Dreaming of Mr. Darcy (14 page)

Gemma couldn't believe her mother was in Lyme Regis. Well, she could. After all, it wasn't the first time she turned up unannounced. As she lathered her hair with a squirt of her favourite apple shampoo, Gemma remembered the night of her performance as Lady Macbeth at drama school. It was the biggest part she had ever taken on, and she was pacing up and down with nerves backstage when somebody screamed from the auditorium.

‘Kim Reilly's here! Kim Reilly's here!'

Everyone flocked to her mother—as they usually did—and she was lost amongst a mass of hysterical drama students. Gemma had been forgotten. Not one person was there to tell her to break a leg that evening, and she remembered spying her mother sitting in the front row, her mouth moving as she whispered advice to her daughter, her hands wringing themselves during the ‘out, damned spot' scene as if it were her playing the role of Lady Macbeth and not her daughter.

The party afterwards had been all about Kim Reilly too, and Gemma faded into the background.

‘My natural place,' she said to herself as shampoo bubbles rinsed down her shoulders and back. She learned long ago that there was absolutely no point in trying to compete with her mother. She just had to let her mother get on with it and hope that the experience wouldn't be too painful.

Finishing her shower, Gemma pulled on a cotton night dress—the kind her mother would refer to as a ‘passion killer.'

‘How on earth are you going to get a man when you wear something like that?' her mother had said when she barged into the bedroom of Gemma's flat recently and discovered the knee-length cotton night dress covered in hummingbirds on the edge of her bed, but after a long day on set, nothing was nicer, nothing more snugly, than her beloved cotton night dress, and she didn't care what her mother thought of it.

Sophie had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, her breathing deep and calming. Gemma was glad of the privacy, because she knew Sophie would only want to talk about Gemma's mother. That was the curse of being the daughter of a famous actress—everybody wanted to know everything.

What's it like having a famous mother?

Lonely, most of the time.

Aren't you terribly proud of her?

Sometimes, but mostly I just get embarrassed.

I
bet
you
want
to
be
just
like
her.

That's what I worry about more than anything else in the world.

Gemma closed her eyes and waited to welcome sleep. Perhaps her mother would get bored with everything as early as tomorrow. She had a short attention span and would probably find Lyme Regis dull. A small seaside town with a few bookshops, boutiques, and bakeries wouldn't be enough to occupy her for long, and once everybody had made a big fuss about her and returned to the job in hand, she'd grow restless and go off in search of somebody else to indulge her. Gemma could then stop worrying about being watched all the time. It wasn't as if she wasn't nervous enough about this film already without having her mother's eye roving over every move she made and questioning her delivery.

‘She'll get bored soon,' Gemma said to herself and promptly fell asleep, dreaming of missed cues and meddling mothers.

***

Kay yawned and drew back her bedroom curtains, smiling at the sea view that greeted her. She wondered, would she ever grow bored of it? Would she ever take it for granted and not appreciate its blue beauty? And it really was blue today. After days of slate grey, the sea had changed to the most miraculous blue Kay had ever seen, and it took some of the sting out of the earliness of her wake-up call.

After showering and dressing quickly, Kay stepped out onto the landing. All was quiet, and she guessed the actors were still in bed. She was just descending the stairs when Beth's door creaked open. Kay waited, eager to enquire how she was feeling this morning, but it wasn't Beth who emerged from the room. It was Oli. He was fully dressed, and it didn't take Kay long to realise that he was still wearing his clothes from the previous night. He hadn't gone to bed. At least, he hadn't gone to his own bed, had he?

His blond hair flopped over his forehead, and his blue eyes were bleary, suggesting that he hadn't slept much. Kay stood motionless on the stairs, hoping that the banister rails would hide her, but she didn't have to worry. Oli hadn't spotted her, and he sneaked back into his own room, closing the door behind him.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she fled to the kitchen. Oh, God! How could she have been so stupid as to fall in love with an actor? Hadn't Adam warned her that they always stick to their own? Here was irrefutable evidence that that was exactly what they did. It was the phenomenon that Kay was only too eager to read about in the celebrity magazines—who was having an affair with whom on location. It was one of the oldest clichés in the business; the leading man always had an affair, except this time it wasn't with the leading actress.

‘Just as well,' Kay said to herself, seeing as she'd already matchmade her.

As she put on her floral pinny and started to get breakfast ready, she tried to console herself.

He
never
would
have
looked
at
you, anyway
, she told herself.
You're not in his league at all.
It was true enough, but it still didn't stop a girl from dreaming, did it? Your head might tell you one thing, but your heart can pull in a different direction completely. It was the same old story with Kay; just like her mother before her, she always seemed to fall for the heartbreaker, getting swept up by the romance of everything and eager to overlook the problems that were staring her in the face. And look how it had worked out for her mother.

