harriet (6)

chapter twenty six

Mark hadn’t spoken a word to Bryan since they arrived in Glasgow, and Bryan didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t see what he’d done wrong. Mark had told him that he wasn’t in the least bit interested in Sandra. He’d been too busy chasing after Patricia. But now he’d decided he liked Sandra after all, and of course it was all Bryan’s fault he hadn’t known this!

But now Sandra couldn’t keep her hands of Bryan. He’d managed to persuade her to take a separate room, but only because he’d said he didn’t want the fans finding out.

He headed for the canteen in the SECC. As he walked through the door, he spotted Sandra. He tried to leave before she saw him, but no such luck. She came running over. ‘Hey you!’ She kissed him.

‘Sandra.’ Bryan sighed.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing.’ He sighed again. Mark walked in, and he could see the hurt in his eyes. But what worried him more was the hate that he saw in them too.

Sandra saw it too, and saw the pain in Bryan’s face. She was starting to think that maybe she had done the wrong thing letting Bryan think that they’d slept together. She’d only done it to make Mark jealous, but all it had done was hurt everyone.

Kian rolled over in bed. He wanted more sleep, but he knew he had to get up. He’d finally dropped off just after 4. He and Karina had been up until after 1 talking. He couldn’t believe this was all happening.

Whilst they were still in Manchester, Karina had been handed a letter for Kian, and asked to pass it on. She had instantly recognised Bianca’s handwriting, and thought that she should open.

The letter was saying that she was pregnant with Kian’s child.

So, Karina had grabbed the bull by the horns, and gone to see Bianca in Sligo. She didn’t care what it did to Kian. He’d hurt her, and she wanted her own back. She was threatening to go to the papers.

Kian rolled over again, and saw Karina crashed out on the sofa. She must have fallen asleep. He sighed. Nothing seemed to be going right for anybody. Everything was falling apart around them.

Even Kian had had more sleep than Nicky. He’d paced around the hotel all night long. He still couldn’t get things straight in his head. Georgina had been there for him for so long. He knew things hadn’t been great, but he loved her. He’d always imagined her finishing her studying, and once Westlife had calmed down a bit, they’d get married, and buy a place together, and have kids.

There was no chance of that now. Georgina was gone, and Nicky had to adjust to being single for the first time in 7 years. It was weird. There was no-one back home he could turn to. Of course, there was his family, but that was different. Everything was different now.

Laura came out of the lift. Even things with her were different now. He’d apologised for what he’d said on the bus, and she’d accepted, but it was still really tense between them. He felt for the first time, probably ever, that Laura was keeping something from him, and that made him feel uncomfortable.

She waved to him, and he sat up in his chair, and tried to look vaguely human. Today was a new day. Things were going to be better today. At least, that’s what he told himself.

Mark was starting to think that he was the only one who cared about the band. He’d stopped thinking about everything that was going on with him, and thrown everything into the band and the shows. At least the fans had noticed. If they had any fans left, that was.

He was so disappointed. They’d all been building up, and looking forward to this tour for so long, and now it was falling apart. The reviews they’d had were so bad that they didn’t even bother reading them anymore. They didn’t talk to each other any more. They all ate at different tables. They all went everywhere in different cars. Something had changed between them, and Mark didn’t know if they could ever go back to the way things were.

Mark sighed. He seemed to spend all his time sighing. Either that or crying. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew he didn’t like it. He wanted to fix things between him and Bryan. He trusted Bryan with his deepest thoughts, and he was probably his closest friend in the band. But even that had gone. Mark knew he had overreacted, but he was stubborn, and he didn’t want to give in. He might have to soon though.

Shane had decided to tell Lucy how he felt. Things with Alec were over, baby or no baby, and he had to be honest. He had phoned her when he woke up, and she was going to come along to his room after she’d had a shower. He threw a few things into his suitcase, and tried to tidy up a bit. He didn’t care about the mess, but he needed something to keep him occupied.

There was a knock on the door, and Shane took a deep breath. ‘Who is it?’

‘It’s me, Lucy.’

‘Hang on.’ He kicked his trainers under the bed and opened the door. ‘Come in.’

They sat down on the chairs in the window. ‘Well?’ Lucy looked expectant.

‘Well what?’

‘What did you want to talk to me about?’

‘There’s something you need to know. About why I broke up with Alec.’ He looked Lucy in the eye. ‘I broke up with her because of you.’

‘What do you mean, because of me?’ Lucy looked cautious.

‘Because of you. Because of my feelings for you.’ Shane reached out and put his hand over Lucy’s.

‘Woah, Shane, hold on a second. We shouldn’t be doing this.’

‘We’re not doing anything.’ He pulled his chair closer to her.

‘Shane.’ Lucy pulled her hand out from under his. ‘Alec’s my friend. I can’t do this to her.’

‘Do what? Is this because she’s pregnant?’

‘Partly.’ Lucy looked away.

‘Lucy? What’s the rest of it?’

‘Oh for Christ’s sake, you men are so stupid! She’s still in love with you, you moron!’

‘Don’t be stupid, she can’t be!’

‘Can’t I?’ Shane and Lucy spun round, startled. Alec was standing in the doorway.

‘Alec!’ Shane stood up. ‘How long have you been there for?’

‘Long enough.’ She turned to Lucy. ‘How could you? I trusted you, and you just thought you’d go running to him! Thanks a lot!’ She fled from the room.

‘It’s not like that!’ Lucy called after her. She turned to Shane. ‘Now look what you’ve done?’ She ran after Alec.

Shane sat down again. ‘Me? What I’ve done? I can’t help who I fall in love with.’ Shane was talking, but no one was listening.

chapter thirty one to thirty six