Crystal (13 page)

‘Wow,’ Tahlia said, echoing what Crystal thought. ‘This is an amazing deal, don’t you think?’

‘It’s so much better than the first one,’ Crystal agreed. ‘What do you think, Belle?’

Belle frowned. ‘It’s really tempting, but we’ve got to see what Max has come up with.’

‘I bet it won’t be half as good as this one,’ Tahlia put in. ‘Face it, Max has no experience.’

Tahlia was bang on with her prediction. When Max returned and they were sure that Dallas had gone out, they met up with Max in the living room. In contrast to Dallas, Max didn’t even have copies of the contract for the girls to read through. It seemed to Crystal as if he was trying to bluff his way through the terms. But they wouldn’t let him get away with it. To Crystal’s relief Tahlia was the most vocal, insisting Max explain exactly what he could offer them and what money they could expect. It didn’t take long for them to discover that Max and the record company would be making all the money. It was only a one-album deal, the songwriters weren’t in the same league as the ones Dallas had offered, and the girls would only earn a fraction of the royalties. There was no competition. Sensing that he was losing ground, Max went for emotional blackmail:

‘Come on, I was the one who was there for you at the beginning, not Dallas. I was the one who gave you gigs in my club. You’ll be my main priority whereas, with Dallas, you’ll be one of many groups he manages. He’ll get bored of you after a few months, whereas I’ll always be there for you.’

Crystal forced herself to speak. ‘Thanks, Max, the three of us need to discuss it. We’ll have an answer for you in a while.’

Max got up. ‘I just want you to know that you’ll be making a huge mistake if you go with Dallas. He won’t look after you
like I will. And I didn’t want to say this again but you
did
promise me that I could manage you.’ With that, he marched out of the room.

Belle looked pale. ‘I can’t believe that I’m saying this but we’ve got to go with Dallas.’

‘I agree,’ Crystal said, relieved that Belle had said it first.

‘So do I,’ said Tahlia.

‘Shit! I’m not looking forward to telling Max.’ Belle put her head in her hands and Tahlia immediately got up to give her a hug.

‘It’s the right decision,’ Tahlia said reassuringly.

‘I know, but what the hell is Max going to say?’

Ten minutes later they’d found out exactly what Max would say. He went ballistic when Belle gave him the news. She’d insisted on doing it on her own, and took him into the bedroom. The others sat in the living room, but could hear Max’s angry shouting from upstairs.

‘God, do you think she’s all right?’ Crystal asked, feeling anxious about Belle. She’d seen for herself last night how aggressive Max could be.

‘I don’t like the sound of it,’ Rosie put in. ‘I’m going up to see if she’s okay.’

The others followed her as she walked up the marble staircase, but halfway up Max came running out of the room and angrily pushed past them, ‘The show’s over,’ he shouted angrily as Belle appeared at the top of the stairs, looking upset, pleading with him to stay. ‘But you haven’t heard the last of this. I know what I was fucking promised.’ He shot a warning glance at Crystal as he ran down the stairs and she was gripped with panic.
What if he told Belle about them?

After Max’s sudden departure they all gathered in the living room, Rosie fussing round Belle, insisting she have a brandy, tutting over how badly Max had behaved.

‘Don’t let him upset you, Belle, you did the right thing. You can’t confuse business with your personal life, it will only go belly up.’ Crystal and Tahlia agreed but Belle still looked
upset and bewildered. ‘He was so angry,’ she kept saying. ‘I don’t understand, it was like he’d been pinning all his hopes on us, but I thought his business was going really well.’

Tahlia tried to reassure her but Crystal was feeling too wound up to say anything. All she knew was that in the morning she would tell him that whatever they’d had between them was over, totally finished, and as far as she was concerned it never should have happened.

Max didn’t come home that night. In the morning, Belle was red-eyed with crying. ‘He never stays out all night after an argument.’

‘I’m sure he was just at his mate’s,’ Tahlia said. ‘Just let him calm down, he’ll be back.’

At midday Dallas caught up with them by the pool.

‘So have you got an answer for me?’ he asked, with the look of a man confident he was going to like what he was about to hear.

