Shooting Star (12 page)

The following day Nydia and I were sitting by Jeremy’s pool waiting. We still had no idea what Sean planned to do about the film which meant that we still had no idea what was going to happen to us.

As it turned out we stayed at Greta Tartucci’s farm for so long that my mum insisted on calling Henry’s mother and explaining where he was whether Henry thought it necessary or not. Mum said that Mrs Dufault was really glad to know where he was and wasn’t quite as cool about him being out all hours as Henry liked to make out. But anyway Greta had made toast and tea and we explained what had happened. Not just on that night, but over the last few weeks. Sean sat his mum down and told her everything.

I watched her face as she listened to Sean. At first she was shocked, then there was anger and then finally, as he explained how his dad had set him up in Bella Fortuna, it was sadness. Two big fat tears rolled
down her cheeks and she looked really hurt, not for herself but for Sean.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were missing your father, Sean?” she asked him softly. Sean looked uncomfortable as he tried to work out what to say. I wished that I could give him a hug, but I knew I couldn’t so I twisted my fingers together, as I watched him tying his own into worried knots.

“Because…you hate him,” he said finally. “You’re always saying how much you hate him. I didn’t think you’d let me see him.”

“I wouldn’t have stopped you,” Sean’s mum said. “I would have protected you from…from all of this!” She gestured at the open paper that had already run a story on Sean, including the photos that were taken earlier that evening. “Honey, I would have stopped you getting yourself into this mess. Don’t you trust me?”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Sean said. “I do trust you – I got confused…I’m sorry.”

His mum reached out and put an arm around him. “Don’t be sorry,” she said, kissing the top of his head. “What’s done is done and now you’ve got me on your side. We’ll figure this out one way or another, don’t you worry.”

“And you’ve got us too,” I reminded him.

“We’ll stick by you whatever happens,” Nydia said. “As soon as you’ve decided what you’re going to do.”

“So you didn’t ever really want to come back to the movies?” Sean’s mum asked him. “And taking the part of Sebastian was a front to stick around in Hollywood?”

Sean nodded. “I feel like such an idiot.”

“Honey, I don’t want you to worry about anything,” his mum told him. “Don’t worry about the studio, the contract or even your fans. The only thing that matters is you and if you’re not ready for this then you just won’t do it. It’s as simple as that. I’ll have you back in London within twenty-four hours and you’ll be kicking a ball in the park with your mates before you know it.”

“I know,” Sean said. “I need some time to think about everything that’s happened and…I need to talk to Dad again.”

“Really?” Sean’s mum looked shocked. “After everything he’s done.”

“Yes,” Sean insisted. “
Because
of everything he’s done. I need to talk to him – to see if there’s even a bit of him that cares about me, about the boy that’s his son and not Sean Rivers movie star. So will you call him and ask him to come over tomorrow?”

“If that’s what you want,” Sean’s mum said dubiously.

“And after I’ve spoken to him,” Sean said, looking at me, “that’s when I’ll know what to do.”

Nydia and I had tried to sleep when we got back, but we couldn’t. She had sneaked into my room and we lay awake almost all night talking about everything that had happened and what it might mean.

“Maybe this isn’t our big break after all,” Nydia said. “Maybe this time next week we’ll all be in London again with the rest of the boring holidays to get through.”

“Maybe,” I sighed. “But on the bright side you’d see a lot more of Gabe.”

“I like Gabe a lot,” Nydia said, “but at the end of the day, he’s just a boy. This is my career we’re talking about.”

“There’ll be other big chances,” I said, turning to look at her in the darkness.

“Will there?” Nydia asked me. “How many big chances does a person get? Think about how many actors and actresses there are in the world. Millions and millions. And how many are famous or even get regular work? Hardly any. Everyone’s waiting for their big break and this was mine.” She looked out of the window where the city lights still burned below us in the valley. “I know that if Sean pulls out of the film it’s what he has to do.
But if he does then it will probably be over for us too.”

“It might not be,” I said. “If any role is likely to get recast it’s mine, not yours. Come on – chin up, you’re usually such an optimist.”

“That was until I came to Hollywood,” Nydia said. “It’s dog eat dog out here.”

“Except for David because he wouldn’t fill anyone up,” I said, patting the tiny dog on his scrawny head.

