Among a Thousand Stars

by Jo Bartlett

  ****

  Stevie’s exchange with Jade must have been short because he was back within minutes, with a tray of drinks in hand. The atmosphere in the club was buzzing, which matched Ashleigh’s mood. Despite the arrival of Jade, she was on a high.

  Stevie caught sight of his quarry for the evening, game show host Paul Hanks and in an instant he was gone again. It was going to be one of those nights. She could see him throwing some interesting moves, as she sat down at a table in sight of the dance floor, but far enough away not to be deafened by the music. Stevie’s seduction technique seemed to be having the desired effect.

  ‘All alone? That’s what you get for not returning my calls.’ The voice was unmistakable, and the outfit was entirely in keeping with someone who might have been styled as a Rod Stewart look alike.

  ‘Zac, so nice to see you.’ Ashleigh stood up briefly and leant forward to kiss him on both cheeks. ‘Where’s the lovely Leanne?’ She scanned the crowd, looking for fiancée number seven. She’d photographed all of Zac’s engagements from fiancée number four onwards.

  ‘History darlin’.’ He grinned and through the cheesy rock star look he sported, Ashleigh saw a flash of what made him attractive to his millions of female fans. ‘She hardly made it past the photo-shoot, and, by the time the Glitz issue with our engagement in it came out, I’d had enough.’ Zac sat down beside her, immediately placing a hand on her thigh. It seemed he might already be on the prowl for fiancée number eight. ‘Anyway, I think you’ll be reading all about it in the papers tomorrow. Apparently she’s doing a kiss and tell.’ He took a swig of his champagne cocktail and pulled a face.

  ‘Oh shit, that doesn’t sound good.’ Somehow she suspected there’d be plenty for Leanne to tell.

  ‘No doubt you’ll read about what a small cock I’ve got or how I like to wear her knickers to bed!’ Zac took another swig of his drink and his hand started to travel up her leg.

  ‘And do you?’ She moved slightly in her chair and his hand slid off the silky material of her dress, avoiding the embarrassment of having to brush him away.

  ‘No. Well not to bed anyway, but there is something strangely comforting about the feel of satin against your tackle.’ His hand was back on her thigh again.

  ‘And what about the tiny cock, will you sue if she says that?’ Ashleigh tried to move again, but this time his hand didn’t slip off and it continued to travel upwards.

  ‘No, but it’s not true and I’m happy to prove it to you anytime.’ Zac leant in closer to her and she could smell his aftershave mingling with a hint of the dope that he’d obviously smoked before hitting the club.

  ‘I’m sure there are plenty of girls here who would be only too pleased to be on the receiving end of your advances, but I’m afraid I’m not one of them.’ She grabbed hold of his hand and firmly pushed him away, having finally had enough of him pawing her. She wanted the job photographing his album, but not that much.

  ‘I’m sorry, old habits die hard and you can’t blame a guy for trying.’ He looked genuinely contrite and there was a note of a resignation in his voice. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have thought he was lonely. ‘I promise to try and behave and you’ve got permission to slap me if I step out of line again.’

  ‘Don’t worry, I will, and I’m sorry I didn’t call about the album. Angus did tell me, but my new boss didn’t think it was a good idea and wouldn’t give me your number.’

  ‘What, that old bastard Tom?’ Zac grinned, perking up again. ‘He probably just wants to shag you himself, bit of a ladies’ man that one.’

  ‘Coming from you, that’s an interesting comment! That’s the last thing he wants. Never mind the fact he’s engaged, he also thinks I’m a complete idiot and I barely held on to my job this week.’ The thought of what she’d said to Tom made her uncomfortably hot.

  ‘We all know how much an engagement means, just look at me. Hey, I do believe you’re blushing!’ Zac snorted with laughter, nearly falling off his stool in the process.

