Chapter One
Chapter One
I met him at night, dim light, smoked sight.
" I love you, Nina, and I'll always love you. I'm sorry we fought, and I'm sorry about that uncanny, yet seriously humorous series of obstacles stood in the way of our happiness." Winston smiled ruefully and grasped Nina's hand tenderly. " But I'd like to make it up to you. Will you marry me?"
Nina squealed and threw her arms around Winston. The young lovers kissed passionately, resting assured in the knowledge that they would never let a series of uncanny, yet seriously humorous obstacles stand in the way of true love.
The camera faded out, somewhere off set a Grip let out the sneeze he had been holding for fifteen minutes, and the thoughtfully artistic director yelled 'cut'.
Surprisingly enough Winston's arms didn't stay wrapped around Nina's waist, and the dreamy expression of ecstasy didn't stay etched in the botox-reduced lines of Nina's face. No indeed. Winston grinned with relief, and ignoring the glare of Nina, he jog quickly towards the director.
" Are we done for the day?"
The director nodded and checked his watch. " I'm sorry we had to do that last cut, Orli, but you know how it is." He grinned with regret at Winston/Orli and rolled his eyes.
Orli smiled and nodded. " Yeah, I understand. No matter, my dates are coming to pick me up-" he pulled his own watch from his pocket - wearing a watch was not part of Winston's costume - and cocked an eyebrow when he noticed the time "- in about ten minutes. I better go and get rid of my slap. See you in two days." He smiled again and waved before running off to the make-up, saying goodnight to random crew-members as he went.
*
Viggo frowned disapprovingly at Dom's cigarette as the two stood leaning against Dom's car. The sky was getting dark, but most of the cast and crew were still on set as Orli came running toward them.
" Welcome to London! How was your flight?" Orli said as he hugged Viggo and Dom.
Viggo nodded and grinned. " Long, and boring. I spent half of it asleep, and then the other half assuring Henry that although I had been asleep for more than three hours, I would not get Deep Vein Thrombosis."
Orli laughed at the mental image and turned to Dom. " So, what are we doing tonight?"
" A friend of mine invited us to a pub in SoHo, so I thought we might check it out?" Viggo offered.
Dom and Orli nodded, and jumping into Dom's beat-up bombsite of a Jeep, they were soon on the road to the trendiest part of London.
Orli devoted himself to catching up with Viggo. It had been too many months since the two friends had last caught up in America, when Orli had been taking a holiday, and Viggo had been working the book circuit with his newest collection of photographs. And now business had bought them both to London - Orli had been in his home country working the role of Winston for three months now, while Viggo had recently arrived from New York to promote his book in London for the last three weeks of his tour, after which time he would continue onto Ireland with his son Henry. Orli wished slightly bitterly that he could go with them, but everytime he finished one movie, another popped up, and as his manager had told him, if the work kept coming, who was he to pass it up? Who knew when the jobs would stop, leaving Orli high and dry, and wishing he had of jumped at every project thrown at him in his glory days? That was just the fickle nature of stardom...
Viggo's friend's pub was an unassuming little building with stained glass windows and deep-sounding music pouring out from between the thick arms of the two security guards that held the front door closed. A long line of people stood waiting, blue lipped and teeth-chattering in the mounting cold of the evening, while the security guards leisurely hand picked the people allowed to enter the welcome warmth of the pub.
Viggo approached the guards brazenly, and announced his name. There was much shuffling of the feet, and checking of names on lists, after which the security guards graciously indicated to Viggo that he was expected, and that 'his party' could join him inside the Chestnut Tree, as Orli discovered the pub was called.
The inside of the Chestnut Tree was a world of difference to the shabby outside. Orli had expected a sea of swaying bodies, submerged in wave after wave of loud music, the entire scene blanketed by smoke and base-beat. But he was pleasantly surprised to see the decor was more like a lounge, and less like a club.
It was a wide room of wooden floor boards and rough brick walls, filled with tables of laughing patrons. A long bar ran the length of the right hand wall, and at the back of the room was a small stage, on which was sitting a lone young man with an acoustic guitar, singing Bowie-esque songs.
Viggo led Orli and Dom through the throng of people to a corner table, from which the three could see the stage perfectly, just as young David Bowie stopped his singing, and the audience erupted into appreciative clapping.
Dom was sent to get drinks, leaving Orli and Viggo to watch in silence as a young man with an electric piano began to set up his stand on the stage.
"So, what's the deal with the stage?" Orli said, filling the lapse in conversation.
Viggo smiled and checked his watch. Orli noticed he did that a lot. "Well, it's like a talent search, apparently. Each person comes up onto the stage, and does a set, and then whoever gets the most applause wins, I suppose."
