Real Love Read online

  But, Daisy reminded herself, she wasn’t going to let herself get blinded today by Alexa’s gorgeousness. She had a few questions she needed to ask. It wouldn’t be an interrogation, she didn’t have the right to that. But Daisy needed to know what kind of situation she was in here. Was it the start of something? Or just a fling that ended with the final episode?

  ‘Hi,’ she said, trying for breezy as she walked into Alexa’s place.

  ‘How would you feel about a pizza?’ Alexa asked as they walked into the living room. ‘I’ve done two hours of weights today so I feel like I can afford the carbs… Are you alright?’

  Daisy sat down and said ‘Yes, of course.’

  But Alexa wasn’t convinced. ‘Not buying it. What’s up?’

  ‘For someone who’s chosen a career in acting, I’m a shit liar’ Daisy thought. She couldn’t seem to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes today. She’d been hoping to say something later, in decidedly more organic circumstances.

  ‘I feel silly bringing it up’ she began.

  Alexa sat down next to Daisy, apprehensively. ‘Right?’

  ‘It’s Reece.’

  Alexa was already annoyed. ‘What’s he done now?’

  ‘That’s actually what I wanted to ask. He got himself into a bit of a tizzy earlier, I think he’s a bit jealous. He said something crazy. That he slept with you.’

  Daisy tried to laugh but it came out wrong and she let it die. She looked at Alexa, really hoping she was going to declare the rumour ridiculous.

  ‘The thing is…’ Alexa began and Daisy knew it was true.

  ‘Oh my god! What possessed you?’ Daisy asked, mildly horrified. It wasn’t just that this added a third person who worked on Laid in Medford that Alexa had been involved with, including herself. It was the Reece of the situation. Slimy, buffoonish Reece.

  ‘I know, I know’ Alexa plead. ‘Please try not to judge. I was in a weird place.’

  ‘What place was that? The Twilight Zone?’

  ‘It was a stupid, drunk mistake that was never repeated. I swear.’

  Daisy took a beat to consider this information.

  ‘So… Are you bi? I don’t really care, I’d just like to know.’

  ‘No. And if I needed that reconfirmed, Reece certainly achieved that.’

  Daisy realised that yet again, she was putting herself in the position of making Alexa account for herself, for things that had absolute nothing to do with her. She didn’t like it in the slightest. She didn’t want to be that girl.

  ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be grilling you like this. I was hoping to just spend some real time with you tonight, without any talk of the show or anyone involved in it. But here we are again.’

  Alexa smiled with relief. ‘That’s what I was hoping for too. Maybe it’s not too late. We could start from now? We could see how we do with just being normal human beings on a date?’

  Daisy nodded, happily. ‘I like the sound of that. But first off, we’ve got a big decision to make...’

  Alexa held her breath without realising it.

  ‘What kind of pizza?’ Daisy asked seriously.

  Later, things had indeed settled from the somewhat dramatic start to the evening. Pizza had been eaten (double pepperoni had turned out to be a joint-favourite), wine had been drunk and a movie had been watched. Well, mostly. They’d missed the last twenty minutes of it. And neither of them minded a bit.

  ‘You’re like Cinderella’ Alexa complained later, as she watched Daisy getting dressed. ‘What happens if you don’t get home before the witching hour? Will you turn into a pumpkin?’

  Daisy nodded at Alexa. ‘I will. I wouldn’t mind, but it’s a bitch to find clothes that fit.’

  ‘How is your son, anyway?’

  Daisy fiddled with her watch strap. ‘Yep. Good.’

  ‘Does he know you’re seeing someone?’

  ‘He does, actually’ Daisy admitted. She wasn’t sure if it might seem a bit premature that Jake knew about them. But Alexa looked delighted and said ‘Really? Cool.’

  Daisy was buoyed by the response. Alexa wasn’t freaked out. It was something.

  ‘He asked me to let you know that he likes the way you throw drinks at people. Even if that includes his own mother.’

