Page 89 of Doc Hollywood

His reply was instant.‘They’re delaying it for a couple of weeks to give me a few days off.‘

‘They delayed a whole press tour so you can advertise it?’ Clara’s eyebrows rose; she still found it difficult to equate the incredibly famous, important man with the person she knew.

‘Yeah. It’s a pretty small-budget movie, so they want to give it the best chance they can, and if the lead actor can’t do the press tour, everyone immediately assumes it’s crap and that the actors are trying to distance themselves from the movie.’

‘That makes sense. Are you going on holiday anywhere?’

‘No, I’m away too much. I’ll spend some time at home.’

Clara fought her disappointment. She knew he couldn’t come to see her, with the whole Devon thing, but wished he could. She didn’t mention her own feelings, instead replying,‘With your mum?’

‘Yeah. And Devon. We’ve got a heap of dates arranged to sell this showmance.’

A lead weight settled in Clara’s stomach. She hadn’t been able to help herself; she kept googling his name, and seeing photos of him and Devon ‘in love’ made her heart sink. And despite Taylor calling her daily and telling her that he still wanted to take her out, she was struggling.

She took a few deep breaths, trying to settle her jealousy.

Before she could, Taylor sent another message.‘I found something interesting out today.’

‘Oh yeah, what?’

She saw the bubbles on the screen appear and disappear a few times before he finally called her on FaceTime. Clara gazed at her phone when it rang, Taylor’s blue eye staring at her—she had changed his profile photo from the one of him with the penguin to the guy-liner photo, as it made her laugh.

Clara lifted the phone, trying to find the best angle to hide the bags under her eyes; when she realised she couldn’t hide them, she just answered.

Taylor’s slightly grainy, grinning face stared back at her, and he said, “Hi.”

“Hi,” she replied.

“Are those flowers? Are you dating someone?” His voice was sharp, and a frown drew down at the corner of his eyes.

“What?” She peered over her shoulder at the flowers. “Yes, they’re flowers. And no, I’m not dating anyone.”

“Oh.” Realisation crossed his face. “Damien and Louisa?”

“Yeah.” She was sure she saw relief as well, which made her heart leap.

“Nice. I found out something interesting today.” Taylor leaned closer to the camera.

“Oh yeah?” Clara quirked an eyebrow in question.

“Yeah, it explains a lot.” Taylor nodded.

“Is this something interesting that you’re going to share with me? Or are you just taunting me?” Clara asked, grabbing herself a drink and inspecting the contents of the fridge to see what she was going to have for dinner. She wanted to talk to Taylor but was also starving as she had missed lunch.

“Are you looking through the fridge?”

“Yeah,” Clara confirmed as she pushed a couple of jars of sauces around to see if there was anything behind them.

“Do you have any food this time?” He chuckled.

Clara turned the phone so he could see the bare shelves. “Nope.”

“What are you going to eat?” His voice was full of concern.

“Toast,” she declared, leaning in and grabbing the bread.

“Is that all you’re going to eat?” His brows drew down in a frown.