Starstruck (19 page)

‘Oh,’
he says, clearly disappointed.

‘What’s
up?’ I ask.

‘I’m
actually on the train at the moment, I’ll be in Leeds in about ten minutes. I
thought I’d surprise you. I should have checked that you were free, I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t
apologise,’ I insist, feeling like the bad guy suddenly. ‘I’ll text you
directions to the office, come straight over.’

‘Are
you sure? I don’t want to ruin your plans.’

‘You
won’t be, I’d really like to see you,’ I tell him honestly.

Panic
stations! I jump out of my chair and fly towards my office door, slamming my
breaks on just in time to stop myself putting my face through the glass.

‘Emily,’
I try to call her name calmly, but that child-at-Christmas squeak in my voice
is a little obvious. ‘Do you have a moment?’

‘Come
on then, who’s put that smile on your face?’ she asks, and I feel my grin
widen.

‘Charles,’
I tell her as calmly as possible. ‘He’ll be here any minute.’

‘What?
Here?
Here
here?’

‘Yep,
he just called. He wanted to surprise me.’

‘Oh
my God, Nicole, that’s great. He must really like you. You give this man a
proper chance, none of your usual bullshit about him not being a musician.’

I
laugh, mainly because she’s being serious.

‘What
am I going to do about tonight? The gig is sold out and I can’t really call
Luke and ask him to put another bloke on the guestlist, can I? But I don’t want
to miss the show...’

‘You
should go, take Charles, you want Luke to see you with another guy it’ll sort
out your friendship, set some boundaries.’

‘Or
you could take Vicky,’ I suggest, but the look on her face says no.

‘Give
Charles my ticket, it’s fine.’

I’m
not sure exactly how fine it really is but I kiss her on the cheek and tell her
what a good friend she is.

‘Ah
Nicole, what if life isn’t about sleeping with rockstars? Maybe life is about
being with a nice guy, a nice guy who travels two hundred miles just to
surprise you.’
I smile. Perhaps she’s right.

‘It’s
so romantic,’ Emily says. ‘I can’t wait to meet him.’

Jake
knocks on the door.

‘Nicole,
there’s a bloke here for you.’

This
is it. I stand up, adjust my dress (it must have worked its way up around my
waist when I was playing with my chair) and head towards the door. Emily
follows close behind me.

There
he is, and even hotter than I remember, standing there in his suit. He must
have come straight from work. He greets me with a kiss on the cheek and I
introduce him to everyone. The look on Vicky’s face has made my life, she’s
totally jealous and she can’t even hide it. Despite it being my choice not to
date the conventional way, she’s always teasing me, saying I can’t get a man.
Usually I’m not this smug, but I just can’t help it when it comes to Vicky.

‘I
actually came to show you this,’ he tells me, rummaging around in his bag. He
pulls out the issue of Bacci magazine with Dylan’s wedding feature on the
cover. It doesn’t hit the shops until Monday.

‘Oh
my God,’ I exclaim, carefully taking the magazine from him and delicately
flicking through the pages. The photographs are amazing and I’m in quite a few
of them which delights me.

‘Wow,
look, there you are again,’ Emily points out.

Vicky
leans over. ‘You can hardly tell it’s her on that one, it’s so small.’

‘Give
it a rest, Vic,’ I hear a male voice say. I have to look to double check that
it is actually Jake who said this, because he’s usually so laid back and never
confronts anyone. Vicky folds her arms in a strop and sits back at her desk
while the rest of us chat about the wedding.

‘Well
I’d better make a move, you’ve got a gig to get to,’ Charles eventually says.

‘I
have a plus one, you’re welcome to come with me.’

‘Are
you sure?’ he asks with a huge smile on his face.

‘Of
course. I just need to pop home and change.’

I
head back into my office and shut my computer down. I’m so nervous I feel sick,
but I just can’t stop smiling. I certainly don’t feel bored or lonely now.

‘Nice
place,’ Charles says as we walk through the door of my flat.

I
was so bored last night I actually tidied up the place a bit - I’m glad I did.

‘Can
I get you anything?’ I ask.

‘I’m
fine, thank you.’

‘Well
make yourself at home,’ I gesture towards the sofa. ‘I’ll just get changed.’

He
sits down and I rush into my bedroom. I can’t actually believe he’s here. He’s
travelled all this way just to see me, I can’t get my head around it.

I
fling open my wardrobes and gaze across everything I own. I feel under extra
pressure to look amazing now. My original plan was to show Luke what he’s
missing, but now I really need to dress to impress. Grabbing my black boots, I
decide to work my way up. Black tights next, and then an ACDC t-shirt that’s
just about long enough to pass off as a dress. I finish the look with my biker
jacket, countless accessories and a ton of black eye makeup and red lipstick. I
backcomb my hair a little and I’m good to go – not only has this got to be a
new record, but for once I don’t think I am going to be late.

Grabbing
my phone and my bag, I stroll causally into the living room.

‘Wow.
You look great,’ Charles tells me.

‘So
do you.’

While
I was getting ready Charles has changed too. He’s wearing trendy looking jeans
and a tight fitting t-shirt. He grabs a jacket not too dissimilar to mine. His
and hers jackets.

‘Shall
we go then?’ he smiles.

I
gesture towards the door, but instead of passing me Charles takes hold of my
hand.

‘Let’s
go.’

We’re
standing outside the venue as the security guy is looking down the list for my
name.

Charles
is still holding my hand – he hasn’t let it go since we left the flat, not for
a second. We chatted all the way here; it’s nice when you meet someone who the
conversation just flows with.

‘Nicole
Wilde, plus one. In you go,’ the burly guard says as his ticks my name off the
list. We finally stop holding hands when it’s time to get them stamped on the
way in and I’m way too nervous to initiate contact again so we walk in side by
side.

