Stephen Leather: Take Two

‘No, not that it matters. She wasn’t the first.’ She felt tears sting her eyes and she cursed.

‘Hey, come on,’ said Terry. He passed her a paper napkin. ‘Don’t let the bastard upset you.’

Carolyn dabbed her eyes with the napkin. ‘I went home early to surprise him,’ she said. ‘Well, that didn’t exactly go as planned.’

‘Your house?’

She shook her head. ‘His flat.’ She shook her head. ‘Forget it. It doesn’t matter.’

‘Of course it matters. You thought he was the one, right?’

She took a deep breath. ‘I hoped he might be,’ she said. ‘I really thought he loved me, Terry.’

‘You know what they say, darling. Women can fake orgasms but men can fake an entire relationship.’

Carolyn dabbed her eyes again. ‘I need a drink,’ she said.

‘You can hit the bottle at the awards thing.’

‘I need a drink now.’

Terry laughed. ‘Well you know that’s not going to happen,’ he said.

‘Why are men such bastards, Terry?’

‘That’s why we love them, right?’

‘Would Gabe ever screw around behind your back?’ Terry’s jaw dropped in mock surprise and Carolyn laughed. ‘That wasn’t a double entendre. You know what I mean.’

‘I know what you mean,’ he said. ‘I’m like the American military — don’t ask and don’t tell. Providing he’s in my bed every night, I’m not that worried about what he gets up to.’

‘Yeah, well Eddie made it clear that he’s done with me. It’s over.’

‘Then you’re better off without him.’

‘That’s easy for you to say.’

He leaned over the table towards her. ‘Darling, you’re one of the most famous faces in the country, you’re drop dead gorgeous and as fit as a butcher’s dog. If I wasn’t gay…’

Carolyn reached over and held his hands. ‘Thank you,’ she said.

‘I mean every word that I say,’ Terry said, and Carolyn could see he was telling the truth. She gripped his hands tightly but then the tears started again and she let go and dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. ‘Darling, the more you cry the more repair work they’re going to have to do in make-up,’ said Terry.

She nodded and took a deep breath. ‘I’ll be okay,’ she said.

‘Damn right you will,’ said Terry. ‘And tonight you’ll be surrounded by people who admire and love you. Think about that.’

‘Now you’re going too far,’ she said. She picked up her fork, then sneered at her salad. ‘Screw this,’ she said. ‘I’m going to have a steak. Rare.’

Terry grinned. ‘Go for it, girl,’ he said.

After lunch, Carolyn was back in the studio shooting back-to-back scenes. There were three with Seb and a short scene where she was on the phone talking to a designer. It was bread-and-butter acting, nothing to stretch her but nothing so simple she could do it on autopilot. She managed to grab a break at three o’clock when Harrington told her she wouldn’t be needed for the next half an hour while they shot the scene prior to when she walked in on Seb and Andrea in bed together.

She was on her way to collect her cigarettes from her dressing room when she saw Jeff Thompson through a window, huddled next to a wall and smoking a cigarette. She pushed open a door and turned up the collar of her jacket. She didn’t have her cigarettes on her but this was a good opportunity to pick the writer’s brain. He looked over at her and smiled. ‘You a smoker, too?’ he asked.

‘You got a spare one?’

Jeff nodded and took out a pack of Silk Cut. He offered it to her.

‘You’re a life-saver,’ she said, and took one. He lit it for her and she nodded her thanks.

‘Is Jake still pissed off?’ he asked.

Carolyn laughed. ‘He’ll get over it,’ she said. ‘Everyone leaves their mobile on at some point. We’ve all done it.’

Jeff blew smoke up at the sky. ‘I feel like such a twat.’

‘Because you’re a Lady Gaga fan?’ Carolyn smiled and took a pull on the cigarette.

Jeff grinned. ‘I like the tune.’

Carolyn blew smoke. ‘So how are you settling in?’

Jeff nodded. ‘All good,’ he said. ‘Still getting the feel for things. Paul’s a nice guy. Solid, dependable.’

‘He has his moments,’ said Carolyn. ‘What was Holby like?’

Jeff shrugged. ‘Typical BBC,’ he said. ‘Everything’s done by committee, you feel like a dog with a dozen or so masters. You try to please everyone but you end up pleasing nobody. The great thing about this show is that there’s just the one boss — Paul. And he knows what he wants.’

‘And Corrie?’

Jeff nodded. ‘Yeah, I liked Corrie. They’re real pros, everyone knows what they’re doing and there are no egos.’

‘I heard some of the actors were hard to work with.’

‘Oh sure, they’ve got more than their fair share of prima donnas. But the production staff were great.’

‘So why did you leave?’

Jeff rubbed the fingers and thumb of his right hand together. ‘Money,’ he said. ‘They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.’

‘They?’

‘The network. They had me in for two interviews. The first time with their head of drama, the second time with three of the drama department.’

‘So Paul didn’t hire you himself?’

‘They said they were getting more pro-active on the hiring side. I met Paul, but they’d offered me the job by then.’

‘And what are you working on at the moment?’

‘Bits and bobs,’ he said. ‘Polishing the dialogue for this week’s scripts.’

Carolyn blew smoke up at the sky. ‘They’re not working you hard, then?’

He laughed. ‘Nah, there’s a big writers’ meeting on Wednesday the week after next. I’ll be given my plotlines and episodes then.’

‘I thought the story meetings were on Monday afternoon?’

‘This is different. The network is meeting with all the writers to outline where they want the show to go. It’s over at the network.’

‘Sounds major.’

Jeff nodded. ‘Yeah, they want to make some major changes. That’s what I was told. To be honest, I think they’re going to be getting rid of some of the older writers. Wednesday is when they bring in the new broom.’

Carolyn’s heart began to race. ‘Do you know what they’ve got planned?’ she asked.

Jeff took a long pull on his cigarette and then shook his head as he held the smoke deep in his lungs.

‘Interesting times,’ she said. Actually interesting wasn’t how she felt. A writers’ meeting at the network suggested something was going on behind the scenes and, after what Kelly had said about Andrea’s part being expanded, Carolyn was starting to get a very bad feeling about what was going on.

‘You know, I’m a big fan,’ said Jeff.

Carolyn looked over at him, wondering if the writer was making a pass at her, but he was watching a pigeon sitting on the car park wall.

‘I bet you say that to all the actors,’ she said.

‘I’m serious,’ said Jeff. ‘You really come across well on screen. You seem real, even though I know you’re acting. I mean, I really believe in Diana Bourne. You totally bring her to life.’

‘I tend to get good dialogue,’ she said. ‘That makes it easier.’

He grinned. ‘And I bet you say that to all the writers.’

She chuckled. ‘Did you used to watch the show before you came here?’

‘I watch all the soaps and most of the dramas,’ he said. ‘You have to. You have to know what’s going on, where the plots are heading. That’s what the network people don’t get.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘They don’t watch TV. I mean, they watch the shows that they make, but they don’t sit down and watch it. They don’t connect with the viewers. In fact, truth be told, they hate the viewers.’