Page 41 of A Secret Escape

“It’s fine,” Nicole said. “We’ll have plenty of time to catch up, I’m sure.”

Zoe carried her empty plate into the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone.

Nicole finished her drink. “Why are you looking so worried?”

“Because that’s not like her. Normally she’d be firing questions at you about Hollywood and acting. Usually it’s all she talks about.” Milly topped up Nicole’s glass. “Sorry. Ignore me. It’s just that something isn’t quite right with her at the moment, and I can’t work out what it is.”

“Have you asked Richard if he knows?”

“No. I should probably do that. Anyway, enough of my anxieties. If you want to tell me why your next project is a sensitive subject, then I’m listening.”

Nicole finished her salad. “You don’t miss a thing, do you?”

“I’ve known you a long time.” Milly pushed her plate away. “Maybe this is the part where you tell me why you’re here. A few bad news headlines have never made you run before.”

“It’s complicated.” How much should she say? “I’ve been dropped from my next movie because they didn’t appreciate the negative publicity. Which feels unjust, given that none of it is my fault and that Justin is about to film his biggest role ever. His reputation is fine, of course. If anything, it has been enhanced.”

Milly looked irritated. “But you’re a huge star! How can they do that?”

“Justin’s wife is close to the head of the studio, so I assume she has influence. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. The way I feel now, I’m relieved that I’m on hiatus.”

“That’s unfair. You don’t deserve it.”

Nicole laughed. “Since when has life been fair? We all get good and bad, and just because you don’t deserve something doesn’t mean you don’t get dumped with it.”

“But why didn’t he stand up for you?” Milly took a sip of water. “I suppose that wouldn’t have endeared him to his wife.”

“Exactly. Also, he didn’t care enough.” She watched as a heron glided past and landed gracefully on a branch at the edge of the lake.

“Tell me about Justin.” Milly put the glass down. “Were you in love with him?”

Justin. She’d been trying not to think about it, but maybe now was the time. And she owed Milly some sort of explanation.

“I thought I was. For the first time ever. But now I’m wondering if I just wanted to be in love. If I wanted something more permanent. Something that had meaning.” Loneliness had caused her to lower her guard. “I didn’t break up his marriage, whatever the papers may say.” She added that because she was aware this was a sensitive topic in the circumstances, but when she looked at Milly she saw no judgment.

“What happened?”

There was no reason not to tell the whole truth, about this part at least.

And maybe it would be good to talk about it instead of keeping it all inside.

“Justin and I have known each other for a while. We’ve done a couple of movies together over the years. Always got on well. He’s smart and funny. A nice guy.” Nicole paused. She’d thought he was a nice guy, but was he really? “The chemistry was there right from the start, but we never did anything about it because he was married.But then there was one night when we were filming and he just wasn’t himself. We couldn’t get the scene right. And it was a tough one because it was raining and we were freezing, so in the end we took a break and went back to the trailer to warm up. I asked him if something was wrong, and he told me he’d just found out his wife was having an affair. I was shocked because they were supposed to have one of the most solid and envied marriages in Hollywood, but it turns out that was a sham. She’d had at least two affairs that he knew about, but each time he’d forgiven her and taken her back because he cared about her. But she killed that. He told me that there was no way he was taking her back this time. It was over.”

Milly listened closely. “But no one suspected?”

“They’re both actors. They made sure they were seen together all the time and were appropriately loving.”

“So you—”

“No, not then. Through the whole shoot, we were just friends. I provided a listening ear. And I’d never really been friends with a guy before. Not like that. I’m not that great at trusting, as you know.”

Milly nodded. “When did it turn into more than friends?”

“Filming took about six months, and it was intense and claustrophobic. By the end of it we were sharing every meal together and hanging out whenever we weren’t on set. And then one night it became something more. I don’t know who made the first move—” Nicole frowned as she thought back “—Yes, I do. It was him. We were in his trailer, talking and sharing a bottle of wine when he leaned in and kissed me. And the weird thing was we’d kissed before on set, plenty of times, but this was different.”

“So that was it? That was the moment?”

Nicole shook her head. “I was wary. I don’t have a great track record, as you know, and I could feel myself falling for him. I liked him. And I was scared that he’d go back to his wife. But he said there was no way. That it was over. He’d never had an affair before. Despite everything, he’d stayed faithful. And when he told me that it made what we had seem all the more special. And the more he told me about his marriage,the more I believed that it really was over. They hadn’t had sex for over a year.” She flushed. “Promise me you won’t sell that juicy fact to the press.”

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