Crystal (16 page)

They didn’t get a chance to talk again for the rest of the day but whenever there was a pause in filming Crystal found herself thinking about Jake again. He was so gorgeous; she was really attracted to him but not just because of his good looks, but because of his personality. And she could see how much everyone else liked and respected him, and how good he was at his job.
It’s just a crush
, she tried to tell herself, not very successfully.

That night she went round to Tahlia’s for dinner. Hadley was away filming so they’d be able to have a proper girly chat. He’d moved in a month ago and Tahlia couldn’t have been happier, telling Crystal that she thought he was
the one.
Crystal was so pleased for her friend, but couldn’t help feeling a tiny pang –
was she ever going to meet anyone?

‘Well, at least we’re over halfway through,’ Tahlia said, examining the blisters on her elegant feet, as they flopped on to the sofa drinking wine.

‘Hmm,’ Crystal answered, suddenly realising that after Friday she might never see Jake again.

‘So what do you think of Jake? He’s very sexy, isn’t he?’

‘Hmm,’ Crystal said again, trying to be noncommittal. ‘I suppose so.’

Tahlia laughed. ‘Crystal, I know you think you’re the ice
queen, but, babe, I can tell that you really like him. And I reckon he likes you.’

‘Why do you say that?’ Crystal demanded.

‘I’ve seen the way you look at him when you think no one’s watching and I’ve seen the way he looks at you and the way he talks to you.’

‘He’s hardly talked to me at all,’ Crystal said sulkily.

‘Well, he’s talked to you a hell of a lot more than he’s talked to me and Belle. Why don’t you ask him out for a drink?’

‘God no! I couldn’t; what if he doesn’t like me and says no?’

Tahlia looked surprised. ‘You never used to be afraid to make the first move.’

‘I know, it’s just that it’s been so long since I liked anyone. I’m way out of practice.’

‘So you do like him!’ Tahlia said triumphantly. ‘I knew it.’

‘Yeah, but he’s just split up with his girlfriend and she was a bloody supermodel. I bet he thinks I’m just a spoilt pop princess.’

‘I bet he doesn’t, I bet he really fancies you. I bet he wants to see your tattoo,’ Tahlia teased her.

‘Yeah, right. I’ve got your daughter to thank for that,’ Crystal said, trying to be cool, but inside she felt a flicker of excitement. If Tahlia had noticed him looking at her, then maybe he did fancy her, just a little bit.

By the end of the nineties shoot on Thursday, Crystal was beginning to think there was more than a chance that he was interested. Every time there was a break and she went outside for a cigarette, Jake would come too. His excuse was that he wanted to talk about the filming but they soon moved off that topic and into more personal territory – he asked her about how she’d started in the music business, she asked him about his photography career and there was definite undercurrent of attraction between them that brought a sparkle to Crystal’s eyes and a glow to her face and made her look forward to the next break.

‘So what are you doing after this?’ he asked, leaning against the wall next to her.

‘We’ll be promoting the single and I want to write more songs for the next album,’ she replied, trying to blow the cigarette smoke away from him.

‘So will you be around in London?’

‘Yes, we’ve got interviews in Europe, but we’re mainly here.’ She paused, thinking and hoping
maybe he wants to know what I’m doing because he’s going to ask me out.
But they were interrupted by Gavin telling Jake he had an urgent call.

He sighed. ‘Sorry, I’d better go. I’ll catch up with you later.’
Did he sound reluctant to end the conversation?
Crystal wondered. God, her ability to understand men’s behaviour had completely gone. She felt like a teenager again – uncertain and unsure of herself.

She didn’t get to see him later and she had to go straight from the studios to
Style
magazine’s annual awards night with Belle and Tahlia. Belle spent the night chatting to as many celebrities as she could, while Crystal and Tahlia hung out together. Crystal could never see the point of talking to people just because they were famous. She liked her friends because of their personalities, rather than what they did, but Belle had taken to the celebrity circuit like a
Big Brother
contestant to a tabloid photo shoot and there was no holding her back when there were celebs around.

‘I need to talk to you about Belle,’ Tahlia said suddenly, as they both watched her chatting to a group of WAGs, who all looked identical – with their perfectly toned and carbohydrate-starved bodies, fake-bake tans, long hair extensions, all proudly displaying their outrageously expensive designer bags. Crystal did not get why anyone would want to spend three grand on a bag, which would then be out of date the next year – she’d had to worry about money for too long to want to blow it on handbags.

