The Blackwell Lessons (8 page)

22

Behind the clothes rail, Leo lounges on a red-velvet sofa. He’s sipping coffee and chatting to a tiny, pretty girl who has glowing white skin and curly blonde hair.

The girl’s eyes are huge and blue, and her lips pink and puffy. She’s kind of sporty looking. Healthy, anyway. She looks
really
familiar, actually … but I can’t place her.

‘Hey, hey!’ Leo bellows. ‘If it isn’t my leading lady.’ He stops smiling when he sees Marc. ‘And escort. How are you doing buddy?’

‘Very well thank you,’ says Marc, his tone clipped.

‘Sophia Rose, meet Ruby Tallow.’ Leo gestures to the girl beside him. ‘Ruby is playing the Fairy Queen. And Sophia – well Ruby you know Sophia is playing Rapunzel.’

‘Great to meet you,’ Ruby smiles. Her accent has an Australian twang and she looks
so
familiar.

‘You’re trying to place me, aren’t you?’ says Ruby.

‘Yes,’ I admit. ‘I’m really sorry. Did we meet before?’

‘Remember
Trust Street
? The Aussie soap opera? I was Tally.’

I laugh. ‘Oh yes. I used to love
Trust Street
. But your hair was …’ My hands go to my curls.

‘Totally ironed straight on camera,’ says Ruby. ‘Yep. No one knows I’m a secret curly girl. Good to meet you Sophia. I wish I’d seen you in
Beauty and the Beast
. I didn’t have a chance – I was in Sydney while it was running. I heard great things.’

‘Thank you.’

‘And Marc Blackwell!’ says Ruby, her grin broadening. ‘I’ve seen
all
your movies. But I bet everyone says that. I even had your picture on my wall when I was a teenager.’ She winks at me. ‘Bet you did too, huh Sophia?’

I laugh.

Marc slips his hands into his pockets. He looks thoughtful. Too thoughtful.

‘So who are we missing?’ Leo asks.

‘Baz and Sigourney,’ says Nadia.

I can’t help sneaking a glance at Leo. But he looks fine. Relaxed as ever.

‘You can save the eyeballs, Miss Sophia Blackwell,’ says Leo. ‘What – do you think I’m freaking out because my ex-girlfriend is in the movie?’

‘Aren’t you?’

‘Of course not. That was over a long time ago. Years have passed. Sigourney must have grown up some in that time. Isn’t that right Marc?’

What the hell …? Why is Leo asking Marc that?

Marc frowns. ‘Indeed.’

‘Marc, do you know Sigourney?’ I ask, a little confused by Leo’s comment.

‘In a manner of speaking.’

We hear the squeak of the door.

‘Ah ha!’ says Nadia, leaping to her feet. ‘Another new arrival.’

23

Nadia hurries around the clothes rail. A second later she reappears, dwarfed beside the tall, muscular bulk of Baz Smith.

‘Look who I found!’ she beams, her tiny arm threaded through Baz’s thick tattooed one.

Whoa.

Baz really is
big
in real life.

He’s the same height as Marc, but his bulky muscles make him much wider. He wears a tight, grey vest and jogging bottoms. There are tattoos all over his body, including his thick neck.

His dark hair is closely shaven and his brown eyes roam the room, unsmiling and dangerous.

When Baz’s eyes fall on Marc, he frowns. ‘What’s with the suit, James Bond? Where do you think you are – the fucking Ritz or something?’

‘Coming from a man wearing his pyjamas, I’ll take that as a compliment,’ Marc replies.

The two men eye each other sternly for a moment.

Then Baz bursts out laughing and slaps Marc on the shoulder.

‘Good to see you mate.’ Baz grabs Marc’s hand and shakes it furiously. ‘Fucking hell, it’s been years hasn’t it? Fucking years.’ He puts a hand to his mouth. ‘Oops. Sorry about that, ladies. I should watch my language.’

‘I’m Australian,’ says Ruby. ‘You don’t need to watch your language around me. I’ve heard it all.’

‘Still.’ Baz reddens and scratches his neck. ‘Ladies present and everything. Sorry.’

‘It’s been a long time,’ says Marc.

‘It certainly f—, … I mean, yes it has. How are you doing Marky boy? You got
married
. You! Marc Blackwell married. I’d never have believed it. And this must be the lucky lady.’ He turns to me. ‘Sophia. Right?’

‘Nice to meet you.’ I hold out my hand to shake, but Baz kisses my fingers instead with a playful, ‘Mwah! Mwah!’

