Chapter 8 #6
She does now, Will thought. She had spotted him with Tony and was weaving her way back to him.
At the same time, Tony’s friends, jealous of his company and curious about anyone he would cross a room to speak to, were gravitating to where he was sitting with Will and reassembling around his table.
With Tina now happily ensconced among Tony’s crowd, Will took the opportunity to make his escape.
Pleading that he had work to do in the morning and needed some sleep, he asked if she would mind if he left.
He might have been hurt by her readiness to let him go if he hadn’t been so relieved.
‘I’ll be in town again in a few weeks for my birthday,’ she said, kissing him. ‘I’ll make it up to you then.’
Stepping out into the Florentine night, Will took a deep breath. Fresh air had never felt so good. He must be getting old, he thought. He wanted nothing more than to sleep in his own bed, wake up at the villa and have breakfast with Kate in the morning.
* * *
Somehow, Kate had ended up alone in the studio with Owen with just his shirt on.
She wasn’t too sure how she had got there, but she had a vague recollection of professing a lifelong desire to be in a band.
Owen had grabbed her hand and they had run here together, leaving Phoenix, Georgie and Rory raiding the kitchen again.
Now he was plugging an electric guitar into an amp and placing it over her head, spending an inordinate amount of time adjusting the strap across her breasts.
Trying out a chord, Kate was thrilled at the power of the sound she produced with the merest touch of her fingers. She thrashed the strings, dancing around in what she felt was a very rock goddess kind of way.
‘It sounds shite,’ Owen roared, above the din, ‘but you look totally brilliant.’
Getting up from his position on the floor, he put his hand over hers, stilling her fingers.
‘That’s enough of that,’ he said softly, his eyes boring into hers and turning her legs to jelly. He lifted the guitar over her head and put it down. Then he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her gently against the wall.
* * *
Will found the villa in a shambles, lights blazing, doors thrown open and music blaring.
His first thought was that the place had been ransacked.
All sorts of scenarios flashed across his mind – kidnappers, crazed fans, enraged fathers whose daughters Owen had ravished.
But it didn’t take him long to recognise the signs of a party and to realise that it was just business as usual.
The kitchen looked as if it had been raided by a family of rampaging bears.
Cereal boxes were torn open, spewing their contents onto the work surfaces, which were covered in dishes of half-eaten spaghetti.
In the living room the floor was scattered with popcorn, cake crumbs and bottles, and the TV was still fizzing away in the corner, competing with the speakers from the sound system.
He turned off the TV and the stereo and began to pick things up.
When he bent to collect an empty beer bottle from the floor, he glimpsed something out of the corner of his eye that made his blood run cold and his heart pound.
Straightening, breathless with dread, he looked out through the open doors to the terrace.
His heart leaped into his mouth – something red was bobbing around in the swimming pool.
It was Kate – he recognised the dress immediately.
And she seemed to be floating lifelessly, drifting to and fro with the lap of the water against the filters.
Barely able to breathe, he forced himself to move towards the pool on leaden legs, heart hammering.
It must only have been seconds before he reached the edge, but it felt like a lifetime.
Then, looking down, he gave an almost hysterical shout of laughter when he saw that Kate’s dress was unoccupied by its owner.
Weak from shock, he exhaled and sank to his knees.
He rubbed his face with shaking hands, trying to dispel the horrific images that were still flashing through his mind.
He fished the dress out of the water, automatically wrung it out and spread it out on a nearby sun-lounger to dry.
Weariness overcame him as the adrenalin abated, and he stayed where he was, smoothing the material absently with his fingers.
He remembered how gorgeous Kate had looked in it the other night – and wondered why she had taken it off out here and thrown it into the pool.
Once he had grasped the fact that Kate hadn’t drowned, relief was followed by anger. If Kate was there now he would have been torn between the desire to kiss her senseless and the impulse to throttle her for getting swept up in the band’s craziness.
* * *
In the studio, Owen had Kate pinned against the wall. ‘You’re so sexy, Kate,’ he muttered, stroking her mouth seductively.
‘So are you!’ Kate breathed, laying a hand on his taut, tanned chest and feeling his heart jump against her palm.
He bent his head towards her, sooty lashes closing over those melting brown eyes. Then he was kissing her, his tongue darting in and out of her mouth while his hands stroked her body, brushing the sides of her breasts, his thumbs grazing her nipples, which leaped into life.
