking and because of the fountains either side gave the impression of sinking into a waterfall.

‘You’re kidding me,’ Matty murmured as Ellen pointed out which apartments and duplexes certain movie stars or industry moguls occupied. ‘How much is this costing you?’

‘Four grand a month,’ Ellen answered.

‘I think I’m going to faint,’ Matty responded as they descended into the parking lot.

With the help of the two porters, though slightly impeded by Ellen’s non-stop phone calls, they finally unloaded both cars and opened up the apartment. The huge french windows, leading on to a veranda that ran the entire width of the apartment and overlooked the pool and tennis courts on the south side of the complex, were doubly secured by electronic blinds, and as Ellen pushed a button to remove them a flood of sunlight spilled across the ivory carpets and deep, creamy white sofas.

‘Will you get a load of this!’ Matty cried, when she saw the expensive drapes and furnishings. ‘Where did you get all this stuff? It’s so classy.’

‘Great, isn’t it?’ Ellen answered, walking round the split-level counter top that divided the kitchen from the living-room. ‘I bought most of it from the woman who lived here before. As you can see, she hardly ever used the place, so most of what’s here is still brand-new. I think she got it from that store on Robertson, you know, where they do all the custom-made furniture. The one on the corner of Melrose.’

‘I know it,’ Matty nodded, going out on to the veranda and weaving through the expensive white cane furniture with its Mediterranean-blue seat pads and stylish parasol. To her left were a set of double sliding windows leading into the master bedroom; to her right were the arched doorway and curved windows that opened into the study and TV room. Ferns and yuccas were planted in large, hand-decorated pots and a crimson and pink bougainvillaea was twisting around the railing.

Ellen rushed to help as Gene came struggling in the door, a suitcase in each hand, a boxed mirror under one arm and a silk amaryllis under the other. ‘Here, let me take that,’ she said, easing the mirror carefully out of his grip.

Considering his size, he was surprisingly unclumsy, in fact, with his bulging muscles, tight little T-shirt and snug-fit denims, Ellen had no problem seeing his appeal, especially as he had a genuinely kind nature and virtually unshakeable good humour. It was just a shame he had such limited talent as an actor, for she’d love to sign him to ATI and do what she could to get him work. But there was only so much nepotism the agency would allow and having Matty on her books was probably considered the line. Fortunately, though, Matty had talent so Ellen never felt there was any justifying to be done there, she was just waiting for the right one to come along and Matty would be on her way.

‘Where do you want this?’ he asked Ellen, who was now retrieving the amaryllis. His tanned, clean-cut features were flushed with exertion, but his cheerful smile was still intact.

‘Through there,’ she answered, pointing to a door opposite the kitchen. ‘That’s the dressing-room,’ she said as he pushed the door open. ‘The bathroom’s down the steps to the right, the bedroom’s straight ahead. Leave the suitcases just there. Anyone for champagne?’ she shouted, so Matty could hear too.

‘Sounds good,’ Gene answered, rubbing his hands together as he came out of the dressing-room. ‘This is a hell of a place you got here, Ellen,’ he commented, passing the fully equipped kitchen with its central island for cooking and handmade units with antique brass handles and Italian marble surfaces.

Ellen smiled as he descended the steps into the sitting room and paused to get a look at himself in the mirrored wall at the far end of the room. Directly in front of the mirror was an eight-seater dining-table with eight pale oak dining-chairs and a beautifully hand-painted silk screen partially obscuring the mirror.

‘Gene! Come take a look at this pool,’ Matty called from the veranda.

As Gene padded off across the carpet Ellen pressed a speed dial on her cellphone, planted it between her ear and shoulder and rummaged in the grocery bags for the chilled champagne they’d picked up at the market.

She was still talking to Rosa, another agent at ATI, when she carried the champagne out to the veranda and set it down on a glass-topped table. The agency was currently suing a Canadian production company for three clients’ fees which amounted to over five million dollars, so there was no such thing as a weekend for the two agents concerned. Ellen was going over to the office in a couple of hours and would probably be there for most of the following day until Clay got back in the evening.

‘Boy, it’s hot,’ she said, finally clicking off the phone and handing a glass each to Matty and Gene who were reluctantly tearing themselves from an embrace now she had joined them.

