Authors: M Howson

The Principle Of Chance (5 page)

Jack moved in. ‘How about you come
down later to my house on the beach?’ Seeing the pinned up smile on Amy’s face,
Jack knew refusal was coming.

He quickly added. ‘It’s a calm, warm
night, just come for a drink. Bring your …. uh, boyfriend too.’

‘I think you could say yes.’ Justin
joined in seeing Amy’s hesitant expression.

Amy wasn’t into celebrity parties,
but she met a lot of famous people due to her work. Ed was turning out to be a
real jerk, she wanted to lose him.

The man in question caught the end
of the conversation. ‘What a good idea, thanks Jack. Unfortunately I have a
quick meeting to go to.’ Ed said.

Couldn’t be better, Amy thought.
Quick meal and leave!

‘Not to worry...’ Jack patted Ed on
the shoulder. ‘Your lady will be safe with me and Justin.’

‘She didn’t say yes Jack.’ Justin
pointed out.

‘But she will. You can’t turn down
an old man, Amy. It would break my heart.’

Amy was amused by Jack’s
personality. ‘I suppose I can’t.’ She said.

‘We leave in an hour. Do you want to
share the car with us?’ Jack offered.

‘No thank you. I’ll meet you there
Jack; works better for me.’ Amy said, already thinking of an excuse to escape
early.

‘An independent woman! I like that!’
Jack placed a gilded card front of Amy.

‘Remember, in an hour.’

As soon as they walked away, Ed
started questioning Amy. ‘How do you know him?’

‘If you mean Jack Harvey, I don’t
know him.’ Amy said in an icy tone.

Ed the jerk! She was getting tired
of listening to him, she wanted to leave – a fast exit was what she needed.

Ed was smart enough to sense the
tension; - change of tactics! ‘Take my car Amy; I’ll get a taxi to Jack’s
place.’

What? Amy wondered; - was he for
real? ‘Oh no, I’ll get a taxi, that’s no problem.’ She said quickly. On the
other hand a little play with his precious car was too tempting.

‘I insist sugar – it will suit you.’
Ed said with a knowing grin.

‘All right, I’ll take it!’ The Aston
was a beautiful car – with the wrong owner.

Chapter Five

Frank offered Jack and Justin a ride
to the house. They had enjoyed a tasty meal earlier in Nonna’s and chatted
about old times as usual. Frank wanted to talk to Justin, but he elected to
wait.

‘Who is this girl,... Jack was
trying to secure for himself?’ Frank enquired.

‘A
young lawyer.’ Justin revealed.

‘Who?’ Frank’s interest perked up.

‘Picture this Frank; the girl is out
on a date with her boyfriend and gets hijacked by another man, in this case -
Jack!’

‘No surprise there!’ Frank chuckled.

‘What do you mean?’ Jack asked.

‘She sounds way too young for you
Jack.’ Frank stated.

‘There was a
boyfriend
right
before your eyes!’ Justin pointed out.

‘Ed? He doesn’t count, and she was
willing…..’ Jack pursued.

‘How do you know Ed?’ Justin asked.

‘… loser.’ Jack blurted out.

‘What sort of
loser
are we
talking here?’ Frank was amused.

‘He only wants to get laid! He's
into
casual
sex!’ Jack relayed a piece of gossip.

Frank suppressed a smile. ‘You
should talk Jack, all this arguing about a girl?’

A girl, that Frank had also noticed
when he entered the restaurant. Of course, the guys didn’t need to know that!
Frank also knew, that Jack had probably invited her to his beach house. That
was his usual thing. This time it had worked perfectly for Frank.

‘She was something else Frank.’ Jack
wasn’t giving in.

‘I suppose she was different.’
Justin admitted. ‘She had
dark
hair Jack!’

‘You’ll see Frank!’

‘If she turns up!’

‘Turns up?’ Frank asked.

‘Come on Frank, you should know how
Jack works, he invited her to his house – of course.’ Justin said.

‘No surprise there!’ Frank agreed.

‘She will come!’ Jack said satisfied
with the last word. ‘You will see.’

Frank and Jack had met Justin some
years ago. Frank needed a singer for one of his movies. Justin had provided a soul
singer who won an award for the movie and their solid friendship began.

‘It’s nearing midnight!’ Justin
stated.

‘You’re ready for bed? Take one of
the bedrooms – I have plenty available.’

‘You crack me up Jack!’ Justin
laughed.

‘I know I do!’

Frank reached for a cigar. ‘No
response?’ He looked at Justin.

‘You got it!’ Justin said.

‘The deal is shaky Justin.’ Jack
said with his usual frankness.

‘What deal? God! There are no
secrets between you guys.’ Justin said sharply.

‘What is a secret – nothing anymore?!’

Justin was waiting for a call from
his lawyers, confirming the sale of the company. He had a gut feeling the deal
was too good to be legitimate. Yet, his lawyers seemed satisfied.

‘You know what I’m thinking …?’
Justin turned to Jack. ‘Something isn’t right, I feel it.’

Frank was enjoying his cigar and the
company. He wanted to offer Justin the help of his lawyers but Justin was on
top of things, it wasn’t his place to interfere.

‘Go with your gut feeling – it will
never let you down.’ Frank said, noticing that they had arrived at Jack’s beach
house.

The display of cars on the drive was
unbelievable.

Justin focused his attention on
Jack. ‘You said
a few
friends?’

‘I don’t know what happened – they
must belong to next door.’ Jack said, not meeting Justin’s eyes.

Justin and Frank exchanged a
meaningful look. Jack was predictable.

