Crystal (11 page)

‘What do you make of those comments, girls?’ Tess asked excitedly, thrusting the microphone in front of them. Crystal and Belle had always been the ones who spoke up before, with Tahlia just smiling shyly. But now Tahlia was first to speak. ‘I just want to thank all the judges for their comments, especially Dallas for believing in us and Sadie for what she said about my daughter. This has been one of the hardest weeks of my life and I couldn’t have got through it without the girls and my mum. Tonight I was singing for my daughter and I’m so proud I can finally say that. So everyone out there, please vote for us!’

The audience erupted.
Please
, thought Crystal,
let us win!
She looked at Belle and Tahlia and they smiled at each other.

They stopped smiling as soon as they got off stage, knowing that they had over an hour to wait before the results were announced. Crystal was unable to sit still. She paced round the green room, dying for a cigarette. Tahlia was surrounded by people congratulating her, including Hadley who didn’t seem to be able to take his eyes off her. Crystal was glad; it was about time Tahlia had some male attention and Hadley was such a sweet guy. Crystal noticed that Tahlia looked different tonight too; she was always beautiful but now she had an extra glow about her. She seemed to be carrying herself with more confidence than usual and she didn’t look so serious.

A nail-biting hour later they were all back on stage. The viewers, Crystal thought bitterly, probably enjoyed the way Tess deliberately built up the tension, counting down the time left with the audience before the phone lines closed. Crystal felt sick.
Please, please, please, let us win
, she prayed.

Finally, Tess was ready to reveal the results. ‘Two million of you have voted! This has been one of the closest competitions ever, with the two runners-up practically neck and neck, but there is a winner. And I can now reveal that the act in third place is—’, she paused for dramatic effect, ‘–
Northern Dreams
!’

Crystal, Belle and Tahlia gripped each other’s hands even more tightly.

‘In second place—’, she paused again.
Please let it be
@
ttitude,
Crystal prayed, ‘—is @
attitude!
So that means the winner of
Band Ambition
is
Lost Angels
!’

Crystal, Belle and Tahlia let out screams of delight and hugged each other and then it seemed as if they were hugging everyone – Tess, Dallas, Charlie, Sadie, the other acts, who were all pretending that they were happy for them although it was obvious they were disappointed, particularly the members of @ttitude. And then they were back on stage singing their winning song once again. Crystal had never felt so happy. All her life she had dreamt of this and here she was.
She looked at the audience cheering them.
This is where the rest of my life starts
, she thought.
I’m going to be a singer at last and I can be with Max
.

The next week passed in a blur of interviews and photo shoots. Crystal barely had a second to think about Max and not even Belle got to see him because their hectic schedule wouldn’t allow it. Crystal and Max texted each other every day, several times a day, and he promised that as soon as he could, he would arrange to see Belle. Crystal was on a high from their success but she was desperate to be with Max. Surely there was nothing to stop them from being together now?

But she also had business on her mind. Now Lost Angels had won, Dallas was supposed to be drawing up another record deal for them to consider. After one of their many photo shoots Crystal asked Dallas about it.

‘We’ll discuss it in Ibiza.’

Crystal looked blank.

‘I’m treating you all to a week’s holiday at my pad in Ibiza,’ Dallas replied, clearly expecting Crystal to be delighted at the news. She managed to smile for his benefit, but inside all she could think was that that would mean another whole week before Max could end his relationship with Belle.

‘Dallas, thank you so much!’ Tahlia exclaimed as the three of them walked into his stunning beach house. It was easily as luxurious as his Oxfordshire mansion – white marble floors, hi-tech lighting and ultra-modern gadgets. In the living room there was an oil painting of Dallas, looking very self-important, hanging over the marble fireplace, which Crystal had to avoid looking at to stop herself from giggling; a huge bronze sculpture of a female nude, expensive-looking chairs and sofas in pale cream silk, which Crystal was afraid to sit on. And the view out of the floor-to-ceiling windows was of a turquoise infinity pool with the equally turquoise Mediterranean beyond it, forming one glittering expanse of water.

Dallas smiled. ‘I just want the three of you to relax, swim, and sunbathe. There’s a spa at the hotel up the road which you can have treatments at. Just tell them to bill me.’

‘Thanks, Dallas,’ Crystal said, echoed by Belle. ‘This is amazing!’