‘Did you buy or are you renting?’ Gene asked, taking the champagne.

‘Just renting,’ Ellen answered. Then, raising her glass, ‘Shall we drink a toast? To my new home?’

Matty’s eyebrows arched as their glasses touched. If Ellen had taken this apartment for the reasons Matty thought she had then there wasn’t much chance of this being home for long, as Clay was almost bound to feel threatened by her independence and come up with the commitment Ellen was aiming for.

They chatted idly for a while, catching up on the industry gossip and hazarding guesses on who was most likely to take over at Universal now Charlie Roscoe had been fired. Though Ellen was as keen to know as anyone else and as willing to speculate, in truth she was finding it hard to get her mind off Clay. He had called her early that morning, sounding really fed up and angry because his wife was insisting that he stay at her mother’s house with her and the kids while he was in San Diego, instead of a hotel. Considering how acrimonious things had been between them, this was a real one eighty for Nola, as she’d sworn publicly and viciously several times that she’d rather burn the house down than let him over her threshold again. Ellen wasn’t sure what to make of this new turn of events, except every time she thought of it her heart contracted and her insides churned in a way that almost made her feel sick.

‘You know, I’m so proud of you,’ Matty said, leaning on the counter as she came back from seeing Gene to the door.

Ellen smiled and shook some pretzels into a dish for them to snack on.

‘No, I mean it,’ Matty said seriously. ‘You’re doing so well. It’s like you were born to this life. You handle the stars like they were your best friends, the studio heads like they were your favourite uncles, assholes like they mattered, competition like it didn’t exist, pressure like it’s something to be enjoyed, egos like they were crown jewels, and everyone responds. You’re a miracle, Ellen, I swear it. Nothing ever seems to faze you, not even all the paranoia that’s going on out there. You just get on with it like it’s some kind of game. You pull the rug right out from under some guy’s feet and end up making him feel good about it. Getting rolled over by you is starting to acquire some kind of kudos, did you know that? You’re no one ‘til you been licked by Ellen Shelby.’

Ellen was shaking her head and laughing. ‘Tell that to the guys who’ve been there,’ she said. ‘Grudge doesn’t even come close to how some of them feel. And I’ve taken my share of being licked,’ she added, ‘make no mistake on that. Only last week one of the agents at CAA walked right over a deal I had going with Touchstone and I never knew a thing about it until the contract didn’t show up on my desk next day.’

Matty was looking at her hard. ‘A minor set-back,’ she said. ‘You’re headed right up there with all the major players, I can see it now. I just hope it doesn’t change you, that’s all.’

Ellen’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Why, are you seeing signs of it?’ she said.

Matty shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ she answered.

Ellen was really taken aback by that. ‘Yes you do,’ she said. ‘So say it, Matty. Whatever you’re thinking, say it.’

‘OK. I guess what I’m saying is here you are, with this fantastic apartment, a real high-powered job, a rock-star boyfriend who just happens to be a movie star too, more money than should be legal for one person and …’

‘And?’ Ellen prompted.

Matty’s tone was defensive. ‘And nothing,’ she stated.

Ellen’s lovely eyes were dark with confusion. ‘You’re not making a lot of sense, Matty,’ she told her.

Matty threw out her hands. ‘OK,’ she cried. ‘You’ve got so much going on in your life that you seem to have forgotten about those of us who care for you. You know, like your family! Like me. You got all this together without so much as talking about it to me. You find the apartment, you say, hey Matty, come see the apartment I just rented. You’d been seeing Clay for over two months before you said anything to me. You’re uptight about a meeting you’re going to have with Ted Forgon, and I don’t even know the guy is out of the hospital until some jerk calls up on the carphone and makes a joke about it. Do you hear what I’m saying? We’ve stopped communicating and it’s scaring me. I hardly see you any more. It’s like we’re no longer a part of each other’s lives and now you’ve moved out I’m wondering if I’m ever going to see you at all.’

‘Matty, you’ve been working in the club every night and running a coffee shop during the day,’ Ellen reminded her. ‘It’s you that’s never at home. So why don’t you tell me what this is really about?’