Kay sighed as she remembered the time her mother swore she was getting married again and the two of them went shopping to celebrate.

‘You're going to be the prettiest bridesmaid,' her mother told her, picking out the sweetest pink dress for her to wear whilst buying herself an outrageously expensive tiara. ‘Harry is going to be so proud of us.' They smiled and giggled all the way home until they found the badly scrawled note stuffed through the letterbox. Harry, it seemed, had found somebody else.

‘Poor Mum,' Kay said to herself, and for a moment, she thought back to the tempestuous relationship between her mother and her father and how badly that had ended too. Was she destined for the same fate? Perhaps that was why she was always trying to matchmake people—it was her way of making up for the doomed relationship of her parents.

Twenty minutes later there was a gentle tap on the door.

‘Hello?'

It was Oli. Kay looked up to see his head popping around the kitchen door. Such a wonderful head, Kay thought, despite the fact that he was obviously having an affair with Beth Jenkins.

‘How are you this morning?' he asked.

‘I'm fine.'

‘Something smells good in here.'

‘That'll be the bacon,' she said.

He nodded. ‘You okay?' he asked, running a hand through his hair, which had obviously been washed since the floppy look he'd been sporting leaving Beth's bedroom.

‘I'm fine,' Kay said, smiling brightly.

Oli frowned, obviously not convinced by her answer. ‘You seem a little—distant.'

‘Do I?'

He nodded. ‘Not working you too hard, are we?'

‘No, of course not.'

‘'Cause I know we can be a pain.'

‘You're not a pain,' she said. ‘I love having you.
Around
,' she added quickly. ‘I love having you all around the place. You bring things to life.'

He grinned. ‘I've got the morning off. I'm not needed until later this afternoon.'

‘Oh,' Kay said, having visions of his hanging around the house all day, forgetting all about Beth Jenkins and slowly falling in love with her—once she'd taken off her pinny and fixed her hair, of course.

‘I thought maybe I'd get a bit of lunch somewhere. There's meant to be an amazing pub out near Beaminster. I thought we might have a spin up that way and see what all the fuss is about.'

‘We?' Kay said.

‘We,' Oli said. ‘You and me. How about it?'

Kay nodded enthusiastically.

‘Shall we get going then?'

‘Right now?'

‘I suppose you'd better feed this lot first and do whatever you've got to do.'

‘Okay,' she said.

‘How's about I see you in the front room at eleven?'

Kay grinned at him, his brief affair with Beth banished from her brain. It wasn't Beth he was interested in at all—it was her!

Eleven o'clock couldn't come around quickly enough for Kay. She whizzed around Wentworth House, vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing, and tidying like a thing possessed. Finally, at twenty to eleven, she took off her pinny. It was time to get herself ready.

She had the quickest of showers, because she was sure she smelt of bacon and cleaning products, and it wasn't the most romantic of combinations. But then came the problem of what to wear. She had to get this right. Her whole life might depend on it.

‘You know when I decided I was going to propose to you?' Oli would tell her in future years. ‘The moment you came into the front room for our first date wearing that amazing—'

‘
What?
' Kay screamed in the here and now. Amazing
what
? She didn't have anything amazing.

She flung open the wardrobe door in the hope that she had overlooked something and stared gloomily at the contents. It was the usual problem: a packed wardrobe, but absolutely nothing to wear.

‘I'll just have to make do,' she said, pulling out a blue cotton dress that was sprigged with tiny pink roses. It wasn't the stuff of sex symbols, but it was sweet. She grabbed the hair dryer to work as much magic into her mop as she could in the time available, hoping her toffee-coloured tresses wouldn't become too flyaway. A quick application of makeup, and she was almost finished. She still needed shoes, and she knew just the pair. The prior summer, she bought a pair of strappy silver shoes that were more like jewellery than shoes. She knew their day would come. She placed her dainty feet into them now and sighed, hoping that sheer stockings and strappy shoes weren't tempting the rain clouds again.

Grabbing her handbag, she took a deep breath and left the room, venturing down the stairs for her date with Oli. There he was, pacing up and down the hallway, his blond hair bright against a sky-blue shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal a pair of strong, tanned arms.

‘Hello,' she said, her mouth suddenly feeling quite dry.

He turned around, his bright eyes appraising her. ‘Oh,' he said. ‘You look lovely, really.'

‘What's wrong?' Kay asked, dismayed by the look on his face.

‘Nothing—nothing's wrong. It's just—well, you look like you.'

Kay's face fell. She knew she'd never be as beautiful as the actresses Oli was used to being seen with, but she thought she'd scrubbed up pretty well, considering the lack of notice he gave her.

‘I didn't put that very well,' Oli said. ‘I mean—we have to disguise you. There are paps everywhere.'

‘Are there?' Kay said, looking around as if a telephoto lens might suddenly poke through the letterbox.

