The Road To Her Part 28

I followed this pattern of plane-and-video watching and photo-staring for three whole days, until finally, after the fourth day of my absence from work, Bella came back to my apartment, bustling in with a worried but determined and caring look on her face. It was a look that suggested she wouldn't be leaving until she was certain I would be okay to be left again.

"I've been calling your mobile every day for the last four days," Bella said, brus.h.i.+ng her hand up and down my arm as I stepped aside to allow her in, "and your landline. Guess you didn't want to be contacted, huh?"

I glanced at my iPhone, switched to silent for the last seventy-two hours, and then to the apartment phone, yanked angrily out from its socket when it was clear that Elise wasn't going to ring me. I looked back at Bella.

"I've not been in the mood for callers." I shrugged, wandering back to the sofa and sinking down wearily into it.

"Have you even stepped outside this door since I was last here?" Bella asked.

I shook my head.

"Or had a shower?" She looked at my crumpled pyjamas and messy hair.

"You know what's ironic about all of this?" I asked, ignoring her question about showers.

Bella sat down beside me.

"That I kept on about how my relations.h.i.+p with Elise wasn't as I wanted it to be," I said, "but now I'd give anything to have any kind of relations.h.i.+p with her." I looked at Bella. "I miss her, Bella," I said. "I miss Casey, I miss Jasmine. I miss everything." I ran my hands through my hair. "I was living this wonderful life, with a wonderful character to play in a wonderful soap. I had a wonderful girl with me who I got to work with all day and hang out with at night, and it still wasn't enough for me." I squeezed my eyes shut and swallowed hard. "And now I've lost it all."

"You haven't lost Jasmine," Bella said kindly. "Everyone's worried about you, you know." She squeezed my hand. "We just want you to come back and carry on doing what you're amazing at."

I felt punch-drunk, like every last ounce of energy had been squeezed from me. My head ached, my eyes were like hard rocks in their sockets, and I was numb all over. But Bella's words to me about work sparked a small feeling of optimism inside me.

"Have you heard from her?" Bella asked.

I shook my head. "Not a word. Nothing," I said. "Have you? Has Kevin, I mean?" I asked hopefully.

"No, nothing either." She sat back on the sofa.

I paused. "Has it caused too much ha.s.sle?" I asked. "Elise leaving like that, me not coming in all week?"

Bella patted my leg. "Nothing the writers can't fix," she smiled. "They're annoyed with Elise, yes, but I think they're more than used to us actors and our fragile egos getting the better of us sometimes, then us b.u.g.g.e.ring off and leaving everyone in the lurch." She b.u.mped her shoulder playfully against mine. "They'll cope. They always do." She got up from the sofa and wandered to the kitchen, pausing on her way there. "Let's have no more talk of blame here, okay?" She turned and looked at me. "You have your whole life ahead of you, Holly," she said. "You've got a great career, a good life here in London, and people who love you. Don't let one person ruin all that for you."

I sat and listened to Bella making coffee, thinking perhaps Bella was right, and that it was time I took a shower and joined the real world again. I got up and went to the kitchen, just as Bella was returning with a large mug of steaming coffee and hot b.u.t.tered toast.

"You're right," I said, smiling sheepishly at her.

"About?" Bella handed me my coffee.

"About everything," I said. "As usual."

I took a piece of toast from the plate, biting into a slice and licking melted b.u.t.ter from my bottom lip.

"Does this mean you feel like you might be ready to come back to work?" Bella asked hesitantly.

"I think so," I replied truthfully. "Might do me better than moping around here, thinking about how well I've managed to f.u.c.k up my life, hey?" The words caught slightly in my throat and I hastily took another bite of toast in case Bella noticed.

"And does it also mean you might be up for a night out tomorrow?" Bella b.u.mped my arm. "We do have to celebrate your birthday, you know."

"My birthday," I said on a groan.

"It's the law," she said. "All birthday celebrations are compulsory."

"Oh yes?" I looked at her in amus.e.m.e.nt. "And whose law says that?"

"Bella's law," she said, taking the second piece of toast from my plate and biting into it. "I'll look after you all night, I promise. Make sure you don't get questioned to death about stuff."

"I think a night out is just what I need," I said wearily. "Might help me forget. Thank you, Bella," I said warmly.

Chapter Thirty-two.

Elise had been gone exactly six days, nine hours, and twenty-one minutes, but the second I stepped into Bobby's and remembered that the last time I'd been there-with her-it seemed like she'd only left me that morning. Stepping back into that nightclub jolted me back into missing her all over again. I'd thought I'd be spending my twenty-first with her, of course. We hadn't made firm plans, but I'd believed that whatever we did, and however we celebrated it, it would just be the two of us. As much as I appreciated Bella and everyone else taking me out, and as much as I was making an effort to be happy on the outside, a huge part of me was crying inside all evening because all I really wanted to do was be with Elise, on my own, in my apartment, celebrating with her.

