Tease (23 page)

Blue read the message as he paced outside the club. He gave a little nod as he recognised stage door Johnnie near the velvet ropes. They exchanged kind smiles, and Blue wondered what present he had for Tiger tonight. Sometimes he brought chocolates or a slim volume of poetry with the usual bouquet. As Tiger’s Towncar crawled up Whitehall to meet him, Blue could hear people calling out Tiger’s name behind him. She must be on her way out, he thought, giving Vladimir a quick thumbs up through the car window before popping his head back into the venue to retrieve her. As Blue approached through the reception he saw a short, stocky, shaven-headed male leaning in to Tiger’s curls and whispering something. Tiger drew back violently and regarded him with furiously arched eyebrows.

‘It wasn’t a spatula, for your information,’ spat Tiger loudly. ‘It was a Black ’n’ Decker 18 volt hand vacuum, don’t you know? Anyway, that’s old news, why don’t you come up with something more original?’

‘Eh, baby!’ reasoned the bald guy in a thick Russian accent, realising the pair were garnering an audience for him to play to. ‘I just fancied a leetle fun, I heard that was
your speciality! Come, let’s have fun!’ he laughed. At that moment, Blue saw Georgia opposite, mobile in hand as though she had come out from the party to make a call. She was watching the exchange intently with a sly smirk on her face.

Blue immediately steamed over and pushed the bald guy forcefully from Tiger’s path. Yanking her arm he pulled her towards the door. From the corner of his eye he saw Georgia wearing a huge grin, her phone now pressed to her ear.

‘Ow! Blue, you’re hurting me!’ grumbled Tiger.

‘Gotta get you out of here, darling, this is not a good scene,’ muttered Blue, tightening his grip. He pushed through the doors and towards the purring Towncar.

‘Miss Starr! I have a surprise for you!’ called out stage door Johnnie, rushing forwards towards Tiger, who had managed to free herself from Blue’s grip. Johnnie shoved a bouquet of flowers in her face, complete with a small pink card poking from a pretty matching pink ribbon. Tiger glared at Johnnie, and he recoiled slightly in surprise. She was usually so friendly.

‘I thought you’d like pink roses this time instead of the gladioli.’ He grinned, waiting for her to smile. Tiger stood deadly still, staring at the flowers. She felt her head throbbing, thoughts pouring in from all sides. A crowd was gathering.

‘Pink?’ she snarled. ‘You like the colour pink do you?’ she shrieked, suddenly ripping the flowers from Johnnie’s
hands. Cameras immediately started flashing as she lashed out at him with the bouquet and swiped for his face with her long nails. ‘You’re the one watching me sleep are you, you pervert?’ she growled. ‘I see you’re hanging out at my home now anyway. I s’pose you have some big secret of mine you want to reveal too, do you?’

Johnnie held his hands over his head, shouting for her to stop. The flashes continued frantically and the crowd tripled in size within seconds. Blue grabbed Tiger firmly by the shoulders and dragged her backwards. The cameras continued snapping and a hum of excited chatter swelled within the crowd.

‘You don’t scare me, you freak!’ howled Tiger, pointing furiously in Johnnie’s direction as she staggered backwards in Blue’s grip. As the crowd progressed to heckling and goading, the paparazzi surged forwards, closing in on Tiger’s wild face as Blue opened the car door and bundled her in.

With Tiger shaking on the backseat, the flashes popped relentlessly through the blacked out windows until the car had pulled safely away. Blue put his head in his hands and gulped for air. He just sat for a moment, trying to make sense of it all. He waited for Tiger to speak, say something, anything. She just sat and shook. Stage door Johnnie had just tried to give her some flowers back there. Blue had no idea what had happened in Tiger’s head, but to the outside world, she just looked like the next drunken celebrity assaulting a well meaning fan. The paparazzi had captured every detail.

‘J-j-just take us h-h-home, Vladimir, th-thank you,’ stuttered Tiger.

‘Tiger, we have to talk,’ said Blue firmly. ‘What the fuck’s wrong with you tonight? You’re spinning out. You need to tell me everything, babe. And I mean everything.’

