The party unfolding was quite a scene. All around her, towering Italian models, head to toe in exquisite couture cosied up with an elite selection of designers, fashion editors, actors and rock stars as cameras constantly flashed in all corners and every alcove. The beautiful people writhed and slinked as Grace Jones worked her way through a phenomenal rendition of ‘Warm Leatherette’ up on the stage. One of the pretty young busboys walking by with rock solid pectorals and a six pack paused to offer Tiger a Martini. He was clad only in skimpy red shorts with ‘Lifeguard’ printed in white across his tight buttocks. My god, I could swipe my Amex between those cheeks, thought Tiger as she liberated one of the cocktails and watched him stalk away haughtily. She wondered if Blue had familiarised himself with the busboys yet, seeing as he’d sent Richie home over an hour ago.
Tiger crossed the packed dance floor towards Ocean and Blue, garnering quite a few nudges, stares and camera flashes herself. Her pals sat gassing at her table, along with Georgia and Lewis whom Tiger had not entirely been in the mood for when they rocked up. Lewis had shot Tiger a rare apologetic look when they arrived, signalling it hadn’t exactly been his idea to attend either. Boy was he under the thumb, Tiger had thought to herself, wondering if maybe he was getting a karmic kicking for his controlling ways over the years. Tiger quickly decided she didn’t want to tell anyone about the Sienna incident right now; she couldn’t face airing any drama in front of her pal Ocean, who was just here for some fun.
‘Girrl, this has been, like, so amazing spending time with you!’ yelled Ocean over the music, grabbing Tiger’s hand close as she slid into her seat. Even under the unflattering nightclub lights, Ocean looked like a wild beauty with her huge tangle of untamed white-blonde hair cascading down her back, and her rippling toned shoulders and arms lending her a seductively tough edge. Even in this imposing banqueting hall, with hundred-foot-high ceilings covered in rich artwork, and surrounded by fashionistas, foie gras and fawning, Ocean had swept shamelessly through the room bare footed and topless but for her hundreds of strings of pearls covering her breasts and her shimmering satin skirt with long fishtail … naturally.
Ocean was truly special. She always insisted she was a real mermaid. She literally swam with the fish. Tiger had first seen her swimming in a huge tank in Coney Island many moons ago when they were hired to perform in a show called A Fish and Feather Fantasy, with Tiger being asked to perform an homage to Elvis Presley’s cousin ‘Evangeline the Oyster girl’, and Ocean to perform as the rivalrous ‘Divena, the Aqua-Tease’. Tiger had been mesmerised by Ocean’s beautiful underwater striptease from the very first second, and Ocean had felt a mutual affinity. During their run, Ocean was being bullied and trailed in the tank by a giant barracuda with a grudge; and Tiger was always on hand to offer her a warming pep talk before each show. The two girls developed a close bond and had remained firm friends ever since.
‘We mustn’t leave it so long before we meet again, honey! But listen, I gotta cut loose in a minute, I was only in town for tonight’s gig, they’re flying me back to the Big Apple tomorrow,’ sighed Ocean, adding, ‘Anyway I gotta shower all the fish shit off when I get back to my hotel too. It’s a world of glamour I tell ya.’
Tiger smiled. ‘I miss you, Ocean. You’re a true friend. Old school.’ The girls high-fived each other and giggled.
‘Listen. Babe. You just call me. Anytime.’ Ocean looked squarely at Tiger. ‘Lemme tell you somethin’, kid. You seem distracted tonight, but you have all this great shit goin’ on, I mean, Vegas man! You hit the big time, kid, an’ I’m proud of you! Look how far you’ve come! Right now, you gotta do right and take care o’ you.’ For Ocean, growing up on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen as a child, true friends she could trust were like gold dust, and she was fiercely protective of anyone who was a ‘keeper’ in her life. Tiger appreciated her concern right now.
‘Ocean, it’s cool. I just think a couple of things are niggling me right now.’
‘I kinda figured.’
‘But hey, they don’t call me Tiger for nothing,’ she said, brightening for her friend, ‘I can take care of myself, no problem.’
‘Listen, just one thing, girl. What’s with your twin over there?’
‘Twin?’
‘The chick in the dress? Your hoochie mama dancer girl?’
‘Georgia? She doesn’t look anything like me!’
‘Girrl, she’s trying. Check out the pin-curled hair. The dress. The shoes. The make-up. It’s all your style, your look. And it doesn’t suit her.’