"You're thinking too much again." Bella put her hands on my shoulders and steered me towards a table. "You had that faraway look on your face that you always get."

"Just thinking how weird it all is without her here." I sat down and stared around me, trying not to let my mood darken too much. "And missing her all over again."

I'd returned to work that same afternoon and hated every single second of it, for so many reasons.

No Elise. No Casey.

Questions asked. Questions fended off.

It had been awful.

It would be wretched getting into the routine of working without Elise again, as well. We'd been working closely-as well as everything else-for such a long time that to suddenly not have her with me or near me and not knowing when-if ever-she was coming back was utter h.e.l.l. I frequently thought back to my first meeting with her, all those months ago, and found it curious to think there ever was a time when we hadn't worked with one another because it seemed like Elise had been part of PR-and a part of me-forever.

"Try not to dwell on the past," Bella said kindly, "think of your twenty-first as a new start." She hugged her arm round me. "A new start without her."

"She's making that easier for me," I said, not elaborating any further as Robbie placed a bucket of champagne and two gla.s.ses on our table.

"Happy birthday, you." He leant across and kissed my cheek. "My spies tell me you had a sack-load of cards from fans this morning, Miss Popular." He squeezed my shoulder.

"Over three hundred and sixty at the last count." Bella looked up and caught Robbie's eye. "That would be precisely three hundred and fifty-nine and a half more than I got this year."

"How do you get half a card, Bel?" Robbie looked quizzically at her.

"It was written on the back of a postcard." Bella shrugged. "Half a card."

Robbie rolled his eyes and, with a final demand that I drink up and enjoy, he wandered off back in the direction of the bar where the others were seated.

Getting cards from fans had been awesome. I'd never received cards on any previous birthdays, and I have to admit, I loved it, giving me the faintest pinp.r.i.c.k of something resembling cheerfulness. But that was it, wasn't it? Throughout all of this sorry mess, I was still Jasmine Hunter, and Casey or no Casey, I'd be Jasmine Hunter for many years yet. Even Elise couldn't take that away from me.

"Dare I ask?" Bella said, now we were alone again.

"Ask what?" I replied, pouring champagne carefully into our gla.s.ses.

"Did you get anything from her?"

I shook my head. "No text, no card, no e-mail, nothing," I said, sighing. "She knows it's today but she evidently doesn't give a s.h.i.+t."

"So, again," Bella offered, "it's time for you to move on because it sounds like she already has."

"It's difficult." I frowned. "Everything's a reminder. I hated hearing the b.i.t.c.hing about her at work this afternoon," I said. "People grumbling about her because she's thrown the schedule into chaos."

"The same people who are having to work longer hours because of what she's done?" Bella sipped her drink. "They'll soon move on to b.i.t.c.hing about someone else."

"I hate the way they speak about her, though," I said. "All right, so Elise could be a.r.s.ey with me in the early days, but she's always been professional and polite to everyone on set, hasn't she?"

Bella nodded. "Can't argue with that." She lifted her gla.s.s as she spotted Kevin in the shadows and beckoned him over to our table. "No more talking about Elise. Promise?"

"Promise." I swirled my champagne around in my gla.s.s, making it fizz again, and took a long drink.

"I just about remember my twenty-first." Kevin slotted himself into the booth beside me. "But I don't remember drinking as much champagne as you all are!" He raised his gla.s.s to me. "Are you having a good one?"

"She is, aren't you?" Bella prompted when I didn't answer.

"It's been awesome." I managed a smile. "Thank you all for coming out with me."

"You're a very highly valued member of Portobello," Kevin said. "What's happened isn't your fault. You do know that, don't you?" he asked. "It's Elise that's put us in this mess, not you."

"I know," I mumbled, glancing over to Bella. "Thank you."

"And just because we've had to write Casey out for now," he continued, "doesn't mean we'll be downgrading any of your storylines." He b.u.mped my shoulder. "So don't start thinking you'll have fewer lines to learn than you did a week ago."

"Is this really the end of Jasmine and Casey, then?" I asked hesitantly. "Forever?" The word caught in my throat.

"Just a temporary blip." Kevin waved a hand. "The writers will have her travelling somewhere for the next few months but not breaking up with Jasmine as such." He took a drink from his gla.s.s. "We'll cross that bridge when and if we have to."

I stared down into my gla.s.s, watching the bubbles play with one another.

"We still have big plans for Jasmine, Hol," Kevin said, draining the rest of his drink. "If anything, the Jasey storyline has told us just how important a character she is." He stood up. "And we'll fight to keep you on board for as long as possible."

I watched him leave our table and head back over to where Susie was talking to Rory, then turned and looked at Bella, my face flushed with pride.

