Strings (22 page)

‘Sorry.’

              She hoped he wouldn't be too mad with her. After all, he had done such a lot for them.

‘It's OK.’ She smiled, but the sadness was still there. Their eye contact was longer than it should have been and Jay-Den knew he shouldn't
, but he couldn't stop himself. He leaned down and felt her soft lips on his. He put his hand on the back of her head, holding her to him. Her lips were warm but were frozen in place. It took a few seconds before it registered in Melissa’s head what was happening. His fingers brushed through her hair and he grabbed her waist, pulling her towards him. As he forced her mouth open her senses clicked back into gear. Her hands flew to his chest to push him away, then she slapped him hard across the cheek.

             
‘What the hell are you doing?’ she yelled, completely shocked. ‘Don’t ever touch me again.’

             
‘Shit. I’m so sorry.’ There was panic in his voice. She shoved him away as he reached for her again. He knew he had just made one huge mistake and begged her not to tell Luke. But he knew that was exactly what she would do.

             
‘Please don't tell him,’ he begged. ‘I’m really sorry, I wasn’t thinking. You’re just so beautiful, I couldn’t stop myself.’

             
‘Shut up. You’ve no right to talk to me that way,’ she shouted, feeling even more uneasy.

             
Jay-Den backed away from her, frightened she might start screaming.

‘I just misread the situation
, that’s all. I’m sorry. It won’t ever happen again,’ he promised.

             
‘You’re fucking right it won’t. I was not part of any contract so just remember that, and get away from me,’ she barked as she opened the door. She couldn't even look as he walked out. She slammed the door behind him, feeling even more scared and confused.

             
‘What the fuck?’ She murmured to herself as she slid to the floor with her back against the door. ‘Luke is the only person I can trust,’ she thought.

             
Jay-Den jumped quickly into his silver Maserati and sped away, angry with himself for screwing up big time. However, there was a little part of him that was disappointed, maybe even annoyed that she hadn’t accepted his advances and kissed him back. There had been a split second when he had envisioned them tearing each other’s clothes off and passionately having sex, right there in the kitchen. But unfortunately it seemed that she was committed to her boyfriend.

             
Melissa was terrified. She had to call Luke. She couldn't pretend this hadn't happened but knew he would be furious. She sat on the floor, sobbing, knowing that if she had just been honest with him from the start, she wouldn’t be in this mess. What had she been thinking calling Jay-Den and allowing him to stay the night? How would she explain that to Luke? Even
she
knew it didn’t look good. It felt like she had cheated in some way. She had lied to him, which wasn’t a good way to build her case. It took her over an hour and several cigarettes to find the courage to call him and his good mood was smashed in seconds. Her fear of how he would react was confirmed, sending their perfect relationship into turmoil.

*****

‘Luke, mate, please calm down before you hurt yourself or we get thrown out of this hotel!’ Dale pleaded as he watched Luke storm around the hotel room, throwing and kicking anything in his way.

             
Luke was incensed by what had been going on behind his back. Melissa keeping it from him in the first place, then turning to Jay-Den. And that was before she dropped the kiss bombshell.

Tom and Toby were keeping well out
of the way. They had company in their rooms and that was where they were staying until Hurricane Luke had calmed down.

             
‘I’ll calm down after I’ve smashed his fucking face in,’ Luke raged as he kicked another chair over. This was a side of Luke that not many people got to see. Apart from his mum, Dale was the only person who could handle one of his tantrums. Even Melissa hadn't been prepared for his reaction.

             
‘Has she been at it with him since the start?’ Luke asked, almost pleading with his best friend to reassure him that his girlfriend hadn’t been screwing his boss. The thought made him feel sick. Dale didn't think so, but he also agreed that it didn't look good. Beth had confirmed that she knew about the first incident. But she was just as angry about the other things that Melissa had seemingly been keeping from everyone. Turning to Jay-Den first had also angered Beth but because she loved her best friend, who was now a sobbing mess, she put all the blame on Jay-Den. It was much easier to be angry with him.

             
‘She would never cheat on Luke – that I would swear on my life,’ she had assured Dale.

*****

The truth about what had happened was confirmed for Beth later that day when she arrived at Melissa’s house to comfort her. Melissa cried on her shoulder as she explained how angry Luke had been, accus
ing her of sleeping with Jay-Den the whole time and questioning her motives for all the things she had done for him. That cut her like a knife because all she had ever tried to do was make him happy. Luke’s anger and hurtful accusations tore at her heart as she feared she had just lost the best thing to have ever walked into her life. She hated herself for allowing herself to get into this situation.

*****

‘I really can’t see her cheating – she adores you, mate,’ Dale said, trying to calm his best friend, who was still pacing the room. He clenched his fists before punching the door. The room was wrecked and his phone was ringing again. No doubt it was Melissa. She had tried several times since Luke had hung up on her.

             
‘Talk to her.’

             
Melissa was now calling Dale’s phone and Luke knew it meant she was desperate. ‘No. I’m too pissed off with her.’ He held his head in his hands and as the rage and confusion clouded his judgement he headed outside onto the balcony to smoke and pace some more.

             
Dale answered his phone to a hysterical Melissa. ‘Please, Dale, I need to talk to him. I haven't slept with Jay-Den. I promise!’ she cried down the phone.

             
‘I know. Just let him calm down.’

             
‘I love him. I would never do that,’ she cried.

