by Hannah Ellis
“We’re not supposed to talk about the fame stuff,” Chrissie chastised him. “Lucy’s only had abuse.”
“Oh yeah, shit. Sorry. They made you look a right tool, didn’t they?”
We all stared at him, speechless at his tactless comment. I ruffled his hair and laughed at him before taking a swig of my beer.
“It’s actually very weird being a celebrity,” Kelly told us. “I was working last night and a guy asked me to sign his bum so he could get it tattooed!”
“No way!” I laughed at her. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I was there!” Margaret said. “He was fairly inebriated but he did ask.”
“What did you say?” I asked.
“I took his pen and signed his forehead. Told him he could go and get that made permanent if he wanted!”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“I swear, I’m telling the truth. We couldn’t stop laughing. It’s so much fun working there now. Especially since it seems to be optional. There’s no way I’m getting fired anytime soon. The place is packed. It’s the same here.”
Dylan brought our food through and sat and chatted to us for a while. The bar was busy, he told us, so he had to keep going to check everything was going okay, but he’d keep nipping back to hang out with us whenever he could.
“You all right?” he asked, pulling up a stool next to me.
“Yes, I’m much better now,” I told him while the others chatted among themselves. “Did you know about the cameras the whole time?”
“No.” His forehead wrinkled as he frowned. “I was suspicious but I only really figured it out that night in the restaurant when I spoke to you about it.”
“I can’t believe Ryan didn’t tell us,” I said, loud enough for him to hear.
“I already explained,” Ryan said with a sigh. “Jessica made me promise not to say anything, and she can be quite persuasive when she wants to be. And, actually, I thought it was fun that you didn’t know.”
“Thanks, Ryan!” I said sarcastically.
“Dylan!” Jack put his head around the door. “I need you out here. They’re asking for a song!”
“They can dream on,” he said, standing to leave. “Make sure you eat everything,” he instructed, indicating my plate of fish and chips, which I’d only picked at. “I don’t want you fading away on me!”
“Yes, boss!” I replied, smiling.
I picked at a few more chips and then pushed the plate to one side.
“You’ll end up drunk,” Ryan warned me. “You’re a lightweight at the best of times, and drinking on an empty stomach is asking for trouble!”
“Too late!” I told him and raised my drink to his.
“Just don’t expect me to carry you home,” he said. “There are a lot of women after my body out there!”
I took a long drink of beer. “They only love you because you were on TV.”
“Fine by me!” he said.
“Shall we play pool again?” Chrissie asked. “You might be better now you’re a bit tipsy, Lucy!”
“Go on then.” I stood and turned to see Matt, framed by the back door. It was probably the beer, but the sight of him made me really emotional.
“Well, this is awkward,” he said. “It’s my crazy stalker!”
Tears sprang to my eyes and he strode across the room to give me one of his big bear hugs. “Where’ve you been hiding?” he asked as he lifted me off my feet. I couldn’t find my voice, and I buried my head in his neck as sobs shook my body. “It’s all fine,” he reassured me. “You’ll be okay.”
“I know,” I sniffed into his shoulder. “Sorry!”
“It’s fine. I’ve had a few tears on your behalf too! Don’t let it get to you. Let’s get drunk and pretend we’re in Spain with you trying to seduce me again!”
“In your dreams.” I laughed and wiped the tears from my face.
Then there was another voice from the back door. I glanced over to see Adam and Carl watching me.
“Hi.” I attempted a smile and turned away to wipe my face with my sleeve.
“Are you okay?” Adam asked, appearing by my side.
“Yeah.” I looked around to see everyone staring at me. “I’m fine!”
“Some people had a go at her in the bar,” Chrissie explained. “One woman threatened to hit her.”
“Seriously?” Adam asked, wrapping me in a hug. “People are idiots. Don’t let it get to you.”
“What’s going on?” Dylan asked when he came back in. “Look at the state of you.” He walked over and wiped the tears from my cheeks. “Only one thing for it … let’s all get drunk!” He moved behind the bar and lined up a row of shot glasses before pouring some golden liquid into each of them for us.
“Don’t ask if I’m okay!” I warned Carl when he came and put an arm around my shoulder, giving me a squeeze. “I’m a bit drunk and an emotional wreck. You’ll set me off again!”
“I wasn’t going to!” he told me as we took our shots. “You’re a tough ’un. You’ll be fine.”
“I will.” I told him. “It’s weird seeing you without a camera.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, beaming. “I’m rigged with a hidden one!”
Chapter 29
“You haven’t told me about your date today,” Chrissie whispered when Adam headed for the bathroom.
“It was good,” I told her. “We went to his house. And no, he’s not rich. It was nice. We had lunch … Actually, it was a bit weird, but we ended up having coffee with his mum.”
“What?” Matt leaned in to join the conversation. He was sitting next to Chrissie and had been pretending not to listen. Kelly and Margaret had gone through to the bar to do a bit of mingling, and Carl and Ryan were experimenting with mixing cocktails behind our private bar. “You met his parents?” Matt asked. “On your first date?”
“Yeah. His mum, anyway.”
