Chapter 7

"Katherine! Hi!"

No one calls me Katherine except him.

No one.

My heart skipped a beat (it obviously hadn't stopped beating, then).

"C-Christian?" I almost choked. I couldn't believe it.

It was him! It was!

"Yeah! Hi! Oh, I am sooo glad you're still talking to me!" He said, sounding relieved.

"You are?" I squeaked.

I still couldn't believe he'd phoned back.

"Yeah. After... look- I am so, so sorry about today. I really am. You don't know how sorry I am!! I can't believe I had to cancel our date," he said it as if he meant it.

"So... erm... why did you cancel?" I asked tentatively.

Was I gonna want to know the answer to this?

I was so overly ecstatic inside that he'd phoned, that it was him, but I was till wary of what he'd done. I was still really upset with him.

"Well, I hadn't meant to cancel- you know that!" He said. "I never would have made a date if I thought I was going to be busy."

"I thought you had a free weekend," I said quietly.

"I did! We had the whole weekend off to chill out. But then I was woken up this morning by the phone, and it was Mark. He said we had to go in to do a photo-shoot today and that's it," he explained.

A photo-shoot? Is that it?

That's what had cancelled the date?

"So- you were busy with a1?" I clarified.

"Yeah! And I shouldn't have been. I tried to get out of it, I really did. I tried to explain that I'd already made plans for the day, but so had Mark. Actually, so had Ben and Paul, but there was nothing we could do about it. This magazine had to have the pictures then, and it couldn't be done any other time. In fact, we were all pretty pissed off by it all." He actually sounded really annoyed.

Maybe he had been trying to get out of it, after all. He had really wanted to come out with me...

"Can't you just refuse to do it?" I asked.

He laughed. "Yeah- and get into loads of trouble and get chucked out of the group for not being professional enough! No- there's nothing I can do. It's my fault- I choose to be in this band, and when they need me, I have to go," he said. "But don't worry, we had a right go at Tim afterwards."

"Tim?" I gulped.

What the hell...?

"Tim- our manager," Christian explained. "We gave him a piece of our mind afterwards, and now we get next weekend off instead!" He laughed.

I kept silent. I didn't know what to say now. I think I bought the a1 excuse. But I was still mad at him.

"So... you weren't too disappointed, were you?" He asked.

"No," I said quietly.

"You were, weren't you?"

I was a pretty crap liar.

"Oh, Katherine! I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to cancel like that! There's nothing I could do! I tried to get out of it, but I couldn't," he insisted.

"Uh-huh," I said in the same tone. "I understand."

"But you're upset!" He cried.

I sighed. "Christian, you really let me down," I confided in him. "I'd really been looking forward to the date."

"Me too!" He insisted. "I was really looking forward to it. I wanted to spend the whole day with you- not stuck in front of some stupid camera!"

"How was the photo-shoot?" I asked. I thought I may as well be polite.

"Awful! They always are. They're so boring! Don't think I had a great time, `cos I didn't. All those bloody outfit changes and poses to do, and you have to keep smiling for like, FIVE hours..."

I couldn't help but laugh!

Poor Christian. It really did sound like he'd had a bad day. It kinda compensated for mine was well, though.

"What's so funny?" He demanded on the other line.

"Nothing," I said, trying to stop laughing, and ended up grinning broadly.

"So, anyway- it was bad. I had a really boring day. And I kept thinking about you. I didn't stop thinking about you all day," he said.

My heart skipped a beat again, and I could feel myself blush.

"Really?" I said.

"Yeah- really! I sooo wanted to be out of there and at the cinema with you!" I could see him smiling.

"I thought about you, too," I told him. "I was just really disappointed that the date didn't actually happen."

"I know, and I'm really, really sorry about that. Maybe we could go and see the film again, sometime?" He said, hopefully.

"Actually Christian, I've already seen it. I went to see it today."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, before Christian said quietly,

"You went with someone else?"

I could see what he was thinking- that I'd gone with another guy. Like I'd replaced him as my date and gone with another guy! I had to put his mind at ease.

"Yeah- I went with my best friend, Abbie."

