Crystal (17 page)

‘Crystal!’ he exclaimed, double-kissing her cheeks, ‘I’ve been hearing from Jake how well the filming has gone. Sounds like you three really pulled it off, despite a few hiccups.’

‘Or a pair of pumps, to be precise,’ Jake put in, touching his eyebrow.

‘Belle can be a bit of a Park Avenue Princess. Fortunately for her she’s pretty and successful enough to get away with it. Anyway, I’ve got business to see to. We’ll speak next week, Crystal. Thanks again, Jake.’ And with that Dallas swept off through the partygoers.

‘Must be nice being Dallas. He never seems to have a second’s doubt about anything. He always seems so sure,’ Jake said.

‘Yeah, he thinks doubts are for losers. Still,’ Crystal added not wanting to be disloyal, ‘I’m glad he’s our manager.’

Jake smiled. ‘I just hope Gavin’s that generous about me.’

‘He told us you were, and I quote, “the best in the
business”,’ Crystal said, pleased that Jake seemed in no hurry to talk to anyone else.

He laughed. ‘That’s bullshit, but he’ll get his bribe later. Can I get you another drink? Champagne again?’

Crystal nodded and handed him her glass. She watched him weave his way to the bar. At six foot three he was easily the tallest man there.
And definitely the sexiest.
She stayed where she was, hoping no one would come and disturb their conversation.

When he returned with their drinks he suggested they find somewhere to sit.
Better and better
, thought Crystal. They were quiet for a few minutes while they sipped their drinks. Tahlia and Hadley wandered by still with their arms round each other and, seeing them, Jake said, ‘Is
your
boyfriend busy tonight then, Crystal?’

If he was asking that, surely he must be slightly interested.

‘I’m single at the moment, actually,’ Crystal replied, trying to sound casual. ‘How about your girlfriend?’ She wanted to double-check that he really wasn’t with Eve any more. She actually felt herself blush and hoped it was dark enough for Jake not to have noticed. She didn’t think she was the blushing type, but Jake seemed to be having quite an effect on her.

‘I’m single too.’ He was looking right at her and Crystal gazed back at him.
This was very promising.

They spent the next couple of hours locked in conversation. He wanted to know all about her and about the group. As he hadn’t watched
Band Ambition
he didn’t know much about them until Dallas had booked him for the video.

‘To be honest, Crystal, I’m more of a Red Hot Chili Peppers kind of guy, but I can see the attraction of your kind of music.’

‘God, that sounds so patronising!’ Crystal answered. ‘You’re not our target audience anyway, you’re way too old!’

‘Just how old do you think I am?’ Jake demanded.

‘Twenty-nine,’ Crystal answered confidently, she knew because she’d Googled him.

‘Very good, and you’re . . .’ he paused, moving closer to consider her, so close that Crystal got a delicious hit of his aftershave. ‘I can’t see any lines, but then you could have been Botoxed.’

Crystal laughed, and he went on, ‘Ah, but I can see some now so you obviously haven’t yet. I reckon that you’re twenty.’

‘Twenty-two,’ Crystal corrected him.

‘A baby then,’ he replied.

‘No, I’m all grown up and used to looking after myself,’ Crystal said cheekily.

They were sitting so close on the sofa that their bodies were almost touching, their heads close together so that they could hear each other speak over the music, and Crystal realised that she wanted him, really wanted him. She thought, after what had happened with Max, that she was immune from finding men attractive, but the way she felt about Jake, the way she longed to kiss him, the way she longed to touch him, told her she most definitely wasn’t. And surely she wasn’t imagining it? Jake liked her too.

They’d finished their drinks and Crystal offered to get some more.

‘There’s a great bar near my place in Notting Hill; it’s a bit quieter than here. If you like we could go there?’ Jake said.

‘Sure, I’ll just say goodbye to the others,’ Crystal replied, feeling a sweet rush of excitement.

But the change of scene seemed to break the intimacy between them and yet again in the taxi Jake was silent, just staring out of the window. Crystal felt awkward and almost said that she would go home. He was still quiet in the bar and when he returned with their drinks Crystal felt compelled to say something.

‘Look, if you’ve changed your mind about having a drink, it’s okay. I don’t mind calling it a night; we’ve both had a really long week.’

