The film seemed to end far too soon, and as it did, Ben realised the time.
“Sammie, we have to be at the studios in five minutes!”
Everyone looked at him for a moment, and then rushed around, getting coats and jackets and keys, and running out to Jeremy’s car. He drove as fast as he could to the studios and dropped them off outside. They waved goodbye as Ben’s family drove off home, then held hands and walked into the building. They held onto each other while signing in, and in make up and wardrobe (the make up artist giving Sammie dirty looks. Ben felt guilty as he remembered chatting her up less than a week ago), but had to let go when it was time for the solo interviews. They were led to separate rooms and made to hand over their camcorders before sitting in front of a camera crew and interviewer.

Ben threw himself into the chair, grinning like he always did in a1 interviews. The crew (not the same as those in the Maldives) turned the camera on and the interview started.
“So Ben, tell us what happened when the screen went back, and what you thought when you saw Sammie”
Ben knew how to answer the question from all his media training, so although he knew what he wanted to say, he paused anyway, to allow time for the editors to cut the interviewer out.
“When the screen went back, and I saw Sammie, my first impression was-WOW! I loved the hair, the dress, the face, and right there and then I had to hug her. And once I hugged her, I had to look at her again, I was so blown away! I thought ‘yup, this is definitely going to be a great week”

The interviewer paused like Ben had done.
“So, what happened that night?”
“The night we met, I took Sammie out for a meal. She didn’t seem too impressed by my choice of drinks, but oreo’s don’t appeal to everyone. Anyway, I was more than impressed with her-great looks and great personality, and she must be one of the few girls I’ve met that isn’t interested in diets and crap like that, it got me so much more interested in her”
“Tell us about the first day”
“On the first day, as we both had jetlag, we decided to just stay on the beach. We didn’t stay on the actually beach for too long though, as I thought Sammie might appreciate a nice dip in the sea. I suppose I didn’t give her much choice in the matter, I ran with her into the sea before she could do a thing. Luckily, she didn’t mind too much”
“How did she react?”
“She asked me to put her down, so I did” He broke into a wicked grin and winked at the camera.
“What about that night? What happened?”
Ben remained silent, and the interviewer looked at him curiously. After five minutes of silence, the interviewer moved on.
“Okay, what about the second day?”
“The next day we didn’t do much, but that was because I wanted to phone my brother. Sammie, being the sweetheart that she is, said we should call him as we had a whole week to spend together. But that night, we travelled to this other island that was having a huge party barbeque thing. I guess it was an okay party, for what it was, but having Sammie around made it the best I’d ever been to”
“What happened on the phone call to your brother”
Ben stopped talking again.
“Okay, what exactly did Sammie do to make the party stand out?”
“At the party, Sammie and I started dancing together, but we got separated by some locals. We eventually found each other and moved slightly up the beach to dance uninterrupted, and at the bonfire they created we just sat together talking, until she fell asleep”
“Now we need to hear about the next day”
“Um . . .” Ben looked deep in thought. “I can’t remember what happened” he lied, not wanting to support the camera crew’s footage.
“You can’t remember?” The interviewer repeated sceptically. Ben nodded, and they switched the camera off. “How can you not remember?”
“All I remember is talking to Paul on the phone that night”
The interviewer sighed, and the crew started recording again.
“So tell us about the last day”
“Um, on the last day, we spent the morning in the hotel pool, playing with the kids that were staying there too. In the afternoon, we were lucky enough to go swimming with dolphins, which I’ve done before but it was a new experience for Sammie. I think it made it more fun, teaching her, because it was her I was teaching, and it stopped it getting boring”
“Now you’ve spent a week with her, what do you think about her as a potential girlfriend or in general?”
“After spending a week with Sammie, I can honestly say I’ve had the best time of my life, and I can’t wait to spend more time with her. She’s been great company, really funny and sweet, and although it’s early days I think I can safely say we’ll stay together for quite a while”
“Okay, that’s all we’ll need. Thanks Ben”
“No problems” he got up and walked outside to wait for Sammie.