Matty’s charcoal eyes flashed, then, inhaling deeply she leaned back against the wall and gazed sightlessly out of the window. ‘OK,’ she said in the end, ‘if I tell you, do you promise not to get mad?’

‘No promises,’ Ellen responded. ‘Just tell me.’

‘Well,’ Matty began, obviously finding it hard to force the words out, ‘I want you to tell me … I mean, you can be honest. You don’t have to think that just because you’re my cousin …’

‘Matty!’ Ellen cried.

‘Give me a break, will you? This isn’t easy,’ Matty shouted back. ‘What I’m asking is, do you think I’ve got talent, or do you think I should give it up and find myself another career? I mean, is that why you’re avoiding me, why you moved out of the apartment, because you want to distance yourself from a talentless hanger-on you’re stuck with because she’s family? Now, don’t give me any bullshit. I can handle it. It’ll hurt, but …’ Her eyes fell to the floor. ‘It’ll hurt,’ she said simply.

Ellen was walking round the counter to join her, barely able to suppress her laughter. ‘OK, talentless hanger-on,’ she said, circling an arm around Matty’s shoulder, ‘let me put it this way. They’ve just written a new love interest for one of the leads in ER and do you want to know who’s going to be playing her? Matty Shelby, that’s who. The great Matty Shelby is going to make a major guest appearance in ER. And shall I tell you how come I know that? Because the contract is sitting on my desk right now, for my extremely talented client and crazy, insecure cousin, to sign.’

Matty’s eyes were wide with disbelief. ‘I don’t get it,’ she said. ‘I didn’t even do an audition, so how can I have the part?’

‘Because,’ Ellen responsed, ‘I know one of the producers and he owes me a favour. It’s just two episodes to begin, but if the character works there could be more. And before you say it, the producer knows I wouldn’t hand him a lemon, it’s more than my reputation’s worth.’

Matty was speechless.

Ellen watched her and felt such pleasure surging inside her as Matty’s euphoria started to break.

‘Tell me I’m not dreaming this,’ Matty groaned, ‘please tell me this is for real.’

‘It’s for real.’ Ellen laughed. ‘The scripts are already on their way to you. Someone’ll be in touch in the next couple of weeks to talk about costume, dates, call times and all the other stuff you need to know.’

‘I think I’m going to cry,’ Matty said shakily. ‘I can’t believe it. ER! I mean anything would have been good, but ER!’

‘That’s why you have an agent,’ Ellen reminded her, ‘to make sure you don’t end up doing “anything”. ER is right for you and you’re right for it, for now. It can only raise your profile and if the show should start to fade while you’re still in it we’ll get you out quicker than they can switch to a commericial break.’

‘You’re unbelievable, do you know that?’ Matty laughed, hugging her. ‘I just hope and pray that you make it to that producer’s chair you’ve got your eye on, because you sure as hell deserve it. Hey! What am I saying here? If you become a producer I’m going to lose the best agent a girl ever had.’

‘By then, you’ll be so big you won’t even notice,’ Ellen assured her, leading her back out to the veranda. There was no point telling her now that both their careers were resting in the hands of a man neither of them had ever met, because the chances of Michael McCann actually even caring about that were probably only marginally higher than Ellen’s chances of pulling off what three other agents, at the cost of their careers, had already failed to do. And when she added to that this latest twist in events between Clay and Nola she was seriously afraid that her age of Aquarius was right on the verge of yielding to another era.

‘Are you crazy?’ Clay laughed the following evening when he called to let Ellen know he was on his way. ‘Nola and I getting together again? It’s never going to happen. Just no way.’

‘So what was staying at her mother’s house all about?’ Ellen asked, hating herself for showing how unnerved she had been by it.

‘Would you believe, the woman’s developed a conscience about the kids at last?’ he answered, turning down the music at his end so he could hear better. ‘She thinks it’s time we made friends and at least pretended to like each other, before we do some serious damage in areas we’re both going to end up regretting.’ He chuckled softly. ‘If you ask me, what this is really about is she’s found herself a new boyfriend.’

Ellen’s heart gave a skip of hope. ‘Do you think so?’ she said, starting to run herself a bath.

