Mark woke up at 3 o’ clock in the morning wondering
why it was so light in his room. The reason why it was so light, as he
discovered when he opened his eyes, was that the light was still on. Initially,
Mark was cross that he’d woken up because he was in the middle of a really nice
dream about Rose and was just getting to the good bit, but when he rolled over
and looked at his alarm clock and noticed he’d forgotten to set it, he was
extremely glad he’d woken up because otherwise he’d have overslept and been
late getting to the studios. Which would have been a complete disaster
considering it was live TV.
But it was still 3 in the morning.
Mark had two choices. He could either set his alarm to go off at 5 and
go back to sleep, or he could get up now and chill for three hours before he
needed to leave. Mark really wanted to go back to sleep and not wake up
at 5, but seeing as that wasn’t an option he decided that if he slept for two
hours and then had to wake up he’d feel much more tired than he did now, so the
best option was to get up.
Generally speaking, Mark was quite good at mornings. Well someone had to
be coz Paul and Ben certainly weren’t. Ben didn’t get out of bed before at
least five cups of coffee and Paul was the most irritable person in the world
when he hadn’t had enough sleep. It was safer just to stay out of his way when
he was like that! Mark hoped Paul hadn’t been out drinking last night. If he
had, there was a very slim chance he’d actually make it to the GMTV studios on
time. Or at all… Mark made a mental note to ring him at about 6, just to check
he was awake.
Mark sat up and rubbed his eyes. Getting out of bed, he went over to his
wardrobe to find something to wear. He decided on his black Ghostbusters
t-shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans and put them on his bed. Then, grabbing
a towel, he went to have a quick shower seeing as he had time.
Ten minutes later, Mark got out of the shower feeling very refreshed and
much more awake. He went back into his room and quickly got dry and changed
into the outfit he’d selected. He ran a towel over his hair a couple of times
and then went downstairs to get some breakfast. He didn’t actually feel hungry,
but that wasn’t the point, he knew he’d be hungry later if he didn’t eat now,
and it was a morning habit; get up, get changed, have breakfast.
So that’s what he did.
“Hmmm, what shall I have? Toast, or some kind of wheat stuff with dried
fruit? Decisions, decisions.” Mark said to himself, not really wanting any of
that.
He settled on two pieces of toast with butter and Marmite and took it
through to the living room. He sat on the sofa and turned on the TV, not
expecting there to be anything even remotely good on at 3 in the morning. He
wasn’t disappointed.
God, I’m like some kind of insomniac. He thought to himself as he flicked
through the channels, wishing fame didn’t come attached to early mornings.
The music channels seemed to be the only channels showing anything worth
watching so he put The Box on and ate his toast accompanied by Hear’Say, Atomic
Kitten and Travis.
Although he would much rather he was still fast asleep right now, Mark
was glad to have a bit of spare time as there were a few things he wanted to
do. He needed to email his brother, Gary, who was in America at the moment with
his band D2E. Mark was very close to Gary and had meant to return the email
he’d sent him last week but just hadn’t had time. He wanted to tell him all
about Rose and he also wanted his advice about telling his mum and dad about
her. He kept telling himself to take Ben’s advice and not care about what
anyone else thought, but he wasn’t like that, he couldn’t just not care.
Putting his plate on the kitchen side, Mark went back
upstairs to his room and switched his computer on. While it loaded up, he absent-mindedly
picked up a magazine lying on his desk. It fell open on an a1 interview.
“No, really, this isn’t the page I look at the most.” He said with
amusement.
It was okay, he was allowed to be proud of a1 and he liked reading
interviews they’d done. Although part of the reason was because he loved the
fact that only people who knew them really well would really know what they
meant when they answered the questions. Everything was a subtle in-joke as far
as they were concerned. Especially when Paul was talking about Ben. Now there
was a dangerous situation. He had a tendency to reveal things Ben really didn’t
want the whole world to know. Things that Chloe wasn’t meant to know.
That was a point actually. Ben had been talking to Mark about that
yesterday at Legoland. It was something he was quite worried about, Chloe
finding out about certain aspects of Ben’s life. They’d had a really long talk
in the car on the way back to London, and Ben had assured Mark that he was
going to put his “crazy period” as he’d called it, behind him. Ben had told him
that when he met Chloe, something just kinda clicked inside him and he realised
how stupid he’d been. He’d decided that he wasn’t going to be “like that” any
more; it wasn’t who he was now as far as he was concerned. Mark wasn’t sure
whether it was a case of him not wanting to be like that or not needing to be
like that, or both, but whatever the reason for the change, Mark was glad of
it. He’d never understood why Ben had gone that way. It wasn’t like he had to
be like that; he could have more or less anyone he wanted. Or maybe that was
it. He could, so he did.
