Starstruck (41 page)

‘Oh
Luke, you shouldn’t have-’

‘They’re
not from me,’ he interrupts me bluntly. ‘Frank brought them round, they arrived
at his office for you.’

Setting
them down on the coffee table, I take the card and read it to myself.

“I’m
sorry. Call me if you’ll give me the chance to explain. Charles x”

‘They’re
from Charles,’ I tell Luke, to which he rolls his eyes. ‘He wants me to call
him, so he can explain.’

‘And
you’re going to?’ he asks, giving me a seriously unimpressed look.

I
think for a second. Am I interested in what he has to say? I reach into my
dressing gown pocket for my phone.

‘I’ll
go for a shower, give you some privacy,’ Luke says, leaving the room.

Before
I have chance to think about what I’m doing, I dial his number.

‘Charles
Pace.’ He answers almost straight away, in his usually business-like manner.

‘It’s
Nicole.’

‘Nicole.
I didn’t think you’d call. How are things?’

I
laugh. ‘What do you want, Charles?’

‘Did
you like the roses?’

‘They
stink of guilt. But thank you,’ I add, my manners kicking in.

He
ignores my comment. ‘Meet me. I want to explain, and I want to apologise.’

I
think for a second. ‘As it happens, I’ve got to pop out to pick up a
newspaper.’

‘Text
me where you are, we’ll meet for coffee.’

‘Fine.’
I soften slightly and give in. Hearing his voice only reminds me of how good
things were between us before all this happened, and I can help but miss him a
little.

I
dash to my bedroom to tart myself up. You know, in case I get papped.

By
the time I was out of the bathroom Luke had already left. He didn’t even tell
me he was going out, which was weird. As long as he isn’t seeing his dealer, he
can do what he likes.

I
decided that Starbucks would be a good place to meet Charles – how can I get
angry when I have a festive latte in my hand? Also, I’ll be less likely to
throw it at him because I won’t want to waste it.

I
don’t have to wait long before he arrives. I don’t get up from where I’m
sitting, and he gestures that he’s going to get a drink before he sits down. If
I had any manners, I would have bought him one ready for him arriving, but then
again I’m a, and I quote, “dirty little slapper” – we have terrible manners,
you know. Poor Charles, he’s going to have such a hard time getting my forgiveness.

He
places his cup on the table, and then leans over for a kiss. I don’t offer him
my cheek, I don’t even flinch.

‘I’ve
been an idiot,’ he says, sitting down opposite me without as much as a
handshake.

It’s
on the tip of my tongue to say “duh” but instead I give him an agreeing look.

‘I’ve
been made a fool of by a woman before,’ he tells me. ‘I thought I’d never trust
another woman again, so I threw myself into my work and I just didn’t bother
with women for a little while. But then I met you,’ he smiles and I feel myself
thawing out slightly.

‘When
Dylan used to talk about you, I used to think there is no way this girl can be
as perfect as he makes her sound. But then meeting you that morning, you made
one hell of a first impression.’

I
cast my mind back to that morning. It was mortifying, but I can see the funny
side now so I let out a little laugh.

‘I
just knew I wanted to be with you.’

I
can almost understand him thinking the worst, if he’s been cheated on before
he’s bound to think all women are the same.

He
glances at my newspaper, which I haven’t actually read yet.

‘That
was all just a big misunderstanding.’ He nods towards it. ‘And for that, I’m
very sorry. Can’t we try again? Start from the beginning?’

I
have to admit, I am not entirely against the idea. ‘I don’t know, how can we go
back? Neither of us will forget this.’

‘Well
it’s not like it’s going to happen again, is it?’ he insists. ‘I was a jealous
fool.’

‘But
what if you get jealous again?’

‘We’ll
both have to make changes. I won’t get jealous if you make sure there are no
photos of you all over other men. I mean, this could have all been avoided if
the pictures didn’t exist. I know you were set up, of course, but if the
pictures didn’t exist in the first place – you and Luke, you and Dylan, we
could have avoided all this.’

