Page 8 of Beyond Repair
‘Fine.’
‘Thanks, Katie Matey.’ He gave her an affectionate squeeze and kissed the top of her head; a move she was well used to, being perpetually the smallest person in any room. Even Russell at five-foot-ten towered over her.
So, that’s how she ended up on a freezing, windswept stretch of the Gower with her hair being blown into epic proportions and her nose stinging with cold. She had been told that someone would meet her at the entrance to the set, but all there seemed to be were hundreds of kids milling around, being corralled by frazzled looking minions. So, feeling cross and more than a little put out, she knocked on the door of the biggest trailer she could find.
Katie realized her mistake as the trailer door was flung open and she was confronted by the fifth sexiest man on the planet according to GQ magazine, Cole Jackson: light brown hair, six foot, bright blue eyes.
‘Um, sorry, I think I got the wrong trailer. I’ll just be mooching along to the –’
‘Mooching?’ He looked her up and down, his lips tipped up in a small smile. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone mooch before. You one of the PAs? Wanna mooch over to the coffee truck and get me a latte?’
‘Cole?’ Suddenly a short, heavy-set, dark-haired man, who must have been in his mid forties, joined them. His voice was deep, with an unmistakable air of authority. ‘What’s going on?’
‘This lovely young lady was just mooching, Frank,’ Cole replied with amusement, and then turned to Katie. ‘How would you like to be my PA, sweetheart? I’m sure whoever you’re looking after won’t mind and I promise not to be too demanding.’ He was smirking now as Katie’s heels started sinking into the mud. Suede high-heeled boots may not have been the best choice for this venture.
‘Um, I really think –’ she muttered quietly.
‘Look, darling,’ Frank cut her off, ‘what Cole wants he gets, right? You better learn early that in this business you gotta keep the talent happy. So why don’t you run along and fetch whatever he’s askin’ for? We could replace you little PAs in a second.’ Frank started to move into the trailer, leaving Katie out in the cold.
‘Frank.’ A familiar voice barked from behind Katie, making her jump about a mile in the air. ‘This is the goddamn doctor, you prick.’
In no mood for any further humiliation, and definitely not in the mood to deal with Sam, Katie made a quick, albeit cowardly, decision. Drawing her mobile out of her pocket, she pretended to study the display, and then said: ‘Sooo … really sorry but I just got a text from the practice and I might have to head back there. I’ll just, um, get going … I’m sure we can rearrange another time soon –’
Frank’s face drained of colour and he quickly exited the trailer, to take Katie’s arm and steer her away from a bemused-looking Cole.
‘Dr Kendrick, I’m so sorry, please come with me. Davey is just over here.’ He was all sweetness and light now. Katie was slowly coming to understand the importance of the patient she had come to see, and how desperately they must have needed her to stay so they wouldn’t lose any precious set time. She knew they had approached a fair few local practices before enlisting Rob (his firm was in charge of security on the set) to use his local knowledge to find some GPs gullible enough to agree to being on call for a set in this remote location.
‘Why don’t you stop dragging her along and run and gethera ruddy latte, Frank. I’ll see her to the trailer.’ He moved Katie away from Frank with a hand on the small of her back.
Well, even though she was savagely intimidated, she just knew that they would have a posh coffee-maker on set, and if there is one thing she was slightly obsessive about, it was her coffee. She figured she was in a good bargaining position, so what the hell.
‘Um –’ both men turned to her and she caught Frank’s eye ‘– mocha please, cream on top, chocolate sprinkles.’ He was looking a little stunned. ‘Oh, and a shot of cinnamon, if they have it.’ Katie bit her lip, Frank’s face was turning slightly purple, and she could feel Sam shaking by her side with silent laughter.
‘Bloody brilliant,’ Sam muttered as Frank moved away. He was smiling; Sam was actually smiling. And he’d laughed. It might have been silent, but it still counted. Katie was so shocked that she couldn’t even find the words to tackle him over the crack about her height. ‘Not sure Frank Anderson has ever fetched coffee for anyone, let alone the most complicated drink on the planet.’
Katie attempted to get it together, reminding herself that, rare as his laughter was, it had been directedather. ‘So you’re in charge of security here today I assume? Didn’t seem too secure when I wandered onto the set,’ she said smugly, and then watched as the shutters came back down and his blank mask returned, causing an inexplicable heavy feeling in her chest.
‘Invisible presence,’ he told her as he propelled her forward to a large trailer.
Great, they were back to one- or two-word answers again. How fun.
‘I’m so sorry but I’m afraid I don’t speak ex-military badass weirdo language, so if you would care to –’
‘Clocked you, let you roam a bit – see where you ended up.’ This annoyed Katie enough to temporarily forget how intimidated she was by this man.
‘You let me wander around and knock on bloody Cole Jackson’s door! Do you know how embarrassing that was?’ She had stopped dead and was scowling up at him. ‘Anyway I could have a submachine gun under my coat for all you know, ready to unleash vengeance on film star types.’
His lips tipped up again just barely, and she felt her chest lighten at the sight. ‘Not sure much else would fit under that coat, seems pretty snug to me. And that colour is not exactly conducive to covert ops.’
Katie flushed red with embarrassment and turned to carry on walking, his hand still resting on the small of her back to direct her. They arrived at a fairly big trailer inside which were a few plush chairs, a desk and a bed, which she presumed would be her makeshift examination couch. A massive shelving unit stood at the side, with all the equipment she could possibly need, transported from her practice. Suddenly two young women with clipboards bustled in, casually dressed in jeans and both blonde and stick-thin. They took control of the situation and Katie’s huge escort departed with a chin-lift to her. She noticed both blondes staring after him – no surprise there.
‘Isn’t he delicious,’ one of them breathed.
Once they had both completed the no-doubt-urgent task of staring dreamily into space after Sam, they eventually remembered Katie’s existence and went back to their clipboards.
‘Right, I’ll go get Davey,’ Blonde number one put in, before darting out of the trailer. No wonder they were called runners, Katie thought. She returned with a child who couldn’t be more than eight years old. He was cute and Katie recognized him from a recent apocalyptic blockbuster. A stern-looking middle-aged man, with a thin face and pinched appearance, accompanied him. His dad? He didn’t look related.
‘Hi, Davey.’ Katie smiled at the child. ‘You not feeling so good?’
