Illusions of Love (66 page)

India
ignored his reference to the
JJ
tattoo she had on the underside of her left wrist, the initials of her latest ex-husband.
 
It was something she’d once been so sure had signified their seemingly strong relationship – a permanent mark to represent a partnership that she’d hoped would stay the same way.
 
But now it was just something she kept hidden behind wrist-cuffs and watches, something that more often than not had to be blocked out with make-up on movie sets.
 
Something that shouldn’t be there anymore.

‘Why not?’ she said, totally side-stepping his comment.
 
He may have expected a reaction, but he wasn’t getting one.
 
‘I’ve always fancied one that goes right over the shoulder and down my back.’

Kenny looked at her.
 
‘Well, one like that sure as hell ain’t gonna to be finished in one night, kiddo.’

She shrugged, taking another drink.
 
‘Anyway, quit changing the subject.
 
What the hell were you playing at?’

Kenny sighed.
 
‘We’ve been over this…’

‘And we’ll go over it again and again until I begin to understand just what was going on in either of your tiny minds.
 
Jesus, Kenny… sleeping with Charley?
 
Why?
 
How could you let that happen?’

He looked straight at her.
 
‘You
know
why I
did it,
India
.’

She turned away from him, staring straight ahead of her, focusing on the bottles lined up at the back of the bar.

‘So, what’s Charley’s excuse?’
 
She turned to look at him again, banging her bottle of beer down hard on the bar.
 
‘Y’know, we’re all acting like demented fucking teenagers.
 
What the hell is wrong with us?’

‘She was scared,
India
.’

‘We’re all scared, Kenny.
 
Doesn’t mean we should all go round fucking everyone at random in some vain hope that it’ll make us feel better.
 
I for one have learnt that really isn’t the way to go.’

Kenny looked at her, raising an eyebrow, but saying nothing.

‘I mean, Charley she… she’s married to the most incredible man.
 
Vince is one in a million and she’s crazy to have even thought about putting that relationship in jeopardy, after everything she’s been through.
 
If she loses him over this…’

‘I thought you said they were working things out?’

‘They are.
 
But you don’t expect Vince to forgive and forget just like that, do you?
 
And quite honestly, Kenny, I’m more than surprised that he hasn’t laid you out.
 
It’s not like you don’t deserve it.’

‘Thanks.’

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, finishing the last of her beer, smiling at the rather attractive bartender as he handed her a fresh one.

‘But that’s the kind of man he is, you see.
 
The most grown-up, level-headed one out of the lot of us.’

Kenny watched as she took another long drink.
 
‘Are you gonna start taking it easy?’

‘Are you gonna stop acting like my chaperone?
 
What’s the matter with you?’

‘You’re in one of those moods.’

‘Oh, don’t
you
start.
 
I’ve just got Bobby off my back.’

‘And don’t you think you should, y’know, maybe, talk to your dad?
 
I know he could’ve handled that whole situation a lot better, I mean, it’s not what Reece does, is it?
 
Acting without really thinking.
 
But he only did it ‘cos he loves you,
India
.
 
And let’s face it, the way Michael’s been carrying on lately, that heart attack was probably something that was just sitting around waiting to happen.’

India
looked at him, resting her elbow on the bar and her head in her hand.
 
‘He shouldn’t have gone there, Kenny.
 
He should have talked to me first.’

‘I think he probably knows that now, baby.’

India
closed her eyes for a second, trying to banish a sudden wave of tiredness from taking over.
 
She was determined to party ‘til dawn tonight, and nothing was going to stop her from doing that.

‘So, what exactly’s going on with you and Dominic then?’

India
opened her eyes, reaching out for her beer and taking a sip.
 
‘He gave me an ultimatum.’

Kenny’s eyes widened.
 
‘An ultimatum?
 
What
kind
of ultimatum?’

‘Him or Michael.’

Kenny was confused now.
 
‘Michael?’

‘Dominic thinks I still have feelings for Michael.’

‘And, do you?’

‘I’ll always have feelings for Michael, Kenny.
 
You know that as well as I do.
 
But that doesn’t mean I want to be with him.’

‘Does Dominic know what happened?’

India
looked at him, frowning.

‘Does he know what happened between you and Michael?’

She shook her head, still fighting that unwelcome tired feeling.

‘Are you gonna tell him?
 
Because, right now, he’s about the only person round here who
doesn’t
know.
 
And he
is
Michael’s son.’

‘What’s that got to do with anything?
 
That doesn’t give him a God given right to know everything about his father’s life, does it?
 
For Christ’s sake, they’ve only known each other a matter of weeks.’

‘Is it fair, though?’

India
was beginning to tire of this conversation.
 
It felt more like an interrogation than anything else, and that was something she really wasn’t in the mood for.

‘Kenny, I really haven’t got the energy to get into this... Telling Dominic would be a really bad idea, okay?
 
Right now, it would be a really bad idea.’

‘You should tell him.’
 
Kenny looked straight ahead, taking a long drink of beer himself.
 