‘I thought my girls deserved a treat. Make the most of it because I’m going to be working your arses off when you get home. We’ve got to get that number one!’ he replied.

Crystal smiled to herself, remembering how down on them he’d been when he’d found out about Leticia. Now they were his golden girls and long might that continue. It was no fun being on the wrong side of Dallas.

That night, Dallas’s chef prepared a delicious seafood barbeque for them by the pool. It was the first time in ages that all three of them felt able to relax – though since she’d started seeing Max, Crystal never felt entirely comfortable round Belle. Dallas stayed with them for dinner and then went to visit a friend of his at a neighbouring beach house, telling the girls they could have anything they wanted. They just had to ring the bell and ask the butler.

‘I could get used to this,’ Belle said, sipping champagne and looking out over the infinity pool and at the sea beyond. ‘There’s just one thing missing – it would be so great to have Max here.’

Crystal’s stomach lurched. She wasn’t prepared for that – it sounded like Belle had strong feelings for Max.

‘I know what you mean,’ Tahlia answered. ‘I’d love it if Mum and Leticia could be here too.’

‘And I bet you wouldn’t mind if Hadley was here as well!’ Belle teased Tahlia, who looked embarrassed but pleased at the same time. Tahlia had been on a date with Hadley on Thursday and finally admitted that she fancied him like mad.

‘Who would you like to have here?’ Belle asked Crystal.

Fuck
, she could hardly tell the truth. ‘Jesse Metcalfe,’ Crystal lied, although it wasn’t that big a lie; who wouldn’t want Jesse Metcalfe?

‘God, yeah,’ Belle replied. ‘He’s well gorgeous – almost as fit as Max.’

‘Who wants some more champagne,’ Crystal asked, desperately wanting to change the subject, ‘I’m going to ring and ask Jeeves, or whatever his name is, to get us another bottle.’

That night the girls didn’t get to bed until after four – one bottle of champagne became two, became three and by then they were all extremely drunk – even Tahlia, who never usually drank that much. In the morning Crystal woke up with a full-on hangover and was about to turn over and go back to sleep when Tahlia came racing into her room.

‘Crystal!’ she said excitedly, ‘Leticia and Mum are here!’

‘What?’ Crystal asked blearily

‘Dallas flew them over, oh and Max is here, too.’

Crystal’s heart raced. This was not what she needed. Not at all. How the hell could she be with Belle and Max and pretend everything was hunkydory? It was be pure torture.

‘Isn’t it fantastic! I’m going to be in the pool with Leticia; she’s dying to see you.’

‘I’ll be up in a minute,’ Crystal muttered, pulling the sheet over her head and trying to gather her thoughts.

Oh my God, what am I going to do?
She couldn’t stay in bed for the next five days, tempting as that was. She was going to have to get up and face them. She dragged herself out of bed, showered, put on her black bikini and the Dior shades that she’d brought at the airport as a treat for their victory. Then she walked outside, a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

‘Crystal!’ Leticia shouted excitedly from the pool, ‘Are you going to come in?’ Tahlia was sitting on the edge, letting the water wash over her long legs, and Rosie was lying on a sun lounger. She called out ‘Hello’ and Crystal strolled over and hugged her. ‘I think I’m dreaming,’ Rosie said happily.

I wish I was
, thought Crystal.

‘The water’s gorgeous.’ Tahlia said, adding quietly, ‘you don’t mind about this, do you?’ Tahlia said. ‘I mean, I’ve got Leticia and Mum and Belle’s got Max, and you—’

‘Haven’t got anyone?’ Crystal laughed. ‘Of course I don’t mind. It’s not your fault that my love life’s been so shit lately.’

‘Dallas said he asked your brother but he couldn’t get time off work. But you mustn’t feel left out, Crystal, you’re part of my family.’

In spite of the situation, Crystal forced herself to smile back. ‘Thanks, Tahlia’, then she called out to Leticia, ‘I’ll come in a minute. I just need to have some orange juice.’ She walked over to the lavish breakfast buffet which had been laid out for them and was just pouring herself a glass when Max walked up behind her.

‘Surprise,’ he whispered in her ear.

Spilling the juice in her confusion, Crystal turned round swiftly. Max was so close to her she almost brushed against him.
Damn him for looking so good.
He was only wearing trunks and there was way too much of his sexy, tanned body on display. She longed to touch him. Instead she took a step backwards and whispered, ‘Where’s Belle?’