“He took you to meet his mum on your first date?” he asked again.
“He didn’t take me to meet her. We just bumped into her.”
“Hmm.” Matt looked dubious. “But he lives in a little village, right? So it wasn’t a big surprise that you saw his mum?”
“What’s your point?” I sighed.
“Well, I just don’t understand why anyone would do that … unless …” He smiled to himself.
“What?” Chrissie demanded.
“I’m just wondering if Adam might be a genius,” Matt mused.
“What are you talking about?” Chrissie asked.
“Nothing. Never mind. Carry on talking. Pretend I’m not here!” He moved away slightly and picked up his pint so I turned back to Chrissie and ignored him.
“What’s his mum like?” Chrissie asked.
“Really nice,” I told her. “She invited me to go up and have dinner at their place sometime.”
“Yep,” Matt slipped back into the conversation. “The guy’s a genius!”
“Seriously?” Chrissie snapped at him. “What are you talking about?”
“He knew you’d end up meeting his mum,” Matt told me with the tone of a detective uncovering the truth. “He had it all planned!”
“No, he didn’t,” I protested.
“That’s the most elaborate seduction plan I’ve ever heard of,” Matt said through a grin. “It was risky, but it seems like it might just pay off. I love that guy!”
“Will you shut up?” Chrissie laughed at him. “You’re such an idiot.”
“I’ll have to high-five him,” Matt announced. “He’s my hero. He’s coming. I’m high-fiving him!”
“Don’t you dare!” I hissed. “Don’t say anything.”
“What’s so funny?” Adam asked when he came back to sit with us.
“Nothing.” I took his hand as he sat on the stool next to me.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Matt began. “My mum wants to meet you all. She’s invited everyone over for a barbecue on Friday.”
“Did I miss the joke?” Adam asked when C
hrissie and I burst out laughing.
“Not really.” I squeezed his hand.
“What’s so funny?” Matt said.
“Your mum has really invited us all over?” Chrissie asked.
“Yep. She wants to meet everyone. She’s been obsessed with the show and is excited about having a houseful of celebrities.”
“It sounds fun, actually,” I told him.
“Just one problem, Lucy. You might have to sit in the car and I’ll bring you a hot dog … Mum’s not your biggest fan. She specifically said not to invite the crazy girl who threw poor Chrissie in the pool. Sorry!”
“Shut up! That’s mean. Did she really say that?”
“Nah,” he grinned. “Maybe!”
I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment.
“I’m joking!” he said. “Get over it already!”
“Shall I hit him for you?” Chrissie asked.
“Yes, please!”
“I’m just having a bit of fun.” Matt laughed. “Let’s change the subject then and go back to Adam and his elaborate seduction technique. I cannot believe you took Lucy to meet your mum!”
I hid my face in my hands again. “Your boyfriend’s annoying,” I told Chrissie out of the corner of my mouth.
“You told them that was an elaborate seduction technique?” Adam asked. “Why would you say that? Surely there’s a man code about that sort of stuff?”
“So he’s right?” I asked. “It was all part of an evil plan?”
“Yes!” he replied. “No. I’m kidding. It definitely wasn’t a plan. Not an evil plan, anyway!”
I gave him a friendly shove and he glanced at Matt. “I can’t believe you said that! I think we need to have a chat over a game of pool.” He gave me a quick kiss as he stood up, and my stomach fluttered.
“Anyway,” Matt said, grinning as he got up. “I’d still like to high-five you if that’s okay?”
Adam shook his head and bumped shoulders with Matt when he headed for the pool table. He passed Matt a cue and then winked at me.
I turned to Chrissie with a sigh. “I like him so much.”
Chapter 30
“The room is spinning,” I told Chrissie as I looked up at my bedroom ceiling.
“It was a fun night, though,” she remarked, getting into bed beside me. “Looks like you and Adam are getting on well. I saw you kissing him.”
“I saw you kissing Matt,” I retorted.
“Yeah …” She laughed.
“And he didn’t look too happy when you said you were going to stay here with me.” We’d been standing outside the pub when Chrissie announced that she missed our night-time chats and was coming home with me.
“No, I don’t think he was too impressed.” She hesitated. “I slept at his place the last two nights.”
“Really?” I said. “You kept that quiet.”
“I know. I don’t know if we’re rushing things a bit.”
“It’s not that fast,” I told her. “You’ve known him a week and a half now, haven’t you?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds terrible!”
“But?” I asked, turning on my side and pulling the bedding up to my chin.
“But it feels like I’ve known him for years. It doesn’t feel too fast; it feels … right.”
“It does seem like we’ve all known each other for a long time. I can’t believe that ten days ago none of us had met.”
“And he’s such a nice guy. He’s so sweet.” She had a lovesick grin on her face, and it made me smile.
“Aww, you love him!” I teased.
“Shut up!”
“He is lovely, though, if slightly annoying!” I said. “I think you’ve got yourself a keeper.”
“I hope so,” she said, shifting to get comfy. “I still can’t believe you met Adam’s mum.”
“I know; he swore it wasn’t planned.”
He’d seemed quite embarrassed about it in the pub.
