Plain Jane in the Spotlight by Lucy Gordon Read Free Book Online Page B

twisted and turned as expected, before making their way to their table.
    Travis observed Charlene, noting how she never moved, but sat clasping the stem of her glass with tense fingers. At last she relaxed and looked away. He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. She squeezed back. There was no need to say anything.
    The evening began. A lavish banquet was served to the long table up high at the end of the room and the twenty smaller tables spread out around the room. As she ate the delicious food Charlene wondered what had possessed her to speak as she had done. She’d implied to Travis that she was here for him and only for him, to take care of him and be ‘big sister’ to his ‘big brother’.
    But that couldn’t happen. She was here for Lee. Soon they would talk, she would tell him her news, they would become a couple and her usefulness to Travis would end.
    She searched the room. Lee was sitting with Penny, not far away but half obscured by other tables. She watched him, willing him to see her. Yes, now his glance had turned her way. But no, now it had turned away again.
    ‘Charlene,’ Travis said quietly. ‘Are you all right?’
    ‘I’m fine,’ she said, smiling at him, giving the performance they had agreed. ‘It’s going to be a really wonderful evening.’
    He’d seen what had happened. He understood what she was doing, and his admiration grew.
    As the meal neared its end people rose and drifted from table to table.
    ‘Come on,’ Travis said, taking her hand and drawing her across the floor, calling, ‘Lee, good to see you here. And Penny. You look lovely, darling.’
    Penny received his kiss with delight, glad to give the show’s star her whole attention, leaving Lee no choice but to talk to Charlene.
    ‘Fancy seeing you again,’ he said brightly as she sat beside him.
    ‘You speak as though you never expected to see me again,’ she said. ‘But we weren’t going to leave things there, were we?’
    ‘I didn’t mean to dash off the way I did. Things just happened suddenly.’
    ‘I know. I’m glad for you. But I had to see you again because…after we were so fond of each other…’
    ‘Yes, we were. I remember that well, but…life moves on. Things are so different now that it wouldn’t have been fair for me to try to drag you in, and—’
    ‘But you didn’t drag me. I’m here because I wanted to see you.’
    ‘That’s sweet of you, but I hate to think how much it must be costing you. This town is so expensive.’
    ‘Well, it is a bit, yes, but—’
    Surely he would offer to help her with the cost? She waited for the words.
    ‘Look, Charlene, perhaps—’
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘Perhaps you should go home. You can’t afford it and I shall worry about you.’
    ‘You don’t need to worry about me.’
    ‘Well, I know that really. You were always the strong one, weren’t you? Nothing happens that you can’t cope with.’
    His smile was like a steel mask.
    ‘Lee, I need to talk to you. There’s something—’
    ‘Attention, everybody!’ The cry came from the top table. ‘Can you all return to your seats, please? The best part of the evening is about to start.’
    Charlene sat still, feeling as though dead weights were dragging her down, until Travis’s gentle hands drew her to her feet. He paused to smile back at Penny, saying, ‘I’ll claim that dance later. Keep it for me.’
    ‘Oh, lovely!’ she cried.
    Images flickered through Charlene’s consciousness. Penny, thrilled by attention from Travis, Lee disgruntled because she was focusing on another man.
    At their table, Travis drew out her seat and ushered her into it, as theatrically attentive as a servant. He was doing it for her, she knew. Just as he’d fixed it so that she could talk to Lee, he would fix it again by dancing with Penny. But it would all be for nothing. Lee was embarrassed to see her. He’d made that very plain.
    She should never have come here.
    Charlene laid her hand softly over her stomach,