Chapter 42

Adam slammed his door shut behind him, tossed his bag on the chair by his desk and threw himself on his bed. He stared unseeingly at the ceiling. He was fed up with everyone asking him where Chloë was. What was he? Her keeper?

Kim had asked him to join her and her flatmates for a drink in The Union, but he couldn’t face more staring faces or more of the same repeated questions.

He hadn’t been able to get hold of Chloë since term started. He couldn’t understand why she hadn’t answered the countless messages he’d left on her voicemail or replied to any of his texts. He retrieved his mobile from his jacket pocket and just as he was about to speed-dial her, again, it rang. He knew from the ringtone it was her.

“Chloë? It’s about time. Where have you been? I was expecting you back at the end of last week.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“What happened? Did the shoot overrun by more than Mark thought it would?”

“Change of plans, actually. The shoot was cancelled.”

“Cancelled?”

“Cancelled for me, at least. Apparently, Sam thought I was getting a little too big for my boots and had me replaced. It’s not fair really; all I did was suggest a few changes to the script. I mean, they had an Oscar winner on board and they weren’t using her to their full advantage.”

“Do you mean you tried to get them to give you a bigger part? You were already lead actress!”

“Not bigger, exactly. Just... more prominent. If they told the story from my character’s viewpoint, instead of Sam’s, it would have been a much better film.”

Adam shook his head—he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Chloë, it was Sam’s film. He wrote the damn script and financed it. He also requested you play that part. Don’t you think trying to change his story was kind of a stupid thing to do?”

“That’s what Mark said. But what would he know? Did he win an Oscar?”

“Not this year, but he’s been in the business a lot longer than you. Sam’s a powerful man. Upsetting him is not a smart move.”

“Yeah, well. We’ll see.”

The silence that filled the telephone line was one of the loudest Adam had ever heard. He felt as if he’d said exactly the wrong thing. He searched for something to say. “Where are you then if you’re not on set?”

“L.A.”

“Los Angeles? Jesus Christ! Why?”

“I’m out here with Hilda. Sorry, I haven’t had time to let you know, but I’ve been busy.”

“Too busy to even answer your phone? Or send me a text? It would’ve taken all of, what, thirty seconds?”

“I said I’m sorry, didn’t I? What more do you want?”

“I’m supposed to be your boyfriend, in case you’d forgotten. It’d be nice to know where you are. Do you have any idea what it’s been like here? Everyone’s been asking after you and I had to tell them I didn’t know anything—even Dr Banks asked me where you were in our last tutorial.”