Crystal looked at Belle and Tahlia, then took a deep breath. ‘We agree to the terms of your contract. We’d like you to manage us.’

A smile spread across his tanned face, showing off his gleaming white, perfect teeth. ‘You won’t regret it, I promise you. As a little treat why don’t you all go to the spa and have some treatments on me; whatever you want, just charge me and then we’ll go out tonight to celebrate in style.’

Unusually, Belle insisted that Crystal go first, on the off-chance that Max turned up. The last thing Crystal felt like doing was relaxing; she felt totally wired and on edge but thought it might look odd if she didn’t. The therapist kept commenting on the tension in Crystal’s shoulders as she massaged her.
That’s because I am fucking tense
, she was tempted to reply. Crystal thought there was no way she would be able to relax but gradually the therapist’s expert massage and the soothing aromatherapy oils took over and she drifted off to sleep.

She was so wiped out after the massage that as soon as she got back to the beach house she collapsed into bed. The
emotional rollercoaster she had been on had caught up with her and she fell into a deep sleep. She woke up suddenly to discover Max lying on the bed beside her.

‘Did you miss me?’ he demanded, grabbing her roughly and kissing her neck, the stubble on his face scratching her skin.

Crystal leapt out of bed, pulling the sheet around her body. ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ she hissed.

‘Come back to bed, no one’s here. It’s just you and me, alone at last.’

Crystal ran to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. She rattled it frantically, desperate to get away from Max. She felt a stab of fear. ‘Get out!’ she shouted. ‘It’s over between us!’

‘Don’t be like that, babe.’ Max had got off the bed and was standing in front of her, holding the key. He reeked of alcohol and still seemed drunk

Crystal grabbed at his hand and tried to wrestle the key out of it but he prised her fingers away, causing her to cry out in pain.

‘Why don’t you come back to bed?’

‘No, I don’t want to!’

But he ignored her and pulled her back towards the bed, his grip like iron on her wrist. With her free arm she tried to lash out at him but he simply seized her other arm and dragged her along. She was struggling wildly now, kicking out at him. But she was no match for him. And then he had pinned her down on to the bed, forced her arms over her head and was on top of her, trapping her so that she couldn’t move.

‘God, Crystal, I’ve missed you,’ he panted. ‘Even though you’ve been such a bitch to me over the contract. It’s not too late to change your mind.’

‘You’re hurting me, Max, please, just go. I don’t want to do this.’ The tears were streaming down her cheeks and she couldn’t believe this was happening.

Max laughed, ‘Oh come on, Crystal, you don’t expect me
to believe that, do you?’ He put on an absurd imitation of her: ‘I want you Max, fuck me, Max.’

Then he snapped out of it. ‘Well, here I am, Crystal, and after last night I reckon you owe me one, don’t you?’

Crystal tried to push him off with all her strength but he only laughed some more. ‘What are you going to do, princess? Scream? I’ve told you, there’s no one here.’

She kept struggling, but it was hopeless; he was so much stronger, so much more determined. She couldn’t stop him.

After he’d gone, she stood in the shower for what seemed like ages, the water drowning out the sounds of her sobbing. For the rest of the day she stayed in her room, pretending she had a migraine. Tahlia and Rosie popped in at regular intervals to see if she wanted anything but she sent them away, saying that she needed to sleep. She couldn’t face seeing anyone. She didn’t know what to do; she couldn’t see any way out of the situation. If she told Belle, it would destroy the group and everything they had worked so hard for; but if she didn’t, Max would have a hold over her and, as she had just learnt to her cost, he would do whatever he wanted.

He raped me
, she said to herself, hardly able to comprehend it,
and there’s nothing I can do about it.

At seven that evening Belle knocked softly on the door and wandered in. She was dressed up for dinner in a red backless designer dress and the scent of her perfume filled the room. ‘Are you sure you aren’t well enough to come out Crystal? Dallas is going to take us to this amazing restaurant then on to a club.’

‘No,’ Crystal mumbled, ‘I still feel really awful.’

Hardly registering what Crystal had said, Belle continued, ‘And I’ve got something to celebrate as well. Look!’

Crystal looked up as Belle held out her left hand showing off a blingtastic ring – a huge diamond cut in the shape of a love heart.

