Chasing Dreams

Chapter Twenty-One - 'Nothing Stays a Secret Forever'

[Edited 21/7/14]

Chapter Twenty-One - 'Nothing Stays a Secret Forever'

New York was a wonderful place; Lacey thought it was incredible; she hadn’t stopped looking around. The sights, the smells, the people, it was like she was living in a movie. It was like London but more calm and busy at the same time. She loved the fact that everywhere in America was set on a grid, she could walk wherever she wanted and hardly ever get lost. Of course she could only really walk when she was on her own as the boys were always mobbed by fans if they left the bus. Still it was fun to be somewhere that she hadn’t been before. She’d been exploring since she got there, she’d walked around Central Park, visited the chocolate restaurant, Times Square and done a load of shopping. She’d wanted to travel around America for so long and here she was standing in between Jenny and Elena, in Times Square. Everything else faded away and she lived in the moment. It was amazing here. They were having a whale of a time and as the day wore on they became completely loaded down with bags.

They had been stopped now and again by the odd person who wanted a photo taken with the girls but thankfully for the most part they were left alone to do their shopping in private.

They’d parted rather quickly from the boys since arriving at the airport. There, waiting to greet the boys was an associate of Ian Wasp, who looked incredibly displeased with them. They were put on ‘bus arrest’, only allowed out of the tour bus for concerts and interviews until Ian Wasp himself could find time to visit them. It wasn’t just the revelation of Monica’s pregnancy that they were in trouble for; it was also the trip to Amsterdam and the lack of action they took when Lacey left them.

The boys had quietly agreed with what they’d been told by the associate. Monica however kicked up quite a fuss about being ‘grounded’. The girls were happy to be away from her irritating presence, at least for a little while.

During a little coffee break between shopping, Lacey talked about the conversation she’d had with Steve about the possibility of Monica’s sonogram being fake. Jenny had announced that she agreed wholeheartedly with the idea that the ‘pregnancy’ might not be real.  Elena had added that she’d once seen a film where the girl had faked a pregnancy to gain something and used fake sonograms and a fake baby bump to help her.

The girls agreed that they would help Lacey and Steve uncover the truth about Monica. They hoped it didn’t seem a little paranoid or desperate that they’d band together just to prove that Monica was a liar.  There certainly was an element that hoped the ‘Monica pregnancy scenario’ was fake as it would make things a lot simpler.  The circumstances around her appearance, her attitude about her medical appointments, the non-involvement of anyone else and the dodgy sonogram were just some of the many things that didn’t add up.

Monica had been all for buying luxurious items for the baby’s arrival but on a closer look, she’d spent a minimal amount on the baby and far more on things for herself that she claimed to be ‘necessities’. Even Ollie had been flabbergasted when he found out that she’d spent nearly two grand on herself since being allowed access to Ollie’s accounts.

Monica’s lies seemed to be spiralling out of control. Steve had contacted Lacey while she was shopping to say that he’d traced the small smudged writing on the corner of Monica’s sonogram to a website where you could print off sonograms for information. That was in itself a strike against her. What they didn’t realise was that their mission to spy on Monica and find out the truth was going to become unnecessary.