Andie spun on her feet and headed off in another direction and didn't stop until she practically fell into her room, slamming against the closed door, heart thundering, tears trickling down pale cheeks. He wasn't the man she had thought he was. Her handbag went flying into a chair as she fled to the bathroom, scrubbing her face clean, stripped and changed, getting ready for bed.
Alone in bed mocked her. Sighing, she rolled over, clutching at a pillow. She had been kidding herself and had no idea how much more she could take. Tomorrow, she would need to get completely away. If she saw that woman again, she probably would drown her in the bloody pool, the cow!
Slamming a fist into the pillow.
That night she didn't sleep well. There were dark rings under her eyes, looking worse for wear, spending the morning on the balcony of her room, looking out across the desert that she cursed because she was trapped here when all she wanted to do was run home.
Her emotions were all over the place.
Her phone rang and she picked up. "Yes," she answered in a tight voice.
"What is this about you paying for your meals?!"
She shut him down.
He was always angry at her, and he had no right to be. She just didn't care anymore and wanted to get back to work, so she could go back home. The phone rang again and she looked at the name and answered.
"Miles? What can I do for you?"
"First thing, stop feuding with our producer. This can't go on any longer. You have to work with the man, and he's the one with the money."
"I don't believe this! He went to you, behind my back. What a wimp!" She fumed and then took a deep, calming breath. "As you wish, I would be civilised, but that is all."
"Good, we are having a meeting in five, so be there."
"Where?" He passed on a room number. A suite, not a room, on the other side of her, upper level. Dread filled her stomach. "Give me fifteen minutes. I need to get dressed, and find the place." She knew exactly what area it was. She shut down the phone. "Crap!"
Pushing out of the chair, she saw to makeup, hiding the evidence of lack of sleep, changing into jeans and a three-quarter lacy grey top layered over Georgette with bell sleeves. Pulled her hair up into a loose looped ponytail, grabbed her gear, and headed out.
As she approached closer her heart sunk lower and lower, feeling physically sick. The last place she wanted to be. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she knocked on the door; heart in her throat, though was relieved when a butler opened the door. "Miss May?"
"Yes."
"This way." They entered, walking past the main bedroom, and entered an open area, through the main living area towards an undercover large balcony area that was crowded. Hearing voices before she saw them, made her feel slightly better, entering the large balcony area, and found the director, actors, assistants, and Shihab, who was involved in a deep conversation with the director.
Andie took a chair off to the side and pulled out the script.
"So glad you could make it," Shihab noted. She looked across. He wasn't even looking at her, flicking through the pages.
"Sorry if I am late."
"Help yourself to whatever you want, and then we shall get down to business. We have already lost two days of shooting. Let's get all these details ironed out so that when we go back to the set tomorrow, we can get straight into it."
Kathie sneaked in and settled in without a word being said to her, Andie couldn't help noticing miffed. Of course, Kathie was the star, and she was only the damn writer, grunting.
"Is there a problem Andie?" Shihab asked.
Her head shot up, colouring. "No, sorry, just clearing my throat." The look he gave her could only be called suspicious. Lowered her eyes, pen poised, she was ready to get into it. Something to distract her for a while.
They went over a lot of scenes. Andie took notes of what they wanted to change, keeping her head down, saying nothing. Back and forth they went over the scenes, coffee cups refilled, the table kept full with plenty to eat as they worked late into the day, and even had lunch.
She passed, not feeling very hungry, just drinking water.
"You have been awfully quiet Andie. Haven't you got anything to say?" Shihab challenged. She wished he would stop picking her out of the crowd. She had preferred to be invisible.
Andie looked across and this time he was staring at her. He had stripped off his jacket, shirt button undone by two, exposing his neckline and smooth skin, cuffs rolled back, looking devilishly handsome, but not for her.
Licking suddenly dry lips as well as her mouth, she reached for her bottle of water and drank from it, wishing he would stop staring at her, shifting in her seat uncomfortably, shaking her head. "So you have no issues with the rewrites?"
The others watched with interest, the air crackling, eyes going back and forth.
"No," she answered softly. To be truthful, she won't know until she had done them, and there were so many of them, placing away the notes. "Well," she stood. "I better get into this, so they can be ready by tomorrow."
