Emma stared at him blankly. ‘You’re joking, surely? Yes, I see Ethan often. He’s contracted to our studio. We talk and spend time together, but there’s no way he’d ever be interested in somebody like me, not when he’s got millions of women all over the world just dying to jump into his arms, not to mention his bed.’ The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it sounded.
‘Don’t you believe it? You’re beautiful, you’re very bright and you’re a genuinely nice person. Any man would be lucky to have you.’
For a moment she thought about querying his use of the term ‘any man’. Might that also include him? But, instead, she found herself taking issue with his choice of vocabulary.
‘That’s the point, really. I don’t want to be “had” by any man. I’m my own woman and I choose my own partners.’
‘Sorry, of course I didn’t mean “have” in the sense of “possession”. Anyway, apologies again, I didn’t want to intrude. It just interested me that you appeared to be rejecting a Hollywood heart-throb.’
‘There’s no need to apologise, but I think you’ve misread the signs. My relationship with Ethan isn’t like that.’ She looked him square in the eye. ‘And it never will be.’
‘Message received loud and clear, boss. Okay. So, if you’re turning down the sexiest man on the planet, then that means there’s no hope left for any other man on the planet. We’re all doomed.’
She rather liked the fact that he had used the pronoun ‘we’ and she rather regretted being quite so sharp with him. But then, she told herself, maybe it was for the best: there was no future for her with Mark, given that they would soon be on opposite sides of the globe, and the sooner her heart and her brain started operating on the same wavelength, the better. She gave him a smile.
‘Nobody’s doomed, Mark. Right now, the fact is that my job means more to me than any man.’
‘Any man?’
‘That’s the way it’s been so far.’
At that moment, Marina and Rich returned with bottles of water and the conversation turned to more practical matters. Emma wasn’t sure if she should be sorry or relieved.
‘Our hotel for tonight’s right in the heart of the Chianti region, south of Florence.’ Marina glanced across at Rich. ‘But I promise you’ll get a good view of Florence on the way there. The hotel’s actually an agriturismo on a working wine estate. Have you come across those?’
Mark was quick to explain. ‘Think bed and breakfast, often very upmarket bed and breakfast, sometimes with dinner, but on a farm, or at least out in the countryside.’
This sounded rather good to Emma and she realised it might work for the movie as well. ‘In the movie, as they’re on their way from Florence to Siena by road, the car taking Emily and her governess breaks down and they have to spend the night in a rat-infested country inn. This agriturismo should fit in fine.’
If there were any rats in the agriturismo where Emma and company spent the night, they were without doubt some of the luckiest rats in Italy. The place was very luxurious, very comfortable, scrupulously clean and in a delightful position, their bedroom windows looking right out over the rolling Chianti hills. On the way there, Marina had been true to her word and had taken them along a series of narrow roads through olive groves and vineyards to the south of Florence, driving right in towards the city as far as the hills directly above the River Arno. They saw the roofs, cupolas, towers and domes of Florence, laid out like a model below them, but didn’t venture any further into town. More photos were added to the pile but Emma had no regrets at leaving out this internationally recognised World Heritage site which, she knew, would be even more crowded than Pisa.
The hotel had a swimming pool and Emma spent a happy hour there before going inside for a wonderful long bath, emerging feeling energised and refreshed. She met up with the others in the bar downstairs before dinner for a glass of the excellent wine produced here on the estate. The walls were covered in old black-and-white photos of men and women harvesting the grapes onto horse-drawn carts. Rich suggested taking photos of some of these photos to help the costume department. Emma was impressed and told him to go ahead, mentally adding this little sign of initiative to the secret report she was preparing for his father.
That evening, after an excellent dinner, Marina and Rich stayed inside to chat to the owner, while Emma and Mark went for a little walk along a track at the rear of the hotel. From there they had a wonderful view down over the rows of vines, laid out with mathematical precision, clearly visible in the light of an almost full moon. Night had fallen by now and as they strolled along, Emma started to see little flashes of yellow light in the darkness, where fireflies flew among the vines. Above them somewhere an owl hooted, close enough to startle her, and she instinctively reached out and grabbed Mark’s arm. As she realised what had caused the noise she hastily removed her hand and apologised. He turned towards her and chuckled.
‘Any time you want me to defend you from an owl, just say so. But if it’s a wild boar, I may not be so obliging. I was talking to the owner and he told me they’ve had a lot of trouble with them. They dig up the vines and cause a lot of damage and, if you get in their way, they can be dangerous. We’ve had them around the villa too.’
‘And I thought knights in shining armour were fearless.’
‘Not this knight. I pick my battles.’ There was a momentary pause before he added something that puzzled her. ‘At least I do nowadays.’
‘You used to be fearless?’
‘I think the word you’re looking for is reckless. But I learnt my lesson. Anyway, enough about me, what are you afraid of? Not a lot, I would guess.’
She thought about probing him on what he had meant, but decided against it. He had obviously decided to change the subject. She did her best to answer his question honestly.
‘Oh, I get scared all right. I’m terrified of snakes. Believe it or not, a rattlesnake even got into one of the studio lots a few years back. The security guys shot it and hung it on the gate. Although it was as dead as a dodo, it still frightened the life out of me. Otherwise, I’m okay with most animals and I’m reasonably okay with heights. I suppose if I’m totally honest, the thing that frightens me most is the idea of getting shot in some random attack or at the hands of some madman. There are an awful lot of guns in the US. Give me a good old English Bobby with his truncheon any day.’
‘But you’ve been living in the US for years and, presumably, you intend to stay there at least until you’re running JMGP, so you can’t be that scared.’
‘I suppose not, but it’s absolutely terrifying having a gun pointed at you. It happened to me once and the pistol was in the hand of a cop, but it frightened the life out of me all the same.’ She turned her head towards him. ‘Have you ever had a gun pointed at you?’
‘Afraid so. You’re right. It’s definitely very scary.’ He didn’t go into any detail as to the circumstances under which the weapon had been pointed at him and she didn’t press him. Instead, she turned the conversation to happier matters.
‘Less than a day to wait until you’re reunited with Carmen. I’m looking forward to meeting her. Have you got a photo?’