Crystal (10 page)

‘Hang on a minute, Dallas; it’s not that bad, surely?’ Crystal asked with a sinking feeling that it probably was that bad.

‘It’s the hypocrisy thing. If she’d been straight from the start, okay it wouldn’t have looked so great but we could have handled it, gone for the sympathy vote, but this coming right before the final is a fucking disaster. You’re screwed. Sadie fucking Park will be on cloud fucking nine.’

‘Well, there must be something we can do?’ Crystal said, starting to feel more desperate.

‘Tahlia will have to talk to the press, do some TV interviews, maybe try and drum up some sympathy.’ Dallas did not sound hopeful and Crystal didn’t feel hopeful either. Tahlia was so shy and got so nervous when she was interviewed, she was hardly going to do herself any favours.

‘Can I have a think about this, Dallas, and call you back?’ Crystal asked.

‘I’m sorry Crystal. I really thought you were in with a chance. You’d better prepare your loser faces for Saturday,’ Dallas said, ending the call.

Crystal took a deep breath. Somehow she had to salvage something out of the situation. She refused to believe that this was it.

‘What did he say?’ Tahlia asked anxiously.

Not wanting to reveal how pessimistic Dallas had been, Crystal put a gloss on the conversation she’d just had. ‘We’re
going to have to talk to the press about this, Tahlia, and do some TV interviews.’ As she told her friend the news, she saw her shudder then try to pull herself together.

‘Okay, I’d better tell you everything.’ She looked at Rosie, who nodded her agreement.

Haltingly and tearfully, Tahlia told Crystal the story of how she became a teenage mum. She’d only been going out with her boyfriend for three months when she fell pregnant. At first Tahlia tried to pretend the pregnancy wasn’t happening, she didn’t want to let her mum down, who was working all hours to pay for her stage-school fees. But it wasn’t long before Rosie found out. They both decided that she should keep the baby. Tahlia had just been diagnosed with polycystic ovaries, which could make it harder to conceive naturally and this baby might well be the only one she could have. They didn’t tell anyone about the pregnancy except the head teacher, who was sympathetic and agreed to explain Tahlia’s absence from school as a bad dose of glandular fever. The boyfriend was not at all sympathetic; as soon as Tahlia told him he made a rapid exit out of her life. He had never met Leticia – Tahlia hadn’t seen or heard from him since she told him about the pregnancy. All she’d heard was that he’d been in and out of prison on drug charges. Rosie pretended the baby was hers so Tahlia could pursue her dream of becoming a singer.

‘You have a beautiful daughter,’ Crystal told Tahlia when she’d finished her story. With tears in her eyes she hugged her friend. She felt deeply moved hearing how Tahlia had kept her secret for so long and how hard it must have been for her. She suddenly thought of her own secret, of the lies she was telling and the lie she was living, and felt such a hypocrite. ‘We’ll be all right; you haven’t ruined anything, I promise,’ Crystal reassured Tahlia. ‘I just wish you’d told me and then I could have helped you. It must have been so hard pretending.’

‘When we became friends there were so many times when I wanted to tell you, Crystal, but I didn’t want it to make a
difference to our friendship,’ Tahlia said. ‘It sounds stupid, I know, but I was so used to the lie by then.’

‘Tahlia, you’re my best friend and nothing will ever change that. I’ll always be here for you,’ Crystal said warmly. ‘Now, I’d better call Belle, and get her to come over so we can work out what to say to the press tomorrow.’

Two hours later they were all feeling calmer, even though the phone had been ringing non-stop with journalists wanting the juicy details. In the end Crystal had disconnected it. Belle had turned up and they’d discussed their strategy and decided how they would tell the story. Crystal had called Dallas and told him that they had to be interviewed as a group by the press and on TV.

When Tahlia had gone to have a bath, Belle turned to Rosie. ‘I still don’t understand why Tahlia couldn’t tell people that Leticia was hers.’

Rosie sighed. ‘You know what Tahlia is like. She’s fragile. She worries about what people might think of her. I didn’t think she’d cope with everyone knowing. And the father—’ mentioning him caused her to grimace, ‘was a right little shit and apparently still is.’ Rosie looked exhausted.

‘I’ll order us a takeaway,’ Crystal said.

