Shafted (29 page)

And he was glad he’d gone for it, because it made a nice change to make love instead of just fucking.

Not that it
was
love, of course, because that was something he’d never experienced and had no intention of looking for at this point in his life – not when there were still so many gorgeous girls out there that he was yet to meet and be entertained by. But she’d be a nice alternative to his usual tarts until whatever this was that they had started ran out of steam and she went back to her boyfriend.

The phone began to ring again. Tutting, Larry eased himself up and reached for it. Hearing Georgie’s voice, he was just about to tell her to piss off and stop disturbing him when she said, ‘You’ll never guess who I’ve just been talking to? . . . Craig Woodburn! He saw you on Raine’s show last night and wants to give you your own chat show!’

‘Are you kidding me?’ Sitting up now, Larry reached for the shirt that Stephanie had been wearing and wiped the sweat off his face.

‘My darling, I
never
kid,’ Georgie trilled happily. ‘He wants to see you
today
. And he’s so confident you’ll accept his offer that he’s already having a contract drawn up so we can sign there and then.’

‘Wow,’ Larry murmured, a thrill of real excitement coursing through him.

‘Wow, indeed!’ Georgie agreed. ‘They’re proposing a twice-weekly slot, Monday and Friday, at – wait for it –
six-thirty
!’

‘No way,’ Larry gasped. ‘The same time as Raine’s show?’

‘The exact same time, but on a more popular channel,’ Georgie told him. ‘And right before the soaps, so there’s no way anyone will miss you. You’ve done it, darling! You’ve snatched the crown!’

Arranging to meet her outside in half an hour so that she could take him to meet with Craig Woodburn, Larry disconnected the call and turned to Stephanie.

Smiling because he looked so excited, she said, ‘Good news?’

‘The best!’ He grinned, planting a kiss on her lips. ‘What are you doing today?’

Glancing at the bedside clock, she frowned when she saw the time. Telling him that she had to be somewhere in an hour, she reached for the damp shirt and modestly pulled it on, saying, ‘Would you mind if I take a quick shower?’

Hopping naked out of bed, Larry reached for her hand, and said, ‘We’ll share one. Then you can cancel whatever you’re doing and come with me, because I reckon you just might be my good-luck charm.’

Letting him help her out of the bed, Stephanie closed her eyes when he hugged her. ‘I can’t cancel it,’ she said.

Easing her away and peering down into her eyes, Larry saw the cloud of sadness there and frowned. ‘Ah . . . the boyfriend?’

Nodding, she dipped her gaze. ‘Sorry.’

‘Don’t be,’ Larry said, tilting her chin up and kissing her softly. ‘It would have been nice to have you there, but you’ve got your own plans, so I shouldn’t have expected you to drop them just like that.’

‘I would if I could,’ she told him, feeling bad for running out on him like this.

‘No problem,’ he drawled, too happy about his good news to be overly concerned that she was putting her boyfriend before him. ‘We’ll celebrate later, yeah?’

Nodding, Stephanie smiled.

Putting her into a cab outside his block twenty minutes later, Larry had just closed the door and stepped back to wave her away when he remembered that he hadn’t taken her number. Slapping the roof of the car to stop it as the driver started to pull away from the kerb, he yanked the door open and said, ‘I need your number.’

Murmuring, ‘Oh, right,’ Stephanie took her phone out of her bag. Switching it back on, hoping that he wouldn’t question why she’d turned it off, she said, ‘Sorry, it takes ages for me to find it.’

Telling her he could wait, Larry waved to Georgie, who had just pulled up behind the cab. Taking his own phone out then, he tapped in Stephanie’s number when she found it and blew her a kiss, saying, ‘I’ll give you a call as soon as I’m finished. Make sure you’re free.’

Promising to try, Stephanie glanced out of the back window when Georgie beeped the horn.

Seeing her face, Georgie pursed her lips.

‘Well, well,’ she said when Larry waved the cab off a few moments later and climbed in beside her.‘I see someone got lucky last night. And, unless I’m very much mistaken, wasn’t that the young lady who fell at your feet last night at the studio?’

‘Jeezus, you’ve got a good memory,’ Larry laughed, pulling his seat belt on.

‘Yes, I have,’ Georgie said disapprovingly. ‘But it appears that yours
isn’t
so good, because I’m sure I heard you telling Raine that you weren’t looking for a relationship on her show last night?’

