The Price of Fame

I think I might have also called Aileen a tart for allowing other guys to see her naked body during those photo sessions, but to be honest I can't remember what else I said for sure. I felt terribly hurt that Aileen hadn't been frank with me about those photo shoots and I was damned sure that no woman of mine was going to bandy her tits about in front of all and sundry on a Caribbean island.

After standing there staring at the stairs for a little while, I stormed out of the cottage. I'd got pretty good at that stupid trick by that time.

The following day I was supposed to meet up with some retired MI6 guy as part of the research for my third novel. Yeah, I was planning that far ahead; if the publisher took up the option on my second novel when I submitted it they'd want to see the synopsis of the third.

Anyway instead of going down to the pub to get drunk that night, I drove up to Staffordshire through the night. And, no, I didn't have even a toothbrush with me.

I dozed in the car for a few hours before turning up at the guy's house rather earlier than I'd arranged. He made little comment on my unexpected arrival before he'd had his breakfast, and I spent most of the day recording odd episodes about his life with MI6 and as a security consultant — read expensive private detective.

I'd nearly gotten home that evening before I realised that I was still extremely angry with Aileen. I'm not sure why I stopped and called the cottage from a telephone box, but I did. Not that it achieved much because Aileen wasn't home; well, she didn't answer the telephone anyway.

Bugger it; I wasn't going to be sitting there like a bleeding dummy when she decided to come home, so I booked myself into a local hotel for the night. When I arrived home the following day Aileen had already gone off to an early booking that I had known she had.

On the kitchen table was a note from her explaining where she was and also telling me that she had discussed the calendar shoot with her agent and several other models. They had all assured her that it was just about the best break that could be offered to a newcomer to the world of modelling and advised her to take the job. After thinking about it all of the Sunday, she decided to accept the booking and asked me not to object.

I added a few words to the effect that I'd told her my position on the Saturday and my decision was final. When I arrived home from work that Monday evening, Aileen had moved out and I hadn't seen or heard from her since.

The odd thing was the following year when that calendar was published Aileen was not in it.

I did see the odd picture of Aileen around over the next year or so and she did appear in a couple of adverts. Someone said that she was the eye candy on some German TV quiz show for a while as well, but if she was I never saw her, although Aileen did speak German quite fluently.

I'd settled into a lonely existence writing my novels. The first to be published as a proper book sold quite well. The second stormed off the shelves as quickly as they were printed; the fourth performing the same trick. I was in the middle of my seventh novel, the other two awaiting the right moment to be dropped onto the book-store shelves.

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Chapter 04 "Do we know what cabin?"

"No, not yet. We thought you'd be interested to know though, so John's trying to discover that now. You have an idea as to who she is?"

"To be honest with you, Helen, there's only one person that I can think of that it could be. But her name isn't Christabelle and when I knew her, she wasn't a dancer. She left me to become a model."

"Left you?"

"Yeah, it's all a bit complicated really."

"Life's complicated, Duncan, whether we like it or not. But I'm surprised to hear you say that she dumped you. Doesn't make much sense that she's embarrassed to see you then. That's of course assuming that she doesn't think she made a mistake." Helen looked deep in thought for a few seconds. "That's unless she ripped you off all your cash or something."

"No, Helen, if anything Aileen contributed a good few thousand of her own money in our joint account that's still sitting there. She had other accounts though and plenty of modelling work; I can't understand what's she's doing running around this bleeding yacht almost naked, acting as eye candy for these bleeding perverts."

"Well, that girl did say that she's a dancer now and only filling in for some girls who are sick."

"Yeah, Aileen could dance alright. She was an accomplished ballerina when she was a kid. Her mother had hopes she'd go on to one of the top ballet schools; but it wasn't her thing she was too shy at the time. But, Christ, she did know how to shake that thing to get my juices flowing in private, if you understand me," I said smiling, actually picturing Aileen gyrating around in those tight blue jeans in my mind.

"I think I do, Duncan, but I'm not sure that we should go there." Helen grinned back at me. "Ah, here comes my loving husband. I wonder what he's discovered. I'm sorry if you think that we are nosy, but the pair of us love a bit of intrigue."