  Alexa’s good mood fell away, abruptly. ‘That’s all people are ever going to think of when they see me, isn’t it?’

  Daisy turned in surprise. ‘Does that really bother you?’

  Alexa shrugged. ‘I don’t know. It is what it is, I suppose.’

  ‘Doesn’t have to be’ Daisy said as she pulled her hair through her t-shirt, letting it fall back in place.

  ‘I’m the wine chucker. I’m not sure what else I’d do.’

  ‘But what’s the long-term plan?’

  Alexa sighed and turned to look at the ceiling. ‘I don’t know. Ride this thing till I can’t, I guess. Then maybe I can do some Big Brother or I’m a Celeb or something. I don’t know what else there is for me once this is over.’

  Daisy sat down on the edge of the bed. ‘You can do a lot more than just being professionally famous. You’ve got something special, Alexa.’

  Alexa smiled thinly and tucked an arm under her head. ‘You’ve got to say that. I just gave you three orgasms.’

  ‘True. But I mean it. I thought it before we ever met. You’ve got something. And you could do anything you wanted with it. You don’t have to keep doing this if you don’t want.’

  ‘Easy for you to say. You’ve got three years of drama school under your belt. This is a stepping stone for you, you’ll barely remember you did it in a couple of years.’

  Daisy cocked her head at Alexa. ‘Do you think it’s going to be any easier for me? I wanted to go into the theatre, do serious plays, real work. I don’t know if I might have just blown my cred in that department.’

  Daisy and Alexa looked at each other as they considered their shared predicament.

  ‘I was feeling really good not too long ago’ Daisy said with a long sigh.

  ‘Then you can’t leave yet. I can reset your mood. I just need ten minutes’ Alexa promised with a grin.

  ‘Ten minutes? Be still my heart.’

  Sixteen

  ‘Mum?’

  ‘Mmm?’

  ‘Are you still, I don’t know what you call it, with that Alexa lady?’

  ‘Yep. And you can use the word ‘Dating.’

  ‘Can I meet her yet?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘When, then?’

  ‘I’ll let you know. Eat your burger.’

  Daisy opened the door and pushed Jake gently inside, kissing his cheek briefly.

  ‘Love you, Monkey!’

  Jake waved and legged it upstairs, going straight for the Xbox.

  Daisy was just about to close the door (she was running late for LIM but Jake had wanted ice cream on the way home and she didn’t want to make him feel short-changed in the mother department, so she’d duly stopped to go halfsies on a sundae that had sparklers in it), when Kathy ran into the hall from the kitchen.

  ‘Well, aren’t we honoured to have your presence?’

  Daisy didn’t have time for a guilt trip.

  ‘I’m sorry, I’ve got to go. Can you save it for later?’

  ‘What later? I never see you these days. Unless I put the TV on.’

  ‘I know Mum, I’m sorry. It’s not forever.’

  Kathy had been making comments about her terrible hours pretty much solidly for the last few weeks, but after Daisy had bought her a coffee maker with all the bells and whistles, she’d shortened the length of the rants. It was now down to a quick dig and done. But not about her love life. She was worse than Jake on that score.

  ‘While I’ve got you, I still want to meet this new one. It’s been weeks’ Kathy said, sipping from a tiny cup. ‘What, are you ashamed of us?’

  ‘Yes, very ashamed’ Daisy said with an eye roll. ‘Drink your cappuccino.’

  ‘I’ll have an Americano
’ Alexa told the barista and shifted sideways to wait for the coffee. As she waited, she felt a small tap on her shoulder. She turned to see a blonde girl of about eighteen looking at her in awe.

  ‘You’re Alexa!’

  ‘Yes,’ Alexa said uncertainly. She couldn’t place the girl at all.

  ‘I hope I’m not bothering you’ the girl said, ‘But I just wanted to tell you that I’m a big fan of Laid in Medford. My name’s Tara, by the way.’

  Oh, it was a fan. This happened from time to time but it was usually young men, trying their luck.

  ‘That’s great’ Alexa said finally. ‘Glad you like it.’