"Abbie?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry," I said.

"No- no, don't worry. Was it good?" He asked.

I could tell he was upset. I think he'd really wanted to go with me.

Now I felt bad!

"Yeah, it was good. Really funny," I said. I wanted to make it sound like a lousy movie so he wouldn't be too upset, but I couldn't.

"I'm glad you had a fun day," he said, still sounding dis-heartened. "What else did you do?"

"Not much. We went and had a coffee, and I've just been reading this evening," I said.

"What are you reading?" He asked.

I laughed. I didn't want to tell him the title! It was embarrassing.

"A book," I said.

"What's it called?" He asked.

Awkward person! I thought! Oh well.

"Broken hearted," I said.

He laughed, too. "Are you trying to tell me something?" He asked.

"The film wasn't as good without you," I said. "It would have been better if I'd gone with you."

"Can we sometime?" He said. "You know? Do the date again?"

I hesitated.

I really wasn't sure.

How did I know he wasn't going to let me down again and run off to a1?

I didn't want to put myself out on the line again. I feel I do that too often. I didn't want to be disappointed again.

Still, I really liked him. We got on well, and he was absolutely gorgeous. He made me shiver every time I thought about him!

He definitely does it for me.

But is he gonna be reliable enough? I didn't want to know, if he was going to keep letting me down time and time again. It wasn't fair on me, and what kind of relationship was that gonna be?

A pretty useless one.

But, a1 WERE really important to him. They were everything to him. a1 was his life. And like Abbie said- if I was gonna go out with him, I was gonna have to get used to him being extremely busy working all the time.

Question was- was I prepared to put up with it? Was he really gonna be worth it?

"Katherine?"

"Christian- I- I don't know..." I sighed.

"I promise I won't let you down again!" He pleaded. "I won't let anything happen on the night we go out! Anything that comes up'll just have to wait. Everything can wait until we've been on a date!"

He sounded so firm and confident that I just laughed.

I couldn't stay angry at him for long. I'd already forgiven him for today. It hadn't really been his fault, after all. And I felt I owed him another chance.

"Ok," I said. "Let's do it. Let's go out sometime."

"Are you sure?" He said. He seemed really excited.

"Yeah," I said truthfully. "I really would like us to. As long as you don't cancel this time."

"I won't! I promise. Oh Katherine, I'm so pleased! For a minute there, I thought you were angry at me and were never gonna speak to me again," he said.

"I wasn't really angry at you," I said. "I was more worried. I thought I'd done something wrong, and that's why you'd cancelled."

"What?!!"

"I thought you'd like, lost interest or something..."

Saying it now, it did sound stupid. Why had I not believed him?

Of course he'd been busy with a1! It had been nothing else.

God, Christian was right. I was too suspicious.

And paranoid.

And self-conscious.

And negative!

"Of course I didn't cancel `cos I'd lost interest!" He cried in amazement. "No way! I'm really, really interested in you! I can't believe you thought that!"

"I'm sorry, I jump to conclusions too soon," I admitted. "And I'm way too paranoid."

"Don't be! You don't have to be around me, ok? I'm always busy with a1- that's the way it is," he explained.

"I know. I just- it's just- I've never been on a date with a pop star before!" I laughed. "No guy's been so in demand before!"

He laughed. "So- when are you free?" He asked.

I thought. "Well... I really don't think I could make it during the week..." I said.

"Mmmm, me neither. I'm really busy with a1 this week..." He laughed, realising the irony.

I laughed too. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Oh- we're in the studio tomorrow and Wednesday," he explained, "and Tuesday we've got press stuff to do. And then we've got to do a signing in Manchester on Thursday and Friday."

"Ooohh... sounds busy," I commented. "I'm just really hampered with work at the minute."

"What- essays and stuff?" He said.

"Yeah!" I said, surprised he had any idea.

"Yeah, Ben's mates are all at Uni at the minute, and they're all busy doing essays and work. He's a bit sad, `cos he hardly ever gets to see them," Christian explained.

"Oh! Poor Ben!" I sympathised.

