Friends & Rivals (24 page)

‘Here, take this.' Leila pulled a pen-light out of her purse and handed it to him. ‘I use it to do close-up make-up work, but it's a neat little gizmo.'

Jack flicked it on. The tiny bulb spewed light over the menu like a supernova, making it instantly legible. He laughed. ‘That's cool. I have to get one of those.'

While he scrolled through the entrées, Lex said quietly, ‘So, you'll never guess who I saw for lunch today.'

‘Who
we
saw,' Leila corrected him.

‘Who?' asked Jack, not really interested.

‘Kendall.'

Jack's head shot up as if he had whiplash. ‘Kendall's in LA?' The idea seemed to upset him, or at least to throw him off his stride. ‘Did you know she was coming?'

‘No,' said Lex. ‘I don't think she knew. She said it was a last-minute thing.'

‘Is Ivan with her?'

‘No.' Both Lex and Leila noticed Jack's shoulders visibly relax at this answer. ‘I got the sense that maybe all wasn't well back in London. But we didn't have a chance to get into it.'

Jack felt as if the floor beneath his chair had been replaced by a spinning plate. He had horribly mixed emotions about Kendall, from anger to nostalgic affection and everything in between. He certainly didn't want to see her. He wasn't ready for that. But at the same time, the fact that she was in LA and had seen Lex but not him bothered him more than it should have.

‘Was she apologetic? About what happened with Jester. Did she seem regretful?'

Leila choked on her breadstick, but after a sharp look from Lex, said nothing.

‘She asked after you,' said Lex diplomatically.

‘Hmm.' Jack returned to his menu, the subject apparently closed, but throughout dinner it was clear his mind was racing. Lex talked about the Grammys and the deal he'd just cut for one of JSM's clients, a jazz singer from New Orleans, with Sony. Jack nodded and smiled at the appropriate moments, but when he got up to go to the bathroom, Leila said, ‘I don't think he heard a word you said, honey.'

Lex agreed. ‘This Kendall thing really floored him. I thought about not saying anything, but I don't like the idea of keeping secrets and … oh my God.'

‘What?' Leila followed his gaze. Standing just inside the door, with two girlfriends from her old, pre-Jack partying days, was Kendall. In skin-tight black leather pants, spiked boots and a Rick Owens distressed denim jacket, she looked fiercely sexy. Everything from her body language, to the slashes of black rock-chick eyeliner ringing her amber eyes, seemed to be a challenge.
Try not to look at me. Try not to want me. I dare you.

‘She knew we were going to be here!' Leila said furiously. ‘She's stalking you.'

‘She's stalking someone,' said Lex bitterly, ‘but it isn't me.'

‘Well you needn't sound so disappointed about it,' said Leila, who hadn't forgotten Lex's outburst of temper at The Polo Lounge earlier. She didn't know what hold Kendall Bryce had over her normally considerate boyfriend, but she didn't like it. ‘And for goodness' sake, stop staring. She'll see us.'

‘Too late,' said Lex. Whispering something to her girlfriends, Kendall headed over. Every head in the restaurant turned to stare as she glided up to Lex's table.

‘Hey, guys.' She smiled disingenuously. ‘This is so weird, running into you again.'

‘No it isn't,' said Leila, all pretence at politeness now abandoned. ‘I mentioned at lunch that we'd be here tonight. You came here deliberately.'

‘Believe it or not,' said Kendall witheringly, ‘just because Lex hangs off your every word doesn't mean the rest of us do. I never heard you say anything. This happens to be one of my favourite restaurants. I always eat here when I'm in town.'

‘Yeah, right,' sneered Leila.

Before Lex could say anything, Jack arrived back from the bathroom, looking as if he'd seen a ghost. Even Kendall seemed to blanch, although it was hard to make out anything clearly in the candlelit gloom.

‘How are you?' Jack asked stiffly. He made no move to hug her or kiss her hello.

‘I'm great, thanks,' said Kendall.

There was that defiance again, thought Lex, the chin jutting forward and upwards, shoulders thrown back.
What's she trying to prove?

‘How are you?'