  The girl lowered her voice. ‘Actually, I didn’t start watching it until I heard about your storyline with Daisy. It’s been so great for me to watch… That.’

  Alexa hadn’t seen that coming.

  ‘Actually, it’s made me think I probably should break up with my boyfriend. The way you look at Daisy… I’ve never been like that, not with a boy’ the girl said sadly.

  Alexa couldn’t help but feel for Tara. She could still remember those days of confusion. She placed a hand on her shoulder and said ‘It’s OK to feel like that, Tara. You don’t have to be who people expect you to be. It’s alright to be happy.’

  The girl lit up, her smile combined with a small tear in one eye. ‘Thank you, Alexa’ she said and rushed out of the coffee shop.

  Alexa was awestruck. Had that really just happened?

  As she sat with the coffee, she decided to do something she never normally did. She looked at Twitter, putting in the hashtag #Dexa. She was amazed by the stream. Tweet after tweet of excitement and support for hers and Daisy’s storyline. She’d never seen any Laid in Medford hashtag that was so full of positivity. It was usually just a blast of bitching. But not this. Not Dexa. This actually meant something to people.

  ‘Ow!’ Daisy yelled.

  ‘Sorry’ Isabella said insincerely, as she put down the tweezers. ‘But that’s what you get for coming in here with a monobrow.’

  ‘That’s a bit much’ Daisy protested. ‘It was one little hair.’

  ‘And now it’s gone. You should be grateful. You don’t want to look like warmed over shit. Not in front of your ‘Co-star.’

  Well, that was that. Isabella knew about her and Alexa. And if she knew, Reece had told everyone.

  No wonder Isabella had graduated from verbal abuse to physical assault on Daisy’s eyebrows. She was having to work on her ex’s current squeeze. It would have put anyone in a weird place. Still, Daisy hadn’t done anything wrong. They’d been broken up long before she’d come along.

  Alexa had given her a brief timeline of events. Her and Isabella had dated for four months and then Alexa had decided she couldn’t see it going anywhere and she’d broken it off. Apparently, Isabella ‘Didn’t take it very well’ in Alexa’s words. And now the production manager always made sure that one of the other makeup artists was booked to work on Alexa.

  Daisy didn’t know what ‘Didn’t take it very well’ meant, precisely. But she was pleased that Alexa had kept the details sparse, respecting Isabella’s privacy. Daisy liked that she did that. She certainly didn’t have to. Isabella didn’t seem like the type of person that inspired loyalty in all she met.

  But still, Daisy was going to have to put up with Little Miss Pissy for the next four days of shooting, the last of the series. The prospect wasn’t exactly enticing. But other than the occasional stab with a set of tweezers (which Daisy could just about put up with), she hoped that Isabella wouldn’t do anything that would truly risk her professional reputation. Outside of work, Daisy had no appetite for drama.

  ‘Get out of my chair, you’re done.’

  Daisy jumped up, glad to go. She was almost at the door when Isabella said ‘She’s gonna break your heart, you know. Fucking stomp on it. It’s what she does.’

  Daisy turned at the door. She considered lashing back, saying something hurtful. But in the end, she couldn’t do it. So she wasn’t the person she played on the show, as it turned out. Because she could see Isabella was in pain and she didn’t want to rub it in, even if she was asking for it. ‘I’m sorry if that’s what happened to you. I really am. No one likes to get dumped.’

  Isabella looked disappointed that Daisy hadn’t taken the bait. Daisy couldn’t think of anything else to say so she walked out.

  Waiting outside for Daisy, looking more than a bit nervous, was Alexa.

  ‘Is she in there?’ Alexa whispered.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘We better flee then. If she comes out here and sees me, we’re both toast.’

  Alexa grabbed Daisy’s hand and they ran around the corner, where Alexa had her own small trailer.

  ‘It ain’t much but it’s private’ Alexa declared as she showed Daisy in. She was right, it wasn’t exactly the kind of thing you saw movie stars in, but Daisy didn’t have one so she was still quite impressed.

