‘You’re not old now.’
‘Old by modelling industry standards. It wasn’t what I loved but it made me money, which I was careful with, so I decided to concentrate on my art and turn my back on fame.’
‘Well, I feel like a class-A numptie for not knowing this.’
‘A whattie now?’
‘An idiot. A tattie heid.’
Alicia brightened. ‘I’m not sure what a “tattie heid” is but you’re definitely not an idiot. And I can’t tell you how refreshing it is that you don’t know me.’
‘Why? Have you got something to hide?’
Oh shit. I walked into that one.‘No, it’s not that. It’s just rare to be given the opportunity to present yourself to someone and have no preconceptions in the room. It’s lovely, actually.’
‘Aye, I can imagine. So, was your stage name Alicia Williams? That was the surname you gave at check-in, right?’
Alicia knew the name thing would be a sticking point and it was best she came clean about her family. Surely the worst part was over in that she had as much of a clean slate with this man as she would have with anyone. ‘It was, but I go by Alicia Jansen. Although my real name is Alicia Donoghue. I expect you’ve heard of the Donoghues.’
Jamie paused with his glass of red in mid-air and stared mouth slightly agape. ‘Like Clark Donoghue?’
‘Like Clark Donoghue. He’s my father.’
‘Really? Fuck me! Clark Donoghue is a total legend.Night of the Albatrossis one of my favourite movies ever. You’re his daughter?’
‘I am.’
‘Alright, my mind is officially blown.’ Jamie put his wine down. ‘But you didn’t follow the family into acting. Your brothers are actors, aren’t they?’
‘They are. I was in a soap as a kid but I asked my parents to let me retire from acting. I’m the black sheep in that respect. Like you, I prefer peaceful things, like paintingand minding my own business. But recently, I’ve taken on a few roles and sort of fallen back under the spotlight.’
‘But why, if you dislike it so much?’
‘It’s a long story. Basically, I was happily being an artist, then I had an exhibition and I met Chad Bradbury. You may have heard of him?’ It was unrealistic to expect Jamie to be so completely in the dark that he hadn’t heard of Chad. It was like expecting someone to not know who Tom Cruise was.
Jamie’s eyebrows arched. ‘Aye, of course. I don’t have his posters on my wall, but I know who he is. You dated him?’
‘Yes, for a short time and, because he’s so astronomically famous, it brought me back into the spotlight and got me a few movie roles too. I wasn’t bothered about the fame, but Chad wanted me to be in his movies, and what Chad wants, Chad gets. After that, I got offered some movies of my own, and a perfume ad. My modelling star rose again. But for reasons I won’t go into, it all went a bit sour and when I came here, I wanted to get away from that world.’
‘Is that why you were wearing a wig and sunglasses at check-in?’
‘Yes. I stopped wearing them when your reaction to me made me think I could go un-noticed. I was wrong, though, as Dean and Diana recognised me.’
‘Ah. So, you and Chad – sorry to ask – but are you still together? Is that why Dean called you a wild one? Chad’s a bit of a party animal, isn’t he?
It was good that Jamie was asking these questions as it forced Alicia to address things and get them out of the way. She could, of course, use it as an opening to tell him about the photos and video, but she couldn’t go there yet. No way – it would be too much to watch him take in. His reaction had been so perfect that she couldn’t risk ruining things.
‘No, we broke up recently. I think Dean was referring to our kiss. Yours and mine. Or one of my movies. A lot of people can’t separate movies from reality.’
Jamie pulled up his sleeves a little more, as if about to say something important, giving a glimpse of those shirt busting triceps. He must have noticed something in Alicia’s expression.
‘Hot,’ he said by way of explanation.
‘You are.’
Jamie burst out laughing, the tension in the room split open now.
‘Look, thanks for telling me,’ he said. ‘I appreciate you probably enjoy folk not knowing. I can understand wanting a drama-free life. The closest I get to understanding the fame thing is if I go into the local chemist to buy a pack of condoms and it’s all round the village in an hour.’
