And then she saw him.
He was down the far end of a corridor, reading something on the wall. She tried to call him but her emotion caused her to choke. Suddenly he turned away and vanished around a corner. She began to run, not looking where she was going until she collided with an obstacle, felt two arms tighten around her and heard a man’s voice say, ‘Hey, steady there.’
‘Let me go. I must catch him.’
Charlene wrenched herself free and ran along the rest of the corridor, turning the corner, then stopping abruptly, backing off, hand to mouth to silence the joyful cry that had been about to burst from her.
Now she could see him again: Lee, half turned away from her, hailing someone just out of sight.
‘Where have you been?’ he called. ‘I’ve been looking for you. Come here and kiss me.’
The next moment a girl appeared from nowhere, throwing herself into his wide open arms, kissing him again and again between squeals of laughter, crying, ‘Oh, darling, it’s such wonderful news!’
He was laughing too, kissing her back, saying breathlessly, ‘Hey that’s right, give me a kiss…and another…and another… Oh, I like that…oh, yes…oh, yes-’
He was lurching backwards under the girl’s impact, until they both vanished around a corner. Charlene felt as though her heart had stopped dead. Not just her heart, but the whole world. That had been Lee. No-impossible. Yes-it had been Lee. No-yes-no-yes-no!
She turned wildly, knowing she had to get out of here. But her way was blocked by the man who’d been there before and who’d reappeared.
‘I’m…I’m sorry-’
He put a friendly hand on her shoulder.
‘Don’t get upset. That guy’s not worth it.’
‘I-’ She tried to speak normally, but only a choke would come.
‘Don’t cry,’ he advised her.
‘I’m not crying,’ she said fiercely, although tears were streaming down her cheeks.
He didn’t waste time arguing, just took out a clean handkerchief and dabbed her face gently.
‘People kiss each other all the time,’ he said. ‘It doesn’t mean anything, not in this place. Kissing is just like saying hello.’
She knew that what she’d seen was far more than that, but he was trying to be kind, and she forced herself to be calm.
‘Yes-yes-thank you. I’ll stop bothering you now-’
‘You’re not bothering me. I just don’t like to see you upset. Do you know him?’
‘I thought I did-I mean, yes-no-’
He nodded, as though fully comprehending her confusion.
‘I can’t say I like him much myself,’ he admitted. ‘Are you one of his fans? You sound English. Did you follow him here?’
‘No!’ she said fiercely. ‘Of course I didn’t. What a thing to say!’
‘Sorry, sorry. No offence. So you haven’t lost your heart to him?’
‘No!’ she said violently. ‘That would be just silly-mooning over a pretty face just because he’s an actor.’
‘It has been known,’ he murmured wryly. ‘But if you haven’t, that’s good. This is no place for people with hearts. What’s your name?’
‘Charlene Wilkins. Who are you?’
She sensed, rather than saw, a tremor of surprise go through him. ‘What did you say?’
‘I just asked your name. Have I seen you before somewhere?’
‘Evidently not. My name’s Travis Falcon. I work here.’
‘Oh, yes-you’re in the show, aren’t you?’
His lips twitched with something that might have been amusement. ‘That’s one way of putting it. Now, let’s get out of here. We’ve got time for a coffee before I start work.’
‘No, I’m fine…fine-honestly-’
It was a lie. Appalled, she could feel herself on the verge of hysterics as the truth crashed in on her.
‘Come on,’ he said firmly. ‘I’m not leaving you on your own in a strange place. Not given the state you’re in.’
But to be alone was what she needed in case the screams rising within her broke out. When he reached for her she flailed madly to fend him off, and the next moment she heard a loud crack as her hand made contact with his face.
The sound was shocking and the way he rubbed his cheek told its own story. Charlene backed away, hands over her mouth, eyes wide with horror. But, incredibly, he wasn’t offended.
‘Hey, it’s not that bad,’ Travis said. ‘No big deal.’
‘It is. Oh, heavens, I hit you really hard. I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry-’
‘You will be if you don’t let me buy you a coffee. Come on, no more arguments or I’ll get tough.’
His tone was light but he held her arm in a no-nonsense grip. Nor could she have defied him now. All the strength seemed to have drained out of her. The next thing she knew, she was sitting at a table in the corner of the studio canteen.
‘I’m going to the counter,’ he said. ‘Don’t even think of escaping while I’m gone, or I’ll get mad.’ He gave her a kindly smile. ‘I can be very nasty when I’m mad.’
He left her and she sat there, without the strength to move. She felt herself sagging everywhere-body, mind and heart. How had she been such a fool as to let it come to this? Plain, sensible Charlene, famed for her common sense! And she’d gone down like a row of ninepins.
Travis Falcon. Now she recalled that he was the star of the show. He didn’t act like a star, proud and pompous. He hadn’t been offended when she’d failed to recognise him, or even when she’d accidentally struck him. More like a nice guy than a star.
She dived into her bag and pulled out the newspaper with the picture of the man in the nightclub. As she opened it another picture fell out. It had been taken on a stage and showed a young man and a girl in nineteenth-century costumes, fervently clinging to each other. She took it with her everywhere.
‘Here we are.’ Travis’s voice made her jump as he appeared with coffee and rolls. ‘It’s good to see you calmer. I was getting worried.’
‘I’m really sorry about your face,’ she said. ‘I didn’t mean to hit you.’
‘I know you didn’t.’
‘It’s not swelling, is it?’ she asked, searching his face. ‘If I’ve damaged you the studio will probably sue me.’
‘Hey, do you think I’m some sort of a wimp to be so easily hurt? You’re not the first girl to- Yeah, well, never mind that. Anyway, we’re only rehearsing today, not shooting, so if you’ve disfigured me it won’t matter until tomorrow.’
His comic self-deprecation was attractive, and her nerves eased enough to manage a shaky laugh, which made him regard her with approval.
‘That’s better. Now, let’s talk. How do you come to be here? I suppose you were looking for Lee?’ She nodded and he said, ‘Perhaps you should have warned him you were coming?’
‘But I did, only…he doesn’t seem to be getting his messages the last few days.’
Travis judged it best to maintain a tactful silence. He’d known Lee for only a few weeks and disliked him. Selfish, self-centred, indifferent to everyone else was how he would have described him. In the short time Lee had been in Los Angeles he’d raised the roof with his ‘girly antics’ as they had become known.
But he wouldn’t say this to the young woman sitting beside him. There was no need. Clearly she was discovering it for herself.
‘Do you know him well?’ he asked.
‘We’ve acted together.’
‘You’re an actress?’
‘Not professionally. I work in a bank, but I do a lot of amateur acting. That’s how I met Lee.’
‘Hey, now I remember. There was a story in the papers-he hadn’t had a job in a while, so he did some amateur stuff and an agent saw him.’
‘That’s right.’ Charlene showed him the photograph. ‘That’s us.’
‘What was the play?’
‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Lee played Shakespeare?’