Starstruck (25 page)

I
start to count the empty bottles of champagne but lose interest by the time I
reach number eight. Let’s just say there are lots. Ben is sleeping upright in
one of the big chairs with Carla sitting on his knee, who is also asleep with
her mouth wide open and her camera still in her hand. They look so cute
together – maybe I should take a photo?

Searching
through the piles of empty bottles, cans, glasses and random people, I look for
my handbag but I can’t find it anywhere. I’m going to have to look in the
bedrooms. I sneak into the nearest one. Eddie is in there with a girl either
side of him. He’s got an arm around each girl, and despite being asleep I could
swear he had a smile on his face. As I look for my bag, I considerately glance
around the room for his crutches but I don’t see them anywhere. I hesitate before
I walk into the next bedroom because Luke must be in here and I’m not sure I
want to see who he’s with. I’ll admit that I feel jealous, but I have a
boyfriend so I have no right to say anything. He can do what, or who, he likes,
I’d just rather turn a blind eye to it. I tell myself I am being stupid and
take a deep breath before opening the door. I don’t look at the bed and I won’t
unless I absolutely have to. I begin to search over the opposite side of the
room and it takes all my strength not to look behind me, but despite the huge
strain on my tired eyes I manage to resist. I spot my bag on top of a set of
draws and grab it a little over enthusiastically, knocking a lot of other stuff
onto the floor. With the curtains closed it is still quite dark in here, but
still I search the floor for the items I knocked over and being to pick them
up. I’m not sure why I’m doing this, because the entire suite is a total tip. A
little box hit the floor and its contents have spilled out at my feet. As I
start putting things back inside I realise what I am touching, even in this
poor light. I’ve watched enough episodes of The Bill to realise this is Luke’s
little drug box with all his various bits and pieces in – little bags of
powders and pills and some other things I don’t recognise. Just holding it in
my hands makes me feel sick and I quickly drop it.

‘Nicole?’
Is that you?’ Luke asks me. I suppose I’ll have to turn around now.

‘Good
morning,’ I say, trying not to sound suspicious. ‘I was just looking for
something. I found a bag.’ Why did I say that? ‘My bag, I mean. I found my bag.
The bathroom is in a bit of a state, I’m going to go downstairs and use the one
in the lobby, freshen up my make-up and stuff.’

‘I’ll
come with you. Wait there.’

Luke
slowly sits up and moans. ‘Shit, we really over did it last night, didn’t we?’

‘Just
a bit.’ I smile, although some of us over did it more than others in my
opinion.

Luke
stands up. He is wearing nothing but his underpants but it doesn’t take him
long to find his bag and put on some clean clothes.

‘Let’s
go, but don’t get too close, my breath stinks.’ He laughs, but I’ll keep my
distance just in case.

Once
we are in the bright light of the main room I can see how terrible he looks. I
mean I know I don’t look so hot this morning, but Luke looks really ill. His
skin is white and his bloodshot eyes are only made more obvious by the dark
circles below them.

‘You
ok?’ I ask him quietly as we walk through the sea of people towards the door.

‘This
hangover will go down in history.’ He laughs, before wincing and putting his
hand to his head.

‘Maybe
we should grab a coffee too, I think I need it.’

Having
made myself as presentable as possible (thank God I keep my make-up in my
handbag) I go to meet Luke in the bar. He is already there waiting for me with
two cups of coffee in front of him. As I sit down next to him he pushes one
towards me and I thank him.

‘Last
night. Oh man.’

‘I
know just what you mean,’ I reply. ‘How much do you remember?’

‘Not
nearly enough. How about you?’

‘I
only know the things I don’t remember,’ I tell him, and he looks confused.

‘How
do you mean?’

‘Well
I don’t remember taking my skirt off.’

‘I’m
sure I’d remember if you took your skirt off.’ He winks.

‘Honestly,
I woke up without it.’

‘Well
I don’t remember that, and for that I will never forgive myself.’

‘I
don’t even know what time it is,’ I suddenly realise outloud.

‘Wow,
it’s 11am,’Luke informs me after checking his phone. ‘And I have a few missed
calls from Mick.’

‘Oh
can you call him back? I really need my clothes! I smell like an alcoholic.’

‘I
know, it’s turning me on,’ he jokes. ‘But if you insist, I will call him.’

Mick
must have answered the phone after one ring, I think he’s been waiting for this
call.

‘Right,
he’s on the bus outside. He can bloody wait until we’ve finished these though.’

I
notice that Luke has nearly finished his coffee, whereas I have hardly touched
mine because it’s way too hot for me.

‘So
what’s the plan for today? Are you heading home?’ Luke asks me.

‘Yeah
I’m going to head over to the train station as soon as possible, hopefully
there will be a seat available.’

‘Last
minute on a Sunday? Good luck with that.’

He’s
right, it’s going to be a challenge but I’m sure they’ll be able to fit me on
one of them.

‘Well
if you can’t get a train you can always come and stay at mine.’

‘Thank
you, but if I’m not at work tomorrow I’ll be in serious trouble.’

‘And
you’re the boss?’

‘I’m
the boss.’

We
both laugh.

‘Well
the offer stands, if you need a place to stay just let me know.’

‘Thank
you,’ I tell him, squeezing his hand. I notice that Luke has finished his
coffee so I knock back the rest of mine.

‘Ready
to go?’ he asks.

As
we stand up I come over all dizzy and wobble on my feet slightly. Luke notices
and takes me by the arm.

‘You
ok, babe?’

‘Yeah,
just hung over. It will be a long time before I drink again,’ I tell him.

‘Of
course it will. Well I’ll keep hold of you just in case.’