Tiger looked across at Blue with watery eyes and a trembling lip and tried to speak. Unable to say anything she looked away. She didn’t drop a single tear or utter a single word the whole journey home.

Oh come on, you can’t keep it a secret any more!’ giggled Sienna, fidgeting in the cream leather seat of the huge Sikorsky S-76 helicopter as she pressed her nose up at the window, watching as lush green fields and hedgerows rolled by beneath.

‘Wait, you’ll see!’ laughed Rex from his seat opposite. ‘Just enjoy the ride. Have some more champagne, birthday girl. How does it feel to be nineteen?’

‘The same as it feels to be eighteen, silly,’ said Sienna. ‘Except no one’s ever treated me to a surprise like this before.’

Rex leaned forwards and topped up Sienna’s glass, letting it fizz over enthusiastically.

‘Careful!’ she tittered drunkenly. ‘It’s going to my head as it is!’

‘Whoops. Must be the altitude making everything bubble over,’ murmured Rex, planting a soft kiss on the inside of her wrist, deep down wishing it was Tiger here with him sharing the view.

‘Ooh, I feel a little … lightheaded!’ Sienna gasped, fanning her pretty face.

‘Okay, babe, how about you open a couple of presents then?’

‘Oh wow, you mean there’s more? I was having such a good time I didn’t even think about presents!’

‘Well your present from me will be revealed when we land,’ said Rex. ‘In the meantime Tiger gave me this to give to you as she knew she wouldn’t be here for your birthday.’ He held out a small, beautifully wrapped gift bag. Sienna’s face turned stony.

‘Yeah, work’s always more important for Tiger.’

‘Just wait ’til you open it, babes, she said she’d chosen something special. It’s bound to be expensive knowing her. She’s always very generous.’

‘Yeah. Well, money can’t buy everything you know,’ grumbled Sienna, taking the bag and ripping it open. Inside was a small velvet box. Sienna took a deep breath and wished for diamonds. She opened the box and stared. There nestled an exquisite Gucci watch fashioned from minature solid gold horse bits. Sure enough, diamonds framed the square watch face, which was tiger eye … naturally. It was stunning. Sienna snapped the box shut and chucked it unceremoniously on to the walnut table.

‘Aren’t you gonna show me?’ asked Rex.

‘Er, no. It’s nothing special,’ replied Sienna, quickly totting up how many thousands she could get for it if she sold it on eBay.

‘But Tiger said she’d chosen it carefully – is it a ring?’

Sienna paused for a moment before replying. ‘No. It’s a watch,’ she said, looking straight at Rex’s wrist. ‘I think
she gives those to people she wants to get rid of doesn’t she?’

‘I don’t know what you mean, babes,’ said Rex dismissively. ‘Come on, have some more Cristal.’ Sienna chugged back her whole glass of champagne and screwed her face up as the fizz hit the back of her throat.

‘Yeah. More bubbly for the birthday girl, bring it on,’ jeered Sienna, slurring her words a little.

‘Come on, babe, this weekend is all about you. Enjoy.’

‘Oh? Somehow I get the feeling my sister has still managed to make it all about her … this time because she’s
not
here! Bitch. Sending me a gold diamond watch in her absence. She hasn’t even called me. Next time I sell another story on her I’ll make sure it’s a fucking—’ Sienna gasped and clamped her hand over her mouth. She looked over at Rex who for once was silenced. The helicopter swung round dramatically on its flight path.

Ladies and gentlemen, we remind you to please remain seated until the fasten seatbelt sign has been turned off. The local time is now 11.30 a.m. We hope you had an enjoyable flight, and we trust you will have a great stay,’ the purser said with a friendly grin as he stood at the head of the cabin.

Honey Lou felt butterflies in her stomach and looked out from her small window. Heat waves emanated from the tarmac as the aeroplane taxied slowly along. She couldn’t quite believe she was in Las Vegas on a private jet with Tiger Starr, no less.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Blanche from her seat next to Honey.

‘Pinching myself.’

