Chasing Rainbows

A/N Thanks to Kaisha for another great cover. Comments greatly appreciated. Are you enjoying?

Emma could barely open her eyes, she groaned at the throbbing in her head, and the pain behind her eyes. What the hell was she doing? What the hell had happened? Her last memory was going into a club called Winston’s late, very late. Finally opening her eyes she was glad to see she was in her apartment, but that was all she was glad about. The clock showed she had half an hour to get to the studio for the biggest day of filming she had. The only consolation was that presumably Theo was in a similar situation to her.

Picking up her phone, she dialled his mobile number, he answered with a groan after five rings.

                “White! What the hell have you done to me?”

She laughed, “I was about to ask you the same thing. My greatest day and I feel like shit!”

Theo chuckled then groaned at the pain that caused, “the makeup guys are experienced, if we need to reshoot any close ups I’ll take that rap, ok?”

                “See you in five?”

He groaned again, and it was then that her door bell rang, that would be her studio taxi.

She’d never been more grateful to slump into her bed than she had that evening. It should have been her most euphoric moment, her first full day of filming. And whilst she nailed her scenes, she did it feeling like shit. She barely saw Theo all day, but she blamed him entirely. When his name flashed on her mobile phone half an hour after entering her apartment she almost disconnected the call. Reluctantly she answered.

                “Hi!”

He sighed, “sorry. Shouldn’t have dragged you out last night. Feel like death!”

She laughed, “me too! How did you manage to avoid me today when we were meant to be in two scenes together?”

It was his turn to laugh, “perks of being the director. Had something ‘crop up’, gives us both time to reschedule our big scene.”

Big scene. Ah yes, she remembered...the kiss. She’d wanted to forget that she had to kiss him. Their first attempt in London had been almost comical, and whilst she had got to know Theo a little better, the desire to kiss him was less than ever.

                “We should have practiced last night...after all apparently I need some coaching!”

She cringed two fold, firstly she still couldn’t believe she’d said that to him, and secondly, she was dreading it...and yet he seemed quite keen.

                “You’ll be fine, you’re a pro!”

It was an ineffective comment, but he bought it a hundred percent.

The next morning came and there was an issue with the recordings of a scene from the previous day, not one that included her. So she sat around whilst the continuity editors had a meltdown.

                “Emma, we’ll need you after lunch, scene twenty six, we may not fit in forty one today,” one of the executive producers called over to her, so she took a long lunch, disappearing into one of the trailers to read the book she’d brought with her from home. She skipped actual food; she was still feeling fragile from her hangover of the previous day. She wished she could remember exactly what she’d drank, whatever it was it was lethal, and she’d ever touch it again. For the umpteenth time in the last twenty four hours she cursed Theo Samuel. Everyone else joined up for read throughs, rehearsals of sorts, but Theo was exempt from that, he was ‘too busy’, so that meant that each time she acted with him, it was in front of the audience of the film crew. Slightly more nerve-racking than other scenes had been.

Scene twenty six was the first time her character Marian had a flirtatious moment with Theo, or Jim Dieter, they were high school sweethearts in the show, but  she was a quiet, naive school girl, he a popular jock type who was fancied by the masses. He didn’t know she existed until they literally bumped into each other at a school dance. But he was instantly smitten, though it took Marian a while to believe it.

In the second scene he follows her after the dance, and that was where they kissed. But the scene was postponed by a couple of days, something to do with the weather...it was an outside night scene, and there were heavy storms forecast, so she was surplus to requirements the following day.

So Emma decided to do the tourist thing, Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard, she didn’t have time for Disney, but that was definitely on the horizon. With a grin of relief, she burst out into the beautifully sunny July day...aware that come five pm it was predicted to lash down.

Emma had lasted ten minutes on Hollywood Boulevard. She had no idea why so many people stared at her, but then a few women approached her and threw derogatory comments in her direction, and she couldn’t handle it any longer, was this the unfriendly face of tourism? She really wasn’t sure. As she flagged down a taxi, her phone rang, and with a sigh of relief at seeing Clarence her agent’s name flash on the screen, she connected the call.

                “Daaarrrling. Why haven’t you answered your telephone? I’ve been calling all day!”

She sighed, “sorry, been busy.”

He laughed, “so I see, and BOY am I jealous! He is SO, SO hot!”

                “Have you seen People magazine?”

Jacob groaned at the voice that had woken him from a very disturbed sleep, “yes! And OK and US Weekly. What you didn’t send to me I had pointed out by Walt when I escaped to his bar for a few drinks.”

                “Ah!” Andy sighed, “so you didn’t take my advice and ignore it, you acted on jealousy? You are a dick sometimes.”

                “Only sometimes?” Jacob asked ruing the half bottle of whisky he’d used to chase down a half dozen beers. But he’d needed that at the time. Seeing the gossip mags had all but broken him in two. Each one was adorned with both romantic and drunken photos of his wife...his wife with the dislikeable overly smooth Theo Samuel, and they were definitely digging the co-star thing. If they hadn’t slept together, they were about to. And whilst that hurt, nothing hurt as much as noting that she wore those shoes, his shoes, the shoes he saw on her feet at the end of her legs every time he closed his eyes. A thousand dollars worth of erotic dreams disappeared in a flash and he hated her, and he hated Samuel in equal parts. No, he definitely hated Theo bastard Samuel more. That was a no-brainer.

                “You want me to send her divorce papers?”

Jacob spluttered and sat up in bed, “Andy, you are supposed to be my friend first, and my lawyer second. Can’t you feel my pain here?”

