Star Attraction Read Free Page B

you're one hell
of a salesman,” Zaira grumbled.    “Right, then, tell him to get down to the Loeb theatre for one
o’clock.   We’ll have finished
everything by then, I think.”
    “Sure, Zaira, I’ll tell him,” Matt
said, with rather too much merriment for her liking.   “Dinner at One Fifth afterwards to tell all, ok?”
    She heaved a sigh, knowing she had
been well and truly played.   He was
very fond of getting his own way, and she felt completely manoeuvred into a
corner.
    “Right, Matt, but there may not be
much to tell.”
    Glancing at her watch, she
realized it was time to get ready for the first night of term party, a
tradition she remembered from when she had been a student at New York
University years before.  
    She recalled her first alcoholic
stupor at the NYU club only too well, for it was then she had met her first and
only love Jonathan Waxman.
    Damn it, Zaira thought defiantly , I am
not going to think about him now!  
    She snatched up her bag and
stormed down the corridor to the toilet, where she applied a small amount of
make up to her pale face, and redid her chignon.  
    Her specks she pushed firmly up
the bridge of her nose, and hoped that the fearsome Brad Clarke, with his
incredible emerald eyes, would not be there.   She didn’t know how she would face him after what she had said
today. Or what on earth she would say to him when they had to start haggling
over the film rights to her book.
    But she wouldn't think about that
now. She had to get ready, and she didn't want to ruin the evening.    All the same, he was pretty
unforgettable.   And he was certainly
going to remember her. Well, at least she had a whole night to think of an
apology before she saw him again tomorrow!
     

 
     
     
     
CHAPTER THREE
     
    When Zaira arrived at the New York
University club, she ran into many of the students she had taught that
afternoon, and made small talk and smiled until her face muscles positively
ached with the effort.  
    A tall figure with dark hair
loomed up beside her, and for one horrified moment Zaira was convinced it was
Brad Clarke coming to pounce on her.   She smiled with relief when she realized it was only her Head of
Department Raymond Ness, who remembered her well from her student days.
    “Well, Zaira, how were your new
students today?   Mine were
overeager and under read, but then that’s typical, isn’t it?”
    “I’m a bit less cynical than you
are, Ray, but then I’m new to the game.”
    Raymond had encouraged her
throughout her university career, and was still fiercely protective of
her.   He proceeded to upbraid her
for avoiding him and his charming wife recently.
    “Anna’s been asking if I’ve seen
you, if there’s been any news about Jonathan.”
    Zaira shook her head, but she knew
she was a rather poor liar.   It had
been a point of pride with her that when her husband Jonathan had abandoned
her, Zaira had coped on her own.   She had confided only in Matt Wolf, an old friend and literary agent
with powerful contacts, about her predicament, and then only because she was so
financially desperate.
    “No news, Ray.   He’s still on the missing person’s
list, but to be perfectly honest, in a way I hope they don’t find him.   I really don’t want to know why he did
what he did.   Why he left. I’d just
like to forget all about it. Put the past behind me.”
    “Just don’t be a stranger, that’s
all I’m saying.   We understand that
you need time on your own, but please come to us if you want anything.   Oh well,” he sighed, downing his drink
in one gulp.   “Time to mingle
again.”   He patted her on the hand
and kissed her on the cheek before disappearing into the throng.  
    Now was her chance, she
decided.   Zaira turned towards the
door in an attempt to slip out of the party, when she again collided with the
infuriatingly solid body of Brad Clarke.
    “We meet again, Zaira Darcy,” he
said, grinning as he stared down at her