I’m kissing Owen Cassidy, Kate told herself, trying to feel the appropriate level of excitement. He really was an amazing kisser – all that practice had certainly paid off.
She gasped as she felt his warm hand against her thigh. The other was sliding inside the open V of the shirt, and Kate’s head rolled back as his fingers found her breast.
Lifting his head, Owen fished in his pocket and held out his palm with two little white pills in it. ‘Have you ever made love on E?’
Kate shook her head.
‘Really?’ Owen seemed amazed. ‘You’ve got to try it,’ he said, putting a pill into her hand. ‘It’s incredible.’ He popped the other into his mouth.
Kate looked at it uncertainly. She didn’t want him to think she was a prude, but she was a wimp where drugs were concerned. She was always afraid she would be the one person in a million who would keel over and die from a heart attack the first time she tried something.
‘Go on,’ Owen urged. ‘You’ll love it. Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise.’ He was kissing her face again, his thumb stroking her ear erotically.
Suddenly the room was flooded with light. ‘What the fuck is going on here—?’ a harsh voice rasped.
Kate opened her eyes groggily to see Will in the doorway, like an avenging demon. She felt as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over her.
His eyes darted to the pill in her hand.
‘What did you give her?’ he rounded on Owen, eyes flinty.
‘Nothing.’
‘What did you give her?’ Will demanded, his tone menacing.
‘It’s just an E,’ Owen admitted.
‘Christ, Owen!’ Will snatched the pill from Kate’s hand and hurled it across the room. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ he raged at Owen. Kate had never seen him so furious.
‘I was doing quite well until you turned up.’ Owen tried to make light of the situation.
But Will was not amused. ‘Jesus, I leave you alone for one fucking day and all hell breaks loose! The kitchen looks like a bomb hit it!’ he roared at Kate.
‘And you’re supposed to be here to work,’ he yelled at Owen, ‘not to get high and get laid! You could do that at home, for fuck’s sake!
I’ve got the record company on my back about the new album.
I’m buying you time every day so you don’t have to put out a piece of shit.
I bring you here so you can concentrate on it, and all you can do is fuck around! ’
‘Hey, chill, man!’ Owen smiled nervously. He had never seen Will so wound up – not even when he’d got stoned at the Brit Awards, danced bollock-naked on the table and asked the head of their record company to give him a blow job.
‘That’s not fair! Owen’s been working bloody hard,’ Kate protested, emboldened by the weed and booze she’d had earlier.
But she only succeeded in drawing his wrath on herself. ‘And you,’ he said, turning to her, ‘you’re supposed to be here to work, not to— to get your tits out for the lads,’ he spat, his lip curling contemptuously.
Kate was speechless. She had never seen Will like this, and it was terrifying. He was incandescent with rage. She couldn’t believe he was speaking to her like this.
He seized the advantage. ‘Christ, Kate,’ he was looking at her as though she was something unpleasant he had stepped in, ‘I never took you for a star-fucker!’
‘What?’ Kate gasped.
He was looking at her with malice in his eyes, clearly taking spiteful pleasure in the shock and hurt that registered in her face. Struggling not to cry, she took a deep breath and looked him in the eye.
‘Fuck you!’ she said quietly, keeping her voice steady with a tremendous effort of will. ‘I quit.’ With all the dignity she could muster, she brushed past him and stalked out of the room.
This brought Will to his senses. He blinked hard, as if he was waking up from a dream. ‘Kate, wait—’ he called after her, but it was too late.
‘Jesus, what have I done?’ He sank onto a bench and buried his head in his hands.
Owen sat down beside him and lit a spliff.
‘Sorry, Owen. I had no right to speak to you like that,’ Will said quietly, his shoulders slumped. As his fury abated, the realisation of what he had said in the heat of the moment dawned on him. ‘I don’t know what got into me.’
‘You should have told me she was spoken for, man,’ Owen said softly. ‘I’d have steered clear.’
‘Since when did that ever stop you?’ Will said. ‘Anyway, you know Kate’s spoken for – she has a boyfriend at home.’
‘Oh, I don’t mean that twat,’ Owen said airily. ‘But I’d have stepped aside for you.’
‘For me?’ Will looked askance at him. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’