Chapter 29
29
OLLIE
‘Are you going to answer it?’ Ollie asked, his heart beating just a bit faster than usual. What the hell was going on with him today? Okay, so his marriage had fallen apart, he’d been globally humiliated, and he’d realised he was going to have to rethink his whole life, but still… This was more than that. He hadn’t been able to get what Drea said out of his mind. Him and Kara. Getting together. Could that work?
‘No,’ she said, jolting him, and he had to rewind to clarify what she was objecting to. ‘I’m not picking up. He’s got nothing to say that I want to hear.’
Ah, okay. She wasn’t going to answer Josh’s call. He was still in the game.
‘Kara, do you ever wonder…’
Her damn phone started ringing again.
‘Will you tell him to fuck off!’ he said, just a little too loudly, and an elderly bloke at the nearest table gave him a raised eyebrow of disapproval.
Kara was looking pretty confused too. ‘It’s not him. Look.’
She turned her phone around again so he could see what it said on the screen.
Casey Lowden. FaceTime.
Kara was looking at him questioningly, as if undecided on whether to answer this one too, but before he could respond, she took the call.
‘Hey Casey,’ she was saying into the phone now, her eyes darting to make sure no one was close enough to overhear. She was safe. Even the old bloke with the disapproving eyebrow wouldn’t be able to pick up her words unless they were shouted.
Ollie stayed quiet, picking up his phone to check on his emails. Kara nudged his leg, gesturing to him to listen in, so despite her often-repeated doubts that he could manage it, he proceeded to multitask.
From his side view, he could see Casey Lowden’s face on the screen. Predictably, the press always went for the obvious, dubbing her the ‘new Jennifer Aniston’, but actually in this case they weren’t far wrong. There were definitely similarities, in her looks, her quirky mannerisms and her absolute genius for comedy. According to Kara, she’d not long joined the cast of The Clydeside , but Ollie had a feeling she wouldn’t be there long, because she had three movies already in the can and scheduled for release over the next year. Word on the inside was that they were fantastic and that she might just be the next big thing. He was reserving judgement, but it was great to see another Scot getting a bigger platform in the industry.
‘Thanks for taking my call, Kara. I want to apologise for not getting in touch before now. I was in deep with the lawyers and the chiefs at Clydeside, and my team insisted I maintained total confidentiality until we’d reached a conclusion. Have you seen the news?’
‘I did. Jacobs is gone. I’m guessing now that’s down to you and your team? You did every woman in that studio a service.’
‘Not just me. Josh Jackson from the PR company was a big help too. Although, I still think he might have played both sides at the start, but he soon realised who was winning the battle.’ Ollie knew that Kara kept her personal life out of work and the public eye, so it wasn’t surprising that a fairly new addition to the cast wasn’t aware of the connection with Josh. ‘And Abigail in HR was fricking mighty,’ Casey said, with a wide grin. ‘She’s got the best poker face ever, but as soon as she knew the whole story, she held his feet to the fire. Or at least, the one good foot he had left. Sorry. Sometimes things just come out of my gob.’
‘I know that feeling,’ Kara agreed, and he could see the weight lifting off her shoulders with every second of the call.
‘So anyway, two things – first, I just wanted to let you know that the studio are going to call and beg you to come back. It’s not a good look for them that they didn’t support you right from the outset.’
Kara nodded and he could see she was taking it all in and processing what that meant for her.
‘And the second thing is what I’ve been dying to say to you for days now – thank you. Thank you so, so much. The way you stepped in and defended me… It was hardcore fricking epic, and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate that. I’m so sorry too, for all the stress it must have caused over the last few days. We just needed to get everything in place so that we could get the right outcome. Please, please come back to work, and thanks again, from the bottom of my heart. You’re 100 per cent my kind of lady, Kara McIntyre.’
‘I really appreciate that,’ Kara responded, with a typically bashful smile. ‘But no thanks are necessary. I’ll wait to hear from the studio before I decide what I’m going to do.’
‘They’ll be in touch tomorrow. But, you know, with those reactions and that attitude, you should really consider a role in an action movie…’
That made Kara laugh, and when she did, the phone momentarily tilted in Ollie’s direction.
Casey responded immediately. ‘Wait, are my eyes playing up or did I just see Ollie Chiles?’
‘Your eyes are fine,’ Kara assured her, laughing. ‘Ollie’s my best mate – we’re just heading off to Hawaii for my sister’s wedding.’
Ollie leaned into the scope of the camera and Kara tilted it to make it a bit easier for him. ‘Hey Casey, good to see you.’
