Page 63 of Just for December

Something else has shifted for him, too, this morning. Evie is the straw that broke the camel’s back: he’s not going to keep on this way, held hostage in his golden cage. His stardom is getting in the way of him being able to live how he wants to live, which is to say it’s in the way of him being free.Maybe I’ll call Ashton Kutcher,he thinks, remembering that last time they bumped into each other Ashton was waxing lyrical about ethical investing, about having his money make money instead of being on a film set. Or he could do a Clooney and star in some coffee adverts and make his money that way, and then focus on producing. All in all, there must be another way for him to do this life.

What did he reveal to Evie? That really, it was all for his mother’s attention? Well, he’s got it. She’s sober. She seems happy. She wants a relationship with him. He doesn’t need the world to applaud him if he has his mother back. Suddenly, ever wanting that seems ridiculous to him.

‘Daphne,’ he says, as they ride to set together later that day. ‘Ages ago you said you wanted to set up a production company. I don’t suppose you’d want a partner in crime for that, would you?’

She’s been staring out of the window, lost in thought, which suits Duke because his head is swimming too.

‘Yeah,’ she tells him, nodding. ‘I could be into that. I’m enjoying this,’ she adds, wagging a finger between them. ‘We work well together, don’t we?’

‘I think so,’ he tells her. ‘I think I want to try some screenwriting. And like you said at that dinner we had with Evie and Magda – it’s where the power lies, having your own company, isn’t it?’

Daphne raises her eyebrows then and wiggles them suggestively. ‘Ooh,’ she says, lowering her voice. ‘Speaking of Evie’s friend Magda – I have an itty-bitty bit of gossip, if you’re in the market for such a thing.’

Is he? He doesn’t really want to talk about Evie. His ego is still sore over it, how he thought it was more than it is. Either way it doesn’t matter, because Daphne continues to speak.

‘Guess whose bedroom I saw her coming out of this morning. And I’m talking at, like, 5 a.m. I was going down to use the gym, and they were definitely only just saying goodnight …’

Duke shrugs. Most of the time what happens on set stays on set – people get close when they work so intensely together, for such long days. As Duke well knows.

‘Katerina! The DP?’

‘Oh,’ says Duke. ‘I thought Magda had just gone through a divorce with a man?’

‘I think she did. But that doesn’t mean she’s not into women too, does it? And she was definitely with Katerina last night …’

Duke returns to looking out of the window. ‘At least somebody is having a bit of luck,’ he says, glumly.

Daphne looks in his direction.

‘What’s happened?’ she asks. ‘Duke?’

He shakes his head. ‘The Evie thing,’ he explains.

‘There’s an Evie thing?’

He blinks at her.

‘Okay,’ Daphne admits. ‘I figured there was an Evie thing. What happened?’

He sighs. ‘I don’t even know. I thought she was different, but …’ He shakes his head. It’s a horrible feeling, disappointment. He just can’t tell if he feels disappointed with Evie, or himself.

‘Oh, Duke …’ Daphne commiserates.

‘I’m okay,’ he presses. ‘Onwards and upwards, right?’

Even as he says it, he knows his words are falling flat. Much as he wishes he could just shrug off his misplaced trust, his heart isn’t in it. It’s not how he operates. The bruise is going to take a while to heal.

‘That’s what’s working for me,’ says Daphne, as close as she’s got to admitting that things with Brad are over. Shehasn’t once brought up his departure, or any of the reasons why, and Duke knows she’s ashamed, somehow, but he feels like he can’t tell her not to be without bringing it up, and he knows Daphne well enough to understand that that’s not a great idea. So instead, he’s sitting back as she figures it out for herself, running wild and free on set, and he can see how it makes her feel good, how much she’s been in her element these past few days.

‘Who’d have thought when we signed on for this that this is where we’d end up?’ Duke asks, as the car pulls up to set. ‘We’ve gone from a couple on the rocks to friends running the damned show. That’s impressive, I think. We need to take a moment to appreciate all this.’

Daphne smiles. ‘Life, huh?’ she says. ‘It’ll catch up to ya in the end.’

‘Won’t it just.’ Duke sighs.

It’s his American publicist who tells him the news when it comes: Duke has been nominated for a Golden Globe.

‘What?’ he says, as Dream, one of the content producers, holds out a phone for him. Being so close to Christmas, and awards season, and because he insisted it was just a short shoot for the external shots, there’s nobody from Duke’s team out in Germany with him. It would have felt extra, needless. For most people December is a time to start winding down and planning how to spend the holidays with loved ones. Duke normally flies out to Bermuda and stays with Simon Cowell and his family, or else does Bora Bora, coming back in time for new year skiing or just after, ready to walk the red carpets – normally as a presenter or plus-one, though.He’s had a few nominations for smaller awards in categories he’d been briefed he’d never win, and things he’s been in have won awards for direction and the like, but a Golden Globe has always been the goal. Now it’s here, though, and happening, it hits differently.

---