Jake looked surprised. ‘God, have I given that impression?
I didn’t mean to. I really want you to stay. I’m just a bit out of practice at this kind of thing.’

‘Okay, then,’ Crystal said softly. ‘I’ll stay.’

They stayed in the bar for the next two hours. Crystal loved being with Jake. She felt as if she’d been living in the shade for the last six months and now the sun had finally come out and she could be herself again – the Crystal who could flirt and laugh, the Crystal who enjoyed being desirable, the Crystal who men found sexy. And Jake was making it clear that he found her sexy too, from the way he couldn’t take his eyes off her, and sat so close to her. At three, the bar finally closed and Jake said he’d walk her home. As they wandered down the elegant, tree-lined streets towards her flat, Crystal hoped that this was the start of something. She shivered in the cool night air in her party dress.

‘Are you cold?’ Jake asked and when she nodded, he put his arm round her, and pulled her close, causing more butterflies. It felt so good that she wanted their stroll to go on and on, but it wasn’t long before they reached her flat.

‘This is me,’ she said as they drew parallel to a white Georgian mansion that had been converted into flats. Crystal’s was on the ground floor.

‘Good night then, Crystal,’ he said, dipping his head to kiss her lightly on the lips. Was that it? Crystal thought, disappointed at such an innocent kiss. But then it wasn’t just a light kiss, it became a deep, hard, sexy kiss that left Crystal wanting so much more . . . She was about to ask if he wanted to come in when Jake pulled away. ‘I’ll call you tomorrow,’ he said softly.

Inside her flat she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror above the fireplace. Her cheeks were flushed, and the sparkle was back in her eyes, her lips looked red and full from their passionate kiss.
Wow
, she thought,
I’m in lust.

She woke up with a delicious feeling of anticipation. It was such a novelty after the cocktail of anxiety and dread which had been with her since Ibiza.
Jake was going to call her!
She
reached for her watch. It was eleven. She took a shower, taking the phone into the bathroom with her; no call. She made herself breakfast with her mobile right next to her on the table, but still there was no call. At midday she had an appointment with Bradley, her personal trainer, which she half thought about cancelling in case Jake called, but she knew that was pathetic and she forced herself to go along to the gym.

Crystal did not like exercise, which was why she had Bradley to motivate her. Unfortunately she was not one of those women who could do zero exercise, eat what they liked and stay in shape. She doubted that such women actually existed and weren’t just lying about what they ate, pretending to stuff themselves but in reality living off rice cakes, fags and water. Crystal looked good – had a flat stomach, toned arms, legs and a pert bum – because she worked hard to get her body into shape. And she had to work out because she liked food too much to starve herself to keep slim. Bradley was great because he always knew exactly how far to push her and he didn’t let her slack. Today was no exception; he had her doing two hundred sit-ups on the exercise ball, thirty minutes on the treadmill and then half an hour using the weights. Every time she changed activity she sneaked a look at her mobile, but there were no calls.

‘Expecting a call, Crystal?’ Bradley asked, raising his eyebrow as she checked her phone for what must have been the tenth time.

Mobiles were banned from the gym but Crystal had smuggled hers in under her towel.

She sighed. ‘It’s on silent, I promise, Bradley, and yes I thought he would have rung by now.’ It was half one.

Bradley smiled. ‘He’ll ring, don’t worry. Go and have a swim and a steam and I bet he’ll call.’

Crystal did what he suggested, but there was still no message from Jake when she checked. Disappointment was starting to creep in.
Why hadn’t he called? Didn’t he like her? Maybe she’d misread the signs, but how could she – that kiss had been
so damn good. God, it was frustrating!
The pre-Max Crystal would probably have called him herself by now. The post-Max Crystal didn’t have the confidence. Outside the gym she hailed a taxi. She had a hair appointment booked with Jez at the trendy Islington salon that he co-owned with his ex – luckily the split had been amicable.

‘He’s obviously not interested,’ she moaned as Jez trimmed her hair. She knew she could trust Jez 100 per cent; she was always teasing him that he was like her shrink and got to hear all her secrets – well, nearly all, she had never told him about Max.

Jez tried to cheer her up. ‘Honey, I’m sure he is. What man could be immune to you, unless he was gay? He’s probably tied up at work. You saw how frantic it was on set.’

‘Oh come on, he could have found the time if he wanted to,’ Crystal said sulkily, taking a sip of white wine. She knew she should have been sticking to water after her workout but was feeling too despondent to care about the calories.