Oli nodded. ‘I'm afraid they've got wind I'm here.'

‘Oh, dear.'

‘Exactly, and if they get a picture of you, it'll be all over the papers.'

Kay didn't think that sounded too bad at all. In fact, the idea rather appealed to her. She could see it now.

Oli's Mystery Girl
, the headline would read, and there would be a photo of the two of them driving off together or one of them running into a restaurant together, Oli's arm protectively around her shoulder.

Speculation
has
arisen
over
the
girl
the
handsome
star
is
dating, and there are even rumours that the two of them are engaged. Could this be the future Mrs Wade Owen?

‘So you see,' Oli said, ‘we'll have to disguise you, because we can't possibly have them knowing who you are. It's for your own privacy.'

‘Oh,' Kay said reluctantly, her imagined headlines evaporating. ‘I see.'

‘Leave it to me,' Oli said, and he ran up the stairs two at a time and knocked on Beth's door. Kay followed him, wondering what he was up to. Beth hadn't come downstairs yet that morning and was still resting her ankle. At least she was supposed to be resting, but Kay still didn't know what had gone on in Beth's room the night before. If Oli had spent the night in there, Kay was doubtful that rest would have been much of a priority.

‘Beth? It's Oli.'

It was the only password needed, for the door opened almost instantly.

‘What is it, Oli?' Beth said with a sweet smile. She was wearing full makeup despite being an invalid, and Kay could see that her hair had been blow-dried.

‘We need that wig of yours.'

‘Wig?' Beth said. ‘I don't wear wigs. Not unless I'm filming.'

‘Come on, Beth. I've seen it. It's in your suitcase.'

Beth sighed. ‘That's a hairpiece, Oli. Quite a different thing. Everyone's wearing them these days. Some women wouldn't even put out the trash unless they had their hairpiece in.'

‘Yeah, yeah. Let's just have it.'

‘What for?'

‘For Kay. We've got to disguise her.'

Beth frowned. ‘Why?'

‘We're going out to lunch, and we need to hide her identity from the press.'

‘But I'll need to wear it if we're going out to lunch.'

Oli looked uncomfortable for a moment. ‘I'm taking Kay out to lunch,' he said slowly, as if testing the waters.

‘I see,' Beth said. ‘I'm not invited. I'm just the invalid who can be left alone all day with no company.'

‘Come on, Beth, don't be like that. We're always having lunch together.'

‘Yeah, with about a dozen extras and all the crew.'

‘Can we borrow the wig? Please? I'll owe you big time.'

‘God, Oli! You're the limit. You really are.'

Beth disappeared into the room and came back brandishing the red hairpiece. ‘Be careful with it. It cost me a fortune.'

‘We will. Don't worry. Now, help us with it, will you? And that nice blue dress of yours.'

‘Not the Versace!'

‘The very one.'

‘Oli!'

‘
Please!
'

Beth gave a gargantuan sigh before going to fetch her things.

Ten minutes later, Kay was transformed. The blue dress was slinky and sexy and skimmed over her figure in a most alluring way. Her own hair had been tied up into a tight bun on the top of her head, the red hairpiece had been carefully pinned around her face, and then everything had been squashed into submission by a hat.

‘Sunglasses,' Oli said. ‘Those nice big blue-framed ones of yours.'

‘Oli, no! They're my Tiffany's.'

Oli's eyes looked up at her pleading. ‘You would be doing me such a huge favour. I'd really owe you.'

‘You always owe me,' Beth said sulkily, hobbling back into the room on her dodgy ankle and emerging with the prized glasses.

‘Just don't lose them or break them.' She handed them to Oli, who gave them to Kay.

‘Thanks, Beth,' Kay said, opening the box and eyeing the beautiful glasses. She had never seen anything so lovely, and she was a little afraid to put them on.

‘Go on,' Oli encouraged her.

Kay put them on and smiled. ‘Okay?'

‘Wow!' Oli said. ‘You look like Audrey Hepburn.'

‘Except with red hair and a squashy hat,' Beth added.

‘Do I look okay?'

‘You'll do,' Oli said, ushering her down the stairs.

Catching her reflection in the hall mirror, Kay gasped. She looked like a movie star! Versace dress. Tiffany glasses. It was something she could never have imagined. Well, she could have imagined it—after all, she had a fairly wild imagination, but it seemed crazy even by her own ambitious standards. One minute she'd been washing dishes and cleaning bathrooms, and the next she was dressed like a princess and being escorted to dinner by the most handsome man in the world.

She stole a quick glance at him as he opened the door for her.

‘How many are there?' she asked.

‘How many what?'

‘Paparazzi.'

‘Oh,' Oli said, ‘I don't know. I think they're hiding.'

