The Principle Of Chance (13 page)

‘I read through the report Jack, we
have done well!’ Frank indicated to Jack to take a seat at the table.

‘I agree, the last one has taken a
little longer than I thought.’ Jack added.

‘Yes, she was a difficult one!’

‘Now all the cases are finished and
finalised, do you want to continue Frank?’

Frank thought for a moment, it was a
difficult decision to make. ‘I prefer to take time out Jack. I seem to have a
lot on.’

‘All right, but can’t help thinking
we are abandoning the cause!?’ Jack mused, sampling the food.

‘It crossed my mind too. Are you
aware that we met over two hundred people?’

‘As many as that?’

‘Now, that puts a different
perspective on it.’ Frank admitted, two hundred was way too big a number.

‘Shall
we reconsider?’

‘Whatever you say...’ Frank was
relieved; he didn’t want to abandon the case. ‘Give it some time, for now,
there is another project we need to get on with.’

Chapter Sixteen

‘Ladies and gentlemen my name is
Peter Appletree, I’m the Captain of this airplane on your flight to Hungary.
Everything is running smoothly and we anticipate landing in Budapest Ferihegy
Airport around six in the evening. The weather is currently on the cold side as
it is January – reported temperature is minus fifteen Celsius, lightly
snowing.’

Amy sat on Frank’s private plane
thinking how much had happened in the last few weeks. Her life had changed
considerably. From working in a quiet office, she had moved to work twelve
hours a day including weekends, - but working for Frank was interesting and
rewarding.

She spent nearly every day in
Frank’s company. She met many new people and had dived into the world of
mercenary show business. It was full on, yet she found she was looking forward
to a new challenge every day.

Frank introduced her to actors and
agents and explained the contracts he wanted her to draw up. She discovered Frank
certainly knew what he wanted and how to get it! Frank had taken Amy to a
number of happening restaurants for business meetings and by the end of the day
she usually ended up at Frank’s house with Jack and Justin in tow.

Justin and Amy both felt there was a
thrilling chemistry between them but, not wanting to fall into a trap, Amy took
charge and proceeded with a friendship phase.

Justin kept his thoughts to himself,
but he was looking forward to every evening with Amy.

Amy slowly learned about Frank’s
life, but he wouldn’t talk much about his family.

‘Read the script.’ He would say, but
would refuse to discuss any of it.

For Amy, it was left to the script
to try to reconstruct Frank’s life piece by piece.

She appreciated why it was so
important for the main cast to see where Frank came from. Rumour had it,
‘important facts’ were tweaked in the script to protect Jack and Frank but the
main story remained.

Justin, who sat opposite her,
rewarded Amy with a smile. 

She needed to stay focused on her
job, but Justin, a main distraction, was everywhere. She’d turned down a dinner
invitation from him some weeks ago and he hadn’t tried again.

The plane was truly pure luxury.
There were small lounge sections, each with its own plasma TV, bar and as much
privacy as you wanted. Everyone was relaxing after a meal served by Frank’s
chefs, except Don who was working on something - as usual.

Frank and Jack were reading the
papers whilst Justin and Monica were discussing the trip.

‘What exactly do you want out of this
trip Frank, apart from filming?’ Justin asked with a hint of suspicion in his
voice. ‘You do have a separate agenda, we know that.’

A roar of laughter coming from Frank
and Jack was the reply. ‘No agenda, nothing at all.’

‘You two are the same – unbelievable!’
Amy agreed with Justin. ‘There is something else, even I know that!’

‘I am glad to see someone agrees
with me.’ Justin didn’t think Amy was listening. ‘I thought you were part of
the secrets. These guys don’t seem to be able to resist you.’
       

Justin felt embarrassed when he
thought of the first night they met. He’d come onto her too strong…. a pattern
some men follow. He regretted his behaviour the next day and fully backed off,
until one day he invited Amy on a date, without success - he assumed she wasn’t
interested. Now, she was sitting in an armchair looking a picture of trendy
elegance, clad in tall, dark boots and a red mohair dress. He imagined what it
would be like to kiss her again. God! He had to stop himself. Friendship was
more important to him.

‘A compliment – I hope?’ Amy
responded, forcing Justin to finish his daydream.

‘Of course Amy, can I get you
another drink?’ He asked, getting back to reality.

‘Gin and tonic please.’ They had a
long flight ahead of them, a drink couldn’t hurt.

‘Shall we move into the theatre? The
film should start shortly.’ Frank stood up to give instructions to his staff.

There was a big movie room at the
back of the plane and Frank had suggested earlier that they watch Monica’s
finished movie The Blue Velvet.

‘Good idea.’ Jack said.

Probably for the first time in his
life, Jack had left his ‘lady friends’ behind. Bizarrely, he didn’t miss them.
He willingly got involved with the preparations for the trip; his days were
filled with work.

‘Jack darling, don’t you dare fall
asleep.’ Monica said, sitting down next to him and running her hand down his
thigh.

‘But dear lady, how could I do that
when I have got
you
all over me!’ Jack protested.

‘What do you mean Jack? If I was
all
over
you, you would definitely feel it.’ Even Monica surprised herself by
coming out with those words.

‘Did I hear you right?’ Jack pulled
himself up, painfully aware of listening ears nearby.

Monica felt something strange
happening to her senses, Jack didn’t look his age at all, clad in a white polo
shirt and trendy, dark jeans. She was fond of him but had never thought of him
as an available man. Until now…. There was something about Jack…!

