A/N: This hasn't been edited yet, so pleasefeel free to point out any errors. I'm sorry if it feels a bit rushed too I really wanted to get this one finished. Dedicated to my newest reader niteowll43.
Hunky rock band bassist, James Burton was last night spotted dining at a Midtown Manhattan Italian Restaurant. The thirty-six year old star entered alone but was pictured getting into a cab with a mystery young woman at the end of the night. Fan Sophie Ericson was eating at the restaurant when she spotted her idol and said, ‘the girl approached his table and they left together.’
The unflattering picture printed underneath was one of me climbing into the cab, my bum practically on show in the loose skirt of my dress. The only person who could have taken that picture was the guy whose taxi we had stolen. And I supposed this was his revenge.
I scrunched yesterday’s newspaper page up into a ball and held it in my hand like I was going to use it as a weapon if things got really bad.
Nova gave me a sugary-sweet smile. “So how exactly are you going to explain this?” She had of course read the stories and used what information she already knew, or thought she knew, about James to hold against me.
“I don’t have to explain anything to you.” I tilted my chin up an inch so she could see that I wasn’t scared of her.
“That might not work with Ethan though.”
Ethan. I still hadn’t had chance to talk to him. But I knew that Nova would have shoved every newspaper story she could find under his nose and injected her poison. I’d come to the conclusion that she wanted me to stay away from him because she wanted him for herself.
“What have you told him?” I asked in a bored tone as though I didn’t care in the slightest what damage she might have done.
She leaned closer to me across the reception desk where she was supposedly working. “Everything I know.”
Truthfully, I was a little scared about what Nova might have said. If I couldn’t convince Ethan that she was wrong then I didn’t have hope that I would forget about James and get on with my life. I felt like I needed Ethan to do that.
Today was Monday, the day of Marigold’s audition and the day that would ascertain how realistic her plans to switch continent were. I’d already decided that the best thing to do was to concentrate on Ethan and think more seriously about my career options in America. Now all I needed to do was figure out if that was what I really wanted.
I tossed the newspaper ball down so it rolled across the desk and walked away without saying anything else. I could almost hear Nova smirking with satisfaction behind me.
Ethan didn’t answer when I tried to call him which was worrying, but then I remembered that he was probably in one of his college classes. It was barely lunchtime and I had nothing to do. My mum was up in the hotel room under Vile Bruno’s instructions and Anika was with them, apparently helping her to keep practising her lines. Like I had predicted, he had been behind their disappearance yesterday. My weak sister had crumbled and was trying get along with Bruno for Marigold’s sake, even though I knew all she really wanted was for our parents to patch things up.
Just before I could slip my phone back into the pocket of my thin grey jacket, it started to ring. I thought it was Ethan calling me back but I was surprised to find my dad on the other end of the line.
“Where are you?” he asked without even a word of greeting.
“Just about to go out,” I lied, hoping that he didn’t want to see me since James seemed to follow him everywhere.
“Good,” he replied, “I’ll hail you a cab.”
I headed outside so that I could hear him better and ask him what the hell he was talking about. A yellow taxi sped down the road, ignoring a man who was flapping his arms trying to get it to stop. I laughed at the comical scene before I realised what I was seeing. The man turned round, clutching an iphone to his ear. The iphone that it was a wonder he even knew how to make calls on. My dad saw me leaning against the wall and started towards me with a bright smile on his face. I couldn’t see until he moved but there was someone else behind him. Karyn. She ran to me, reaching me before my dad could and throwing her arms around me, almost engulfing me in her long black cardigan.
“Karyn!” I screamed when we separated, looking between her and my dad. “What are you doing here?”
“You said you missed her, remember? You told me on Saturday night.”
I’d already accepted that most of my memories from Saturday night were never going to come back to me so I definitely did not recall any conversation with my father where I even mentioned my friends or anything else from back home. The thought of how drunk I’d really been scared me when I had such a big secret to keep. Alcohol tended to make me extremely talkative.
“Your dad got me a ticket over here, Cady! Isn’t that cool?” Karyn jumped up and down like an excited child.
I looked back at him, unsure what to say. He’d always been one for big gestures. Lavish gifts, surprise birthday parties, flying my best friend halfway across the world.
“Where are you going to stay?” I asked Karyn, hoping that someone had thought of the practicalities.
“Well, I did want to get her in here.” My dad gestured up at Crystals Hotel behind us. “But they were full so she’s kind of unofficially going to be staying over at our place with Monica.”
