Chapter Thirty-One #2
‘No,’ said Jonno, not entirely convincingly. ‘OK, maybe once, at a Pixies gig. But that was actual music.’
‘OK, it’s time,’ said Lucy, her heart pounding as the opening bars to ‘Can’t Be Mine’ filled the venue.
She started to unfurl the banner, until she was ten feet from Jonno and the fabric was taut enough to hold it up.
She checked behind, to make sure nobody’s view was going to be blocked, but they were so far back they were practically leaning up against the doors.
‘I am dying inside,’ said Jonno as they both held the banner high above their heads and people nearby turned to see what was written on it.
‘What did you say?’ asked Lucy, steadfastly ignoring the stares and pitying looks from nearby fans. She focused on Nate, who was singing a song that Lucy was now pretty sure had been written about her.
‘Don’t say it’s for the best
Don’t tell me I’ll be fine
You tore my heart to pieces
Telling me you can’t be mine.’
‘I AM DYING INSIDE,’ yelled Jonno.
Lucy ignored him as she held the banner steady, her head high.
She’d made it from two white sheets, folded lengthways, stitched together along the short end and properly hemmed at the edges so it didn’t look tatty.
She’d stapled it to two wooden poles, then used blue fabric paint to decorate the edges with snowflakes, and in the middle she’d written nine words in huge letters.
Nate – I CAN be yours. But if not, WAHZ
‘You need to put that down,’ said a burly security guard in a high-vis jacket, elbowing his way through the crowd towards them.
‘Please, just to the end of the song,’ said Lucy pleadingly. They’d held it up for less than two minutes, and Nate might not have registered it in the sea of swaying bodies. Maybe she should have added fairy lights.
‘No,’ said the man firmly. ‘Take it down NOW, or I’m throwing you both out.’
Lucy sighed and dropped the banner, glaring at the guard as she moved towards Jonno and bundled it all up. He nodded and gave them both a final glare, then disappeared.
‘You proper embarrassed yourself there,’ said a teenage girl, witheringly. ‘Aren’t you a bit old for Nate Lambert?’
Lucy pulled a snarky face. ‘Aren’t you a bit young?’
The girl gave her the finger, then turned back to watch Nate.
‘My arms were killing me anyway,’ said Jonno, handing her the other end. ‘Don’t you have any lighter-weight sheets?’
‘Egyptian cotton,’ said Lucy with a tired smile. ‘A throwback to when my bed experienced higher traffic flow.’
‘Well, if that didn’t work, you can always switch to Plan B and call him tomorrow,’ said Jonno. ‘It’s a good story to tell him either way.’
‘Yeah,’ said Lucy, feeling stupid and embarrassed and deflated.
‘Shall we head off now?’ said Jonno.
Lucy shook her head as the song came to an end and the crowd cheered and whooped.
Nate waved and left the stage, and his place was taken by a young woman in a yellow dress.
She had a husky, soulful voice that reminded Lucy a bit of Andrea.
‘I just need to stay here for a few minutes, but you can go to the bar if you like.’
‘Stay here for what?’ asked Jonno, looking confused.
‘I’m not sure,’ said Lucy, her face burning hot. ‘I’ll join you in a bit.’
‘I’m not leaving you here on your own, you look like a twat,’ said Jonno, leaning up against the back wall next to her.
After a few minutes the security guard reappeared, his face grim. ‘Still here, then,’ he said, raising his voice over the sound of the singing.
‘I took the banner down,’ said Lucy. ‘Please don’t throw us out.’
‘What’s your name?’ he asked.
‘Lucy,’ she said.
‘Come on then.’ He gestured towards the exit door.
‘Where are we going?’
The security guard gave her a conspiratorial smile. ‘I’ve been told by one of Nate’s team to find out who was holding the banner. And if it’s a woman called Lucy with blonde hair, I’m supposed to take you backstage.’
Lucy grinned, then passed Jonno the bundle of sheets and poles. If her hands had been clammy before, they were sweating freely now.
‘I’ll just wait around here, shall I?’ said Jonno lightly.
‘Go to the bar,’ said Lucy breathlessly. ‘I won’t be long.’
Jonno threw an arm around her and kissed her hair. ‘Go get ’im, babe.’
‘Come on,’ said the security guard. ‘We need to get a move on.’
Lucy half-jogged behind him as they slipped out into the vestibule and headed down a corridor, then through a door with a keypad and along another series of dimly lit passages full of cables and equipment.
Lucy hoped the security guard was going to hang around long enough to take her back, otherwise she could be lost in this backstage labyrinth for days.
‘Here,’ said the security guard, knocking on a door with a laminated sign saying Nate Lambert. Lucy barely had time to remember to breathe before the door opened, and a woman holding a pouch of make-up brushes appeared.
‘Come in,’ said Nate’s voice.
‘I’m just leaving,’ said the woman, edging past Lucy. She disappeared with the security guard, leaving Lucy all alone in the doorway, staring at Nate over by a rack of clothes and suddenly entirely lost for words.
‘Come in,’ said Nate again, waving her forward until she was inside enough to close the door behind her.
She looked around for Alex, but it was just the two of them.
The smile on Nate’s face told her how happy he was to see her, so she did the only thing that felt right in that moment and took three huge strides across the room to kiss him.
He gathered her into his arms with a fervour that felt like passion, relief, desire and joy all at once, and for a heady minute there was nothing in Lucy’s head other than love for this extraordinary man.
‘How do you feel?’ whispered Nate, pulling away and giving her a searching look, the flickering anxiety in his eyes betraying that even now, he needed to be sure of her feelings.
‘Like I’ve reached the end of a really long journey,’ said Lucy, holding his gaze. ‘I’m sorry it took me so long.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Nate, pulling her tightly into his body and letting out a long, slow breath. ‘You’re here now.’