‘Right.’

‘If
you act like a tart, people might think you are one, Nicole. Now you’ve made a
name for yourself you have to be even more careful, I’m only thinking of you.’

‘One
moment,’ I tell him, wandering over to the counter. ‘Do you do fruit
smoothies?’ I ask the barista, having never ordered anything that didn’t
involve coffee from Starbucks before.

‘We
do,’ he tells me. ‘What kind would you like?’

‘Surprise
me, but if it could involve purple fruits, blueberries, raspberries - anything
that might stain.’

While
I wait for my drink, I go back over to Charles and start putting my coat on.

‘Where
are you going?’ he asks with a confused look on his face. Clearly he doesn’t
think he said a thing wrong.

I
wander back over to collect my smoothie, and pop the lid off as I walk back.

‘Today
is a great day, and I’m not going to waste it with someone who thinks that I
behave like a tart.’

‘That’s
not what I meant-’

‘I
know what you meant,’ I interrupt him. ‘I know exactly what you meant.’

And
with that, I tip my (actually pretty delicious looking) smoothie all over his
head, shirt and trousers.

‘Here.’
I toss my newspaper at him, happy to pick up another one on the way home. ‘You
can dry yourself with that.’

Grabbing
my handbag, I leave to a round of applause and cheers from the others in the
room, who clearly have no idea what he’s done wrong, but certainly enjoyed the
floorshow.

Charles
doesn’t follow me, which is fine by me. The bottom line is that I didn’t do
anything wrong, and not only should he have believed me, but he really needs to
go easy on the tart terms. I think Charles would have these feelings towards
any girl, whether I provoked him or not.

My
phone rings. It’s Frank asking me to meet him at the office. I tell him that
I’ll walk because I’m not that far. I don’t even have chance to put my phone
back in my handbag before it rings again – he probably thinks I need
directions.

‘I’m
not going to get lost, Frank,’ I say, answering immediately without looking at
my phone to see who it was.

‘It’s
not Frank,’ a very familiar sounding voice tells me. ‘It’s-’

‘I
know who it is,’ I interrupt him.

‘I’m
sorry,’ he tells me. ‘I’m sorry for not telling the truth, I’m sorry for not
backing you up. I panicked, I fucked up, I’m sorry.’

‘You’re
sorry, Dylan. I get it.’ I laugh. ‘Are you allowed to talk to me now?’

‘Yes,
I’ve put my foot down. Now the truth is out there, Crystal has no reason to
stop me seeing you.’

That’s
hardly putting his foot down, but I don’t say that to him. I’m just grateful he
has permission to be my friend again.

‘We
are still friends aren’t we?’ he asks, sounding slightly worried.

I
could be mad at him, refuse to speak to him again, but what will that achieve?
I’ve lost enough friends recently, and deep down I know that Dylan was only
doing what he thought he needed to do to see his kids.

‘Of
course we are. You’re the second most famous person I know, I’m hardly going to
cut off contact,’ I tease.

‘Ha!’
he laughs. ‘Wait, second most famous?’

‘Yep.
Kelly Parker is my new BFF. She’s way more famous than you.’

‘I’d
say we were equal, and
I’m
your BFF. Don’t forget that, Nic. Anyway,
you’re quite famous yourself now, aren’t you?’ He chuckles.

‘Yeah,
thanks for that,’ I say sarcastically.

‘Is
it everything you’d hoped for?’ he asks, well aware of my love of the
lifestyle.

‘Not
quite, but thanks for the leg up.’

I
love that we’re instantly back to normal, joking around and winding each other
up. Not being his friend was just awful and I never want to be in that
situation again. Crystal being around is something I’ll just have to learn to
live it. Who knows, one day we might even be friends.

‘So
how’s married life?’ I ask him.

