Superstar (18 page)

The
conversation spanned many subjects and many hours. Some of it was
light-hearted and teasing, some serious, and it seemed as if they
could not run out of things to talk about. Several times, she
suspected that he wanted to flirt with her, but then his guard
would slam down again, and she dismissed it as imagination. A large
part of her wanted to flirt with him, but she reigned in the
foolish urges to poke, prod or tickle him when he made teasing
remarks or told flagrant lies to make her laugh.

Many times she
made him laugh, but he always looked away to hide his schoolboy
grin, which some idiotic director had made him ashamed of. At those
times she wanted to kick him from sheer frustration, but did not
dare, unsure of how he would react. The last thing she wanted was
to alienate him by criticising him. By the afternoon the tension
had vanished, to Mark's obvious relief.

When they
returned to the ranch, Carrin packed her bags, and Bert carried
them down to the car, where Mark waited. Mrs Martin hugged Carrin
and told her to come back soon. Carrin said that she would,
wondering if it was true. The journey was different in Mark's
company, she discovered. The limousine dropped them off beside the
plane, and the pilots carried their bags aboard.

The aircraft
took off immediately, and, while Mark sat beside her, the swaying,
bumpy ride did not worry her in the least. His calm presence
reassured her, and she asked about the safety of small planes as
they rose into the sky, starting a conversation about aircraft that
continued for most of the flight. She learnt that he was a pilot,
and often flew an acrobatic aircraft for fun. He was also a
helicopter pilot, and owned one of each, of course. He took her
into the cockpit to show her the controls, and they chatted to the
pilots for a while. When she asked him why he did not fly the plane
himself, he admitted that he did sometimes, but not when he had a
guest with him.

The silver
limousine waited on the tarmac in California, and John beamed in
welcome. Carrin was relieved and sad to be dropped off at her
hotel. Her only consolation was the hint of affection in Mark's
eyes as he told her he would see her the next day on the set. That
night, she dined alone in her room, and passed several hours
drawing Mark again before she went to bed.

Chapter
Eight

Several more
days of uneventful filming passed on the set. Mark treated her with
friendly cordiality that made Janice glare at her. The actress
clung even more closely to Mark, as if the sex scene that they had
done together had encouraged her. He was polite to her, but
occasionally Carrin glimpsed a trace of scorn in his eyes when he
looked at Janice that made her pity the actress. Janice appeared to
be oblivious to it, or maybe, Carrin thought, she did not care.

On Friday, an
unexpected visitor arrived in the form of Simon Grey. Mark seemed
surprised and pleased to see him, and Janice flirted outrageously
with the superstar, probably trying to make Mark jealous. Her ploy
failed, for although Simon went along with her game, Mark was
singularly unmoved by it. Simon sat beside Carrin and watched
Janice and Mark go through a scene. Apart from the sex scene, this
was the first time that they had acted in the same scene.

Carrin found
Mark's performance utterly believable, but Janice lacked the
conviction of her co-star. At times, her performance seemed wooden,
and several times Harold remonstrated with her. When she had
performed alone or with lesser actors, her acting had been
adequate, but it paled beside Mark's. His intensity made her look
false, and when she fluffed her lines for the fifth consecutive
time, Mark marched off the set. Janice hurried after him, but
Harold waylaid her and thrust a script into her hands with obvious
instructions to go away and learn it. The actress pouted and
flounced off to her dressing room.

Mark pulled up
a chair beside Simon, running a hand through his hair. "I wish
she'd learn her lines properly before doing a scene."

Simon grinned.
"I heard she had quite a weekend while you were away. She went to
Birdie's place and had a grand party. I'm surprised she was able to
stand up on Monday, never mind act."

Mark snorted,
glancing at Carrin, who looked confused. "Birdie's a pop star," he
explained. "Michael Bird, you must have heard of him?"

She nodded.
"Yes, he does rap, doesn't he?"

"Crap is more
like it," Simon muttered.

Mark glanced
at him with a smile, then turned back to Carrin. "He also does a
lot of drugs. Everyone knows."

"But that was
almost a week ago."

