A Place Beyond The Horizon

07. CROSSROADS

"Blow over?" Aidan stammers, "What's going on?"

Mara nods to Gabriella, who hands her phone to Aidan for him to read for himself. There is a picture of him walking on the beach with Mara. He recognises it as the point where Mara had decided to finish the run and head up the beach. The background is blurred, indicating a telephoto lens. It's clearly not been taken on a phone by a passer-by.

"It's a good shot," Gabriella comments, taking the phone back, "Shows you both very well."

"Who took it?" Aidan asks.

"Local guy, all I could shake up in a limited timeframe. I didn't have a lot of notice that they were shooting the scenes down on the beach that day."

The realisation dawns on him, and he turns to look at Mara. "So, the cameo, that was all a set-up?"

"Kinda," Mara nods, "The pap was a set-up. You need to make sure they're in position. The cameo was just a bit of fun, a happy addition."

"Genius," Gabriella comments, "The way that someone on the crew posted it and it got picked up, I'd have had to lay down some serious resources to get that to happen otherwise. Tony and the boys got a good look at it, I made sure of all that. They know who they should be calling now."

"Yeah, fucking Tony," says Mara, "Get his pen out his ass and sign the contract."

Aidan is quiet, piecing it together, working through the implications. To Mara, it's just business, the endless need to crank the handle on the publicity machine, but Aidan can't help but feel blindsided.

"Aidan, what's on your mind?" Mara asks.

"Nothing. I'm just not used to riding in a limo with...."

"Me. It's still just me. When that door opens, it's gonna be Mara Fey, film star, but right now this is still just me."

She brushes a hand over her legs. "Somewhere under all this," she mutters.

Mara leans forward to clink her glass against Aidan's.

"I know you're not used to this," she says, "But trust me, it can also be a whole helluva lotta fun too."

Aidan sips his champagne as the two women discuss details, zoning out and watching the streets go past through the tinted window. It's like they're in a bubble, isolated from the world outside. Beyond the glass, he can see women pushing babies, men queuing for buses, kids running down the street. Inside, they're talking about who they need to make contact with, scattering names at a bewildering pace, detailing the business of being famous, and more importantly, staying famous.

The limo pulls onto the onramp to the Harbour Bridge and Mara leans forward again.

"Aidan, where are we dropping you?"

Aidan rouses himself from his thoughts and turns to Mara.

"Your hot date with Kay. Uh, Kat. Where are you meeting her?"

Her bright blue eyes are locked on his.

"Or have you decided to come with us after all and see a movie?"

Mara's expression is unreadable, but somewhere behind the makeup there's a concealed edge to her tone. She had been offering to bring him along to the premiere, and had kept digging into his reason for refusal until Aidan had finally yielded and confessed that Kat was flying in the same day. Mara had blinked once, then announced brightly that she would be more than happy to provide the transport so he could arrive at his date in style. She hadn't mentioned it again.

"Topaz," he mumbles, "It's a restaurant in the city."

Gabriella nods once and turns to open the privacy screen to notify the driver. Mara smiles at him.