‘It looks pretty much that way. But enough about her, how’s your weekend been?’

‘Hectic, but I’m all moved in and the legal stuff at the office is more or less sorted. What time do you expect to get here?’

‘Let me see,’ he responded, ‘I’m in Brentwood now, so I guess I …’

‘Brentwood!’ she cried. ‘I thought you were just leaving San Diego.’

‘I should be there in about ten minutes,’ he laughed, ‘and if you’ve got any clothes on now make sure they’re gone by the time I walk in the door.’

Not even waiting to say goodbye, Ellen clicked off the phone, dashed into the bedroom, tearing the slides from her hair as she went, then pausing only to take a new silk mini-slip from a box on the bed, she sped back to the dressing-room and grabbed a hairbrush. Seconds later she was in the bathroom again, cleaning her teeth and turning the water to run faster.

‘Candles,’ she muttered. ‘Where the hell did I put the candles?’

She found them in a kitchen drawer, carried them back to the bathroom, lit them and placed them around the tub. Then, turning down the lights she surveyed the scene, tidied up a couple of towels, sprinkled more scented oil in the steaming water and went to straighten up the living-room.

Ten minutes later the telephone rang.

‘Hi, it’s me,’ he said when she answered.

Her heart sank with disappointment and frustration. ‘Where are you?’ she demanded, failing to keep the gripe from her voice.

‘There’s no way I can come visit you,’ he told her, ‘not with those security guys on the gate. They’re sure to recognize me and the next thing you know we’re going to be all over the press.’

Furious with herself that she hadn’t thought of that, it was all she could do to stop herself screaming and ranting and telling him how much she hated this secrecy, that she couldn’t go on like it and that it had to change or she was getting out. But fear that he would let her go stopped her. Besides, he’d probably had a tough enough weekend already without her adding to it. So, in a voice that was hopefully more conciliatory than pleading, she said, ‘Is it so bad to have your name linked with mine? Or are you going to keep me hidden away like this for ever?’

‘I told you, Ellen,’ he said, ‘we’ve got to play it cool. I don’t want any last-minute fuck-ups with Nola and we’re close now to ending it, real close.’

‘So what do you want me to do? Come over to your place?’

‘How soon can you get there?’ he asked, his voice taking on an intimate lilt.

‘Give me an hour,’ she replied and before he could say any more she slammed down the phone, seething with fury at herself for being so weak and at him for being so damned famous that they were forced to live like this. She picked up a magazine, hurled it across the room and storming into the bathroom, was about to sweep the candles into the tub when a knock on the door stopped her.

All she was wearing was the semi-transparent slip, so quickly grabbing a robe from the back of the door she went into the hall to ask who it was.

‘Just the guy who’s so crazy about you he doesn’t care if some security guard calls the papers,’ he answered.

Ellen blinked in surprise and starting to smile, she dropped the robe and pulled open the door.

‘Hey,’ he laughed, catching her as she threw herself into his arms.

‘You were already here,’ she accused. ‘When you called just now, you must have been right outside to have got here so fast.’

‘I was coming up the steps,’ he confirmed. ‘I just wanted to let you know what I was prepared to do for you. I slipped the guy a couple of big ones. I doubt it’ll work, but who the hell cares? I don’t want you thinking I’m not proud of you, ’cos that sure as hell isn’t the case. God, you’re beautiful,’ he murmured.

Ellen was smiling up into his craggily handsome face, her heart pounding with joy at what he’d just said. His sleepy dark eyes were gazing into hers, the deeply ingrained laugh lines and jagged birthmark somehow making them all the more seductive. His smile, the smile that still set millions of hearts racing, widened as she pushed her fingers into his thick, silvery hair and ran her thumbs along his clean-shaven jaw to the tiny stud earrings in each of his ears. He was so tall and powerfully built that she felt deliciously swamped by his masculinity when he held her, especially when he was wearing his denims and she was either naked or near it.

Though her mouth was tilted towards his he didn’t kiss her right away, but stood holding her and watching her eyes. ‘You wearing anything under this?’ he asked, splaying his fingers across her hips.

Ellen felt a piercing lust bite into her. ‘I could if you wanted me to,’ she said huskily.