“So what happened between you and Henry?” Nydia asked me on a big long yawn. I told her about the kiss and him asking me out, but not about the ADHD. I thought that was up to him to tell her if he wanted to.

“But you’re not going to go out with him again?” Nydia asked me.

I shook my head. “I suppose I could and it would be fun and everything, but…It sounds silly, but my heart’s not in it.”

“You really like Sean, don’t you?” Nydia peered at me in the gloom. I shrugged. “Go on, you can tell me. I won’t throw a strop.”

“I do a bit,” I said, by which I mean a massively large amount.

“And he really likes you, the idiot,” Nydia said.

“Yes, but neither of us wants to hurt Anne-Marie,” I said quickly.

“I know you don’t, now,” Nydia said. “Although the way she found out could have been handled a lot better. Look, Annie’s hurting now, but she won’t feel that way forever. She’ll be happy again really soon and then I bet she won’t mind about you and Sean at all. You just have to wait.”

“Really?” I said uncertainly. “Do you think so?”

“Yes, I do,” Nydia said. “Why does that seem to scare you.”

“Because it’s Sean.
Sean Rivers.
Imagine me, Ruby Parker, being Sean Rivers’ girlfriend. That is crazy!”

“You can say that again!” Nydia had laughed and we’d talked some more, until at some point just before dawn we’d drifted off to sleep.

As we waited by the pool Mum came out to join us with some juice and pancakes. “I’ve had your rehearsal schedule faxed through from the studio,” she said, sitting on the end of one of the sunloungers.

“Assuming all goes to plan, you’ll be rehearsing for the whole of the summer break and begin shooting in September, so obviously you won’t be able to go back to school in London. But the studio will set up a school on set for all the students. Remember Fran Francisco?” she
asked me. “She taught you while you were working on
The Lost Treasure of King Arthur.
Well, she’ll be teaching you again. We’ll be living over here for the next four months until Christmas.”

“That’s ages. We’d probably get really bored and homesick after a while,” Nydia said.

“And on set, school isn’t nearly as much fun as it sounds,” I said. “That Fran Francisco is nearly as strict as Ms Lighthouse!”

“Plus imagine having to spend the whole summer learning cool dance moves and singing great songs,” Nydia added wistfully.

“It would be awful,” I said. “I actually hope that Sean wants to go home. I actually think that that would be best all round.”

“You’re doing a good job of keeping your chins up, girls,” Mum said. “Pat Rivers will be here soon. Why don’t you go and have a shower and get dressed. It’s always better to face your fate with a clean face.”

“OK, Mum,” I said, looking at Nydia. “After all we’ve been taught by Sylvia Lighthouse. We know all about keeping our chins up, come what may.”

I was washed and dressed and on my way downstairs
when I noticed Sean’s bedroom door was open. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his hands gripping the sides as if he were afraid he might fall off. His dad was due to arrive any minute.

“Are you OK?” I asked him, standing in the doorway.

He looked up at me and smiled. “Come and sit next to me for a bit,” he said. After a second’s hesitation I did, deciding it couldn’t hurt. I liked sitting next to him.

“Ruby,” he said, “I just want to thank you. You’ve been a really great friend to me since we got here.”

“Been?” I half laughed. “That sounds sort of ominous. That sounds sort of like you’re not going to be my friend soon.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean I’ve messed things up a lot by telling you how I feel. I’ve made life really difficult for you and I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’d do without you as my friend.”

“Well, you won’t have to know,” I said, getting a bit annoyed by all this talk of “friends”. Was Sean trying to tell me that he’d gone off me?

“Good.” Sean looked at me, slid his right hand over my left and leant towards me. “You’re the coolest girl I know, Ruby Parker,” he said, his lips very close to mine. I got the distinct feeling that I didn’t have to worry after all.

“I’ve always thought so,” I squeaked.

“Do you remember when I had to kiss you in the audition, and I said you didn’t have to worry because it was Sebastian kissing you and not me?”

I nodded, deciding that talking wasn’t my best thing just then.

“Well, start worrying, because now it’s me who’s going to kiss you.”

And when Sean kissed me there were fireworks, butterflies, an army of fizz pops and a whole host of goosebumps.