‘If you want a future together.’

‘Who said anything about wanting a future together?
 
We’ve only just met.’

Kenny said nothing, just drained the last of his beer and slid down from his stool.

‘Where are you going?’
India
asked, needing him to talk to just to keep her awake.

‘Toilet.
 
You wanna come with me?’

She poked her tongue out at him and swung back round on her stool, facing the bar, checking how much beer she had left.
 
She fancied a change after this drink.
 
Cocktails, maybe?
 
No, there was something about this bar that somehow didn’t make her want to hit the cocktails.
 
Whisky, maybe – it was time to hit the shorts, on the rocks, of course.
 
The only way she ever drank the stuff.

She felt someone slide onto the stool beside her and she turned to see who it was, knowing it couldn’t be Kenny because he’d only just left.

‘Shouldn’t you be over at The Amber Palace trying to make your marriage work?’ she said, not taking a beat as she looked at Charley.
 
‘Want a drink?
 
Stupid question…’

She turned back to face the bar, signalling to the bartender to come over, ordering two whiskies on the rocks.

‘I don’t know what to do,
India
.
 
I really don’t.
 
I’m at a complete loss, and Vince, he… it’s like he just can’t bring himself to be near me, y’know?
 
And that hurts.’

‘Well, I suppose him finding you in the arms of Kenny Ross kinda stung a bit too, don’t you think?’

Charley looked down into her drink, swirling the whisky round over the shards of ice in the glass.
 
‘You know I don’t drink whisky.’

‘You do tonight.
 
Get it down you, it’ll do you good.’
 
India
looked at her friend as she continued to swirl her drink round the large, ice-filled tumbler.
 
She looked thinner, but she supposed the stress of the whole Jimmy Cash thing and then this situation with Vince and Kenny, well, maybe it had just got to her more than anyone realised.
 
‘You
do
know I’m here with Kenny, don’t you?’

‘Yeah, Bobby told me,’ Charley replied, looking up to meet
India
’s eyes.

‘So?
 
Should you be here?
 
What if Vince finds out?’

‘I’m not doing anything wrong, am I?’

‘
He
might not see it that way, Charley.
 
Given what’s gone on.’

Charley sighed, taking a large gulp of whisky, screwing her face up as the warm liquid hit the back of her throat.
 
‘
Jesus
,
India
, how do you drink that stuff?
 
You never used to touch it.’

‘Yeah, well, sometimes life has a habit of changing things.’
 
She knocked back half of her glass in one go, without the hint of a flinch.
 
‘So, are you here to talk…?’

‘I don’t know.
 
I don’t know
why
I’m here, I just know that I couldn’t face another night of sitting there in that strange apartment, all on my own, thinking about how stupid I’ve been.’

 
‘And what if Vince finds you here?
 
How’s
that
gonna look?’

Charley stared down into her drink again.
 
‘Why would he come looking for me?’

‘Because he loves you, you bloody idiot.
 
Despite everything.’
 
India
turned her attention to Kenny as he arrived back at the bar.
 
‘And talking of bloody idiots…’

‘
Jesus
,
India
, can you leave it alone for just five minutes?’

‘No, Kenny, I
can’t
leave it alone.
 
You
should’ve been more responsible – she was vulnerable, and you latched onto that…’

‘
India
…’ Charley began, but
India
swung round to face her.

‘And
you
… well, you should have come to
me
, okay?
 
If you couldn’t talk to Vince, then you should have come to me.’

‘You had enough problems,
India
.’

‘Oh, sod my problems, Charley.
 
I’ve always got fucking problems, you know that.
 
And most of them I bring on myself.’

‘You including me in that?’
 
They all turned round to see Dominic standing behind them, hands in his pockets, his handsome face dominated by a frown.
 
‘Am
I
one of your problems?’

India
looked at him for a few seconds.
 
‘Have they given out invitations or something?’
 
She didn’t take her eyes off Dominic as she downed the last of her whisky, slamming the empty glass back down on the bar.

‘She always resorts to flippancy when she’s confronted with something she doesn’t want to face,’ Kenny chipped in, signalling to the bartender to bring him another beer.

India
threw him a look as he grabbed his beer and indicated to Charley to join him.
 
‘Come on, Charley.
 
Let’s leave them to it.’

‘Is that wise?’
India
asked, watching as Charley walked over to Kenny, a little reluctantly she thought.
 
‘I mean, if Vince finds out…’

‘Vince is the least of your worries, kiddo,’ Kenny said, looking from her to Dominic, then back at
India
again.
 
‘And if you must know, I’m going to try and persuade Charley to go back to The Amber Palace and talk to Vince.
 
Okay?’

‘You are?’ Charley asked, a touch surprised.

‘Yeah, I am,’ Kenny replied.
 
‘Hanging round here isn’t going to do you any good, especially as Ms Movie Queen over there appears to be busy now.’

‘Who said I was busy?’

Kenny looked at her, raising an eyebrow.
 
‘You’re busy, okay?
 
Come on, Charley.’