He shook his head. ‘Uh-uh, nothing is fine by me,’ he said, slipping his hands under the hem and lifting it to her waist.

Ellen’s knees almost buckled as holding her eyes with his, he slipped his fingers between her legs. Though they were still outside in the hall and a neighbour might come by at any moment, she did nothing to stop him as she knew how much it turned him on to dare her like this. So often he had made her stand naked in front of the windows of his mansion, displaying herself as though all the world could see, even though they both knew that the house wasn’t visible from the street. He even got her to walk nude through the gardens, teasing her that the Mexican gardeners were watching, though she knew she was never allowed to come when any of the staff were around.

‘Did you miss me?’ he whispered.

‘When I wasn’t entertaining my other lovers,’ she whispered back.

He smiled, then finally touched his mouth to hers and probed very gently with his tongue. Ellen’s eyes fluttered closed as the sensuousness of his mouth swept through her like a flame. Her arms were circled around his neck, but she kept herself slightly apart so that his hands could roam freely over her body. Her breasts were aching for his touch, but when finally he found them it was merely to brush the backs of his fingers over the protruding hardness of her nipples.

‘You feel good,’ he murmured.

She opened her eyes. ‘Can I fix you a drink?’ she offered.

He gazed at her from under lowered lids, then nodded.

Turning back into the apartment, she walked over to the ornate Japanese cabinet she had turned into a bar and took out a bottle of Scotch. Her legs were slightly shaky, her senses still raw from his touch. She put a tumbler on the counter but stopped as she felt him come up behind her. Her eyes closed and her pulses started to race, as taking her slip he pulled it up over her head and tossed it aside. The sensation of her own nudity burned through her as his fingers moved like feathers over her skin. Then she heard his zipper go down and felt a stinging desire as he turned her to face him.

‘Don’t ever think I’m ashamed of you,’ he told her huskily, ‘because this, you, mean more to me than anything.’

She looked up into his eyes and felt her emotions whirling as his hands moved to her shoulders and began to push gently down. Obediently she dropped to her knees and circling the base of his penis with her fingers she guided it to her lips. He rested his hands high on the wall behind her and looked down at what she was doing, breathing hard as she licked him, moistening him all over before drawing him into her mouth. From the corner of her eye she saw him turn to look at their reflection in the mirror, watching her mouth slide up and down his erection.

The tension in his body started to increase as she took him closer and closer to orgasm, until finally, with a strangled gasp, he buried his fingers in her hair and pulled her head tightly against him. He held her there, waiting for the brinking need for release to subside, then letting her go he withdrew from her mouth, still hard and ready now to move on.

Ellen stayed where she was, waiting to see what he wanted. Stooping, he took her by the elbows and raised her to her feet. Then, lowering his head, he took each of her nipples into his mouth and sucked hard. His fingers were sliding between her legs and finding her so ready for him he lifted his head and looked intensely into her eyes. ‘Soon,’ he whispered.

Ellen’s breath shuddered inside her as he led her to the couch and bent her over the back of it until her hands were resting on the cushions. Then parting her legs he stood to one side and stroked the velvety softness of her rear and inner thighs. Then quite suddenly he dealt a stinging blow to her buttocks. Ellen gasped and bit down on her lips as the blows continued to come, faster and harder, until at last he was standing behind her, lowering his jeans to his knees and burying himself so deep inside her her legs would have given out had he not been holding her up.

‘Is this good for you, babe?’ he panted, thrusting with all his might. ‘Tell me this is good for you.’

‘It’s good for me,’ she choked. ‘Don’t stop. Please, don’t stop.’

‘I’m there, honey,’ he told her, banging brutally into her. ‘I’m right there. Come with me. Come now! Christ Almighty,’ he seethed. He was pumping so hard he was almost lifting her from the floor. Ellen struggled to raise her head, but he held her down and drove himself in deeper and harder until finally his seed began spurting fast and hot into her.

She turned to watch him in the mirror. His head was thrown back, his eyes were closed, his teeth bared and with one hand he was still holding her down. He was almost spent now and as his head fell forward he drew her up in his arms and crushed her against him.

