The Takeover

by Oli White

  ‘Oh my God, look at that!’ I shouted.

  Sai, Ava and Ella all turned at once, leaning over to get a good look out of the windows on my side of the car.

  Ava made a shrill squeaking sound. ‘Is that …? Oh my God, it is.’

  There we all were: flashing one by one and larger than life on the giant billboard: Ella, Austin, Sai, Ava, me … and Ethan. The words ‘GENNEXT: EMERGE. COMING SOON TO CHANNEL 4’ rolled at the end of the sequence.

  ‘Whoa!’ Sai said. ‘Look at my triceps.’

  We’d had a fairly low-key photo shoot on set during the first week of filming, with Olympia telling us that the shots would be used for press and online advertising plus a few TV teasers, but none of us had expected anything like this. This was huge.

  ‘Incredible,’ Ava said in hushed tones, visibly awed.

  Ella was shaking her head. ‘Ethan said we could expect to see the ads soon and that it would be a bit of a surprise, but … oh my God, I never thought they’d be up in Piccadilly bloody Circus!’

  ‘Ethan and Olympia are the bomb,’ Sai agreed.

  I gritted my teeth.

  THE WRAP PARTY

  The car drove towards a wide metal door, which slid open onto a massive cobbled courtyard with several garages. The house itself was huge – four floors – and as we approached we could hear the music and loud chatter of the party, already well under way, emanating from the open windows on the first floor.

  ‘This is a bit of all right,’ Ava said, as the four of us headed through the enormous entrance and up the grand stairs. ‘I could see myself being quite comfortable living here.’

  The stairs swept upwards to an enormous living room with shiny wooden floors and ridiculously high ceilings adorned with the most elaborate crystal chandeliers I’d ever laid eyes on. The house itself was old, but the furniture and fittings were all very chic and modern, and this room looked like it was the hub of the party, packed with people dressed to the nines.

  A waiter was moving through the crowd, holding a platter of champagne flutes aloft. Sai and Ava headed in his direction and Ella went to follow them, but I grabbed her hand.

  ‘Ella, could we have a quick word?’ I asked. I knew the party wasn’t the best time for this conversation, but I also knew there was no way I could make it through the next few hours with Ethan’s WhatsApp preying on my mind. I needed to confront this head on.

  Ella looked a bit surprised. ‘Sure,’ she said. ‘What’s up?’

  I guided her over to a slightly quieter corner of the room, near the window.

  ‘Did you see that message on your phone?’ I said. ‘The one from Ethan?’

  Ella frowned. ‘Yes, I did. Why?’

  ‘I saw it too,’ I said. ‘When it flashed up on your screen earlier.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘And I think it’s really weird that Ethan’s messaging you like that. He’s making a move on you – it’s obvious.’

  ‘Oh, that’s ridiculous, babe,’ Ella said. ‘No way.’

  ‘He’s kept us apart for pretty much the entire duration of filming,’ I said. ‘Don’t you think that’s odd?’

  ‘Come on, Jack, you’re overreacting,’ Ella said firmly. ‘Ethan’s been doing what’s best for the show, that’s all. He’s just a mate and he’s been good to me … to us, I mean.’

  ‘Yeah, well, maybe he’s got an ulterior motive.’

  ‘What, you mean like supporting and encouraging me in my career?’ Ella said, her temper clearly fraying.

  I was dumbfounded. ‘You mean like I don’t?’

  She shrugged. ‘It’s not that you don’t, as such … I know that you’ve been trying, babe. But Ethan … he just gets it.’

  It was like a red rag to a bull. ‘I know we have a few different ambitions and goals, and that we’re still figuring it all out, but … Don’t you see, Ethan’s obviously using all this to make you believe I’m a crap boyfriend who’s not supportive.’

  ‘Oh God! Why are you so against him, Jack? I just don’t get it!’ Ella sounded like she was on the verge of tears, and that was the last thing I wanted. ‘He’s a lovely guy who’s only ever helped us!’

  ‘It’s just that—’

  I was interrupted by Ava, who appeared brandishing two glasses at us.

  ‘I bring you champagne!’ she said, and then she clocked Ella’s distraught face. ‘Hey, are you guys OK?’

