A Winter’s Tale by Carrie Elks (35)

She arrived at the address a few minutes before eleven, parking her car in the multi-level lot opposite the huge office building. As she crossed the road she looked up at the shiny glass tower, the winter sun reflected from the windows. It felt familiar yet strange as she walked inside, giving her details to the security guard operating the desk. Just like last time, she clipped her ID to her jeans, then took the elevator to the top floor.

When had she last been here? Was it only six weeks ago? She screwed her face up, trying to work through the dates. It felt like a lifetime since she last walked out of the elevator and onto the carpeted floor, making her way through the glass doors that led to Klein Productions.

She’d been a different person back then. More afraid, more alone. Now she didn’t feel frightened at all. Didn’t feel desperate either. A calmness had descended over her since the previous night, when Adam had held her in his arms.

‘Can I help you?’ the receptionist asked when Kitty arrived at her desk.

‘My name’s Kitty Shakespeare. I have a meeting with —’ Damn, who was her meeting with? Should she ask for Everett or Drake or somebody else? She had no idea.

The receptionist looked back at her questioningly.

Kitty gave a nervous laugh. ‘Adam Klein asked me to join him for a meeting,’ she explained. ‘But I’ve no idea who with.’

‘Let me take a look for you.’ The receptionist typed into her computer, then looked up with a smile. ‘Yes, you’re in the boardroom. Just through the door behind me and to the left. The boardroom is at the end of the corridor.’

She followed the receptionist’s directions, coming to the boardroom within a minute of walking. She hesitated, wondering whether to just walk in or to knock first. In the end, politeness got the better of her and she found herself rapping on the door with her knuckles.

It was Drake Montgomery who opened the door. He grinned at her and pulled the door wider. ‘Come in, we’re just about to start.’

‘We’, as it turned out, was a room full of people. She recognised Everett, of course, and Drake, plus the beautiful Lola, who interviewed her last time she was here, though Kitty still had no idea what job she did here at Klein Productions. Then she saw Adam, sitting in the corner, smiling at her. So that’s where he disappeared to so early this morning. He’d left her sated and sleepy at stupid o’clock, telling he would call her later.

Next to Adam was a teenage boy, and somebody who looked like his mother from the way she kept fussing over him. On her other side was a younger boy, maybe twelve or thirteen. Then there were three suited men – lawyers or businessmen of some kind.

If this was an interview it was the strangest one she’d ever been in. She looked around again, surprised.

Everett gave her a nod. ‘Please sit down, Miss Shakespeare. Maybe we can start by making some introductions. Obviously you know me.’

Yep, she certainly did. ‘Hello.’

‘And I believe you’ve met Lola before. And Drake, of course.’

‘Hi.’ She smiled at both of them.

‘And you know my brother, Adam.’

This time she blushed. ‘Hi, Adam.’

He looked at her knowingly. ‘Hi, Kitty.’

‘And this is Matias Hernandez, his mother Ana, and his brother Tomas.’

Kitty recognised the name straight away. She found herself looking at the boy who’d been so brutally kneecapped, searching for evidence of his pain. But he sat there quietly, nodding over at her as Everett made the introductions, not displaying any emotion at all. ‘It’s good to meet you,’ she told them.

‘And in the corner is David Madsen, my lawyer, plus his two assistants.’

‘Good morning, Miss Shakespeare,’ David said, his voice low. ‘As a precaution we’d like you to sign this NDA, agreeing that the discussions in this room remain private.’

The request didn’t faze her – NDAs were handed out like candy in LA. She read the two-page document quickly – there was nothing in there that worried her. Taking David’s pen she scrawled her name across the signature line and passed the document back to him.

‘OK, well we’re here today to discuss a project that starts filming in April,’ Everett told her. ‘I believe you’ve seen some of the script before.’ His voice was pointed.

‘You’re still filming Adam’s story?’ Her eyes were wide. ‘Seriously?’ She looked over at Adam. He looked strangely calm. What the hell was going on?

‘No, I’m filming Matias’s story.’ Everett slid the script across the table to her. ‘We’ve been working with Matias for months on his account of what happened to him in Colombia.’

She turned to Matias. He looked as calm as Adam. ‘Are you OK with that?’ she asked him.

‘I’m very happy,’ Matias said, his English perfect. ‘It means my family and I can afford to live here in the US.’

Her gaze slid to Adam again. He looked relaxed, his long legs crossed as he leaned back in his chair. ‘What about you?’ she asked him.

He shrugged. ‘It’s Mat’s story, he can tell it any way he wants to. I’m glad it means he can move over here and to safety.’

‘What about your family?’ she asked Mat. ‘Are you worried about reprisals?’

‘Mama and Tomas are moving here with me,’ Mat said. ‘We’re going to be fine.’

She was silent for a moment, trying to take it all in. The script – it had never been about Adam after all. ‘Why didn’t you tell the truth about it at Christmas?’ she asked Everett. ‘Why didn’t you tell Adam about Mat and his story?’

‘I was planning to, after Christmas, once everything had calmed down. But I knew he wouldn’t be happy that I went behind his back.’

‘I’m still not happy.’ For the first time emotion crossed Adam’s face. ‘I’m resigned to it. For Mat’s sake.’

‘So why am I here?’ she asked, not sure who to look at for answers. ‘What’s this got to do with me?’

‘Ask Adam.’ Everett shrugged. ‘It was his idea.’