Simon shook
his head, becoming serious. "She's been back since then. She was
there last night. Birdie's trying to get the soundtrack for my next
film. He phoned me this morning. He sounded totally bombed, and
bragged that he had close ties with you, Mark, through Janice.
Normally I wouldn't give him the time of day, but I thought I'd
better check with you, and see what's going on first."

Mark frowned.
"Nothing's going on. Tell him to take a running jump."

"He's got
pictures."

"Damn!" Mark
scowled. "That stupid little bitch." He leapt up, ignoring Carrin's
confused look. Simon rose and grabbed Mark's arm when he would have
set off in the direction of Janice's dressing room.

"Wait." Mark
glared at him, and Simon hurried on, "I don't think she's in on it;
I think she was tricked. I can pull some strings and get him the
soundtrack, then make life really difficult for him once we get the
photos back. It will mean some delays, that's all."

"No." Mark
shook his head. "I can't let you do that, it has nothing to do with
you."

"You're my
friend, that's what he's counting on. He can't come after the
soundtrack of your film, it's already been awarded. So he's after
mine, knowing that I won't want you dragged through the mud."

"You can't,
he'll ruin your film. Let him go to the press if he wants, I'll
survive. I'll disown Janice, publicly."

Simon snorted.
"Don't be a fool. You know what that'll do to your ratings. This
film will flop."

Mark shot
Carrin a dark, unreadable glance, then looked at Simon. "I'll
handle it."

"You can't
afford it. It'll ruin you. And don't say you'll make it up on the
next one. Mud sticks."

Mark ran a
hand through his hair, looking furious.

Carrin asked,
"Would one of you mind telling me what's going on?"

Simon turned
to her, but Mark said, "No, leave her out of this."

"It's her film
too," Simon pointed out.

"I said no.
This isn't her problem."

Carrin
frowned. "I want to know."

The men glared
at each other, then Simon ignored Mark's black look and explained,
"Birdie's got photos of Janice in rather, um, compromising
positions or situations. He wants the soundtrack of my film, or
he'll go public with them."

"He's
blackmailing you?"

Simon nodded.
"All of us. I could tell him to take a running jump. Janice is
nothing to me, but it would hurt Mark, and he's my friend."

"How could it
hurt Mark? He's not involved with Janice."

"No, but his
film is." Simon sighed, glancing at Mark, who had turned away, and
stared across the set. "At the moment, she's his leading lady, so
her name is linked with his. If these photos ruin her reputation,
the bad publicity will affect Mark and the film. If the press
really go to town, they could make it look like Mark has something
to do with the drug scene too. Mark's also -"

"Simon." Mark
turned to scowl at his friend. "There's no need to tell her
everything."

Carrin
bristled. "Secrets, Mark?"

"Same as
you."

She turned to
Simon. "So what can we do?"

"Give Birdie
my sound track and get the photos."

"Which will
ruin your film."

He shrugged.
"Not necessarily. If my director doesn't like the music Birdie
comes up with, he'll have to do better. It will cause a delay,
that’s all. Who knows, maybe he'll write something good."

Mark snorted.
"When has Birdie ever done anything good? Only people with lousy
taste like his music. If your film is delayed it'll go way over
budget."

Simon opened
his mouth to answer, but Gregory appeared at Mark's elbow. "Excuse
me, Mr Lord, Mr Morten wishes to speak to you." The assistant
looked embarrassed, and bobbed at Simon.

Mark glanced
around, spotting Harold, who waved him over. Excusing himself, Mark
obeyed the summons. Carrin turned to Simon.

"There must be
a better way of dealing with this."

"Not that I
can think of," he mourned. "Believe me, I don't want Birdie doing
my soundtrack."

Carrin glanced
at Mark, who spoke to the director, and gestured angrily in the
direction of Janice's dressing room. "What were you about to tell
me when he stopped you?"

Simon looked
uncomfortable. "If he doesn't want you to know, I'm afraid I can't
tell you, Carrin."

"Does it have
anything to do with me?"

