What She Wants (59 page)

put it carefully back into the big steel make-up artist’s box that Lorelei made other people haul around for her. This was Lorelei’s pride and joy as she refused to use the makeup that everyone else did and insisted that the tour makeup artists use her own, expensive stuff. Lorelei’s un-amplified yells when she discovered what had happened were as loud as her miked-up performance. ‘You bitch!’ She stood at the door of Nicole’s dressing room, looking for all the world like an enraged female velociraptor from Jurassic Park. Nicole, who was talking to Phyllis at the time, gazed back at her innocently. ‘What are you talking about, Lor?’ she inquired sweetly. ‘Yes, get a move on, Lorelei,’ said Phyllis firmly, wanting to knock any arguments on the head. ‘It’s half an hour to the performance and you haven’t let them start on your face yet.’ ‘My make-up is a mess, all drippy!’ squealed Lorelei. ‘You probably left it too close to the radiator,’ Nicole said sympathetically. ‘These rooms are very warm, for a change.’

The days raced by. Nicole found it strange being on her own. Not that she was alone or even lonely what with rehearsals, performances, flights and interviews. But it was simply that Nicole was so used to taking care of Pammy and Sandra that it was odd not to have to think about anyone else. At first, she felt adrift without other people to look after. But eventually she began to get used to it and to enjoy it. On her time off, Nicole didn’t want to rush into the shops like the other girls and go crazy buying clothes. Instead, she went for long walks around the cities they were staying in and saw the sights. The freedom was incredible. She wasn’t responsible for anyone else; she didn’t have to worry whether Pammy had taken her swimming things to school or if there was proper food in the house for dinner. Nicole had felt like the person in charge for most of her

life. When other girls she knew had moved out of home and into flats with their pals, Nicole had known that she could never do that. She could never leave her little sister and their mother alone. She wouldn’t have been able to cope with the very idea of it. But now, living a carefree life for the first time, Nicole began to wonder what it would be like to have her own place, what it would be like to be without the responsibility of her family? It was a dizzying thought. She talked to Pammy every day on the phone and missed her desperately. Pammy was going to be a fairy in the school play and Nicole’s heart swelled with pride when she heard the news. ‘I’ve got wings,’ announced Pammy importantly during one of their daily phone calls. ‘Silver wings. Kylie’s wings are blue and not pretty like mine.’ ‘Can I come and see you?’ Nicole asked. ‘You have to. Miss Vishnu knows that you’re singing on the telly and then you’re coming.’ Nicole smiled at her little sister’s innocent explanation. Sandra had supplied the silver wings. ‘I got them in the market,’ she told Nicole. ‘I think Pammy’s teacher wanted me to make them but honestly, can you see me sewing! This nice Italian lady down the market does stuff like that if you can’t sew and they’re beautiful. That poor little Kylie kid had to wear blue net ones. I said to Miss Vishnu, “my Pammy is the prettiest child and she’s going to look like a pretty angel. No blue ones for her.”’ Nicole was mildly astonished that her mother had even been talking to Miss Vishnu. Previously, Sandra had kept away from the school as much as she could, probably because she’d had so many unwilling conversations with teachers about Nicole’s madcap ways, well, not conversations as such. The teacher in question would try to talk to Sandra, who’d sidle off and say she was in a rush, but they could catch up at the parent/teacher meetings. Except Sandra never went to the parent/teacher meetings. And here she was looking after Pammy and organizing her fairy wings.

It all went to prove that life could go on without her. Nicole couldn’t help but feel strangely left out. Even her grandmother was different.

Reenie still hadn’t thawed although Nicole had said sorry several times.

Their conversations were stilted, no matter how many times Nicole apologized.

‘I don’t want you turning into some stuck up little upstart,’ Reenie said on one of the few occasions when she’d deigned to come to the phone.

‘I’m not, Gran,’ protested Nicole.

‘Hmm,’ was all Reenie would say, before passing the phone over to her daughter.

After ten days of touring, Darius phoned’.

‘I hear you’re doing brilliantly,’ he said.

Nicole, in her bathrobe and just about to dress for the evening gig, blushed with pleasure.

‘I’ve missed you,’ she said abruptly, then blushed even more at how that sounded. ‘I mean … it would have been nice to have you here …’ she added quickly, hoping to counteract what she’d said. God, he’d think she was some sort of idiot.

