Star Attraction (6 page)

“Because I'll consult you on that
as well,” Brad reassured her.

“Would there be a possibility of
your allowing me to adapt it myself?

“Not really, because I think I
have found the perfect person to do it, and besides, you’ll be too busy.”

Zaira sat up in her chair
quickly.
 
“What do you mean?
 
Too busy?
 
Why?”

“Because I want you to play the
part of the Dark Lady.
 
And before
you begin to argue, Zoe, let’s just say I knew from the moment I laid eyes on
you that you would be perfect for the part.”

“You can’t seriously think I’d be
suitable for a Hollywood film!”
 
Zaira declared in disbelief, as she put her hand up to her black wig,
and groaned inwardly.
 
She had
forgetten all about it.

She was tempted to tell him the
truth there and then, but his next words silenced her.

“Of course, for that type of
semi-documentary, you’d be great.
 
Fiery, passionate...”

“And what makes you think I’m all
those things?” she asked with a blush.

“I only had to see the way you
treated Peter to realize that.
 
So
what do you say, then?
 
After we do
Hamlet
for the
festival, we start the film?”

“It’s all so sudden, Brad. As for
the acting, I have a lot of other commitments besides this, you know,” Zaira
pointed out.

Brad took a small notebook out
from his pocket, and wrote down several numbers. “For the rights, for the
consultations, and for your acting, and your percentage of the box office
takings," he said, pointing to the paper three times.
 
“I’ll pay you the first now, in full,
the second and third on a weekly basis, and the last when we go onto the big
screen."

She gaped. What he was offering
her was larger than anything she could ever have imagined.
 
And yet it was his own money, not the
studio's….

"So what do you say?
 
I know the financial considerations are
pretty persuasive, but if you have any doubts, say so now.”

 
Zaira couldn’t believe the sum he was offering her.
 
It was enough to pay off all the debts,
and even have some left over, she calculated, her head swimming.

“My only reservation is the
screenplay.
 
Who did you have in
mind?”

She nearly fell off her seat when
he said, “There’s a young lecturer called Zaira Darcy, and I’d like to give her
the chance.”

“Why, may I ask?” Zaira forced
herself to say.

“Lots of reasons to do with
enthusiasm and capability, but mainly because she is an expert on the period,
and will have a great feel for it, and you’ll be too busy as the Dark Lady.”

Brad paused, then shrugged his
broad shoulders.
 
“Besides, I think
it will be good for her.
 
She looks
as though she has taken a few knocks, and could benefit from the chance.”

“You’ll forgive me if I say that
you don’t seem like the charitable type,” Zaira said scornfully, and decided to
test him once again.
 
“She wouldn’t
happen to have a huge bosom, gorgeous looks, flowing blond locks, and a great
admiration for you and your work, now would she?”

Brad exploded into laughter, and
said, “My goodness, what a picture.
 
No, she couldn’t even be remotely described as any of those things,
except possibly gorgeous if she did herself up a bit.
 
Zaira doesn’t like me or my work, and her physical
attributes are definitely not on the over-endowed side.
 
She has auburn hair and grey eyes, and
great brains, which is what I'm really after. In all my women, if the truth be
told, not what you read in the tabloids.”

Zaira tried to look skeptical, but
the truth was she could all too readily believe that the only thing Brad was
interested in was her mind.
 
She
deliberately dressed like a dowdy middle-aged woman for self-protection and to
avoid complications.

“Really, you’ll like her,” Brad
insisted.
 
“You remind me of her in
some ways.
 
You haven’t any
sisters, I suppose?”

“No, not at all,” Zaira replied,
trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
 
Sooner or later he would figure it out, but in the meantime
she would let him pay her as much as possible.

She glanced at the clock, and
said, “Right, then, I think if that is the last matter to be settled, then we
have ourselves a deal.
 
I’ll talk
to Matt Wolf about the terms. You can have your people draw up the contract and
send it to his.
 
If he advises me
that it is all fine with him and the publishing house, we will get onto it as
soon as
 
Hamlet
is finished.”

“Fine, I’ll have my lawyers draw
this up in writing then, and it should be settled the day after tomorrow.”

“Rehearsals are at ten, all
right?” Zaira reminded him.

“I’ll be here!” Brad grinned,
 
shook her hand hard, again looking at
her with a mild frown between his brows, and he disappeared, almost running out
the door in his haste to get the ball rolling with his dream project.

Zaira practically hugged herself
with excitement and joy.
 
She was
completely swept away by Brad Clarke, and she knew it.
 
Oddly enough, she didn’t care.
 

As she trailed backstage and began
to remove her costume, she kept replaying the events of the past hour over and
over again in her mind. She couldn’t believe how her luck had turned.
  
Zaira was not only going to act
and direct with him in the production of
Hamlet
,
but he wanted her in the
film of her own book!
 
On top of
that, she would be getting a consulting fee, and a percentage, with him not
even realizing that he would also be paying her for the screenplay!
 

Zaira walked from the theater to
the lecture hall for her next class, she practically jumped for joy.
 
For the first time since her husband
Jonathan had disappeared, leaving their ad agency in ruins and her destitute,
she felt happy and free.
 