There was nothing strictly wrong with one-night stands, in Mark’s view
they were morally wrong, but Ben took it to a pretty bad extent. Mark hadn’t
said anything but he could see that Ben wasn’t happy being that way. It wasn’t
like him. Mark had known Ben for many years and he wasn’t that kind of person.
The person he’d become since meeting Chloe, a short amount of time as that had
been, that was the real Ben, and Mark hoped it stayed that way. He hoped Ben
could hold on to Chloe, coz she was exactly the kind of person he needed. Ben
was worried that if Chloe found out about his “past”, she wouldn’t want to be
with him. Mark disagreed with that theory. He had told Ben that he should tell
her about it before she found out from someone else, which in Mark’s book was
much much worse.
Ben’s problem though, was that he thought Chloe was too good for him. Mark
believed that no-one was better than anyone else and he wished Ben wouldn’t
think like that. Apart from anything else, Mark could see it leading to
problems within the relationship. He really wanted Ben to be happy. He deserved
it and Mark truly thought Chloe was the one to make Ben happy. Mark just hoped
Ben would let her.
Jolting back to reality at the sound of a beep from the computer, Mark
realised he’d been staring into space for a good ten minutes.
I think about other people’s problems too
much. He thought,
clicking ‘OK’ on the message box that had appeared on the screen
and starting up ‘Outlook Express’ so he could check his mail.
“You have three new messages.” It told him.
There was one from his friend Lee, one from Del, a1’s PA and one from…
“Rose.” Mark said happily, eagerly opening the email
and reading what she’d written.
To: buzzlightyear@btinternet.co.uk
From: jelly_beans56@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: Hiya!!
Message: Hi Mark!
How are you? I just wanted to say thanks
for such a great day. I had the best time ever,
I hope we can do it again sometime! Have a
good time at GMTV tomorrow – me and
Chloe will be watching!
See you soon,
Loads of love,
Rose
xxxx
Hitting ‘REPLY’, Mark typed this back:
From:
buzzlightyear@btinternet.co.uk
Subject: re: Hiya!!
Message: Hi Rose
Thanks for your email, it really cheered me up at this
ridiculous time of 4 in the morning! Mad isn’t it?
And all for the sake of a TV show that’s on so early
in the morning that no-one will watch it anyway!
Oh well, you’ll be watching and that’s all that
matters to me right now. I do think it’s a bit unfair that
you’ll be able to see me but I won’t be able to see
you. I’ll just have to use my imagination! I’ve been
thinking about you loads, all the time really. It’s
hard not to. I really miss you. But you’re right, I will
see you soon and I can’t wait! I had a great time
yesterday too and hopefully next weekend will be even
better!
Anyway, better go, I have to reply to an
email my brother sent me a week ago! Say hi to Chloe for me,
Mark xx
Mark re-read what he’d written and clicked ‘SEND’. ‘Message
sent’ appeared on the screen and Mark continued to check his mail. When
he’d read the other three messages, he started on the email to Gary.
“But don’t we need it done by next Tuesday?” Christian was asking his
mobile phone. Or rather, the person at the end of the phone. “August?! Can’t we
do it sooner?”
Chris was sitting in the canteen at the GMTV studios in London waiting
for Ben, Mark and Paul to arrive. He knew Mark was going to be late because
he’d rung him earlier to say he was stuck in traffic but he was getting
slightly worried that Paul and Ben hadn’t turned up yet and they had to be on
in about 40 minutes.
“Yeah, they’re here.” Chris lied to their manager.
They’d been discussing the new single and Chris was surprised to learn
that they weren’t being allowed to showcase any of their new stuff until at
least August when the single was due for release. He’d thought that they’d be
performing their song, ‘When I’m Missing You’ at the charity concert on Sunday,
but obviously not. He was disappointed because he was really proud of what
they’d done and wanted to show it off. And he knew the fans had already been
waiting for too long to hear some new songs. He was also annoyed that he hadn’t
known about this before. Did the others know? Why hadn’t he been told? More
importantly, how had he missed it? He’d been to every meeting as far as he
knew. He’d have to ask Mark.