"You see?" Bella leant closer to me. "There's life after Jasmine and Casey, and there's life after Holly and Elise, too." She clinked her gla.s.s against mine. "Today is most definitely the first day of the rest of your life."

Chapter Thirty-three.

"Okay, that's a wrap." Stuart clapped his hands twice and retrieved his clipboard from under his arm, scribbling something down on it. "We're done for the day now, guys." He turned and walked quickly towards a trailer parked up nearby.

"Thank G.o.d for that." Robbie drew his hands through his hair. "Who knew a twelve-hour shoot could feel like it was more like a day and a half?"

Just as I'd done when Grace had left me, I'd thrown myself into my work, which was my only salvation. Each day I got up, filmed my scenes at the studios, came home, ate, and slept. Same robotic thing, day in, day out, which was only good because it allowed me to shut out all thoughts of her, while I trained my brain to read scripts in between takes, or found someone to talk to in the green room whenever it seemed like my thoughts were going to drift over to her.

It was midweek and we'd just wrapped on some scenes filmed on location up near Primrose Hill. We were ahead of schedule, which delighted Stuart and meant that I'd now finished all my scenes and wasn't needed again until Monday. A four-day weekend beckoned, which ordinarily would have been something to look forward to; this one, however, filled me with dread because I knew it would be spent alone.

"Do you want to grab a bite to eat on the way home?" I suddenly asked Robbie, the thought of being alone hanging over me. "My treat. I figure we've earned it after the day we've had."

"No can do." Robbie opened the door to the trailer and stood to one side to allow me to enter. "Got a hot date tonight."

"Again?" I said over my shoulder. "Didn't you have a hot date last night, too?"

"And another one tomorrow." Robbie stepped up into the trailer behind me. "What can I say?" He struck a pose, making me groan...and laugh. "Anyway, see you Monday, yeah?" He shrugged his jacket on and left the trailer once more.

"The Adonis that is Robbie Turner, huh?" Bella appeared from behind a door where she'd been changing. She wriggled her sweater over her head, then ran her hands through her static hair. "Irresistible to all female-kind."

"Not all." I sat down and made big eyes at Bella. "You know, I never thought I'd be jealous of Robbie, but I am today."

"Oh?" Bella sat down next to me and kicked her shoes off, sending one clattering across the floor.

"For having something to look forward to all weekend." I sighed. "For having a life."

"You have plenty of friends," Bella said. "Just because you're single again doesn't have to mean it has to be all doom and gloom."

"Yeah, but friends aren't quite the same, are they?" I stared moodily at the floor. "I thought I'd kinda got used to the loneliness after Grace and I broke up," I said. "I thought I was okay with it." I eased Jasmine's shoes off and put on my own much more comfortable boots. "Because you do, don't you?" I looked at Bella. "Then someone new comes into your life and gives you your weekends back, but when they go, you have to get used to the loneliness all over again."

"Until the next new person comes into your life," Bella said, giving my knee a squeeze, "and gives you your weekends back again." She reached into her bag and pulled her phone out, then jabbed at the b.u.t.tons on it, like she always did with her phone. "Being single when you've been used to having someone around takes some getting used to." She jabbed at her phone again and frowned. "b.l.o.o.d.y phone's dead."

I took it from her.

"You ever hear from Grace now?" she asked, watching me as I pressed and held various b.u.t.tons on her phone.

I shook my head. "Nothing after the last e-mail I told you about," I said. "Guess she finally took the hint, although I was so wrapped up in Elise, I don't think I would have noticed anything anyway." I abruptly stopped talking, Elise's name catching in my throat. "When did you last charge this thing?" I waggled it, grateful to have the chance to change the subject.

Bella shrugged. "I forget."

"I keep telling you that you have to charge it." I handed it back to her. "Your battery's dead, I expect." I rooted around in my bag for my own phone and handed it to her. "Here."

"I just have to ring Tom, make sure he picks the kids up from football," Bella said, clamping the phone to her ear. "He's so forgetful. Drives me nuts. h.e.l.lo? Tom?"

Wanting to let Bella speak in peace, I got up and walked to the small trailer bathroom, wondering, though, why she had to shout whenever she used a mobile phone. Shutting the door and locking it, I stood in front of the mirror, pulling my fingers through my fringe to move it from my eyes, listening to the m.u.f.fled voice of Bella still talking outside.

Bella.

She'd been wonderful to me since Elise had left. I'd habitually poured my heart out to her, when I thought things were becoming too much for me, or cried in her arms in our dressing room when something at work p.r.i.c.ked a memory of Elise and made everything come flooding back again. Without Bella, I think my life would have come cras.h.i.+ng down around my ears weeks ago; she had been the one that had told me I had the strength to get through this, and I didn't know how I'd ever be able to repay her for her kindness.