"Christ, there's a bleeding row going on back there," John whispered when he arrived beside us. "I saw that fat bugger in the shorts and one of the other girls going into a cabin, so I listened at the door. He was yelling at the girl telling her that if she wasn't on deck in the next five minutes she'd be out of a job and would have to find her own way back to London. I couldn't hear what she said in reply, then he stormed out of the cabin almost knocking me over on the way. Anyway once he'd gone I sneaked back to the door and I heard the other girl persuading her to come out; I think she's coming. Do you know who she is, Duncan?"

"Duncan is pretty sure it's an old girlfriend of his and her name is really Aileen," Helen said before I had a chance to speak.

"Oh, shit, of course. No wonder her face was familiar. Aileen Price! One of the guys was keen on her. Had pictures of her up all over his cell. Hey, she was going places in the model game. I wonder what she's doing here."

"We were wondering the same thing, John," Helen commented, but she didn't say anymore because Aileen and the other girl had suddenly put in an appearance on deck.

Aileen was apparently still wearing that tiny flesh coloured bikini. But over it on her upper body she wore a white blouse tied just below her breasts and the lower portion of her anatomy was covered by a sarong.

Without a further word Helen set off in Aileen's direction. But before she got to Aileen the sleaze was giving her another lecture. I couldn't see Aileen's eyes or where they were looking because of the sunglasses she had on, but she was vigorously shaking her head. From his gestures it was apparent that the sleaze was not happy about the blouse or the sarong.

However at that instant Helen arrived and the words, "Fuck off, arsehole," if nothing else, were plainly audible to everyone on that deck.

"Looks like my wife is angry," John quietly commented to me. "It'll be interesting if that wanker argues with her. Helen's into all that marshal arts stuff; I wonder if that fat arsehole floats?" Then John Carpenter started laughing out loud.

The Sleaze looked like someone had smacked him around the face when Helen launched her tirade at him. For a moment he stood there staring back at Helen, then turned beetroot red and he walked away through the door that Aileen had come onto the deck by without saying another word.

Helen took Aileen's arm and steered her in our direction. Actually I should say dragged, because Aileen looked pretty reticent about coming with her.

They were by then the centre of attention for everyone on that deck, but I think Helen gave everyone watching a look that should have struck fear into the devil's heart and most folks found something else to show interest in.

"Christabelle - or should I say, Aileen, I'd like you to meet Duncan King, or as you probably know him, Warren Price. I think that you two have a lot that you need to talk about," Helen said, then leaning close so that only I could hear she whispered. "It's written all over your face, Duncan, so please don't mess things up this time?" I'm not sure what expression I had on my face, but Helen added. "She loves you, Duncan. Why do you think she was so embarrassed, when you came on board?"

"There's an upper deck up those stairs. It's a little more private. Why don't the pair of you nip up there and have a little chat?" John added pointing at a nearby companionway.

I held out my hand and surprisingly for me Aileen took it immediately, then I led her in the direction John had indicated.

"It's been a long time, Aileen," I said, trying to break the ice and after we'd both been sat on a bench on the upper deck for some considerable time, in silence.

"I'm sorry, you were right," she replied.

"About what?"

"About everything. About these things," Aileen gestured towards her breasts, "about that calendar shoot. About everything, Warren."

"I don't understand, Aileen."

She took her sunglasses off to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand; it was only then that I could see that she was crying. I fished a clean hanky from my pocket and handed it to her.

"I didn't need these bloody implants, Warren. You told me so many times, but I thought they'd make you love me more. What they did was to make me think that I was something special."

"You were always something special to me, Aileen. You had been from the moment I met you."

"I realise that now, Warren. I realised it whilst I was on that shoot in Jamaica. You were right; there were all kinds of bloody perverts climbing trees hoping to catch a glimpse of the girls in the nude. I refused to strip off and they threw me off the set."

"I got a reputation as being awkward after that, because I demanded private changing rooms and would only allow the photographer to be in the studio if I was naked. I still got work for a while but it became obvious that I wasn't going anywhere. So when my room-mate Heather said they wanted another dancer for her troop I joined them. It's mostly disco stuff and backing dancers for pop groups, but I was short of cash and it pays the rent."

