Chapter Seven: Unexpected Lacy Knickers

At this point, Karen was completely used to waking up in beds she didn't fully recognise in those first groggy moments. That's what hotels did to you it seemed. However even as she lazily wiped away the sleep from her eyes she was aware that this was not a hotel room. For one she knew she wouldn't be able to afford a hotel with sheets that felt this soft or a bed this big. She sat up warily as she remembered what happened to her the previous evening. She touched her face gingerly, wincing as her lip stung. She was single and homeless. Homeless and yet clearly in a home.

Derek.

It was curiosity that dragged her out of the oh so comfortable bed. This was Derek Wills' bedroom. The Dark Lord's personal domain. She'd never really stopped to think about what it would like, because she never thought she would be here. And if she had, it wasn't in this capacity. She was surprised he had truly left her alone. This was Derek Wills. All it took was one moment of temptation and she had told him no. He had listened to her and backed off. She was grateful for that because she knew if he had persisted her resistance to him would have crumbled. There was only so much sexual tension a girl could take. There would be so much more actual tension between them then though, even more so than last time. She needed Derek to be her friend now and she wouldn't do anything to hurt that.

She smiled as she took in the room properly. It was so Derek. The muted grey tones were masculine without being butch. As a director he appreciated things that were beautiful and so clearly wasn't afraid to have silk cushions on his bed. She didn't care that an interior designer most likely did it all for him. She hadn't noticed any of it last night; she'd crashed to sleep straight away. Karen had missed the cardboard stage on the bedside table. She smiled as she recognised the set from 'Mr and Mrs Smith' in it. She realised Derek was a messy thinker. His work had been strewn across the coffee table when she'd arrived and there was pictures of Marylin from magazines haphazardly placed in his bedroom. It was cute; proved Derek Wills although a perfectionist he didn't do it in a perfect way.

She pulled the blinds fully open, throwing her hand over her eyes to protect her from the sudden brightness. As her eyes adjusted she let out a gasp. The views were breathtaking. This was why she loved New York. It was beautiful and no one could ever deny that. Even if this was the smallest, crappiest apartment it would still be worth it if you could see this every morning you woke up. Her parents worried about her not having any money in this business but if they knew that maybe one day she'd be able to afford a place like this they'd be gobsmacked.

She turned around intending to leave in search of Derek when she spied something on the plush chair in the corner. It was her travel bag and next to it was a suitcase she was pretty sure belonged to Dev. She kneeled down and started unzipping the suitcase. It was packed full so when she lifted the lid, there was an explosion of lace and silk. Karen chuckled as she looked through it. The clothes from her wardrobe were folded in, still with the hangers on. On top of them were the contents of one of her drawers. It was the draw where she kept her nicest underwear and lingerie. Trust Derek Wills to make sure she had these. She couldn't deny she was touched, truly. He'd clearly gone to her apartment and got these for her. It was very sweet of him to go out of his way like this for her in the middle of the night. She hoped Dev hadn't been present given their punches flying history. She sighed knowing she'd have to go back at some point and get the rest of her stuff. Not that she'd have anywhere to put it, she thought dryly. She grabbed a particularly lacy thong and grinned.

"Derek," called out Karen as she went down the stairs, twiddling the offending item of underwear around her finger. "It was really nice of you to get some of my things for me but I think you were a little too nice with all my lacy undewe- ahh."

The thong got flung off of her finger as she brought her hand up to her mouth in shock. Derek was stood in his lounge area with Eileen, Tom and Julia who all had varying levels of shock on their faces too. She wished the ground would swallow her up as she knew exactly what they were thinking. She knew her cheeks were turning red and the situation wasn't helped when Derek caught her underwear with a large grin.

"This was a greeting I didn't expect, Cartwright," he smirked, fully investigating his catch.

"I don't think any of us did," said Julia, not unkindly but raising her eyebrows.

"I-er…"

"I forgot we were having a meeting this morning," explained Derek, clearly still amused. "Although this works out well because as our new star you might as well join us."

"Me?"

"You do have the right to be involved, I suppose," agreed Eileen.

"I only have buns and coffee for four though," said Julia apologetically. Karen who was still too embarrassed to really say anything just smiled and shrugged.

"Everyone sit down and let's get this blasted thing over with," said Derek, waving people towards the couches. "Karen, just this once I'll let you have my bun but you're not going anywhere near my coffee."

"Thanks," said Karen with a shy small smile as she sat on the couch, next to Derek. The other three sat on the couch going perpendicular to theirs. She didn't like it. They were looking expectantly at her and Derek expectantly and she knew they wanted answers. She'd be curious too if the roles were reversed. Seeing her coming from his bedroom, wearing his clothes, holding her underwear was suspicious.

"Now, I don't want to be so straightforward-"

"If you're not going to be, I will," interrupted Tom, staring at Derek darkly.