‘You’re the best,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Do you know that? You’re just the best.’

Ellen turned her head, searching for his mouth and found it. His breath was still laboured, but he kissed her softly and tenderly.

‘We’re so good together,’ he told her, taking her breasts in his hands. ‘So fucking good.’

Ellen waited until he had withdrawn, then turning, she put her arms around him. ‘Want to take a bath?’ she offered, smiling into his eyes.

‘Sounds good,’ he murmured and hiking his jeans up he took the hand she was holding out and allowed her to lead him to the bathroom.

The candles were still flickering in the jasmine-scented steam and when he saw the giant tub with four seats carved into the marble and jacuzzi jets concentrated in all directions he started to laugh.

‘This is one hell of a place you’ve got here,’ he told her as she started to undress him.

Ellen smiled, kissed him briefly on the mouth, then pushed him back in a chair to take off his boots.

A few minutes later they were both stretched out, facing each other in the hot, steamy water. Slender, sharp jets of air were pummelling their bodies and as Ellen opened her legs so they could massage her there, she closed her eyes and allowed her imagination to take over. She could feel him watching her as the pulsating rhythm began carrying her towards climax. Her back arched and she ran a hand across her soap-covered breasts, pinching her nipples and starting to moan aloud.

Clay was smiling as he watched her. ‘You going to come again?’ he asked.

Ellen nodded, then her body began to jar as the first spasms of orgasm erupted inside her. Her legs opened wider, her head rolled from side to side and her hands reached out to grip the handles beside her. Knowing he was watching her was making it all the more powerful and when his hand slid along the inside of her thigh she gasped and cried out loud.

‘Come here,’ he whispered, when finally she relaxed and opened her eyes.

Ellen moved through the water and lay in his arms, her cheek resting on the wet, matted hair of his chest, one arm circled around his neck.

‘Love you,’ he said softly.

Ellen kissed his chest. ‘Can you stay tonight?’ she asked.

He laughed. ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘Did you think I was going someplace else?’

She smiled. ‘No, I guess not,’ she answered.

Tilting her face up to his he said, ‘I swear it won’t be like this for much longer. Nola’s about ready to settle and when she does we’ll be just weeks away from making it all legal.’

‘And then?’ she said.

He kissed her. ‘I’ll take you out to dinner to celebrate.’

Laughing, Ellen reached for a towel and climbed out of the tub. ‘Your turn to cook,’ she told him. ‘I got chicken breasts and a couple of different salads from the deli and there’s some orange ice-cake for dessert.’

‘Did I die and go to heaven?’ he asked, smiling up at her. ‘That comes later,’ she promised. ‘Now, I’ve got some last minute reading to do before I meet with Ted in the morning. Call me when dinner’s ready.’

Much later they were sitting together at opposite ends of the couch, reading while Schubert’s Eighth played softly on the stereo.

It was during the andante con moto that Clay turned over a page of the paper and said, ‘You still reading up on that guy Forgon’s after?’

‘Mmm,’ Ellen answered.

‘So what’s the big deal?’ he asked. ‘What’s bugging Forgon that he’s got to go after the man?’

Ellen grimaced. ‘It’s a long story,’ she warned, turning to look at him. ‘Are you sure you want to hear it?’

He shrugged. ‘If it’s bothering you as much as it seems to be, then sure I want to hear it,’ he said. ‘Remind me, what’s the guy’s name?’

‘McCann. Michael McCann. He’s British.’

‘Lives here?’

‘No. London. And that’s what I’ve got to try to change, because Ted Forgon wants him here in Hollywood so, professionally at least, he can kill him. The problem is, McCann’s not interested in coming.’ She paused as her heart tightened with misgiving. ‘Correction. The problem is, if I fail to get him to come I can kiss goodbye to everything I’ve worked for, because Forgon doesn’t keep losers on his team, nor does he let them work again once he’s kicked them off. He’s already fired three agents for not delivering McCann, so I guess there’s no confusion about where I’m headed if I don’t pull this off.’

‘So what did this guy do to make Forgon so mad?’ Clay asked, turning to face her and resting a cheek on one hand.