‘Listen,’ says Baz, still holding my hand. ‘Any friend of Marc’s is a friend of mine. I’ll look after you. All right? How about I take you two to dinner later?’

‘Sophia may be tired later,’ says Marc, a little too quickly.

‘No, I’ll be fine,’ I say. ‘We’re only trying on clothes today.’

‘Always listen to the lady,’ says Baz, with a grin. ‘That’s what my mother taught me. What’s
your
problem Blackwell? Are you trying to avoid me or something?’

‘In some ways.’

Baz laughs. ‘I’m trouble and you don’t want trouble any more. Right?’

‘Right.’

I frown as I watch Marc. He seems … uncomfortable.

‘Well don’t worry. I promise the past will be kept in the past. I’ll keep all your secrets. Hand on heart, hope to die, stick a sausage in my eye.’

‘Secrets?’ I ask Marc, raising an eyebrow.

‘Baz always did have a way with words,’ says Marc, frowning. ‘I don’t have secrets from you, Sophia. You know that.’

‘Oh no?’ Baz gives a wicked grin. ‘Funny. Because I heard on the grapevine you’re having a little family drama. Sophia knows all about it, does she?’

Marc grits his teeth. ‘Sophia knows everything she needs to know. When the time is right—’

‘I’ve heard that before.’

What the hell is going on? I SO need to talk to Marc about this. But not here in front of everybody. Later.

‘Baz, stop making trouble,’ says Nadia. ‘Listen – I just got a message from Sigourney. Her mother isn’t very well so she won’t make it in this morning. We’ll get started without her.’

Leo snorts. ‘Is she still using that excuse? She used to—’ He catches the look Nadia gives him and snaps his mouth closed.

‘I hope her mum feels better soon,’ says Ruby.

‘Yes,’ says Nadia, not meeting Ruby’s eye. ‘Okay!’ She claps her hands. ‘Let’s get you trying on these outfits so we can see what works. We’ll have fun, right?’

‘Not my idea of fun,’ says Baz.

‘So let’s get you done first, Baz,’ says Nadia. ‘Then you can go home. Leave us ladies to enjoy ourselves.’

‘Nice idea,’ says Baz. ‘Marc, are you up for that? You and I leave the girls here and head to the pub? It’ll be just like old times. We could hit the White Horse. Remember that place?’

‘Far too well,’ says Marc. ‘I have no desire to revisit that part of my life.’

‘Shame. That means I’ll have to drink enough for both of us.’

Nadia turns serious eyes on Baz. ‘Don’t have a hangover tomorrow. We’re shooting on location – I don’t want you all puffy eyed.’

‘You know me Nadia. I’m a professional.’

‘That’s exactly right,’ says Nadia. ‘I
do
know you. So no big drinking sessions today. Okay?’

Baz sighs. ‘When did you stop being fun and turn into my mother?’

‘Around about the same time I started winning awards. Okay – listen. Baz, I’ll choose what you wear. You trust me, right?’

‘I trust you with anything if it saves me poncing around all afternoon trying on costumes.’

‘Go on, get lost. Go to the pub. Don’t stay out too late and we’ll see you tomorrow.’

‘Agreed!’ Baz slaps Marc on the back. ‘Good to see you mate. Truly. It’s been too long. We’ll catch up later okay?’

Marc gives a little nod.

‘Sophia!’ Nadia shouts. ‘Come. Come choose something. Here.’ She wheels forward a rail of dresses. ‘Take a look. What do you like?’

Straight away I notice a long, black gown with red laces all the way down the back.

‘I love this one.’

‘Ah ha! The witch’s outfit.’

‘Is it?’ My hand drops from the soft fabric.

‘You should try it on,’ says Nadia. ‘Let’s see how that dress works on you. It could be a good contrast.’

‘Shouldn’t Sigourney get first refusal?’ I say. ‘If she’s supposed to be the witch.’

‘Well Sigourney isn’t here,’ says Nadia. ‘If she wants first choice, she has to show up.’

‘But she said her mum was—’

‘She was bullshitting,’ says Nadia. ‘There was a film première in the West End last night. A friend of mine saw her there. Coked up to the eyeballs. She’s hung-over and sleeping it off. Leo’s right – she needs a better excuse. But I’d rather she rest than drag herself here and wear herself out. Filming starts tomorrow. I don’t want that beautiful face of hers all dried out and spotty.’

‘Is she still doing coke?’ Leo asks. ‘Hell – I thought she’d have grown out of that.’ He turns to Marc. ‘Did she do that stuff when she was with you?’

Do that stuff when she was with you?

I feel like I can’t breathe.

What? WHAT?

I turn to Marc, my eyes searching his face.