  ‘We’re fine, babe,’ Ella said, taking a glass. She gave me a look. ‘Let’s just park all this till later, Jack. Tonight’s meant to be fun.’

  ‘Of course it is,’ I said, frustrated.

  ‘I’ll see you later, then. We should probably mingle.’ And she headed off into the crowd, pulling Ava along with her. Ava turned to give me a WTF? look, before being swallowed up by a group of very elegantly dressed partygoers.

  I stayed on the fringes of the crowd for a while, feeling pretty crap, it has to be said. Ella’s implied accusation stuck with me. Sure, I’d been gutted when I’d realised that we wanted different things … but of course I supported her. Didn’t I? I loved her. Jeez, maybe I hadn’t made that clear enough. Maybe I’d let everything that had happened since Total get in the way of us, and now Ethan was swooping in, ready to take advantage.

  I tried to chase away my dark thoughts, sipping champagne and people-watching as the crowd buzzed around me. A lot of them looked a fair bit older than us, but there was a younger crowd too, who were hanging out together near the enormous fireplace on one side of the room. This lot looked a bit Made in Chelsea to me – or at least they didn’t look as if they’d have any trouble scraping the money together for a decent pub lunch. Lots of big hair and posh accents. A few minutes later, two guys walked into the room and wandered over to join them. My stomach turned over. It was Austin … and Ethan.

  This was my cue to go and get a refill, so I left the room by its other entrance – yep, it was grand enough to have two entrances. I kept my head down so that I didn’t have to witness Austin noticing me and then pretending he hadn’t. After grabbing another glass of champagne and wandering around the ridiculously extravagant rooms for a bit, I eventually found Sai and Ava, leaning against a massive balcony that looked down over yet another huge foyer. Ella had disappeared.

  ‘Jack, my man,’ Sai said. ‘Having fun?’

  ‘The time of my life,’ I muttered.

  Sai was looking at his watch. ‘Lily should be here soon,’ he said. ‘I can’t wait to see her. Now she would have appreciated a muscle-fit top.’

  ‘I’m sure she would, Sai,’ Ava said with a smile.

  I recognised a burst of laughter ringing out from the next room. Looking in, I noticed Olympia, surrounded by a group of people on a huge turquoise couch. She was holding court, gesturing wildly with a half-full cocktail glass.

  ‘Hey, there’s Olympia,’ I said. ‘Shall we go over and say hello?’

  We’d only walked a few steps when Ava froze. ‘Oh crap!’

  ‘What’s wrong, Aves?’ I said.

  ‘Suki. Suki’s over there with Olympia.’

  ‘Didn’t she tell you she was coming?’ I asked, surprised.

  Ava shook her head, looking like she was torn between excitement and horror.

  I glanced over to see Suki standing behind the couch Olympia was sitting on, laughing and joking with the people surrounding them, all of whom seemed to know her pretty well. As usual she looked amazing, in a black halterneck, pinstripe skirt and purple belt, heels and lipstick, that edgy style of hers standing out amidst all the cocktail dresses and suits.

  I nudged Ava and nodded encouragingly. ‘Let’s go say hi, shall we?’

  ‘OK,’ Ava said, sounding unsure. ‘I just didn’t expect her to be here, Jack. We haven’t seen each other since Total, although we’ve been messaging loads, and—’

  ‘Come on,’ I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along behind me. ‘It’s time the two of you sorted this out properly.’

  Olympia stood up as we got close
, but Suki was engrossed in conversation so didn’t notice us at first.

  ‘Ah! Here they are – my stars!’ Olympia trilled. ‘Come over here and meet some of my friends, guys.’

  ‘This is all really cool, Olympia,’ I said, joining the group of people surrounding her.

  ‘And so was the enormous ad for Emerge flashing all over Piccadilly Circus,’ Sai added.

  Olympia hugged and kissed the three of us in turn. ‘Oh, I know! I’d intended to do a big announcement tonight, but it all went live this afternoon. Did you love it?’

  ‘It was a brilliant surprise,’ Ava said. ‘Olympia, this party is amazing. Is this your house?’

  ‘Oh my God, no! I mean, I wish,’ Olympia laughed. ‘It belongs to one of the main owners of Owl TV, who also owns half the commercial radio stations in the country. It’s actually his party, which I’ve semi-hijacked for us. Isn’t it gorgeous?’