  They sat down on the hard little sofa and Daisy said ‘She knows, by the way. So you can let that little fantasy go, that we’re keeping this quiet.’

  Daisy wasn’t sure how Alexa was going to take the news. But after a moment, Alexa simply shrugged and said, ‘Oh well.’

  ‘You don’t mind people knowing?’

  Alexa hesitated. ‘Do you?’

  ‘It’s just, I don’t know, I suppose I didn’t really want to be fodder for the rumour mill.’

  ‘People talk. You’ll never change that. So you might as well learn to live with it.’

  ‘I guess I wanted to be sure there was something for people to talk about before they did’ Daisy said, thinking, even as she was saying it ‘Shut up. Shut up, you tit!’

  ‘Oh,’ Alexa said as she folded her legs. ‘Is it time for that conversation?’

  Daisy really hadn’t wanted it to be, not yet. But still, she’d been the one to put it out there. Because they hadn’t stopped at two dates, it had built beyond that.

  It had been weeks of stolen moments, snatched dinners, clandestine kisses, secret a-lot-more-than-kisses, furtive glances, cheeky foot touches underneath tables and more besides. And Daisy was starting to wonder what it all added up to. She was trying hard not to let herself get carried away with it all. No one had made any promises. No one owed anyone anything. But Daisy didn’t know how long she’d be able to let that state of affairs continue. They’d been gradually turning the heat up on this thing. And apparently, the boiling point had just been reached.

  It shocked Daisy as much as anyone. She’d been trying to feel as casual as she’d been acting like it was. But Daisy’s brain had not been playing ball, it seemed. If you could have shone a light into her mind, you would have seen that there were several areas that took up Daisy’s thoughts. Her son, her career, wondering what line Reece would have to cross to make it acceptable for her to slap him around the face, they were all in there. But the part that held her feelings about Alexa, it was starting to get unwieldy, despite Daisy’s best efforts.

  She wasn’t some schoolgirl with a crush, writing ‘Daisy 4 Alexa’ on her English Literature notebook. She was a single mum on the cusp of thirty. But the Silly Schoolgirl? She was still in there somewhere, making Daisy’s life difficult, making her push Alexa to define the relationship.

  Daisy wanted to take that girl by the shoulders and demand that she stop being a gooey idiot. But it was too late for conversations with that less convenient part of her consciousness. Because the Silly Schoolgirl had won this round and now the question was out.

  And now she was watching Alexa squirm, clearly not wanting to answer it.

  ‘Well-’ Alexa began.

  ‘Alexa! You’re needed on set’ came the voice of Aaron the Runner, accompanied by the crack of his knuckles on the flimsy door.

  Great, thought Daisy. Now I’ve asked a question I didn’t mean to and I’m not even going to get an answer to it.

  Alexa jumped up. ‘Can we talk about this later?’

  ‘Sure. Later.�
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  But Daisy had an idea there might not be a later. If this really was a showmance, and this was the final episode, then Alexa would probably become very busy until they wrapped and then that would be that.

  ‘Right, everyone together please? I just want a quick word before we start today. As it’s the last ep of the season, I wanted to tell you all what a fantastic job you’ve done’ Ryan announced, stepping onto the set of the finale, which was, surprise, surprise, yet another party. Daisy often wondered if the viewers ever asked themselves whether the cast of Laid in Medford had day jobs in this ‘reality’ that the cameras happened to capture because otherwise, how in the hell were they supporting their insane party lifestyle and its associated couture?

  Ryan waited as the crew and the series regulars (Daisy, Alexa, Reece, Will and Robyn included) assembled for the rest of the speech. The praise was all well and good but it wasn’t what they wanted to hear.

  ‘So, we’ve been talking to the channel over the last few weeks, negotiating pretty hard with the suits, and in the end…’

  Everyone waited anxiously. Daisy, who wasn’t as invested in the decision, thought he was milking the moment a little. You’re not Simon Cowell. Get on with it.