At last
she would be able to settle her debts and not have to worry about living hand
to mouth.
 

Zaira reflected gleefully that
Matt would be thrilled to hear the news, and couldn’t wait to tell him
everything.

When Zaira walked out of her
classroom at five, she sensed rather than saw Brad in the throng of people in
the corridor.
 
She felt him fall
into step beside her as she headed for the elevators, and heard his deep voice
say, “Ms.Darcy, I hope you don’t mind, but I thought I might find you here.I
wanted to speak to you.
 
Have you
got some free time now?”

Zaira looked into his lustrous
green eyes, and noticed with surprise that he actually looked awkward, almost
shy.
 
She immediately gave him a
beaming smile.

He smiled back and moved even
closer, as if to catch her words amid the noise of the crowd.
 

“All right, but I have to meet
someone for dinner at seven, so you’ll forgive me if I have to rush off.”
  

“A date?” Brad asked softlyhe
barely caught the words, and she saw that while the smile remained on his face,
his eyes had grown serious.

“You know, the usual business dinner,”
Zaira said in a breezy tone.

She could see him visibly relax,
unbunching his fists and leaning closer to her, clse enough so she could inhale
his light, masculine cologne, which made her shudder with all sorts of longings
she had tried hard to suppress ever since her break-up with Jonathan. She told
herself not to be so silly, that he was just there on business, but all the
same, his mere presence made her heart feel more joyous than it had in
years.
 

As the elevator descended to the
foyer of the building, Brad said, “Let’s go for a drink, but you’ll have to
lead me to the right watering hole around here.”

Zaira nodded, and led him to her
favorite bar, “Googie’s,” which was very like an old English pub and did
wonderful food and every kind of exotic cocktail.
 

“Do you want something special,
like a strawberry Margarita?” she asked.
 
“Or beer? They have lots of different kinds.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m a gin
and tonic man myself."

“Perfect,” she said, and sat down
at the bar to order them.

Once the drinks had arrived, Brad
stated bluntly what he had come to ask her.
 
“Look, just talking to you, Zaira, I get such a sense of
dedication, that I can see you’d been perfect for adapting the novel I’m
interested in into a screenplay.
 
Zoe Dominick has agreed to the arrangement, and so I'm asking you, as a
huge favor to me, to consider doing the screenplay.
 
We’ll get some office space, and secretarial help, and I’ll
pay you for the writing and for the job of personal assistant, to help me with
the contacts and so on.”

“But, Mr. Clarke—"

"Brad, please."

"All right, Brad, your offer
is very kind, but the truth is, you hardly know me, and I’m not a Hollywood
high flier,” Zaira protested, wondering how she was going to carry out her
little deception in addition to teaching and acting.

“Look, I know you're very busy at
the university, but this is a very worthwhile project. It's a once in a
lifetime chance for me, and I want to see you a part of it.
 
I’ll accept any time you can give me as
personal assistant once the screenplay is well under way, which I hope it will
be soon,” Brad said with a smile, as he handed Zaira a copy of her very own
book.
 
He also handed her a check
for five thousand dollars, made out to cash.
 
When she tried to hand it back, he simply said, “Consider
this a down payment.”

Zaira shook her head.

Brad demanded softly, “What are
you thinking?”

She lifted her face to stare into
his eyes, to see if he was as affected by her as she was by him.
 
“I was just thinking how completely
upside down my world has become ever since you and I met yesterday.
 
It’s like a dream.”

“If it is, then don’t wake up,” he
said with a smile, covering her hand with his own on the bartop.

“What if it turns into a
nightmare?” she sighed, and withdrew her hand gently from his touch.

“Do you have any reason to think
it might?” Brad asked, watching her intently.

“None, except possibly past
experience,” Zaira said, her tone bitter

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

She decided he deserved the
truth.
 
After all, Zaira was, however
much she regretted it, still married to Jonathan, and therefore unavailable;
she could not start divorce proceedings against him because she had no idea
where her ex was.
 
She didn’t even
know if he was still alive!

“My life fell apart about eighteen
months ago, completely unexpectedly.
 
I was married, we had an advertising agency, the best of everything. I
woke up one morning to find it all gone,” she said in a low voice.

He was silent for a moment, and
then said, “Married?
 
That man at
the party?”

Zaira shook her head and said,
“No, you don’t know him.
 
He left
one morning, on the pretext of going to work, and never came back.
 
Then the police came, the fraud squad,
the debt collectors.
 
He owed
everyone, had taken everything, had cheated dozens of clients.
 
I’ve been paying it all off ever
since.
 
He even took my scholarship
money when he went, and cleaned me out completely.
 

"The man you met at the party
is my old tutor and boss.
 
Raymond
saved my life.
 
He’s given me a
job, a place to live, generous lecture fees, and support throughout the whole
bankruptcy and fraud case,” Zaira revealed in a shaky voice.

“No wonder you look as though
you’ve been through a terrible shock,” Brad said sympathetically, after a long
pause.
 
“The man must have been an
absolute beast!”

“Not when I first met him, at one
of those parties like the one we had last night.
 
Then he was charming, very much the Southern gentleman,
ambitious, admired my academic talents, and my English skills.
 
I helped him set up the business, and then
pursued my own academic career.