Page 97 of Doc Hollywood

“Gloria, this is Jack. He’s my ex-boyfriend and is now married to Natalia Jones. Herfather,“ she put emphasis on the words after Jack implied it was his money, “is a billionaire, and I assume he is financing some of this movie?”

“Yes, as you already know from my social media. Why else would you have sought out a job on one of our movies? It’s so wonderful that after all this time, you’ve forgiven yourself for our breakup and want to see what I’m doing,” Jack swaggered and tried to lean into her personal space again.

Clara backed up a little more, putting herself closer to Gloria than she would normally stand to someone she didn’t know. She ground out through her teeth, “Go away, Jack.”

“You don’t need to be rude to me, Clara. Although I do understand that you would find it difficult to be confronted with how awful you were in the last part of our relationship.” Jack smirked.

Clara opened and closed her mouth, but nothing came out. He was entirely delusional.

Gloria stepped forward and peered hard at Jack before she finally said, “You’re a smarmy little shit, aren’t you.”

Jack’s jaw gaped, and Clara had to stifle a laugh.

“Do you do that to all the ladies you used to date? Stand over them, make them feel uncomfortable, and then try and act like you’re the centre of the universe. Because news flash, you’re not.” One of Gloria’s fingers wagged in his face.

“Excuse me?!” Jack sputtered.

Gloria wasn’t finished, “I used to be married to a man like you. He was excellent at first appearances. Everyone used to say he was such a nice man. But behind closed doors, he was verbally and physically abusive to me. And I would bet you a million bucks that you’re a very similar man to my ex-husband.”

“I won’t tolerate being spoken to like this. You rude old cow,” Jack snapped.

And there it was, the mean-tempered man Clara had lived with for way too long.

“Oh really? And what are you going to do?” Gloria taunted him.

“I don’t need to do anything. I’ll just get security to remove you both. You see, the financier is more important than the lowly medical adviser and the secretary who got a pity invite,” he scoffed.

“Yeah. I’d like to see you try.” Gloria waved her hand airily at him.

Jack began looking around the now nearly empty cinema, searching for the security guard he had threatened.

Clara took a couple of deep breaths and steeled her nerves. She had a few things to tell the man in front of her. Finally, she snapped, “Shut up, Jack.”

“Excuse me?” Jack stared at her in shock.

“For once in your life, keep your slimy mouth shut. Gloria has very nicely summed up your character. Jack, you have everything you want in life. So why don’t you just sod off and leave me alone. I used to be so scared to say anything whenyou were around. But you have no power over me anymore, and when I pay your debt off, I will never think about you again,” Clara informed him, and as the words left her mouth, she felt a tiny bit lighter.

“This is Jack?” A deep voice rumbled behind Clara.

She didn’t need to turn around to know who was standing behind her, as his voice had goosebumps running over her skin. A warm arm snaked around her waist, tugging until she was leaning against Taylor’s solid body. Clara bit down the squeak that nearly escaped her lips and leaned into him, turning her head up to smile.

“Hi. Yes. That’s Jack,” she breathed.

It didn’t matter that Jack, a man who had caused her so much heartache, was standing right in front of her. All that mattered was Taylor as she looked up into his bright blue eyes, which crinkled around the edges as he smiled down at her.

“Hi,” Taylor drawled, staring at her, ignoring his mum and Jack. Then he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I missed you. A lot.” Pulling slowly away, he looked back into her eyes.

Until Gloria whacked him on the arm to get his attention. “Young man. I haven’t seen you in weeks, and I don’t even get a hug?”

Taylor didn’t let go of Clara; rather, he just used his other arm to pull his mum into a half hug. “Hi, Mom.”

Jack cleared his throat, his hand thrust out, clearly keen to meet Taylor, but the actor just glanced at his hand, then glared at him, making no move to let go of either of the women he was hugging.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.” Taylor’s voice could have cut glass.

“All good, I assume? Clara, you should have told me you were friends with Taylor. We could have all gone out for dinner.” Jack smirked confidently, not picking up on Taylor’s hostility.

Clara’s jaw nearly dropped open; he was entirely delusional. He had just insulted her and Gloria, threatened to have them removed and was now trying to suck up to Taylor.

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