Crystal (6 page)

‘The red would look great on you,’ Jessica said, holding the dress against Belle. But Belle pushed the dress away petulantly.

‘The material’s so cheap, it looks really tacky.’

‘Actually it’s from a really chic boutique, and it
is
a designer label, just not one that you’ve heard of, Belle,’ said Jessica trying to stay calm.

‘Yeah, I don’t know if you’re aware, Belle,’ Crystal said sarcastically, ‘but we haven’t made it yet and we haven’t got designers queuing up to dress us. Maybe if and when we do Dolce & Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli will be begging us to wear their designs. Until then I think we should go with what Jessica’s got for us.’

Belle glared at her, while Jessica tried her luck with the pink dress.

‘Beyond vile!’ Belle exclaimed. ‘I hate both of them.’

‘Come off it, Belle, stop being such a bitch. Both of those dresses will look really good on you.’ Crystal was really pissed off. This was wasting valuable rehearsal time. But Belle had got out her mobile and was calling Dallas: ‘I need to see you urgently, there’s a major problem with our outfits.’

Her call over, she turned round and said smugly, ‘Dallas is coming by in twenty minutes. While we wait, will you get me a skinny decaf latte, Jessica?’

Jessica was about to say yes, when Crystal said, ‘No, she bloody well can’t. Get your own coffee.’

Belle tutted and without offering to buy anybody else a
drink she flounced out of the room. Jessica was obviously trying not to show how upset she was as she asked Crystal and Tahlia to try on their dresses so she could see if they needed altering.

‘Don’t let her get to you,’ Crystal said warmly, putting her arm round Jessica. ‘She can be a complete bitch.’

‘I just don’t want Dallas to get involved,’ Jessica said anxiously. ‘He’ll probably end up firing me.’

‘No, he won’t,’ Crystal said. ‘You know his bark is worse than his bite. It’s all an act, he so loves playing the tough guy on the show that he thinks he has to do it in real life, but he doesn’t mean it really.’ Unfortunately Dallas was obviously having a bad day because when he turned up he took one look at the dresses and laid into Jessica: ‘No way can Belle wear these. I don’t know what you were thinking. They look way too cheap.’

‘They look great.’ Crystal tried to stand up for Jessica but Dallas cut across her.

‘Just stay out of this, Crystal. I wasn’t happy with last week’s outfits either, Jessica, so I’m giving you one more chance. You’ve got until the end of the day to come up with a classier outfit for Belle.’ And as an afterthought, he muttered, ‘And for Tahlia and Crystal as well. If you have to throw money at it, do it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a record label to run.’ And with that he marched purposefully out of the room.

‘Has he been watching too many episodes of
The Apprentice
or what?’ Crystal commented, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Belle smiled sweetly at Jessica. ‘Sorry to drop you in it, Jess, but I really couldn’t wear those dresses. I’ve called one of my favourite boutiques and they’re expecting you. I asked them to pull out some things for me and the girls so why don’t you come and find us at the studio when you’ve picked them up?’

‘But I really wanted to go with the fifties look,’ Jessica said. ‘Dallas had approved it as well; I thought it would look really good.’

‘I’m sure the boutique will have things that will fit your plan,’ Belle said, all sweetness and light now she had her own way.

They spent the rest of the day rehearsing in the studio. Crystal was seething over Belle’s treatment of Jessica. It didn’t help that when Jessica turned up with the dresses from Belle’s boutique Dallas was there and couldn’t stop praising Belle for her taste. Jessica had managed to find some fifties-style dresses and, as before, Crystal had the black one, but this time Tahlia had to settle for purple, which wasn’t her favourite colour. Belle was over the moon with her gold dress. She held it up against her and spun round the studio, making Crystal long to slap her. Then she remembered what she was doing that night. She was seeing Max. When it came down to it she was no better than Belle – Belle just wanted her own way over a dress whereas Crystal wanted her own way with someone who was not hers . . . With just a few hours to go the butterflies were starting up inside her. The last time she’d met Max she was sure he’d been about to kiss her. And if she was honest, she wanted him to kiss her, wanted him to do so much more to her . . .

Dallas’s voice cut through her fantasy. ‘Before you go tonight, girls, I want you to take a look at the contract I’ve drawn up.’ He handed them each a copy of the document. ‘It’s very straightforward. I just need you all to sign it and then we can start thinking about your album. If I am going to manage you then we need to get this signed and sealed now.’