He doesn’t look at me.

What the hell is going on?

24

‘Marc? ‘I say stiffly. ‘Leo asked you a question.’

‘I heard,’ says Marc, his voice equally cold. ‘But I can’t tell you about Sigourney’s habits. I barely know the girl.’

Leo catches his eye and says, ‘Oh. Sure. Yeah right. Sorry.’

‘Marc? Did you and Sigourney …?’

I can’t finish that sentence. My stomach is churning and I feel like the tip of a knife is pressed against my heart.

‘I told you,’ says Marc. ‘I barely know her.’

‘So why did Leo ask you that?’

‘Uh oh!’ Baz says. ‘The cat’s out of the bag now, Marky Marc. The missus is getting jealous.’

‘I’m warning you Baz.’

‘Just trying to have a laugh—’

‘I’m not laughing.’

The room has gone horribly silent.

Ruby and Nadia are both watching me, pitying looks on their faces.

‘So what
did
Leo mean?’ I say.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ says Marc. ‘We’ll talk about it later.’

‘I’m
sick
of waiting until later!’ I snap. ‘We’ll talk about it
now
.’

‘She’s got balls this one,’ Baz remarks. ‘Do you usually let her talk to you like that? Or do you keep her in line by—’

‘Baz, be quiet,’ Marc barks. ‘Sophia – come with me. Nadia, I hope you don’t mind. Sophia and I need to talk privately for a moment.’

‘Go ahead,’ says Nadia.

Marc scoots me out the door and along the corridor. He opens a door marked ‘Awaiting delivery: E1’ and leads me inside.

There are furs and slave girl dresses hanging up, and a black leather sofa strewn with caveman clubs and animal horns.

Marc closes the door behind us.

‘I’m not stupid,’ I tell him. ‘Leo didn’t ask you that for no reason. You and Sigourney—’

‘Sophia, you’re the only girl I’ve ever loved. No one else matters. But for the record – yes I slept with Sigourney Seymour.’

I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach.

‘You
slept
with a girl I’m going to be working with?’

And not just any girl. A supermodel.

I swallow. ‘More than once?’

Marc doesn’t meet my eye. ‘Yes. More than once.’

‘How many times?’

‘Christ – I wasn’t keeping count. We weren’t together long. I can barely remember her, to tell you the truth.’

‘Were you together before she was with Leo?’

‘In a manner of speaking.’

‘What on earth does that mean?’

‘It means the waters are a little muddy.’

‘Sigourney cheated on Leo with you?’ I say, my voice practically a screech. ‘Marc! How could you—’

‘She didn’t cheat on Leo with me,’ says Marc. ‘She got together with him after I told her I wasn’t interested. But she still called me endlessly. Asking me for another chance. God knows why – I hardly treated her well.’

‘Did she live with you or anything?’

‘No. She didn’t live with me. She didn’t have any impact on my life whatsoever. We just both happened to be in LA at the same time on the same circuit. In those days, it was inevitable something would happen.’

‘Because she’s so beautiful?’

‘No. Because we went to the same clubs and saw the same people. The bad crowd. What happened between us was no big deal. Maybe she cared more than I did. I don’t know. But in those days I didn’t give a damn.’

‘It’s hard to think of you that way,’ I say. ‘Being so selfish.’

‘I was selfish. Completely selfish and lost.’

‘So Leo doesn’t know? That Sigourney still called you when they were together?’

‘I never told him. But with Sigourney … you never know what she could have said in the heat of the moment. She certainly likes to manipulate people’s emotions.’

‘Did she hurt you?’

Marc laughs. ‘No. But I saw her in action. With Leo. And others.’

‘Leo told me he was messed up over her for a while.’

‘I’m not surprised. For all his immaturity, Leo is honest and open. She no doubt dragged him through the mud.’

‘There’s two sides to every story.’

‘In Sigourney’s case, I doubt that. Maybe she’s changed now. I don’t know. Anyway. Look – Sigourney Seymour is someone I hardly knew. From a time I was completely lost. She meant nothing then and she means nothing now.’

‘What hurts is you didn’t tell me.’

‘What was there to tell? Until today I didn’t know she was in the movie. You want me to tell you about every woman I’ve slept with? It could take me some time.’

‘Thanks.’

Marc runs his hand through his hair. ‘Maybe I handled things wrong. I don’t know.’

‘What about when I was working with Leo? Why didn’t you mention you’d had a thing with his ex-girlfriend?’

‘I didn’t have a
thing
with his ex-girlfriend. I slept with her a few times. And she got hung up on me. End of story. There was really nothing to tell.’

