Un-Break my Heart: Book 2 (The Heart Trilogy) (44 page)

Chapter 55

In the morning they both rushed down for breakfast and then headed over to the studio. They planned to put in at least three hours before Lennon turned up. Then it was a short break for Mitchell and some lunch before his final rehearsal for the evenings show. Charlie pushed the awful thoughts of the security camera in the club from her mind and concentrated on the routine in hand. She knew they had to get it right and they both wanted it to be perfect. Their final two runs through were spot on and as they grabbed a bottle of water Lennon appeared in the doorway.

“How’s it going” he asked.

“Great” gasped Mitch “I think we’ve got it”

“Fantastic. I’m here early as they want you both to head to the stadium before the show for a costume fitting” Lennon said “It appears they have your measurements from the video shoot” he said, speaking directly t
o
Charlotte. She nodded and smiled, still out of breath and unable to respond. Lennon settled back on the bench in the corner and waited expectantly.

“We’re ready” Mitch said, hauling Charlie to her feet. She looked at him, nodded and smiled before getting into the starting position.

They ruined the first attempt when Charlie stumbled before the lift and she couldn’t regain her balance. Mitch rushed over and picked her up “Don’t try so much, just flow”

“I know” Charlie replied, pulling her hair back out of her eyes again. This time as the first few bars rang out Charlie closed her eyes and indeed did find her flow. It was perfect and when they both finished Lennon started to clap his hands.

“Amazing and in such a short space of time” he said, wandering over to them.

“Thanks, it’s a great routine” Mitchell replied
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Charlott
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just smiled and couldn’t stop.

Grabbing a quick salad for lunch Charlie spotted her phone flashing with a message.

“I’ll just give Shelley oh and Julia a ring while you’re rehearsing” she said to Mitch.

“Ok, wait for me here and I’ll be up when I’ve finished and showered” he said. Giving her a quick kiss he headed back down the corridor an
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Charlott
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was able to look at her messages. The first was from Shelley asking her to call when she could. The second was from Julia asking how the holiday was going.

Finding a seat in the corner of the café she dialled Julia’s number first.

“Hi Charlie, how are you?”

“Fantastic, the weather is great and you’ll never guess what I’m doing tonight”

“Knowing your luck you’ve somehow managed to get a dance in the show” Julia said.

“How on earth did you guess” Charlie exclaimed.

“Well, I am your best friend and good luck seems to follow you around”

“Yes” Charlie squealed “We are doing a specially choreographed dance for his new single and will be dancing it at the start of his final show tonight”

“I hope someone records it and puts in on You Tube” Julia said.

“I’ll see if Mitchell knows any of the stadium security and see if any of them will record the footage on my mobile phone and then I can just send it to you” Charlie replied. They finished chatting as Charlie heard about how things were going with Simon and they made plans to meet up again before Christmas.

With the easy conversation over Charlie ordered another coffee and dialled Shelley’s number this time.

“Hey Hon, how are you” Shelley breathed down the phone.

“I’ll be better if you’ve managed to find out anything about that camera footage” Charlie said, desperately hoping it had not been recording that night.

“I casually spoke to Sherrie, the head barmaid, and she said that all the camera footage links directly to a recorder in Zack’s office. She did say that she thought all the dressing room footage just got deleted as Zack only keeps clips of any fights or trouble” Shelley said.

“Do you think she’s telling the truth” Charlie asked “He’s a bloke after all and a bit of a womaniser from what I can tell”

The line went silent as both of them tried to think of a plan to find out.

“I know I’ll ask about the camera when I’m there for the Love Shack Launch party, you know say something about Kyle and I getting sexy after our dance” Shelley said.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck” Charlie moaned “What if he realises who my Mum is and says something about me dancing for him”

“He won’t if he’s got any sense as he knows you’re only seventeen. Legally he’ll be in the shit if anyone finds out he’s broken the law”

“Look don’t sweat I’ll be there and I’ll keep an eye or ear on any conversations and if need be I’ll jump in and defend you”

“Thanks babe, what routine are you and Kyle doing on Saturday then?”

“A jive to I’m still standing by Elton John it should be fun”

Charlie could hear voices in the corridor and guessed that they had finished practice and were heading to the showers.

“Get some footage so I can see, in fact you can ask Zack for a copy of the recording, perhaps he might let something slip” Charlie replied.

“So what’s it like Stateside?”

“Great, I’m dancing in the final show tonight so I’ll give you a call in a couple of days and if I get some footage I’ll post it on Facebook for you to see”

“Wow, I’m jealous and I’m missing you” Shelley said, her voice dropping.

“I miss you too anyway I’m sure this holiday will fly and I’ll be home in time for all the really cold bad weather so no one will see my tan”

“I hope I will” Shelley flirted.

“Sure you will, look I’ve gotta go now as Mitch will be back with me shortly”

“Look why not tell him, he’ll be cool about it” Shelley said.

“I guess I might tell him about the dancing” Charlie finished.

“Good luck for tonight and I’ll speak to you soon, this call must be costing you a packet” Shelley finished.

“Yeah, speak soon” and with that the line went dead.

Mitchell appeared all damp from the shower and pulled her from the seat.

“So we’ve got a couple of hours and I have an idea what we can do” he said.

“Cool” Charlie said; her hand clasped in his. Once on the pavement they walked through town and past their hotel to a scooter hire place.

