Summer at Tiffany's (36 page)

A small cheer went up around them and Cassie realized their small crowd had grown, with many more groups of lads with pints watching than before. She heard Amber's name ripple through the crowd like leaves rustling on a tree and realized her star had been spotted.

Amber got going again, not so much hula-hooping as doing the Dance of the Seven Veils, with exaggerated hip swings that would have hypnotized a cobra. The crowd was really getting behind them now, people beginning to clap.

Cassie swung her hips a little harder. Gem wasn't really in the mix. The layers of her tutu kept catching the spin of the hoop and within moments she hopped off to have a cigarette instead, so that it was just her and Amber, surfing and hooping in time with the music.

Amber had begun to sing, letting her pretty head loll against her shoulder as her body worked its magic and the crowd fell under her considerable spell. Even Cassie, who was trying to concentrate on her own moves, caught the allure. Was it any wonder Luke had decided to stop with her? She was an ultra-woman: beautiful, dainty, delicate, entrancing. She didn't look like anyone else here in this crowd of thousands. Even if Cassie hadn't walked away from him, even if she hadn't chosen Paris over him, even if she hadn't chosen Henry, they would have ended anyway. She wouldn't have been able to hold on to a man like him. She was the girl next door. Amber was from another planet.

Amber was beginning to dip now, drop lower through the knees and show off the tautness of her slim thighs. Cassie wondered whether she had a secret background in pole dancing and gave it a go too, but the shift in the distribution of her weight – coupled with the hooping and the side-to-side sliding of the surfing – was a progression too far and she went flying backwards suddenly, the cylinder shooting out from under the board like a missile.

‘Whoa!' the surf guy laughed, catching her and holding her up under the arms as she sagged like a bedraggled scarecrow.

‘Oh my God, I'm so sorry,' she spluttered, mortified. ‘Did I break the board? Did I break
you
?'

‘I'm fine. But I think maybe you just cleared out my stock,' he laughed, setting her upright again and pointing to a line of customers holding Indo Boards as his colleague tried to get the card machine to work.

‘Oh.'

Amber – who had clearly ‘won' – hopped off the board like a gazelle. Another cheer went up and she gave a cute curtsy, blowing kisses into the crowd. She gasped. ‘Baby!' she cried, throwing her arms in the air and running into the sea of people, which parted for her, to reveal Laird and Luke, both standing holding their pints, bemused grins on their faces. ‘Did you see me?'

Gem immediately stamped her cigarette out on the ground, hoping that Laird hadn't seen
her
.

‘As if I could miss you,' Luke replied, his chin on her shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him, pushing her body into his and instantly making Luke the most hated – and envied – man there. His eyes drifted up, meeting Cassie's almost apologetically, but she looked away quickly. What was he apologizing for?

‘Tell you what,' the surf guy continued, drawing Cassie's attention back to him. ‘Let me give you the hula hoop. As a thank-you.'

‘What? Oh no, really, I couldn't,' Cassie protested as he held out the lilac-and-silver hoop.

‘Take it, Cass!' Suzy laughed. ‘It's a bleeding hula hoop, not a diamond necklace. Velvet can have it!'

‘Well . . . thank you,' Cassie said quietly, taking it from him and throwing it over her head and onto her opposite shoulder, like an across-the-body bag.

‘No. Thank
you
,' the guy winked. ‘I'm going to have to redouble my stock orders before you go viral.'

‘Excuse me?'

‘Some people were filming you and that model on their phones. I'd pay good money to bet you'll be a YouTube sensation by the end of the day.'

Oh great, Cassie thought miserably to herself.

She and Suzy made their way over to the others. Gem – in spite of having been upset about Laird having his stag night at the festival too – looked delighted that they were reunited after four long hours apart and had jumped onto him, her lips locked on his and her legs wrapped round his waist. Laird, in turn, looked delighted by the sight of his diminutive fiancée in a tutu.

‘All right, all right, just break it up,' Suzy said, wading in and separating the two happy couples. ‘This is supposed to be a hen night. If you're going to snog anyone tonight, it definitely shouldn't be your fiancé.'

