I wouldn’t be able to forget how quickly everyone turned on me though. The whole world hated me just because I was dating Cole Newton and they would surely do it again if I put one foot out of place.
We left the palace right on time, as the tour manager, Scott, directed. He was a highly strung kind of a guy. He drank way too much coffee which only made the situation worse. I tried to avoid him as much as possible, pretending to be invisible in his presence. Cole liked him and the band needed someone to keep them out of trouble, so he probably had a good reason to be on edge.
I was dropped off at the hotel as the boys went on for their media appearances. I didn’t need to attend those, it was normally the only time I got to spend by myself.
In the few times I had been left to my own devices, I usually remained in the hotel. I didn’t have enough guts to leave the place and venture out on my own. We were in a new country nearly every day and I didn’t speak any language other than English. I pictured myself getting lost or kidnapped, never to be seen again.
My laundry was all done and I wasn’t hungry, so I switched on the television set in my room and flicked through, trying to find something I understood. It looked like the international news channels were my only options. I kept channel surfing anyway, hoping for something better.
When I saw faces I recognized, I stopped. It was a live talk show, beamed directly from downtown Copenhagen. Cole, Nick, Reed, Luke, and Dylan were all being interviewed by a hyped up male presenter. He would have fit perfectly as a game show host with his fake smile and big hair.
They covered the topics of the tour, what the boys were planning for the show, and what they thought about the country. It was all pretty standard from what I gathered after reading hundreds of Two Dimension interviews. I still hadn’t admitted to Cole what a super fan I was. That would only be embarrassing.
The cheesy host turned to Cole next, looking at him purposefully, like he was up to something. “Now, Cole, you are the only one in the group with a girlfriend. Tell us about your girl,” he said in a thick accent. It wasn’t true, Nick had a girlfriend too but nobody outside the group knew about her.
Cole didn’t skip a beat, even though my heart did. “She’s a really great person, beautiful too. I’m very lucky to have her.”
“Aww, that’s nice. Is it difficult being in a relationship when you are travelling so much?”
“It can be, but we make it work. If you want something bad enough, you’ll do anything to keep it.” Now it was my turn to aww. I knew Cole was being sincere, he wasn’t making it up for the benefit of the audience. I knew him well enough to know when he was lying.
“That’s true,” the presenter continued.
“We all love Melrose too, so we like having her around,” Luke added. Even that was sweet, especially coming from Luke, I didn’t think he cared that much.
“So she won’t be the Yoko Ono that breaks up Two Dimension?” The presenter flashed his cheesy smile again.
The boys all laughed, leaving Cole to actually answer. “Mel definitely doesn’t want us to break up and we couldn’t do it anyway. We’re all brothers.” The audience clapped and cheered from off camera.
“I think we’re all happy to hear that.”
The conversation steered around to their latest single before they performed it for the live audience. I flicked off when they started interviewing a guy in a pink glittery onesie who only spoke Danish.
Looking around the room, it would still be a few hours before the boys returned and I could spend some time with Cole. I pulled out my laptop and went through their website, commenting back on any fan questions I could.
I continued doing my duties until it was morning in Meadowbrook and I could Skype with my sister Jemma. I knew she would be online, it was part of our routine to talk every single day – just like I promised before I left.
The nine year old answered my call happily, her cheerful face filled the screen. “Hi, Melly!”
“Hey, Jem. How’s it going?” I tried to match her enthusiasm.
“Good. Daddy and I went to the movies today. I wished you were there, you would have laughed so hard. What did you do today?”
“I met a real prince and princess.” The shocked look on her face was enough to perk me up instantly. It made the sadness of our separation worth it.
“Really?” She gasped.
“Really. We had tea and cucumber sandwiches together. I’ll send you the photos I took.”
“Were they nice?”
I nodded. “They were really nice, just like you would expect royalty to be.” Before she could think of a million questions to ask about them, I changed the subject as time was of the essence on the call. “Is Dad going okay? He’s been looking after you?”
She grinned, God only knew what that meant they had gotten up to. “We had ice cream for dinner last night and eggs for breakfast. It was really yummy.” At least one of her two meals was sensible, that meant she was eating well half the time.
“That’s great. Remember to take your vitamins.” I’d left her with as many nutritious things as I could before leaving. It didn’t allay my guilt about it though.
We talked for another half hour before having to say our goodbyes. It always felt bittersweet saying goodbye to Jemma. I missed her terribly, but I was also enjoying myself so much that I didn’t want to think of all the problems back home.
Chapter Two
“Come on, one more photo. Smile.”
“No, enough,” I giggled. Cole already had enough photos of me posing in front of the Eiffel Tower. I turned the camera back on him, snapping pictures of him taking photos of me.
He got the hint and slid his phone into his pocket. He rushed at me, throwing an arm around my waist and taking me in a bear hug. I couldn’t stop giggling, not even gasping for breath could stop me.
“I will never have enough photos of you,” Cole whispered in my ear as he finally let me go. I took deep breaths, trying to re-inflate my lungs.