‘Oh, I was unsure about her at first too, but I think she’s harmless. It’s probably just a coincidence.’
‘Okay, here’s the thing.’ Ocean lowered her voice and leaned right in to Tiger’s ear. ‘I bet that’s not where she draws the line. You know what they say, “keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer”. She’s your lead dancer, she’s bumpin’ your manager, and now she’s turning up at your parties an’ tryin’ to rock your look. She wants your life, girrrl. And by the looks of it she doesn’t even have the sense to grit her teeth and be nice to you. You watch out for that one. I’m tellin’ ya. I’ve been round the block, I’ve seen it happen before. You watch her.’ Ocean squeezed Tiger’s hand once more.
Tiger leaned in for a big hug. ‘I don’t know, darling, I think there’s something weird in the water right now.’
‘Girrrl, you protect yourself, that’s all I’m sayin’.’
‘I hear you. Thank you, sweetheart.’
‘Oh. And listen. You’d better have, like, the best seat in the house for me on your opening night in Vegas. I ain’t missing that for the world!’
The girls kissed their goodbyes and Blue left the room to escort Ocean to her cab. Tiger was left feeling unsettled. She looked over at Georgia. Was Ocean right? Was Georgia really that calculating after all? Tiger knew she had ambition; that’s what she had liked about her in the auditions, ironically. Tiger watched Georgia carefully as she now snuggled up to Lewis’ starched collar and fingered the lemon twist in her Martini in a provocative manner. Lewis squeezed Georgia’s thigh. Tiger felt confused. She felt something like a strong pang of jealousy but rationalised that was an impossibility and quickly pushed it to the back of her mind. Tiger had so far always been careful not to socialise with Lewis outside the work environment and tonight she was surprised to encounter him being relaxed with another woman; at least as relaxed as Lewis ever could be. She saw a rather different side to him under different lights. Charismatic. Fun. Tiger suddenly shook her head and heaved a sigh. Her head hurt with too many thoughts. All in all she was having a lousy night, with the sole exception of seeing Ocean. She quickly messaged Blue to ask him to stay at the entrance and hail Vladimir. This party was over for Tiger.
Blue read the message as he paced outside the club. He gave a little nod as he recognised stage door Johnnie near the velvet ropes. They exchanged kind smiles, and Blue wondered what present he had for Tiger tonight. Sometimes he brought chocolates or a slim volume of poetry with the usual bouquet. As Tiger’s Towncar crawled up Whitehall to meet him, Blue could hear people calling out Tiger’s name behind him. She must be on her way out, he thought, giving Vladimir a quick thumbs up through the car window before popping his head back into the venue to retrieve her. As Blue approached through the reception he saw a short, stocky, shaven-headed male leaning in to Tiger’s curls and whispering something. Tiger drew back violently and regarded him with furiously arched eyebrows.
‘It wasn’t a spatula, for your information,’ spat Tiger loudly. ‘It was a Black ’n’ Decker 18 volt hand vacuum, don’t you know? Anyway, that’s old news, why don’t you come up with something more original?’
‘Eh, baby!’ reasoned the bald guy in a thick Russian accent, realising the pair were garnering an audience for him to play to. ‘I just fancied a leetle fun, I heard that was your speciality! Come, let’s have fun!’ he laughed. At that moment, Blue saw Georgia opposite, mobile in hand as though she h
ad come out from the party to make a call. She was watching the exchange intently with a sly smirk on her face.
Blue immediately steamed over and pushed the bald guy forcefully from Tiger’s path. Yanking her arm he pulled her towards the door. From the corner of his eye he saw Georgia wearing a huge grin, her phone now pressed to her ear.
‘Ow! Blue, you’re hurting me!’ grumbled Tiger.
‘Gotta get you out of here, darling, this is not a good scene,’ muttered Blue, tightening his grip. He pushed through the doors and towards the purring Towncar.
‘Miss Starr! I have a surprise for you!’ called out stage door Johnnie, rushing forwards towards Tiger, who had managed to free herself from Blue’s grip. Johnnie shoved a bouquet of flowers in her face, complete with a small pink card poking from a pretty matching pink ribbon. Tiger glared at Johnnie, and he recoiled slightly in surprise. She was usually so friendly.
‘I thought you’d like pink roses this time instead of the gladioli.’ He grinned, waiting for her to smile. Tiger stood deadly still, staring at the flowers. She felt her head throbbing, thoughts pouring in from all sides. A crowd was gathering.