Laird chuckled, putting Gem down.

Cassie hung back, pretending to look around at the site but really just trying not to catch either Amber or Luke's eyes. She gripped the hula hoop on her shoulder.

The loss stung.

‘You girls all look very . . . colourful,' Laird said, taking in their get-ups.

‘Amber dressed us,' Gem said, striking a pose. ‘You like?'

‘Obviously,' Laird winked, smacking her pert bottom. ‘I don't think I'd have recognized you, Suzy.'

Suzy preened happily. It had been a while since she'd really given fashion a second thought and most of the time, these days, she dressed for comfort and practicality with Velvet.

‘Well, these girls hadn't done any festivals before and I just thought . . . let's do it right,' said Amber proudly. ‘I mean, Gem's been going to Glasto since she was fifteen, and we love Coachella, don't we?' Amber rolled herself into Luke's body again, her back against his chest and holding his arm over her torso. ‘And I've been talking for a while about making the move into styling, haven't I?'

Luke nodded.

‘Because you know, in my industry, life is short. It's no different to being an athlete. This body can't stay at this level indefinitely,' she said with a dismissive gesture at her flawless physique. ‘I've only got another couple of years at the top and then I'll
have
to diversify.'

‘Oh, I know just what you mean, Amber,' said Suzy. ‘I was a model too before I went into wedding planning.'

There was a horrified silence before Amber realized she was joking. ‘You always get me!' she laughed, jabbing a finger towards Suzy.

Cassie could tell from Suzy's expression that Suzy didn't like the way Amber had laughed
so
hard.

‘Anyway, where next?' Laird asked.

‘I really want to get to the front by the stage. There's no point being right at the back. You may as well watch it on TV,' Gem said with a pout, which Laird immediately kissed.

Cassie rolled her eyes. The persistent coupledom was beginning to get to her.

‘Have you seen the size of the crowd already? That mosh pit is sixty-deep!' Luke said. ‘We won't see anything anyway.'

‘A mosh pit? Uh-uh. I am way too posh to mosh!' Suzy said in an alarmed voice. ‘No way can I risk being trampled to death at a concert, especially for some unidentified band.'

‘The rumour is it's Coldplay.' Luke took his arm away from Amber so that he could swap hands for his pint. His eyes flickered towards Cassie, who had fallen quiet.

‘Coldplay? You're kidding?' Gem shrieked. Could her night get any better?

He shrugged. ‘That's what people are saying, but what do they know, right?'

‘Oh my God, I can totally risk it,' Suzy said, turning to Cassie, her eyes even wider than her little cousin's. ‘Me and Chris Martin, it's meant to be. Haven't I always said it?'

Cassie smiled her assent.

‘And Arch knows that, does he?' Laird asked, bemused.

‘Oh, totally!' Suzy said, rearranging her kaftan and checking her legs. ‘He's my freebie.'

‘Your what?' Amber asked, looking for Luke's arm again.

‘You know – if ever our paths were to cross and the opportunity came up, then I would totally be allowed to bonk him. Special pass. One-time-only deal.'

Everyone laughed, except Cassie, who had heard this before and knew Suzy was deadly serious.

‘Arch has got Heather Graham as his freebie,' Suzy added, pinching the crease of her panama.

‘Oh. Who's yours?' Gem asked, looking behind her to ask Laird.

‘I'm allowed one?'

Gem shrugged. ‘Why not? Maybe that's their secret to a happy marriage.'

‘Then I guess Ana Ivanovic?'

Gem frowned. ‘You said that way too quick! You didn't even have to think about it!'

Laird's face fell as he realized he'd ‘failed' the test. ‘Well, what about you?'

‘Jared Leto,' Gem said as fast as she could.

‘Amber?' Laird asked.

‘My man,' she said silkily, burrowing back into Luke again.

‘No! That's cheating,' Suzy said crossly, taking it all very seriously. ‘It cannot be him. You cannot cheat with your own husband slash boyfriend.'

‘Well, then I guess it would have to be . . .' She strung the last word out in deep contemplation. ‘Bradley Cooper.' The look on Amber's face as she said his name suggested she expected Luke to now challenge the man to a duel.