‘You did.’ Monica snuggled up to him
as close as she could without giving him ideas, she was playing a dangerous
game but it takes two ….  

‘Now, this should be a pleasurable
viewing.’ Jack played along.

Frank was relaxed and content,
everyone settled down to watch the movie and he finally managed to collect his
thoughts over the last few weeks.

Amy seemed to enjoy spending time at
his house. She worked late into the night and Frank found it refreshing having
Amy at his breakfast table in the morning. It was a new world for Frank to
share the breakfast table with
family
.

He wanted to tell her all about the
past and present but he felt it would be going too far, too soon. Maybe he
hadn’t handled things correctly in the past but there wasn’t much he could
change about it now. This time his plan was going to work, he will tell Amy one
day when an opportunity arose.

For now – it was a
present,
a
precious gift that he could be near her, Amy was part of his life and he hoped
she wanted to stay there.

Chapter Seventeen

Monica, watching her movie on the
big screen and cuddled up to Jack, felt content. Jack didn’t make a move but
let her take the lead – and she did. She couldn’t remember when they started
kissing but, hey sunshine! – Jack was an expert in the field. Sitting in the
back row just like teenagers, she felt thrillingly happy.

Her feelings drifted towards her
crumbled relationship with Al, which had resulted in a nightmare the night
she’d met Amy at Jack’s house.

That night, after she left the beach
house, she went to Al’s place. When she arrived, she discovered Al sitting on
his kitchen floor surrounded by broken plates and glasses.

‘Get the hell out!’ He shouted and
threw a plate at her.

‘Al, what happened?’ She stood there
shocked.

‘Not your business, get back to your
friends, leave me alone.’

Monica turned to walk away; this was
a situation she didn’t need. Al was high, drunk or simply crazy.

‘Wait, … I will explain.’ Al said in
a whisper.

Monica stayed, sat down on a stool
by the door and waited for him to speak.

‘I am an addict Monica, addicted to
pills that should treat my head. Call it depression!’ Al revealed.

‘What?’

‘I am taking the drugs – they just
don’t work!’ He added bitterly.

‘Have you seen a specialist? Her
voice was flat, she knew of people who battled the same condition.

‘Yeah, a useless lot!’ He snapped.
‘I am making a lot of money I’m good at what I do! – but my personal life
sucks!’

‘There must be help, why not check
into a clinic?’

‘Oh, please! I don’t need to check
into a clinic – I’m not an addicted celebrity!’

Monica was shattered; here was a
situation she didn’t know how to handle. Al needed help, but she didn’t want to
get involved – they’d only known each other for a few weeks, - still….!

‘You are too good for me Monica.’ He
stood in front of her grabbing her hands. ‘If you stay I will drag you down –
you don’t deserve that!’

‘I want to help you Al.’

‘You can’t, forget it.’ He pulled
her from the stool and proceeded to push her towards the door.

‘Al,….’

‘Get out, forget about me and this
mess. Go back to your famous friends and your special work.’ He pushed her out
and slammed the door. Monica found herself wishing she was reading a script,
not living a nightmare.

Al was in his thirties, a tall, good
looking man with dark eyes, olive skin and a commanding exterior. He was a
financial consultant - born into money. Al had divorced two demanding wives and
loved entertaining Monica with tales of their cruelty towards him.

Al also had terrible mood swings.
There were times when he showed up on a date and he didn’t say a word, but just
watched her sadly. Monica felt apprehensive but hoped this was only passing,
everyone had a bad day. Now, it all made crazy sense.

A week after the incident she got a
call from Al, informing her that he’d left the Cedar Falls Hall clinic and was
back on top form. She was pleased to hear from him, but when he told her that
he’d booked a weekend in Paris as a gift to Monica, she didn’t want to know. He
was so sincere with his apology that Monica agreed to go to Paris, where they
spent a weekend together.

Everything was fine for a while as
Al was his “usual” self. Things seemed perfect until one dreadful night – when
Monica stayed at his house.

She woke up in the middle of the
night to a tremendous noise coming from downstairs. She dressed hurriedly,
expecting some sort of a disaster. When she sneaked downstairs, she was stunned
by what she saw.

Al was standing in front of a tall
book case, throwing books, CDs, pictures and anything that he could get his hands
on around the living room. He was in a state!

Al stopped for a moment, picked up a
knife from the floor and swiftly cut into his forearm. He didn’t make a sound
but blood started to stream from the deep cut.

Monica panicked, Al was shouting and
pointing into space that he wanted to be left alone. He looked like he was
talking to someone – but there was nobody there!

Monica acted on an impulse, she
slipped out of the house and dialled the clinic where Al was admitted
previously.

The woman on the phone advised her
to stay away from him but not to leave. In the state Al was in, he would hurt
her next.

She waited anxiously in her car
biting her nails until the people arrived from the clinic in an unmarked car.
Suddenly car doors opened, people rushed towards the house. A tall man clad in
denims and a sweater discovered the trembling Monica in her car.

‘You placed the call?’ He asked.

Monica nodded numbly.

‘Don’t go anywhere, I’ll need to
talk to you.’ He said and hurried off to the house.

Monica waited edgily, but within
minutes they brought Al outside on a gurney.

The man also returned and opened the
passenger door on Monica’s car.

‘Monica, is it? I am Doctor
Hollbrog.’ He introduced himself. ‘It is lucky that you were here tonight. His
condition is severe, which I was aware of when Al asked to be discharged last
time.’