‘Good to see you too, Ollie. It’s been a while. Listen, I’m sorry about all the shit you’re dealing with. That was rough today.’
With everything going on, all the crap with Sienna seemed like forever ago – it was still crazy to him that he’d woken up this morning with not even the slightest idea of what was coming.
‘Thanks, Casey,’ he said, meaning it.
‘And next time you’re in town, shout me for a beer.’
‘I will do.’ Those kinds of exchanges happened all the time in their industry, and the beer/drink/dinner never materialised, but he was pretty sure this was real. They’d had a few nights out with some of the other cast members when they were working together the previous year and they’d definitely struck up the beginnings of a friendship.
‘Oh, and by the way – anyone who’s been anywhere near you two in the last year knows Sienna’s statement was bullshit. Saving her own arse. She must pay her publicist the big bucks. See you later. Bye, Kara, and thanks again.’
With that, she blew them a kiss and then the screen went black.
It was Kara who reacted first. ‘Statement? What statement?’
Ollie felt a deep, depressing inevitability sink from his shoulders to his gut. Of course Sienna would release a statement. His team had been urging him to do the same all day and he’d refused, because the negative optics weren’t on him. Sienna would claw at every possibility to restore her image.
He clicked onto Instagram, knowing that if she’d posted something it would be everywhere. As soon as he pulled up her profile, there it was. A tear-stained and emotional Sienna, who, despite her distress, was sporting flawless make-up and perfect hair, stared straight into camera.
‘Hi everyone. Thank you so much to all of you who have reached out after the horrendous invasion of my privacy this morning. You guys know I’m an open book, and I always want to be fully transparent with my fans, but the reality is that Ollie and I have been keeping something to ourselves for the last few months.’
Kara reached over and paused the video. ‘You have?’
He shook his head. ‘News to me.’ He pressed play.
‘We actually separated last summer…’
Beside him, Kara gasped and murmured, ‘Cow.’
‘And we’ve both moved on. As you all saw, I’m now in a really great relationship with Van Weeks, who has a brilliant new show coming out shortly on Netflix…’
It was almost laughable. She was hustling even in this moment.
‘And I won’t speak for Ollie, but I can say that he has someone new too.’
Again, Kara questioned him. ‘You do?’
Same answer. ‘Also, news to me.’
‘We wish each other well, and we’re both grateful for the wonderful times we had together. We’ll go on as best friends…’
‘I’ll scratch her eyes out,’ Kara joked. ‘I’m your best friend.’
‘…who want only the best for each other. I hope that this update puts this morning’s video in perspective and all I’d like to say is be kind. You don’t know what other people are going through. Thank you and I love you all.’
Ollie had to give it to her – she’d just cleaned up her image and scored a PR win at the same time.
‘In case it wasn’t already clear, I now can’t stand her. Any time you want to talk or bitch, I’m here and ready.’ Kara nudged him playfully and he felt such a wave of gratitude and love that he finally snapped and got to the point of the conversation he’d been trying to have for the last two hours.
‘Actually, I kinda want to talk now,’ he said, turning to face her, leaning forward in his seat so that they were only a few inches apart.
‘I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to blurt it out. Have you ever thought about you and me?’
‘All the time. It’s why I spend half my life on FaceTime with you.’
She wasn’t getting this, so he went back in. ‘No, I mean, actually you and me. Together. As in, a relationship.’
Her eyes widened as the message got through. ‘Wait… with the naked stuff?’
Even in the tensest moments she could still make him laugh. ‘You don’t have to act so grossed out. There are a few million people in my fan club that might find the naked stuff appealing.’
Her mouth was now open and moving, but there was nothing coming out. He hadn’t thought this through for long enough to envisage what her reaction would be, but this definitely wasn’t it, so he immediately pressed on, desperately trying to reinforce his point.
‘I was just thinking about what Drea said, about us both being single at the same time. We’ll be in Hawaii for a few days together. Maybe we can… I don’t know. Start slow. Maybe see whether it’s something that could be a possibility for us. You’re always going on about the romcoms. Isn’t it always the good-looking best friend they end up with?’
She was still staring at him, eyes wide, stunned into silence.
That’s when Drea returned, plonked herself down on her chair, then immediately sensed the weird vibe as her gaze went from one of them to the other, and back.
‘Okay, what’s happening? What did I miss? She told you another secret, didn’t she? It’s the bondage, isn’t it? I fricking knew it the minute my black stilettos went missing.’