Belle and Tahlia picked up their pens and were about to sign without even checking the paperwork, but Crystal held up her hand. ‘Hang on a minute, Dallas, we really need to go through this properly.’

Dallas tutted. ‘It’s just a formality, Crystal, there’s nothing in it that we haven’t talked about already.’

But when Crystal started reading through the contract, it was anything but straightforward and the terms sucked. As far as she could tell, picking her way through the convoluted
phrasing, the girls would barely get any royalties from their records, and even if they wrote their own songs they wouldn’t own the copyright; if they got any advertising deals, gave any PAs and went on tour, the lion’s share of the money would go to Dallas. He would own them lock, stock and barrel. He leaned over Crystal, waiting for her to finish reading, and when he saw that she had, he held out his Montblanc pen, clearly expecting her to sign on the dotted line there and then.

She shook her head. ‘We can’t sign this, Dallas, the terms aren’t good enough. If we do well in the competition we need a better deal than this.’

‘And that’s why this deal is so great; I’m offering you the chance to make an album even if you don’t win,’ Dallas said smoothly.

‘This is a really good deal,’ Belle said sharply. ‘We should sign.’

‘Well, I want much better terms, just because we are starting out doesn’t mean we have to take the short straw. We want a much larger share of the royalties and we have to own the copyright of our own material,’ Crystal said determinedly.

‘Are you sure about this?’ Tahlia asked anxiously. And Dallas smiled, obviously thinking that with two against one the deal was in the bag.

‘I’m sure,’ Crystal said.

‘Okay, I agree with Crystal,’ Tahlia said, handing the contract back to Dallas, unsigned.

Dallas laughed mockingly, but he looked furious. ‘You’re making a big mistake. If you don’t win, you’ll have nothing. But that’s your choice. I’m not prepared to alter the terms now. I’ll review it if you win but you know that’s a big
if
.’ And with that he left the studio.

‘Christ, I hope you haven’t fucked it up for us,
Christina
,’ Belle said crossly. She always called her by her real name when she was annoyed with her. ‘You heard what Dallas said, I don’t want to end up with nothing after all this.’

‘Dallas isn’t the only person who wants to manage us. You know that Max wants to as well. In fact,’ Crystal took a deep breath and tried to keep her voice steady, ‘he wants to see me tonight to go through some of the deals he’s been working on. D’you want to come too?’

‘No chance!’ Belle exclaimed, ‘I’m knackered, and I’ve got a massage booked. You go and see what he’s got lined up. And remind him he’s taking me out on Saturday. I want to go somewhere lush.’

See,
Crystal told herself as she got dressed after her shower later that night,
Belle knows I’m seeing Max. It’s all above board, and it’s just business.
But she spent longer than usual deciding what to wear, trying on several different outfits before finally settling for tight black jeans, a black vest, a short black jacket and the black patent-leather Christian Louboutin Yo yo slingbacks that she’d saved up for months to buy. She hoped that she looked sexy, but not as if she was trying too hard. While she was putting on an extra layer of mascara Tahlia wandered in to her room.

‘Are you sure you don’t want to come too?’ Crystal asked, praying that she didn’t.

‘I’m way too tired,’ Tahlia said, yawning. ‘And, anyway, you’re much better at the business side than me and Belle.’ She paused, then went on, ‘But do you seriously think that Max could be a manager? He hasn’t exactly got Dallas’s experience, has he?’

‘No,’ Crystal agreed reluctantly, ‘but he might be able to get us a better deal than Dallas. I think we should keep our options open.’

‘You know best, babe,’ Tahlia answered.

‘Okay then.’ Crystal took one last look in the mirror; her heart racing wildly at the prospect of being alone again with Max.

‘How come you still look good even though you’re knackered?’ Tahlia demanded. Crystal shook her head. For someone so beautiful, she wasn’t at all vain. And so when she
looked in the mirror she didn’t see what everyone else saw – didn’t see that she was jaw-droppingly beautiful, a one-off. Her beauty was exotic, striking, she definitely wasn’t a pretty, pretty girl. Her grandmother was Spanish and Crystal had inherited her flawless olive skin and jet-black hair. She had incredible cheekbones, sensuous lips and huge green eyes, fringed with thick black lashes. Her long silky black hair fell halfway down her back. She was still brown from the summer and hardly needed any make-up.

