No Matter What (70 page)

She looked at him, still smiling, but he didn’t return it.
 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.
 
“On set.”

Layla twirled her baby blonde hair round one finger, her eyes following him as he walked past her.
 
“I’m sure you will.
 
Mr Walsh.”

He turned round again, looking straight at her.
 
“Look, Layla, I’m not sure what you’re playing at here but I’m not interested, ok?
 
You’re an actress who just happens to be in my movie, that’s all.
 
I’m married, and I love my wife.
 
Very much.”

“I know.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“I just thought, maybe, you could give me some advice, you know, as to how I’m getting on.”

“You’re getting on just fine.
 
Now go home and get some sleep.
 
I don’t want you looking like crap in the morning.”

He started to walk away again but she wasn’t giving up.

“The offer still stands you know.
 
For that drink.
 
Maybe we can make it another time?”

Michael didn’t respond.
 
How could she ever think he’d be interested in her when he had
India
?
  
He didn’t need this.
 
He especially didn’t need it from some fame hungry actress who was starring in the same film as
India
’s father.
 
That was one headache he could do without.

Pulling out his ‘phone he called
India
at the villa in Vegas, and got Bobby.

“Oh, hello, Mr Walsh.
 
How are you?”

“I’m fine, Bobby.
 
Can I speak to
India
?”

“You could, but she’s not here.”

“Where is she?”
 
Michael was irritated now.
 
He really needed to speak to her.

“She’s gone out with Kenny.
 
She’s got her cell ‘phone with her, you can call her on that.”

Michael sighed, throwing his bag into the front seat of the car.
 
“Ok.
 
Thanks, Bobby.”

“No problem, Mr Walsh.”

Michael flipped the ‘phone shut and climbed in behind the wheel, shutting the door and sitting back for a second, before taking his ‘phone out again and punching in another number.

“Did you see her go out with Kenny Ross?”
 
His voice was more than a little agitated.
 
“Because if you did, there better be a damn good reason why you haven’t told me about it.”

“We’re onto it, Mr Walsh.”

“You’d better be.
 
I’m not paying you to miss things.
 
I should have known about this.
 
Was he at the villa?”

“He arrived at about
8.45pm
and they left together at 9.30.
 
They’re in a bar on The Strip.”

“Keep your eye on them.
 
And keep me updated.”

He ended the call and punched in
India
’s number.
 
She answered after three rings.
 

“Hey, Mikey!
 
How are you?”

Just hearing her voice made him instantly relax and he sat back and closed his eyes as he spoke to her.
 
“I’m fine, honey.
 
Just fine.”

“You sound tired.
 
You’re not still at work are you?”

“Just leaving.”

“Michael!
 
You’re overdoing it.
 
Do you need to be there this late?”

He paused for a second, just wanting to picture her face.
 
“I miss you,
India
.”

“Hey, I miss you too.
 
But, listen, I’ve just found out I’ve got a bit of time off in a few days so I’ll be coming home to
L.A.
for a short break.”

He sat up, pulling the rear view mirror round and looking into it.
 
He looked exhausted.
 
“Oh, baby, that’ll be great.
 
That’ll be really great.
 
How’s it going over there?”

“The same as it was when you called me three hours ago.
 
Did you call the villa first?”

“Yeah.
 
Bobby said you were out.
 
With Kenny.”
 
The words almost stuck in his throat.

“We’re just having a beer and playing some pool.
 
I’m getting tired now though, so I’ll be heading back to the villa soon.”

Without Kenny, Michael hoped.
 
“I love you,
India
.”

“Are you ok, Michael?”

He closed his eyes again.
 
He felt tired himself now.
 
Really tired.
 
“I’m fine.
 
Just missing you more than I thought I would.”

“I love you too,” she said quietly.
 
“Call me in the morning, ok?”

“What time are you getting up?”

“Got a
7am
alarm call.
 
It’s called Bobby.”

Michael smiled.
 
Bobby was no threat, but that wasn’t who he was worried about.
 
“I’ll call you at 6.30 then.
 
That’ll give us time for a wake up call of our own.”

“You got it, mister.
 
Dream about me, ok?”

“Oh, I think that’s a given, baby.
 
Speak to you in the morning.”

He flipped the ‘phone shut, threw it onto the passenger seat and started the car. The amount of times they’d been apart before, the amount of times they’d been in this situation, none of them had felt like this.
 
But then, none of those times had involved her being this close to Kenny Ross for so long, and that’s what Michael was finding difficult to deal with.
 
India
and Kenny, they were friends, sure, he knew that, but he also knew all about their history.
 
He knew they’d crossed lines before and it wasn’t going to happen again.
 
Michael was not going to take that risk.
 
Kenny Ross was not going to win this one.
 
India
may not be able to see that having a family was the best thing for her right now but she would, eventually.
 
