Chapter 45

Adam woke feeling fresh and invigorated on Saturday morning. Kim had been right—he’d needed a night out to get his focus back and get his focus back he did. By lunchtime, he had completed a first draft of the essay that had been plaguing him and had a final version ready to hand in by the time the football scores were being read out on the radio that evening.

He handed it to Dr Banks at the end of her lecture on Monday morning. Kim waited for him.

“You finished it then. Pull an all-nighter?”

“Funnily enough, no. I did it in a day. Once my head was clear, it flowed easily.”

“I knew it would. You’ve always been good at these essays. I suck at them.”

“You’re not that bad.”

“We’ll see. Was yours any good?”

Adam shrugged. “Guess we’ll see when I get it back.”

“Guess so. Fancy a drink? We don’t have another lecture until after lunch.”

Adam looked at his watch. “It’s only ten. A bit early for boozing, don’t you think?”

“I meant a coffee. Back at my place.”

“Oh. Okay. But my flat’s closer.”

“Whatever.”

Dr Banks handed the marked essays back at the end of the week and to Adam’s surprise, he received the best grade she’d ever given him. She’d even written him a message on the script. Adam, this is one of the best essays on this topic I’ve ever read. Congratulations.

Kim’s grade wasn’t anywhere near as good but was still better than she’d expected.

“I tell you what,” said Adam. “Why don’t we do something to celebrate?”

“Like what?”

“I dunno.” He paused. “How about I cook us a meal tonight? Cassie and Eddie are going to watch a movie. The rest of the guys are going out, so we’ll have the place to ourselves.”

Kim raised her eyebrows. “Really. What have you got in mind that requires having the place to ourselves?”

“Nothing. Just a nice meal. I’ll do a lasagne. It’s my speciality.”

Kim smiled. “Okay. If that’s really all you want. But there’s more on offer, you know that, right?”

Adam held his hand to her cheek. “I know. But we’ve talked about this. I’m not ready. Not yet. You deserve to be more than just a rebound.”

“I know. But how long do I have to wait?”

“I don’t know Kim. I really don’t know.” He smiled. “But I tell you this—As soon as I do know, so will you.”

“Good enough. For now.”

After the last lecture of the day, Adam brought some provisions from the campus supermarket and started preparing dinner just after six. Kim was due to arrive at seven-thirty. He was chopping onions at the counter with his back to the door when Cassie came in. Eddie was sitting at the table reading a magazine.

“Adam, you’ve got a visitor.”

Without looking around he said, “You’re early. I wasn’t excepting you for another hour or so. Does that mean you’re here to help?”

“Who’s early?”

He turned around. That voice was the last one he’d expected to hear. “Ch ... Chloë ... I ... Wha ... Why...? What are...?”

“Hi, Adam.” She looked at the floor and then up at him. “How are you?”

“I...” He shook his head. “Dumbfounded. I never...”

“Never expected to see me again?”

He nodded. “Well, yeah. That’s what I...” He shook his head again. “I can’t believe ... What are you doing here?”

Cassie pulled Eddie up from his seat. “Come on or we’ll be late.”

“But the film doesn’t start for an hour.”

She looked at him sternly and nodded towards Adam. “Some privacy?”

“Oh, yeah. Right. Okay.”

They hurried away, shutting the door behind them. Adam didn’t know what to say. Chloë looked around the room uncomfortably.

“Well,” Adam said finally, his tone harsh, “is this a flying visit? Let me guess, you’ve come back to collect some stuff from the house and you thought you’d drop in to say goodbye.”

“Don’t be like that, Adam?”

“Like what? Exactly?”

“Like...” Chloë shook her head. “I’m...” She sighed heavily. “I’ve come back. To finish the course.”

“Why? I thought you had all those offers in Hollywood. Why turn them down?” Sarcasm dripped from his words.

Chloë bit her lip. “They, sort of, didn’t pan out as planned.”

“How so?”

“Sam.”

“Sam Bradwell?”

She nodded. “You were right, Adam. He was the wrong man to upset.”

His initial flash of anger drained away. His tone softened. “Why? What happened?”

“He closed all the doors for me. One after the other. First Cosmogirl, then all the others. It seems the studios valued his talents more than mine.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s simple really. He called every studio exec he knew and told them what had happened in London. He told them that if they hired me, he’d never work for them again.”

“Seems harsh. I bet you were upset.”

“I was livid. Hilda even put me in contact with a lawyer to talk about suing him for interference or loss of earnings or something like that. I’m not sure what. But he invited me to lunch the day before the meeting. Totally out of the blue.” She snapped her fingers. “He said he wanted to explain.”

“He slams the door on you then invites you to dinner? So what did he say?”

“I don’t know if he knew about the lawyer or not, but he told me he spoke to the execs for my own good. He said he’d only told the studios not to hire me until I’d finished my education, not to never hire me again. He was really sweet actually. He said that he’d gone off the rails when he won his first Oscar—but that someone was there to pull him back into line, and that’s all he was doing for me. Pulling me back into line before it went too far. Before I ruined my career for good.

“I argued with him, of course. I mean, you saw me in London—I was arguing with everyone. I screamed and told him he had no right. Told him that I knew what was best for my career. I didn’t use those words—they were slightly less polite— but that’s I what meant. I told him that if I waited until I’d finished here, that everyone in Hollywood would have forgotten me, but do you know what he said?”

Adam shook his head.

“He said that if I disappeared for a few years, it would only heighten the anticipation of my return. He said that if I picked the right comeback project, it’d cement my reputation. He was so calm. So measured. There I was, calling him every name under the sun and he just sat there are took it and then showed me why I was wrong.

“He gave me three films to watch—two he made straight after he won his Oscar and one he made after he took a two-year break to get his head together. I didn’t even have to watch them all the way through—ten minutes of each was more than enough. It was clear what he wanted to show me. The first two were shocking. I mean really, really bad. But the third was great. It won him another nomination.

“I don’t know exactly when I realised he was right about the way I’d been behaving, but I did. It was if I’d suddenly seen the way I was acting and ... and I was ... I was an idiot. I’d been a bitch on set. I was horrible to you. It was like waking up from a nightmare. I started crying right there on his sofa.

“Sam put his arm around me and told me not to worry. He said I could be great, maybe one of the greatest, but I had to pick the right projects and that in his opinion none of the films Hilda had lined up for me were even close to good enough. He said she was only interested in the money. In her cut, not my career. I won’t tell you what he called Hilda, because it wasn’t very nice.