The Modeliser (39 page)

“Friends. Of course.”

In
the dim light of the restaurant, Alex watched the play of emotions on Talia’s
face; she’d make a terrible poker player he thought. He longed to reach across
the table and pull her to him. From the moment he’d seen her, he’d wanted her
again, simply wanted to shove the plates and candles aside, dump her on the
table and bury himself inside her, wiping away the frustration and regret of
the last few months. But he held himself in check. This time he had to take
things slow. He was quiet as a waitress set down plates of food that he didn’t
even remember ordering. Talia picked absentmindedly at the food on her plate
and then set her fork down. She was thinner than when he’d last seen her and he
worried that perhaps in her short time there, LA was already warping her body
image. Alex raised his wine glass and gulped down the large glass of red.
Thinking about Talia’s body, about lush, hourglass curves was not the path
towards taking things slow. He fought to focus his mind.

“Cole Sidney has offered me Defender,” he heard himself say.

“It’s what you wanted isn’t it?” Talia replied, glad that
Alex had finally broken the uneasy silence and yet wondering where this awkward
conversation was leading.

“I told them No. I told them there was another script I had
to make.”

Talia
looked up at him.

“Really,” she asked, though her heart wasn’t in it. She
wanted to get away, to get back to London, to lick her wounds in private and
maybe, just maybe she might one day feel ready to be friends with Alex. He was
watching her intently and he reached into the jacket that he’d slung over the back
of his chair, pulling out a sheaf of papers rolled up.

He
set the pages down on the table uncurling them until Talia could see the cover
page.

“I told them I wanted to do this.” Alex said watching as her
eyes opened wide.

Talia
could see that it was her script that Alex had laid on the table – not
the 9
^th
or the 13
^th
draft but the 4th draft that she had
first sent him.

“How?” She gasped out.

“I made the studio an offer they couldn’t refuse.” Talia was
still in shock, torn between tears of joy and shocked nervous laughter.

“I can’t believe you did this for me.” She finally said. And
Alex reached a hand out to cover hers, which had somehow found its way back
onto the table. For a moment he let it rest there and then he jerked his hand
back.

“We should toast this,” Talia said as the waitress refilled
their glasses. Alex raised his glass.

“What do we drink to?” He asked.

“The film?” Talia asked and Alex shook his head.

“To us,” he said as he raised his glass. He watched Talia’s
eyes widen.

“To us,” she echoed and when her gaze finally met his, Alex
knew that his resolve was in real trouble.

As
they walked out of the restaurant into the cool Manhattan night, it was to find
that though the hour was late, the streets were still teeming with hipsters and
bar-hoppers and taxis were thin on the ground. Talia gave an inward sigh
– the universe seemed determined to prolong her time with Alex when all
she longed for was a cab to whiz her uptown to her hotel, leaving him behind.
She was elated of course, her film was to be made and she’d even concede that
Tamara’s brand of arched malice would be perfect for the female lead but now
she needed some space away from Alex, space to regroup. She felt the warmth of
his shoulder brushing against her side as they walked in silence. Talia looked
up as they passed a petrol station and she froze as she caught sight of the
date.

“Wow.”

“What?” Alex said and Talia started realising that she had
actually spoken out loud.

“The date,” she said indicating the large neon display on the
forecourt of the gas station to Alex.

“Yes?” he asked not hiding his confusion. Talia smiled.

“A year ago today, I was sacked,” she said. “I thought my
life was over.” Talia shook her head. Encounters and that sense of betrayal, it
all felt like a lifetime ago, how quickly life spun round, she thought. For a
moment she stood stock-still on the sidewalk. If there was one thing she’d
learned in the year, it was to seize the day. Alex had stopped just ahead of
her and he turned back to look at her.

“What are we doing?” She asked. He moved back towards her.

“Walking home?” He said with a small ironic smile that made
her realise that he understood the real meaning of her question.

“Why are we wasting time?” She snapped back at him, her old
bluntness re-asserting itself. Inside she was quaking but she was determined
and she took the small steps that would bring her toe-to-toe with him. She
thanked the stars for the high platform heels she’d worn that morning.
Stretching up, she drew his head down to hers, covering his lips in a bold
kiss, that left him in no doubt about what she wanted. She felt him try to move
his head away but she held him, slowly seducing his lips with small laps from
her tongue until his mouth opened beneath hers.

“This isn’t a good idea,” he breathed against her but Talia
was past letting him make the decisions for them.

“Come back to my hotel with me,” she said hands on hips, her
challenge clear.

Alex’s
clear blue eyes met hers. The rules of engagement had changed and he wasn’t sure
what to do. “No.” He finally answered and Talia smiled a deep confident smile,
the smile of a woman who knew her power and who could see he was struggling.
“No,” Alex said again, his doubtful tone revealing his dilemma.

“Yes,”

“No,” Alex bit back and Talia smiled and began to walk not
bothering to wait to see if he was following her.

“Oh
god yes!”

Talia said the words on a long groan as she came noisily.
Slowly Alex kissed his way back up her body until her naked breasts were tight
against his hard chest.

“Do you think anyone heard?” She asked guiltily and Alex gave
a bark of laughter.

“They probably heard you in the next street,” he said and
Talia smacked his chest. Alex rolled over onto his back so that she straddled
him. They were back in his New York Penthouse, his back was on the floor of the
kitchen and yet he barely noticed the chill. Though the mind may have been
willing, his flesh had been weak and his resolve to take things slowly with
Talia had lasted only 7 blocks. By the time they’d reached West 4
^th
street and his building he’d been too far gone to argue with her.