Rosie tried to protest that she was perfectly capable of cooking dinner, but Crystal insisted. While Rosie went to make Leticia her tea, refusing Crystal’s offers of help, the two girls sat on the sofa, quietly discussing what had happened. Crystal said that their role was to stand by Tahlia and support her, to stress that she hadn’t done anything wrong, that she had a beautiful daughter. Who could criticise her for that?

‘I can’t help wishing she’d told us,’ Belle finally said. ‘It would be so crap to lose because of Tahlia being a teenage mum. We’ve all worked so hard.’ She paused, adding thoughtfully, ‘I suppose you and I could give it a go together if the shit really hits the fan – see if Dallas would sign us on our own.’

Crystal couldn’t believe Belle’s lack of concern for Tahlia,
but it was fairly typical of Belle. She had a habit of only thinking about herself. And how convenient that she’d forgotten that her little flirtation with Dallas had nearly cost them their place in the competition originally.

‘We’re not going to lose because of Tahlia! For fucksake don’t let her hear you saying things like that, she feels bad enough as it is,’ Crystal hissed.

Belle looked sulky, then shrugged, ‘Okay, whatever.’

There was a pause before Crystal asked the question that had been haunting her all weekend: ‘So how was your night with Max?’ She tried to sound as casual as possible.

Belle smiled. ‘Fantastic. He took me to Nobu for dinner which was wicked – I’ve been wanting to go there for ages. Then we went back to his. Absence definitely improves performance!’ Belle smiled cheekily. Crystal forced herself to smile back, but she felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach.
Why did he have to sleep with Belle? Surely he could have made an excuse?

To hide the look of hurt Crystal grabbed the phone book and started flipping through it. ‘Indian or pizza?’ she asked, her appetite completely gone.

‘Nothing, thanks, I’m going to head off to Mum and Dad’s. You know I never eat that kind of food. I don’t want to get fat.’ She rubbed her flat brown stomach exposed by her low-riding jeans and smiled, knowing that she was in top shape, and Crystal found herself staring at the diamond stud in Belle’s naval. It was identical to the one Max had given her.
Surely he hadn’t given them both the same present, had he?
It was an unsettling thought but she didn’t feel up to asking Belle about it.

After supper Crystal decided to go back to the hotel. Tahlia had finally calmed down and was curled up in bed with Leticia. The girls should have been rehearsing the next day but instead they were going to be in wall-to-wall interviews and wouldn’t be able to get into the studio until the evening. Crystal told herself that she would get an early night, in
preparation for what was going to be a very long day. But once she got back into her hotel room all she could think about was Max. She hated the fact that he’d slept with Belle again; she was tormented by jealousy and doubt. Who did he really want – Belle or her? Or was he only interested in having an affair? He’d seemed so into her and she’d believed him when he said he wanted her. She checked her phone; there was a text from him asking her to come to his flat.

In spite of everything she was still tempted, but somehow she found the willpower to text back no, and couldn’t help adding,
heard you had a good night with Belle, what’s going on?
She sent the message then threw her phone on the bed in frustration. God, she needed a cigarette. She grabbed her bag and went down to the bar where she bought a pack and ordered herself a double vodka. The cigarette hit the spot, but the alcohol increased her longing for Max. She wanted him so much. She had never felt like this about anyone before. What the hell was she going to do?

Half an hour and three cigarettes later she went back upstairs. She checked her phone. No messages. She wandered aimlessly round the room, pulling out clothes from her wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear for the morning. She should have been thinking about the interviews, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Wondering who it could be at this time, she went over and opened it. There, leaning against the doorframe, and looking more wickedly handsome than ever was Max.

‘What are you doing here?’ she exclaimed, terrified that someone would see him.

He walked in, closing the door behind him. ‘Why do you think, Crystal? I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you.’

Crystal shook her head in disbelief and took a step backwards. Max walked towards her.

‘I know you’ve missed me too, babe.’

‘Oh yeah, you missed me so much that you spent last night shagging Belle,’ Crystal said angrily.

He shrugged. ‘What else could I do? She’d have thought something was going on if I hadn’t. It was a mercy fuck really. I didn’t want to.’

‘Couldn’t you have thought of an excuse?’ Crystal demanded.