‘Married
life is, well, married life. I’ll get used to it,’ he says unconvincingly. ‘But
the babies are awesome.’

That
part I believe, he probably has more in common with the girls that he does with
Crystal, and they’re only weeks old.

‘Are
you going home for Christmas?’ he asks. ‘You could come and meet them if not.’

‘Maybe.
I’m not sure what I’m doing yet.’

‘Well
it’s only a couple of days away,’ he informs me.

I
hadn’t actually realised what the date was, Christmas really is only days away.

‘Shit!
I hadn’t realised Christmas was so close.’

‘What
will you do now? Generally I mean,’ he asks me.

‘Generally,
I’ll probably go back to Leeds, see if I can get the magazine back online. I’m
hoping my Z-list fame can help me pull some big names, get some support,
hopefully they’ll have me back at ByteBanter, although I’ll need to find some
new staff.’

‘Not
going to stick around and ride the fame train then?’ he asks.

‘I
think I’ve outstayed my welcome here.’

‘You’ve
been living with that guy from that band,’ he tells me, like I might not be
aware of it. ‘I was reading one of Crystal’s magazines the other day, you were
named a couple to keep an eye on in the New Year.’

‘Really?’
I laugh. ‘Luke and I are not a couple, just helping each other through a tough
time.’

‘I
read about the drugs. Didn’t sound like you, I can’t even get you to hold my
cigarette while I take a piss.’

‘That’s
mainly because I don’t want to smell like you do, babes.’

‘God,
I’ve missed you,’ he admits.

 ‘I’ve
missed you too, but listen, I have a meeting with my agent. I’d better go.’

‘Oh,
get you with your agent. Well let me know when you’re going home, we’ll go for
a drink, say goodbye.’

I
agree and hang-up the phone. Things almost seem back to normal.

When
I arrive at Frank’s office, there is already a caramel macchiato waiting for me
– I could get used to this, although Kelly has been telling me how I need to
take it easy on the sweet drinks. I called her quickly while I was on my way up
in the lift to see if she wanted to go shopping with me this afternoon. I told
her that Dylan and I were back on good terms, and that I wanted to pick up a
couple of presents for his babies.

‘I’ve
got meetings all day,’ she told me, adding that hates shops that sell baby
clothes anyway because she’d only moan about how she wishes she could fit into
them. I hope she was joking, but that’s when she mentioned me adopting a
similar attitude if I wanted to fit in around here – pun intended. ‘You’ve got
a great body, but less is more in showbiz, darling,’ she told me. We’re in the
first flush of our “womance” and I’m loving it.

I
plonk myself in the seat in front of Frank’s desk and sip my free coffee - of
course in my experience buttering someone up is usually a sign of bad news, so
he’s probably going to drop me now that the scandal had died down. Now the
truth is out, no one is going to want to talk to me about what happened anymore
but that is fine by me, I can’t imagine I’ll need him when I’m back in Leeds. When
I’m done here, I'm going to sort out my train ticket. I have been mentally
planning how I'm going to spend Christmas ever since I realised it was so
close. I’m going to go back to my flat, invite Jake over, we’ll get drunk and
I’ll sleep through the parts where I’m alone. Joy to the world.

‘I’ll
get straight to the point,' Frank tells me, sitting back in his big chair. Luke
told me that Frank is the only person allowed to sit in that chair, and that
the one time he joked about sitting in it, Frank gave him a proper bollocking.
My butt
will
touch that chair before I leave today.

‘What
are your plans for the future?’ he asks.

‘Going
back to Leeds, restarting the magazine, getting my life back on track,’ I tell
him confidently.

‘Scrap
that. Well not the last part, we’ll get you life back on track.’

I
give him a confused look.

‘The
Daily Scoop loved your article, they want to hire you. They want you to bring
the Starstruck magazine format with you, and then want to print it and sell it
with the paper. They want to give you a job, Nicole.’