The Principle Of Chance (10 page)

Frank must be paying him megabucks,
Justin thought. Now he was able to concentrate on his new venture. He had to
admit, he was excited to work on a movie. On an impulse, he called Monica.

‘My brother is phoning me?’ She
answered after a short ring.

‘Yeah, I am – believe it,
beautiful.’

‘There is something you want to tell
me! You never call me beautiful.’

‘Maybe.’ Justin felt like a kid.

‘Out with it!’

‘Same old story?’

‘Come on Justin, you know I can’t
wait when you start your sentence like that!’  She pleaded.

‘How do you like the idea of working
with me?’ Justin blurted out, fully prepared for a rebuff or a speech.

‘You’ve done it!’ Monica exclaimed.

‘You know?’

‘I
don’t, but there could be only one explanation; Frank.’

‘You’ve got it!’ Justin felt
relieved. ‘Frank is behind everything, as you know.’

‘I like the sound of that, tell me
….!’Monica asked curiously.

‘I’ll tell you when I see you, it’s
a long story.’

‘What? You can’t just call, give me
a bite and;
see you later
!’ Monica was fuming.

‘I’ll see you sooner than you think,
got to go sis.’ Justin laughed.

He hung up before Monica could tell him
what she thought of him. She wondered what the deal was about. She had to wait,
which wouldn’t be easy as patience wasn’t her strong side.

****

A few days later Amy awoke to the
sound of the phone. She checked the clock; six in the morning, who was it so
early?

‘Amy?’ She heard a man’s voice.
‘This is Frank Orban, we met at Jack’s.’

Amy recognised his distinctive
voice. ‘Good morning Frank. You are an early riser!’ She said, trying not to
sound too sleepy.

‘I am Amy, at my age you can’t sleep
much.’ Frank said. ‘Besides, it’s a beautiful sunny morning.’

‘I can see that.’ She said,
wondering why he’d called her.

‘Are you free for a few hours today?
I am having lunch with Monica Blakes, - you met her the other evening.’ Frank
enquired.

‘Yes, I remember her, Justin’s
sister.’ Amy answered.

‘Say, around one? My driver will
pick you up from your office.’

‘I’m at home Frank.’

‘Great. Where do you live?’  

‘I’ll meet you there. Where is the
restaurant?’ She didn’t want Frank sending a car for her; she wasn’t a girl who
needed picking up. She had her own independence!

Amy jotted down the address on a
back of an envelope she found in the drawer of her bedside table.

‘You got that Amy?’ Frank asked
eagerly, but wondered why she didn’t want to be picked up.

‘Yes, I’ll see you there.’

Amy didn’t know where to start, when
she thought of the last few days’ events. She was glad that the episode with Ed
was over but how had she ended up at Jack Harvey's house?! A completely new
world had opened up there. She was amazed that she’d met some nice people.
Living in LA and working for the rich and famous made her somehow want to keep
away from them. Some people thought if they had money, they had power and this
didn’t help their personality.

She lived in a city where every
other person wanted to be famous or rich, or both. Nevertheless she met some
ordinary, pleasant people too, who didn’t want to keep up with this fast
changing world. She was glad that she’d met Jack and Frank; the two men were
fun and full of character, … and then there was Justin.

She wasn’t looking for a man; her
priority was to gain some independence in business and make enough money for a
decent living. The day after she met Jack, she handed her notice in to
Carter’s.

Mr Carter wasn’t pleased when Amy
called him.

‘Where are you Amy, aren’t you
coming in today?’ He snapped.

‘No, I’m not, I am resigning Mr
Carter, from today.’

‘You can’t resign Amy, what you are
talking about!’ He said, surprised.

‘I believe I can and I’m giving you
my notice.’

‘Oh women, they always want more
money!’ Mr Carter announced. ‘How much do you want Amy?’

‘Nothing, Mr Carter. If you organise
the relevant paperwork, that will do.’

‘Look Amy, I don’t know what’s
happened to you but you have a good job here why do you want to leave? Has
someone offered you more?’

‘I’m working on my own, that’s all.’

‘I see.’ Mr Carter guessed what had
happened; she must've gained some clients on the way. Amy was an excellent
lawyer.

‘All right Amy.’

‘Thank you Mr Carter.’

‘I expect you to finish off your
open cases!’

‘I intend to, there are only two
left.’

‘You stay in touch Amy.’ He said,
after realising that Amy could be useful in the future.

‘Thank you.’ She knew Mr Carter was
leaving a back door open for his potential gain.

Amy poured herself a glass of orange
juice and sat down on a stool facing the glittering pool.

The housekeeper arrived ready to
start her day.

‘You working from home today Miss
Amy?’

‘I am Maria, yes for a few days.’

‘Very good, I can make you some nice
lunch?’ She offered cheerfully.

‘No thank you, I am out for lunch
today.’ Amy stood up. ‘Come on Maria, have a coffee with me on the terrace.’

‘Ok Miss Amy, I make the coffee.’
Maria quickly made the drinks and placed them on the small table outside.

‘Tell me about your son. How is he
doing?’ Amy asked as she lit a cigarette and offered one to Maria, who
accepted.

‘Thank you.’

‘I have to do something about this
smoking, it isn’t good for me.’

‘You will Miss Amy. When the time is
right, you will stop. I have people telling me how bad this is for me, but
until I think myself it is bad, I won’t stop smoking.’

‘When are you going to realise it
isn’t good for you?’ Amy asked teasing her.

Maria laughed. ‘That’s what I don’t
know, but any day now. Until then I want to enjoy it.’

