Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Madison was, in fact, wrong. Despite the sunglasses, and the hat pulled down low, most oncoming walkers did a double take as they passed.
Rosie suspected it wasn’t Madison’s face that gave her away.
But this wasn’t the gingerbread shop, and thankfully, passers-by were sensible enough to recognise that this wasn’t the time or place to ask for selfies, limiting themselves instead to friendly hellos.
And besides, the star was clearly not in the mood, her stony gaze fixed on the ground in front of her.
‘Are you okay?’ Rosie asked. ‘Boots all right and everything?’
Madison muttered, ‘I’m a celebrity, get me out of here.’
Rosie burst out laughing, and Madison finally smiled. Sadly, the proximity of the two men meant Rosie couldn’t continue last night’s interview, but in any case, as the gradient increased, Rosie was rapidly losing the ability to breathe, let alone talk.
They soon turned onto Ashley’s alternative route – a narrow path zigzagging its way uphill.
Dale walked in front, carrying Jono’s drone in its special backpack, while behind him Jono had the camera gear in his.
Then came Madison – Ashley had given her a daypack with a picnic inside – and Rosie brought up the rear carrying Ant’s ‘necessities’.
They slogged on and up, and Rosie’s leg muscles were on fire, her heart hammering in her chest, demanding impossible amounts of oxygen from lungs that were begging her to stop. ‘Are we … nearly there?’ she puffed, leaning on her stick.
‘Sorry,’ called Dale. ‘Guess I should slow down to southern miles-per-hour.’
‘No,’ snapped Madison. ‘Take as long as you need, Rosie. I’ll see you at the top.’ She overtook the other two at speed, leaving them open-mouthed.
‘Go … for it … Madison,’ Rosie wheezed, remembering the star’s mention of hours spent in the gym. So much for Madison being out of her comfort zone, she thought, writing the first paragraph of her article in her head to distract herself from the agony.
I climbed a mountain with Madison and learned there’s more to the bootilicious celebrity than I thought. WAY more …
As the others pulled ahead, Rosie, now far too warm, took the opportunity to stop and take off her puffer.
Gazing at the view – they’d already climbed quite high – she spotted the soaring form of Helm Crag in the distance and winced.
This was hard. How would she ever make it up that?
She unwrapped one of Ant’s energy bars, hoping it would fulfil its promise, washed it down with a gulp of water, stuffed the puffer in her backpack and set off again.
Her dismay was profound when the ‘top’ turned out to be a crest with another, much higher ‘top’ beyond. ‘Fuck’s sake,’ she said out loud. But it wasn’t too long before the true summit – Ashley’s ‘knobbly bit’ – finally came into view, with groups of people milling about on it.
Dale, Jono and Madison had stopped some way below the top, in a spot away from the path, and as Rosie caught them up, Jono was setting up his camera gear.
Dale had climbed onto a huge outcrop of rock hanging over the mountainside below, and was standing there like Heathcliff, his curls blowing in the wind.
Rosie blew out a breath as she watched him. What a view.
Madison had unpacked a cosmetic bag and mirror and was touching up her make-up.
Jono nodded over at Dale. ‘That’s our spot,’ he said to Rosie. He gave a chef’s kiss. ‘Perfectamundo.’
You’re not wrong there. Solid ten.
Rosie went over to join Dale. He helped her up, and didn’t release her hand as she stood by his side. She took in the spectacular view of Grasmere below, and ridge upon ridge of high mountains beyond.
‘Wow,’ she breathed. Now that the pain was subsiding, and with her hand in his, she experienced a burst of pure happiness. ‘This is perfect!’
Jono joined them, assessing light, angles, distances.
‘This is actually a brilliant Instagram spot,’ said Dale, ‘for those of us in the know. If you get the angle right, it looks like you’re standing on a rock with a sheer drop below it.’
‘Does it have a name?’ asked Jono.
‘I like to call it Dale’s Knob.’
Jono grinned and shook his head. ‘Can you show me a pic?’ he asked.
‘There’s no reception up here,’ said Dale, ‘but I know how to get the shot.’
‘Okay, but we’ll do the fashion pics first,’ said Jono.
They made their way back to Madison, and for the next half-hour everything went smoothly. Rosie took some photos on her phone for uploading later, and held the reflector for Jono. Few walkers passed them, and those who did just smiled and said hello.
Fell people seem nice, thought Rosie.
As Veronica had predicted, Madison was a true professional, parking her bruised ego as she and Dale played the part of a happy outdoorsy couple to perfection.
‘I don’t think we need to carry on to the top,’ said Jono, as they took a break, tucking into delicious mini baguettes. ‘I know Veronica wanted you on the summit, Madison, but I think Dale’s Knob is more than up to the job.’
Rosie snorted. Here’s hoping!
‘We’ll launch the drone, get some overhead shots too. It should be quite spectacular.’
Madison made a small noise in the back of her throat. ‘Dale’s Knob?’ she said. ‘That’s unfair on a large rock.’
Dale’s expression darkened, his gaze moving between Madison and Rosie. ‘How about Madison’s Butt? Or Madison’s Overhang?’ he said.
‘Fuck off,’ said Madison.
‘Shall we–’ began Jono.
‘Just get on with it,’ she snapped, and headed over to the crag.
‘Chrissakes,’ said Dale. ‘What a fucken diva.’