When he got there.
Which could be a while.
“Okay, well I’ll speak to you later then.” Chris said into his phone,
ending the conversation. As he hung up, he noticed Ben had appeared and was
walking over to his table.
“Hiya!” Ben said cheerily as he approached.
“Where’ve you been?” Chris asked.
Ben looked at his watch. “What are you talking about? I’m on time. How
long have you been here?”
“About half an hour. Why are you so happy at this time of the morning?
Usually all you can manage is a grunt.”
“I just spoke to Chloe.” Ben revealed, grinning and pulling up a chair
next to Chris’s.
Chris looked puzzled as he tried to work out who Chloe was.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, finally working it out. “So that’s her name is it?”
“Yeah, I forgot you didn’t know.”
“So go on then, tell me all about her. She’s one of the fans you went
out with on Monday night yeah?”
Ben nodded. “What do you want to know?” he asked Chris.
“Everything! Anything! She’s obviously pretty special to make you
cheerful at half 6 in the morning. I didn’t think it was possible!” Chris
joked.
“Shut up! And yeah, she is special, very special.” Ben said, getting a
far away look in his eyes.
“What does she look like?” Chris asked.
“What does who look like?”
Ben and Chris turned round and saw Paul standing behind them.
“God, you look terrible!” Ben exclaimed.
“Oh yeah, thanks.” Paul said grumpily. “Who are you talking about?”
“Ben’s new girlfriend.”
“Another one? How long’s this one going to last then?” Paul asked,
smiling knowingly at Ben.
“It’s not like that.” Ben said quickly.
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, actually. But if you’re just gonna be an idiot then I won’t
bother telling you about her.”
“I wanna know.” Chris said.
“Yeah, sorry man, I was only joking.” Paul apologised.
“It’s alright, it’s just… oh never mind. Well anyway, she’s called
Chloe, she’s… um… I dunno where to start! She’s just great.”
“Oh well that answers all the questions I had then.” Chris said with
amusement.
“Well you’ll get to meet her soon, you can ask her yourself.”
“What?” Paul asked.
“She’s coming up to stay with me next weekend.”
“Really? Cool! Where does she live?”
“In the Forest of Dean.”
“Where’s that?” Chris asked.
“Kinda near Cardiff.”
“Woah, isn’t that miles away?”
“Yeah, me and Mark went up yesterday, it takes about 2 and a half hours
to get there from London.” Ben told Paul and Chris.
“Mark? Why did he go up?”
“Um, maybe I should let him tell you.” Ben said, realising that Mark
might not want Paul and Chris to know about him and Rose yet.
“Why?”
“Just because it’s his business and I don’t think it’s really my place
to say.”
Paul and Chris exchanged glances. Paul opened his mouth to say something
else but was interrupted by Del coming over and telling them they had to go
into make-up.
“Where’s Mark?” he asked.
“He’s on his way. He’s stuck in traffic.” Chris said.
“Can you give him a ring for me? Find out where he is?” Del asked him.
“Yeah sure, I’ll do it in make-up.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Del led a1 out of the canteen and down a corridor into a room full of
mirrors and chairs. Several make-up artists were milling around busily and as
they entered the room. Ben, Paul and Chris were ushered into the chairs in
front of the mirrors. As the make-up artists applied a very simple base to
their faces so the studio lights wouldn’t make them look like ghosts, Chris got
out his mobile and phoned Mark.
“So tell me more about Chloe.” Paul was asking Ben. “What does she
look like?”
Ben smiled at Paul. “She’s really beautiful. She’s got long dark brown
hair, brown eyes, a lovely smile…”
“You always get the good looking ones. It’s so unfair!” Paul said. “How
old is she?”
“Um, 15.” Ben said quietly.
“15? Isn’t that kinda young?”
“It’s just a number.” Ben said defensively.
“I know but… it’s under age man!”
Ben and Paul both burst into laughter as Chris got off the phone.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Just Paul being stupid as usual.” Ben said, still laughing.
“Of course. Mark’s gonna be here soon, he’s just got out of the traffic
jam so he shouldn’t be much more than 5 minutes now.” Chris informed the room.
“What’s the time?” Ben asked.
Chris looked at his watch, much to the displeasure of the woman who was
trying to make him up. “It’s 20 to.”
“Is he gonna be here in time?”
“Just, I hope.”
“Oh, he needs to be here!” Ben exclaimed.