"Sit down Andie," Shihab waved her down. She dropped down because she couldn't argue, could she? "Start working on them here, we need them as soon as possible to see where we are heading." She looked all around her; there was no room for her to work. She could never do the whole laptop on her lap thingy. She needed a table. "Yes?" He challenged her hesitation.
"Is there anywhere I can set up?"
"Use the main living room, if you must."
"Thank you," she said in a small voice, throat tight. She would rather work in her room. She stood, lips parted to close at Miles's warning look.
Firmly put in her place, she left to be shown to the lounge room around the corner which was luxurious and spacious. She settled at the table, drew a chair closer, and opened up her laptop, only to realise she had left the power cord behind.
Leaving it all there, she took off, explaining to the butler, she would be back. She barely made it to the door, when a hand clamped on her upper arm. Electric sparks shot up her arm, spinning around.
"Where are you going?" Shihab demanded to know. "We don't have the time to waste."
She closed her eyes, counting slowly. He was making it very hard to be civilised when he manhandled her. "I need my charger for my laptop. The battery doesn't last that long, so need to keep it plugged in. I was just going to collect it."
"And you couldn't inform me?" He asked, watching her.
"I don't want to disturb you, and the longer you delay me, the later I start."
"I will organise more food for you since you didn't eat, and you need your strength," he released her and she raced from his suite as if the devil was hot on her heels.
Charging through the resort, back towards her room, she stopped dead, only to curse, because she had left her key behind. Damn. She went to reception and explained her need for a spare key, saving time by not going back to his suite. Probably upsetting him more, since she can't do anything right.
Key in hand, she entered her room and searched everywhere for her power cord, coming up empty-handed.
The balcony.
She went across and tested the door that was closed and locked, looking out to the surrounding area, not seeing it out there. She needed her power cord. All her work was on the laptop. Her latest book. She could do the rewrites by hand, grabbing her spare pads, she walked out, handed back the spare key, and headed back.
Practically running back to his suite, making up time. Red in the face, and sweating. She wiped away the sweat with the sleeve of her top, her jeans feeling uncomfortable, as she knocked to be answered by Shihab.
"You took your time."
"Sorry," she stepped in and rushed off, going back to her belongings, and did a quick look for her key card that she slipped into the back pocket of her jeans. On the table was a plate of sandwiches that she took one and bit into as she spread out the notes.
She searched out the script, flicked through to the selected scenes, and began writing by hand. Ideas of what they talked about. There were a couple of scenes she wasn't happy about changing. Did them as requested, adding question marks.
People came and went as she worked. Her back and shoulder ached, her fingers cramping, more used to using a keyboard. In the end, she dropped down onto her knees on the floor, hunched over the paperwork.
She reached for another sandwich to come up empty.
All gone to push away the plate, reaching for her drink bottle to find that empty also. She looked around, not wanting to disturb anyone, she entered a room at the back of the suite, entering another bedroom. She wandered around spotting another door, hoping for a bathroom.
Darting across, she opened the door and peeked in. Bingo. Entering, she crossed over to the sink and filled her bottle with water. She turned, ready to go back, only to gasp at the sight of the man in the doorway, arms crossed, leaning against the open door frame.
"Do you normally sneak around in other people's bedrooms?"
Colour flooded her cheeks. "No, I just wanted water," she held up her bottle as evidence.
"All you had to do was ask."
"I didn't want to disturb anyone," she pointed out softly. Damn it all, he was making her feel guilty, and she hadn't done anything wrong. "Sorry, it won't happen again," she stated, stiffening her back, throwing back her shoulders, and heading out. It wasn't her fault he had skanky girlfriends. "At least I don't go behind someone's back and bitch about them," she mumbled.
A hand shot out and captured her arm, stopping her. She glared at him.
"What do you mean by that Andrea May you better explain that comment? I don't go around anyone's back."
"What do you all call it when the director tells me to play nicely with you to keep the peace? I haven't done anything wrong!"
Shihab frowned down at her. "What did you say? Miles had a go at you? When!" His tone hardened.
Her eyes widened. "It's not important. I have a job to do, and trying to do it, but you keep stopping me."