Darius interrupted her. ‘I missed you too,’ he said softly.

Nicole had been standing beside the phone. Now she sat down on the bed with a resounding thud. ‘Oh.’

‘Andrea says you’ve been fantastic. You’re a real trouper, she says, and you’ve got one amazing review. In fact, we’re sending up a group of people from some of the international Titus companies tomorrow evening. They’re really keen to see you, they’ve heard you’re going to be a big star. There’s quite a buzz going round here about you.’

Nicole didn’t care. They could be sending up the Emmy awards committee for all she cared. She sat on the bed, smiling with love. Darius had phoned. That was all that mattered.

‘Are you coming?’ she asked.

‘Of course,’ he replied. ‘I’m sorry,’ he added gruffly. ‘You know, about the other week.’

‘I didn’t go off with Zol,’ Nicole interrupted. ‘Honestly. Lorelei was furious that you’d turned your back on her and she got this guy to drag me out to the limo with her. I didn’t want to go, I wanted to stay with you. But when I tried to ring you, I couldn’t. Too many Zombies,’ she admitted guiltily.

‘It’s not your fault,’ Darius said. ‘You fell in with a bad crowd.’

‘I don’t want to be with people like that,’ she said. ‘I’m not like that. Lorelei drives me mad. She’s a … cow.’ She’d been about to say that Lorelei was a bitch, but somehow she didn’t want to swear in front of Darius. ‘Zol’s worse. He kept touching my bum all night.’ Nicole couldn’t hide her outrage at this.

Darius was gratifyingly angry. ‘Asshole,’ he said furiously. ‘I should never have let you out of my sight.’

Nicole, who’d have punched any previous boyfriend for implying that she required looking after, grew misty-eyed at this sign of protectiveness.

‘I like the idea of you not letting me out of your sight,’ she said.

As if she knew it was an important day for Nicole, Lorelei chose the following day to play up even more than usual. She delayed the bus leaving the hotel that morning by over an hour, claiming that she’d lost the lucky charm bracelet her father had given her.

Because they were so delayed, there was no time to check in at the hotel before the afternoon gig. Nicole, who was due to meet the Titus executives at the venue afterwards and had planned to doll herself up in the hotel before rehearsals, was furious. She was sharing a dressing room with two of the Carli girls and it would be impossible to smother herself in body lotion for Darius’s benefit with them watching.

‘You look upset, Nicci,’ Lorelei said sweetly, when Nicole came offstage after having uncharacteristically botched her rehearsal.

Nicole shot her a vicious look but said nothing. In the dressing room, the two Carli Girls were discussing Lorelei. ‘I thought she was fun at first, but she’s a nightmare,’ said one. ‘Jesus, yes. She’s such a drama queen, she’s doing my head in,’ said the other. ‘Tell me about it,’ said Nicole. With half an hour to go, they all changed into their stage clothes. The Carli Girls were going through a silver phase: they all dressed in sequinned silvery catsuits. Nicole’s outfit for the day was a mixture of bronze and denim, a tight, sexy sleeveless top with a deep cleavage and customized Dolce & Gabbana jeans with bronze embroidery. ‘See you later,’ chorused the Carli Girls, as they left. They were on stage next, with Nicole coming on after them. Gregory was after her, then Lorelei, finally Euston ending the show. The running order was very important and the biggest act usually finished last. Lorelei was fighting viciously to be the last act but had failed so far. Nicole knew she had fifteen minutes before she had to be onstage, which gave her a few minutes in the tiny dressing room bathroom. Wearing just her jeans and a slinky see-through bra, she took her body lotion and perfume into the bathroom, shut the door and clicked the little bolt home. She stripped off the bra and began to rub the musky lotion into her skin. Just in case Darius held her close, she wanted to smell and feel beautiful. A sudden noise outside made her jump. ‘Hello? Andrea? Who is it?’ There was no answer but Nicole stiffened as she heard somebody approaching the bathroom door. Suddenly there was a click as if someone was turning a key from the other side. Nicole unbolted the door and tried to open it but it didn’t move. ‘Who’s there?’ she demanded.

Nobody spoke but Nicole heard a smothered giggle she’d recognize anywhere: Lorelei.

‘Let me out, Lorelei,’ she roared furiously. But nobody answered.