‘Pink?’ she snarled. ‘You like the colour pink do you?’ she shrieked, suddenly ripping the flowers from Johnnie’s hands. Cameras immediately started flashing as she lashed out at him with the bouquet and swiped for his face with her long nails. ‘You’re the one watching me sleep are you, you pervert?’ she growled. ‘I see you’re hanging out at my home now anyway. I s’pose you have some big secret of mine you want to reveal too, do you?’
Johnnie held his hands over his head, shouting for her to stop. The flashes continued frantically and the crowd tripled in size within seconds. Blue grabbed Tiger firmly by the shoulders and dragged her backwards. The cameras continued snapping and a hum of excited chatter swelled within the crowd.
‘You don’t scare me, you freak!’ howled Tiger, pointing furiously in Johnnie’s direction as she staggered backwards in Blue’s grip. As the crowd progressed to heckling and goading, the paparazzi surged forwards, closing in on Tiger’s wild face as Blue opened the car door and bundled her in.
With Tiger shaking on the backseat, the flashes popped relentlessly through the blacked out windows until the car had pulled safely away. Blue put his head in his hands and gulped for air. He just sat for a moment, trying to make sense of it all. He waited for Tiger to speak, say something, anything. She just sat and shook. Stage door Johnnie had just tried to give her some flowers back there. Blue had no idea what had happened in Tiger’s head, but to the outside world, she just looked like the next drunken celebrity assaulting a well meaning fan. The paparazzi had captured every detail.
‘J-j-just take us h-h-home, Vladimir, th-thank you,’ stuttered Tiger.
‘Tiger, we have to talk,’ said Blue firmly. ‘What the fuck’s wrong with you tonight? You’re spinning out. You need to tell me everything, babe. And I mean everything.’
Tiger looked across at Blue with watery eyes and a trembling lip and tried to speak. Unable to say anything she looked away. She didn’t drop a single tear or utter a single word the whole journey home.
Chapter 18
Oh come on, you can’t keep it a secret any more!’ giggled Sienna, fidgeting in the cream leather seat of the huge Sikorsky S-76 helicopter as she pressed her nose up at the window, watching as lush green fields and hedgerows rolled by beneath.
‘Wait, you’ll see!’ laughed Rex from his seat opposite. ‘Just enjoy the ride. Have some more champagne, birthday girl. How does it feel to be nineteen?’
‘The same as it feels to be eighteen, silly,’ said Sienna. ‘Except no one’s ever treated me to a surprise like this before.’
Rex leaned forwards and topped up Sienna’s glass, letting it fizz over enthusiastically.
‘Careful!’ she tittered drunkenly. ‘It’s going to my head as it is!’
‘Whoops. Must be the altitude making everything bubble over,’ murmured Rex, planting a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist, deep down wishing it was Tiger here with him sharing the view.
‘Ooh, I feel a little … lightheaded!’ Sienna gasped, fanning her pretty face.
‘Okay, babe, how about you open a couple of presents then?’
‘Oh wow, you mean there’s more? I was having such a good time I didn’t even think about presents!’
‘Well your present from me will be revealed when we land,’ said Rex. ‘In the meantime Tiger gave me this to give to you as she knew she wouldn’t be here for your birthday.’ He held out a small, beautifully wrapped gift bag. Sienna’s face turned stony.
‘Yeah, work’s always more important for Tiger.’
‘Just wait ’til you open it, babes, she said she’d chosen something special. It’s bound to be expensive knowing her. She’s always very generous.’
‘Yeah. Well, money can’t buy everything you know,’ grumbled Sienna, taking the bag and ripping it open. Inside was a small velvet box. Sienna took a deep breath and wished for diamonds. She opened the box and stared. There nestled an exquisite Gucci watch fashioned from minature solid gold horse bits. Sure enough, diamonds framed the square watch face, which was tiger eye … naturally. It was stunning. Sienna snapped the box shut and chucked it unceremoniously on to the walnut table.
‘Aren’t you gonna show me?’ asked Rex.
‘Er, no. It’s nothing special,’ replied Sienna, quickly totting up how many thousands she could get for it if she sold it on eBay.
‘But Tiger said she’d chosen it carefully – is it a ring?’
Sienna paused for a moment before replying. ‘No. It’s a watch,’ she said, looking straight at Rex’s wrist. ‘I think she gives those to people she wants to get rid of doesn’t she?’
‘I don’t know what you mean, babes,’ said Rex dismissively. ‘Come on, have some more Cristal.’ Sienna chugged back her whole glass of champagne and screwed her face up as the fizz hit the back of her throat.