“Anyway, you’ll be meeting Matt’s parents on Friday,” I told her.
“That’s true.”
***
Although I tried to lead Chrissie astray, I couldn’t convince her to skip work in favour of keeping me company for the day. We ate a breakfast of tea and toast together and, as she left, she told me to turn my phone on.
I did as I was told and plugged my phone in next to my bed, making myself comfortable while I settled down to listen to voicemails and read through texts. I was amused by a few messages from Matt. In one message he asked if we were playing hide and seek again, and told me I was winning. He’d sent another one immediately after that, saying they’d been checking all the cupboards and couldn’t find me, then had sent one to say that Adam had turned up and I was nowhere in sight so they were out of ideas.
I laughed out loud when I listened to a voicemail of the gang, in the pub, telling me how much they missed me. Then my heart started to race at the sound of Adam’s voice on the next message. It was short and sweet, saying he hoped I was okay and to call him when I got his message. I was tempted to do just that, until I remembered the message was days old. I pressed a button to listen to it again, enjoying the sound of his voice.
I’d just put the phone down and was staring at it when it rang, making me jump.
“You finally switched it on,” Adam said. “So you’re having a productive day so far?”
“It was top of my list of things to do today.”
“What’s next?”
“That was the whole list. It’s been a successful day!”
“Good. Can I tempt you away from your apartment, then?”
“I don’t think I can be seen in public,” I told him.
“What if I promise we won’t see anyone?”
“I could probably be persuaded.” I smiled into the phone.
“Great. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
***
“You were lucky I chose sensible footwear.” I took Adam’s outstretched hand as I moved cautiously over the boulder-ridden stretch of path beside the stream. Thankfully the path evened out ahead.
“Erm …” He paused, his mouth twitching into a smile.
“You think I don’t own anything other than sensible shoes?”
“I really wouldn’t like to comment.” The path opened out, leaving room for us to walk comfortably side by side.
“Just so you know, I have some really wild shoes in my wardrobe.” I’m not sure why I felt the need to lie about this, especially since the look on his face made it clear that Adam neither believed me, nor cared about my shoe collection. “Honestly, I have some heels you wouldn’t believe … They’re like this …” I stretched out my index finger and thumb as wide as possible, shrinking the distance slightly to try to make it more believable. He smiled, pressing my finger and thumb closer together. “Okay.” I stopped him when the gap was about half an inch. “I have some really hot flats though! And really strong, healthy feet … I might stop talking now …”
“That would make a change.”
“I don’t talk much,” I protested.
“Yeah, I think you’ve told me that a few times.”
“I’ll be quiet then.” I pouted. He smirked, and we walked in silence for a while. It took a concerted effort not to speak, which was strange because I’d genuinely never considered myself much of a talker. With Adam, I relaxed and felt like I could talk to him all day, about anything that sprang to mind. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“Wow, that was almost a full two minutes,” he joked, glancing at his watch. “Just for a walk,” he told me. “It’s hard to know where to go on a date if we’re limited to places where no one else will be.”
“So this is a date, is it?”
“Yes,” he said, a look of amusement on his face. “Or have I misread things?”
“No,” I told him, stopping to take a seat on a boulder at the edge of the stream. “I don’t think you misread anything.” Just then, the sun came through the clouds, making
kaleidoscopic patterns as it streamed through the tree branches.
Adam pulled off his shoes and socks and walked into the middle of the stream, moving carefully over the rocks underfoot. “Can I hazard a guess and say you don’t date much?”
I smiled and suddenly felt that I could tell Adam anything. “I had a rebellious phase when I was fifteen and dated Paul Green.” ‘No’ would probably have sufficed, but I really did seem to be developing a problem with talking too much. “He was two years older than me, and a goth! He wore way more make-up than me and rarely spoke, which I always found to be a good thing. Occasionally, he’d take me to McDonald’s or to the cinema, but mostly we just hung out in the park or in bus shelters. Thankfully none of my family paid any attention to my little rebellion, so I gave him up pretty quickly.”
“I’ll be honest.” Adam eyed me from the middle of the stream. “I was expecting you to get all embarrassed and clam up.”
“You’re the one who said I talk a lot,” I reminded him. “I’m just trying to live up to your expectations. You’ll have to listen to the entire dating history of Lucy Mitchell now, and you’ve got no one but yourself to blame.”
“Go on, then.” He kicked water up at me, making me laugh. I removed my footwear to submerge my feet in the soothing, cold water.
“Let’s see, there was Ben Finchley. I was at university and I met him one evening in the laundry on campus. He used to take me for dinner in the cafeteria, which was pretty cheap of him because we had meal vouchers for living on campus. His room was in the building next to mine and our windows faced each other, so he used to play his music full blast and yell at me to name that tune. It was always U2 or Queen and he’d only manage two songs before everyone else in the building would shout at him to shut up.”
“What happened?”
“I moved off campus in the second year. I rented a house with some girls on my course and we just drifted apart. After uni, I dated Dale Davies for six months until he left to go backpacking around Vietnam and Cambodia. We decided to call it a day and I never saw him again.”