  ‘Maybe engagement is nothing to you, but I think he intends to make a go of it with Susie-Anne.’ Ashleigh wished they could talk about something other than Tom. She needed to put the embarrassing encounters with him to the back of her mind if she was going to have a good time. She’d been forced to admit to herself that she found Tom attractive, it was the only real explanation for her behaviour, but there was no way she was going to share that with Zac. In any case, she didn’t want to be a cliché, having unrequited feelings for her prickly new boss. Even if she had been on the lookout for a new man, which she absolutely wasn’t after the disastrous relationship with her horrible ex, Liam, she definitely wouldn’t pick someone like him – he was far too complicated. She wanted someone who never got bored listening to her problems and was always there to comfort her. A straight version of Stevie perhaps. Or maybe a dog.

  ‘Well, ignore him anyway, I want you…’ Zac fixed her with a look that he’d probably used on groupies a thousand times.

  ‘To photograph your album cover?’ She cut him off, half hopeful for a yes and half just wanting to make sure that Zac really had got the message that she wasn’t interested in anything else.

  ‘That too. Listen, call me on Monday?’ He grabbed her bag, took out a lipstick that she’d grudgingly spent thirteen pounds on and reduced it to a stub by writing his number on a napkin. ‘I’ve gotta go, darlin’, I’m meeting a man about a dog.’ Zac kissed her on the mouth, just a little longer than was comfortable, but at least he didn’t try to stick his tongue down her throat. It was progress of a sort.

  ****

  Stevie was still bumping and grinding with his game-show host on the dance floor. Having consumed four champagne cocktails, Ashleigh decided to check out the executive Ladies’ room, which Carly had told her was reserved just for the privileged few. It was as plush and over the top as the rest of the restaurant, black marble floors and surfaces created a shiny, ebony cocoon. Even the toilet bowls and paper were black and only the fluffy white hand towels offered any contrast in the room.

  Expecting to have to squeeze past groups of women preening and lined up two-deep at the mirror, Ashleigh was pleasantly surprised to find herself alone.

  She’d barely closed the cubicle door when she heard it, the distinctive southern twang. There was no doubt; it was Susie-Anne. Ashleigh peered through the alarmingly wide crack in the door and could just about make her out, reflected in the huge mirrors in front of the basins.

  ‘If Tom could see me now he’d freak out!’ Susie-Anne was giggling with another girl. ‘But I don’t care. Michael Cox wants to take little old me home.’ She made an attempt to sound coy, but it didn’t quite come off. ‘One little fling won’t hurt anyone.’

  ‘Well, I wouldn’t say no!’ Susie-Anne’s friend let out a high-pitched giggle. ‘Who knows, maybe he’ll manage to get you pregnant and Tom will be none the wiser.’

  ‘Sshhh, Janey, keep your voice down, there’s someone in one of the johns.’ Susie-Anne was giving every indication of being drunk. Yet, somewhere in the recesses of her brain, she must have realised that the conversation she was having wasn’t for public consumption. Unfortunately, the bucket of champagne she’d obviously consumed had resulted in her protestations drowning out the relatively quiet indiscretion of her friend. ‘I’m beginning to wonder if Tom is firing blanks though. I haven’t taken any precautions since we met and nothing… I missed a couple of periods and I really thought I was pregnant, but, guess what, I wasn’t! I spent a fortune on tests and every single one of them was negative. But he thinks there’s a baby; there had to be for me to hold on to him and if nothing happens soon I could be in deep shit, sugar. Although, given the fact that he hardly touches me these days, I think it might have to be an immaculate conception!’

  ‘Perhaps you should go to the doctor. It could be you if you’ve been missing periods and stuff.’ Janey pulled a
face. ‘There’s always an upside, you’d never have to worry about remembering your pill again!’

  ‘That’s just why I didn’t bother going.’ Susie-Anne fiddled with her hair and then repositioned her sizeable breasts in the bra that they were threatening to over-power. ‘I’ve always been rubbish at taking the pill and I ended up having three pregnancies taken care of by the time I hit my twenties. So, sugar, I know it’s not me.’

  ‘Oh well, I hear Michael is Cox by name and cock by nature, so I bet there’s no blanks there!’ Janey shrieked again and, in a flurry of laughter and an overpowering cloud of hairspray, they were gone.

  Ashleigh couldn’t move. Why did this kind of crap have to happen to her? What the hell was she supposed to do now? Tell her new boss that his fiancée was sleeping around? Quite easy news to take, in comparison to the fact that his baby to be wasn’t going to be after all.

