The Perfect Location

‘Not at all?’ asked Rose.

‘Nope, I prefer to read,’ she answered.

‘Well, good for you. Although if people didn’t watch anything then we would be out of jobs, I suppose,’ she said, laughing at her own joke.

The fog of worry began to envelop Calypso again. She was not of this calibre, she thought. Rose, the greatest actress of this generation; Sapphira, an intellectual and sexual powerhouse. And her, little Miss Hollywood. She pulled out her phone and began to text her mother, then took a big swig of the red wine that the waiter had put in front of her.

TG tapped his glass again. ‘Thank you, everyone. If I can have a moment … Sapphira, is that okay with you?’

The table laughed again and Sapphira nodded majestically towards him, as if allowing him his time in her spotlight.

‘This is a big thrill for me, having such a great team to do justice to this wonderful script. For those I’ve worked with before, thanks for helping me out again. For those I’ve not yet worked with, I look forward to building a great relationship.’

As he said these last words, he felt his eyes drawn to Calypso. She was looking at her mobile phone, not listening to him at all. Probably texting her boyfriend, he thought. Maybe Kelly was wrong; maybe she is just a spoilt little brat.

He paused. Hearing the silence Calypso looked up at him. He felt a shock run through his body. ‘So, thank you. I’m available for any of you night or day. Please let me know if you need anything – and here’s to a great shoot.’ He raised his glass as did everyone else at the table. ‘Salut!’ he cried.

‘Salut!’ the table cried in unison.

‘Let’s eat!’ Rose called out.

The dinner was a great success, the food amazing. Bruschetta, fresh asparagus, seven types of pasta dish, some with the black truffles of the region grated over them, fennel and orange salad, duck breast with cabbage and glazed vegetables, three cheeses from the region. The Umbrian red and white wine flowed all night and they finished with chocolate and crema di fragola, with fresh strawberries on the side.

It was a decadent feast, with Rose the only one allowing herself to try several of the pastas. Calypso, still smarting from TG’s comment, stuck to the salad and vegetables and some cheese. Sapphira took some duck and salad but pushed it around the plate. She did eat the chocolate, however, allowing herself to indulge as her body always craved sugar.

None of the male co-stars were on set yet. TG wanted to shoot all the collective scenes with the women first, then he would shoot their individual scenes later.

Rose was working hard to draw more information out of Sapphira, as she seemed a little glazed. Probably just jet-lag, thought Rose.

‘How’s your villa?’ Rose asked. ‘Mine’s lovely.’

‘It’s okay. I haven’t really looked around much,’ Sapphira said vacantly.

‘Oh,’ said Rose surprised. Once she had awoken from her sleep, exploring the house and the garden was the first thing she did. ‘Well, plenty of time for that, I’m sure.’

‘How about you, Calypso? How’s your villa? The views from mine are amazing.’

‘Um, I’m staying in a hotel,’ she said, instantly regretting her reply. Now I look like the child in the hotel and not grown-up enough to have a house, she thought. ‘I was offered a villa,’ she added quickly. ‘But I wanted to be in the city.’

‘Yeah, I get it,’ said Rose. ‘That’s where Kelly and I were when we were young. Any good shops I should visit?’

‘Did you know Kelly before LA?’ asked Calypso.

‘Yeah, we went to school together, best friends since we were fourteen,’ laughed Rose.

‘How great, and now you are here together,’ marvelled Calypso. She would have done anything for a best friend from school.

‘I know, amazing, really,’ said Rose, looking fondly at her best friend telling TG off for something.

TG came over and pulled up a chair opposite the women. ‘Hello, ladies,’ he said, in his smoothest professional lounge voice. ‘We’re all getting to know each other?’

Calypso and Sapphira were silent, so Rose spoke. ‘Yes, it’s lovely, we’re all becoming fast friends now, I think?’ She looked to the other women; Sapphira and Calypso smiled.

‘Thank you for this, TG. I’m really excited to explore my character with you,’ said Sapphira.

There was an open invitation in her voice and Calypso was startled. Jesus, the eagle on her dress wasn’t just for show! She was a hunter and TG was her prey.

TG smiled. ‘Sure, I think we’ll all do great work on this. Please speak to me about any ideas you may have on the character or the scenes and we can work through it all together.’

Calypso noticed that he didn’t seem to take Sapphira up on her offer; instead he kept his professional mask on. Probably didn’t want to mix business and pleasure, she thought, although Sapphira was incredible in her beauty and presence.

TG was called by Giulia and Calypso watched him walk away. ‘Is he gay?’ Sapphira asked.

‘No, no, he just broke up with someone in LA, I think,’ Rose answered vaguely.

Sapphira watched him walk away. A shame, she thought. Might have been some fun while in Italy. Oh well, there’s always my co-star.

Sapphira’s ego was large enough not to take TG’s snub as insulting. She factored it down to him being broken-hearted – something she could have fixed, but she wasn’t going to chase after him. She stood up, smoothed her dress, drained her wine glass and set it on the table.

‘Rose, Calypso, I look forward to working with you both. Goodnight.’ Then she turned and walked out to her driver and car.

Rose and Calypso sat staring after her. ‘Well, that’s lovely,’ said Rose unconvincingly.

‘She’s weird,’ Calypso replied and Rose couldn’t disagree with Calypso’s assessment.

Sapphira was certainly more than unusual, thought Rose, but it was more than being eccentric. Rose understood eccentric, she was friends with Kelly after all. No, Sapphira was troubled, Rose was sure of it. Behind the façade of fabulous was fear.

Rose wondered what on earth Sapphira had to fear. The girl had everything.

CHAPTER FIVE

‘What do you mean they can’t find the time?’ Rose barked down the phone to Lauren as Lucia placed a bowl of apples in front of the apricots on the table.

‘Well, I tried to tee it up but they’re really busy, and it’s the wrong time of the year for some of them with school and work,’ said Lauren.

‘Bloody hell. Now I have this fucking giant villa filled with stuff and no one to use it. No wonder the housekeeper thinks I’m mad. She keeps mumbling “ghost children” at me in Italian and now it makes sense,’ said Rose, biting into the crisp fruit.

Lauren laughed, ‘That’s too funny!’

‘Really? You think?’ rebutted Rose.

‘I know you’re sad but your family have lives also, Rose. I know you may think I’m out of line but you can’t expect them to drop everything just because you have a villa and a box of Snakes and Ladders.’

‘I know that. It’s just I never see them. My niece and nephew never see me anymore except in Hello! magazine,’ said Rose sadly.

‘Well, maybe you can head over there before you start shooting the next film and spend some time with your family. I can move a few things and make some more room in your schedule.’

Rose could hear Lauren tapping at the keyboard. ‘Maybe, we’ll see,’ said Rose.