Jez looked at his watch. ‘It’s only four o’clock, perhaps he meant he would call you in the evening, when he had more time to chat.’

Crystal sighed. ‘Maybe. It’s just he’s the first man I’ve felt anything for in ages.’

‘Tell us about it!’ Jez replied. ‘Danni and I were starting to think that you had gone over to the planet Lesbos.’

‘God no, women are far too high maintenance and so much harder to please in bed,’ Crystal retorted. ‘And I do like a nice bit of cock.’

‘Couldn’t agree with you more,’ Jez answered, blatantly checking out an attractive male passer-by.

That night she and Tahlia had a film premiere to go to. Belle had flown out to see Max in Ibiza so she couldn’t make it, though as a rule she never missed them, as she enjoyed flaunting her new-found celebrity far too much. Usually Crystal would have enjoyed getting dressed up in some fabulous designer dress – now that the band had made it,
designers had been queuing up to lend the girls their clothes. And if she was honest she enjoyed the attention as well – working the red carpet posing for the paps, signing autographs for fans; who wouldn’t? Especially as this time a year ago she was working her arse off being paid a pittance in a bar. But tonight her heart wasn’t in it. All she could think about throughout the film and after party was Jake and why he hadn’t phoned. Maybe he hadn’t really split up with Eve. Maybe they’d got back together.

‘Come on, Crystal!’ Tahlia exclaimed when Crystal confided how she felt. ‘He wouldn’t have kissed you like that if he was planning to get back with his ex.’

‘He might have,’ Crystal replied gloomily, recalling how easy Max had found it to sleep with two women. She took another sip of her cocktail but the alcohol just made her feel even more depressed.

Her mood wasn’t helped when they bumped into the four members of @ttitude
.
Since Lost Angels had won
Band Ambition
, the feud between the two groups had intensified. Tahlia and Crystal had tried to stay well out of the slanging match but Belle continued to match @ttitude insult for insult. @ttitude’s album had flopped and they had been dropped by their record company. Now they spent their time shagging any Z-list celebs that they could get close to before selling their stories. They pretended that another record deal was in the pipeline and that they were going to break into movies. Belle’s latest comment about this news had been that the only movies they were likely to break into were porno ones. And now Kimmi, Faith, Paige and Alicia were standing in front of them blocking their way.

‘Well, look who it isn’t, Crystal Meth and Tahlia Titsout,’ sneered Kimmi, the lead singer. Kimmi regularly appeared in
heat
magazine’s ‘What were you thinking?’. She was infamous for her revealing outfits – if she wore jeans they were so low cut that they barely covered her backside and at the front revealed that she was no stranger to waxing; tops were always low cut giving everyone an eyeful. And the only
make-up rules she followed were slap it on thick. Her waist-length, bleached hair always looked in need of a good wash – it gave hair extensions a bad name – and one of her many exes had revealed how they fell out in clumps in bed, a detail that Crystal could have done without knowing. Tonight was no exception and Kimmi seemed to have pulled out all the stops. She was wearing an eye-wateringly tight black-leather bustier that pushed her tits up to her chin with skintight silver trousers which gave her a shocking camel toe.

‘Excuse me,’ Crystal said. ‘Can we get past?’

‘Not before we’ve had a little word,’ slurred Faith. She’d obviously been hitting the free bar. Faith unfortunately seemed to take her fashion tips from Kimmi and was wearing a purple lace mini dress, with nothing but a thong on underneath, teamed with purple thigh-length boots. Her dyed auburn hair was pulled back into a Croydon face-lift.

Crystal and Tahlia turned to go the other way but Paige and Alicia, bleached-blonde clones in denim hot pants and bikini tops, quickly moved and stood in front of them. They looked like porn stars and had obviously been chosen for their looks and not their singing abilities.

Crystal could see the other guests hovering in anticipation to see what was going to happen next.
God it was so school playground.

‘Where’s the blonde slag then?’ hissed Kimmi.

‘You’re out of order; just move out of the way. We haven’t got a problem with you,’ Tahlia replied.

‘Well, we’ve got a problem with you, the way you keep badmouthing us, you talentless bitches,’ Kimmi again. ‘This time next year everyone will have forgotten about you – there’ll be some other shit reality band in your place.’