I think he’d probably stopped kissing me for two or three seconds before I finally opened my eyes.

“Now,” Sean said with his old grin, “I know that I can face my dad.”

“Good,” I managed to say. “That’s good.” And I was secretly thinking that was lucky because right now I didn’t think my knees would ever work again.

Downstairs we heard the doorbell go and David launch into a yapping frenzy.

“He’s here,” Sean said, standing up.

“You’ll be brilliant,” I told him.

He nodded. “I will. And thanks to you I know exactly what to do.”

Sean had asked us all to be there when he saw his dad. Pat Rivers looked at us sitting around Jeremy’s living room as if we were the enemy, which I suppose we were really. We’d all certainly have really liked to punch him if we had been the sort of people to condone violence, which we weren’t. Although I rather wished that Henry was there to do another flying tackle.

“So your mother’s stuck her oar in then?” Mr Rivers sneered, nodding in the direction of Sean’s mum.

“She’s made me realise I shouldn’t have been seeing you in secret,” Sean said stiffly. He was locking all of his feelings inside, but I could see the tension in his face.

“Look, son, I know the way things came out wasn’t exactly how you would have chosen, but you’ve been away so long. You needed to come back with real impact. You had to wake this town up, make it sit up and pay attention to Sean Rivers.”

“But, Dad,” Sean kept his voice level. “I wasn’t coming back. You know that. I was never going to actually make the movie. I only did it so I could spend some more time with you. The whole thing was your idea.”

“I know that’s how you felt to begin with,” Mr Rivers said, giving a very good impression of a man who cared. “But I knew that once you were back on the lot you’d get that old feeling back. You’d really want to be part of
something as special as this movie. I knew that in the end I’d get you to see reason.” Mr Rivers took a step closer to Sean. “Look, son, your mother wants to hold you back; she always has, wanting this so-called ‘normal’ life for you. But you wouldn’t be happy with a normal life – and you know that I’m right. If I was wrong then why else would you have come to find me?”

“Because I love you, Dad,” Sean said. “And I wanted you in my life. Not because I wanted you to manage my career. I just wanted a dad.”

“But don’t you see? I can do both!” Mr Rivers promised. “As your manager I can be your dad and control…I mean build your career.”

“Dad…” Sean paused and looked at me. “I’ve decided. I’m not going to do
Spotlight!
—”

“What?” Mr River shouted at him, making us all jump. “You are going to throw away this opportunity – are you crazy? Do you realise how much money I –
we
could make from this movie, the record deal, merchandising? It’s a bottomless pit of cash. This deal would set us up for life, Sean. And you’re walking away from it because you’re a wimp, a pathetic, no good, waste of space wimp – and you’re no son of mine.”

I gasped and looked at Sean, expecting him to crumple, but all he did was smile.

“Dad, you didn’t let me finish,” he said calmly. “What I was about to say was that I’m not going to do
Spotlight!
with you as my manager. Or actually with you involved in my life at all. But I
am
going to do the film. You were right about one thing. When I got back on set, I realised how much I missed the buzz and how brilliant movie people can be to work with. People who care about the film and each other. I’ve loved every second of it and now I know that I’m ready to work again – but not with you anywhere near me. So when you see the CD in the shops, or the doll advertised in store windows or the DVD spending weeks at number one, then you’ll know that you aren’t going to make another single cent out of me ever again.”

“Why, you…!”

I shrieked as Pat Rivers rushed at Sean, and I was sure he was about to hit him, when something wonderful happened.

“THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!” A loud male voice stopped him in his tracks. I have never been so relieved to see my dad standing in the doorway, even looking quite tough and macho for once, despite his bald patch.

“Don’t you lay a finger on that boy,” Dad told Mr Rivers in his best telling-off voice. “Otherwise you’ll have me to deal with.”

“I’ll sue,” Mr Rivers said.

“For what?” Sean said. “I never signed anything, and even if I did it wouldn’t count unless Mom had signed it too. Your plan failed, Dad. You lost.”

“But you’re my son. You belong to me.”

“No, I don’t,” Sean said simply. “I am not your son any more. Goodbye, Dad.”

Finally Mr Rivers turned on his heel, pushed his way past Dad and made his way out, chased by a furious David yapping at his heels.