We stared into each other’s eyes, calming down from the madness. I couldn’t speak for Cole but I was dizzy with excitement and love – feelings I always seemed to experience when Cole was around. He affected me in ways I never thought another human being could.
The other band members were all doing their own thing in a rare afternoon off. Cole and I were sightseeing, it was my first time in Paris, Cole’s third. He knew all the good spots to go to so he was acting as my personal tour guide.
Although, our eyes tended to be looking at each other most of the time instead of the sights. I made sure to take the obligatory photographs of everything to send back to Jemma and Dallas. My best friend would be so jealous of what I was doing.
“What’s next on the list?” I asked, remembering we were on a timer. The boys had a show that night, we couldn’t waste too much time. I doubted I would ever be able to return to Paris to see the things I missed.
Cole consulted his map. “The Arc De Triomphe. You up for a walk?”
“I’ve got my walking shoes on.”
“Perfect.” He linked his hand through mine, entwining our fingers together. He wore a fedora hat and sunglasses which seemed to disguise his true identity quite well. So far, only a handful of people had given him a second look. Nobody had dared approach to ask him if he was the one and only Cole Newton.
We strolled the streets in the city of romance without a care in the world. We probably looked like two lovestruck teenagers, which is exactly what we were. To me, it didn’t matter that Cole was a megastar, he was my Cole. The sweetest guy in the world – and the world’s best kisser.
“Can you see the arch?” He pointed between two buildings in the distance. I could faintly make out a square structure between them. It didn’t look as tall as I thought it would.
“It looks kind of small.”
“Wait until you get closer,” he urged. We picked up the pace a little, the anticipation making our feet move faster. Before too long, we were standing ac
ross the street from the real Arc De Triomphe.
It was beautiful in its grandness. The Arc stood in the middle of a roundabout, hundreds of cars darting around it in a loud, noisy dance. But the cars weren’t driving to any road rules I knew, they were literally going wherever they liked.
“This is chaos,” I muttered. “How does anyone get there?” If we were planning on crossing the street to get to the Arc De Triomphe, it would be like having a death wish. And I really didn’t want to die by being run over in Paris.
Cole laughed. “There’s an underground walkway for pedestrians. We could find it... or we could drink a hot chocolate in the café and watch other people try to dodge the traffic.”
“Sounds good to me.” I found us a table as Cole went inside to do the ordering. People didn’t seem to mind his terrible attempts at speaking French, especially if they were of the female variety. I let him do the ordering no matter where we went for the same reason.
He joined me shortly afterwards, placing two steaming hot mugs of cocoa on the table. They even had pink marshmallows peeking out of the foam.
“You must have flirted with the girl,” I said. He looked confused. “The marshmallows. I bet you didn’t even have to ask for them.”
His sheepish face told me the answer. “Maybe they give them to everyone?”
“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes. Not that I minded the way Cole had every girl he met going weak at the knees. Sort of. Okay, it did bug me a little. But only because he was mine and I wanted it to stay that way. No matter how many times he said he loved me, I couldn’t help feel a bit self-conscious.
“Beanie guy at two o’clock,” Cole said, nodding at a man on the sidewalk.
“He’s an artist, twenty-four years old, and lives with his parents,” I guessed. It was a game we started playing, I’m not sure how it even began. One of us would point out an interesting looking person and the other had to guess what their life was like. We never got to know the truth, of course, but it was fun anyway.
“Plus, he’s in love with his next door neighbor.”
“Which is the reason why he doesn’t move out into an apartment of his own,” I finished.
Cole held up his hand, I hit his high-five with satisfaction. We were a good team, it was official. I felt like tweeting that fact. If it wouldn’t attract hate, I might have done.
I took a sip of the hot chocolate, it was made with real chocolate. I could have married that drink it was so awesome. “This is crazy good.”
“You’re crazy good,” Cole shot back with a smile. I leaned across and planted a kiss on his lips. He tasted like the chocolate, it was possibly the yummiest kiss I had ever had. I went back for seconds.
“Oh my God, it’s Cole Newton!” A girl with a distinctly American accent said loud enough for everyone to turn and stare at her. They quickly followed the point of her finger and turned to us.
“Uh-oh,” I sighed.
“Good thing I got to-go cups,” Cole mumbled, replacing the lid on his drink. I followed suit and we picked them up to disappear into the crowd.
Except we weren’t quick enough. The girl caught up to us, grabbing Cole’s shoulder hard enough to tug him around. “Can I get a picture with you? Please? I’m like your biggest fan. I love you so much.”
He gave me an apologetic look before I took his hot chocolate from him. I stood back while the girl got her photo, making sure her arm was around Cole’s neck so he had no choice except to squish cheeks with her.
A crowd quickly formed as the word spread. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by people all wanting their piece of Cole. He was swallowed by them, so deep I lost sight of him.
I panicked, he needed rescuing. We should have brought security along instead of insisting we’d be fine. My heart raced as I searched for a police officer. I had seen plenty walking around before and now there were none in sight. They were like working pens, never around when you needed one but in their hundreds when you didn’t.
