Love Me Till Wednesday (Sapphire Stars #1)

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Nick sat on the sofa in his hotel suite. He looked at his Rolex. 2.55 am. What was keeping him awake? Jet lag or his brain’s refusal to stop replaying tonight's events over and over again?

He had so many questions, the biggest of which was why had Mel told such horrible lies? Keeping the truth from Lisa and Jim for all these years was despicable. It was the politest word for it.

And then there was Lisa. He’d always wanted to see her again to work out what had gone so wrong and get closure, but he’d never expected this in a million years. Why hadn’t she got in touch to tell him about Jim? She could have found a way to contact him at any time. But if she’d read those newspaper articles about him shacking up with Catriona and then going off the rails on drugs, he could see why she’d not wanted him anywhere near their son at the time.

But that was a long time ago. So why hadn’t she got in touch when Jim was old enough to wonder who his father was? You fool, she thought you’d run out on her. She was hardly going to give you a chance to do it again.

He got up and opened the minibar. That chilled bottle of beer looked so tempting . But he needed a clear head. He quickly grabbed the bottle of sparkling mineral water next to the beer and slammed the door shut.

Nick walked over to the window and looked out across the London skyline. The view reminded him of the first time he’d met Lisa on the balcony a few floors below. She looked so gorgeous then. She was still attractive now.

And then there was Jim. He’d had a son for over 30 years without knowing. But what would you have done if Mel hadn’t lied? Where would you be now? He would probably be a regular cast member in a soap or teaching drama at some inner-city comprehensive, divorced from Lisa, and only seeing Jim once in a blue moon.

No. He didn’t believe that. There was still a spark between him and Lisa. He felt it when he hugged her at the start of the interview and as soon as he got close enough to unplug her mic. The way she’d jumped back from him meant she’d probably felt the same way. Surely, they would have worked it out together.

Stop speculating. You’ve got to deal with the situation as it is now. And that included the problem of what to do about Adrienne. Would he feel so on edge if he were marrying Lisa? Now you are being stupid, Nixon!

He picked up his mobile and brought up the list of recent calls. His finger hovered over Adrienne’s number. It was nearly 7 pm in LA. She should be at home. You know how the conversation will go. You’ll get a five-minute monologue on her wedding plans before she eventually asks how you are. And if you tell her about Jim and Lisa, she won’t take it well. He threw the phone back down on the sofa.

He hadn't mentioned Lisa to Adrienne until she'd made him go to couples therapy last year. Then it had all spilt out. The feeling that he and Lisa had been soulmates, then the heartbreak when Lisa had abandoned him for someone else .

Adrienne had been sympathetic in the consulting room, but there had been a brooding silence in the car on the way home, followed by a massive row about keeping Lisa secret from her as soon as they stepped into their house. Whenever they’d argued since she brought it up again, obviously jealous of the closeness he’d once had with someone else.

‘I suppose you think I’m nothing like Lisa,’ had become Adrienne’s usual response if he disagreed with something she’d said or done.

And she wasn’t anything like Lisa. Adrienne was the complete opposite, just like all the women in his life since Lisa. Tall, loud, confident. Fake blond. Just fake, really. She was happiest when she was being pampered and waited on. She’d been a model, but now she was working with her best friend, running an event business. Nick had been keen to invest in it to keep her happy, but from his perspective, it seemed to involve a lot of lunches under the pretence of testing out potential venues. They hadn’t delivered a single event yet. Nick and Adrienne’s wedding was going to be the first one.

The wedding. He was 100% sure that he was heading towards a car crash with that. What were you thinking, proposing to her in the first place? It had been a desperate impulse when she’d threatened to leave him. He was fed up with the cycle of finding someone, dating them for a few months, moving them in and then them getting fed up and walking out on him when they hit their two-year anniversary. He’d thought Adrienne had the potential to be a keeper. Then the wedding had taken on a life of its own. He should have let her go. They would both be a lot happier now.

He picked up his phone again and Googled Lisa. He’d done it once before, years ago, but he hadn’t found anything - just old references to the band. There was a lot more information now. He scrolled down the search results and found the Stars’ website. The front page had an article about their reunion, a short piece about Jim posted yesterday, some old photos and links to their social media accounts.

He clicked on the Threads link. There wasn’t much on there that he hadn’t already seen on the website. Then he spotted a repost that looked like it might be from Lisa herself. He clicked on it.

It took him to Lisa’s personal account. Her profile photo was recent. She was looking wistfully into the distance. It looked like was a professional shot, but of course, it did - they were relaunching the band. She was hardly going to use a selfie.

Nick scrolled down her feed. Most of her posts were music-related. She didn’t give a lot of personal information away. Then, a new post message popped up. He clicked to go back to the top of the feed to read it.

