LITMIR.BIZ

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state. ‘I think she needs to rest when she’s feeling tired. If there’s no pain or...anything else, she can continue to work. I’ve got to go back to the clinic and check on my patient from this morning, but I’ll come back later. Just to double-check she’s feeling okay.’ And to convince her to seek further advice. Somehow.

      ‘Thank you, that’s very kind.’

      ‘It’s not, it’s just routine.’

      ‘But you could have just walked away. Thanks for putting up with us. I’ll see you later. If they’re filming when you get here, just pop on over to the trailer. That’s where I’ll be, no doubt. That is...well...you know. If you want. We could wait...in there. Or...sorry, I’m rambling. Bye.’

      As Lola smiled he felt momentarily as if his breath had been sucked out of his lungs. She turned and walked back towards the trailer and he realised he was waiting for the angry little stomps. He kind of missed them.

      She was all kinds of confusing. She didn’t take any rubbish from him, but she took it from her boss. She stood up for herself in some situations, but not in others. She was hard working and committed. And she was, surprisingly and refreshingly, genuinely nice. Lola was the only real thing here—the rest was fabrication and fairy tale.

      And he realised, as he climbed back into his car, that he wasn’t thinking about coming back to see Cameron at all. It was her assistant that had him looking in the rear-view mirror for one final glimpse.

      That was a danger sign if ever he knew one.

CHAPTER THREE

      THE HOLLYWOOD HILLS CLINIC was bustling as usual, regardless of the time of day or night. After checking on his patient, Jake took the lift to the management suite and walked along the bright corridor, his footsteps tapping on the marble tiling. It was a far cry from the well-intentioned but underfunded public hospital he’d worked at prior to the phone call from James that had promised to change his life.

      It had. And, he hoped, working here had made his parents’ lives easier. For too long they’d scrimped and saved and sacrificed for their only son to achieve dreams way beyond any they’d dared to have for themselves. And every once in a while he took a breath and appreciated how very different things could have been for a relatively poor kid from Van Nuys; at least now with his handsome salary he could make up for all of their sacrifices. Even if he couldn’t make up for the effect those sacrifices had had on his father’s health.

      He rapped on the door and opened it. ‘James, I need a word, if you have time?’

      James Rothsberg smiled as he placed his phone into the holder on the desk. ‘Jake, I was just talking about you. Ears burning?’

      ‘No. Not at all.’

      ‘How’s it going over at the studio? Not taxing you too much?’ James leaned back in his chair and indicated for Jake to sit too. ‘Pretty cool job, right?’

      Jake took a seat opposite him. ‘That’s what I want to discuss. It’s entirely inappropriate that I’m there, to be honest. I’m wasting my time, and theirs. There are less qualified people who could do the work; it’s not difficult, just time-consuming. Very time-consuming.’

      James gave an uncharacteristic frown. ‘But it’s a roster. We all do our share. It’s part of your contract.’

      ‘Yes, I know. But now I’m doing Kim’s stint too.’

      ‘So we’ll rearrange it so you don’t get to do it again in a hurry. Fine?’

      Not fine. Jake did not want to go back there and exchange heated looks with a redheaded English rose who only had one speed: hyperdrive. He wanted to stay here and work his heart out making people better, the way he knew how. He wanted to focus on his job. This job, here, the one he’d worked so hard to get, and the one he wanted to keep. And not think about pretty little angry stomps or waste his time on non-emergencies and actresses who wanted to keep secrets. ‘I’d prefer it if someone else could go.’

      ‘And I’d prefer it if you go. I’m just off the phone with Alfredo. He’s very impressed after hearing the rave review Cameron Fontaine gave you this afternoon. He’s requested that you accompany them on a location shoot. To keep her happy, mainly. In fact, she’s insisting on it.’

      Jake felt frustration well up in his gut. ‘What? A location shoot? No way. That’s out of the question. What about my patients? You know, the brain-injured ones?’

      His boss’s palm rose. ‘Jake, I’m not arguing about this. We can rearrange your schedule. It’s only for a few days—mainly over the weekend, so it won’t take you away from your patients here. I can give you time off in lieu. It’s in the Bahamas. That should appeal, right?’

      The Bahamas? What the hell...? What did that have to do with a desiccated space-odyssey landscape? The world had gone mad.

      Sun. Sea. And...well, at least the fiery redhead wouldn’t be there. Surely? That wasn’t the kind of thing assistants did, was it? Accompany their bosses on location shoots? ‘I don’t know, James. I don’t see how I’m the best fit for this. Send someone else.’

      ‘You don’t have any surgery booked until Tuesday. I can’t see a problem,’ James said, as he tapped on his laptop and looked at what Jake imagined was the OR schedule. The atmosphere became charged a little as his boss sat forward, suddenly serious. ‘See, the way it works is this: the studio heads contract to the clinic. We’re the best in California and everyone knows it, so they want to be associated with us. And it’s very lucrative, very prestigious. My point is, Alfredo plays golf with some of the studio guys...we don’t want word getting out that we renege on our contracts, do we? That our staff are unhelpful? Way too negative for us. We need you to keep them sweet.’

      ‘When you put it like that...’ It was clear this was a battle he couldn’t fight. James was right, he could rearrange his outpatient clinics, he didn’t have any scheduled surgery for a few days. Jake had made his feelings clear, but was big enough to accept that sometimes there were things he couldn’t change.

      ‘Plus, this kind of exposure to celebrities really helps with promoting the Bright Hope Clinic and the work Mila does there. Celebs love being involved with charities, and having our staff involved at all levels helps bring in donations. It’s great leverage.’

      There was a strange mist in James’s eyes as he spoke of the Bright Hope Clinic. But Jake doubted whether it had as much to do with the pro bono work they were all going to do there with underprivileged kids as it had to do with the charity head, Mila Brightman. Every time James and Mila were in the same room there was a strange buzz in the air. It bordered on animosity—but there was something else there too. Fireworks, mainly.

      Jake gave his friend a quick smile to show his agreement. He would not put his own needs first when kids’ futures were on the line. And, yeah, he was also big enough to admit that, despite what he thought about the airhead celebrity culture, they had big hearts and deep pockets and did a lot of good...and now he was starting to go soft. ‘Okay, okay, I’m packing already.’

      ‘Great. See? Not too hard, was it? A free trip to the Bahamas? I wouldn’t grumble. So, how’s everything else going? How’s the wonderful Cameron? Alfredo said she’s had a few issues. I’ve heard she can be a huge pain in the—’ James was interrupted by a soft tap at the door. ‘Yes? Come in.’

      It was Mila. As she walked in Jake saw her cheeks flush a little. She focused solely on the man in front of her. ‘Hi, James. I’m so sorry to interrupt you.’

      ‘Mila, no problem, not at all.’ His boss stood immediately, suddenly looking like a lost boy rather than the accomplished professional he was. Jake hadn’t been working here very long, so he didn’t know what, if any, past these two had, but he smiled to himself. Whatever the hell was going on was so damned obvious to everyone—if not to them. The air had become charged in a completely different way, and Jake figured now was a good time

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