Adam raised an eyebrow at his brother. It was clear there was still animosity between them, no matter how laid-back Adam tried to look.

‘I agreed not to block this if I had somebody on the inside,’ Adam told her. ‘Somebody I could trust. And there’s only one person in the world I trust enough to do this for me.’

It was her turn to raise her eyebrows. ‘Me? You want me to work on the production.’

‘You’re free in April, aren’t you?’ Drake said. ‘And you’re still looking for an internship?’

‘Yes.’ Her answer was short. She kept looking over at Adam, who remained impassive. He gazed back at her, his brown eyes warm yet unfathomable. ‘But I don’t know if I can do this.’

‘We’re happy to negotiate your salary,’ Everett said. ‘You can talk with Drake about that afterwards. And we know you can do this,’ he added. ‘Adam showed us your showreel. It was good.’

‘What if I say no?’ she asked, still looking at Adam.

He smiled at her question. ‘Nobody’s forcing you to do it,’ he told her. ‘But the way I see it you’re looking for a job, and I’m looking for some help. We might just be able to support each other on this.’

‘And we really are flexible on the salary,’ Drake piped in. ‘You’ll be pleasantly surprised, I’m sure.’

She looked over at Matias, next to his mother and brother, and then to Everett who was staring at her as intently as his brother. She couldn’t work out whether he was the devil or just a run-of-the-mill arse.

‘We’re happy to give you a couple of days to think about it,’ Everett said, ‘but we need an answer fairly soon.’

All eyes in the room were on her. Adam’s soft gaze, Matias’s interested stare, Everett’s anticipatory study. She could feel her cheeks pink up at their scrutiny.

‘I’d like to talk to Adam first,’ she said. ‘Is there somewhere we can go?’

A moment later the two of them were walking into the same small meeting room she’d been interviewed in. The walls were still bare, the room still sparse. But this time she was sitting on the edge of the table while Adam stopped next to her, reaching out to stroke the back of her head.

‘Are you OK?’ he asked.

‘No, not really. You could have warned me. I felt blindsided in there. Why didn’t you tell me about this?’

He grinned. ‘You know that NDA you signed? I signed one too. This was the only way.’

‘But why did you sign it?’ she asked him, confused. ‘Why did you agree to any of this? After everything Everett did to you, why are you letting him do all this now?’

She was almost frustrated at his calmness. Was this really the same man who’d hit his brother at the mention of a movie?

‘If Mat wants to tell his story, knowing everything he does, then I can’t stop him. He’s the one who wants to work with Everett.’

‘But he got hurt last time, what’s to stop that happening again?’

‘Money and geography,’ Adam said. ‘What happened in Colombia won’t happen here, thanks to the rule of law. And Mat and his family are being paid handsomely for his story. Enough to pay for any protection if they need it.’ He sat down next to her, taking her hand in his. ‘Seriously, this is happening whether I like it or not. And either I go all crazy about it again and cause more unhappiness to all of us, or I accept it, and try to have a positive influence on the movie.’ He nodded at her. ‘You’re the positive influence, by the way.’

‘You trust me to do that?’ she asked him.

‘I trust you completely,’ he said, leaning closer to her. ‘I wasn’t lying in there, you’re the person I trust most in the world.’

‘But I’d have to work with Everett.’ Her mouth screwed up. ‘After everything that’s happened, I’m not sure I can.’

‘Give him a chance,’ Adam urged. ‘He’s still an asshole, but he’s a bit more mellow than he was. He’s split up with Mia, and the separation has been good for him. For both of them, really.’

‘It has?’ Her eyes widened. ‘But what about Jonas? Is he OK?’

Adam smiled. ‘I love the way you worry so much about everybody. It’s one of the things I love most about you. But you don’t have to worry about Jonas, he’s doing fine. Getting more attention from his parents now they’re apart than he ever did when they were together.’

The way he was looking at her took her breath away. As though she was something precious yet strong. She loved the way she looked, reflected in his eyes. Loved the way he couldn’t stop touching her.

And he loved her, too, didn’t he? Wasn’t that what he’d just said? Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of it.

‘What about you?’ she asked him. ‘What are your plans?’

He tipped his head to the side. ‘I thought I might hang around LA for a while. Maybe finish up a few projects, hang out with some friends. And there’s this girl, I thought I might try to make something work with her, too. If she’ll have me, that is.’

‘You’re going to stay?’ she asked him, a little breathless.

‘That’s the plan.’

‘What about the cabin?’

‘It will still be there,’ he told her. ‘Mom and Dad aren’t going anywhere, after all. And maybe if we get a free weekend we can fly over there. It’s damn beautiful in spring, plus the perfect place for a dirty weekend.’

She laughed. ‘Sounds like my kind of place.’

‘That’s because you’re my kind of girl.’ He wove his fingers into her blonde hair.

‘In that case, the answer’s yes.’ She felt a wave of warmth wash over her. Of excitement, too. As though a door had just opened, and the sun was shining brightly through it, waiting for her to step inside.

‘Yes?’ he asked. ‘To which question?’

‘To both,’ she told him. ‘Yes I’ll take the job, and yes I’ll take you, too.’

This time his smile was dazzling. It still curled his lips as he inclined his head, brushing his mouth against hers. ‘OK then,’ he said, when he pulled away. ‘Shall we go tell them your answer?’

She smiled at him. ‘Lead on, Macduff,’ she said, threading her fingers through his. ‘Let’s go make a movie.’