Sammie entered the room nervously, and saw the stool opposite the camera crew and interviewer.
“Hello . . . Sammie, isn’t it?” Sammie nodded. “Okay, sit on the stool” Sammie sat. “Just look at me and the camera, ignore the rest of the room, okay?”
“Um, okay”
“So, can you tell us what you thought when you saw your date was going to be Ben?”
“Well, I had kind of guessed it-”
“Sammie, Sammie, stop. Could you pause between my questions and answering? It makes it easier for the editors. Also, could you repeat the question in your answer? It makes it look like this isn’t an interview”
“Okay, sorry”
“It’s okay, not everyone can do it right first time. So when you saw Ben, what did you think?”
“When I saw Ben, I wasn’t as surprised as I could’ve been, as I’d already seen Chris, but I was still happy. I always thought he was good looking, but up close he’s even better looking”
“Okay, great. So talk about your first day in the Maldives”
“The first day we were jetlagged, so we just went onto the beach. Everything was going fine until he dunked me into the sea and hid from me. I got a little mad but that night at dinner he more than made up for that”
“How did he do that? Start with that night, we can cut better then”
“That night, to make up for being so annoying earlier, he left me this trail of roses around the hotel restaurant to follow, and it ended with him and one of the most gorgeous meals I’ve ever had”
“Awwww! Okay, how about the second day, do you want to talk about that?”
“Okay” The interviewer gave her a strange look. “OH!” Sammie paused. “Um, on the second day, we went to another island for this bonfire-barbeque thing. By this time we were getting on really well, and we got on the dance floor. There was a lot of people there and for a while we got separated, but Ben, being the great guy he is came and found me, and wouldn’t let me out of his sight for the rest of the night”
“That’s so sweet! Anyway, what did you do the next day?”
“Do I have to answer that?” The interviewer shrugged. “Um, we went to this Market thing and just looked about and that, and we walked over the island and hired out some dinghy’s”
“And the last day?”
“On the final day, we went to another island to learn how to swim with dolphins. Ben’s already done it twice, but I hadn’t at all so he spent most of the time teaching me, despite the instructor being there. He was really great about it, and the dolphins were amazing, but at the end the instructor started hitting on Ben. I was a little worried about that but he told me there was no way anything was going to happen, so I guess everything worked out great”
“Awww! He sounds so sweet! So, what do you think of him now you’ve spent a week with him, and do you think you’ll see each other afterwards?”
“Ben’s been really sweet, kind and caring, and he’s been great fun to be around. I hope that we’ll be in contact for a long while to come. We’ve got each others phone numbers so we’ll definitely be chatting soon”
The interviewer looked consumed by jealousy, but smiled nonetheless.
“That’s it. Thanks a lot Sammie . . . and treat Ben right, he sounds sweet, and lots of girls would be baying for your blood otherwise” Sammie nodded, smiling back. She walked out of the room and saw Ben reading a poster. He turned when he heard the door go and smiled.
“Do you wanna go home now or go out for dinner?” He asked, winding his arm across her shoulders and leading her down the corridor.
“I’d rather spend the night in with you, it’s been great like that so far”
“Great, we’ll go get a pizza and look for a video. Any favourites?”
“What, the pizza or the film?”
“Both”
“Um, how about a Hawaiian pizza and . . . Sliding doors?”
“That’s so old! And it’s a chick flick!”
“Yea, but it’s so cool! Oh please? You said it was my favourites not yours anyway, so that’s sorted, Hawaiian and Sliding doors”
“Oh, it’s sorted is it?” Ben teased.
“Yuh-huh” Sammie giggled and kissed him.
“Okay, you win hun” he smiled.
“Hey you two” A gloomy voice said behind them. They turned and saw Keith; hands firmly jammed into his jean pockets.
“Hey Keith” They said together, and giggled.
“How’d you know Keith?”
“We met in the make up room last week. How do you know him?”
“We had to wait together last week before the show. So how was your week?” Sammie turned to Keith.
“It was okay, I suppose”
“You suppose? Did anything happen between you and Alicia?”
Keith shrugged.
“No. And by that I mean no arguments and no romance. She tried to be my friend all week. She really only did it for the holiday. I feel so used.” He scuffed his shoe against the rough carpet. “Still, you two look happy together, well done” He took his hands out of his pockets to Shake Ben’s hand and hug Sammie. As he walked off, Ben looked in his hand where Keith had left a screwed up bit of paper, reading:

Ben/Sammie,
I know we’ve only bumped into each other
a couple of times, but I’ve enjoyed chatting
to you both. If you wanna phone or anything
for a chat, come find me tomorrow
Keith x

Ben watched Sammie read. She looked up.
“That’s something to do tomorrow then. We can get the pizza and film now though, right?”
Ben smiled, and lead her out of the building.
“Right, pepperoni and Austin Powers 3 it is!”
“That’s not what we agreed!” Sammie slapped him.
“I signed nothing, you bully!” he argued back, and lifted her into a fireman’s carry.
“PUT ME DOWN!” Sammie called as Ben marched down the street with her, causing people to stare. There were a few fans around, who looked shocked about seeing their favourite boy band member with some girl slung over his shoulder.
“Okay, but I don’t mean a word of it-Sammie, you’re annoying!”
“I meant put me on the floor, not insult me! You’re impossible!”
“How was I supposed to know what you meant, it was very unclear” he slapped her bum then turned his head and kissed her.
“Did you just kiss me?”
“It’s not like I haven’t before”
“No, you did, that’s my bum!”
“Are you implying I kiss your ass?”
“I’m only confirming what you just did!”
Ben finally put her down and kissed her, then led her into the pizza shop.
“Hi, can we have a pepperoni pizza to take away?”
“BENJAMIN STEPHEN ADAMS!”
“Okay, okay, okay, it’s supposed to be Hawaiian” He turned to Sammie. “I’m trying this in the video shop”
“You could but I don’t think they do pepperoni pizza”
“They might” Ben smiled, and pulled her closer, intent on kissing her.
“Hey, break it up you two, someone has to pay for your pizza”
“Yeah, okay” Ben pulled out a credit card, still staring at Sammie. The pizza guy took it from him roughly, and Ben finally kissed Sammie. After a moment, the pizza guy tapped him on the arm.
“You gotta sign this” he pushed forward a slip of paper. Ben signed and took his card back, and proceeded to kiss Sammie.
“Hey, hey, hey! This place is for eating pizza, not girlfriends!”
Sammie burst into giggles, making it impossible for her and Ben to continue kissing.