"Aileen, you have at least six thousand in our joint bank account. If you needed cash why didn't you take that?"

Aileen gave me a strange look. "That was your money for the cottage, Duncan. It was all theoretically spent before I left."

"At the moment, Aileen, I'm a very successful author, thanks to you. I haven't had to touch that account since you..."

"I'm sorry, it all went to my head. Everyone seemed to think that I was the greatest thing to hit the modelling world since I don't know when. I'm sorry, I didn't think that I needed you holding me back; I thought I knew it all. But why thank me for being a successful author?"

"Because you taught my how to put heart and soul into my stories. I had no idea what love was all about until I met you, Aileen."

Aileen looked me in the eyes. "I've had a few men since we broke up, Warren. Not many, I promise you, but I've never found what we had with any of them."

"There's been a few women in my life as well, Aileen. Oh, I keep it low profile, but I'm not as celibate as the newspapers like to suggest. It just surrounds Duncan King with a bit of mystery."

She smiled again. "So where do we go from here?"

"I don't know, Aileen. If you're interested, we could see if there's anything left..."

"Oh, for Christ's sake, man, kiss her and then let's get off of this bleeding tub. You and Aileen can be our guests for dinner this evening. John and I have this lovely little château along the coast and the children will love meeting two famous people."

Exactly when Helen had joined us on the upper deck, I don't know. But I was to learn as I got to know her better that she has the habit of taking the bull by the horns and not mincing her words.

I did kiss Aileen briefly; I think we were both a little self-conscious of Helen's presence. But Aileen smiled at me afterwards then she gave Helen a big grin. God only knows what women can communicate to each other with those looks of theirs.

"I'm afraid that..." Aileen began to say.

"I'm Helen and my husband is John Carpenter. I'm afraid that we don't go in for formal introductions." Helen grinned back at Aileen.

I was looking at Helen when she spoke, so I didn't see what expression came on Aileen's face, but Helen suddenly added, "Yes, he is that John Carpenter." And then to me, "John found himself in the media spotlight for a while a few years back, Duncan. You were probably lost in one of your novels at the time."

Aileen giggled then stood up and hugged Helen, then she gave me a hug and disappeared down the companionway. I must have had a confused expression on my face.

"She's going to get changed, Duncan. You don't think she came on board dressed in those clothes, do you?"

When she reappeared Aileen was dressed a lot more conservatively than she had been, although she was still dressed in a two-piece outfit that showed a lot of midriff, leg and cleavage. She looked beautiful and a feeling of pride that I hadn't felt for years came over me when she took hold of my arm.

I'm not at all sure that Stella was happy that I was leaving the party, although Norman didn't seem to mind. He very quickly organised a launch to take us back to the French coast that was completely out of sight.

"She's a real beauty, my friend; I have no idea what has gone on today, but I suspect that I can guess. Now don't you dare let her get away again, young man!" Norman said to me with a smile on his face when he shook my hand as we departed.

Stella gave me a quick kiss and simply said, "Go for it, stud." Then she added, "I'll see you back at the hotel in the morning. Don't forget this is supposed to be a working holiday." Stella and I were due to attend some function or the other the following morning.

"Looks like your agent has been earning her keep," John said, pulling the hat he had mysteriously developed down over his eyes as the launch neared the key side.

I was surprised to see that Helen's head was also suddenly adorned with a wide brimmed hat as well, and that she was in the process of obscuring her face with a chiffon scarf.

"It's all right for you celebrities, but in our line of work, we prefer not to have our faces plastered all over the newspapers, Duncan," Helen informed me.

I looked back at the quay and noticed the three paparazzi photographers waiting, their cameras at the ready, that John and Helen had obviously spotted. Knowing my publicity mad literary agent, I figured that John was correct in his assumption that Stella had been on the telephone to someone.

Actually I thought it quite funny. Aileen's face had been famous well before mine had, but these guys seemed to have no idea who she was and kept asking. All four of us kept our mouths firmly shut on the short walk to John's hire car.

