Love Me Till Wednesday (Sapphire Stars #1)

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Lisa and Nick sat in silence. Lisa was confused. Why would Mel do that? Lisa had always known that Mel wasn’t much of a Nick fan, but to let her bring up his child alone without giving Nick the chance to be part of their lives was unforgivable.

There was a knock at the door, then Suki stuck her head into the room. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt, but the crew are getting antsy. Is there any chance you could get back in the studio again? They want to be out by 8.30 ideally, and you’ve got that Australian online interview at 9.30.’

Nick turned to Lisa. ‘The sooner we’re done here, the sooner we can talk properly.’

She nodded.

Nick smiled at her. ‘Let’s do it.’

‘I need to say something to Jim,’ Lisa said as Nick got up to leave.

‘Tell him …’ He hesitated. ‘Just say I’d love to talk to him.’

Nick followed Suki down the corridor while Lisa dived into the Stars’ dressing room. Everyone looked at her expectantly.

‘He knows now,’ she said to Jim.

‘And? ’

‘And they’re pressing us to get back out in the studio. Nick’ll talk to you afterwards, but he says he had no idea you were his son. I think it will be alright.’

Jim just nodded.

‘Let’s rock’n’roll then,’ Ed said, leading them out into the corridor.

Andy was listening to someone on his earpiece. ‘They’re all happy upstairs. That’s a wrap,’ he grinned.

Nick let out a sigh of relief. He looked at Lisa next to him. She’d done a sterling job at behaving as if nothing had happened earlier. ‘You should take up acting,’ he whispered.

‘Know anyone who can give me some tips?’

‘Possibly.’ He squeezed her hand instinctively. She glanced down. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking, but she didn’t pull her hand away.

The assistant floor manager was back, with a photographer this time. ‘Just a couple of photos for social media, then we’re done.’

Nick looked over at Jim, who gave him a fixed smile. ‘Talk later?’ Nick said.

Jim still looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. ’That would be good,’ he said and turned away.

The photographer was trying to attract their attention. ‘Hey everyone. Can you squeeze up so I can get you all in the shot, please?’ she asked.

Nick let go of Lisa’s hand and put it behind her on the sofa. She moved into the gap he had created. He resisted the urge to hug her. That might be pushing it too far.

Andy finished thanking the audience and walked behind the sofa. He leaned over between Nick and Lisa. ‘You two ok? ’

‘I think so,’ Lisa said. ‘Thank you for not saying anything about Jim and Nick.’

He chuckled. ‘Pete threatened to cut off my bollocks if I did.’

The photographer waved. ‘Everyone look this way please.’ They all smiled for the camera, and then she was gone, and it was time to leave.

Suki walked up to Nick, looking flustered. ‘We really do have to go now if you’re going to be ready for the Australian interview,’ she said.

Talking about his book again was the last thing Nick wanted to do, but he hated breaking promises. He’d have to delay talking to Jim, who was now standing next to him expectantly. ‘Jim, this is Suki. We’ll need her services a lot over the next few days.’

Suki looked confused.

‘I’ll explain everything in the car,’ he said. ‘Look, I need some time to talk to Lisa and Jim. When am I free tomorrow?’

She consulted her phone. ‘You’re doing press interviews at the hotel from 10 until 12.30. Then you’re being driven to Birmingham to see your mother for an hour. Your flight leaves from Heathrow at 7 pm. We might be able to fit you in for 10 minutes at 11?’

Lisa raised an eyebrow.

‘No,’ Nick said. ‘This is much too important for ten minutes. Can you push the start time back to 11 and shorten the interview slots? Then perhaps we can have breakfast together if that works for you two.’

Suki looked disappointed. ‘The journalists are not going to like that.’

‘Come on. It won’t matter if I play the arsey Hollywood A-lister for once.’

‘It will if you want decent reviews. ’

Jim looked pissed off. ‘Don’t bother. I’ve waited this long. Fit me in when you get five minutes next year.’ He started to walk away.

Oh shit. This wasn’t going well. Nick dashed after him and caught him by the arm. ‘I’m so sorry how everything worked out. You’re important to me. I want to make time for you.’

‘You do now. Now you think there’s a chance you can back into Mum’s knickers.’

‘What?’ Had he been that obvious?

‘I saw the way you were looking at her. It was a different story a couple of years ago.’

‘I don’t understand. We’ve never met before.’

‘Yeah, we have. I came to see you when you were doing that play on Broadway. I sent you a note, and I waited for you at the stage door, thinking once you saw me, you’d realise how alike we looked, and I wasn’t lying. But no, you just blanked me. So don’t tell me you suddenly care now.’

That was all news to Nick. No wonder Jim was angry. ‘I had no idea. I get people making outrageous claims all the time. Please believe me - I loved your mum. I would never have stayed in the States if I’d known she was pregnant. I’ll clear my diary. We can find somewhere quiet and talk now.’

Jim looked like he might be about to cry. ‘Not now. I need time to process it all. I should be with a client tomorrow, but I won’t be able to concentrate on that. 9 am. My house?’

‘Yeah. I’ll be there. I promise. Where do you live?’

‘Mum will give you the details,’ he said before quickly walking away.

Nick turned back to see Lisa and Suki staring at him. ‘Sorry, Suki, you’re going to have to make my apologies for tomorrow. ’

Jim had disappeared without a word. Nick had been driven off to his next interview. Lisa and Pete were waiting for Ed and Tez to bring the hearse to the studio door.

Lisa was still trying to work everything out. ‘Did you know Nick was going to be here today?’ she asked Pete.

‘No. Andy dodged my question about who the main celeb was. But I did wonder why he was so interested in Jim when we talked on Monday evening.’

‘Do you think he deliberately invited Nick on the show this week?’

‘No. Nick would’ve been booked weeks ago. We’re the ones that Andy deliberately invited. The hearse video gave him the perfect excuse. I think he’s always suspected Nick was Jim’s dad. He asked me about it when you were pregnant.’

Lisa wasn’t impressed. ‘So he was hoping for some Jeremy Kyle-like reveal. I didn’t think he was that short of viewers.’

‘He’s not. I think it was genuinely so that Nick could meet Jim.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, because he said something about hoping tonight’s show would be cathartic for everyone when I saw him on Monday night. He said he preferred being a chat show host to being a journalist because it meant he could bring people together. I just thought he meant us at the time. But now I think he was talking about Nick and Jim.’

‘But he didn’t know Jim wasn’t going to perform then. Even we didn’t know that on Monday.’

‘No, but he knew you’d be here. I don’t think he intended Nick to realise on air. I told him not to say anything about it when we came back from that break in the recording.

‘Yes, he did mention that,’ Lisa laughed. ‘Thank you.’

‘That’s what friends are for, isn’t it? Looking out for one another. ’

‘Yes, you’re a good friend.’ She put her head on his shoulder.

‘So what happens next?’ Pete asked, hugging her.

‘We cross our fingers that Nick and Jim get on when they meet tomorrow.’