‘Thriving, thank you. JSM's going gangbusters. Lex and I are having the time of our lives,' said Jack, sitting back down at the table but pointedly not offering Kendall a seat. To Leila's intense annoyance, Lex grabbed a free chair from a neighbouring table and rectified this state of affairs.

‘I can't stay long,' Kendall muttered gratefully. ‘I'm here with some friends.'

‘Don't let us keep you,' said Leila, earning herself a withering glare.

Jack went on. ‘Of course it helps working with a partner I can trust,' he said snidely. ‘Speaking of which, how
is
Ivan? Is the world of reality television all he dreamed it would be?'

You could have scooped up the sarcasm and eaten it with a spoon. Kendall was hurt. After two years she'd hoped for more forgiveness from Jack, or at least for the bitterness to feel less raw. She also wanted him to ask about her, not Ivan. But she kept her game face on.

‘
Talent Quest
's a huge hit, as I'm sure you know,' she said coolly.

‘Yes, I've seen a few episodes,' said Jack. ‘Some of the contestants are extremely gifted. I wouldn't mind signing Ava Bentley myself.' Kendall winced inwardly at the mention of Ava's name. ‘But the judging panel are an embarrassment.'

‘Nothing embarrassing about their salaries,' snapped Kendall. ‘It was absolutely the right move for Ivan to go into television. I think his only regret is that he was held back for so long.'

‘Guys …' said Lex, trying to make peace, but it was no good. Jack's fire was up now. There could be no turning back.

‘Yes, I can see he's made it a priority over management,' said Jack, leaning forward on his elbows. ‘Your last album's sales are a pretty strong indicator of that. As are Jester's profits. Still, as long as you're both happy.'

‘We are,' Kendall shot back. ‘Blissfully. There's nothing like tripling your income and having really great sex to put a smile on your face. You should try it some time, Jack. You too, Lex.'

‘You bitch!' shouted Leila. ‘Who the hell do you think you are?'

Kendall stood up. Lex noticed her hands were shaking. ‘You know, it's a shame, Jack,' she said. ‘You've changed. You're not the man I remember.'

For a moment Jack looked genuinely wounded. Then he said quietly, ‘We've all changed, Kendall. Good luck.'

Back at the bar with her friends a few minutes later, Kendall watched Jack leave, alone, without so much as a glance in her direction. All of a sudden she was twelve years old again, watching her father, Vernon, walking out of the house, as cool as a cucumber, while her mum lay collapsed and sobbing on the front step. ‘Don't make a fool of yourself, Lorna.' Those had been his last words as a member of Kendall's family. He hadn't even glanced back at his stricken daughter, so eager was he to move on and begin his new life.

A stony-faced Leila followed a few minutes later, followed by a distressed-looking Lex.

‘He doesn't mean it, you know,' Lex whispered kindly to Kendall on his way out. ‘Take care of yourself.' Then he, too, was gone.

Leila drove Lex's Range Rover back to Malibu, staring resolutely at the road ahead. She was angry, understandably so, but what bothered Lex more were the tears brimming in her eyes and threatening to spill out at any moment.

‘I'm sorry,' he said lamely.

‘For what?' asked Leila. ‘For sticking up for her after her atrocious display of spite at lunch? Or for
not
sticking up for me when she said I was shit in bed tonight?'

‘She didn't exactly say that.'

‘You see? There you go again! Defending her. Putting her first. As if she's ever,
ever
put you first.'

Lex sat in guilty silence. It was so incredibly unlike Leila to go off the deep end, he knew he must have pushed her there. There was also the uncomfortable fact that everything she said about him and Kendall was true. True and embarrassing. He didn't
want
to be that person, the schmuck who always put Kendall first. Not any more. But at the same time he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Her loneliness was palpable, and her anguish over Jack. There was more to her than the spoiled bitch that Leila saw. Still, it was no excuse.

‘Are you in love with her?'

Leila had pulled over to ask the question. To Lex's horror, she was crying properly now.

He took her hand. ‘No.' At that moment he didn't know whether that was the truth or not, but it was the only answer he could give.

‘And what about me? Are you in love with me?'

‘You know I love you,' Lex answered carefully. ‘Look, I know I was a jerk today, Leila, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you.'

Leila looked him in the eye. ‘If you're really sorry, promise me you won't see Kendall again while she's here.'

