Araluen (35 page)

‘Emma’s doing some work with me for the Blind Society,’ she said.

For the next half an hour it was impossible for Emma to leave. Michael took over and his conversation was fascinating. Emma was riveted by the machinations of the television world and enthralled by the fact that she was listening to her half-brother.

When she was finally able to make her departure, Michael insisted upon driving her home. Emma was aware of the warning in Penelope’s voice. ‘Go on, dear, you might as well, he’s not going to take no for an answer.’

Emma tried to signal a look of assurance in return. She had no intention of breaking her promise.

But she found herself unable to refuse the offer of a drink and further conversation with Michael when they arrived at her flat. Just half an hour, she told herself, half an hour of contact with her brother.

It was with reluctance that she managed to drag herself away nearly two hours later. What a fascinating mind, she thought. And she could hardly believe it when he said he wanted her to work with him. She’d dearly love to, but …

‘Perhaps,’ she heard herself say. ‘We’ll talk about it later, Michael.’ It would be impossible, of course.

The following day, Emma telephoned Penelope to thank her for the afternoon.

‘I think we should meet, my dear,’ Penelope said. ‘How about in the little coffee lounge down the road from the Blind Society?’

Emma arrived early and sat at a corner table overlooking the street for ten minutes before Penelope’s car pulled up outside. She watched as Penelope gave her driver his instructions and the car drove off.

‘Hello, my dear. Isn’t it a glorious day?’ Penelope signalled the waitress. ‘Soon it’ll be far too hot. Sydney summers – I do so loathe them.’

When the waitress had gone, Penelope got straight to the point. ‘What did you think of Michael?’ she asked.

‘He’s terrific,’ Emma said enthusiastically, ‘and very interesting. We talked for ages.’

‘Yes, I know.’ There was a wariness in Penelope’s tone and Emma immediately sought to reassure her. ‘I didn’t tell him anything, Penelope, honestly. And I won’t, for as long as you tell me not to. I don’t want to spoil things and I couldn’t bear it if Mr Ross … ’

‘Yes, yes, my dear, I believe you.’ Penelope sipped her iced tea and there was a moment’s silence. Then she said, ‘He wants you to work with him.’

‘Yes, I know. He said he – ’

‘He’s going to offer you a job as a trainee script editor at the studios.’

‘Oh.’ Emma felt uncomfortable. ‘He said he wanted to but I wasn’t sure how serious he was.’ Penelope said nothing, but her troubled look worried Emma. ‘I’ll turn the job down, I promise.’ Still Penelope said nothing. ‘Really I will. I swear.’

‘I don’t think it’s going to be as easy as that, my dear.’

Penelope was in a genuine dilemma, Michael had come home raving about his ‘meeting of the minds’ with Emma Clare. ‘Where did you meet her, Penelope?’ he’d asked. ‘For someone so young she has a stunningly creative brain. She’d be a perfect storyliner; I’m going to offer her a traineeship.’

Penelope had tried every ploy to dissuade him without appearing suspicious. ‘But she’s only seventeen.’

‘So was I when I started.’

‘Yes, my darling, but you were a sophisticated seventeen. Emma is really very young;’

‘That’s exactly what we need, some more young blood in the department. Reg is a real dinosaur.’

‘But how do you know if the girl has talent?’

‘We’ll give her a try and find out, won’t we? For Christ’s sake, Penelope, what have you got against her? I thought you liked her.’

‘I do, darling,’ she said. ‘Very much. That’s why I’m being protective.’

‘Protective of what?’ There was a mischievous glint in Michael’s eye. ‘Her virginity? I’m hardly going to seduce her, am I? As you say, she’s only a kid.’

Michael had never confided in his grandmother about his affairs of the heart. Indeed, the only person with whom he’d ever shared such confidences had been Daniel Pendennis, but Dan had gone. As arranged, his duties had ceased upon Michael’s eighteenth birthday and Dan had returned to his beloved Mousehole to set up a martial arts school with the tidy cache he’d squirrelled away during his four years’ employment with Ross Industries. Since then, there had been no one Michael wished to confide in and he’d grown to prefer it that way.

Penelope was forced to give in. Michael was obviously going to offer Emma the job with or without her approval. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, Michael. If you wish to employ the girl, then employ her.’

‘No,’ she said to Emma, shaking her head thoughtfully, ‘it’s not going to be that easy.’

