Bill’s big payday for
Maverick
funded thebeach house in Malibu. He already had an apartment in New York.
Bill wasn’t the kind of man Christina thought she would end up with. Actors were notoriously unfaithful and had the kind of career paths that made professional poker players look like a sensible option. But Bill seemed to be on an unstoppable upward trajectory. He had a lot of big toys. He had been signed for five new movies. Christina started to wonder if she should take him seriously.
Two months after she met Bill, Christina was on a shoot for
Vogue
’s fall collections issue when she overheard a stylist gossiping about Victoria Beckham. “She’ll never leave him,” the stylist said. “She knows that a celebrity couple is worth way more than the sum of its parts. How else is a thirty-something from a nineties girl band going to make a living?” Later on the same shoot, far worse, Christina heard the photographer say to his assistant of her, “We need to do something about the lines around her eyes. How old is Christina these days anyway?”
The following day Bill proposed, as he often did when he was drunk. This time, Christina accepted. She wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision, but then a month after her wedding, Christina bumped into her ex at a cocktail party. She introduced her new husband to him.
“Bill Tarrant. The movie star.”
The old boyfriend went green. Christina was thrilled. It took a lot to impress her extraordinarily wealthy ex. She’d obviously made a very good match indeed.
And yet she found herself alone on their first wedding anniversary.
Beauty routine finished, Christina peered at her face in the bathroom mirror. Could Bill really not have waited until the morning after their anniversary to fly to New York? How did that look? What would people think if theyknew he would rather be on a plane than have dinner with his wife of one year?
She’d asked him to stay. He’d asked her to fly to New York with him. She’d explained that she
had
to stay in Los Angeles because she’d been invited to a fund-raiser sponsored by
InStyle.
“It’s going to get four pages in the August issue,” she said.
“Well, if that’s more important to you … ” Bill concluded.
It was important, Christina told herself. She needed to be seen at that fund-raiser. Her public profile mattered just as much as Bill’s did. In any case, he was only going to New York for some cheesy award ceremony where he wouldn’t win a thing. It would have been a far better idea for them both to go to the
InStyle
party. To present a united front. Remind people they were a double act.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, her mobile started to ring. Christina made a grab for it. Bill’s plane should have landed in New York about fifteen minutes earlier. Perhaps …
“Happy wedding anniversary, my darling. I hope you’re having a fantastic day,” said her mother.
Christina assured her parents that life as Mrs. Tarrant was absolutely wonderful, but she couldn’t convince herself. When her mother hung up, Christina lay back on the pillows and nibbled absently at a cuticle as she looked at the framed black-and-white photos on the bedroom wall. She had been photographed by all the greats: Meisel, Bailey, Testino. The Bailey photo was her favorite. She was just twenty-one when he took it. She was running down a beach, her long hair flying out behind her. Physically perfect and full of optimism that shone from her laughing face.
Christina hadn’t been booked by Bailey in five years.She hadn’t had a cover in almost as long. Turning her face away from the haunting images of her past perfection, she felt a tear spring to her eye.
CHAPTER 9
T he news that she had inherited a farmhouse and a vineyard in Sussex did a great deal to improve Kelly’s mood on the day she learned of her father’s death. She immediately started fantasizing about the money she would get when she sold the place and the smart
Maverick
funded thebeach house in Malibu. He already had an apartment in New York.
Bill wasn’t the kind of man Christina thought she would end up with. Actors were notoriously unfaithful and had the kind of career paths that made professional poker players look like a sensible option. But Bill seemed to be on an unstoppable upward trajectory. He had a lot of big toys. He had been signed for five new movies. Christina started to wonder if she should take him seriously.
Two months after she met Bill, Christina was on a shoot for
Vogue
’s fall collections issue when she overheard a stylist gossiping about Victoria Beckham. “She’ll never leave him,” the stylist said. “She knows that a celebrity couple is worth way more than the sum of its parts. How else is a thirty-something from a nineties girl band going to make a living?” Later on the same shoot, far worse, Christina heard the photographer say to his assistant of her, “We need to do something about the lines around her eyes. How old is Christina these days anyway?”
The following day Bill proposed, as he often did when he was drunk. This time, Christina accepted. She wasn’t sure she’d made the right decision, but then a month after her wedding, Christina bumped into her ex at a cocktail party. She introduced her new husband to him.
“Bill Tarrant. The movie star.”
The old boyfriend went green. Christina was thrilled. It took a lot to impress her extraordinarily wealthy ex. She’d obviously made a very good match indeed.
And yet she found herself alone on their first wedding anniversary.
Beauty routine finished, Christina peered at her face in the bathroom mirror. Could Bill really not have waited until the morning after their anniversary to fly to New York? How did that look? What would people think if theyknew he would rather be on a plane than have dinner with his wife of one year?
She’d asked him to stay. He’d asked her to fly to New York with him. She’d explained that she
had
to stay in Los Angeles because she’d been invited to a fund-raiser sponsored by
InStyle.
“It’s going to get four pages in the August issue,” she said.
“Well, if that’s more important to you … ” Bill concluded.
It was important, Christina told herself. She needed to be seen at that fund-raiser. Her public profile mattered just as much as Bill’s did. In any case, he was only going to New York for some cheesy award ceremony where he wouldn’t win a thing. It would have been a far better idea for them both to go to the
InStyle
party. To present a united front. Remind people they were a double act.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, her mobile started to ring. Christina made a grab for it. Bill’s plane should have landed in New York about fifteen minutes earlier. Perhaps …
“Happy wedding anniversary, my darling. I hope you’re having a fantastic day,” said her mother.
Christina assured her parents that life as Mrs. Tarrant was absolutely wonderful, but she couldn’t convince herself. When her mother hung up, Christina lay back on the pillows and nibbled absently at a cuticle as she looked at the framed black-and-white photos on the bedroom wall. She had been photographed by all the greats: Meisel, Bailey, Testino. The Bailey photo was her favorite. She was just twenty-one when he took it. She was running down a beach, her long hair flying out behind her. Physically perfect and full of optimism that shone from her laughing face.
Christina hadn’t been booked by Bailey in five years.She hadn’t had a cover in almost as long. Turning her face away from the haunting images of her past perfection, she felt a tear spring to her eye.
CHAPTER 9
T he news that she had inherited a farmhouse and a vineyard in Sussex did a great deal to improve Kelly’s mood on the day she learned of her father’s death. She immediately started fantasizing about the money she would get when she sold the place and the smart
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