"And why aren't you using your laptop? After all, that is why you run away from me as soon as you could." Colour flooded her cheeks because he was right, but he didn't need to know that.
"That had nothing to do with you. I did leave my power cord behind, and quite often I write by hand. At this stage, it is easier." She stood her ground. "I have no reason to run from you, or any man, come to that. I'm only here to work Mr. Kadin."
"Now you insult me."
"No, keeping it professional. I'm here working."
"Then you better get back to it," he released her, she stumbled, straightened taken by surprise and rushed back to the lounge room, kneeling again at the table, and started sorting out the papers, shaking through and through. "Just give me what you have done so far. I will call you if needed."
"Oh," she wasn't prepared for this, rattled. She hated this, she loved working by herself. It was getting to her. She sat back on her calves, covering her face with her hands. "I can't do this anymore." Shaking her head, she gathered all the papers, stood and shoved them into his arms, taking him aback. "Find someone else, I just can't," she wailed.
Grabbing her belongings, she fled before she made a bigger fool of herself.
Shocked Shihab held the papers to his chest. He looked across and his eyes narrowed at the gathered group. Walking over to the balcony, he dropped the papers onto the table. "Sort it," he ordered. "Miles we need to talk." The director looked across startled, and slowly got to his feet, followed Shihab into the other room.
Shihab nodded at the butler, who shut the doors to the balcony, so they wouldn't be overheard.
Shihab turned towards Miles, crossing his arms. "Don't beat around the bush, or fob me off, what did you say to Andie before she got here? She just resigned."
Miles's mouth fell open, shocked. "No, she can't. You were right; she's what we need for this film."
"What did you say to her," he repeated, tone hardening as did his features.
"Come on, everyone knows you two are at loggerheads. One minute inseparable, and then barely speaking to each other. Something had to be done."
"So you rap her over the knuckles. No wonder she wants to leave. It has nothing to do with you. It was between us, and her work had never suffered."
"Well, it sounded like it was about to explode into world war three."
Shihab scowled. "Who told you that?"
"Everyone's talking about it."
"I find that hard to believe." Sighing, he ran a hand over his face. "She can't work like this. I knew that but had to force her to work against her grain. Let's go back and see what we can use. I would see to Andie, myself."
They headed back to find the papers sorted. What she had finished was handed over to Miles to look over, while Shihab grabbed the rest. "Let's have a break. Do you want to order food or go out to a restaurant?" He hoped the latter and was relieved when it was.
He packed them all off, except for Miles, who stayed.
"I would like to go with you," Miles insisted. "If we show a united front, we both want her to stay; surely we have a better chance of keeping her." He couldn't argue with that.
Not taking the chance of not being let in, he collected the spare key to be told it was the second time it had been used, once by her. "Why?"
He asked to be told. He groaned inwardly. No wonder she had been late, and so on edgy. This had to stop. He hated her mistrust of him, when they used to talk and laugh all the time, sharing things, now all she did was run at the first opportunity.
Shihab couldn't believe his eyes as he entered her room, it had been trashed, and Andrea looked like a startled rabbit with panic in her eyes. "What happened here?"
Startled, she looked around the room dazed. He grabbed her arms and forced her to look at him, focusing on him. "Andrea, tell me what happened?" He pleaded.
She looked around jittery. "I can't find it."
"Can't find what? Andrea, look at me," he ordered, she looked up, unfocused, tears rolling down pale cheeks. "It's alright whatever it is we will fix it," he promised, gathering her against him, and rubbing her back. She clutched at his shirt, burying her face into his chest.
It was so good to have her back in his arms, however, not like this.
"I can't find it," she whispered, breaking his heart. He hated seeing her like this, so stressed. "I need it. I can't do anything without it," she hiccupped. Shihab gathered her face into his hands, so she had to face him, miserable.
"The power cord. That's why you were handwriting. Are you sure you didn't bring it up with you the first time?" She chewed on her bottom lip, eyes unsure, shaking her head. He removed his phone, while tucking her under his arm, and talked to the butler to have the entire suite searched. "Let's get some order to this," he looked behind at the director. "Leave this to me; our girl will be back at work tomorrow.
"Shihab," she moaned. "I told you I can't do this anymore, it's too much."
