Million Love Songs(99)
Please don’t tell Nice Paul that I’ve had a threesome, I pray silently.
Charlie realises what she’s about to say and waggles three fingers in a lascivious manner in the air instead. Unless Nice Paul is a complete dunderhead, I’m sure he’ll gather her meaning too.
‘Yes. That Valerie.’ I still blush at the thought of it.
‘Total bastard,’ is Charlie’s verdict.
‘Yeah.’ I can’t really disagree. My beer comes and it goes down without touching the sides. Nice Paul orders us three more.
‘Shall I leave you ladies to talk?’ he asks. ‘I can make myself scarce.’
I shake my head. ‘No. Stay. You’re an honorary girl.’
He laughs. ‘I think that’s a good thing.’
‘Besides, I don’t really want to waste any more breath on Mason Soames. We’re here to have fun and fun we will bloody well have.’
‘So, what’s the plan?’ Charlie asks.
‘We’ll go to the concert, have a lovely time and give this unpleasant little interlude no more thought.’
‘I have to say you’re taking this remarkably calmly.’
‘Yes,’ I agree. ‘I am.’
‘Perhaps it just says that Mason wasn’t the right man for you, after all.’
‘I think that pretty much sums it up.’
‘You’ll stay here tonight,’ Charlie says. ‘I’ve got a double bed in my room. You can bunk up with me.’
‘Thanks.’ Then, as my second beer arrives, my phone rings. Mason. I let it go to voicemail. Then a text comes in from him.
Where ru? Why has all your stuff gone? I’m sure he’ll work it out. Call me.
So we have many beers and enjoy the late afternoon sunshine. After Mason’s third call, I turn the ringer off on my phone, but it continues to vibrate angrily on the table.
Later, I drop my case into Charlie’s room and she says, ‘The T-shirt looks cool.’
‘Thanks.’ I check myself out in the mirror. I look unhappy, so I make my smile wider, brighter. Mason Soames isn’t going to spoil this evening for anyone.
We take the Metro out to the arena where Take That are playing. The crowds are already streaming in when we arrive and the atmosphere is electric.
‘I’m so excited, I could wee.’ Charlie dances with excitement. ‘In fact, maybe I did.’
‘Take these,’ I say and pull our fancy VIP tickets out of my handbag. ‘You’ll appreciate them more than me.’ If Mason had been a nicer person, he’d have got tickets for all four of us, anyway.
Charlie gapes at me. ‘Seriously?’
‘Give me one of your tickets. You might be able to sell the other one at the door.’ Mason’s certainly not going to be needing it. I did wonder whether he’d come down here and try to meet up with us, but there’s no sign of him.
We swap tickets. Charlie stares at Nice Paul before she does a happy dance on the spot. ‘We’re going to meet Gary!’
‘This is great,’ Nice Paul says. ‘But are you sure you don’t want to go with Charlie?’
‘No. You two enjoy yourselves. I’ll be fine.’
He looks as if he can’t believe his luck. ‘Thanks, Ruby.’
‘I’m glad that something good can come out of this.’ I hug them both. ‘I’ll see you back here afterwards. Hit the free champagne and be sure to give Gary a kiss from me.’
Then we disappear our separate ways – Charlie and Nice Paul going for the VIP experience courtesy of Mason and me heading for the cheap seats by myself.
Chapter Ninety-Five
Charlie and Paul’s seats are up in the gods. I climb a thousand steps and will probably need oxygen by the time I get up there. I think I’ll have to grip the seat in front to stop myself feeling as if I’m falling forwards as this tier is dizzyingly high. The arena is vast and filling quickly. Someone beaming widely comes to sit next to me, so I guess that Charlie managed to sell their spare ticket which is great. I hope that Charlie and Nice Paul are enjoying meeting Gary, Mark and Howard. I feel a pang of envy, but it’s only momentary. They deserve those tickets way more than I do and Mason Shagger Soames deserves to cough up for them.
Then the concert starts and I sing my heart out, jig my feet off, sway along, enjoy the fabulous show – even though the lads look like tiny ants on the stage. The light show is stunning and they’ve got the dance moves down to a tee. They faultlessly and fabulously go through all their old favourites and hits from their new album. Thank goodness I’m word-perfect due to Charlie. I only falter when they sing ‘A Million Love Songs’ and ‘Why Can’t I Wake Up With You’ and then the words stick in my throat and I suddenly feel very alone, despite the joyous crowd, and I have a few tears. That bastard. I vowed that I’d never let another man do this to me. Meanwhile my phone continues to buzz in my pocket like an angry wasp. Well, Mason can ring all he likes, we’re done.
The concert finishes with an encore of ‘Never Forget’ and ‘Rule the World’ and I finally feel like a true fan – a fully fledged Mad Thatter. Over the last few hours, I’ve fallen in love with Take That and perhaps I’ll do as Charlie does and save myself just for Gary Barlow. There are worse things in life.