Lovescenes
‘I’m flying to Los Angeles early in the morning. Shannon. I’ll be gone all weekend.’
‘All weekend?’ she repeated. ‘But you didn’t say anything...’
‘I didn’t know about it until this afternoon. My manager went out to California to make arrangements for a farewell concert for the Marauders at the Hollywood Bowl next year...’
‘And he needs you there,’ she said slowly, thinking of the long, lonely hours stretching ahead.
‘Yeah. Well, no, not for that. He called me. Seems he went to a party last night and met the guy who just took over Scorpio Studios. The bottom line is that Scorpio’s going to do a film in LA in May and they may have a part for me.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ she said happily. Los Angeles in May? She had an offer from Rob Michaels for Los Angeles in May.
‘Hank—my manager—wants me to meet this guy before Scorpio makes any casting decisions. I think it’s a long shot, but...’
‘Oh, you should meet him, Cade,’ she said, thinking that she’d save the news about the L.A. offer until Cade had actually been offered the part in the film. Not that she had any doubts about it. He’d work for Scorpio and she’d work for Rob Michaels and they’d be together. ‘It sounds like a great opportunity.’
‘Well, that’s what Hank says.’ He laughed softly. ‘You sound as if you’ll be glad to get rid of me for the weekend. Won’t you miss me at all?’
She smiled into the telephone. ‘Maybe,’ she teased. ‘Then again, maybe not.’
‘You’d damn well better miss me, woman! And you’d better be prepared to show how much when I get back.’
‘I’ll try and think of something,’ she said. ‘When will you be back?’
‘Monday night, the latest.’
‘You mean, you won’t be at the studio Monday?’ Shannon chuckled. ‘Jerry’s going to love that. He moaned all afternoon about having to shoot around you today.’
‘Well, he’s just going to have to live through it. Nobody’s indispensable.’
‘Cade Morgan is. ‘After all, more people are buying Glimmer toothpaste and Speedo detergent. And Tomorrows’ ratings are up.’
‘That still doesn’t make me indispensable. All Our Tomorrows was there long before I joined it. It’ll be there long after I’m gone.’
She sighed dramatically. ‘Ah, what an innocent you are! When you leave, Tomorrows will slip into oblivion.’
‘Do me a favor, Shannon,’ Cade said sharply. ‘Don’t use that line, okay?.’
‘Hey,’ she said softly, ‘don’t get so upset, Morgan. I was just teasing you.’
Cade let out his breath. ‘I’m sorry, love. I guess I’m more tired than I realized. It’s just that Crawford’s always trying to make me feel... Look, nothing is forever. Things change, you know? You can’t freeze time.’
He sounded tired, she thought. You c
ould joke about magazine covers all you liked, but a picture session wasn’t easy. She could still remember the modeling she’d done when she first came to New York and how tiring it was.
‘The only thing freezing right now is me,’ she said lightly. ‘I’ll meet you at Nico’s, okay?’
‘Okay. And then we’ll skip that movie.’ His voice turned rough. ‘I’ll take you home, and you can give me something to remember you by. How does that sound?’
Shannon smiled. ‘It sounds perfect.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
‘I hate Mondays,’ Jerry Crawford snarled. ‘And this is the worst one in the history of this damned soap.’
His words rolled over the quiet studio from the control booth. Shannon looked into the darkness beyond the set and swallowed hard.
‘I... I’m sorry, Jerry,’ she called. ‘Did I get that take wrong again?’