"Are you two sleeping together?" asked Eileen.

"What? No!" spluttered out Karen.

"It's none of your business what Miss Cartwright and I get up to outside of Bombshell," drawled Derek.

"Derek!" exclaimed Karen. "I get up to absolutely nothing with you. And give me those back." She snatched her underwear back off of him and crumpled it in her hand.

"I just want absolutely nothing affecting Bombshell's chances of getting to Broadway," explained Eileen, raising an eyebrow. "It's a valid question with your reputation, Derek."

"Relax," sighed Derek, taking a slurp of his coffee. "She was homeless, I have a bed. A bed which I wasn't in. Just helping out a… a friend." He glanced at Karen as he called her a 'friend'. It made her practically glow."

"Derek Wills and an act of kindness," stated Tom with narrowed eyes. "No, the two just don't go together."

"I wouldn't do anything to jeopardise the chance you have all given me," pleaded Karen. "I needed somewhere to stay for the night and I didn't know where else to go. I'll be out of here by the end of the day, I'm going to find a motel."

"Absolutely not," scoffed Derek. "I'm not having my Marilyn sleeping in a bed that is barely one step up from prison standards. I have the room, stay here."

"He does have a point," said Julia softly. "I'm guessing this has something to do with your ex-fiance. You can't be worrying about things like this because you need all your focus on Marilyn. Staying here will take care of some of your problems."

"And add a whole lot more," muttered Tom.

"I don't want to be a nuisance."

"I'll let you know when you're being one so you can stop whatever it is you're doing," smirked Derek. "Karen, I'll be working, which means I'll probably not even notice you here. It's settled, you'll stay here. Eileen, did you need to discuss business or not?"

"Yes, I have several matters actually; number one of which is Ivy. She's out of rehab now but we need to decide if we can rehire her. Also, we need a new understudy."

"Ivy should be understudy," announced Karen.

"No," said Derek firmly. "I don't trust her to be understudy. She can be in the chorus. We'll hire a new girl to be the understudy and she can sing with Ivy in 'Smash'."

"Ivy has been here since the start!" argued Tom angrily. "She deserves the chance."

"I'm sorry but I have to agree with Derek," said Julia gently, ignoring Tom's annoyance. "I love Ivy, you know I do Tom, but Bombshell won't be able to survive if she blows it like she did at Heaven on Earth. We've all worked too hard to take that chance."

"Well I agree with Tom," said Karen, to the surprise of the group.

"Karen, it's because of you that I don't trust her to be understudy," admitted Derek seriously. "Your first preview she purposely upset you so that you wouldn't be able to perform. Think of how ruthless she will be if it's her chance at Broadway."

She rolled her eyes. "She's not going to hurt me."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm not going to let her."

"We can rehire her on a trial basis," suggested Eileen. "Tom, you can be responsible for her."

"Chorus yes, understudy no," repeated Derek.

"She can be… unkind but she's not going to kill me for the part," reasoned Karen sensibly. "What do you think Tom?"

He frowned and squirmed for a moment before replying. "I think perhaps we should give her a chance in the chorus again and see how it goes. I'll keep an eye on her and I'll ask Sam to do the same."

"Without Ellis I doubt anything too dangerous will occur," said Eileen as though she had a disgusting taste in her mouth. Karen wasn't entirely too sure what Ellis had done but she had never particularly liked him. She was glad he was out of the door.

"For the record, if I had my way he'd have been gone months ago," said Julia, raising her eyebrow at Tom.

He straight away went into a rant which was half defending himself and half apologising. She tuned them out when Eileen entered the argument as well. It was nothing to do with her and so she thought it was best to leave them to it. She took a bite out of the cinnamon and practically moaned. She opened her eyes, after of course closing them due to the intense pleasure in her mouth, to find Derek staring at her. Staring at her lips.

"Stop giving me that face," scolded Karen. "I'm trying to pay attention."

"To a bun?" deadpanned Derek.

"Yes," answered Karen. "So stop giving me that bad face."

"Darlin, I wasn't giving you a bad face, I was giving you a very good face and you became distracted," said Derek with a devilish smirk.

Karen rolled her eyes but only to disguise how flustered he was actually making her. Why did everything he say sound so smooth, so sexual? It was enough to make her practically squeak.

"Eileen," called out Derek, putting an end to the bickering about the conniving assistant. "Can we rearrange for another time? As thrilling as this is, important business isn't really happening."

"Yes, we may as well," said Eileen dismissively. "There's nothing more to discuss until I've secured a theatre anyway. Apart from the schmoozing."

"There's schmoozing to be done?" asked Tom, with a groan.

"Yes, investors party tonight," explained Eileen. "I expect you all to be there tonight, and all to be available."

"Available?" asked Karen, confused.

"Essentially, sweetheart, you're required to flirt your way into their bank accounts. For someone afraid of the sex this is going to be the biggest acting gig of your life."