‘You mean I should accept the job?’ Emma desperately hoped it was what her grandmother was saying. She longed to work at the studios. But surely Penelope couldn’t be serious. ‘You mean work alongside Michael without telling him who I am?’

‘That’s precisely what I mean.’ The girl was staring back at her incredulously. ‘For the moment anyway,’ Penelope continued. ‘You see, if Michael found out the truth, he would most definitely tell his grandfather – they’re very close.’ Penelope breathed a martyred sigh. ‘And then, I’m afraid, we would both be forbidden any contact with you.’

Penelope had spent a sleepless night working out the details. Emma could get her training through the Ross Studios – there was little doubt that the girl was talented and Penelope herself would ensure that she moved quickly through the ranks - then, once she was qualified, one of Penelope’s many contacts in another area of the industry would come up with an offer too good to refuse. An offer in another city. The girl was ambitious; she’d take it; and it would only be a matter of time before she was phased out of their lives altogether.

‘We must bide our time, Emma,’ she said, ‘before we can let the truth be known. Mr Ross is a very forceful man and we must somehow mellow him before he can be told. But there will come a day, I’m certain of it.’ Over my dead body, she said to herself.

For such a strong woman, Emma thought, Penelope was very much dictated to by her husband. But then, everything that was being said of Franklin Ross rang true of the tyrannical personality Julia had painted.

Emma nodded her agreement.

‘In the meantime,’ Penelope continued, ‘I think it would be better if you didn’t visit The Colony House, and if all contact with Michael was kept strictly to studio business.’

‘We’ll continue to see each other through our work at the Blind Society,’ she added, when she noticed the disappointment in Emma’s eyes. ‘And … ’ she gave a comradely smile ‘ … through our clandestine meetings in coffee houses.’

Emma smiled back, relieved that Penelope didn’t want to relinquish their contact.

Two weeks later, Emma took up her official train-eeship at Ross Productions.

Her first month was spent observing storylining sessions and script conferences of programmes currently in production, as well as the actual workings of the studio itself from marketing to publicity, from filming to editing and post-production.

She was kept extremely busy and she didn’t see much of Michael except for the moments when he managed to corner her as she grabbed a quick takeaway sandwich and coffee at the canteen.

Michael himself was finding the situation very frustrating. He couldn’t wait to get to know Emma but she seemed to avoid any personal contact with him.

‘It was Penelope’s idea to give you the full view of things,’ he said one day while Emma waited for her sandwich. ‘Are you getting fed up yet?’

‘No way,’ she answered enthusiastically. ‘It’s fascinating. I’m learning so much and it’ll be a terrific advantage once I start working for the script department.’

‘Yes, that’s what Penelope thought. I must say she’s certainly taken you under her wing.’ Michael was a little peeved. Penelope had gone from one extreme to another. Having accepted the fact that he was going to offer the girl a job, she’d zealously taken over Emma’s career to the point where he was denied any contact at all. ‘Why don’t you
come to The Colony House after work and we’ll put a few hours in on the movie?’ he suggested.

It was the third time he’d asked her in the past fortnight and he received the same answer. ‘Sorry, Michael, I can’t tonight – I’m going out.’

‘Okay, I’ll give you a lift home, you can offer me a coffee and we’ll chat about it before you have to leave.’ Michael wasn’t going to give up so easily this time around.

‘Sorry, I can’t. I’m going out straight from work.’

‘Fine, I’ll drive you. We can talk on the way. Where are you heading?’

Oh hell, she thought, where was she heading? ‘Redfern,’ she said off the top of her head. She’d go and see Julia.

‘Fine. I’ll pick you up at front reception. Five- thirty all right?’

‘Yes, five-thirty’s fine.’ There wasn’t much else she could do. Damn, she thought yet again, if she could only afford a car it would solve everything, but she was still a good month away from having enough money for a deposit. How could she keep steering clear of Michael’s offers for another whole four weeks?

‘Titles: what do you think?
Halley’s Comet, Harbinger of Doom,
or just plain
Halley’s?’
Michael was firing questions at her, talking very fast and driving very slowly. It was only a quarter of an hour from the studios to Redfern and he wanted to make every second count.

‘Halley’s,’
Emma answered instinctively. ‘I’ve
got a thing for one-word titles.’ She knew he was working overtime on rekindling her interest in the movie theme and he was succeeding. It was impossible to be unaffected by Michael – by his intelligence and his enthusiasm and, above all, his imagination.