"Do they win money?"
Viggo shook his head. And checked his watch. "No. Jamie said that the prize is a regular set, each Thursday night. Which they get paid for."
"This Jamie, this is who invited you, right?"
Viggo nodded.
"Is that him?" Orli said curiously, pointing to the young man on the stage, who now seemed to be tuning the piano.
Viggo laughed. "No, that's not Jamie-"
"I am."
They both turned at the sound of a voice, and Orli was mildly surprised to see a young woman standing at their table. She was holding a bundle of what looked like sheet music, and had a little red tag around her wrist sporting the word 'backstage' on it. She was tall, and had long dark hair with red streaks running through it. Orli watched as she bent down to Viggo and gave him a quick kiss and a hug. "I'm so glad you could come."
Orli narrowed his eyes as he realised exactly what Viggo had meant when he'd used the term 'friend'. The way he was looking at Jamie, it was obvious they were something of a challenge to the traditional idea of 'friends'.
"I'm glad you're glad." Viggo said. Orli rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh. "Have a seat, Dom will be back from the bar in a second with drinks, if you're interested."
Jamie shook her head and held up the bottle of water in her hand. "I'm told I've to cleanse my liver, or some nonsense. Apparently it's not good to spend too much time around a gaggle of drinking a smoking pub goers." She said sarcastically.
A young man with a cigarette in his hand at the next table turned around at this, and seemed mortally wounded at the idea that he had caused pain to the beautiful creature standing next to Viggo. He stubbed out his cigarette quickly.
It was the strangest thing that Orli had ever seen - a perfect stranger sacrificing a freshly lit cigarette just because they had over heard a sarcastic remark made by a pretty girl to her boyfriend. But for some reason, Orli got the impression that the young man wasn't the only one who would go out of his way to help Jamie...
"Orli!" Viggo said sharply.
Orli shook his head. "Sorry?"
Viggo smiled at Jamie who was holding out her hand. " This is James Faber." He said proudly.
Jamie shook Orli's hand and grinned at him. "Nice to meet you. Vig's told me so much about you."
"None of it's true." Orli said happily.
Jamie laughed, and a few of the people at surrounding tables turned around at the melodic sound. There certainly was something about this girl. "Well, that's a shame. I'd love to stay and chat, boys, but I've got places to be. Orli, nice to meet you, Vig, if you need anything, just tell Charlie," she pointed to the young man on the stage, who waved happily "and he'll take care of you. See you later." and with that, she was gone, striding confidently through the crowd, oblivious to the multiple sets of male eyes that followed her, and the multiple sets of female eyes that glared at her as she passed.
Orli whistled. "Where did you pick her up?"
"Isn't she something else?" Viggo said proudly, still staring at the door Jamie had disappeared through. He turned to Orli and grinned. "What do you think of her?"
"Well, I don't really know her, do I? More importantly, what does Henry think of her?" Orli was keen to see what opinion Jamie inspired in Henry, Viggo's opinionated son.
Viggo's smile faltered for a moment, before he grinned again and turned back towards the stage. "I'm sure Henry will love her as much as I do!"
Orli's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Henry didn't know about Jamie?! What was Viggo playing at? But Orli knew better than to question his friend, not wanting to spoil his excellent mood. He's completely smitten, Orli realised. "You're in love with her?!"
Viggo instantly realised his blunder, and was just about to answer when Dom returned.
"What are we talking about?" Dom said, setting the tray of drinks down on the table.
"Viggo was just tell me how in-" Orli started, but he was cut off by a loud screeching issuing from the speakers they were sitting almost right next to.
"Ladies and Gentlemen! The Cheshunt Tree is proud to present, James Faber!"
Orli twisted in surprise, just as the lights went out all over the pub, leaving only a thin spotlight trained on the stage. Orli saw someone slip into the seat behind the electric piano, and then the first bars of music issued forth across the pub, and everyone stopped talking.
"...Waiting for the phone to ring, diamond necklace, on my shoulder.
"Isn't she amazing?" Viggo whispered in Orli ear. But Orli didn't hear him.
Sitting in his chair, surrounded by the warm haze of smoke and darkness, Orli was completely transfixed by the woman on the stage. Her face hardly showed under the low lighting of the stage, but Orli could clearly make out the line of her lips, spilling forth that sound so sweet it filled almost the entire pub with it's echo. Even people on the street outside stopped when they heard a whisper of the song. Orli followed every sound and movement Jamie made as her long and delicate hands ran up and down the white plastic keys of the piano like ivory spiders. He knew he shouldn't think it, and he knew he shouldn't say it, but he did anyway.