"Sort of.
You'll find out when the film comes out. How are you two getting
along, anyway? I heard you spent a weekend with him at his ranch."
Simon waggled his eyebrows.

She giggled.
"We're just good friends."

"Ah, come on,
you can tell me."

"I just did.
Listen, give me your phone number in case I need to call you, okay?
Maybe I can come up with an idea to solve our problem. Don't offer
Birdie the soundtrack yet."

He shrugged
and wrote a number on a piece of paper. "If you say so. That's my
cell, you can reach me on it anytime."

She took the
paper and slipped it into her pocket as Mark returned, wearing a
thunderous scowl. Simon raised an inquiring brow at his expression,
and Mark shook his head.

"It's
unbelievable. Harold just asked me to be more accommodating for
Janice. She can't act to save her life, and he wants me to make her
look better."

"How are you
supposed to do that?" Carrin asked.

"Over act," he
snapped. Simon nodded, and Mark glared at him. "I suppose you've
had to do it plenty of times, the way you always get cast with
brainless bimbos?"

"'Fraid so.
Janice was one of them."

"Well I've
never worked with such a bad actress before."

"Why was she
chosen for the role then?" Carrin inquired.

"Small
budget." Mark sighed, rubbing his brow. "She was the only 'A' list
actress who'd do it for the money that was offered."

Carrin
considered. "I could cut some of her lines, and give you more."

Mark looked at
her with sudden hope. "You could, couldn't you?"

"Sure. Harold
could concentrate the cameras on you, even when she's speaking, it
could be off screen. I'll talk to him."

Carrin walked
over to Harold, who slumped dejectedly in his chair, staring across
the set, where the crew stood idle. A doubtful hope crept into his
expression as she outlined her idea, and he objected a little,
saying that too much attention to Mark when Janice was speaking
would look wrong. He agreed that Mark should not have to make up
for Janice's shortcomings, however, and they would use the best of
the footage. Janice's bad acting would all end up on the cutting
room floor.

"This is what
happens when you cast a 'B' list actress opposite an Oscar-winning
actor," Harold said. "She ends up looking like an amateur. She's
'A' list now, of course, but only since she did that movie with
Simon. She's way out of her league, but the actresses in Mark's
league are few, busy, and very expensive."

Carrin
returned to Mark, who was alone. Simon, he explained, had gone to
keep an appointment. She told him what Harold had agreed to do, and
he looked relieved. It meant that she would have to work on the
screenplay over the weekend to make the changes, when she really
wanted to apply herself to the problem of Michael Bird. Although it
was only lunchtime, Harold called a wrap and sent everyone home for
the weekend. Carrin said goodbye to Mark and hurried out to the
waiting limousine, already thinking about how to thwart Michael
Bird's threat.

In her hotel
room, she stared blindly at the script while her brain refused to
let go of the blackmail problem. This was her chance to do repay
Mark's kindness in promoting her screenplay. There had to be some
way of getting the incriminating photos away from Michael Bird. If
Simon turned down his demand, he would sell them to the press.
Unless... A thought struck her, but she rejected it. Too
complicated. She had to come up with something simpler.

By suppertime
she had no other plan, and went over the original one again. It
would depend a great deal on Simon and Mark's contacts, but they
must have them. Two superstars should have a lot of clout in
Hollywood. Picking up the phone, she dialled the number that Simon
had given her. It was answered after two rings.

"Simon Grey,"
he stated unnecessarily.

"Simon, it's
Carrin."

"Ah, Carrin,
come up with a master plan yet?" He sounded too cheerful.

"Are you
sober?"

"As a
judge."

"I have an
idea. Tell me if it'll work."

"Okay."

"Have you got
friends amongst the press?"

Simon laughed.
"You must be joking."

"No, I'm
not."

"Oh, um, well,
no. I avoid them like the plague. Having one as a friend would be
like... well, putting a loud speaker on my private line." He
chuckled. "Literally."

"Okay." Carrin
thought for a moment. "Then do you have one who owes you a
favour?"

"No. Why
should I do anything for them?"

"Oh,
come on, Simon. We need the co-operation of a member of the press
for this to work."