Crystal laughed dismissively. ‘Can’t you see that spot on my chin? I look rough.’

‘Hmm,’ said Tahlia. ‘If that’s rough, God help the rest of us.’

‘Don’t wait up,’ Crystal said, heading for the door. ‘And if Dallas calls, I’m in bed with a migraine.’

There was already a queue outside Max’s
.
Crystal walked to the front and spoke to the doorman: ‘Max is expecting me, tell him it’s Crystal.’ And all the while her heart was racing. A phone call later she was in and walking towards the bar in the VIP area where she knew Max would be. ‘Hey, Crystal!’ Max had seen her. Immediately he walked over and kissed her on each cheek.

‘So glad you could make it,’ he murmured, his hand lightly touching the small of her back. ‘I’ll get us some champagne. We need to celebrate.’

‘What are we celebrating?’ Crystal dared herself to ask.

Max couldn’t keep the naughty little glint out of his gorgeous brown eyes. ‘Oh, I don’t know, we just are.’

A few minutes later they were sitting at one of the private tables, screened off from the rest of the club, and Crystal was doing her very best not to stare at Max. God, she wanted him so much. It just wasn’t fair. Why had Belle met him first?
He’s much more my type
, she thought wistfully, loving his unpredictable, slightly dangerous edge and, if she was honest, she couldn’t help being attracted to him because she knew he was a bit of a bastard.

‘You said you needed to talk to me. Is it about one of the
deals?’ Crystal asked, trying to cover up the surge of attraction and adrenaline he always provoked in her.

He nodded. ‘All in good time; how have the rehearsals been going?’

Crystal shrugged. ‘Well, I think. The others are being pessimistic but I reckon we’ve got a chance.’

‘There’s definitely interest in you out there. I’ve had another meeting with one of the labels. I’m just waiting for the paperwork to be drawn up.’

‘We’ll need to go through it together,’ Crystal said quickly. Infatuated as she had become with Max, she knew she couldn’t trust anybody in the business she was in. The group had worked so hard to get where they were and she wasn’t about to let anyone take that away from them.

Max lit a cigarette. ‘You’re right to be cautious, babe, but you know I’d never rip you off.’

Crystal covered her face with her hands and groaned. ‘Max, you’re smoking in front of me, and you promised you wouldn’t.’ She’d finally given up a month ago, at Dallas’s insistence and she was finding it extremely difficult, regardless of how many nicotine patches she used and how much gum she went through.

Max gave her one of his sexy smiles, blew a perfect smoke ring at her face, then held out the cigarette. ‘One little puff won’t hurt, will it? I won’t tell if you won’t.’

For a few seconds Crystal hesitated, then reached out for the cigarette, took a deep drag, immediately getting the nicotine hit that she’d been missing. ’Oh my God, you’re such a bastard!’

‘And that’s exactly why you like me, isn’t it?’ Max said quietly, staring directly at her, his brown eyes serious for a change.

She quickly looked away, half loving what was happening, half knowing it was wrong. Max was off limits, she should leave. Right now.

‘I only put up with you because of Belle.’ She tried to sound as if she believed what she was saying, but she knew
she lacked conviction. Max gave her that sexy smile again that turned her willpower to dust: ‘Okay, Crystal, we can play this game if you want, or you can admit that you like me as much as I like you.’

Crystal looked down.
This was definitely the moment to leave.
But still she couldn’t. ‘You’re the one who’s going out with someone.’ She couldn’t bring herself to say Belle’s name.

‘Shall I tell you why I like you, then?’ Max asked softly.

Now Max had Crystal’s full attention. She raised her face and he was looking at her, definitely not in the way you were supposed to look at your girlfriend’s friend.

‘I like you for your eyes, they know more than you let on; for your smile; for your ambition; for being the sexiest woman I’ve ever met; for your mouth.’ Max reached over and gently traced the outline of Crystal’s lips. She closed her eyes, willing herself to be strong but it was a battle she was losing fast. She couldn’t resist him any more, couldn’t stop herself, didn’t want to stop herself. She kissed his finger and then he was kissing her and she was kissing him back. No kiss had ever felt so good, so sweet . . . Crystal forgot everything but the feel of his lips, the taste of him. She closed her eyes again, but Max was pulling away, whispering, ‘Let’s go upstairs.’