Read The Overnight Fame of Steffi McBride Online
Authors: A.J. Crofts
The Overnight Fame of Steffi McBride (20 page)
I walked off stage in a cloud of happiness. Luke had his arm around my shoulders and Mum and Dad were walking behind with Maggie as if they were all the oldest friends in the world, my brothers and sisters bouncing along behind, their mouths hanging open as they ricocheted off one celebrity after another. Drinks and snacks had been laid on in a green room behind the scenes. As we walked into the room I saw Gerry waiting to surprise me with a huge bouquet of flowers and all the joy was suddenly silenced. It was as if someone had hit the pause button on the iPod inside my head, the one providing the soundtrack to my euphoria.
I saw Gerry’s eyes moving from me to Luke and then back down along his arm to the silver chain around my neck. Luke saw it too and pulled away but it was too late; I’d seen the hurt
before Gerry was able to hide it again behind his jaunty, worldly air of cool. In that second I saw him realise the truth and despair.
‘Gerry.’ I forced a smile and went across to peck him on the cheek.
‘These are for you,’ he said, passing the flowers over. ‘I’ve been watching on the monitors. You were fantastic.’
‘Thank you,’ I said. There was an awkward pause as we both tried to think what to say next.
‘Listen,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘No need,’ he said, ‘not your fault.’
How could anyone be that understanding when they were having their heart broken in public? He had to be the strongest man I had ever met, and I was about to let him go.
I slipped the chain off from round my neck and pressed the ring into his hand. ‘Thanks for asking. It was really sweet and I do love you. It’s just …’
‘Please,’ he interrupted. ‘You don’t have to explain anything. I’ve got to dash, I just wanted to pop by and give you those and tell you how brilliant you are. See you at the studio tomorrow.’
‘Yes.’
As I watched him go I felt like the meanest person on the face of the earth, but within a few seconds I had been engulfed in a crowd of people, all telling me that I was absolutely the greatest thing since sliced bread. Whatcha gonna do? You have to go with the flow, don’t you? You have to keep the dream alive.
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ePub ISBN 978 1 78219 446 0
Mobi ISBN 978 1 78219 447 7
PDF ISBN 978 1 78219 448 4
First published in paperback in 2008
ISBN: 978 1 84454 652 7
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© Text copyright A.J Crofts, 2008
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