“It’s going to be fun,” Karyn insisted. “I’ve already planned for us to go shopping today and then maybe some sightseeing tomorrow? I know you said you’d done all that with Anika but there’s plenty left to see.”
It was nice to hear Karyn’s rambling voice again, something I knew I’d miss if I chose New York over Birmingham.
“Where did you have in mind for this shopping trip?” I asked her.
Three hours later, Karyn had gone back to the Upper East Side hotel and I was back at Crystals, heading up to the suite with bags full of 5th Avenue purchases. If I had timed it right, my mum would be at her audition. What I hadn’t considered was Ethan starting his shift.
He gave me a fleeting look as I walked into the lobby. Nova was busy talking to a woman so at least she couldn’t do anything to stop me. I walked right up to him, not giving him the chance to say anything or go anywhere.
“I’m sorry about our date,” I began plainly. I didn’t know exactly what he had heard about James and what I needed to do to fix it.
Ethan tugged on the shiny crimson waistcoat that was part of his uniform. “I thought I might have heard from you sooner.”
“I know. I’m sorry about that too.” I stared down at the marble floor he had been polishing.
“I didn’t know what to think, Cady. This James guy shows up and it was like you didn’t want to be there with me anymore. And then there are all these stories about the two of you leaving together. Tell me the truth, who is James Burton?”
“I told you, he’s friends with my dad. He invited himself on our date because he thought he was protecting me. I just talked to him about it and told him to leave me alone.”
Ethan approached his next question with some apprehension, “I know things are tough with you being in the public eye in England but I found some stuff on the Internet…something about you and him.”
“You found it?” I glanced across at Nova who was fortunately still busy. “She didn’t show it to you, then?”
“She read the stories too. She just thought I should know about it.” Ethan slipped his hands into the pockets of his trousers, caught out. But then maybe I should have been the one who felt caught out. All I felt was anger that Nova was so desperate to take Ethan and the chance I had of starting a new life away from me.
“Do you believe it?”
Ethan shrugged and looked away. I could tell that he was the sort of person who hated confrontation, whereas I loved to win an argument.
I reached out and touched his arm. “I’m complicated and dramatic,” I stated, “but if you want to try again for that date, you’ve got my number.”
He didn’t say anything else and I didn’t think there was any need for me to, so I left and called the elevator. Just before the doors shut, I saw the woman walk away from the reception desk and I shot Nova a fierce smile. I might not have won yet but at least I was back in the running.
With no one else about in the room (I guessed Anika must have gone along to the audition too) I put away my new things- some clothes for me and souvenirs for people back home. It was early afternoon and I had more than an hour until I had arranged to meet Karyn for lunch and a walk in Central Park, so I made myself a soft drink and sat out on the balcony, taking in the vibrant scenes of New York below me and waiting for Ethan to text me like one of those pathetic girls.
By the time Karyn and I were seated in a tiny little Bleecker Street café, I’d got my wish. Bleecker Street was in Greenwich Village and nowhere near Central Park but Karyn had insisted that we eat out ‘somewhere cultured’.
“What are you smiling about?” she grinned at me from across the round iron table that wouldn’t have looked out of place in a garden.
I decided that I should tell her about Ethan and the date he’d just invited me on, omitting the part about James.
Karyn clapped her hands in delight and prodded me for more information. When she was satisfied with what I’d told her, she leaned closer to me and adjusted her thick black-framed glasses. “So you’re thinking about sticking with New York, then?”
“We’ll see how things work out,” I responded without really giving an answer because I honestly didn’t have one. And I only had three more days before our flight home.
After our walk, we said goodbye and arranged to meet again for dinner. For some reason, Karyn wanted to go out to eat somewhere with my dad and the band before their gig but I managed to convince her that we should go with my mum instead. It meant putting up with Vile Bruno but at least I wouldn’t have to see James.
The three of them were back when I got up to the suite. Mum, her tight-suit-wearing agent, and Anika were all sitting squashed up on the end of her bed. I could tell from the silence in the room that something bad had happened. It reminded me of coming back to find out that my mum had been having an affair.
“So…how did it go?” I asked slowly, picking up that whatever was going on was to do with her audition.
“I didn’t get it,” Marigold stated.
I was hit with a sinking feeling. If she hadn't got the part then maybe we weren’t going to move here. Maybe I did need to think about what I was going to do when we got home.