****

Amy didn’t think she would manage
another hour with the guy. Unknown to her, Ed realised he had unexpectedly gained
competition. This rapidly turned him into a charmer, eager to amuse - and he
wanted to get laid! A little hard work wouldn’t hurt.

Amy found some of the things Ed said
interesting. She sat back to see what he could do for five minutes
entertainment.

Ed misinterpreted the move. He
reached out, gently touching her hand. ‘You are looking stunning,...’ He said
in a husky voice.

Amy looked away as she wondered if
he was heating up in the trouser department. ‘Thank you.’ She said cautiously.

‘I mean it.’ He said moving closer.

Jesus! Was she turning him on? ‘One
question!’

‘Ask away!’ Ed leaned back in his
armchair, the girl was playing along.

‘Why did you tell the guys I was
your girlfriend?’ Amy asked casually.

Ed hadn’t anticipated this; what a
question! She should be glad that he’d said that! He searched his brain for a
quick answer.

‘Wouldn’t you want to be sweetie?!’
He asked with a huge beam on his face.

Ed found it hard to concentrate, he
was already undressing Amy in his mind. It shouldn’t take long, just lift that
skirt up and he's in
there!

‘That’s not an answer.’ Amy said,
feeling short tempered.

Shit! She was being difficult. Let’s
turn it up a notch. ‘Here is the deal Amy. I like you, you are a sexy girl. The
Jack Harveys of this world are sharks with one thing on their mind; to get you
into their bed.’ Ed dispensed some words of wisdom.

He never mentioned that he wanted
the same thing, but that was irrelevant in his mind.

‘I see! So you had taken it upon
yourself to protect me!’ Amy was furious.

‘Of course babe! You are
with me
tonight.’

Was this real? Amy wondered - not
for the first time. On the other hand, it would be interesting to find out more
about Jack and
maybe
Justin.

‘You seem to be well informed Ed,
tell me about these guys.’

He was off the hook! – great, he
launched into a speech.

‘Jack Harvey has a reputation for
being a Romeo. He likes them young!
Real
young!
He is Hollywood
old school. In his prime, which was some decade
s
ago, Jack made hundreds
of movies and mega money. Jack has never married and never been in a
relationship - he just gets laid.’ Ed paused to take a sip of his iced vodka.

‘Justin Blakes is a spoiled
Hollywood kid. He is into music, has his own label. The usual stuff. Nobody has
ever seen him with a woman –
you know what I mean.
’

Amy had ordered ravioli – her
favourite, but she was only picking at her food, Ed was exaggerating. It didn’t
matter. She will go to Jack’s house, now - she was intrigued. What she heard
from other sources was a different story to Ed’s.

Ed had enough; no more talking, he
wanted action. ‘Amy honey, you ready to go?’

‘I am.’ Amy said pleased.

Ed signalled to a waiter. ‘You be
careful with my car babe!’

‘I’ll treat it as my own.’

‘That’s what I was afraid of.’ He
said, cracking a smile.

Amy admitted that he looked good,
clad in expensive clothes – she was sure he selected them very carefully. While
Ed waited for his taxi Amy noticed that women were certainly looking at him -
and vice versa!

The parking valet brought the car
around and opened the door for her. Paparazzi jumped to attention as she revved
up the engine. Ed’s face was a picture of pure horror.

She had better make a move before he
changes his mind. She raced off, leaving the paparazzi wondering who she was.

Chapter Six

Jack’s beach house was amazingly in
order. He was right; there were not many people around; merely a select few.
The atmosphere was relaxing, helped by the eighties music playing.

His French butler greeted Jack. The man
had a stern face, which didn’t give anything away. He lived with his wife in a
small condo near the main house. They’d been working for Jack for many years
and couldn’t complain.

‘No need for you to stay up Philip,
don’t worry about the guests, we can look after ourselves.’

‘Very good Mr Harvey.’

‘Shall we meet in the study Frank,
in say, twenty minutes? Need to attend to some host duties.’ Jack spotted a
barman coming towards them with a tray. ‘Here is my man with some drinks for
you.’

Frank and Justin picked up a drink
from the hovering barman and made their way to the study, stopping to exchange
a few words with people.

Jack’s study was a mixture of old
and new. Antique bookcases lined the walls, filled with old, leather bound
books and magazines. Huge white loungers were placed in front of the full
length glass wall overlooking the ocean.

Frank sat down, but Justin preferred
to stand.

‘I gave Jack your screenplay to
read.’ Frank announced.

‘Yeah, I gathered that.’

‘You know me, I am an old man and I
do things my way.’

Here we go again, Justin knew Frank
used the
old man
excuse on many occasions, especially when he was up to
something.
‘What are you saying Frank?’

There was a long pause. ‘Jack
doesn’t know it’s yours.’

This was news to Justin. ‘I didn’t
think you had any secrets in front of Jack.’

‘Are you kidding? It’s a must, to
have secrets – you need to keep ahead of everyone.’ Frank surveyed his glass
filled with whisky. ‘You are sharper than you let people believe Justin; my
kind of a man.’

A hollow laugh. ‘I learned from the
best Frank!’

‘I take the compliment kid.’

‘Don’t mention it Frank.’

‘Are you certain; - you want to
sell?’ Frank enquired.

‘Yes! Got a guy lined up, he made me
an offer.’ Justin paused. ‘The wrong kind of offer.’ He added bitterly.

‘I see! You got your people on it?!’

‘My lawyers like his proposal –
which puzzles me.’

‘They do?’ Frank understood
precisely what Justin was saying.

‘When?’

‘I was promised an answer by
tonight.’ Justin said, checking the time on his wristwatch.

‘If you need help …’

‘I know Frank, I know. Thanks.’