             
‘Melissa, you don't have to convince me. Jay-Den should have kept his hands to himself. I promise you I’ll talk to him. Just stop calling and give him some space to think it through. You should have told him, babe, you really should have!’ Dale said, fuming with Jay-Den and disappointed in Melissa. But his best friend was his main priority right now.

             
‘Please tell him I love him,’ he heard her sob as he hung up.

             
Luke was shaking his head – he wasn't in a talking mood. Shocked and angry, he felt sick at the thought of her with another man. She should be turning to him for help, not Jay-Den fucking Lake. It made him look like an idiot. He’d never imagined ever being angry with Melissa but he was absolutely livid with her at that moment and if she had been cheating, it was over.

*****

‘Zoe, I think you need to get going, love,’ Ray ordered a few hours later. He had already got rid of the blonde from Tom’s room. She’d been refusing to leave and causing a scene, and quite frankly Ray was fed up with drama for one day. Enough was enough. His front man was having a meltdown and he didn’t need crazed groupies adding to his stress. Anyone who wasn’t part of the crew was now being banned from the hotel.

             
Zoe was what you might call a ‘friend with benefits’, and was one of several girls Toby would call when he felt like some company. She was in Milan for the show but had flown out a day early to spend time with him. She would sometimes go with him on the bus – she was well known to Ray and was allowed to do this as long as she kept quiet about it and followed his rules. But Ray was putting his foot down this time. She wasn’t any trouble and she knew when she needed to leave. Toby wasn’t an idiot and knew he wasn’t the only one she gave her ‘special time’ to – they weren’t a couple and never would be. She flitted between a few bands, but only picked out a specific member of each one to ensure there were no awkward situations. If Luke hadn’t already been spoken for she wouldn’t have given Toby the time of day, and she had decided she’d make an exception to the rule if Luke did become available. There was something about Luke that made you want to break all the rules, and Zoe didn’t care what people thought of her. She was adored by some very famous men, and one or two women.

             
‘OK I’m going Ray, don’t have a heart attack,’ she laughed and patted him on the bum as she picked up her coat. He blushed. Zoe was tall and skinny – a rock chick with a hint of Goth. She had long tar-coloured hair and was covered in jewellery. She bent down to kiss Toby goodbye then struck one of her very seductive poses while he took a picture on his phone.

             
‘I would tell you to behave but that’d be stupid,’ Toby laughed. He knew she would find some other mug to entertain her while she was in Milan. Zoe was never alone for long.

             
‘Toby, I don’t ever behave. See you, big man. Call me whenever you want me again.’

             
He watched her go; the pretty, confident girl who would do anything he asked her to. And vice versa. He wondered what was wrong with him - why wasn’t he thinking about her. She was certainly his type, if you ignored the bed-hopping. Yet the whole time he had been with her, it was Megan May’s beautiful green eyes he pictured looking at him and her flame-red hair spread out on his pillow.

*****

‘Zoe, keep this shut,’ Ray warned as they walked to the lift together. He was making sure she left, and he didn’t want her shooting her mouth off about the day’s events.

             
‘My lips are sealed, Ray.’ Zoe may have been a bit wild but she wasn’t a gossip. She wouldn’t talk about people’s private lives – her ‘arrangements’ with these and other famous people depended on her reputation of trustworthiness being maintained. The four guys had always been friendly towards her, and they had looked after her with endless meals, drinks and cigarettes, so she wouldn’t stab them in the back. Zoe had met Melissa once and had thought she was a sweet girl. It was annoying as it would have been easier not to like her. If they broke up and she moved in on Luke, she’d feel like she was kicking a puppy. She knew she’d do it anyway though.

*****

The yelling coming from Russell’s office was not pleasant. Russell was Jay-Den's boss and Sky Storm Records’ CEO. Megan had just come back from a meeting and wondered what was going on. Everyone had their heads down trying not to look like they were listening, but whatever it was, Jay-Den was not very popular.

             
‘Fix it, Lake. Now!’ Russell’s voice boomed as the door opened, and a very red-faced Jay-Den headed back to his office.

             
‘Megan, get in here,’ he ordered as he sat at his desk, looking flustered. Megan hurried in, bracing herself to be given a long list of instructions.

             
Jay-Den told her she needed to organise flights to Milan for Melissa Webb and Beth Watkins for a few days. Megan would also be personally dealing with Luke Black as of now. Luke was their biggest name at the moment and Jay-Den would never hand over responsibility for someone like him just like that. This meant there was something big going down.

             
Once she had everything organised, Megan headed to the kitchen to make some coffee. It wasn't long before Jack, her friend and colleague from the legal department, followed her into the kitchen. He looked around to make sure the coast was clear, even checking under a coffee cup for comedy value. Jack was a funny guy. He loved a bit of gossip and by the way he was acting it seemed that was exactly what he had. ‘You must have heard?’ His expression was bursting with excitement.

             
‘Heard what?’

             
Jack ran his hand through his hair. He couldn’t believe his friend was unaware of the gossip that the whole office was talking about – Jay-Den’s major fail.

             
‘No way,’ she shrieked a little too loudly after he had filled her in.

             
Jack was nodding affirmatively. This had made his day. He didn't like Jay-Den, mainly because of the way he treated Megan.

‘She knocked him back,
and slapped him by all accounts. Thank god the girl has sense. She called Luke and told him, and apparently he went apeshit.’ 

             
That would explain everything. Of course Luke wouldn't want to deal with Jay-Den after he’d hit on his girlfriend. Megan smiled that he’d screwed up. So the sun doesn’t always shine out of his backside, she thought.