I finally spotted a pair on the corner and ran for them. “Excuse me, I, uh.” What was the French word for help? Celebrity trapped? Fan frenzy? I had no idea. I stuck with English and hoped for the best. “My friend needs help. He’s a celebrity and his fans are mobbing him.”
They didn’t seem to understand, only adding to my panic. I pointed to the crowd of people only getting bigger down the street. “Help.” That made them move. The pair took off and caught up with the mob before I could. They started pulling people back and restoring order.
I stood by the edge, hoping Cole would emerge unscathed. His fans meant well, they never intended to hurt him. But in their frenzy to get what they wanted, sometimes they forgot he was a real human being.
The larger of the two police officers reached into the middle of the people. When he emerged, Cole was gripped in his hands by the shoulder. He dragged him out, pushing the enthusiastic girls out of the way.
I hurried over and scanned Cole for injuries. “Are you okay?” He didn’t seem to be bleeding anywhere. His face was red and he had a few scratches but that appeared to be the extent of the damage. He would live to see another day.
“I’m fine, just need to catch my breath.” The police stood next to him, one at either side as the girls all huddled around together watching. They were still clutching their phones and cameras.
One of the officers pulled us back into the café where we had the hot chocolates. They acted as a shield, giving Cole some privacy. The girl behind the counter hurried over with a glass of water for him.
“Merci,” he muttered, accepting the glass and downing it. “I’m seriously okay. It was just a bit hot in the middle of everyone. Thanks for getting me out.” He addressed both the police and I, although I wasn’t sure how much his rescuers understood.
They waited another few minutes before leaving us alone. They shooed the remaining crowd away so the street went back to business as usual again.
“Excusi moi.” The waitress was back. “Uh, comment dites-vous? Back… door.” She pointed to the back of the café, the part reserved for staff only.
“Back door?” I asked, just to make sure we understood each other. That was kind of a miracle. “We can leave by the back door? Uh… sortie back door?” I’d seen the word ‘sortie’ on all the neon green exit signs, I figured that might be the word I needed.
She nodded happily and started walking toward the back area. We followed, relieved to be able to disappear in case the girls were waiting just around the corner.
We thanked the waitress again, at least we knew the word for that. Weaving through the small alleyways, we emerged on an unfamiliar street.
“Do you want to go back to the hotel?” I asked. Considering Cole had nearly suffocated, I guessed he would prefer to stay away from the public for the rest of the afternoon.
Cole shook his head, furrowing his brow. “No way. We’re in Paris, that doesn’t happen every day. There is still so much I want to show you.”
“But people are going to recognize you.”
His frown turned into a cheeky grin. “Then we’re going to have to hide better. And I know exactly how to do that. Come on.”
He grabbed my hand and I trailed after him. It was useless to argue, and I really wanted to see the rest of the city.
Cole’s big plan was revealed when we hopped on a double decker tour bus. The giant red thing had an open top and took us everywhere we needed to see – all without having to move from our seats.
I spent the afternoon cuddled up next to Cole, his arm around me as I took pictures of the sights. He would sometimes point out a landmark and tell me a funny story about what he and the band got up to there. They seemed a bit better behaved on this tour. I wondered if it was because I was with them. I hoped not, I didn’t want to be accused of killing their spirit.
After doing the loop of the city a few times, we got off on the stop closest to the Eiffel Tower. Our hotel was only across the street, making it nice and convenient to get back.
We had to cross underneath the huge steel structure, the lights were already starting to come on as the sun began its descent down to the horizon.
A carousel was just starting up its lights for the evening, they flickered on while we watched. “Want to go for a ride?” Cole asked.
“We don’t have time. You need to get to the arena or Two Dimension will be one band member short,” I reminded him. Someone had to keep an eye on the time and Cole had a habit of forgetting to.
Instead of jumping on a horse, we watched as a few Parisian children rode the carousel. Their little faces were so happy, I couldn’t help but giggle as I watched them.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cole crouch down and pick something up off the ground. He held it up to the light, squinting. It was a necklace, a beautiful ruby set in the middle of a gold heart.
“Someone must have lost this. I’ll go hand it in.” I nodded and he left. My attention went back to the kids as they went around and around, their smiles never leaving their cute little round faces.
It wasn’t long before Cole returned, necklace still in hand. “They won’t take it. I tried giving it to the carousel owner, the police, and the guy from tourist information. Nobody will take it.”
“That’s a shame, it’s pretty.”
“Well, Miss Morgan, it is your lucky day.” He moved behind me and pulled my hair away from my neck. Before I could stop him, he clasped the necklace around me. His gentle fingers sent a shiver down my spine when he brushed my skin.
“It’s not mine, Cole. I can’t accept it.”
“I tried giving it away, nobody wanted to take it. I can’t just leave it on the ground, it’ll end up in the drain,” he insisted. “Plus, it looks really nice on you.”
It was pretty, and the chances of its real owner coming back to find it was very slim. I didn’t get a chance to wrangle with my guilt any longer as I caught a glimpse of my watch. We were already late for the concert.
The Star Kissed Collection Page 15