Maria had a delightful personality,
just what Amy needed - happy people in her life.

‘Tell me about your son.’

‘What is there to tell?’ Maria said
taking a sip of coffee. ‘He's been out of prison for a month now. He's not
rushing to find a job! I don’t know what he's thinking Miss Amy, he is all
closed up – like an old book.’ She said, wildly gesticulating, tears welling up
in her eyes.

‘Oh Maria, I didn’t mean to upset
you.’

‘No, no it’s ok. You helped him and
the least I can do to repay you is to tell you what he's up to. I am very
grateful to you Miss Amy.’ She said tearfully.

‘Look, I didn’t do much as I told
you before. He needed someone to point out his rights and that’s all I did.’
Amy couldn’t help feeling Maria’s pain. Her son Paco had got involved with the
wrong crowd, only for a brief time, but enough to land him in prison for a
month.

‘What does he want to do?’

‘I don’t know, he's not speaking to
me. I don’t want to push him. I’ll wait for him to sort his head out first.’

‘Paco knows me, right?’

She nodded. ‘He speaks to you Miss
Amy, he does.’ She said pleading.

‘Call me Amy please or I’ll start to
call you Mrs too.’ She saw a faint smile on Maria’s face. She was wondering how
to help Paco. Amy believed in giving second chances to people.

‘How old is he?’

‘He's twenty five.’

‘Why don’t you ask him to give me a
call today? I can’t promise anything but I might be able to occupy him for some
time.’ Amy offered.

‘Oh Miss … Amy that would mean so
much to him.’ She said, all excited.

‘Good. Now, I need to get some work
done and I have a lunch to go to. I need to get a taxi!’ She thought about
driving to the lunch venue; she would struggle to park and then there were the
aggressive drivers – not what she wished for.

She could actually employ a driver.
Maybe Paco would be up for the job. ‘Is Paco free today?’

‘Of course he is. Do you need him?’
She was already looking for her phone to call him.

‘Do you think he wants to be my
driver?’

‘Yes! - he will, he will. I call him
now.’

‘Let me call him.’ Amy imagined
Maria giving orders to her son, which will not be received well. She wanted to
find out how Paco felt about working for a start.

‘It’s ringing Amy.’ Maria said.

‘Si?’ Paco answered.

‘Hi Paco, this is Amy Ronay.’ A long
pause.

‘Yes, Miss Ronay.’ He recognised the
lawyer who’d helped him to get a short sentence.

‘Paco I have a problem and I was
wondering if you were free this afternoon?’

‘Yes.’ A man of few words.

‘I need a driver; do you think you
could help me?’

Paco sounded excited. ‘Oh yes, Miss.
I am a good driver and I know this city well.’

‘Great. Do you want to come to the
house, say, before one? I have a lunch to go to.’

‘Yes I will come. Thank you Miss
Ronay.’ He sounded eager.

Amy hoped this would help him to get
his life back on track. She had better organise some meetings for the afternoon
to keep Paco busy.

Amy put the phone down. ‘All done,
don’t worry, he will be fine.’

‘Oh thank you very much for helping
him.’ She said gratefully.

‘Don’t think of it.’

Maria rushed off to the kitchen, and
then Amy followed to go upstairs to have a shower and get ready. She stopped in
her home office and made some calls. When she went downstairs around lunch, she
was glad to see Paco in a dark suit having his lunch with Maria.

Paco jumped to attention.

‘Don’t get up Paco. Enjoy your
lunch; your mother is a great cook.’

‘He needs food; look at him - skin
and bone he is.’

‘Mother knows best!’ Amy announced.

Her black BMW parked on the drive,
was gleaming.

‘My car looks clean and shiny!’ She
said.

‘Yes I washed it!’ Paco announced
proudly.

‘Thank you it looks very nice.’

Paco looked very efficient, his dark
hair was smoothed down with a lot of gel and his bright smile suited his
pleasant features.

Amy explained to Paco that she needed
a driver for now, and will see about the future. He wasn’t saying much but was
happy to work for now.

Amy was ready to leave; she showed
Paco the address, who nodded. He proudly opened the car door for her.

This should work out just fine – Amy
thought.

Frank, an early riser, had plenty of
time to clear his head and get ready for the day ahead.

He enjoyed his morning swim and
workout. He couldn’t help his thoughts turning to his early days in the movie
business.

It wasn’t easy at that time but he’d
received a
chance;
and he intended to take it. There were a lot of
‘power hungry’ people around in those days and it was hard to beat them; still
he'd done it – his way.

Learning the language was one main
obstacle and resisting the many attractive women was another. Frank wasn’t a
Saint
,
he was a man like any other, however he had seen many of the stars fall because
of a woman. His smooth manner and good looks had given him the opportunity to
have any actress or showgirl he wanted - but he resisted.

The poverty he’d left behind was
still fresh in his mind and this was the driving force for Frank to make it in
a foreign country. His life in the movie business seemed to have raced along
the years.

He was glad he wasn’t starting out
now – but this movie, he hoped, would make some people think.

Making movies should be about
entertainment and not just money. He couldn’t agree with the aggressive movies
of the modern days. They gave ideas to people, the wrong ideas. Drugs, sex and
violence were not entertaining, - but they sold books and screenplays, – to the
new
generation.

Old age was making him nostalgic; it
was time to move on. He thought about Justin. He’d been thrilled when he handed
him the screenplay. It had been suggested to Justin before that he should write
the stories down, but he never thought the kid would deliver a screenplay. How
he had managed to capture the true life in the early forties he didn’t
understand, but what Frank did know, was, that it was so real, he was re-living
every moment of it!