When we arrived at John and Helen's holiday home, Aileen and I were introduced to their herd of children and an older couple, Jenny and Albert, who apparently had been minding the children. Then all of us fooled about in the swimming pool with them for quite a while. Eventually Bert and Jenny took the children into the chateau to dry off and change whilst we four sat on the terrace, drinking Martinis.

I'm not sure how John and Helen did it, but quite suddenly I found that they had disappeared, leaving Aileen and me alone together on a swing seat.

"Is this really happening?" Aileen asked after I'd kissed her.

"I don't know. Would you like to pinch me to see if I wake up?"

"No, I'd be too frightened that you'd wake me up. I don't think that I could live with the disappointment."

"Wake up then, girl. I'm here, I can promise you. The problem we've got to face is where are we going?"

Aileen giggled, "I know where I'd like to go, but it's a little early and there's children in the house."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea, Aileen," I said and a disappointed and somewhat childlike expression came over her face. "I think that we have to get things all talked out first this time. If you agree, I think we should just date for a while until we both understand each other's feelings."

"I know what my feelings are now, Warren. Look, I'm sorry, I was all mixed up and suddenly everyone was fawning over me and telling me how beautiful I was. I'm sorry I just wasn't used to it and it all went to my head for a while. It was only when you weren't there anymore, that I realised what was important in my life."

"Then why didn't you come back?"

"I wanted to, Warren. God, you'll never know how much I wanted to, but you were so adamant that if I went on that shoot it was the end for us. I was too frightened that you'd reject me. You did say some really hateful and hurtful things that day, you know."

"Yes, I do remember that I was very angry. It must have been the shock, I think. If I'd had any sense I'd have realised that ... oh, you know what I mean. Let's not go back over it now. So some bloody gofer dogsbody saw your tits now and again, what did I expect was going to happen behind the scenes? That you were going to take part in an orgy or something? I was just being a conservative prune and I got jealous, that's all. You must remember that I was pushing my luck on that book deadline as well."

"Aileen, I can be a complete arsehole sometimes, you know. I was way out of line. Can you forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive. I should have been a little more communicative on what happened on those shoots. I knew that you weren't keen on those lingerie shoots from your reaction to that first fashion catalogue I was in. Damn it, why didn't I drag you along to some of those bookings?"

"Because we were both dashing around like blue arsed flies trying to get our own careers off the ground. Silly, we both took our eyes of the ball for a while."

"Well, are we going to win the second half?"

"I hope so. I intend to give it my best shot."

"Then let's share a room later tonight?"

"Hold on, Aileen. I love the idea but the tables have been turned somewhat. Five years ago you were the famous model, but those guys on the dock were waiting to see who I was with this evening. How is your psyche going to handle that?"

"Been there, done that, I had my fifteen minutes of fame, Warren. I've stood in the sunshine and discovered that it wasn't to my liking. I'm completely happy to stand in Duncan King's shadow from now on. I'm sure that I can be just as photogenic as that starlet bit of fluff you had on your arm at the film premier."

"Oh, you saw the pictures in the papers, did you? Christ, talk about dumb; she definitely gets all of her work via the casting couch. You know she was asking me if I could get her a part in the next one of mine that they film. And she not only offered, she expected..."

"Never?"

"Yeah, no kidding, she even had a room booked at the Hilton."

"You didn't, did you?"

"Aileen."

"No, you wouldn't, would you? Jesus, you are even procrastinating about taking me to bed and you've made my bells ring a thousand times. God, I've missed you, Warren." Then she lent forward and kissed me, her hand gently grabbing my crotch at the same time.

Later that night we did get to bed together back at my hotel. I think it was the best sex that we had ever had with each other. Aileen was enthusiastic to try everything we'd learnt together in the past. All in one session was unusual for us.

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Chapter 05

The following morning a waiter entering the other room of my suite with breakfast awakened Aileen and me. Shortly after that there was a knock at the bedroom and, after asking if we were decent, Stella's head appeared around it. She announced that we had less than two hours to get sorted before we were due at the function that she and I were supposed to attend.