‘What? Like I had a headache? Get real, Crystal, it didn’t mean anything and I didn’t want her getting wound up before the final. Sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture and keeping Belle happy at this moment in time is important – I want you girls to win.’

Crystal wasn’t convinced. Max seemed too able to switch off his emotions – she couldn’t imagine shagging someone just to stop them suspecting something, when she was in love with someone else. Max didn’t seem to be taking her feelings seriously. She moved further away from him. As if sensing her mood, Max changed tactics and lost the arrogant edge to his voice. Sounding heartfelt and sincere he said, ‘I’m really sorry, Crystal; I feel like a complete shit, I would never do anything to hurt you. Can’t we just forget Belle? You’re the one I want.’ He paused for a beat and said, ‘I love you.’

She stood frozen to the spot.
He loved her?
Now Max crossed the room and pulled her into his arms. ‘It’s true, babe, I love you,’ he murmured and leaned down to kiss her.
He loved her? That changed everything, didn’t it?
She found herself putting her arms round him and kissing him back. Then he was pulling her on to the bed next to him, running his hands over her body. And instead of saying no, she was whispering, ‘I’m yours, fuck me’, hopelessly lost in her desire for him.

It was back to reality with a vengeance the next day. By four o’clock the girls had been interviewed by three tabloids and two celebrity mags and now it was Hadley’s turn for the TV show. For once, Crystal was glad of his upbeat, boyish attitude – the journalists from the tabloids had all done their best to trip the girls up, make them say something sensational or bitch about each other. They had stuck to their story and
to Crystal’s surprise Tahlia had been brilliant. Instead of her usual nervousness, she had spoken confidently. Yes, she regretted having lied about the situation, but now it was out in the open she was relieved. She loved her daughter and she had nothing to be ashamed of.

‘And what about you two,’ Hadley turned to Crystal and Belle. Crystal spoke first. ‘It’s a shame that the truth had to come out this way, by someone selling a story to make money, but we’re happy for Tahlia. Now she can be a mum and she doesn’t have to pretend any more.’

‘Yeah, we’re pleased for Tahlia. Not that we’re saying that it’s a good idea to have a baby when you’re fifteen,’ Belle put in.

Trust Belle to put in a negative comment. She was so paranoid about her own image.
Swiftly Crystal added, ‘But she’s a fantastic mum and Leticia is a great kid.’

Dallas had been sitting in on all their interviews, looking like the Grim Reaper, but over the course of the morning he was starting to look a little less foreboding and Crystal allowed herself to feel ever so slightly optimistic. Finally, at five, they were in the studio, rehearsing their two songs for the final – ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’ and ‘Independent Women’. They were exhausted, but Dallas insisted they do at least three hours. Crystal took the fact that he was working them so hard as a good sign. It meant that he hadn’t written them off yet and, even though she was knackered, she tried to put her all into the songs.

As Crystal curled up in bed that night, pressing her face against the pillow, she could still smell Max’s Dolce & Gabbana aftershave on the pillow and she felt full of guilt, even though Max had repeated his promise that as soon as the competition was over he would finish with Belle.
Just one more week
, she told herself,
then we can be together.
She was determined not to contact Max, but wasn’t strong enough to switch her phone off just in case he might call. When it rang at midnight she immediately reached for it.

‘Hi, gorgeous, just wanted to say goodnight,’ came Max’s
husky voice. ’I guess it’s going to be difficult to see you this week. I don’t know if I can wait till next week but I suppose I’ll have to. Love you, babe.’

There were so many things Crystal wanted to say. Instead she simply replied, ‘Love you too.’

‘
LOST ANGELS, YOU
were absolutely fantastic! I love you!’ Sadie exclaimed after their second performance in the final. Crystal felt a rush of excitement. If Sadie was behind them it could make all the difference. ‘And, Tahlia, I’ve seen the pictures of your daughter and she’s beautiful!’ Sadie actually had tears in her eyes. She’d been unable to have children of her own and had two adopted daughters. Instead of ending their hopes it looked like Tahlia’s revelation might swing it for them.

Charlie was next and she simply backed up Sadie – although slightly less emotionally – and then it was Dallas.

‘Girls, that was without a shadow of a doubt your best performance of the competition. You deserve to win. You should win!’