We haven’t changed a bit! #throwbackthursday

She’d posted it 30 seconds ago. So he wasn’t the only one who was wide awake. She probably had a lot of the same questions that he had. It would be good to talk. Why not now? Lisa had given him her mobile number before he’d dashed off to the online interview. He composed a message and pressed send.

Lisa glanced at her alarm clock. 2.35 am. She was supposed to get up at six to fit in a run before they were off to Oxford Street for an interview. Push starting a hearse made you very popular with the media, it seemed. At least it was going to be a radio interview, but didn’t they record it on video as well now to go on social media ?

She needed to get some sleep. Skipping her morning run would give her an extra hour in bed. She changed her alarm clock setting and adjusted her pillows. A wave of heat rolled over her. Oh, great! A hot flush. That was all she needed. She threw back the duvet and closed her eyes again.

But her mind was still working overtime, reliving yesterday evening’s events. She kept seeing the look of utter shock on Nick’s face, noticing Jim’s awkwardness around him and reliving the interview with everyone trying to behave normally. Nick deserved an Oscar for that performance.

Then there was the way her body had reacted when he touched her. Just like that first time all those years ago. It had taken her ages to get over losing him when she thought he was a selfish git. Now she knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, she wanted him back. Stop it! This is madness. He’s with someone else, remember! And even if that fizzles out, what about the way he’s worked his way through loads of women? He might not have chosen to leave you in 1992, but there’s no guarantee he’ll stick around this time.

But what if it hadn’t been Mel who’d lied but Nick who was lying to make it seem like he wasn’t the arsehole who’d abandoned her? Was that more believable? Oh, come on. Just stop churning it over. Get some sleep, and it might make more sense in the morning.

But her mind wasn’t going to let her rest. She started thinking back through all the key moments in her life that Mel had been a part of. Were there any other examples where she might have interfered?

Writing her thoughts down often stopped them from whirling endlessly around her head. Lisa sat up, turned on the bedside lamp and picked up the notebook and the pencil she kept in her drawer. She leaned back against the headboard and began to write, the graphite flowing quickly across the paper.

Giving loads of support while pregnant. That wasn’t the behaviour of someone who resented the baby, surely? Or it might be guilt because she’d prevented Nick from being around to help instead.

Babysitting while she went on dates with Greg . Mel had been really helpful there, but had that been because she was pushing Lisa towards Greg? Right at the start of their relationship, Lisa’s instinct was that he could be a cheater. There was something about the way he was eyeing up another woman at the bar they’d gone to on their first weekend away together that made her pause for thought. But Mel had persuaded her it was nothing. She’d definitely been pro-Greg. Greg, who never wanted to leave London, unlike Nick who’d made no secret of wanting to move to the States eventually. Had Mel’s lies been purely about keeping Lisa close by?

She kept writing until her hand started to cramp. She’d produced five full pages of notes. She read back through them. At least she had something concrete to tackle Mel with when she returned from her weekend away. Some of the phrases sounded quite lyrical. Lisa underlined them. She might turn them into a song to try to make sense of it all.

Lisa put her notebook back in her bedside drawer, turned off the light and lay back down. The hot flush had passed, and she felt calmer, but she was still wide awake. Reading might help.

She picked up her phone and opened her book app. She flicked through a couple of pages of the thriller she’d started last night. But Mel had recommended it, and somehow Lisa’s heart wasn’t in it now. She scrolled through the other apps on her phone. There was a WhatsApp message from Pete from a couple of hours ago .

Check Threads. Interesting post from Ed. I’ve just reposted it.

She opened up the app and looked at Pete’s feed. He was right. Ed had dug out a photo of them all in the same dressing room 30 years earlier. He’d posted it, along with a similar photo from last night. They all looked so young in the first image, unlike in yesterday’s photo. Jim stood out as the only young face in that one. Something about the lighting made him look more like Nick than ever. There was no way people weren’t going to notice the similarity once the interview was broadcast. How would Jim cope with that? Hopefully, Suki was as good as Nick said she was and could get the papers to ignore it.

Lisa reposted Ed’s photos and then began scrolling through the trending topics. There was the usual stuff about politics and celebrity gossip. She was just about to put her phone down again when a text message appeared. It was from Nick:

Are you awake too? Can we talk before I see Jim later? xx

Two kisses at the end. Her heart skipped a beat. F or god’s sake, Lisa Jones. You’re not a lovesick teenager. Focus on what he’s asking.

She’d prefer to talk to him in person. She’d be able to gauge his reactions better that way, but when could they meet? She didn’t want to drop out of the radio interview. If he’s awake and you’re awake too, you may as well meet now. But not here. That would be too weird. She had an idea.