‘You still could have told me sooner. When Nadia said she was in the movie—’

‘Tell you in a room full of people? You would have thanked me for that?’

‘Were you planning on telling me?’

‘Of course. I wasn’t going to have you work with the girl and not know. Look, back then sex was meaningless to me. Absolutely meaningless. Women came and went and I hardly remembered their names.’

‘Nice.’

‘I’m just telling you the truth. Until Leo made that comment, I wasn’t even sure if it was the same girl I slept with. She was that unremarkable to me.’

‘If you’re trying to make me feel better—’

‘You know me, Sophia. I won’t lie to you. It’s hard for me to see you hurt. But you have no reason to be. No reason at all. In my mind, you’re the only girl I’ve ever slept with. Because you’re the only girl who ever got in here.’

He takes my hand and puts it over his heart.

I stare at the floor.

‘Look at me.’

Reluctantly I do. And when our eyes meet, I find my stomach softening.

‘The only girl,’ he says. ‘Never forget that.’

‘Okay.’

‘Life started the moment I met you. But I can’t erase the past. I wish I could, but I can’t.’

‘If you erased the past, you wouldn’t be the man I fell in love with.’

‘So you still love me then?’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Suppose?’

‘Yes. Suppose. I … Marc. Tell me you love me.’ I know my eyes are a little wild as I search Marc’s face. I’m desperate for him to make this all better. My head tells me I’m being silly. Jealous. The past is the past. But my heart is aching.

‘I love you,’ says Marc, his voice low. ‘You and only you. It’s only ever been you.’

I close my eyes and kiss him, sliding my arms around his neck.

Marc’s arms wrap around mine and he kisses me back, softly at first, but then more passionately.

I respond to him, squashing my body against his, giving him short desperate kisses over his cheeks and neck.

‘Make love to me Marc,’ I say. ‘Show me. Show me you love me.’

‘I can show you.’

Marc lifts me up and carries me to a metal wall and presses my back against it. Then he wraps my legs around him and I feel him firm and long between my thighs.

I arch my back and give a little moan as he squeezes my buttocks between his fingers, his lips dropping to my neck.

‘The only girl,’ he whispers against my skin.

Effortlessly, Marc transfers my weight to one strong hand and uses the other hand to free himself from his trousers.

He pushes my panties aside and lets my weight come slowly, slowly onto him until he’s all the way inside me.

I moan as everything presses against him.

His hands come to my hips and he holds my thighs firmly, pushing my buttocks against the wall. Then he tilts his pelvis just the right way so he touches my most sensitive part.

I let my head touch the wall and moan as Marc moves back and forth.

‘Yes,’ I whisper. ‘Oh god Marc, yes, yes.’

As he moves faster, I hear my buttocks smacking against the hard wall and light moans coming from my throat.

I realise I’m getting pretty loud.

‘Marc,’ I murmur, unable to suppress another moan. ‘People might hear.’

‘This is a good opportunity to practise self-discipline.’

‘I don’t … think I can.’

‘Then I’ll stop.’

I moan and grab his buttocks. ‘Please, please don’t stop.’

‘But you don’t want people to hear.’

‘I know.’

‘Then you need to be quiet.’

‘I’ll try.’

‘Maybe this will help.’ Marc shifts my weight onto one hand and clamps his other hand over my mouth. He moves slowly and rhythmically back and forth inside me.

‘
Oooh
,’ I murmur, the sound softened by his fingers.

Marc begins to move harder and faster, pounding me into the wall.

I cling to him and let warm waves of pleasure overtake me, biting my teeth together to stop from crying out.

But I don’t manage it. ‘Oh god!’ I shout into Marc’s fingers.

Marc’s hand clamps more firmly over my lips. I can see he’s losing himself too. His eyes are slightly closed and his head is tipped back.

The slapping sound of my buttocks hitting the wall gets louder and louder as Marc pounds away.

I moan against his fingers, my eyes tight shut as I feel warm waves move over me.

This just feels too good. Way too good. The hardness between my legs. Marc’s fingers digging into my buttocks. And his hand clamped over my mouth.

Marc lifts me higher up the wall with every thrust, and my buttocks rub raw on the metal wall.

‘Marc.
Marc
!’ I croak against his fingers as I come, throwing my arms around his shoulders and collapsing against his chest.

Marc buries his head into my hair and lets out a quiet moan.

I feel him come too.

He drops his hand from my mouth and pushes himself right inside me, his eyes closed.

We cling to each other, breathless.

Then I start to laugh.

‘Something funny?’

‘This isn’t what I excepted to happen on my first day.’