‘Who said anything about relationships?’ Larry quipped, lighting a cigarette and rolling the window part-way down. ‘I’ve only just met the girl.’

Uttering a throaty ‘Hmph!’ Georgie swung out into the traffic, saying, ‘And may I ask how you happened to bump into her again?’

‘Why?’

‘Humour me,’ Georgie said, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as they waited for a set of lights to turn green. ‘Did she slip you her number at the studio?’

‘No.’

‘Was she at Raine’s party, then?’

‘No.’ Getting irritated now, Larry turned and peered at her.‘What’s with the Spanish Inquisition, Georgie?’

‘Just one last question,’ she replied, keeping her eyes on the road as they started moving again. ‘Was yesterday the first time you saw her?’

‘Yes. And . . . ?’

‘I’m sure I’ve seen her before, that’s all. Three weeks ago, when you opened that supermarket in Sale, she was hanging about in the car park.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’Larry scoffed.‘How could you possibly know it was her?’

‘Because I’m observant,’Georgie told him.‘And now here she is again. So what does that tell you?’

‘If you’re trying to make out like she’s some kind of stalker, forget it,’ Larry chuckled. ‘I’ve already accused her of that, and she was really offended.’

‘Oh yes? And why would you accuse her unless you suspected her?’

‘Maybe I did for a split second,’ Larry admitted. ‘But then I spoke to her, and she didn’t have a clue who I was.’

‘Oh,
please
,’ Georgie muttered, shaking her head. ‘And
you
fell for that? I thought you had more sense. She’s been following you, and now you’ve given her exactly what she was looking for. At least, I presume you did. I take it that
was
the grand farewell after a night of fun with Number One Fan?’

‘I think you’re way off,’ Larry said flatly. ‘But so what if she
is
a fan? She’s obviously not a nutter, ’cos I’m still alive, aren’t I?’

‘Sure she didn’t make prints of your keys in the soap, or anything?’

‘You’re just being stupid now.’

‘So long as you don’t follow suit,’ Georgie said quietly. ‘Fans who pretend not to be should not be encouraged.’

Sighing heavily, Larry told her to shut up now because she was boring him. She was obviously convinced that she
had
seen Stephanie before, so she was only looking out for him. But even if she was right, he didn’t care. It wasn’t like he was planning on marrying the girl, or anything. She was already spoken for, for one thing. But he wouldn’t bother telling Georgie that, because she’d only tell him off for encouraging her to be unfaithful – like that mattered in this day and age.

Driving on in silence, Georgie made a mental note to keep an eye on the situation. Larry obviously wasn’t concerned, but she’d seen
Play Misty For Me
enough times to know how dangerous obsessive fans could be when they saw their man talking to another woman. And a man like Larry, who flirted relentlessly and bedded indiscriminately, would bring out the hidden lunatic in this one in no time.

Craig Woodburn was on the phone when Larry and Georgie were shown into his office. Waving for them to wait, he said, ‘Okay, Tezza, I’ll think about it. But I’m not making any promises, so don’t go quoting me on that.’ Rolling his eyes now as his caller carried on talking, he said, ‘Yeah, yeah, I’ve said I’ll think about it. Gotta go now. Bye-ee.’

Hanging up, he exhaled loudly and stood up. ‘Sorry about that. Wogan’s pressing for a meet, but I’m trying to avoid it because . . .’ Pausing, he flapped his hand dismissively, saying, ‘Not your concern, so I won’t bore you with the details.’ Extending his hand now, he said, ‘Good to meet you, Larry.’

‘You, too,’ Larry said, shaking it.

‘And you must be Georgie of the lovely voice?’ Craig said, turning to her and kissing her hand. ‘She’s a keeper, this one, Larry. Balls of steel, voice of velvet.’

‘
Right
,’ Larry murmured, raising an eyebrow at Georgie who looked like she was on the verge of blushing.

Jerking his head now, Craig said, ‘Come and meet the team, and let us run you through the set designs. I think you’re gonna like it.’

‘You’ve already started designing?’ Larry asked, amused by his presumptuousness. ‘That sure I’m going to sign, are you?’

‘Positive,’ Craig replied confidently, putting a hand on his shoulder and walking him to the door. ‘You’d have to be stupid to turn me down when I’ve got the biggest budget in the industry.’ Shrugging now, he added, ‘But if you prove me wrong, I’m sure Wogan would jump at the chance, so I’m not really concerned.’