  An army of waiters and waitresses swept around us, serving drinks and canapés, while Olympia introduced us to one person after another, none of whose names I remembered thirty seconds later. Suki eventually noticed us and broke away from her admirers, greeting Sai and me excitedly. When she got to Ava, there was a moment of tangible awkwardness, and it was clear that neither of them quite knew how to behave.

  ‘I didn’t know you were coming,’ Ava said softly, giving Suki the briefest of hugs. ‘You didn’t say.’

  ‘I figured you’d be mad busy wrapping up the show … and I was only invited last-minute, by Limpy,’ Suki replied.

  ‘Oh … by Limpy?’ Ava said.

  ‘Yeah. I thought … I thought you might be pleased to see me.’

  Just at that moment, Olympia draped her arm around Suki, pulling her away from Ava.

  ‘Isn’t it wonderful that Suki could make it?’ she asked, leaning her head on Suki’s shoulder. ‘How lovely that the entire GenNext team is here. Are you all having a nice time?’

  ‘Amazing thanks, Olympia,’ Sai said appreciatively, grabbing a mini burger from a passing tray and stuffing it into his mouth, happily oblivious to any tension. ‘This party is fierce!’

  Suki looked like she was about to say something else to Ava, but Olympia tugged on her arm and drew her into conversation with a tall, glamorous woman who looked vaguely familiar – one of the Owl big cheeses, I guessed. A flash of frustration passed over Suki’s face, and I could see that her gaze was still on Ava even as she chatted to the woman.

  Beside me, I heard Ava sigh. She turned to walk away, but I grabbed her arm. ‘Where are you going, Aves?’

  ‘I’m not sure I can do this, Jack,’ she said, looking at Suki and Olympia over my shoulder. ‘It’s just too hard.’

  ‘You haven’t got to do anything,’ I said. ‘Just be yourself. Talk to Suki.’

  ‘It’s just … Suki’s like this beacon of light. She knows everyone and she just seems to naturally attract people, and … It’s always been the same with us. She’s this ultra-cool successful career woman and I always feel like some geeky little kid running around after her. It’s fine when we’re on our own, but in situations like this, it all becomes glaringly apparent.’

  ‘That’s insane,’ I said. ‘You’re just as amazing as Suki. Not everyone has to be larger than life, you know.’

  ‘I know you mean well, Jack, but … I’m just so worried that people like Olympia fit in with her in a way that I never will.’

  ‘That’s rubbish,’ I said, but Ava was already fighting back tears.

  ‘Look, I’m just going to get some water,’ she said, and headed over to the bar before I could console her any further.

  I stuck with Sai, who was scoffing all the canapés he could get his hands on, making small talk with Olympia’s group. Eventually Suki broke away and came over to us, looking around for Ava.

  ‘She’s gone to get a glass of water,’ I supplied helpfully. ‘That was, erm … about fifteen minutes ago.’

  Suki sighed. ‘What is with Ava tonight, Jack? I’ve been really looking forward to seeing her and then she goes all weird on me. It’s like she doesn’t want me here at all.’

  ‘Maybe you should tell her how much you’ve been looking forward to seeing her,’ I said. ‘I think that would be a good start.’

  ‘OK. Anything else you think I should know?’ Suki said, her eyes narrowing.

  ‘Just talk to her. Let her know what’s going on with the two of you.’

  ‘I only wish I knew myself,’ Suki said, looking somewhat defeated.

  Before I could say anything else, I felt myself being pulled by the elbow away from Suki and across the room. Oh God, it was Ethan. His smart blue shirt was a similar colour to mine. In fact, with his new haircut, we looked way too alike for comfort.

  ‘There you are, Jack. I’ve been looking for you.’ That perpetual smarmy smile was on his face. ‘Enjoying yourself?’

  ‘What do you want, Ethan?’ I said, yanking my arm away from his grip. I thought about the text he’d sent to Ella and I had to resist the urge to deck him then and there.

  ‘I just want you to meet Simon Smyth, one of the directors of Owl,’ Ethan said, steering me towards a middle-aged man with slicked-back grey hair and a bad suit. ‘He’s a big fan of yours; wants to hear all about the show. He’s a real VIP in the world of TV, so keep him sweet, won’t you?’