“Pizza’s ready, if you’re still hungry that is”

Ben picked up the box and slung his arm around Sammie, then walked out in silence.
“Ben, are you okay?”
“I’m fantastic, darling”
“Why’ve you been so quiet?”
“I was just thinking”
“What were you just thinking?”
“He was the first stranger to notice that you’re my girlfriend. In fact, he’s the first person to call you my girlfriend”
“No, your mum, Chris and my interviewer have said it to me”
“I haven’t heard them. I heard him though” Ben tightened his hold on her, pulling her closer. “And I have to admit, I loved hearing it”
“Me too. Oh, video shop!” They stopped walking and headed into the video shop. After searching for a while, Ben found an ex-rental copy and bought it.
“I thought we were renting it” Sammie said when she saw him at the checkout.
“Might as well buy it, if you like it that much I’m sure we’ll be watching it more than once”
They stepped out of the shop and made their way back to Ben’s flat. When they got to the door, Ben looked at her curiously.
“Are you okay sweetheart?”
“Yeah, I’m fine”
“Good. I love you”
“I know. I love you too”
Ben smiled, and let them into his flat. He slipped the video into the machine and plonked himself into the armchair, taking a slice of pizza with him.
“You can sit down you know babe” He said, and patted his lap. Sammie finished hanging her coat up and joined him, stealing his pizza. “Do you mind?”
“Yeah, I do actually, you stole all the ham!”
“You stole my whole slice, quit complaining”
“I’m only complaining because you wanted me to complain”
“No I didn’t!”
“Yes you did!”
“Hey, film!” Ben turned her head and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, kissing her every now and again. The pizza was finished long before the film, and soon Ben was getting up for a drink. While he was gone, Sammie realised her cheek was wet, and went to wipe it dry before realising Ben had smothered pizza sauce on it. She sneaked into the kitchen and wiped it on the back of his neck.
“What are you doing?”
“I believe it’s called payback”
“What? What did I do?” He turned, pulling his most innocent face, until he saw the red mess on her cheek, and dissolved into giggles. “Come here” he said, then licked the sauce of her cheek.
“That is so gross”
“What is?”
“Licking me”
“You won’t be saying that later” he grinned, and kissed her gently. She pulled him closer and kissed him harder, slipping her tongue into his mouth and wiping the sauce off his neck as he pulled her even closer, a sense of urgency in the way he held her waist. After a few minutes of very passionate kisses, Ben started gently pushing her out of the kitchen, and into his bedroom, his hands sneaking their way down her legs to the hem of her dress. Sammie’s fingers were stuck in his hair, pulling his head even closer. Ben pulled away slightly.
“Sammie” He said in between kisses.
“Yeah?”
“I’m getting hot”
“Want to stop then?”
Ben stopped kissing and thought.
“No, not really” He carried on thinking, and then smiled. “Give me fifteen minutes, and come back in here, okay?”
Sammie nodded, and detached herself, rather unwillingly, from him. She went to her bag and got something out before walking out of Ben’s bedroom. She set off down the hall to the front room to stop the video, and then went into his bathroom to freshen up.
While she was gone, Ben opened a cupboard and took out about fifty candles. He scattered them around the room and lit them with a lighter Paul had given him. He looked at his shirt and trousers and started to straighten them out. He spiked his hair up where Sammie had flattened it and checked the bedside table drawer. He was searching through it when Sammie came back in.
“What are you looking for?”
“Um, I thought I had a pack of condoms in here, but I forgot that I’ve got loads if song ideas written and put in here too, so they’re a little hard to find”
“Oh” Sammie sat next to him on the bed, and put her arm across his shoulders.
“Found them!” Ben smiled, and looked a t Sammie. His jaw dropped. “Wow! You look amazing!” He stared at her, and she shifted uncomfortably in the slinky little nightdress she had on. “What made you bring that?”
“Kaz packed it for me, I only found it a couple of days ago”
Ben nodded, and leaned over to kiss her again. After a couple of minutes they were laying on his king size bed, Ben on top of Sammie, kissing passionately, their hands wondering everywhere. Ben was first in removing clothes, insisting on taking off the small nightdress Sammie had been in, leaving her completely naked. She, in turn, started unbuttoning his shirt, and helping his get his trousers and thong off. Ben pulled the condom on, then stopped kissing completely.
“Are you sure you’re all right with this Sammie? No turning back once it happens”
“Shut up and snog me Ben. In fact, do more” She pulled him back down, and, still unsure, Ben responded, giving in to Sammie finally.