No Matter What (26 page)

Michael smiled again.
 
His baby angel, his beautiful girl.
 
He prayed every day that this carried on, that they never got tired of each other, never forgot what they were feeling now.
 
His life revolved around her and he wanted it to stay that way.

He slowly unfastened the shirt she was wearing a little bit more, leaning forward to kiss her breasts.
 
This girl had him totally under her spell and sometimes he still couldn’t believe she was really his.
 
After all the pain of wanting her so much, of loving her from afar without her having any idea how he really felt, after all the heartache of seeing her with Kenny and now, finally, she was here with him.
 
It still seemed too good to be true.
 
But it was
her
skin he was touching,
her
mouth he was kissing,
her
voice that was whispering in his ear.
 
And now that desperate need to have her had been replaced by the overwhelming fear of losing her, and he was having a lot of trouble dealing with that.
 

“Come on,” he smiled, standing up and taking her hand.
 
“Let’s go take that shower.”
 

But for now, any thoughts or fears of what may or may not happen in the future were put to rest.
 
The present was about to entail another trip to heaven, and Michael was more than ready for the ride.

***

The post-premiere party was busy, noisy and full of some of
Hollywood
’s biggest stars, which still made Terry slightly nervous.
 
This was his sister’s world, not his, and he wasn’t overly comfortable mixing with movie stars and everything that came with them.
 
He didn’t mind Reece, or even Michael come to that, but that was because they were close to
India
and somehow seemed more ordinary.
 

He grabbed a drink from a passing waiter and watched as his sister walked into the room, hand in hand with Michael.
 
She’d changed so much over the years.
 
Not as a person, more the way she looked.
 
She’d grown up; become this incredibly beautiful young woman and he couldn’t believe it was her sometimes when he looked at her.
 
She was still that tomboy rock-chick at heart, that’d never change, but tonight she was the epitome of
Hollywood
glamour, and she looked amazing in a white, off-one-shoulder short sheath dress that skimmed over her curves, her long legs shown off to their incredible best in high silver sandals, her hair piled loosely on top of her head.
 
No wonder Michael looked like the luckiest man in the world.
 
He probably was.
 
And Terry felt proud to be her brother, lucky to be here with her, sharing in it all.
 
If only they’d had parents who could have been here too, parents who’d cared enough to want to be here and be as proud of her as he was.
 

Terry had often thought about contacting their mum, just to see what was going on in her life, but he’d always stopped himself, always thought twice and then thought better of it.
 
India
may not want her contacted and if she did, well, she was a big enough girl to do so herself.
 
For now, they were fine as they were.
 
India
had people around her who loved her and he was here to keep an eye on her.
 
They didn’t need anyone else.

He watched her smiling as she talked to people they’d only ever seen on a movie screen before, watched her talk to these people with so much ease, like she’d been doing this all her life, like she’d been born into this world, all the time holding tightly onto Michael’s hand.
 
This famous, older man seemed to be making her the happiest he’d ever seen her and over the weeks it’d made him relax somewhat. Although it was also making him wonder what it must be like to have someone love you so much, and
be
in love with someone in that way.
 
He’d never really felt it, never really known what it was like.
 
Maybe it could have been there with Charley, if they’d had the chance.

He shook his head, almost as if to get rid of that thought because it did no good to go back to that.
 
Charley was bad news.
 
Whatever she was up to now, whatever was going on with her, he really had ceased to care.
 
She could get on with it.
 
He had a new life now, and he had no intention of re-visiting the past.

***

India
grabbed herself a drink and headed towards Kenny.
 
Tonight he was on his own.
 
Usually he was always accompanied by one or two aspiring actresses or up-and-coming models firmly attached to either arm but tonight he’d come to the premiere alone.
 
India
hadn’t had a chance to talk to him yet, and she really wanted to catch up with him.
 
She hadn’t spent a lot of time with him lately and she’d missed him.

Seeing him sitting alone at a corner table she walked over to him, sitting down next to him.
 
He looked over at her and smiled.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey, you back.”
 
She leaned over and kissed his cheek.
 
This was the first time she’d seen him clean shaven for months.
 
He also had much shorter hair and it suited him, but it was all for a movie, of course.
 
It wasn’t how he usually chose to look.
 

“You’ve let go of him for five minutes then,” Kenny said, indicating towards Michael, who was now talking to Reece.

India
looked at Kenny, not quite sure what he meant by that.
 
“Don’t say hello and then start, Kenny.
 
Please.”

He ran a hand through his shorter hair, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his thighs, clasping his hands together.

“Sorry.
 
No, I’m really sorry,
India
.
 
I’m happy for you.
 
Really.”

“Are you?”

He looked right into her eyes.
 