She’d see that that’s where her future lay.
 
She’d have his kids one day, he knew she would, he could talk her round. And once that happened Kenny Ross would cease to be important.
 
Then, and only then, would Michael Walsh be truly happy.

***

India
sat by the bar, her legs stretched out over the stool opposite her, swigging from a bottle of beer.
 
Kenny thought it was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
 

She’d taken precisely five minutes to get changed at the villa, running downstairs in jeans, t-shirt and biker boots, her hair out of the curlers and loose around her shoulders and she’d looked amazing.
 
A couple of flicks of a mascara wand and a dash of lip gloss and she’d been ready to go.

They’d gone to one of Kenny’s favourite places on The Strip, drank a few beers and played some pool.
 
India
always managed to attract attention wherever she went and tonight had been no exception, but then, having a beautiful and famous movie actress bending over a pool table was always going to mean people looked. Kenny just couldn’t help thinking of Michael’s reaction if he knew what was going on and it made him smile because he had absolutely no idea how much attention his wife was attracting.
 
And
India
hadn’t exactly spurned that attention either.
 
She’d harmlessly flirted back, smiling and laughing with everyone and Kenny was loving every minute of this night with her.
 
It was just like old times.
 
But, despite being in a city that was open round the clock, he could tell
India
was tired.
 
She’d had a bit too much to drink too, and that was probably his fault.

“I think I need to go home, Kenny.”

He smiled at her, taking the bottle out of her hand and putting it down on the bar.
 
“Yeah, you’re probably right.
 
We’ve got an early call in the morning.”

“It
is
morning.”

He looked up at the clock.
 
It was quarter to one.
 
“Oh, yeah.
 
So it is.
 
Come on you; let’s walk back to the hotel.
 
The fresh air’ll do us good.”

She stood up, taking his hand, an action which wasn’t unusual for those two. There’d been many times over the past few years when they’d gone to premieres or parties together – when Michael had been away or unable to attend – and they’d walked the red carpet holding hands.
 
It was just what they did.
 
They always had.
 
People accepted it.

Kenny squeezed her hand and smiled at her again.
 
“I am so gonna get shit from make-up tomorrow if you wake up with a hangover.”

“I’ve looked like crap before and they’ve always managed to work miracles. And it’s amazing what good lighting can do.”

“That’s what I love about you,
India
.
 
You’re such an optimist.”

She kicked him, although not hard enough to hurt.
 
“Funny bugger.
 
Come on.
 
I need my bed.”

“Yeah,” he said, leading her out of the bar, all eyes - well, male ones anyway - still very much on her.
 
“Me too.”

They laughed practically all the way back to the villa, partly because they were a little bit drunk and partly because some things about Vegas could just be so funny.
 
Their sense of humour could be quite childish at times too, which didn’t help, especially on top of the alcohol.

“Are you coming in then?”
India
asked as they arrived at the villa.
 
“For a nightcap?”

“It’s almost time for breakfast,” Kenny smiled, even though he wanted to, of course he wanted to.
 
He wanted to spend as much time as possible with her.

“Is that a no then?” she asked, leaning back against the front door.

“It’s a no.
 
For tonight, anyway.
 
I think we both need to get some sleep.”

“I hate sleeping without Michael,” she said, opening the door then turning round to kiss him quickly on the cheek.
 
“He always cuddles me in bed.
 
It’s nice.”

She was drunk.
 
She was definitely drunk.

“See you tomorrow, Kenny.”

“Yeah.
 
See you tomorrow.”

He waited until she was inside before making his way back to the hotel, deciding that maybe a nightcap wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
 
He could cope on little or no sleep; it was something he was good at.
 
He didn’t think he’d sleep much tonight anyway.
 
He had too much on his mind.

The hotel was still buzzing when he got to the bar, the noise of the slot machines and the casino filling the air.
 
It was waking him up again, making him feel alive.
 

Sliding up onto a stool by the bar he ordered a whisky and looked around the place.
 
Another thing he loved about Vegas was the sheer mix of people it attracted.
 
All walks of life could be under one roof and, as an avid people-watcher, Kenny always found it interesting to study what was going on around him.

He took a drink and scanned the room, trying to find somebody interesting to focus on, smiling at the sight of a couple obviously off to tie the knot in some wedding chapel or other, both very young, the girl clutching a small bouquet of flowers in her short, white wedding dress, all smiles and excitement as she ran out of the bar, followed by her just-as-young groom and a handful of over-excited friends.
Las Vegas
.
 
A place where getting married at 2.30 in the morning wasn’t an unusual occurrence.
 
After all, him and
India
had done it themselves, hadn’t they?
 

The thought of their short-lived Vegas wedding still haunted him every day because every day he thought about what it might have been like if they’d still been married.
 
It would have been something like nine years now, if it had lasted.