‘Nice to know you think so much of me,’ Larry snorted, thinking that the man had a lot to learn about the subtle art of persuasion.

‘Hey, I’m all for you,’ Craig told him, showing him down the corridor. ‘But I’m not kissing rump for anyone, my friend. You want it, you got it. You don’t, I move on. Simple.’

‘Fair enough,’ Larry said, respecting him for his honesty.

Winking at Georgie who was walking a couple of steps behind, Craig said, ‘Your lovely agent here seemed happy enough about it when I approached her a couple of weeks back.’

‘A couple of weeks back?’ Larry repeated confusedly, having heard nothing about this until an hour ago.

‘Yeah, I had to make sure you hadn’t already committed to something else before I started putting my plans into action. And I wanted to see you in action on Raine Parker’s show before I made a definite decision. But you were great, so here we are.’

Turning, Larry gave Georgie a dark look, unimpressed that she’d been discussing him behind his back, and keeping it from him in order to give Craig time to screen-test him. That was an outright insult, and she of all people should know that he’d be offended.

Reaching the boardroom, Craig pushed the door open and waved Larry and Georgie in ahead of him.

Grinning when he saw Larry, Gordon Jones stood up and came around the table to greet him. ‘Hello, stranger. Bet you never thought you’d see
me
again?’

Peering at him, it took Larry a couple of seconds to recognise him. Then, smiling widely, he reached for his hand, saying, ‘Gordon! Christ, how are you?’

‘Great,’ Gordon said, glad that Larry seemed pleased to see him, because he hadn’t been sure that he would be after the telethon. In fact, he had wondered if Larry might be blaming him for Frank Woods finding out about the drinking that night. But Larry didn’t seem to be holding any grudges, which was as good a start as Gordon could have hoped for.

‘So, you’re on the crew, are you?’ Larry asked him now.

Nodding, Gordon waved him to take a seat. ‘I’m the director.’

Raising an eyebrow, Larry smirked. ‘Proper this time, or still assistant?’

‘Proper,’ Gordon assured him. ‘Took a while, but I got there in the end. And Jez was a big help, believe it or not. I think he felt a bit guilty about sacking me that night, so he put a good word in for me with Craig. And the rest, as they say, is history.’

Nodding, not really sure what he was talking about – because he’d been so wrapped up in his own misfortune at that time and hadn’t thought to wonder if anyone else had been affected – Larry sat down and crossed his legs.

Pulling a chair out for Georgie, Craig gestured towards the other man who was sitting across the table from Larry, saying, ‘This is the producer, Tom Reed.’

Leaning forward, Larry shook the other man’s hand. ‘Nice to meet you, Tom.’

‘Who’s for a drink?’ Craig asked now, going over to an ornate lacquered Chinese cabinet and opening the door to reveal bottles of every kind of alcohol. ‘Larry?’

‘Scotch,’ Larry said, giving Georgie a defiant look when she frowned at him. Serve her right if he got pissed out of his head – make her think twice about going behind his back again.

Pouring everybody a drink, and ordering a coffee for Georgie, Craig joined them at the table and reached for a large portfolio which was sitting between them. Flipping it open, he turned it so that Larry could see the sketches inside.

‘They’re only prelims,’ he explained. ‘But we’re pretty much going to go with them. Now, as you’ll see, we’re planning on separating the stage area into two sections: one for the chat element, the other for live performances from musical guests.’

‘Why so many chairs?’ Larry asked, peering at the pictures. ‘I got the impression it was going to be one-on-one?’

‘No, we’re thinking more along the lines of Jerry Springer meets Oprah.’

‘Are you kidding me?’ Larry frowned. ‘That sounds like Jeremy Kyle.’

‘Hey, you can’t knock Kyle,’ Craig countered, unconcerned by Larry’s sudden dip in enthusiasm. ‘He’s the most successful of his kind over here. But he’s sticking it to his guests in words they understand, whereas you’ll be charm personified. The Afghan hound to his bulldog – so to speak.’

‘Like Trisha, then?’ Larry said sarcastically.

‘Not at all.’ Craig shook his head. ‘Look, you’re the star, and this is all about you. The viewers loved you before, and they’re already falling in love with you all over again. But we all know you need a vehicle to rocket you right to the top and keep you there – and this is it, my friend. Last time, you were dealing directly with the public, so the viewers felt close to you, but this time you’ll be interviewing the stars. And because you’re on their level, the viewers will feel like
they
’re mixing with them, too. Does that make any sense?’