"No, I just forced you to work against your process. It won't happen again. Let's sort this out first, if we can't find it, I will have a new one brought in soon as possible."
She blinked at him. "I need one now. Everything is on my laptop," she wailed, stressed. "You have no idea!"
"I know this is about your book, not the rewrites. Do you have a backup?" She blinked at him and nodded.
"Fine, you will have a new computer here by tomorrow morning. Now shall we put some order to this place. Or you can stay with me tonight, and we can work on those rewrites." She stared at him, shocked. "Where you were wandering through was the spare bedroom, and you can use it. We need those rewrites, and you can do it at your pace. I have all the scripts on my iPad, so you can use that to work from."
"Do you have a keyboard I can't use the ones on the screen."
He tucked hair behind her ear. "I am sure that can be arranged." She looked all around her. She had made a mess in her panic to find it, carelessly dumping everything onto the bed, and tossed around the room. "Are you always this messy?" He teased, trying to keep it light.
Her head swung around ponytail bouncing. "You think I'm being stupid, don't you? Another hysterical woman." She pulled out of his arms, only to clutch at her own, shaking her head. "I knew this was a mistake. I shouldn't have come here. Everything is a mess. I should be home."
"I know you're upset Andrea, but it will be sorted out, and no I don't think you are acting hysterical. I understand how important it is to you, now take a deep breath." That she did. "Another." She did as he closed the distance and edged her towards the overcrowded bed, lowering her down, holding her until she calmed down, holding him.
Eventually, he got her out of the room, deciding they would come back tomorrow and fixed it, leaving a do not clean sign on the door handle. He escorted her back to his suite, SMS everyone they were done for the night, and then settled Andrea in the spare room with all she needed.
Used his iPad attached to a keyboard, and wore one of his shirts, wanting to wear something lighter than her clothes, and covered her perfectly. Probably too much, though did look adorable, sharing a meal out on the balcony, where she went over the papers she had already done, while he worked at her side, sharing a sofa.
Harmony was back in his life.
Still wearing his shirt that she had slept in, which felt good against her skin, only wearing panties, crossed-legged on the bed, going over what she had already written, and then going over what needed to be done.
She opened Shihab's iPad, placed in the password he had given her and brought up the script, saw the pages she needed, and added in what was needed. She came across the script changes she hadn't been happy about changing.
Climbing off the bed, she headed out. The hour early.
"Shihab, where is your power cord?" She asked, walking out of the bedroom, still wearing his shirt that covered her lines easily. He looked up from his work, eyes roaming over her slowly, darkening with approval.
"In the bedroom," he pointed towards his bedroom, the master bedroom. "Should be in the top drawer, beside the bed, the left side." Nodding, she trotted off barefooted, very self-conscious, and headed exactly to where he had said, trying desperately to ignore the grandeur of the room and the super-sized bed, and headed out, only to veer off at the knock at the door, without thinking.
She froze at the sight of the blond, smiling that froze at the sight of her answering, lips thinning, eyes blazing as she shoved Andie off to the side as the blond stormed in. "What the hell is going on here!" She demanded to know.
"None of your damn business Carla. What do you want?" He snarled, sounding fed up.
Andie fled back to her room, cheeks burning, knowing how it must have looked. Grabbing her clothes, she went into the bathroom. Had a shower, washing away the feeling of disgust, and changed into her normal clothes. Hair up in a looped ponytail, and she went back to work, iPad plugged in.
"Sorry about that," she looked up at the doorway, where the man was standing, not looking at ease. And who could blame him, dressed as she was? Tiptoeing around each other in an unsettled truce for now.
"My fault I had no right to answer the door, dressed as I was, and all. Heaven knows what was going through her mind."
"I don't give a damn about Carla and her thoughts. I'm more worried about yours. Are we still okay?"
Throat tight, she nodded. "All good, and nearly finished."
"Since you have been working on them most of the night," he noted dryly.
"I'm fine, used to it," she waved away his concern, sending off the last lot to the wireless printer. "So no luck on my cord?"
"Sorry princess, no one had seen it." She peered up at him. "What?"
"Princess? Don't you mean drama queen? I did overreact," she sighed. "I guess that is it, no writing."