“Why?” Paul asked. “Well, apart from the obvious reason.”
“Oh, we just had this thing we were going to do. For
Chloe and Rose.”
“Who’s Rose?”
“Oh, um, Chloe’s best friend.”
“Ooh, is she good looking as well?” Paul asked.
“I can never tell whether you’re joking or not when you say that.” Ben
said, trying to avoid the question.
“Well it depends, is she good looking?” Paul persisted. “Or even
okay looking…?”
Ben laughed. “Yeah, she’s quite cute I guess, but she’s the same age as
Chloe.”
“Oh. Well, if she doesn’t have a problem with it…” Paul joked.
“Well I think M…” Ben stopped just in time, kicking himself for almost
letting Mark’s secret slip.
Not that it was a secret, just something not many people knew. And it
was Mark’s business, Ben had no right to tell Paul and Chris, friends that they
were. Mark should be allowed to tell them when he wanted to. But all this talk
of Paul and Rose was making him a bit nervous. He was going to say that he
thought Mark might have a problem with it, but he was so glad that he hadn’t.
Mark would have killed him. He got kind of funny about his private life
sometimes.
“How old is Chloe?” Chris asked, having missed the conversation between
Paul and Ben earlier.
“15.” said Paul.
“Don’t say it.” Ben said before Chris could comment.
“I wasn’t going to say anything. Apart from oh, maybe.”
“Yes you were. Or at least you’re thinking it. But she’s not too young.
God, it’s not as bad as M…”
WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?! Ben thought crossly. That was twice in
the space of a few seconds now.
“Not as bad as what?” Paul asked.
Why does he have to notice everything? Ben asked silently. For once can he
just not notice?
“Um, not as bad as, well, loads of people. Michael
Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones for example.”
Phew.
“True.” Mused Chris.
There was silence for a few seconds and then the door opened.
“Ah Mark, glad you could make it.” Paul said, noticing him in the
mirror.
“I’m really sorry I’m late, there was a crash and there was a huge
traffic jam.”
“Oh it’s okay. We were just finding out about…”
“No-one! Mark, can I have a word with you for a second please?” Ben
asked, getting up out of his chair and hurrying a very surprised Mark out of
the room.
“Well I thought the standard greeting was hello, but I guess this works
too.” Mark said. “Are you alright Ben?”
“I’m fine. Look, are you going to tell Chris and Paul about Rose?”
“Uh, yeah. Why?”
“What? Right now?”
“I dunno. Ben, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t know whether you wanted to tell them and so I
didn’t mention it, but I kind of did, but Paul thinks…”
“Okay, slow down Ben. What, you’ve told them or you haven’t?”
“No. I mean, they don’t know, but they know about me and Chloe and a
couple of times I accidentally said a few things about you and then said that I
couldn’t say coz it wasn’t my business. But I said something about Rose, and
Paul’s been, well, you know what Paul’s like.”
“Oh, I see.”
“So I just thought I’d warn you to ignore him if he says anything about
her coz he doesn’t actually know who he’s talking about.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Mark turned to go back into the room.
“Oh, there is one more thing.” Ben said.
Mark turned around. “What?”
“They know how old she is.”
“Ah. Did they say anything about Chloe’s age?” Mark asked thoughtfully.
“Not really. Paul being Paul, just stuff like that. You’re really
worried about it aren’t you?” Ben asked.
Mark sighed. “Yeah, but not because I have a problem with it. More
because I’m terrified someone’s going to say, you can’t go out with her, end of
story. Because I don’t want to have to choose something over her, or vice
versa.”
“Mark, no-one’s gonna say that.” Ben said, putting a comforting hand on
Mark’s shoulder.
“Tim will.”
“Screw Tim. He doesn’t know anything about it.”
“Are you two done girly chatting?” Paul shouted from the make-up room.
“Coz we’re on in five minutes and Mark’s not been made up.”
“Have I got time to tell them?” Mark asked Ben.
“Save it until after. We can have a proper chat then.”
“Oh my god, they’re gonna be on any minute!!” Chloe squealed excitedly.
Her and Rose had been sat in front of the TV for a good half hour so
they made absolutely sure they didn’t miss a1’s appearance. The video was all
set up to record on Chloe’s say and the two girls were so excited they couldn’t
sit still.
“This is the first time we will see them on TV as our boyfriends.” Rose
said.
“I know. This is the coolest day. We are so incredibly lucky.”
“Do you think they’re thinking about us?” Rose asked dreamily.