‘What about?’ Crystal asked

Tahlia shook her head. ‘Not here, next time we’re on our own together.’

Crystal wondered what was worrying Tahlia. She’d been so preoccupied with thinking about Jake that for the first time in months she’d hardly thought about either Max or Belle.

‘So are you going to ask Jake out?’ Tahlia said. ‘You really should’.

‘I don’t know,’ Crystal said coyly. ‘Maybe. Or maybe he’ll ask
me
out.’

For the final day of the shoot they were in the present day and Kate Moss was their chosen style icon. Instead of attempting to look like her – after all, who could look like Kate Moss? – they were dressed in the clothes that she’d made fashion must-haves – skinny jeans, black pumps, blue and white striped T-shirts and heavy gold chain necklaces. Make-up was kept minimal and natural, and Jez gave them all that just-rolled-out-of-bed-because-I’ve-been-shagging-all-night hair.

While Tahlia and Crystal loved the look – the outfit was the kind of thing they’d wear anyway – Belle wasn’t happy. She liked her blonde hair blow dried and ironed totally straight, plus she always wore killer heels. She’d taken Victoria Beckham’s style advice to heart – that the way to seduce a man was to be kitted out in tight jeans and sky-high heels and, while she didn’t always wear jeans, she always wore heels.

‘There must be some high boots I can wear,’ she moaned on to Jessica. Despite Belle’s best efforts Dallas hadn’t sacked her yet.

‘No,’ Jessica said patiently, ‘then you’ll be too tall and you’ll look odd next to Crystal and Tahlia.’

‘But I never wear flat shoes,’ Belle protested. ‘They make my legs look fat.’

‘Come on, Belle, you look great in pumps,’ Crystal put in, wanting the argument to be over so they could get on with filming.

‘No I don’t!’ Belle snapped. ‘And I’m not wearing them!
Jessica, you’re going to have to go out and get us all high boots that we can wear over the jeans.’

Jessica tried to explain that wasn’t the look, but Belle was seriously losing her cool. Crystal and Tahlia looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.
Belle could be such high maintenance
, Crystal thought.

‘Belle, we really haven’t got time for this,’ Crystal started saying.

‘I don’t fucking care. I’m not wearing those pumps and that’s it.’ And to prove her point she picked up the pumps and threw them across the room just as Jake was walking in. One of the shoes hit him just below his eyebrow, the metal buckle nicking his skin.

‘Shit!’ Jake exclaimed. A thin line of blood trickled down his face. ‘What’s going on here?’

‘We’re having a heated debate about shoes,’ Crystal said, hoping to defuse the situation. ‘By the way, your face is bleeding. I’ll get something for it,’ and she scrabbled around on the table for some cotton wool.

‘We’ve got to make a start; we’ve only got the studio ’til three today. There’s another booking straight afterwards,’ Jake went on.

‘Get me the right shoes then,’ Belle snapped. ‘I’m not going to be filmed looking like a fucking heifer!’

Jake looked furious. Crystal approached him cautiously and attempted to wipe away the blood to see the extent of the cut, but he brushed her arm away impatiently. ‘It’s fine, thanks.’ Then, realising he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Belle, he turned to Jessica. ‘How quickly can you get the other shoes?’

‘A couple of hours, I guess.’

‘Okay, just be as quick as you can.’ And he marched back out of the room.

Belle gave a satisfied, cat-that-got-the-cream smile.

‘Aren’t you going to say sorry?’ Crystal demanded, shocked by her thoughtless behaviour.

Belle shrugged. ‘It was his fault for getting in the way and
if I’d been given heels in the first place it wouldn’t have happened.’

Not wanting to stay in the same room as Belle while she was in this mood, Crystal left the dressing room and went outside for a cigarette. Gavin was already having one out there. He saw Crystal and smiled. ‘How’s the shoe diva?’

Crystal shrugged. ‘I know, it’s a pain in the arse, but she won’t budge. I bet Jake’s really pissed off?’

‘He just wants to get on with filming.’

‘Yes, I do.’ Crystal and Gavin turned to see Jake leaning against the door. ‘You know it’s times like this I really wished I smoked, even though I think it’s a foul habit.’

Crystal took a drag of her cigarette and blew a smoke ring in his direction.