‘Steady on,’ said Jono, looking uncomfortable. ‘Let’s keep the talent happy, shall we?’ He glanced over to where Madison was standing on the crag, before his eyes panned west. ‘Damn, looks like there’s a bank of cloud coming in,’ he said. ‘And the wind’s picking up. Best get the drone up quick.’
‘Yes, it’s turned cooler,’ said Rosie, rubbing her arms.
‘Madison looks great, standing there,’ said Jono, lifting his camera to his eye. ‘The bright yellow against the blue sky.’ He focused his zoom lens on her. ‘Before we put up the drone, I’ll take her like that, from behind.’
Dale gave a naughty chuckle, and as Rosie went to retrieve her puffer from her backpack, his low-voiced reply reached her on the wind: ‘Would recommend, mate. Shame you’re gay.’
Her toe caught on a rock, and she stumbled.
Oh my god.
Rosie steadied herself and stood still for a moment as the penny dropped, and a graphic image of Madison and Dale, his hands gripping that famous behind, pushed its way in. A bitter taste rose up her gullet.
Dale must have had sex with Madison yesterday. While Ant was helping me break in my boots, they were …
Tears filled her eyes. She wasn’t sure if they were tears of self-pity, or rage. Or quite possibly shame.
Starting to shiver, she pulled out the jacket and busied herself putting it on, fumbling with the blurry zip, then did up the catches on the backpack. She couldn’t bring herself to look in the men’s direction.
Oh Rosie – how could you be so dumb?
And poor Madison, too. The star’s voracious appetite for glamorous men was well known, and she wasn’t shy when it came to talking to the media about owning her sexuality, and how empowering that was.
But she’d asked, Where are all the nice men, Rosie?
Madison’s dark mood was surely the result of Dale’s hurtful behaviour.
How must she have felt? Rosie pictured the star getting ready for dinner, basking in the afterglow of her hot hook-up, organising a place for him at her table, looking forward to being the famous hostess with her gorgeous date at her side.
Fantasising about returning to her suite with him later, just as Rosie had been doing this morning.
But he’d ignored her, and moved on to the next clueless idiot.
His words to Jono: I mean, look at the state of Madison.
But that body he was quick to disparage had clearly been worth the bother – would recommend. Perhaps he figured that because she was mostly fake, it was okay to treat her like a non-person. And a shag with a star was something to brag about, as Rosie had just witnessed.
She finally steeled herself to look at Dale, who was watching Jono assemble his drone.
You horrible, cold-hearted fuckboy.
She slung her backpack over her shoulder and made her way over, trying to keep a lid on her emotions.
‘Is there anything you’d like me to do, Jono?’
‘You’re all right, Rosie,’ he said. ‘Dale’s going to explain to Madison where she needs to stand, then we’ll launch the drone.’
‘Look at this kit,’ said Dale to Rosie, holding the drone while Jono fiddled with the controls. ‘I want one.’
‘Okay, well if you don’t need me, Jono, I’m going to walk up to the top,’ said Rosie. ‘Mostly so I can tell Ashley I made it.’
‘What?’ said Dale. ‘You don’t want to watch the drone in action?’
She looked him in the eye. ‘Madison on Dale’s Knob? I’ll pass, thanks. And I’ll take the main path down, then you won’t have to worry about the slow, clueless southerner.’
Dale frowned. ‘Stay, babe,’ he said, taking her hand.
She pulled it free. ‘I’ll get Ashley to pick me up. See you at the hotel,’ she said to Jono.
‘In the bar?’ said Dale. ‘A Xanadu?’
‘No. I don’t like what that did to me,’ she said, not looking at him. ‘Line me up a half of cider would you, Jono?’ She raised a hand and left.
If she were the savvy, strong female character in her novel, she would now be smiling to herself at Dale’s confused expression, as she strode off towards the rocky summit without a backward glance. Instead she was taking small, careful steps, because her eyes were blinded by tears.
Once she’d put some distance between herself and the others, she looked back at the scene below.
The drone was hovering way up high above Madison, then it zoomed downwards, and the star held out her arms and spun round, her face raised to the sky as it whizzed past, before gaining height again.
The distant whoops of the men reached her, and Rosie carried on towards the summit, happy for Jono and Madison that it was going well.
It was hellishly windy when she reached the top, and she found a spot in the lee of the rocks and snacked on another energy bar. The climb had eased her anger, and now that she was thinking more logically, she began to reason with herself.
Why was she so upset? She’d met a hot guy who, let’s be honest, Rosie, was never going to be up for more than a fling, and who’d turned out to be a bit more of a shit than she’d expected. Someone who didn’t greatly concern himself with the feelings of others, who was probably all about himself.
Sounds familiar.
She replayed the past year – her relationship with Reuben, her rollercoaster writing journey, her career, her family …
Dad would love it up here, she thought. How about a fishing weekend for him, as a birthday treat?
These lakes were probably full of trout.
She could come with him, walk the fells while he fished the lakes.
She decided to message him a selfie and took out her phone.
As she did, she properly registered what had been happening to the view while she’d been zoned out, chewing over her problems. How the scene below was coming and going, hidden in the mist one moment, visible the next.
That bank of cloud had moved in, obscuring the summits of the higher fells, trailing wispy grey fingers along their slopes, valleys and crags.
Behind her, the summit of Loughrigg Fell was deserted. Everyone had left.