“I hope so. Ben said that he’d be thinking about me the whole way
through when I talked to him this morning.”
“Awww… he is so sweet.”
“I know.”
“OH COME ON!!!!!!! WE WANT TO SEE a1!!!!!” Rose shouted at the TV
screen. “What’s the time?”
“2 minutes to 7.”
“Oh my god, I think I’m going to be sick! I’m way too excited about this
aren’t I?”
“No, look at my hands.” Chloe said, holding her hands out in front of
her to show Rose that they were shaking.
“Aww, bless.”
“I’ll probably burst into tears as soon as I see them.” Chloe said,
laughing.
“OH MY GOD, THERE THEY ARE!!!!!” Rose screamed as Ben, Paul, Mark and
Christian, collectively known as a1, walked onto the set.
“Oh my god, Ben looks so gorgeous!”
“I love Mark’s trousers. Oh my god, he’s wearing a sleeveless top! I
think I’m going to faint!”
Chloe and Rose lapsed into silence, enthralled by the action on the TV.
a1 were sitting on a sofa opposite the presenter and
they all looked surprisingly awake under the circumstances.
The two girls stared at the screen, taking in every
single word as a1 happily chatted away about their music.
“They look so cute, don’t they?” Chloe asked, smiling
happily at the image of Ben.
“Do you think Paul and Chris know about us?” Rose asked.
Chloe thought. “Yeah. I guess, anyway. Why wouldn’t Ben and Mark tell
them?”
“Oh no reason, I was just wondering.”
“You know, Ben said that everyone’s gonna know about me and him in a few
days anyway coz the photos the fans took will have found their way to the
magazines and onto the internet and stuff. That’s why he said I should tell
everyone I know before they find out another way and things get confused.”
Chloe told Rose. “You and Mark are okay though coz you went out the back way when
you were leaving the hotel. Have you asked him if you can tell people?”
“No, not yet. I haven’t spoken to him since Tuesday. He said he’d ring
me after the show today. You haven’t told everyone though have you?”
“No, I don’t want to. I’ve only told Grace. And you obviously.”
“Why don’t you want to tell people? I can’t wait!” Rose said
enthusiastically.
“I dunno really. I think that if I ring everyone I know and go ‘guess
what? I’m going out with a popstar!’ not many people will believe me and also,
what if it only lasts for a few days? Then I’m gonna look really stupid.”
Rose looked shocked. “Clo, it’s not only going to last for a few days.
Ben loves you.”
“I know, I just don’t want to tempt fate I guess.”
Chloe shrugged. “Plus, it’s no-one else’s business. I’d rather they rang me if
they want to know. Otherwise, if they don’t care, I don’t either.”
“I love it when you’re being all stubborn and defiant. You’re so funny!”
Rose laughed.
“Thanks. You’re so odd!” Chloe said, turning her attention back to the TV.
“Yeah, it’s in Hyde park, this Sunday. So
everyone come down and see us!” Paul was saying.
“And quite a lot of big names will be
appearing alongside you, is that right?” The presenter asked.
“That’s right. I’m not sure of the whole
line-up, but I think Steps, Atomic Kitten, S Club 7, Craig David, people like
that are going to be performing.” Mark said.
“Urgh, not Craig David.” Chloe said.
“I hope we don’t have to talk to him.”
“Yeah, I might say something I might regret!” Chloe giggled.
“Oh, I hope Five aren’t gonna be there.” Rose said. “I might punch them
or something!”
“You’ll have to ask Mark when he rings you.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think Paul and Chris’ll like us?” Chloe asked.
“Yeah, why wouldn’t they? Mark and Ben did.” Rose pointed out.
“Over sixty tracks in fact.” Chris said.
“Oh god, how many times have we heard that?” Chloe said.
“I know, same old story. What I wanna know is when we’re actually gonna
get to hear some of them!”
“We should have asked Ben and Mark when they’re releasing the album.”
“They wouldn’t have told us though would they? Closely guarded secret
and everything.”
“I guess. They should tell us though. We are their girlfriends after
all.”
Rose giggled. “You can say that again if you like.”
“What? We are their girlfriends?”
“Uh-huh. Keep saying it, it sounds good.”
“We are going out with Ben and Mark from a1.” Chloe said with a smile.
Rose sighed. “Ahhh, life is good.”
“Well that’s about all we have time for. Thank you for
coming on guys and good luck with your single. a1, everybody!”