‘It’s gorgeous, isn’t it? Max got back this morning, took me for a walk on the beach and proposed to me. He got down on one knee and everything.’

Crystal felt sick.

‘I’m so happy,’ Belle gushed. ‘He said he was really, really sorry about last night. And now he totally understands that we want to go with Dallas.’

‘Are you sure about this, Belle? You weren’t very happy with him yesterday. He was well out of order.’

Belle curled her lip. ‘Yes, I know what Max is like and, anyway, if he doesn’t behave himself I’ll call off the wedding.’

‘Well, congratulations,’ Crystal croaked, wishing more than anything in the world that Belle would get out of her room.

‘You and Tahlia will have to be my bridesmaids, won’t that be cool? I reckon we should be able to get a deal with a magazine now we’ve won.’

Crystal was saved from answering as Max called for Belle to tell her the car was waiting to take them to the restaurant.

‘Okay, see you in the morning and hope you feel better.’ Crystal nodded and closed her eyes, as Belle walked out of the room, her heels clicking loudly on the marble floor.

As soon as Crystal was sure that everyone had gone out she got out of bed. Now she really did have a headache, but she needed a drink. She pulled on her white combats and a white long-sleeved T-shirt, as if by covering up her body she could somehow erase the memory of what Max had done to her. She looked in the mirror and was appalled to see how pale and drawn she looked. She felt a sudden jolt of anger: how dare that bastard make her feel like this? Crystal shook back her hair. Whatever else happened he was not going to make her feel like a victim again. Yes, she’d made a mistake, but now she had to put it behind her otherwise she would lose everything she had worked so hard for. She knew that if all of this got out she would run the risk of blowing the group apart. They were on the brink of making it, and she wasn’t going to let Max take that away from her. Somehow she would have to find a way of dealing with what had happened and make sure Max could never hurt her again.

Six Months Later . . .

CRYSTAL LOOKED AT
her watch as the taxi made its way through the London traffic painfully slowly. She was late. She was supposed to have been at the film studios an hour and a half ago to start work on the video for Lost Angel’s second single. Their first had gone straight to number one and their album was in the top three. Crystal should have been on top of the world. She was doing what she had dreamt of all her life, her career was going from strength to strength – the public loved Lost Angel’s mix of sassy and soulful songs. They had broken away from just being a reality show product and had become artistes in their own right. They were famous! They’d become permanent fixtures in the tabloids and celebrity mags, celebrated for their style and good looks. But there was a dark shadow hanging over Crystal, which stopped her from feeling completely happy – Max. Since winning
Band Ambition
she’d experienced six months of the best and worst times of her life because when Max raped her he didn’t just shatter her confidence, he also got her pregnant.

Crystal had been devastated when she found out. She knew what she had to do, knew there was no way she could have Max’s baby, but it didn’t make the decision any less painful. And she had no one to confide in. She couldn’t tell Tahlia or her brother because that would involve an explanation about Max, one which Crystal didn’t want to give, and she didn’t want to tell any more lies. She felt so
alone, she went through with the abortion by herself, cried her tears in private and tried to pull herself together.

If only that could have been the end of Max’s involvement in her life but it wasn’t. He was a constant, menacing presence. He regularly texted and called her. He kept repeating that he was going to manage Lost Angels and that she had to make the girls leave Dallas. Crystal did her best to stall him. She had no intention of saying anything to the others. She was running late this morning because, when she had left the gym after her morning workout, Max had been waiting outside for her. Crystal shuddered to herself as she remembered.

He had grabbed her arm and said, ‘Let’s go for a walk, babe, we’ve got things to discuss.’

‘I’ve got nothing to say to you,’ she had exclaimed, horrified at seeing him again, horrified that he’d known where to find her.
Had he been stalking her?
She tried to shake him off, to run away, but he had held on to her.

‘Don’t be like this babe, I only want a chat. Come on, I’ll walk you back to your flat.’

‘No! If you want to talk to me, we do it outside.’

‘Whatever,’ Max had shrugged, steering her towards a bench. They both sat down, Crystal trying to sit as far away as possible from Max, but he moved closer towards her so that she had to move to the very edge of the bench to avoid touching him.