Ellen sighed and lowered the file to her lap. ‘A couple of years back McCann pulled off a deal, here in Hollywood, for some unknown British actor to play the lead in a movie that ended up winning six Oscars and making everyone involved a fortune at the box office. The movie was Mainliner.’

Clay looked impressed. ‘I guess we’re talking about Nick Quillan,’ he said, naming the actor.

Ellen nodded. ‘It made Quillan’s career. At least here it did. From what I’ve heard he was already pretty well established in Europe. Anyway, that was great for Nick Quillan, but not for Dennis Simes.’

‘Dennis Simes? The Redneck Roadster?’ Clay cried. ‘What the hell ever happened to him?’

‘He couldn’t get any work after the Roadster, is what happened to him,’ Ellen answered. ‘But then Forgon heard about Mainliner, told Simes it would make a great come-back movie for him, did a handshake deal with the producers and told Simes the part was his. Of course, the press got hold of it, I think someone from our office was told to tip them off, and the multi-million dollar deal Forgon had pulled off for Simes whose career was supposed to be finished, made headlines. So of course the whole town was talking about how the old Forgon magic was as hot as ever and parties and press conferences were laid on to celebrate Simes’s return.’ She shook her head as though she still couldn’t quite believe what her boss had done. ‘It was a really dumb thing to do,’ she said, ‘to start spreading the word like that before the ink was on the page. But it’s what he did. And right off the bat Simes started calling up all his friends and telling them what a great guy Forgon was … I’m surprised you don’t remember any of this,’ she said. ‘It made most of the papers at the time.’

‘I do now you’re telling it,’ Clay responded. ‘So how did McCann manage to get the deal? I mean, Forgon must have been pretty sure of his ground to have done what he did. I mean the guy’s not stupid.’

‘Forgon had a deal,’ Ellen reminded him. ‘OK, it was just a handshake until the contract was typed up, but he knew Alistair Peeke, the exec. producer, pretty well, they’d done business together plenty of times in the past, so Forgon didn’t see any reason not to trust him. I guess it’s a mistake any of us could make, but being the old cynic he is it’s a surprising one from Forgon. And I’m betting McCann knew nothing about that handshake and Peeke never told him. Peeke, by the way, is of Irish stock, just like McCann and Quillan.’

Clay’s eyebrows went up. ‘Sounds like Forgon never stood a chance,’ he commented.

Ellen shrugged. ‘Maybe, maybe not,’ she said. ‘It certainly seems Peeke was holding out for Quillan all along, but the studio boys were dragging their heels. No one had ever heard of Quillan so why the hell were they going to stake thirty million on a guy who could lead them all to their deaths at the box-office? So McCann and Peeke went to work on convincing everyone who needed convincing, while Peeke carried on assuring Ted that his man was definitely up for the part. In the end, it looked like the studios just weren’t going to buy it with Quillan, so Peeke closed the deal on a handshake with Forgon, only to be told at the eleventh hour that Quillan was in. So McCann got the contract firmed up, then flew to New York the next day where Quillan was playing off Broadway.

‘Peeke double-crossed Forgon in a big way, there’s no doubt about that,’ she said, ‘and Forgon’s never forgiven him. But since Peeke died of a heart attack the day the movie was released, Forgon feels that he’s gone some way towards paying for what he did. McCann, on the other hand, is still out there, rolling around the decks like a loose cannon and Forgon has decided that the only way to regain the face he lost and pay McCann back for making him look such a jerk in his own town, is to lure him under his wing, give him everything he wants, groom him, build him, get his name up in lights, then crush him. And just why the hell he thinks McCann is going to roll over and say hey, Ted, here I am, come tickle my tummy then kick me in the balls, I’ve got no idea.’

Clay seemed confused by that too. ‘So McCann knows that’s what’s behind all Forgon’s offers?’ he said.

Ellen shrugged. ‘The man’s not stupid, he’s got to have worked out that what Forgon’s really after is revenge. And if he has worked it out, which all his refusals suggest he has, then I don’t see any way of getting him to change his mind, do you?’

Clay was staring past her thoughtfully and though Ellen was extremely anxious about the way the meeting was going to go in the morning, at that moment she was far more involved in the concern and interest Clay was showing in her problem. Not that he ever seemed bored by her work, it was just good to know that he cared enough to talk it all through with her.