"She's so sexy." Orli murmured. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Viggo turn to him and smile in agreement, though he barely felt it when Viggo patted his hand.
"She's something else, eih?" Viggo said quietly.
And then, like a light being turned off, Jamie's voice was lingering over the last notes of 'New Age', and the song was over. The audience began to stirred, but it was almost as though they were to hypnotized to clap, until Jamie's voice rang out across the room. "Thank you. I want to dedicate this next song to a very special friend of mine. You know who you are..." she smiled at Viggo, and he grinned like a fool and ignored Dom patting him on the back.
Orli had never seen such a captivating performer in his life, nor had he ever seen an audience so captivated. Her voice was like the perfect line of a vox, warbling and intricate at times, rich and simple at others. Orli was dimly aware of the fact that she only seemed to play covers of older songs, but mixed with the undeniably individual sound of her voice, and the way her fingers stroked the keys of the piano, those songs took on a new life, flowing through Jamie like as channel, bringing time to a stand still. It seemed to Orli, that in the blink of an eye Jamie had stopped singing again, and Charlie was coming back out onto the stage to pack up her equipment.
"Thank you!" She said, beaming. She waved to the audience, who couldn't have yelled louder, and then jumped down off the stage, and right next to the table. Orli watched her in wonder as she hugged Viggo and took a seat next to him, their fingers intertwined on the table.
"So, what did you think?" She said breathlessly, after being introduced to Dom.
Viggo grinned and squeezed her hand. "You were wonderful."
"Did you like the song I chose for you?" She said with a grin.
Viggo rolled his eyes. "Carol King, very original." He said lightly, but it was plain to see he was brimming with adoration.
"Orli? What did you think?" Jamie said seriously, turning to Orli.
He got the impression that a lot rode on his analysis of the set. Jamie gave that impression - that everyone's opinion mattered. "I liked the Lou Reed. It was...I've never heard it played like that before." He said, shrugging.
Jamie blushed a little and smiled at him. "I'm glad you liked it."
"I think you might win." Dom said after a moment.
Jamie turned to him and laughed before shaking her head. "That wouldn't be very fair, would it?"
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't it be fair?" Orli said with a curious frown. "You were the best...I call that fair."
Jamie smiled gratefully and reached across the table to pat Orli's hand. "You're sweet, but it's not fair, because I'm the judge."
Orli and Dom both stared her in confusion.
Viggo laughed and pulled something from his wallet, tossing it across the table to Orli. "Go on, read it."
"The Chestnut Tree, 47 Turlington road, SoHo. Proprietor, James Faber. You're the owner?" He said in surprise, looking at Jamie. She nodded with a wide smile, her eyes sparkling.
"But how could you own your own club? You're, what? Twenty six? Twenty five at the least?" Dom said in shock.
Jamie laughed and Viggo shook his head. "Never ask a lady her age, Dom. That's the first rule of attraction."
Jamie just slapped Viggo and told him to shut up before turning to Dom. "I'm twenty three. But my father left me the Tree when he died. He used to call it our family tree." She smiled fondly at the memory and winked at Dom's look of extreme shock, before getting up from the table and wiping her hands on her long black skirt. "I've got to go, it's almost closing time. Time to put away Jamie Faber the performer and bring out James Faber the proprietor..."She turned to Viggo and smile sadly "Will I see you later?"
He nodded and returned her smile. "I'll drop the lads home and come pick you up?"
"I've got my bike, but I'll meet you at your house?" She said hopefully.
Viggo's smile faltered for a moment. "Henry..."
Jamie shrugged and cut him off. "It's ok, I'll see you tomorrow, at the gallery." And with little more than a quick wave at Dom and Orli, she was gone again, weaving through the tables and pining up her hair with a pencil as she walked towards the door marked 'backstage access, restricted staff only'.
Orli was in a daze. He felt as though the whole night were spinning before his eyes as he sat with Dom and Viggo. Viggo was happily relating to Dom how he had met Jamie when she'd parked her motor bike in Viggo's reserved space outside his apartment block, while visiting a friend who lived only one floor above Viggo in his London apartment.
"She has a motor bike?" Orli said in awe.
Viggo nodded and gave Orli a rueful smile. "I keep asking her to trade it in for a car, but she just won't budge." He looked down at his watch and cocked an eyebrow in surprise. "I better get going, I don't want Henry to stay up too late."
Dom nodded in agreement. "Come on, Orli. We'd best get going also."