Andy sighed, “I don’t understand you Coren, not over this, but I’ll humour you. I’ll be over in an hour, to help with a contingency plan.”

As much as he loved Andy, they’d been through so much together, and no one knew him as well as his friend, he couldn’t cope with him tonight it was all still too raw, and he wasn’t the most understanding. So he called for a flight to LA, he had to confront her, he had to tell Emma White how devastating and embarrassing it was to see her to by throwing herself around town with another man, and a Hollywood heart throb to boot, did she have no thought over what he felt? Hell what her parents felt?

Emma didn’t want to leave her apartment, the photos of her and Theo in various stages of sobriety had leaked both sides of the Atlantic, and so far she had been inundated by phone calls from family and friends for most of the night. She was mortified, especially after a deep and meaningful with her mother, a one-sided one at that, where her mother ranted and raved about her loose morals and the abuse and humiliation she’d landed at poor Jacob’s door. She wished with all her heart that Isobel wasn’t halfway across the globe on her honeymoon at that moment, selfishly. Why her parents couldn’t support her unconditionally she didn’t know. Yet again Jacob comes out smelling of roses. It wasn’t as if anything had happened. They’d had a few too many drinks, but Theo hadn’t touched her, other than his arm around her shoulder to lead her into the bar they were photographed outside.

The only person she hadn’t heard from was the much maligned husband of hers, oh and the man she’d been photographed with. Several calls to the latter were unanswered, and Emma wanted to scream. She’d been spiralling into hell for years, this was her chance, this was her opportunity to shine, and it was being ruined by some gossip mongering photographers. Was there no better news in the world?

When Theo didn’t answer for the fifth time, she threw her phone across the room, she was in no rush to speak to anyone else, all this before her big scene with him the next day. As if she was going to sleep. Incognito she changed and headed out for a jog along the seafront, she needed to do something, anything.

The boarded walkways were perfect for running, if you dodged the inline skaters and dog walkers, but as she pounded the miles between Santa Monica and Marina del Rey, she concluded there were definitely worse places to run, and whilst she wasn’t the biggest fan of running per se, with the Pacific to her right she didn’t feel too hard done by.

It was late when she finally got back to the apartment and she was glad of a shower and then bed.

The next evening she had her big scene, her screen kiss with Theo. She hadn’t seen him since the photos had broken in the tabloids and she was still angry.  She’d spent the afternoon in makeup, and the continuity editor was having kittens over her hair and dress.  When she was deemed ready she didn’t want to sit or rest for fear of messing up her clothes. It was nervous energy about seeing Theo, she knew that, but wanted to justify it in a far more practical manner.

                “Right scene forty one, let’s go guys!”

Emma heard the tannoy announcement and sighed, here it was. Fortunately the scene was being filmed outside the studio, but not on location, that would have prolonged this even more. Instead, they had an area of the outdoor parking lot transformed Hollywood style into a dark quiet street, which in the story was outside the school gymnasium, where the characters had been at a party.

Her friend Paula was played by an actress she’d met earlier, this was her only scene and she was excited, Emma could tell that.

                “Right! Let’s go people, positions...” they’d rehearsed this scene several times earlier in a studio, but this was the first time they were acting it out fully, she only hoped the first take was enough!

                “Places everyone...three...two...one....”

Jacob was amazed he’d got this far, announcing that he was Emma’s husband had got him into the studios, and now, as he looked at the scene unfolding, on to the set, he was amazed, and a little intrigued.

Emma looked so young her hair pulled into a pony tail, her face fresh, she was talking to another woman and from his distance he couldn’t hear the dialogue.  So he stepped closer to the wall of people and cameras that spread out in front of him.

               

“I can’t believe he saw me...” Emma sighed looking wistfully up to the sky, a hand lifting to her chest. “After all this time Paula. Did you see him watching me?”

The other woman smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder, “I did, he only had eyes for you Marian. Lucky you!”

Emma’s head snapped down and she turned to stare at her friend excitedly, “and now, I just need to find away to land in his path...”

There was a pregnant pause before a voice called out her name, “Marian!”

Both women glanced to the left and then gasped as they saw Theo Samuel, stood there. He strode purposefully towards her, stopping in front of her.

                “Jim...I...I...” Emma stepped towards him, and Jacob could almost believe the look of wonderment, excitement and anticipation on her face. “I didn’t think you’d leave the party this early.”

Theo smiled as he stepped closer, “the light went out when you left!”

 “Really? But...”

 “Marian, you keep hiding from me, but you have to realise that I like you...a lot.” He took her hand and led her away from her friend.

But Emma protested, “I don’t think you know me,” she snatched her hands free of his. “How do I know that this isn’t some joke?” She turned and stepped away from him, keeping her back to him. “This would be the perfect way to make me look stupid!”

Theo chuckled then, a sound that brought sighs from the women watching, and a groan from Jacob, he had never wanted to punch a man more than he did him, at this moment. Instead he had to watch as his rival reached up to grab Emma’s shoulders, make her face him.

Her response was to shake her head, “I know what you’re going to say Jim, but you’ve spent enough time laughing at me, why would I believe that you’ve changed?”

His head lowered to hers, and barely a hair’s bread the separated them, pain lanced Jacob’s chest as Theo mumbled “because of this!” then kissed her.

Jacob felt sick, he kept telling himself this was just drama, they were acting, but the images that had filled the papers and magazines this week were real, and he couldn’t help the anger that started to build.