‘Yeah. More bubbly for the birthday girl, bring it on,’ jeered Sienna, slurring her words a little.
‘Come on, babe, this weekend is all about you. Enjoy.’
‘Oh? Somehow I get the feeling my sister has still managed to make it all about her … this time because she’s not here! Bitch. Sending me a gold diamond watch in her absence. She hasn’t even called me. Next time I sell another story on her I’ll make sure it’s a fucking—’ Sienna gasped and clamped her hand over her mouth. She looked over at Rex who for once was silenced. The helicopter swung round dramatically on its flight path.
Ladies and gentlemen, we remind you to please remain seated until the fasten seatbelt sign has been turned off. The local time is now 11.30 a.m. We hope you had an enjoyable flight, and we trust you will have a great stay,’ the purser said with a friendly grin as he stood at the head of the cabin.
Honey Lou felt butterflies in her stomach and looked out from her small window. Heat waves emanated from the tarmac as the aeroplane taxied slowly along. She couldn’t quite believe she was in Las Vegas on a private jet with Tiger Starr, no less.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Blanche from her seat next to Honey.
‘Pinching myself.’
‘Whatever for?’
‘Oh, you know, just to check it’s all real.’
‘Oh, Honey Lou,’ Blanche laughed softly, ‘there’s nothing real about Vegas.’
Once Georgia, Nikki, Blanche and Honey Lou were esconced in their quarters at the Luxuriana Grande, the room hopping started in earnest. They had an hour before their final costume fittings, and this was taken up with checking that none of them had a better view, a bigger hot tub, or an extra plasma screen in their room than anyone else. Honey Lou was beginning to feel relaxed with the girls, like she was finally starting to fit in. Nikki, she decided was the fairest and kindest, and Blanche she thought was the prettiest and most ladylike. Georgia didn’t really engage and spent most of her time either making calls or hiding her head in a magazine. But that didn’
t bother Honey Lou, she was just determined to have a fabulous time.
The Starrlets met Blue and his seamstress for their fittings in his suite. It was enormous. Honey Lou’s eyes darted everywhere. She couldn’t quite believe it had more rooms than her entire family home back in London. If only her parents were here to see it. Honey Lou’s father had been against his daughter making this trip, especially after the shit storm in the newspapers after Tiger lashed out at one of her fans last week, but Honey had found a totally unexpected sympathiser in her mother, Lila, who quite out of the blue confessed she’d always fantasised about working as a croupier in Vegas, ever since she had watched a television programme of her idols Diana Ross and The Supremes doing a Vegas gig in the late sixties. It had all looked so showy! Lila was adamant that her daughter should take the trip, on the condition that Honey Lou reported back and told her every fabulous detail.
Honey couldn’t imagine her mum ever believing the hotel room she was in now; it even had its own dance floor and split-level lounge, for goodness’ sake. The views were simply breathtaking; the whole of the Strip seen through twenty-foot picture windows. Honey sneaked a photograph with her phone and quickly texted it home to her mum while Blue was busy sticking pins in Georgia’s g-string.
The costumes were beautiful, with intricate crystal bras and thongs, and each Starrlett was allotted a slightly different headdress, with many shades of dyed feather from deep cherry through to fiery orangey red. Each costume included huge, unwieldy backpacks with wide feather sprays built in and the girls were allowed ten minutes each to practise parading in the room, getting used to the way the feathers dragged them back by the shoulders. Honey Lou immediately had blisters beneath her armpits from the stiff, heavy-duty straps, but she didn’t like to say anything since this was only for the press junket. It wasn’t like she would need to dance in the costume for any length of time yet.
The Starletts were given their itinerary for photo calls that afternoon, and then the press interviews the following morning during which they would be presenting and flanking Tiger as she took the Q and A sessions at the hands of the entertainment press and broadcasters. The girls were excited to see Tiger’s costume. They had wanted to ask her lots of questions on the plane, but she had seemed unusually subdued, and slept deeply for pretty much the entire flight before being whisked away by Lewis the second they hit the airport. All Blue would reveal was that she would be in a couture gown in Jessica Rabbit red, rather than anything feathery. She needed to look ‘Hollywood glam’, so Blue had said, rather than looking like she was about to step onto stage. Once he had secured his final pins in the girls’ costumes, he chivvied the Starletts off to another room to get into hair and make-up, while he directed the seamstress on the necessary alterations ahead of the photo call.
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