  Opening the cubicle door, she looked in the mirror, still wondering what on earth to do. Could it get any worse? And then she heard it, the click of the lock in the cubicle furthest away from her. It opened slowly, like a creaking door from a horror movie. She hadn’t been alone. Ashleigh held her breath as the occupant finally emerged – Jade Ivory with the smuggest smile in the world on her horrible face.

  ****

  ‘Jesus, honey, I was in there!’ Stevie looked pissed off when she dragged him away from his game show host. He’d been trying out some Patrick Swayze style moves, which seemed to be having the desired effect, when she’d interrupted him mid flow.

  ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but I didn’t know what the hell else to do.’ Ashleigh was breathless, it had taken all of her strength to pull Stevie off the dance floor without having to tell him then and there, in front of a packed room of celebs and quite a few journalists, about what she’d heard.

  ‘It’s Susie-Anne. She’s here. On her own.’ She stressed the last part of her sentence, but Stevie just stared at her like she was crazy.

  ‘Great, so the Dolly Parton tribute act’s arrived. So what? Jesus, honey, just because you haven’t got a sex life, it doesn’t mean you have to mess mine up too!’ She wished Stevie would shut up for five minutes and let her explain. He’d probably get more turned on by the gossip she was about to impart than he ever would during a night of passion with the slightly paunchy and balding host of “Quick Wit or Twit?”

  ‘No, that’s not it. I overheard her in the toilet, talking about Tom.’ She leaned in closer to him, aware that the place was buzzing with people who’d love to catch this snippet.

  ‘And…?’ Now she had his attention,

  ‘And she’s about to go home and shag Michael Cox.’ The look on Stevie’s face was a picture. ‘On top of which, not sure that’s the right phrase, but anyway, on top of which she’s not even pregnant!’

  ‘Jesus Christ, Tom will go apeshit if he finds that out. I mean he’s marrying a walking ball of candyfloss for the sake of a non-existent baby. Jesus, he’ll freak!’ Stevie was completely animated, all thoughts of getting it on with the game show host seemingly forgotten.

  ‘That’s my dilemma. Do you think we should tell him?’ She was still in shock but he gave her an are-you-mad sort of look.

  ‘Are you completely insane? He already thinks we’re a couple of idiots.’ A grin flashed across his face. ‘Anyway honey, I don’t think it’ll be long before he finds out. She’s hardly being discreet.’ He gestured behind Ashleigh and she spun round, just in time to catch Susie-Anne thrusting her tongue over enthusiastically down Michael Cox’s throat, seconds before disappearing who-knew-where with him.

  ‘Perhaps you’re right,’ She laughed and took a huge swig of her cocktail. ‘Either way I’m out of here.’

  ****

  It was almost a mile to the tube station. They could have gone to a nearer one, but it would have meant changing lines at the next station. Ashleigh wanted to walk for a bit and even Stevie hadn’t complained for too long. The streets were unusually quiet and it was good to be outside, with the cool air on her skin.

  ‘What do you think Tom’s going to do when he finds out?’ Stevie looked quite excited at the prospect.

  ‘I don’t know, but I don’t suppose he’ll be throwing a party. Although I still don’t get what he sees in her.’ Ashleigh sighed, it was none of her business, but it all just felt so wrong.

  ‘Well there’s the obvious fact that she’s pregnant, but since this isn’t the eighteen hundreds that doesn’t really explain it.’ He laughed, speaking in the sort of overly loud voice people use when they’ve had too much to drink. ‘And not even you could make them look like a happy couple at the engagement shoot. His body language was screaming get-me-the-hell-out-of-here!’

  ‘There’s got to be more to it, but we’d better stay out of the rumour mill if we want to keep working for him.’ Ashleigh held a finger to her lips. God knows what their new boss would do if he could hear this conversation.

  ‘Even if he is marrying a drag queen!’ They were still laughing when a noise behind them made her spin round and a figure ducked into a shop doorway. For a split second it looked like Jade, but it couldn’t be. There was no way a gutter journalist, like Poison Ivory, would leave the party with the Susie-Anne and Michael show still going on.