"And I told you I would take care of it, and I happen to like drama queens, yours," he winked at her. No, not again. She couldn't go through it again. Calling her names like princess, and the winking. Shaking her head, she waved him out.
"Shut it down Andrea, you need to eat."
"I'm fine, I can eat here," she said, tapping away on her keyboard.
"Fine and I will join you, shall I?"
Her head shot up towards the man still leaning against the door frame, and by his determined look, he would. Releasing a long breath, she shut down the iPad and eased off the bed and joined him.
Together they headed out to the balcony, where breakfast was being set up. Rubbing her tired eye, Andie settled in and dug hungrily into the spread before them. With a plate full, she eased back into a large armchair and enjoyed every mouthful.
Shihab had his back to the balcony rail.
"Anyone swimming yet?" He looked behind him, shaking his head. She glanced at her watch. They were usually gone by now. "When do you think they will start shooting again?"
"Later today, when they get the all clear." She nodded, reaching for her tea, and sipping from. A knock at the door had her jerk, and look around, tense. "She isn't coming back Andrea, relax," he advised softly.
Instead, the butler entered carrying a package. "It's for Miss Andie," Shihab waved his fork towards her. Placing down her plate, she took the offered package and ripped it open. Her heart leapt at the sight of a new power cord for her laptop.
"Really? How did you manage this so quickly? Will it work on my laptop?"
"Yes, suited to your style and number and there is an adaptor as well, so you can use it here."
She hadn't thought of that. "Thank you Shihab," she held the power cord close to her heart. "iPad's screens are murder on the eyes. That is why I love my seventeen-inch screen, a laptop with a keyboard. The only fallback is the battery life."
"That is why you need the cord." She nodded. "Finish your breakfast, and then you can go and reunite with your laptop."
She chuckled. "You make it sound like we're inseparable. Actually, probably true." She gently placed the cord down somewhere safe, away from food, drinks or anything else that could damage it.
Breakfast finished, she grabbed the cord and took it back to her room, shut down the iPad, gave it back to Shihab then headed towards his bedroom.
Returning the iPad cord where she got it from, she turned, and when sunlight glistened on something that caught her eye that she headed towards it. If it was glass or something like that she didn't want Shihab to cut himself.
Relieved, when she realised it came from the wastepaper basket. Ready to leave, when she frowned. She bent down and picked it up, staring at the contents in disbelief. With a trembling hand, she dug in removing black pieces of cord.
Shaking to the core, she walked out carrying his wastepaper basket in her arms and walked towards the man, who she had trusted once again. More fool her. He turned towards her; his smile froze on his face.
Shattered Andie shoved the wastepaper basket into his chest. "How could you! Why? Oh, forget it; I'm going back to my room, so stay away. I will only deal with you when I need to," she stormed off, collecting her belongings, and left behind the replacement cord.
She couldn't believe he did that. For what? None of it made sense. Once again without a computer. She needed her work to know where she was, and what to write next, she can't do it from memory. Once she dumped her belongings back into her room, she packed everything away, coming across her external hard drive.
Perhaps there was a way after all.
Suddenly hopeful, she put her room back in perfect order, placed a clean room on her door handle, and made her way towards reception. After talking to someone at the reception desk, one of the managers arranged to show her to a private room.
"So would this be compatible with that?" She asked, handing over her external drive. "Without corrupting it. I can't afford to lose the data," she added in a sudden panic. What if it destroyed all of her hard work? She didn't put it up online because she was scared of being hacked.
Hassan sat behind the desk and booted up a computer. "Let's see if I can read it. It won't effort it," he promised at her worried expression. He went in and it worked to her relief, however, couldn't get into her work unless they downloaded the programme, which was on her hard drive as well. "Perhaps you can download, print out what I want, and then delete it from your computer."
Soon she was left alone at the computer going over her external hard drive, and printed out what she wanted, more than normal since she didn't know how long it would be before she got another cord. She looked across to the man who hovered in the background.
"Can I print out my whole project; we would be looking at about three hundred pages." Removing his phone he made a quick call and gave her the go-ahead. "I will pay you for the paper and ink," she promised as the printer began printing out her latest story.
At least it was something she can work from.