Lex hesitated. He thought about the look on Kendall's face when he left just now, the desolation beneath the put-on smiles. Those girls she was with weren't friends. They wouldn't support her. All they cared about was being vicariously associated with fame and money. But if he turned his back on her, they were all Kendall would be left with.

Then he thought about Leila, all the happiness she'd brought him, the love, the unwavering loyalty and support. He knew he had no choice.

‘OK,' he said. ‘If it means that much to you, I promise. I won't see her again.'

The next five days were hell on earth for Kendall. The morning after her disastrous run-in with Jack, she received a furious email from her record company, swiftly followed by numerous phone calls, all demanding that she return to the UK immediately or consider herself in breach of contract.

Kendall was pretty sure this was bullshit. Polydor didn't own her, and she was entitled to take some personal time. In normal circumstances she would have had her manager calm the waters, but as Ivan still hadn't made any contact with her whatsoever, she was damned if she was going to be the first one to call. So she picked up the phone to Lex (he was a manager now, after all, and ought to have some advice as to how to handle this sort of hysteria), only to be told that his stupid-ass girlfriend had forbidden him to have any more contact with her.

‘Are you serious?' Kendall exploded down the phone. ‘You let your girlfriend choose your friends?'

‘It's not like that,' said Lex.

‘How is it not like that? Jesus, Lexy, I'm sorry but you need to grow a pair.'

‘You're not sorry,' Lex snapped. ‘That's your problem, Kendall, you're never sorry for anything. I don't suppose it occurred to you that the reason Leila's so upset with you is that you were unforgivably rude yesterday?'

Kendall hung up – she didn't have time for this crap. The phone rang immediately. Evidently the chief executive of Polydor viewed her abscondment as serious enough to warrant a personal call from the top. Halfway through his diatribe, Kendall shouted into the receiver, ‘Listen, asshole, my dad's got cancer, OK? So quit giving me a hard time and back the fuck off,' and hung up feeling mildly satisfied. By the time anyone figured out that Vernon Bryce was actually in rude health, Kendall would be back in the studio and all this drama would be over.

The irony was, she would happily have flown back to London on the next plane. There could be no disguising it now, her trip to LA had been a disaster. Her family were too busy to see her, Jack was clearly nowhere near forgiveness, and now even Lex was giving her the cold shoulder. The thought of spending the next however-many-days in the company of acquaintances and hangers-on was an even lonelier prospect than being by herself. But she couldn't go back to Ivan with her tail between her legs, not having made such a grand, dramatic gesture. If she did that, whatever tenuous hold she still had over him would unravel completely. It would only be a matter of time till she and Ivan were history. She
had
to get him to crack first.

A day passed, then another, then another. No one called. Kendall's initial relief when the record company stopped hassling her was soon replaced by panic. What if they were quiet because they were figuring out a way to sue, to try to claw back their advances? Most worrying of all, though, was Ivan's continued radio silence. Had he left her? Moved out of the Chelsea flat? She scoured the Internet for recent pictures or reports about him since she'd been away, looking for clues as to his state of mind. But other than a few fluff pieces about his bond with Ava Bentley, and a single shot of him looking relaxed walking into the
Talent Quest
studios, Starbucks in hand, she had nothing to go on. At least he was in London and not holed up in the countryside with his wife. But he certainly didn't seem to be missing her.

After five days cooling her heels at the Chateau, with shopping and spa trips the only thing to break the monotony of her days, Kendall finally snapped. She couldn't live in this limbo for ever. She had to do something. With a sinking heart, she dialled Sasha Dale's number.

‘Ah, the prodigal daughter.' Kendall's publicist couldn't hide her delight. ‘I was wondering when you'd call. You're in a hole and you want out of it, right? OK, kid. Get a pen. Here's what you're gonna do …'

Lex was at Gold's Gym on Venice beach, working out with Gunther, his personal trainer, when he got the call.

‘Kendall, calm down.' He held the phone away from his ear, trying to catch some words between the deafening sobs. ‘I can barely make out what you're saying.'

‘My chest!' Kendall wailed hysterically. ‘Lex, I need you. There's something wrong with my … I think I'm having a heart attack!'