It was a twenty-minute drive from The Chestnut Tree to the apartment Orli was renting while staying in London. When he had said good night to Viggo and Dom, and promised to call them the next day, he gratefully let himself into his apartment, suddenly noticing how tired he was. It had been a long day...
Orli's answering machine was flashing that it had a message for him. It was Sam, asking to call her 'no matter how late it is when you get in, you stingy bollocks of a party animal'. He grinned at the mock-anger in his sister's voice as he picked up the phone. She was always on at him to spend more time with her.
"Hello?" said a croaky voice.
Orli grinned with delight. " Stingy bollocks, am I?"
"Hi, Orli. How was Winston today?" Sam said, clearing her throat. Clearly she had been asleep when Orli had called, thus his delighted grin.
"I can't complain. It's nice to have a couple of days off."
"I bet. What did you get up to tonight? I called Dom's before he went to pick you up from work. He said you were going to some club in SoHo."
Instantly Orli remembered Jamie. When he blinked the image of her smiling down at him was all he saw...
"Orli? Are you there?" Sam said again.
"Oh, sure. We went to the Chestnut Tree. Do you know it?" Sam was much more up on the London night-scene than Orli. While he'd moved away, Sam had stayed put in London, and Orli was sometimes embarrassed to find how much he had forgot about his home town when he was out with his sister.
"Sure, nutty little pub on Turlington. Great music. Owner sings each night. She's meant to be amazing, totally the hot topic of London's up and coming music scene, apparently. Everyone's in love with her." Sam said, yawning loudly.
Orli saw Jamie flash through his mind again. "Yeah...I got that, you should have seen the place though Sam! It was absolutely packed to maximum, but as soon as the music started it went dead quiet. But you'd never believe it, but Viggo took us there to meet his new girlfriend."
"What's she like?"
"Lovely. Absolutely gorgeous. She only sat with us for a moment, but she was possibly the most charming creature I've ever met.She's also the owner of the pub."
Sam was shocked. "Viggo is dating James Faber? But she's younger than me!"
Orli laughed at the obvious surprise in Sam's voice. "Well, that's show biz for you."
"And what do you think of her?" Sam said curiously. Something in the way her brother had called James 'gorgeous' - the purr in his voice possibly? - had made her ask the question.
Orli paused for a moment, biting his lip. What did he think of James? She was great, she was amazing, revolutionary...and Viggo's. "She's a really great person - "
"Have you a crush on this girl?" Samantha said with delight.
Orli smiled and shook his head. Why does she always jump to conclusions? "You didn't let me finish. I was going to say, She's a really great person for Viggo. He needs someone to keep him company, to make him laugh."
Samantha scoffed and rolled eyes. "How charitable of you to think so," she said sarcastically "Viggo's lucky to have a friend like you. You know, watching out for his best interests and all..."
Orli grinned, but there was something wrong. He didn't feel like he was grinning on the inside..."I tell myself the same thing every day when I wake up."
"I'm sure you do. But that doesn't matter. I want to go to sleep. Talk to you later?"
"Sure." Orli said, feeling for some reason beyond his understanding, that he was happy Sam didn't want to continue the conversation.
"Orli?" Sam said quietly.
"Sam?" Orli said sarcastically.
"What do you really think of her?" Sam said seriously.
Orli bit his lip and laughed suddenly. "I think I might be more in love with her than Viggo is," he crooned.
Sam smiled and hung up the phone. He was being sarcastic.
Orli stood looking down at the phone on the table, his hands in his pockets. His apartment was dark, lit only by the pale moon outside the bay window in Orli's bedroom, and a solitary lamp. It was a solitary place.
When Orli climbed into bed that night, he was still feeling some amiss. He hadn't left the gas on...or the front door unlocked. He closed his eyes, and let his head fall onto the pillow, cradled by his hands on the back of his head, like he always did. Suddenly, he knew what it was. I'm lonely? He thought it shock. But a little voice inside of him was laughing quietly and disagreeing. You've always been lonely. You're in love.
***
He took me by the hand and lead me to his eyes,
he's just supposed to be 'one of the guys'.
He's not like anyone I've ever met, I'd bet, but I'm set.
I've got my man, holding tight to my hand,
But standing in the night, and down beneath the light, I think I'm falling in love,
with the man I just met...
Waiting for the phone to ring, lipstick on my neck and shoulder.
It seems to be my fancy, to make with Frank and Nancy, well.
Over the bridge we go, looking for love, Over the bridge we go,
Looking for love. I'll come running to boy, baby if you want me.
Oh, oh oh, oh oh. I'll come running to you love, baby if you want me.
Looking at my hands today, looks to me like their made of ivory,
had a funny thought today someone died, someone's married..."