CHAPTER FOUR

Tea at the Ritz?

William arrived at the Ritz Hotel carrying some roses for Anna. As he got into the lift, another young man followed him in. 'Which floor?' William asked.

'Three.'

The lift stopped at the third floor and William and the young man got out. They both looked around for the room numbers, then they both turned right. Anna, William knew, was in

Room 38. As he walked, the young man followed closely behind him. William looked over his shoulder questioningly. He slowed down at Room 38... and the other man did, too. William pointed at the number.

'Are you sure you ...?'

The man smiled. 'Yes,' he replied.

'Oh, right.'

William knocked. A bright-faced American girl opened the door.

'Hello. I'm Karen. Sorry. Everything's taking longer than we thought. Here's all the information you need.'

She gave each of them a press package with pictures from Anna's new film, Helix. William looked at the woman, then at the man behind him. What was happening? Then Karen showed them into a large room. William was surprised to see a number of reporters and photographers, all clearly waiting to talk to Anna.

'What did you think of the film?' Karen asked.

'Wonderful,' the man behind William replied. 'A bit of Close Encounters—and a lot of Jean de Florette.'

They both turned to William for his opinion.

'I agree,' he said quickly.

'I'm sorry ... Which magazines are you from?' Karen asked.

'I'm Tarquin from Time Out.'

'Great. And you?' she asked, looking towards William.

William didn't know what to say. He looked around for ideas and, on a small table, saw a copy of Horse and Hound magazine.

'Horse and Hound. The name's William Thacker. Miss Scott knows I'm coming.'

'OK. Take a seat. I'll check.'

The two men sat down as Karen went into the next room.

'You've brought her flowers?' said Tarquin with interest.

William thought quickly. 'No ... No, they're ... for my grandmother. She's in a hospital near here. I'm going to see her after this.'

'Oh, I'm sorry. Which hospital?'

William didn't know any of the hospitals in the area. 'Er ... I don't like to talk about it. I hope you don't mind.'

'Oh, sure. Of course.'

Just then, Karen came back into the room and called his name. 'Mr Thacker? Anna will see you now. You've got five minutes.'

It was a large sitting room filled with flowers. Anna was standing with her back to a window, wearing an expensive suit. Her hair was tied back. William thought again how beautiful she looked.

'Hi.'

'Hello.'

'I brought you these,' he said, holding out the flowers. 'But ... clearly ... you've already got some.'

'Oh, no. These are great,' said Anna, taking them.

There was a long silence. William tried to think of something to say.

'Sorry about not ringing back. The two-name idea was difficult for my stupid lodger to understand.'

'No, I'm sorry. I try to stay private, so I always choose a name from a children's film. Last time I came to England, I was Mrs Bambi.'

Karen's boss came into the room.

'Everything OK?' he asked Anna.

'Yes thanks, Jeremy.'

'And you're from Horse and Hound magazine?' he asked William.

Anna looked at William. 'Really? Horse and Hound? She smiled.

She sat down. The room fell silent. She and Jeremy were looking towards William, waiting.

'Right,' he said, taking a seat. 'I'll just start, then?' He tried to imagine being a reporter for Horse and Hound magazine. What did his readers want to know? 'Right. Er ... the film's excellent. But ... did you ever think of having more horses in it?' he asked hesitantly.

Jeremy looked at William and sighed.

'Well,' started Anna, trying to be serious, 'we wanted more horses ... but it was difficult. I mean, there aren't many horses on Mars.'

'Yes, Mars. Of course ... very difficult.'

Jeremy stared at William. Then he looked at Anna, but she seemed happy. He left the room.

William put his head in his hands. 'I'm sorry. I arrived outside and they gave me this press package. I didn't know what to do.'

'No, I'm sorry. They gave me a timetable for this and it ended at four. Listen, I just want to say that I'm sorry for the other day ... the kissing thing. I don't know why I did it. I wanted to make sure you were OK about it.'

'Is that all she wants to say?' William thought. He felt hurt, but tried to hide it. 'Yes,' he said. 'No problem. Of course, that's fine.'

Jeremy came back into the room and the two fell silent.

'Don't forget to ask Miss Scott about her next film,' Jeremy said helpfully.

'Oh, yes. Excellent. Er ... Any horses in that one? Or hounds?'

Anna looked at him, amused. 'It takes place under water.'

'Right.'

Jeremy left the room again.

William watched him go, then turned back to Anna. 'I'm sorry. Things like this only happen in dreams, not in real life. Good dreams, of course ... It's a dream to see you.'

'And what happens next in the dream?' Anna asked.

'Well ...' William started, 'in the dream, I just become a different person, a better person, because you can do that in dreams. Then I walk across the room and kiss the girl. But in real life you know it'll never happen.'

The door opened again.

'That's it,' Jeremy said. 'No more time, I'm afraid. Did you get what you wanted?'

'Nearly,' William replied, looking at Anna.

'OK ... maybe one more question.'

He left the room.

'Are you busy tonight?' William asked Anna.

'Yes.'

Jeremy came back in. William and Anna stood and shook hands.

'It was nice to meet you, Mr Thacker.' She smiled. 'Strange, but nice.'

'Thank you. You are Horse and Hound's favourite actress. You and Black Beauty.'

Tarquin was waiting outside. 'How was she?' he asked.

'Wonderful.'

'Wait a minute!' Tarquin said in surprise. 'She took your grandmother's flowers?'

William thought quickly. 'Yes, that's right. What a pig!'

He turned towards the lift, but Karen called out to him.

'This way, Mr Thacker. You can talk to the others now.'

'The others?' thought William.

He found himself in another room with the male star of Helix.

'Pleased to meet you. Did you enjoy the film?' the star asked.

'Oh yes ... very much. Er ... did you enjoy making the film?'

'I did.'

'Which bits did you most enjoy making?'

'Well, you tell me which bits you liked. Then I'll tell you if I liked making them.'

'Hmmm,' said William thoughtfully. 'I liked the bit on Mars very much. Did you enjoy that bit?'

The male star stared at William. He ended the discussion as quickly as he could.

Five minutes later, William found himself with an actor who spoke no English. Luckily, next to him was a woman who did.

William felt more comfortable with his questions now. 'Did you have a deep understanding of the person you were playing?'

The woman asked the question in Spanish and waited for the actor's answer.

'No.'

'No,' she said to William.

'And why not?' asked William.

The woman put the question in Spanish and waited for the answer. It was quite long.

'Because he played a crazy man-eating alien.'

Another room. A child actress this time. She was eleven years old.

'Is this your first film?'

'No. It's my twenty-second.'

'Of course it is,' William said in surprise. 'Er ... any favourites out of the twenty-two?'

'Working with Leonardo.'

'Da Vinci?'

She looked at him strangely. 'DiCaprio.'

Finally, the bad dream seemed to be ending. William walked towards the lift again, pushing past the cameramen.

'Mr Thacker!' It was Karen. William sighed deeply. 'Have you got a minute?'

And then he was back in the room with Anna.

'That thing I was doing tonight ... I've changed my plans. I have to spend the evening with Horse and Hound's star reporter.' Anna smiled.

William's heart jumped. 'Oh well, great. Excellent.' Then he had a sudden thought. 'Oh, no! It's my sister's birthday ... we're having dinner!'

'OK. Fine.'

'But no, I won't go.'

'No, I mean, if it's fine with you, I'll come too,' she said.

'You'll come with me to my sister's birthday party?'

'If that's all right?'

'Of course it's all right. My friend Max is cooking and he's the worst cook in the world. But you can hide the food in your bag ...'

'OK.'

'OK.'