“I think we’re going to earn enough from tonight to afford to hire one of these for the rest of the time and it will save us money on taxis” Mitch said. They were soon sorted out with a scooter and some helmets and although it was only a short distance back to the hotel they jumped on.

“It’s going to seem slow after the bike back home” Mitch said.

“Well I kind of want to see the scenery so slow will be fine” Charlie replied, hugging him tightly as they took off.

Back in their room they flopped on the bed and checked the time.

“Not long to wait, do you want anything else to eat” Mitch asked.

“No thanks, I’ll only get nervous and throw it up” she grinned.

“Let’s relax and plan the rest of our fortnight ahead”

“I really want to go to Disneyland as Mum always used to call me Tinkerbelle when I was growing up and flitting around the house pretending to be a fairy” Charlie reminisced.

“Ok, maybe not tomorrow as I think we will be knackered and as it’s the last show I fear the after show party will be a long one” Mitch said.

“So long as I’m with you nothing else really matters” she said, lying back in his arms.

After a quick shower they grabbed a change of clothes for the after show party and hailed a taxi to get them to the stadium. Instead of being left in the wings they headed through a maze of corridors to the dressing room. Angela was there ready and waiting.

“Hi Mitch, and Charlotte is it?”

“Just call me Charlie” she replied, looking at the long row of hangers and clothes. Angela pulled a couple of hangers off the rail nearest her and handed one to Mitch and one to Charlie.

“Pop and try these on and then head back out and I’ll make any alterations” she said, motioning to the series of curtained cubicles.

This was always the bit tha
t
Charlott
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liked as she stripped off and climbed into the latex dress that clung to her every curve. There was a row of diamante around the slashed neckline and a split up the one side. It was slightly under-wired for support and she wiggled around to get her breasts even in the cups. Pulling the curtains back she noticed Mitchell was already dressed in tight black trousers and a silver top so tight she could see his muscles beneath.

“Wow, you look amazing” he said, taking a long slow look at his girlfriend.

“So do you” she responded, blushing at the compliment.

“Almost perfect” Angela responded, moving toward
s
Charlotte.

“But I think this might be better” and carefully she moved the scissors to lengthen the split. It just showed the top of her silver hot pants.

“Do you think there is any chance of us having a practise in these and on the stage” Mitch asked.

“Sure honey, Lennon is out in the auditorium waiting” she said.

As they wandered up the corridor Mitchell grabbed Charlie and spun her into his arms, planting a row of kisses from her throat to her lips.

“You really do look sensationally sexy in that” he murmured, his voice laced with desire.

“I wonder if they will let me keep it” Charlie asked.

“I’ll make sure you can, I think I’m going to have a lot of fun getting you out of that later” he grabbed her hand and they ran down the rest of the passage and into the auditorium. It looked even bigger that Charlie remembered from the previous night and she gulped back the nerves that had started to flutter inside. Lennon spotted them and drew in his breath a
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Charlott
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in her outfit.

“Sexy lady” he said “You’re a lucky man Mitchell”

“I know” he said, as they mounted the steps and met him in the centre of the stage.

“Ready for a couple of rehearsals as we need to get the lighting right” Lennon said.

“Sure, lets get going” Charlie said, feeling that the music and dancing would calm her nerves. After a couple of aborted attempts their third was perfect and the costumes coped well with all the lifts. Then with his headset microphone Lennon spoke to the lighting guys and after a final two dances everything was ready for the evening. Looking into the wings as Mitchell let her down from the final lift she spotted the other dancers arriving.

“How much time have we got before the show?” Charlie asked.

“About an hour but you’ll need to go for hair and make-up” Mitch said.

“Ok you guys I’ll see you in the wings in forty five minutes” Lennon said.

Feeling the bile already starting to rise into her throat Charlie grabbed Mitchell and they headed back to the changing rooms. She quickly ducked into the toilet and threw up until she felt empty inside.

“Come here” Mitch said, enfolding her into his strong embrace. She shivered as she leaned against his strength.

“Every time” she mumbled.

“It’s an omen. I think the nerves make you dance better”

“Hope so, as that crowd is going to be massive”

“Yes and we are going to captivate them all”

She smiled at his comment and then headed over to start having her hair and make-up done.

Once finished they barely had ten minutes together before the walk back down the corridor towards the stage. They were each starting from the wings, one on each side so after a final kiss Mitch left her to quietly cross the stage. Lennon appeared and tapped her on the shoulder

“Break a leg” he said, at the same time raising a hand to Mitch opposite. Then as the lights faded away a single spotlight lit up Ne-Yo and the crowd went wild. It was a good few minutes before he was able to shout hello and then set about starting the show. Charlie shivered and closed her eyes for a final moment to see the dance routine on her lids. Then with a deep breath the spotlight picked her up and she took the first few steps onto the stage and towards Mitchell.

The crowd silently listened and watched the spectacle unfold in front of their eyes
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Charlott
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barely heard the gasps and occasional wolf whistles emanating from the crowd as they listened to the song and watched the two dancers that leapt and moved behind the star. As the final bars of the song faded Charlie jumped and soared into the air, held securely above Mitchell’s head. His arms felt strong beneath her as they remained poised until the spotlight died. Then he let her down and then ran quietly off the stage, applause ringing in their ears.