Nicole used her entire weight to pull at the door but it wouldn’t open. Lorelei had obviously found the key and now she was locked in with just fifteen minutes to show time. Nobody would notice her until the five minute call and then it would take a few minutes to find her and let her out, by which time she’d look deeply unprofessional to all the visiting record company execs. Nicole burned with fury at the very thought. When she got her hands on Lorelei, she’d kill her.

Five minutes went, then ten. Stuck in the bathroom in her bra and jeans, Nicole simmered and then panicked. She kept banging on the bathroom door, shouting and yelling all the time, but nobody appeared to have heard her.

‘Help, help,’ she screamed, scared of going hoarse from shouting but even more scared of missing her slot onstage. She’d worked so hard and now it was all going down the tubes thanks to that horrible, nasty cow.

You’re not going to win, Lorelei, vowed Nicole. She looked around the bathroom for something heavy. The only possibility was a grimy old weighing scales that looked as if it had been around since Victorian times. It’d do. Picking it up, Nicole banged it against the door, splintering a big hole in it. Grimly, Nicole began banging the scales against the door handle, hoping to break it. She’d just landed a third, crushing blow when she heard her name being called.

‘Nicole? Are you in there?’

‘Yes,’ shrieked Nicole joyously, dropping the scales to the floor. ‘I’m locked in. Find the key.’

There was silence for a moment, then a voice said: ‘I can’t find it. Stand back, I’m going to break the door down.’

She darted to one side and waited until a mighty noise boomed, the door groaned and flew open and Darius stood at the other side, with his boot in the air.

‘Darius,’ breathed Nicole. She’d never been so pleased to see anyone in her life, for a variety of reasons. ‘Lorelei locked me in, I’m sure of it.’

‘That little cow,’ he growled, his kind, easy-going face angry in a way Nicole would never have believed possible. ‘You should never have been put on the same tour with her. It was like putting you in a pool with sharks and not giving you a cage to protect you. She’s jealous of you.’

‘Is she?’ Nicole stood in front of him, not caring how she was dressed. ‘How did you know I was here?’

‘I didn’t,’ Darius said, looking down at her longingly. ‘I just knew you’d never be late and that something had happened to you.’

And because Nicole knew he was too polite to do anything to a woman dressed only in jeans and a bra, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him. In an instant, his arms were around her and they clung together fiercely, kissing, only breaking away when Darius came to his senses.

‘You’ve got to get onstage,’ he gasped, running a hand through his fair spiky hair, making it stick up more than ever.

‘Afterwards,’ said Nicole.

‘Afterwards,’ he promised.

‘Where were you? We were so worried,’ said an angelic Lorelei as Nicole raced backstage for her performance. Nicole didn’t have time to say anything but after the show, she got her chance for revenge.

‘Can you do a five minute interview?’ begged Phyllis as they all trooped off stage after the finale. ‘I know you’ve got record company people to go out with but you were so brilliant up there tonight that this girl from Superb magazine wants to do an interview with you.’

‘No problem,’ said Nicole, a wicked plan forming …

The interview took place in a small office backstage and when the inevitable question about co-star bitching appeared, Nicole was ready for it.

‘I know what you’re talking about,’ she said, stifling a sniff. ‘I know that Lorelei said terrible things about me. It’s awful, this whole music industry is so cruel,’ Nicole added mournfully. ‘She’s such a sweet girl at heart and I really like her but when your single fails, it’s like you’re a non person and that really has an effect on some people.’

The Superb reporter perked up at this fresh information. ‘We didn’t think her single bombed that badly,’ the reporter said. ‘It’s been hard getting actual figures from the record companies,’ she continued in a probing manner. ‘Everyone denies it but I’m convinced they try and massage the figures to make it look better for some artists.’

Nicole bit her lip as if she’d made a huge mistake. ‘Oh God, I shouldn’t have said anything. Lorelei would be devastated if anyone knew … She’s so proud. We were friends before this, you know, but…’ meaningful pause, ‘her second album dropped like a stone from the chart. She’s so upset. I know she wouldn’t have meant to bitch about me, we’re friends, honestly.’

Nicole tried to look innocent. The reporter smiled, knowing now that Lorelei was hauling her ass round every small venue in the country because it was the only way her next single had a hope in hell. Suddenly her story had an angle. Lorelei had got on many people’s nerves over her two-year career. It was payback time.