‘I agree, but there are worse things, aren’t there?’ she said.

‘Not really,’ Jake said abruptly. ‘My gran died of emphysema and it really wasn’t a pleasant way to die.’

Bloody hell. First AIDS orphans, now this. What had happened to their flirtatious banter?

‘He’s a right barrel of laughs, isn’t he?’ Gavin said, gesturing at his boss.

Jake grimaced. ‘Sorry, it’s just that time is really tight today and I could have done without the delay.’

‘Is your face okay?’ Crystal asked.

‘I think I’ll survive.’

‘Let me see’, and Crystal threw down her cigarette and stood on tiptoes to get a closer look at the cut, trying to avoid staring into Jake’s blue eyes, but very aware that she was standing so close that her breasts were almost touching his chest.

‘What’s the verdict then?’ he asked, seeming amused by her concern.

‘I don’t think it will scar,’ she said, moving away from him.

‘That’s a pity. I could have sued her and retired on the proceeds. I shouldn’t say this, but how the fuck do you put up with her?’

Crystal laughed. ‘She isn’t like that all the time. She’s just got a thing about heels.’

‘Like your thing about wearing black?’ Jake asked.

‘I guess so, but I don’t usually resort to violence to get my own way, and anyway, if you remember, I gave in.’

‘And when you see the result you will thank me for it. By the way, I like the Kate Moss look. It suits you.’

‘Thanks,’ Crystal answered, secretly pleased at the compliment.

Jessica was back within the hour with three pairs of black leather boots and Belle seemed satisfied, even though she moaned when she found out that they weren’t designer.

‘Come off it, Belle, give her a break; she only had an hour to get them,’ Crystal said sharply, hating Belle’s attitude.

‘All right, all right,’ Belle grumbled, zipping up the boots. And finally they could get on set.

As the girls got into position Belle called out, ‘Sorry for the delay. To make up for it I’ve arranged with my fiancé that you can all get in free to his club tonight. And there’ll be drinks on the house for everyone.’ She turned to Tahlia and Crystal. ‘You’ll come won’t you?’

Thinking it would be hard to come up with an excuse not to, Crystal nodded.
Fuck.
She was so thrown by Belle’s invitation that it took her several takes to get her first dance sequence right.
Was she ever going to get Max out of her life?

A FEW HOURS
later she was back at her flat, wondering what to wear. Her mood had been dramatically improved by the news that Max was away on business, so he wouldn’t be at the club. But Jake would. She’d made a point of seeking him and Gavin out after the filming to thank them and to find out when she could see the first cut of the video. Despite Tahlia nagging her, she just wasn’t feeling gutsy enough to ask Jake out for a drink.

‘So are you going tonight, Crystal?’ Gavin had asked.

‘I expect so,’ she’d replied, willing herself not to care if Jake wasn’t going. ‘Are you two?’

‘Definitely,’ Gavin replied. ‘I haven’t been to one of those celeb clubs before.’

Crystal looked at Jake, who nodded and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll drop by.’

Crystal rifled through her wardrobe. She’d been dressing up, and plastered in make-up all week; really she just wanted to chill out in jeans and a vest. Then she thought of Jake’s blue eyes and reconsidered. She reached for her sexy LBD, strapless, with a corset-style top, that gave good cleavage, and slipped on her black velvet Jimmy Choo heels.

She had to steel herself when she arrived at Max’s; she was convinced that as she walked past the security guy he gave her a knowing look. Inside the VIP area Belle was playing the hostess with the mostest, ensuring everyone had champagne, making up for her behaviour earlier. Still, it was
easy to be generous when it was Max’s champagne she was giving out. Crystal scanned the room looking for Jake, but there was no sign of him and she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

‘You look gorgeous, Crystal,’ Tahlia said, her arms wrapped round Hadley.

‘Cheers, Tahlia, so do you. How are you doing, Hadley?’

As Hadley chatted away about his latest TV project, Crystal felt so pleased that Tahlia had found such a sweet guy. He was kind, thoughtful, easy-going and clearly adored Tahlia. He might not have an edge, but, as she had learnt to her cost with Max, having an edge was definitely not always a good thing. She sipped her drink and took another quick look around the room. This time, to her delight, she spotted him deep in conversation with Dallas. Crystal’s heart raced just that little bit faster. He was so sexy! She took another sip, willing him to notice her. Dallas was first to see her and he beckoned her over.