It’s
really busy here but we eyeball a space at the bar and push our way through. As
Charles orders our drinks I scan the room for familiar faces, although I fail
to spot anyone.

‘A
Screwdriver for the lady,’ Charles says, handing me my drink. For some reason
it makes me cringe a little.

Charles
is just sipping his pint when his phone starts ringing.

‘I
have to take this, I’m really sorry. Back in a moment,’ he says, kissing me on
the cheek and disappearing outside.

I
scan the room again. I know TFTR are a bit too famous to hang around in the
venue beforehand now, but this is my turf, I usually see someone I know here.

I’m
suddenly feeling really nervous. Maybe it was a bad idea brining Charles here.
Should I really be trying to make Luke jealous? I don’t want to piss him off by
rubbing his nose it in.

I
throw my drink back and lean over the bar to get the barman’s attention.

‘Another
please,’ I say when he finally makes his way over to me. ‘And with a straw,
please.’

As
I sip my drink I feel a familiar pair of hands on my hips. I’d know that pervy
yet sweet touch anywhere. I put down my drink, turn around and there is Luke.

‘Hello
gorgeous,’ he says, taking hold of my hands and kissing me on both cheeks. He
keeps hold of my hands and looks into my eyes and I feel all tingly and my
heart is pounding in my chest – a feeling I only ever experience around him.

He
gestures towards the pint on the bar behind me. ‘Well I know that isn’t yours
because you hate beer,’ he laughs.

I’ve
gone from feeling love sick to actually sick. I pray that Charles doesn’t come
back in and I consider making an excuse to leave. Maybe Emily is right, maybe
Luke does know how to play me, but it’s the look in his eyes. He looks so
pleased to see me and I feel like a huge bitch. I open my mouth, hoping a
believable reason to leave will come out, but I am stopped in my tracks by the
return of Charles. Oh shit.

‘Hey,’
Charles says bluntly. I notice him give Luke a funny look as he puts his arm
around me, tearing my hands from Luke’s. I feel absolutely terrible, I need to
remember to tell Emily what a terrible idea this was. She is usually spot on
with her advice.

‘Well,
I’d better go set up,’ Luke tells us, but I know he’s lying. I hate myself for
making him feel so uncomfortable. I almost hate Charles for making things even
worse, although I guess this is my fault. I just want to go back to being
friends, but instead I think we’re going to fall out. Luke doesn’t wait for a
reply, he just walks away.

‘Who
was that then?’ Charles asks, with a slightly aggressive tone to his voice.

I
hesitate for five seconds. Five seconds too long.

‘That’s
Luke, he’s the drummer in the band we’re here to see.’

‘I
know that, Nicole. I work in music PR,’ he says bitterly. ‘He was holding your
hands.’

‘Yeah,
we’re old friends,’ I reply defensively.

‘Old
friends, like you and Dylan?’

I
know exactly what he’s getting at.

‘I
have to go to the bathroom, back in a bit.’

I
walk off towards the toilets. I know exactly where that conversation was going
and I really don’t need it right now. I feel terrible, I don’t need some guy I
hardly know giving me a hard time.

Barging
my way through the doors, I make my way down the lonely corridor towards the
toilets. I have an overwhelming urge to cry (don’t I always these days?), but I
don’t - if only because I’m aware of just how much eye makeup I’m wearing. As I
get to the end of the corridor, the men’s door opens and out walks Luke.

‘Hey,’
I blurt out, over enthusiastically.

‘Hey.
So who’s that dick?’ he asks, and I laugh.

‘That’s
Charles.’

‘Right.
You seeing him then?’

This
is all so high school.

‘Sort
of,’ I don’t know if I’m “seeing him” or not.

‘Right.’

This
is weird. He looks genuinely upset, I’d go as far as to say heartbroken if I
didn’t know him so well.

‘Well
I hope he realises what a fucking lucky guy he is.’

‘I
don’t get you Luke,’ I tell him, unable to handle any more game playing. ‘You
keep making these comments that seem so sweet, and then acting like a bit of an
arsehole. Just put me straight, please.’

‘What
do you want me to say, Nicole?’

‘Why
is he a lucky guy?’ I ask, hoping for an honest answer.

He
stares at me for a moment, thinking over my question.

‘Because...’
his expression changes from sincere to smug. ‘I was hoping you could bunk up
with me tonight. But I guess he’s got your company instead.’ He winks at me
before walking away.

Unbelievable.
Just when I think I am seeing a softer side to that man, he turns around and
shows me that he only has a hard side - literally.

Inside
the toilets I stare at myself in the mirror, willing myself not to cry. I’d
better get back out to Charles, I’ll bet he was only trying to protect me. He
knows the music industry, he knows musicians. He could probably tell what Luke
was after the second he laid eyes on him. I’m really lucky he was here tonight,
or I probably would have ended up with Luke.

Peering
through the door, I check that the coast is clear and head back into the gig.
The first band has just gone on stage. Walking over to Charles, I link my arm
with his.

‘Let’s
forget about that,’ I tell him, but he gives me a puzzled look and I realise he
can’t hear me because of the music. I lean closer to him.

‘I
said let’s forget about all that. He’s just a friend, I promise you.’

‘Don’t
worry,’ he smiles, and rests a hand gently on my cheek. Then he leans closer
and kisses me on the lips. Neither of us says anything after this, we just
watch the band.

As
soon as the gig was over I introduced Charles to Mark and Ben, and we all
chatted for a while. I’m just waiting for the gang of girls to disperse from
around Eddie and Luke. It was weird seeing Eddie on stage with his broken leg,
mainly because he never usually stands still on stage. It seemed weird that he
wasn’t dancing although he did try, bless him.