‘Sabotage by the sect of religious zealots,’ he was saying. ‘They manage to blow up one of the airships, which alerts the media. The press realises something’s going on, but at this stage, they don’t know what. The astronomers won’t tell them about the pole shift for fear of universal panic, and obviously the mega-businessman isn’t going to tell them. So that leaves the religious zealots. Why aren’t they going to alert the press and tell the world?’

‘Good question,’ Emma said. ‘We’ll have to think about that one.’ Damn, the ‘we’ had slipped out. ‘That’s the place,’ she pointed, ‘next corner on the left.’

‘Good.’ Michael pulled up outside Julia’s house. ‘We’ll think about it tomorrow evening after work. The Colony House. You can come over for dinner.’

Oh God, she thought, here we go. ‘I can’t,’ she answered.

‘The next night then?’

‘No, Michael.’

‘What is it, Emma?’ It was time to confront her, Michael decided. He sensed that Emma liked him and she was certainly stimulated by the movie project – so why was she so wary of personal contact? If she was a virgin, and frightened that he was going to make sexual advances, then he was quite happy to bide his time. Despite the fact
that he already fantasised about Emma, Michael was prepared to wait.

‘Why am I threatening to you?’ he insisted. ‘I only want to work on the movie together, and I know you’ re interested in the project. Why are you so terrified of being alone with me?’

‘I’m not, it’s just … ’ Emma knew she must give some form of plausible answer. ‘It’s just that I don’t want to abuse Penelope’s kindness.’

‘In what way?’

‘She’s been so good to me, getting me the work at the Blind Society and advancing my career at the studios and –’

‘So?’ Michael asked with a touch of impatience. ‘So what?’

‘So, The Colony House is her space. I don’t want to crowd her.’

‘Good grief, is that all?’ He smiled, relieved. ‘The Colony House is my space too, you know. I have virtually a whole wing of the place to myself – two double suites, even my own kitchen; it’s bigger than a normal apartment …’

‘I don’t care.’ Emma refused to be cornered. ‘I’d still feel uncomfortable. I’m not coming to The Colony House and that’s that. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go.’

She opened the car door. Michael jumped out from the driver’s side and was there in a flash to assist her. ‘Okay, I promise, I won’t hound you any more. No Colony House.’ He gave her his most winning smile. ‘But please, Emma, please … work with me on this movie. Just a couple of nights a week. I’ll drive you home and we can have a coffee at your place, or we can stay a bit later
at the studios. Just say you’ll work with me. We can inspire each other, you know we can.’

Emma looked at the eyes which shone into hers with all the eagerness of an excited ten-year-old. Yes, it would be a stimulating experience, she thought, and where was the harm? Just a couple of nights a week.

‘All right,’ she said, feeling guilty as she recalled Penelope’s instructions that all contact with Michael was to be kept strictly to studio business. ‘All right, you win.’

As she turned towards the house she saw that one of the lounge room curtains was pulled aside and she knew that Julia was watching.

‘Starting when?’ Michael asked.

‘Starting Friday after work,’ she called back as she walked up the path. ‘Coffee, my place.’

‘That was him, wasn’t it?’ Julia said as she opened the front door and they watched the Porsche speed off down the street.

‘If you mean Michael Ross, yes it was. I’m sorry to arrive out of the blue but I needed an excuse.’ Emma wasn’t expected for another two weeks. Julia still didn’t have a telephone so they arranged each successive meeting in advance. The meetings had dwindled from every Saturday to every alternate Saturday and, the last time they’d seen each other, they’d stretched it to three weeks.

Emma was saddened by the rift that had grown between them, but since she’d started working at the studios, Julia had never ceased to agonise to
her over Penelope’s ulterior motives. ‘Why has she given you this job?’ she asked. ‘Why is she keeping you a secret? Why doesn’t she simply tell Franklin about you and have you kicked out of the family? It’s what she wants.’

‘It’s not what she wants,’ Emma protested time and again. ‘She knows that’s exactly what he’d do and she doesn’t want to risk it.’

‘Bullshit. She’s terrified that he might accept you after all. That’s what it is, it must be.’ On and on Julia went until Emma was worn out by her venom. Torn between her loyalty to her mother and her gratitude to Penelope, the strain was becoming unbearable.