  Chapter Five

  ‘Honey, I’ve just picked up the morning papers.’ Stevie was out of breath and hadn’t touched the Cornish pasty he’d been so desperate to get his hands on, from the corner shop.

  ‘I take it the front page is full of Susie-Anne’s antics?’ She handed him a coffee and he dropped the papers onto the already cluttered worktop.

  ‘Yeah, but there’s something else and I’m not sure you’re going to like it.’ Stevie gestured towards the tabloid on top of the pile.

  ‘Oh God, don’t tell me my mother’s posing naked on a plinth in Trafalgar Square again, protesting about the inequality of women in the workplace?’ Ashleigh laughed. Her mother had a penchant for joining causes and the more outrageous the protest, the more likely she was to join in.

  ‘No, but we’re mentioned on the front page too - if not by name, at least by occupation.’ Stevie was far less excited at the prospect than Ashleigh would have expected. ‘Here, have a look.’ He shoved the paper towards her and the headline was typical tabloid fare – WEATHER GIRL SCORES.

  As she expected, the article was the work of Jade Ivory, who’d not only overheard Susie-Anne’s confession but got photos of her doing things with Michael Cox to prove it. No surprises so far.

  ‘Gross, no wonder it put you off your Cornish pastie!’ She couldn’t supress a smile. Susie-Anne’s engagement to Tom had to be over.

  ‘Have you got to the last couple of paragraphs?’ Stevie was still looking serious. ‘That’s where poison Ivory mentions us.’

  Ashleigh read down the article and went cold. “The state of Rushworth and Summers’ relationship was being called into question by those closest to him even before last night’s naughties, including the team involved in photographing the engagement shoot, who were overheard telling anyone who would listen how unhappy the soon-to-be-wed couple looked.”

  ‘Oh Christ, she must have followed us, unless she’s actually progressed to bugging people.’ The figure in the shop doorway had been Jade after all; she must have decided to tail them when Susie-Anne had disappeared with Michael. It was the perfect opportunity for her to drop them in it and get her own back for when they’d closed ranks after she was sacked. ‘This makes it look like we deliberately sold Tom out.’ Ashleigh sighed. If Jade Ivory had been hoping to ruin their day, she was doing a pretty good job.

  ‘Let’s not panic, I’m sure he’ll be okay about it.’ Even Stevie didn’t sound convinced.

  ‘You think? Do you remember the look on his face when he caught us talking about him and Susie-Anne outside his building?’ She managed a rueful smile. ‘And let’s face it, he’s hardly
likely to be in the best of moods when he finds out the mother of his unborn child has been getting jiggy with some footballer, whilst we’re quoted virtually saying we told you so. I don’t know about you, but I think I’m ready to head back to Kent for a few days, get away from this lot and put a bit of normality back into our lives. Not-withstanding my mother of course.’

  ‘I’m up for it,’ Stevie gave a shrug. ‘I’ve got about a million calls to make to set up the outfits for Chloe’s shoot anyway, so rather your phone bill than mine!’

  ****

  ‘Do you want to go for a drink?’ Angus was hopping from foot to foot and seemed to be offering Tom anything he could think off. He’d already given him one of those awkward bloke-hugs, thumping him on the back and telling him it would all be okay. It was sweet really, but Tom felt responsible for his discomfort. If only Angus knew.

  ‘I think it’s a bit early, even for us.’ Tom shook his head, although a big part of him felt like cracking open the champagne. ‘And like I said, I’m okay, honestly. Actually more than okay.’ Susie-Anne’s call in the early hours of the morning had jolted him awake, and her confession had woken him up to something else – just how trapped he’d begun to feel in a prison of his own making.

  ‘Well, we have all thought it a bit odd,’ Angus visibly relaxed. ‘You and Susie-Anne being together that is.’

  ‘Not as odd as me!’ Tom smiled. He felt a lightness that hadn’t been there for months. Yes, he had other worries, things that had triggered this whole chain of events, but it was looking stable on that front and the knowledge that there’d be no more coming home to find Susie-Anne waiting for him felt like Christmas had come early.

  ‘But the baby, that bit must have upset you?’ Angus looked uncomfortable again. He sat down and then immediately stood up, pacing like he was expecting a child of his own.