  Less than five minutes later, I was locked in conversation with a man who had to be the most boring person in the room, if not on the planet. I wish I could tell you what we were talking about, but I really didn’t have much of an idea myself. As far as I could make out, it was something to do with advertising revenue and projected viewing percentages and God knows what else. It turned out that Simon was indeed a director of Owl TV – a financial director, one with a nasal, monotonous voice and who sprayed saliva in my face as he talked. Ethan, meanwhile, had melted away, leaving me on my own with this charmer. Of course, he was bound to have an ulterior motive for landing me with Simon, and it didn’t take long for me to work out what it was. Across the room, Ella had reappeared and straight away Ethan commandeered her, taking her over to meet a tall dude in a tux and a Melissa McCarthy doppelgänger, who looked a hell of a lot more fun than Simon Smyth. Taking a second glance, I realised that she was Lucy Wilson, an acting agent who worked for one of London’s biggest agencies. I recognised her from her Twitter profile picture; Ella and I had looked her up earlier that day, because Ella was so excited about meeting her. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ethan moving closer and closer to Ella as they talked. My blood was boiling, but there was nothing I could do. While Simon droned on at me, Ella’s group seemed to explode into gales of laughter every five seconds. At one point, I caught Ethan’s eye and he gave me a smug smile, moving his hand up to rest possessively against the small of Ella’s back.

  I’d had enough. As soon as I could, I excused myself from the conversation with Simon, saying that I needed to go the bathroom. It was tempting to go over to Ethan and tell him to keep his hands off my girlfriend, but I knew that it would only make things worse with Ella if I caused a scene, especially when she was in the middle of speaking to someone who could potentially influence her acting career. Instead, I headed down the enormous staircase and onto the terrace outside. On the way I passed Austin, who looked my way just long enough for me to catch the now customary flicker of hurt on his face.

  This was getting ridiculous. I needed fresh air, and I needed to get away from Ethan.

  I found a stone bench on the far side of the terrace and sat down, breathing deeply. It took a while for the temptation to storm back inside and have it out with Ethan to subside, but eventually I started to calm down a little. I really should have been inside socialising: networking with all the TV bigwigs and chasing opportunities for GenNext – plus I hadn’t even seen AJ or Lily yet. But right now I was too upset, and the weird feeling of being on the outside that I’d felt with Mum, Dad and Lewis was now slipping into GenNext, too. It was as if Ethan was slowly separating me from
my friends, and no one could see what was happening.

  I sat outside for what seemed like forever, still in a bit of a daze. Then I heard footsteps and looked up to see Ava.

  ‘Is this seat taken?’ she asked, pointing at the bench.

  ‘There’s room for a small one,’ I said, scooting over so she could sit down.

  ‘What are you doing lurking out here by yourself, Penman?’

  For a split second I considered spilling my guts about Ethan, but I knew Ava would insist that his WhatsApp to Ella was no big deal. Plus, she thought the sun shone out of Ethan’s behind, too – even more so since he’d recently told her that he’d watched her coming-out video on YouTube and it was one of the most powerful things he’d ever seen. Such a creep.

  ‘Just having a bit of time out – it was pretty hectic in there. You OK, Aves? Did you speak to Suki?’

  She looked down at her feet. ‘No. Not yet.’

  ‘She told me that she’d been really looking forward to seeing you, you know.’

  Ava looked up. ‘Really?’

  ‘Yes, you doughnut. PLEASE will you talk to her?’

  Ava was silent for a few moments. Then she stood up. ‘Right, I’m going to do it. I’m going to find Suki and talk to her.’

  ‘Good for you,’ I said.

  She reached a hand down to me. ‘But you’re coming with me.’

  It didn’t take us long to find Suki. She was sitting on a fancy chaise longue in one of the smaller, slightly quieter rooms, with Olympia’s arm around her. My heart sank when I saw that Olympia was gently stroking her hair, her mouth close to her ear as she talked. Oh God, this was not going to end well.

  They looked up as we approached, Suki immediately shaking Olympia’s arm off when she saw Ava.

  ‘Jack! Ava! Hi,’ Olympia said. ‘Is everything OK?’

  Ava had frozen, horrified. ‘I’m not sure,’ she said slowly. ‘You tell me.’