Chapter 24 #2
‘The whole Luke thing has thrown me,’ she says. ‘None of you have shown me any support, and it’s affected my mental health. I might have residual generalised anxiety disorder.’
‘Oh, get over yourself, Libs. You didn’t even shag him. You barely had one dance with him,’ says Cherry sharply.
‘You’re forgetting I am a therapist,’ says Liberty. ‘I have a PhD in psychology. Don’t try to explain my own feelings to me.’
‘You have a degree in mood management,’ Tash reminds her. ‘It’s not the same thing.’
This appears to be the touchpaper as the Dollz ignite in a blaze of bickering.
‘This is about our singing tour of Las Vegas for Nancy,’ Big Sue booms. ‘Stay on topic.’
‘Yes. But it’s mostly about our pre-moon,’ agrees Ged. ‘You only took the job so that it paid for the trip to Vegas. That’s why we’ll be there.’
‘But we’re also there for Sister Kev’s surprise, unplanned pregnancy nightmare, don’t forget,’ says Liberty cattily. ‘We’ll all need to pick up the pieces when the baby bomb goes off.’
Oh, my God. We’ve come full circle.
‘Listen. Can everyone stop hijacking my romantic break, please?’ I shout over the bickering.
‘If you remember, this whole bloody trip was about me and Matteo! I was going to Vegas first. To meet him. Not to do a pre-moon or to do any bloody work. I just want to see my boyfriend! My boyfriend who has some not great bloody news to tell me.’
It does not go down very well.
‘Cherry, why are you so quiet?’ booms Big Mand. ‘You’re usually the first to have an opinion, pet.’
Cherry’s eyes widen but before she can explain, Nacho appears, walking through the crowded bar towards us.
He weaves in and out of the tables. ‘Hola, chicas.’ He treats us all to his film-star smile.
‘I think they are calling for you.’ He points to Jolly Murs, who is repeatedly trying to welcome the Dollz on stage.
One swift glance around informs me that the entire audience is listening in to our squabble. All eyes are on us.
‘Ladies, as interesting as this all is… I mean, I’m desperate to know what Matteo could have meant as much as the next man, but if you can just stop arguing for two minutes,’ Jolly says, ‘we’d all like to hear some more singing.’
The crowd cheers.
‘Bollocks,’ yells Big Sue as though she’s only just noticed we are surrounded by paying customers and there’s a job to do. She is army-trained, in a loose sense (she spends a lot of time wearing cargo pants), and therefore meticulous about timekeeping. ‘Showtime!’
As the Dollz flick their internal switches to perform mode, I just have time to see Nacho give Cherry a shy smile. Her lip quivers in response, but instead of swooning like she usually does, she bursts into tears again.
Nacho, clearly horrified, reaches out to comfort her. She pushes him away and runs over to the stage. Liberty then throws up her arms in exasperation and yells, ‘I don’t fucking believe this!’ and gives Nacho an angry look before stomping away.
He spins round to face me with a bewildered expression.
I shrug. I have no idea what is going on with either of them. Last time we were here, they wanted to know the ins and outs of how big his cock was, along with the rest of us – I mean them, the rest of them. Poor Cherry. How is she going to get through this show?
Nacho hovers next to us, his eyes glued to the Dollz as they disappear round the back of the narrow ceiling-to-floor curtain.
Then Cherry astounds us even more by leaping onto stage, not a tear in sight, as though she is in a big Vegas hotel doing her two-hundredth back-to-back show and, like a pro, yells, ‘One, two, one, two, three, four!’ and launches into the opening routine, the girls falling swiftly in behind her.
‘And we’re off,’ says Ged, settling back down into his seat. ‘Nacho, care to join us?’
‘We’re one big happy dysfunctional family at the moment,’ Liam tells Nacho, pulling him down to sit between them. ‘You wouldn’t believe the drama. Did Connie tell you we are also going to Las Vegas for our pre-wedding celebration?’
Nacho shakes his head as he takes a seat next to us. ‘No, she has not told me. You are not going to meet my brother, Connie?’
‘Yes,’ I say quickly. ‘Yes, I am. I just haven’t told him that’ – I make circles with my finger as I point to Ged and Liam and then the Dollz – ‘that we’re all going.’
Nacho looks suitably mystified. As do we all. How have I not told Matteo? How?
‘But I will. As soon as he is finished in the studio. He’s locked in again.’ I deliberately avoid meeting Ged and Liam’s annoyed glares. ‘He is working with a very important client.’
Nacho lights up. ‘Yes. He says it is one of the biggest pop singers he has worked with.’
Ged and Liam both perk up at this. ‘Who? Nacho, who is it? Harry Styles?’
Nacho laughs. ‘Maybe. I don’t know. Matteo cannot say me. It is big secret, but you know he works with French producer? She works with all the famous stars. She is very beautiful.’
I bristle. ‘Yes. Yes, she is.’
This causes Nacho to laugh more. ‘Don’t worry. My brother only has the eyes for you.’
I smile tightly. Let’s hope that is true. I turn my attention back to the stage where, for some reason, Liberty is glaring at me in an unfriendly way. What now? What is her problem?
I’m vaguely aware of Nacho leaning across to yell in my ear, ‘Matteo has no interest in Birdie. He would never date her again. Not after last time.’
What the actual…!