That must be hell for him! What with them all being busy, and him being so busy with a1- they must never get to see each other.

"Do any of his mates go to East London Uni?" I asked.

"I don't think so," Christian said thoughtfully. "Why- is that where you go?"

"Yeah," I said.

"I should come and visit you sometime!" He joked.

"Please don't," I said, really against the idea.

I sometimes get this scary realisation that we barely know each other. When we talked, it was like we'd known each other for ages and we were really relaxed with each other- but then I keep remembering he's Christian from a1 and it does jolt me back into the real world sometimes.

"How's your revision going?" He asked.

"Ok... I think. And I've nearly finished my essays," I told him. "Just a few months to go, and then everything'll be over. I hope..."

"So- it's gonna have to be the weekend, is it?" Christian said.

"Looks like it," I said.

"You're not busy then, are you?" He asked.

I thought. "I don't think I'm visiting my parents, then. I did see them last weekend."

"Where do they live?" He asked.

"Boston in Lincolnshire," I answered.

"Is that where you grew up?" He asked.

"Well... kinda. I was born in Yorkshire..."

"Paul's mum's from Yorkshire!" He interrupted. "She's from Whitby!"

"Oh no, I'm from another area altogether! I'm from Halifax," I said. "But I was brought up in Boston."

Ugghhh. Boston. That was such a small, boring town. Nothing ever happened there, and no one interesting lived there. It had been such a relief to leave when I was 18 and go to somewhere big and exciting like London.

Although, I do miss home. I miss my parents, and my brother Patrick and sisters Jessica and Felicity, who still all live there, a lot. But I try to see them as often as I can.

"How about Friday night?" He asked. "Is that ok for you?"

"Yeah, sure. Friday night's good," I said.

I was starting to get those butterflies again...

I was going out with Christian a1!!!!

"Seens as I let you down today..." Christian began.

"Ohh, Christian..."

"No! No, I still feel really bad about it. I want Friday night to be like, my treat. We'll do anything you wanna do, and I'll pay for everything."

"But Christian-"

"No buts!" He said firmly. "Please let me do this. I'll feel much better if I do," he said.

He really didn't have to. I always like to go halves with the pay, and do something we'd both like to do. And now there was pressure on me to pick something he'd like doing!

I hated responsibility!!!

"Let's just go to the cinema, like we planned today," I suggested. "I'd really like to do that."

"Alright then- and we'll go and see a horror movie!" Christian said.

"But Christian! You hate horror movies!" I gasped.

"I know," he said. "But this is my treat, remember? I can handle a horror movie for one night. As long as you don't take the mick like the guys do."

"I promise I won't!" I grinned.

"And do you want to go to dinner, too? Like beforehand?" Suggested Christian.

"That sounds great!" I agreed.

Dinner did sound nice, actually. You can't really talk at the cinema, can you?

"Do you have a fave restaurant, or something? `Cos we'll go there if you want," he said.

Oh, he was being so kind! He really was a sweet and thoughtful guy. I can't believe I thought he was lying earlier!

"I really like Italian food," I told him. "So an Italian restaurant would be really nice."

"Ok then- that's all arranged. And I'll have my new car by then, so I'll come and pick you up and drop you home again!" He announced.

"Christian- you really don't have to," I smiled.

"No- I want to. I owe you one," he said.

"Alright then- if you're sure," I said uneasily. I still wasn't.

"Really! I'm a rich pop star, remember?" He teased.

I laughed.

"I'll pick you up early- at about 6pm, ok?"

6pm?!! God- that really was early! I'd only have a few hours to get ready once I'd got back from Uni! Still, it was that or nothing...

"Ok- that's fine," I lied. "I'll see you then."

"Alright. Again- I'm so sorry about today. You've forgiven me, right?" He checked.

"Right!" I laughed.

"Ok then. Bye!" He said.

"Bye!"

I didn't want to put the phone down, but in the end I did. I sat there grinning for about 30 seconds.

Wow! We were back on track again.

Me and Christian!

We'd had a minor set-back, but now hopefully, we were gonna go on THAT date...

Right.

Better phone Abbie!