Cassie stepped in. ‘I'm just going to put this hoop back in the tent. It's really annoying,' she said quickly, turning and darting off before anyone could remotely try to stop her. She didn't want to listen to this. She didn't want to hear Luke's answer or have to give her own.

She wove through the crowds, feeling ridiculous in her clothes as she slipped past the rustle of anoraks. What grown woman thought knee socks with shorts was a good look anyway? She looked like a skater girl at a ramblers' convention.

She was back at the yurt in minutes, throwing herself down on the bed with a groan of despair and almost winding herself as she landed on one of the empty champagne bottles that had been hidden beneath a pile of clothes. She reached for it and set it carefully on the floor, before dropping her head on the pillow again.

This was the worst hen night ever. Not only was the stag present, but she wasn't even drunk – the best she had managed was a mild buzz before they'd left the tent, and now the combination of fresh air and losing to Amber had left her feeling flat and tetchy. She checked the bottle for remnants, but it had been emptied to the dregs.

‘Knock, knock.'

She twisted round in surprise to find Luke standing in the doorway.

‘Hey,' he said with a bashful look, like a boy who knew he wasn't allowed in the girls' dorm. ‘Can I come in?'

She scrambled up to a sitting position, instantly on alert. ‘Luke, what are you doing here? Where's everyone else?'

‘Apparently Amber's met the band a couple of times. They're going to try their luck with getting VIP backstage passes.'

‘So then what are you doing
here
? Why didn't you go with them?' she asked in bafflement. Who turned down the opportunity to go VIP with Coldplay?

‘You know why.'

The air sucked out of the room. What did he mean? He couldn't—

‘Well, how else would you know where they all were?' he shrugged. ‘I said I'd take you round to them.'

‘Oh.' She nodded. Of course.

She got up from the bed and, embarrassed by the mess, feebly picked up some of the clothes and folded them in a pile.

Luke walked over and lifted them out of her hands. He stared down at her. ‘It'll keep.'

They walked outside together. The food stalls were beginning to shut up shop, the lights of the domed main stage beginning to overpower the pale sky now that the sun was making its slow approach back to earth. There were fewer children running around, and several groups of lads in drag told her theirs weren't the only hen and stag dos there.

‘You don't have a drink.'

Cassie looked down at her empty hands. ‘No.'

He stopped walking. ‘You can't be at a concert and not have a drink, Cass. There are rules about these things.'

‘Really?' But before she could so much as arch an eyebrow, he had grabbed her hand.

‘Follow me.'

His touch was like fire and every instinct told her to break the contact, but his hand had firmly gripped hers as he pulled her through the crowds, which were growing denser as the other activities closed down, herding everyone by default to the stage area. She heard ‘Coldplay' in the crowd more than once before they ducked into a beer tent.

Half the festival seemed to have had the same idea and Luke practically had to scrummage his way through to the bar. When he finally got there, he ordered several drinks for each of them.

‘What?' he asked, as she stared in astonishment at the sight of the eight beer bottles wedged between his fingers. ‘I'm not queuing again. Are you?'

She took three with an arch look. ‘Come on, then, let's find the others,' she said, beginning to turn and head out of the tent.

‘Can't. You've got to drink up first. No glasses allowed anywhere but here.'

She looked back at him in disbelief. He expected her to drink four beers with him? They would be here for hours!

‘This is farmland, you know,' he said earnestly before swigging his drink. ‘We have a duty to behave responsibly for the animals. I've become very partial to cows in the past week.'

‘You're all heart,' she said drily, clinking her bottle against his. ‘Cheers, then.'

She wished she could drink quickly, but she was famously slow – something he'd clearly forgotten, and as they swigged their beers, looking to the people around them like a regular couple, she wondered what else had slipped his mind about her. Maybe he really didn't remember half of her peccadilloes or quirks; just because she recollected his preferred sleeping position and that breathing in his ear rendered him powerless didn't mean he ever thought about the one time he had made her knees buckle or how she took her coffee.

‘You look great, by the way.' His eyes flickered over her retro-chic outfit.