Kay followed him out and looked eagerly up and down Marine Parade. There were the usual tourists in search of sustenance, but she couldn't see any telephoto lenses. She pouted.

‘Come on,' Oli said. ‘Let's get to the car before anyone sees us.'

Oli donned a pair of glasses, turned up the collar of his jacket, and held his head down, but he was still unmistakably Oli Wade Owen. Kay rushed along in her strappy shoes, trying to keep up with him. The sky was looking ominously thundery. Some heavy clouds hung over the Cobb, and the sea looked as if it were holding a deep, dark secret.

‘Here we are,' Oli said as they reached his car. It was an electric blue Lotus Elise, and Kay got excited at the thought of being a passenger in such a vehicle.

The
unknown
redhead
was
seen
getting
in
Oli
Wade
Owen's infamous Lotus Elise, her shapely legs revealed by her Versace dress.

Kay could imagine the magazine reports as she settled into the smooth leather seat and checked out her reflection in the wing mirror. She was incognito!

‘Okay?' he asked.

She nodded, and they both buckled up.

The car sped up Cobb Road and headed out of Lyme Regis and into the countryside. Kay tried to sit back and relax, but it was nigh on impossible. She still couldn't believe he asked her out.

‘This is wonderful,' she said, giving him a smile.

Oli's gaze didn't shift from the road, which was comforting as a passenger but disconcerting as a woman.

‘It's a real treat,' she said.

‘Pardon?'

‘I said this is a real treat—to be taken to lunch.'

‘Oh,' he said. ‘Right.'

He didn't sound too enthusiastic, but perhaps he was tired. He didn't get much free time, did he?

Kay settled back into her seat and adjusted the red hairpiece above her left temple. It felt like it was slipping. She looked in the wing mirror. She wasn't at all sure about herself as a redhead. She'd had visions of being transformed into a beautiful Pre-Raphaelite nymph, but she believed she looked more like a slightly baffled red Irish setter. The hat wasn't helping either, and the glasses—which she'd thought were beautiful at first—were far too big for her face.

‘Can I take it all off now?' she asked.

‘What?'

‘The disguise?'

‘No,' Oli said abruptly. ‘We don't want anyone recognising you.'

‘But I don't think anyone's followed us,' she said, looking behind them at the empty country lane.

‘You can never be too sure.'

Kay pursed her lips. Wasn't he being a little bit paranoid? They hadn't seen another vehicle since that mucky tractor, and nobody could keep up with Oli anyway, not at the speed he was driving. In fact, Kay was starting to get a bit nervous. The lanes were narrowing, and the hedgerows were flashing by at an inhuman speed.

‘Oli?'

‘Yes?'

‘Can we slow down?'

‘You want to get there in time, don't you? I've got to be back by three, or Teresa will kill me.'

Of course she wanted to get there in time, but she also wanted to get there in one piece.

As they took a corner, Oli slammed on the brakes. The torrential rain of the past few days had turned the little roads around the Marshwood Vale into rivers, and the way ahead of them was flooded.

‘Will your car be all right?'

‘'Course it will,' Oli said. ‘This baby can cope with anything.' He revved the engine, and Kay watched as he slowly built up a bit of speed before plunging the car through the water. A huge spray cascaded over the wheels, and Kay giggled.

‘Told you!' he said. ‘Wasn't that fun? Like one of those theme park rides, only faster.'

Kay nodded. She felt rather like a teenager on a first date.

She looked over her shoulder as the flooded lane vanished behind them, but it wasn't long before they reached the next. This time, the water stretched as far as they could see, and there was no telling how deep it was.

‘Perhaps we should go back,' Kay said.

‘You're joking!' Oli said. ‘We can't go back now. We're nearly there.'

‘Yes, but this looks deep to me.'

‘Nonsense,' Oli said. It's just a big puddle.'

Once again, he revved the engine.

‘Oli, I really think we should go back.'

He took his sunglasses off and smiled at her, and she could see that there was absolutely no way he was going to do anything other than drive full speed ahead through the flood.

‘Hold on to your hat!' he said, but Kay's hands were firmly gripping the edge of her seat as the Lotus gained speed.

This
isn't a good idea. This isn't a good idea,
she chanted as the water approached.

‘Slow down!' she shouted, but Oli didn't seem to be listening. He was locked in complete concentration, as if he were playing some addictive computer game and the rest of the world didn't exist. He and the flood was all there was.

The Lotus hit the water, and Kay closed her eyes as the windows and bonnet were drenched.

‘Wow!' Oli shouted. ‘Did you see that?'

The sound of water filled Kay's ears, and she sat perfectly still for a moment before she dared to open her eyes.

‘Is it over?' she asked. They were completely surrounded by water, but the car didn't seem to be moving. ‘Oli? What's happened?'

‘I don't know,' he said, frowning. ‘I think I might have just wrecked the car.'