‘You know what I think,’ he said in the end. ‘I think you’re going to pull this off.’

Ellen laughed and wanted to hug him for having such faith in her. Instead she said, ‘Remember, three other agents are out there right now, either selling insurance in Missouri, playing the tables in Vegas or God only knows what the third is doing, but she’s not working in Hollywood any more that’s for sure.’

‘So what you’ve got to ask yourself,’ Clay said, ‘is why did Forgon choose you to go after McCann, when there’s no way in the world the man wants to lose you. You’re bringing too much business his way.’

Ellen shrugged. ‘I guess it either shows how bad this obsession with McCann has got, or maybe he really does think I can pull it off.’

‘Or,’ Clay said, ‘he’s going to work it so’s you present McCann with an offer he can’t refuse, then let you walk off with all the glory.’

Ellen laughed in surprise. ‘Now that,’ she said, ‘is a scenario I could really go for.’

Clay yawned and stretched, then reached out for her to come sit with him. ‘Listen to me,’ he said, snuggling her into his arms, ‘you’re smart, you’re classy, you’re ambitious, you’re tough and you’re headed right for the top, so I just don’t see this McCann guy getting in the way, nor Forgon letting him. Because whatever else Forgon is, he’s too damned smart to let anyone get the better of his favourite girl.’ He snatched up the phone that was ringing beside him. ‘Hello?’ he said.

Ellen looked at him in amazement. Obviously he’d forgotten where they were to have answered the phone like that.

‘Sure, I’ll pass you over. Matty,’ he said, handing the receiver to Ellen.

Not wanting Clay’s mind to wander, she didn’t stay long on the line with Matty. ‘So what are you saying?’ she repeated, passing him the receiver to hang up.

‘What I’m saying,’ he said, wrapping her back in his arms, ‘is that Forgon’s got to have something up his sleeve, ’cos he’s not going to run the risk of losing you both, which is what it could end up costing him if you don’t come home with the star prize. Did you read the script I left for you on Friday?’ he said, abruptly changing the subject.

‘The first few scenes,’ she answered, adjusting quickly. ‘I didn’t get chance to finish it yet. What I read needs tightening, or maybe it needs extra scenes … I’m not sure. It’s out of balance somewhere anyway. Are you serious about it? You really want to play this part?’

‘I’m interested,’ he countered. ‘Why? Do you want to represent me?’

Ellen turned to look at him. Signing Clay Ingall would be such a major coup for her personally, as well as for the agency, that even if she did take a fall with McCann there was just no way Forgon would fire her. And even if he did, with Clay as her client she could probably start her own agency and Forgon wouldn’t be able to do a god-damned thing to stop her. ‘You don’t mean that,’ she whispered, knowing that his relationship with Zac Luberman was solid.

He laughed and pulled her mouth to his. ‘Don’t rule it out,’ he told her, while kissing her. ‘Now, I reckon it’s time we had ourselves some more fun, don’t you?’

‘Whatever you say,’ she murmured against his lips.

‘How about,’ he said, ‘I put you in the car and take you out for a drive?’

Ellen frowned.

He chuckled. ‘In the nude,’ he said. ‘That security guard you got yourself out there could be in for a treat when we go by.’

Though she felt her pulses quicken Ellen was already protesting. ‘Clay, no,’ she said. ‘I live here. I’ve got to pass that guy every day.’

‘But the client wants to take his new agent for a test drive,’ he joked, starting to unbelt her robe. ‘Hey, you do want me to be your client, don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes, but I really don’t know if I’m comfortable with this, Clay.’

‘We’ve done it plenty of times before,’ he reminded her as he reached inside her robe and started stroking her breasts. ‘But hey, if you’re not comfortable then we just don’t do it.’

She turned to look at him and felt her resolve weakening as his fingers tightened on her nipples.

‘Of course, I could drive real fast,’ he said, ‘and the windows are tinted so the guard couldn’t see in anyway. It’ll only be me who knows you’re naked right there in the seat next to me. And honey, I’ve got to tell you, it’ll just about blow my mind.’