“Yes.
 
I am.”
 
He sat back in his chair and picked up the bottle of beer on the table beside him, taking a long swig from it.
 
“Is he looking after you?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.
 
He’s a really good man, Kenny, and it would mean a lot to me if you two made an effort to get on with each other.”

Kenny looked over at Michael again.
 
There was still something about him that he couldn’t quite get his head around, something he just couldn’t trust.
 
Maybe he
should
get to know him a bit better, then at least he’d be able to keep a much closer eye on him.

“You’re my best friend, and he’s my boyfriend, the two of you really should at least
try
and be civil.
 
For me, if nothing else.”

“Boyfriend seems like such a strange term to describe him,
India
.
 
He’s so much older than you.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, he’s forty-four!
 
What’s the big deal?”

Kenny took another drink and turned to
India
, taking her hand and squeezing it gently.
 
“Ok, ok, I’m sorry.
 
I’m sorry.
 
Just ignore me.”

“Yeah, I might just do that.”
 
But she was smiling as she said it and he couldn’t help but smile back.

“So, what’s he like then?
 
For an older bloke I mean?”

“Jesus, you’d think he was some kind of pensioner.
 
He’s actually really fit, if you must know.
 
He keeps himself in great shape.”

“Is he any good in bed?”

“Kenny!”

Kenny just shrugged and smirked at her, but he actually really wanted to know.
 
Was he as good as
he’d
been?
 
Did he make her feel like
he
had?
 
Just what was it about this guy that had her acting like some lovesick teenager?

“Come on then.
 
Tell me.”

India
looked over towards Michael.
 
She was aching to get back to him, just wanting to feel his hand holding hers again.
 
She felt safe when he was next to her.

“He makes love to me like I’m the most precious thing in the world,” she said quietly, still looking at Michael.
 

Kenny felt his stomach lurch and his heart sink.
 
It wasn’t so much what she’d said but the way she’d said it, and there was no doubt about it now.
 
He’d lost her.
 
To a man he wasn’t altogether sure was completely right for her.

“That good, huh?” he said, finishing his beer and putting it back down on the table.

India
looked at him, deciding it was time to change the subject.
 
“I’ve had a call from Charley.”

Kenny couldn’t hide his surprise.
 
“Charley?”

She nodded.
 
“She contacted
Alice
’s office.
 
They asked me if I wanted to talk to her and I said yes.
 
She called me this evening, just before we came here.”

“Why?
 
Why would you want to talk to her now?
 
After all this time?”

“Because I figured that the only reason she’d be contacting me is if she needed me ...”

“Or your money.”

“She’s in trouble, Kenny.”

He pushed a hand through his hair again and sighed.
 
“What sort of trouble?”

“I’m not sure.
 
She was calling from a payphone, said something about not being able to talk for long because they were watching her ... she said could I tell Terry she was sorry for everything, but she really needed help.”

“
Jesus
,
India
, don’t get involved.
 
She could be mixed up in anything.
 
You know who she’s living with, don’t you?”

“Jimmy Cash.
 
He’s a businessman, isn’t he?”

“And you know as well as I do that he’s a lot more than just a businessman.”

“I know she works for him.
 
I know what she does, Kenny, but she said she needed help.”

“It’s a different world, babe.
 
One we shouldn’t even think about going near, not when Jimmy Cash is involved.”

“I’m worried about her, Kenny.
 
Worried about what she’s got herself into.”

“Leave it,
India
.
 
Please.”

“Should I tell Terry?”

He took her hand again and rubbed her fingers with his thumb.
 
There was no way he was going to let her get involved in whatever trouble Charley was in, it was too dangerous.
 
She had too much to lose.
 
Charley had lost it already.

“That’s up to you, I’m only telling you what I think.
 
And I think we should leave well alone.
 
If she calls you again tell her you can’t get involved.”

“She was my friend, Kenny.”

“
Was
,
India
.
 
She
was
your friend.”

India
knew he was right, she knew that she owed Charley nothing but it still didn’t stop her from worrying about her.
 
Her voice had sounded shaky and scared, and so quiet.
 
Nothing like the confident, outgoing Charley she’d known before.

“Go on, get back to Michael, enjoy yourself.”

She smiled at him and leaned forward to kiss him quickly.
 
“Give me a call soon, ok?
 
We’ll go surfing, get a burger down at
Venice
Beach
and hang out.
 
I miss that.”

He smiled back.
 
“I miss that too, kiddo.
 
And please ... forget about Charley.
 
She isn’t worth your time anymore.”

But
India
was already working out a way to find out what was wrong, and just what kind of help it was that Charley needed.
 
Because she knew she’d never be able to live with herself if she didn’t at least try.