Love Me Till Wednesday (Sapphire Stars #1)

28

28

Nick was sitting on the end of the long blue sofa. The audience clapped as Lisa and the rest of the Sapphire Stars pretended to finish their song. He guessed they’d recorded it earlier. One of the problems of being an A-lister was that everyone assumed your time was so precious you didn’t want to be delayed by other people’s performances, which wasn’t true, especially today because he’d really like to see Lisa sing in person again.

He felt his heart beat faster as he watched Lisa leave the stage and head towards the interview area.

Surely she was going to be professional on camera. She was unlikely to come across well if she challenged him in front of an audience about whatever it was that had infuriated her earlier. He put a fixed smile on his face to hide his inner turmoil as she got nearer to him. She was concentrating on Andy, who’d stepped forward to greet her. She didn’t even grace Nick with a brief glance. He watched Andy embrace her like they were old friends.

And now it was Nick's turn. Should he say something? No, he was mic’ed up, and she’d been so adamant about needing to speak to him that she was hardly going to disappear afterwards. He put his arms around her. Oh god, she was still using the same perfume. For a second, it was like they were back in her flat, hugging one another after they'd been apart for just a few hours, not decades. No one else had ever made him feel like this. He resisted the urge to bury his face in her hair and squeeze her tightly. Right now, he’d forgive her for all the hurt and anguish she’d caused him just to spend another night in her arms. The feel of her pulling away dragged him back to the present. They locked eyes, only for a brief moment, but he still felt that connection. Get a grip, Nixon.

He forced himself to let go. He went through the motions of greeting the rest of the band with a laddish shake of the hand and a slap on the arm. Pete, Tez, then Ed.

‘A quick beer later?’ Ed whispered.

Typical Ed. It was like they’d last seen one another 30 minutes ago, not 30 years ago. Nick smiled and nodded.

Then, it was the new guy’s turn. Was this Jim? He seemed in a hurry to sit down. He was a lot younger than the rest of the band and incredibly nervous. It was probably his first television appearance. Nick sat down next to him. ‘It'll be fine,’ he said, trying to reassure him. Jim didn’t reply.

Meanwhile, Lisa was indulging Andy's banter. Angry Lisa was nowhere to be seen. She still had the qualities that drew him to her all those years ago and she was looking good. They'd have made a good team. If only. He realised he’d stopped paying attention to the conversation.

Andy had turned to the new guy. ‘So Jim, as the baby of the band, how are you finding working with your mum?’

Nick snapped back to the present. Mum? The new guy was Lisa’s son? That explained the age difference.

‘I'm 32, so I'm not that much of a baby.’ Jim laughed shyly, attempting to appear relaxed.

‘You play bass just like the great Jonny Hart,’ Andy said.

‘Jonny taught me everything I know about music. He was like a father to me.’ Jim looked pointedly at Nick .

32. Blue piercing eyes. Nick did the mental arithmetic. He felt the blood drain from his face.

‘You alright mate?’ Andy looked concerned.

‘Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit of jet lag.’ Nick concentrated hard on appearing normal, but inside, his heart was racing even faster. Don't jump to conclusions! He must be someone else's son. There was the photo in the press of Lisa with that blonde, blue-eyed fit bloke that Catriona had shown him when they were filming in Greece. That must be why Lisa had said, ‘Don't mention Jim.’

Andy was still looking worried. ‘Let's take a five-minute break, everybody.’

He turned back to Nick. ‘You look like a ghost. Something disagreed with you?’

‘Possibly.’

Lisa was looking at him too now.

‘We need to talk,’ he said.

Nick quickly shut his dressing room door behind Lisa. She’d not said a word to him as they had walked quickly along the corridor from the studio. His mind had been working overtime. He couldn’t be Jim’s father. She’d have told him years ago, surely.

‘I … I didn't know what you meant earlier,’ he said as he motioned her to sit on the sofa.

Lisa put her finger to her lips and pointed to the microphone clipped to her top. Good job she was on the ball. He didn't want this conversation getting into the tabloids. He reached round behind her and unplugged her microphone from the battery pack. She did the same for him. Then she quickly stepped back out of his personal space like she was afraid to be so close to him .

‘You understand why I wanted to talk to you now,’ she said.

Before he could answer, there was a knock on the door. ‘Nick are you ok? Do you need anything?’

‘My publicist, Suki, ’ he explained to Lisa. ‘Suki, I just need a few minutes alone with Lisa. Can you stop anyone from interrupting us?’

‘If you’re sure.’

‘Yes, I’m absolutely sure. Thanks.’

He turned his attention back to Lisa. He couldn't read what mood she was in. Just say it, Nick. ‘I guess Jim’s father is that bloke you left me for.’

She looked bemused. ‘What?’

‘The guy you were in a rush to replace me with.’

She frowned. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘I can’t remember his name. It was over all the tabloids. Catriona insisted on having the English newspapers delivered on set when we were in Greece. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?’

‘Oh my god. Phil? He was our security man.’

‘But there loads of photos of you together.’

‘Because it all got a bit nuts in Germany. Some girl was obsessed with Pete. She was convinced I was the one stopping them from being together. She even sent me death threats. That’s why there were so many photos of me and Phil together. He was protecting me. The tabloids got the wrong end of the stick as usual.’

Nick gulped. ‘So if it’s not Phil, who is Jim’s father then?’ he asked, though he had a pretty good idea what the answer was going to be now.

‘You, of course. Can't you see how much he looks like you?’

Nick felt faint again. He sat on the sofa and put his head in his hands. He had a son? With Lisa ?

Lisa was silent.

He looked at her. She had her arms folded now. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he asked.

‘I didn’t get a chance. I found out after you left for the States without saying a word. Your big break in Hollywood was obviously more important to you than me. I was gutted.’

‘Only when I thought you wanted nothing to do with me. Mel said you never wanted to see me again. She told me to pick up the things I’d left at your flat and not come back. I didn’t even bother unpacking the case I took to Greece. I got the Tube to Heathrow and bought a one-way ticket to LA.’

It was Lisa’s turn to look bewildered now. ‘So Mel convinced you that I’d left you. But she told me that you’d left me.’

What had Lisa just said? ‘I hadn’t left you. Why would she say that?’

‘I’ve no idea. It makes no sense.’ She leaned back on the sofa and looked at the ceiling.

‘Are you sure she said I’d left you?’ Nick asked.

‘Of course, I’m sure. I cried all night. I couldn’t understand why you didn’t have the decency to tell me. One minute, we were planning on moving in together, and the next, you’d found someone new.’

‘I knew she didn’t like me, but I didn’t realise she hated me that much,’ Nick said. But that didn’t explain why Lisa wasn’t around when he got back to London. ‘Why had you disappeared?’

‘I’d gone back to Birmingham for my parents’ silver wedding party. It was just a long weekend.‘

‘So if I hadn’t come back early, you would’ve been there?’

‘Yeah.’ Lisa looked stunned.

‘Bloody hell.’

‘How could Mel do that? And why didn’t she fess up when I told her I was pregnant with your child a few weeks later?’