“Max was only with me to get at you,” Talia had admitted
quietly to Alex after they’d made love. They’d only just made it through the
front door, not even managed to get out of their clothes before Alex had been
inside her, his cock thrusting into her even as his fingers pinched and stroked
her clit, helping her come just moments after he had climaxed.

“Fuck him,” Alex replied and for the next few hours, he set
about wiping all thoughts of Max Maguire from her mind.

“This is a nice flat,” Talia said. They were sitting on the
kitchen floor, him in just his white shirt and her in her bra. The rest of
their clothes discarded like a breadcrumb trail from the front door through the
open plan living room and finally leading to them in the vast kitchen.

“You like it?” Alex asked his interest once again focused on
Talia’s breasts.

“I do,” she replied even as her eyes were drifting closed and
she could feel him pushing her knee high up on his hip so that he could rub
himself right where she wanted him.

“I’ll buy it for you,” Alex said and once again he pushed
inside her.

Later,
as sunlight filtered through the floor to ceiling windows, Talia stretched in
bed and wondered when she would be able to walk again without wincing. Alex
strolled back into the bedroom uncaring of his nakedness and yet Talia felt
embarrassed. It still felt so very strange to be here with him. She glanced at
the clock as a thought occurred to her.

“My flight leaves in 15 minutes.” Her brow furrowed worriedly
and yet she made no effort to move.

“I guess you’ll miss it then,” Alex replied as he tugged the
bed sheet from her grasp, pulling it until her naked body was exposed to his
gaze. Talia propped her head up in her palm and turned to face Alex as he
sprawled down on the bed next to her. “So what are we going to do till filming
starts,” he asked as he pushed her hair away from her face. Talia laughed.

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she said as her fingers
trailed down his chest.

“And after the movie?” Alex groaned.

“You’re doing Defender,” Talia said firmly.

“Six months in New Zealand without you,” he shook his head.
“Not fucking happening.”

“It’s an amazing series,” Talia continued. She felt a moment
of conflict and then threw caution to the wind. “Besides I’ll come with you.”
She held her breath and felt him go still next to her. What if this was too
much?

“You’d come with me?”

“I can write anywhere, besides I’ve always wanted to go to
Rotorua or something,” she mumbled.

“And after New Zealand?” Alex prompted. Talia shrugged…

“Who knows?” she replied airily. She was rather enjoying
throwing caution to the wind. There was a moment of silence and Talia looked up
to stare into Alex’s face. She watched as a myriad of emotions chase across his
face and she felt a beat of unease, perhaps she’d been too forward.

“I think…,” But before she could complete her sentence, his
mouth was on hers.
 

“You think too much,” Alex said and then slowly he kissed her
and for a long time Talia had only one thing on her mind.

“Why
do we have to go out at all?” Talia asked as they walked out of the building.
It was three days since since she had missed her flight back to London and
they’d holed themselves in the apartment. They’d made love in every room in the
house, had ordered in, had barely been aware of the world going on outside. On
the second day, Talia had tried to snatch a glimpse of Alex’s reviews in the
New York Times that had been delivered but he was having none of it. The
reviews of Alex’s performance had been stellar but as she tried to read a
review out to him, Alex grabbed the paper out of her hand and tossed it away.

“No reviews in bed,” he growled.

“They said you were amazing,” Talia told him, kissing gently
along his neck.

“I am amazing,” Alex answered, wrestling her back onto the
bed. Talia smacked his butt hard.

“Arrogant too,” she retorted.

“Yeah but you like my big ego,” Alex sniggered and proceeded
to show her how much she liked his ego.

Now finally they were coming up for air. It was dark as they
emerged into the buzz of Greenwich Village. Talia drew her jacket around her.
“Where are we going?” she asked again. Since he had announced that they were
going out, Alex had been cryptic and Talia would have happily stayed in,
ordered take away and watched cable TV.

“We need to get some fresh air,” Alex said in a reasonable
tone that caused Talia to stare hard at him. He was up to something, she was
sure about that. Something about the way his mouth kept raising up as though in
a secret smile.

“What are you up to?” Talia felt a hint of nerves; she didn’t
like surprises.

“Relax,” Alex said and there on the sidewalk, he pulled her
into his arms. His fingers fisted into her hair and his mouth clung to hers in
a kiss that had her mindless in seconds. Even after three days, the heat
between them showed no signs of diminishing. Talia was lost. She pushed her
tongue into his mouth, standing on tiptoes to reach him. All sense of time and
place was forgotten and her hands ran over Alex’s back, pulling him into her.
She fisted her hands with his shirt and pulled the tail of the shirt out of his
waistband. Talia slid her hands underneath stroking up the warm skin of his
muscled back, when a blaring horn rang out, startling them both.

“Get a room kids,” a loud laughing voice yelled out and they
sprang apart laughing. Talia watched as Alex ran his hand through his hair. He
looked as dishevelled as she felt.

“This is why we should have stayed in,” Talia said. Her
tongue felt heavy in her mouth and her pulse beat an erratic frustrated tempo.
She gave Alex a winsome smile; perhaps he might change his mind and get them
back home to bed.

“We have reservations,” Alex replied but she could tell that
he was faltering that if she kissed him now, he’d drag her back to the
apartment. “I want to do this right,” Alex blurted out. Talia stared at him
curiously noting how he seemed strangely nervous.

“Do what?” She asked.

“This,” he said and dropped to his knee. Talia gaped at him,
suddenly all too aware that they were exposed on a New York sidewalk and around
them people were already starting to stare.

“What are you doing?” She hissed. Alex let out a laugh.