Once Upon A Christmas. Jennifer Joyce

A shadow crossed his face and she suddenly wished she hadn’t said that.

      ‘So, have you been to Hollywood?’ Again there was that shadow that crossed his face, but this time he did reply.

      ‘Oh, yes.’ Once again she waited for him to add something, but in vain. Finally, she had to prompt him.

      ‘Oh yes it was lovely, or oh yes it was horrid?’ Holly watched him carefully. His carefree face had left him.

      ‘I suppose a bit of both. It’s a fascinating place and the whole movie business is a world of its own. It came as a real shock to the system, I can tell you. Everything’s exaggerated. You aren’t keen on something – you’re totally passionate about it. You don’t dislike something or somebody – you hate, loathe and detest them. It’s never just a good movie – it’s spectacular, awesome and unbelievable. You, for example, you wouldn’t be a lovely-looking girl. You would be a stunning beauty and I wouldn’t just like you, I’d be head over heels in love with you after, what is it, three days?’

      ‘So you do like me?’ She knew she was on thin ice here, but the Meursault was giving her confidence.

      ‘Of course I like you.’ The hypnotic eyes caught her once more. ‘I like you a lot, Holly.’

      ‘That’s good to know. I wasn’t sure.’

      There was a longer silence this time, during which he occupied himself topping up their glasses. Then he replaced the bottle and stared down at his hands on the table. ‘So, do you like me?’

      ‘Of course I bloody like you, you idiot. What did you think?’

      He looked up, the beginnings of a smile on his face. ‘Well, that’s good to know.’

      Holly sat back and reflected; a few seconds’ touch of the hand and an acknowledgement that they liked each other. This certainly wasn’t a whirlwind romance. Even so, she found herself smiling in her turn. Seeing his obvious discomfort at talking about these things, she changed the subject back to his career.

      ‘How long were you in Hollywood, Jack?’

      ‘Um, seven, maybe eight years.’

      ‘But you didn’t really like it?’

      He caught her eye. ‘I did a runner, you know?’

      ‘Did a runner?’

      ‘Legged it. I’d been there for long enough. I was amazingly lucky with my first film script. A chance conversation between a girl I was dating at the time and her agent resulted in one of the big Hollywood studios taking an option on it and then, wonderfully, actually turning it into a movie. When that happened, I moved to LA.’ He was looking down at Stirling who was lying on his back, all four feet in the air. ‘I was only twenty-five.’

      Holly had picked up on his comment about dating a girl. This would seem to add strength to her contention that he wasn’t gay. The feeling she had got inside when he took her hand, in spite of her upset, also definitely added strength to the argument. If he was gay, she was a monkey’s uncle. She adopted a casual tone. ‘And the girl you were dating at the time?’

      ‘It didn’t last.’ There was a finality to his voice. She had another sip of wine and gently prompted him.

      ‘But career-wise, it went well?’

      ‘Yeah, it went well. To be honest, it’s still going well. Only last week I was summoned to London to meet Mighty Max. He wants me to write something set in the 1960s.’

      ‘Ah, so that explains the twentieth century history book on your table. But who’s Mighty Mouse?’

      He smiled at her. ‘Mighty Max. He’s the Head of Acquisitions at the studio. It’s widely rumoured that God needs to stand in line for a meeting with him. We’re talking all-bloody-powerful.’ He tasted the goat’s cheese and urged her to do the same. ‘It’s fantastic, or as they would say in Hollywood, it’s fantastic!’ He reached for the bottle of wine and topped up their glasses again. Holly made a few feeble protests, but he brushed them aside. ‘You’re not driving anywhere tonight. If you get too drunk, I’ll take our friend here for a wal… I’d better not say the word. You know what I mean. I’ve done it often enough for your dad.’

      ‘If I get too drunk, I might not be responsible for my actions.’ A graphic image of his tight abs and hairy chest filled her mind and she hastily did her best to return her attention to his story.

      He chose to ignore the remark and carried on with his tale. ‘Anyway, I did that film, then another film, and another film, and things were going really well. I was getting paid an obscene amount of money, so I did the whole Hollywood thing; you know, the house with the pool, the personal trainer, the Shelby Mustang…’ He grinned as Holly’s head snapped up. ‘I thought that would wake you up.’

      ‘You had a Shelby Mustang?’ Her hand stopped halfway to her mouth, her wine glass still held in her fingers.

      ‘That’s right. A 1968 GT500. It sounded amazing, drank fuel like there was a hole in the tank, and cost me a fortune in maintenance.’ His smile broadened. ‘I should have had you around to look after it for me.’

      ‘Now that’s an offer I would find hard to refuse.’

      ‘Love me, love my car?’

      ‘Well, we could start with the car and see what happens…’ She found she was enjoying flirting with him immensely.

      ‘The problem was, it wasn’t my world. Don’t get me wrong. I like swimming pools and muscle cars as much as the next man.’ He gave her a little grin. ‘Or girl. It was just the sheer insincerity of the whole thing. People saying one thing to your face and stabbing you in the back as soon as you weren’t looking. Then some stuff happened and I knew I needed to get out, so I came back to the UK and looked for somewhere away from it all and that’s how I got here. I work from home and only go back over there when I really, really have to. And I’m so much happier now, just doing my own thing, on my own, down here.’

      Holly decided not to press him on what sort of stuff had happened to break the camel’s back and send him home to the UK. Instead, she surprised herself. ‘And what about Dolores?’ If Holly hadn’t been drinking wine most of the day she wouldn’t have dared ask the question. As she heard herself speak the words, she began to sober up remarkably quickly.

      ‘Ah, yes, Dolores. She’s very attractive, isn’t she?’ Holly had to agree, so she nodded and he went on. ‘I met her a few months back. She interviewed me for a promotional thing the studio bullied me into doing on local TV down here. She was looking for somewhere to rent within an hour of work. I have a little cottage a few miles along the road towards Plymouth that I bought as an investment a few years back so, hey presto, she’s renting that place.’

      ‘She seems very affectionate towards you.’

      ‘I’m just a loveable character, I suppose. Anyway.’ Now it was his turn to change the subject. ‘So how come you’re on your own, if you are?’

      ‘I’m obviously just not a loveable enough character.’

      ‘Come on. You’ve got the richest man in this part of England eating out of your hand. All right, so he’s seventy-odd, but he’s got impeccable taste, and you’d have free foundation garments for the rest of your life.’

      For a moment, Holly was on the point of telling him she was invited for dinner with Justin the next night, but she decided not to say anything about him. Instead, she tried to give Jack an honest, rational answer. ‘I tell you this, Howard Redgrave’s a real sweetie. He reminds me of a benevolent grandfather.’ She paused for thought and then revised her description. ‘No, forget that; he reminds me of a slightly naughty old uncle. And he was very close to my dad, so that sort of strengthens the link as well.’

      ‘Well, leaving him out of the equation, it seems strange to me that you haven’t grabbed yourself some lucky guy, or am I barking up the wrong tree?’ There