Miranda's Big Mistake - Jill Mansell [25]
`Have you worked with Sylvester Stallone?' he asked eagerly.
`No.' Miranda looked regretful; it wouldn't do to show off too much. `I auditioned once, but didn't get the part.'
`So what was Pierce Brosnan like to work with?'
`Oh, he was great. You must go and see the film when it comes out. The bit where he rescues me from the river just as the crocodiles are about to drag me down was the scariest thing I've ever had to do-'
Adrian's eyes were practically out on stalks.
`Were they real crocodiles?'
Um…
`Well, no, not real crocodiles.'
He frowned.
`So why was it scary?'
`Because Pierce is such a fantastic actor he made me think they were real.' Miranda shook her head in admiration. `Plus, it was real water. And I can't swim.'
`Ahem,' said Greg, when Bev had disappeared to the loo and Adrian had gone in search of more drinks. `It's Merchant Ivory.'
Miranda turned to look at him. Until now she had been concentrating solely on Adrian, the one in the blue shirt. He was her project and Greg was Bev's.
`Merchant Ivory, not Madhur Jaffrey. Their names are Ismail Merchant,' he explained patiently, `and James Ivo-
ry'
`Oh my God,' said Miranda, `no wonder they kept giving me funny looks on set. How embarrassing.' She clapped a hand to her forehead. `I've always been hopeless with names.'
`And dates.' Leaning closer, Greg whispered in her ear, `Unless he's Superman, I don't know how Pierce Brosnan has managed to spend the last six weeks in California and find the time to make a film at Pinewood Studios with you.'
Miranda went pink.
`Concorde.'
`Bullshit.'
Indignantly she said, `What makes you think he's been in California?'
`I know for a fact that he has.'
`How?'
`He's my uncle.'
`Oh hell. Really?'
`No.' Greg looked amused. `That was bullshit too.' Rumbled, thought Miranda. Damn.
`Did Bev…?'
`Oh no, she did very well, considering. I've heard all
about her record contract and the time she and Jarvis Cocker got lost on the way to the Top of the Pops studios, not to mention the time she went to a party and her trousers split and she ended up having to wear one of Boy George's dresses.'
Miranda's eyes darted around the room. Maybe it was time to leg it, just get out before he had a chance to make an embarrassing scene. But there was no sign of Bev either.
`Adrian's going to be back any second,' she muttered.
`In that case,' Greg seized her clammy fingers in his cool ones, `we'd better hide.'
He led her out on to the balcony, shielded from the room by a heavy curtain. Below them, the wet streets glittered in the reflected lamplight. Much to Miranda's relief, it had stopped raining and the wind had dropped.
`What about Bev?' she protested. `She'll wonder where we are.'
`I've spent the last thirty minutes talking to Bev. I've done my duty,' said Greg. `Now I want to swap.'
Miranda watched a man on the pavement across the street, taking a furtive pee up against a pillar-box. In Belgravia, imagine.
`Is that fair?'
`I think it's fair.' Greg turned her sideways to look at him. `I didn't just get the Top of the Pops and Boy George stories; I've had the "aren't-babies-wonderful" spiel as well.'
Honestly, thought Miranda, how many times have I told her not to do that?
`And I don't happen to think they are,' he went on, his smile crooked. `Anyway, I'd much rather talk to you.' He had dark-blond hair - natural, she noted automatically-and laughing grey eyes and a really nice mouth. Feeling her stomach go a bit squirmy, Miranda realised how attractive he actually was.
`I'm not really an actress,' she said.
`I gathered that.'
`I only said I was because-'
It's okay, I know why you did it.'
`Elizabeth Turnbull's my next-door neighbour. You made her cry.'
`Now I feel terrible. I'm sorry, I know we didn't behave very well. But it was more Adrian than me.'
`He's going to be wondering what happened to you.'
`Adrian can talk babies with Bev. Serve him right for upsetting your neighbour. So who are you really?'
`Nobody.' Miranda was unrepentant. `A trainee hairdresser.'
`That explains the hair.' Reaching