We
walk arm in arm to the bus, where Mick is sitting in the doorway smoking a
cigarette.

‘Mick,’
Luke acknowledges him with a nod.

‘Hello,’
he says sheepishly. ‘I’ve had a call from the Simon at the record label...’

‘I
know,’ Luke interrupts him. ‘He called us last night, we celebrated without
you.’

‘And
don’t we know it,’ I add.

‘Brilliant,’
says Mick, standing up to let us on the bus. He is surprisingly quiet and I
wonder how his date went, but it’s not really my place to ask.

Once
on the bus I grab my clean clothes and a bottle of water from the fridge and
take them into the bathroom. I wash my face and brush my teeth properly using
the bottled water because the water from the bus taps always looks dirty. I
change my clothes and apply lots of make-up, but no amount of my Versace
perfume can truly cover the smell of champagne from my body. Still, it’s better
than smelling like beer I suppose.

I
always hate the last day of tour. I hate saying goodbye to everyone and hanging
around, waiting to go our separate ways. Usually I try and leave as soon as
possible, which is odd considering the reason I do it is because I wish I
didn’t have to.

Luke
is waiting for me in the living area.

‘I
might head over to the train station now, I’ll have a better chance of getting
a ticket.’

‘Yeah,
sure. Well it’s been great seeing you, it wouldn’t have been right without you
last night. I’m glad we’re ok.’

‘Me
too. I’d hate to think I might lose you as friend.’

Luke
stands up and I wrap my arms around him. He gives me a gentle kiss on the
cheek.

‘I’ll
miss you, though.’

‘I’ll
miss you too,’ I tell him, honestly. ‘But I’ll see you soon. Congratulations
again.’

‘Thanks.
Maybe you could come with us.’

‘Around
Europe? You don’t want me cramping your style,’ I tease.

‘It
wouldn’t be the same without you, you’ve been with us since the beginning.’

‘I’ll
think about it,’ I smile, unsure if he’s joking or not. ‘Say goodbye to the
guys for me. And Carla too, it was great to meet her.’

‘Yeah,
she’s a good girl.’

‘And
what am I?’

‘Bad
to the bone, Nurse Wilde,’ he tells me with a cheeky grin.

I
give him a little wave as I walk towards the door. As I step off the bus Mick
asks me if I am going.

‘I
am. I hope you had fun last night,’ I tell him, and for the first time I see manager
Mick actually blush. ‘See you next time.’

Not
only did I manage to get a train home, but I got to sit on an actual seat too.
Anyone who travels by train will know what a novelty an actual seat can be. I
turned up at the station and joined the queue at the ticket office straight
away. I was ecstatic when the woman working there told me that I could get a
seat on the next train - I wasn’t quite as happy when I saw the price. Still,
it’s better than hanging around.

I
thought about giving Charles a ring to see if he fancied meeting up, that way I
could see him and I wouldn’t have to kill time alone. It was probably for the
best that I didn’t, though. It’s way too early in the relationship for Charles
to see me looking how I looked this morning, I don’t think that the hung-over
look (complete with champagne-sticky skin) is one that a lot of men go wild for.

After
a nice long bath I am sitting on my sofa in my pyjamas, despite the fact that
it is only 6pm. To be fair, I didn’t get much sleep last night because we partied
until God knows what time and I didn’t get much the night before because
Charles was her and, well, we didn’t do much sleeping.

Speaking
of Charles, I’d better call him and let him know that I am home (and that I
went to London in the first place). I pick up my phone to call him but it rings
before I have the chance. It’s Emily.

‘London?’
she says as soon as I answer the phone.

‘I
see you have spoken to Jake,’ I reply with a giggle.

‘I
have, we went out for lunch today. Vicky too,’ she informs me. ‘He told me
everything! You and Charles... I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!’

Is
she mad at me? She sounds a little pissed off.

‘It
all happened so fast, Em.’

‘I
love that you bag yourself a boyfriend and then go off on tour with the band
that you are head groupie for.’

‘I
am not head groupie,’ I protest. ‘And just because I have a boyfriend, it
doesn’t mean I’m not going to stop touring. Why would I have to do that?’

‘Most
guys wouldn’t be happy about it,’ Emily informs me, before backtracking a
little. ‘You don’t have to stop, I was only joking.’

‘Let’s
hope I never have to choose between the two, eh?’

‘Yeah,
that boy would be out on his bottom.’

‘Speaking
of arses, have you got rid of Vicky yet?’

‘No.
You should have seen her face when Jake was telling us about you, Charles and
London. She couldn’t hide her jealousy.’

‘Why
does she hate me so much? I’m always nice to her, aren’t I?’

‘You
are always perfectly nice to her face.’

We
both laugh. Vicky would try the patience of a saint, but I could never be nasty
to her face and neither could Emily – that’s why she is still living at her
house.

‘I
think she likes you really.’

‘Why
would you think that?’ I ask, totally baffled.

‘She
is always asking me questions about you. She is really interested in everything
you’re doing.’

‘I’m
not convinced. If you like someone, you’re nice to them. I don’t think girls do
the whole treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen thing.’

‘You
gave her a chance, that’s all you can do. Not many people can see her good
side, but she is really quite sweet.’

Emily
really cannot see the bad in anyone. Vicky could kill a kitten, and Emily would
still think she was doing the right thing. Emily and I have so much in common,
it’s the reason we get on so well, but she is just way too trusting. I know
better, but I found out the hard way.

‘I’ll
be at work in the morning - on time,’ I tell her, optimistically.

‘What
a novel idea,’ she teases.

‘I
will,’ I insist. ‘I’m ready for bed now. I’m knackered.’

My
body must be listening to me, because I yawn right on cue, so we say goodbye.