Max shrugged casually. ‘Having a shower. I said I’d meet her by the pool.’

Crystal searched his face for clues – had he missed her? Did he still want her? But he was wearing sunglasses and she couldn’t see his eyes. She could only see herself reflected in the lenses, looking tense.

‘I couldn’t wait to see you,’ Max whispered, giving her bikini-clad body a very appreciative once over. ‘Looking good, babe.’

Crystal furtively looked over at Tahlia to make sure she hadn’t heard him; luckily she was too busy playing with Leticia. Crystal was about to tell him that he mustn’t say things like that, when Max gave her one of his sexy smiles, walked to the edge of the pool and dived in, making Leticia shriek with delight. When he surfaced, he called out, ‘Come on, Crystal, it’s lovely in here and it will cure that hangover.’

Crystal shook her head. ‘I will in a bit, I just need to get rid of this headache.’ She piled some fruit salad into a bowl, picked up her juice and went and sat on one of the sun
loungers next to Rosie, who was now dozing. It was probably the first holiday she’d had in years. Crystal could see that Max was showing off for her benefit, doing an impressive front crawl up and down the pool, then splashing around with Leticia, and she tried to avoid looking at him.

‘Can you believe it?’ Belle exclaimed to Crystal as she walked across the terrace. She was wearing a stylish white bikini and looked stunning. ‘It’s so cool of Dallas, isn’t it?’

Crystal tried to smile. ‘It’s a lovely surprise,’ she lied, and couldn’t help staring at the diamond stud in Belle’s naval; it was definitely the same as hers. Before Crystal had come out to the pool she’d swapped hers for her skull and crossbones stud again. She was relieved she had.

‘Well, I’m going for a swim,’ Belle said, sauntering to the pool and climbing elegantly down the steps.

Crystal sipped her juice and watched Belle put her arms round Max and kiss him. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see any more. This whole scenario was a fucking nightmare. She didn’t know if she could handle being around Belle and Max – especially a Belle who could hardly keep her hands off Max. It didn’t look as if Belle was going off him, in fact quite the opposite. Suddenly, to her horror, she was being picked up by Max and hurled into the pool. She emerged from the water, coughing and spluttering, her sunglasses askew, hair all over the place. She was furious. Everyone else was laughing.

‘Couldn’t resist it, Crystal,’ Max said.

She wanted to tell him to fuck off, but knew she couldn’t swear in front of Leticia, so she had to make do with muttering, ‘Thanks a lot.’ Then, trying to salvage some dignity, she took off her sunglasses, smoothed back her hair and swam a couple of lengths. She was an okay swimmer, but not in the same league as Belle, who was fantastic and had swum for her school and for her county. Crystal completed her lengths then sat at the side watching Belle swim with her effortless front crawl; she could even do tumble turns at the side, something Crystal had never managed to achieve. Max swam over, pulled himself out of the water and sat next to her.

‘You’re not really cross with me, are you?’ he asked, wiping the water from his face. ‘Bet it cleared your head.’

She shrugged, not knowing how to behave with him and trying to avoid looking at his body – a body that she ached for, a body that she longed for.

‘Listen, I know this isn’t an ideal situation,’ Max said quietly, ‘but Dallas landed it on me, and I couldn’t say no.’

Crystal nodded, still not trusting herself to speak.

‘There’s no way I can tell Belle when we’re out here, but I promise I will when we get back to London. And I sorted out the record deal for you last week and I’ve got the contract ready for you all to sign.’

Now Crystal spoke. ‘Hang on a minute, we haven’t even looked at it. And we need to see what Dallas has come up with.’

Max clenched his jaw and looked angry. ‘For fuck’s sake, Crystal, you said you wanted me as your manager. I’ve spent the last six months busting my balls trying to get a deal for the group.’

‘Calm down. We just need to check out both deals,’ Crystal answered, taken aback by his aggressive tone. ‘You’re a businessman, surely you understand that?’

‘I don’t like being messed around. I’ve put myself on the line for you guys. The record company are expecting you to sign with me. It’s going to put me in the shit if you don’t.’

‘Oh, come on, Max, don’t be like this.’

But Max had got up and was walking away, muttering that he needed a drink.