Flowers in Bloom

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

“And CUT. Great job everyone, that’s a wrap.” The director jumped out of his chair and slapped his assistant on the back. “We’re done. See you all at the party tomorrow.”

Dan whooped and threw his arms around his co-star. “Thought we’d never get through that last scene.”

“I know, right?” Amber grinned and dusted herself down. They were both caked in mud and soaked to the skin. “I’m freezing.”

“I know something that’ll warm you up,” Dan replied with a cheeky grin.

Ten minutes later, they were locked together in the shower of his trailer indulging in one last tryst before Amber had to return to the reality of her husband and children.

Dan Flowers had swapped London for Hollywood ten years’ ago after an acclaimed BBC drama television role in which, as a virtually unknown actor, he had dazzled audiences with his emotional and captivating performance.

He had also attracted the attentions of the UK’s female population with his looks and charm. Dan was well over six feet tall with a slim, toned body, and smooth, sun-kissed skin. His hair was luscious dark chocolate and his eyes a startling Prussian blue. He wasn’t classically good-looking – he had a slightly crooked nose and a scar on his left cheek courtesy of several childhood scrapes – but he resembled a young Paul Newman and women loved him.

Helped financially by his parents, he made the move to LA with the knowledge that he had a little breathing space to get his big break before the money ran out. He attended three or four casting calls every day for two months before he happened to be in the right place at the right time to attract the eye of Hollywood’s number one casting agent, Tiffy Boyd.

Tiffy had specifically been looking for a new, young and exciting British actor to take a plum lead role, and Dan fitted the bill exactly. She wanted to offer him the job on the spot but had held back, deferring to the producer and director who were both keen to see more established actors take up the main characters.

She had been right, and after several audition recalls, he was offered the leading role of Orion Powell in a new action series directed by Randy Brewster, the genius behind a score of box office smash hits.

That first film had broken all records for an action movie in its first weekend, and Dan had been in constant work ever since. His first pay cheque paid back his parents and moved him closer to the Hollywood elite, his second bought his dream home where he still lived, high up in the hills overlooking Los Angeles. His neighbours were like a who’s who of the movie world, and his circle of friends was mostly made up of British ex-pats, actors, producers and directors he had worked with over the years.

He’d also had a string of lovely companions including Amber, who purred, “I’m sorry it’s over,” as she lay in his arms one last time, adding, “Remember, what happens on set stays on set.”

Dan grinned. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Amber replied quickly. “I love Jack and the kids, but I just couldn’t resist you.”

Amber Angelo was Dan’s senior by fifteen years’ and an established actress with a string of hit movies to her name. She was a generous co-star, offering advice and help to her younger leading man. She was kind, funny, and drop dead gorgeous, and had relished the affair with Dan as much as he had.

“Don’t you think it’s time you found yourself a girlfriend?” she asked as she got dressed. Her driver was waiting outside to take her home. “You’re not a kid anymore and there are literally thousands of women waiting to throw themselves at your feet.”

“I’m only thirty, you cheeky cow,” Dan laughed. “I’m saving myself for the right woman.”

“And whilst you wait for her you’re screwing me?” Amber stood with her hands on her hips. “I mean it. You’re a great guy Dan, don’t waste yourself on groupies or married women. Find someone you can love.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He rolled his eyes and watched as she finished getting dressed.

“I’ll miss you,” Amber dropped a kiss on his head. “It was fun while it lasted.”

“Certainly was,” he smirked.

“You’re coming to dinner next week, right? It’s our tenth wedding anniversary.”

“Yeah. If that’s not too weird,” Dan replied.

“Why would it be?” she laughed, and left the trailer.

When Amber had gone, Dan switched on the television and was immediately faced with a photograph of himself and well-known LA socialite Mariella Tovey. The daughter of one of the most successful producers in Hollywood, she had a reputation for bagging and bedding the hottest actors around.

He laughed out loud when the presenter suggested they were an item. He knew Mariella, but they had never slept together and he had no intention of doing so. He admired her father’s work and didn’t want to ruin any chance he had of collaborating with him in the future by indulging in a one-night-stand with his daughter. The photograph had actually been taken at a party a few months ago – but the voyeuristic public wouldn’t care about that.

He listened as the presenter voiced her opinion on his love life.

“Does this man ever stop? Mariella Tovey is the latest in a very, very long line of Hollywood women to fall under the spell of the charming Mr Flowers. Will this relationship last the distance or do we chalk it up to another notch on the action star’s bedpost?”

Dan threw a shoe at the television. He was starting to get fed up with the constant speculation and false rumours about every woman he was photographed with. He had been linked with more than two dozen of his co-stars over the years, as well as suffering plenty of kiss-and-tell stories made up by women he had rejected or never even met.

When he first arrived in Hollywood he hadn’t given it a second thought. He was grateful for the publicity and flattered by all the attention he received from the female population of LA. He was twenty years old in a new city and country, and he went a little wild for a short time. He enjoyed s*x and the company of women, but the older and more established he became, he found himself less tolerant of the vacuous models and actresses he had slept with in the early days.

“She might be right,” he muttered as he got dressed. “Maybe it’s time I settled down.”