Page 129 of Private Lives

The photographer took her face in his dainty hands. ‘Darling, I make all the men in the world want to fuck you,’ he said sincerely.

‘Oh Jose, you say the most wonderful things.’

Jessica breathed a sigh of relief; finally she was on her own, having slipped away to an empty bedroom in a far wing of the villa for lunch. She loved the attention, of course, being fussed over by hair and make-up girls, having everyone tell her how amazing she looked, but as the day wore on, it was beginning to make her feel anxious. I mean, what if they’re wrong? she thought. What if I look hideous? After those lies that fag Joe had been spreading, she simply had to look like a goddess; nothing else would do.

The room was cool and serene after the blaring music and heat of the shoot, with a wrap-around balcony that overlooked the ocean, lying like a shimmering pool of mercury in front of her. She sat on a rattan sunlounger, legs placed on either side, and laid out her lunch: a slice of melon and a can of Diet Mountain Dew.

She wanted something to read. Sylvia had declared a ban on media while they were in Hawaii – ‘we’re here to relax, remember?’ – and while Jessica could see the logic, it was making her jumpy to be so out of the loop. In her business, what people were saying was everything.

A young girl in shorts and a tank top popped her head into the bedroom; Jessica recognised her as one of the make-up girls.

‘Jose wants to start shooting in ten,’ she said nervously. ‘Can I get you anything in the meantime?’

‘Got any magazines?’

The girl looked awkward.

‘We were told no media at the l

ocation house.’

‘Really?’ Jessica frowned. ‘Why?’

The girl was chewing her lip.

‘I think it said so in the contract.’ As Jessica glared at her, the girl opened the satchel she was wearing. ‘But I’ve got an iPad if you’d like.’

‘Sure,’ said Jessica, wondering why they’d been told no media. ‘But let’s keep it between the two of us, all right? Now leave me.’

She immediately logged on to the New York Post. Some scandal had broken about an East Coast politican. Yeah, like that’s news.

She typed National Enquirer into Google, then rolled her eyes. Not Charlie Sheen again; didn’t he ever take a week off? Tutting to herself, she logged on to Celeb magazine, and gasped as the page popped up.

‘Tragic Jess Heading For A Breakdown?’ it said.

‘Tragic?’ she gasped, staring at the screen in disbelief. ‘Breakdown?’

She quickly clicked on the article and began reading:

Friends fear heartbreak has driven All Woman star Jessica Carr to the edge, writes Lindy Snape in Los Angeles. Her split from hunky Brit actor Sam Charles was only the first in a series of career disasters, quickly followed by the news that Uniglobe Pictures have ordered a reshoot on her movie Slayer in which she stars alongside Joe Kennington. ‘Jess just wasn’t convincing as a romantic lead,’ said an insider. ‘There was zero chemistry between her and Joe, so Judd the director took the decision to kill her character off.’ Friends fear this may have unhinged the highly strung actress, who was then revealed to have thrown herself at co-star Joe. ‘She was drinking pretty heavily,’ said a witness. The ageing starlet, 32, is said to be worried that she’s losing her looks. ‘When a woman begins to feel that she can’t hold on to a man, that’s got to make you desperate,’ commented TV doctor Gillian Toomey, presenter of Channel Nine’s What’s Your Problem?

Rumours have also circulated that Jessica was spotted smoking what appeared to be a marijuana joint on the balcony of her Malibu beach house last Tuesday. LAPD declined to comment over whether they would investigate.

Jessica felt faint as she clicked on the four-page photomontage and timeline – stunning photographs of herself dated a year ago, that became increasingly unflattering as the story went on. ‘Unhinged’, ‘ageing’, ‘can’t hold on to a man’? Even worse, the article was illustrated with a huge long-lens pap shot of Jessica leaving the Primrose Gym on Mulholland, her face puffy and pink. How the hell did they get that?

Why hadn’t she known about this? Why hadn’t Sylvia known about this? Mentally she calculated how long she’d been on the island. They had arrived Tuesday – the day Celeb magazine hit the news stands.

‘Holiday my ass!’ she sneered. ‘That bitch Sylvia knew all about this.’

She jumped to her feet and stormed through the villa and back to the pool, where she found Sylvia was on the phone. Jessica grabbed the cell from her hand.

‘Jess!’ squealed Sylvia. ‘What the hell?’

‘We need to talk. Now,’ said Jessica, grabbing her arm and virtually dragging her back inside.

‘What the hell’s wrong with you?’

‘I’ve just read the Celeb magazine story, that’s what’s wrong with me.’