‘Whatever for?’

‘Oh, you know, just to check it’s all real.’

‘Oh, Honey Lou,’ Blanche laughed softly, ‘there’s
nothing
real about Vegas.’

Once Georgia, Nikki, Blanche and Honey Lou were esconced in their quarters at the Luxuriana Grande, the room hopping started in earnest. They had an hour before their final costume fittings, and this was taken up with checking that none of them had a better view, a bigger hot tub, or an extra plasma screen in their room than anyone else. Honey Lou was beginning to feel relaxed with the girls, like she was finally starting to fit in. Nikki, she decided was the fairest and kindest, and Blanche she thought was the prettiest and most ladylike. Georgia didn’t really engage and spent most of her time either making calls or hiding her head in a magazine. But that didn’t bother Honey Lou, she was just determined to have a fabulous time.

The Starrlets met Blue and his seamstress for their fittings in his suite. It was enormous. Honey Lou’s eyes darted everywhere. She couldn’t quite believe it had more rooms than her entire family home back in London. If only her parents were here to see it. Honey Lou’s father had been against his daughter making this trip, especially after the shit storm in the newspapers after Tiger lashed
out at one of her fans last week, but Honey had found a totally unexpected sympathiser in her mother, Lila, who quite out of the blue confessed she’d always fantasised about working as a croupier in Vegas, ever since she had watched a television programme of her idols Diana Ross and The Supremes doing a Vegas gig in the late sixties. It had all looked so showy! Lila was adamant that her daughter should take the trip, on the condition that Honey Lou reported back and told her every fabulous detail.

Honey couldn’t imagine her mum ever believing the hotel room she was in now; it even had its own dance floor and split-level lounge, for goodness’ sake. The views were simply breathtaking; the whole of the Strip seen through twenty-foot picture windows. Honey sneaked a photograph with her phone and quickly texted it home to her mum while Blue was busy sticking pins in Georgia’s g-string.

The costumes were beautiful, with intricate crystal bras and thongs, and each Starrlett was allotted a slightly different headdress, with many shades of dyed feather from deep cherry through to fiery orangey red. Each costume included huge, unwieldy backpacks with wide feather sprays built in and the girls were allowed ten minutes each to practise parading in the room, getting used to the way the feathers dragged them back by the shoulders. Honey Lou immediately had blisters beneath her armpits from the stiff, heavy-duty straps, but she didn’t like to say anything since this was only for the press junket. It wasn’t
like she would need to dance in the costume for any length of time yet.

The Starletts were given their itinerary for photo calls that afternoon, and then the press interviews the following morning during which they would be presenting and flanking Tiger as she took the Q and A sessions at the hands of the entertainment press and broadcasters. The girls were excited to see Tiger’s costume. They had wanted to ask her lots of questions on the plane, but she had seemed unusually subdued, and slept deeply for pretty much the entire flight before being whisked away by Lewis the second they hit the airport. All Blue would reveal was that she would be in a couture gown in Jessica Rabbit red, rather than anything feathery. She needed to look ‘Hollywood glam’, so Blue had said, rather than looking like she was about to step onto stage. Once he had secured his final pins in the girls’ costumes, he chivvied the Starletts off to another room to get into hair and make-up, while he directed the seamstress on the necessary alterations ahead of the photo call.

‘Cor, were those g-strings tight or what!’ muttered Nikki once they were safely in their dressing room and well out of earshot. ‘Either that or I need to go on a diet, shift some of the weight off my hips.’

‘Actually mine had to be taken in slightly,’ said Georgia smugly, stretching a wig cap over her scraped-back hair.

‘Don’t worry, Nikki, mine was tight too,’ said Blanche, shooting daggers at Georgia who was now pulling on her
sleek long black wig. Honey Lou looked over at beautiful Blanche and sighed. She had the sort of figure she would kill for, reed slim yet with soft curves and distinctly knockery.

Honey Lou turned back to her make-up station and brushed her own black wig, deep in thought, wondering where they would all be taken tonight. The Starrlets had been told by Lewis on the aeroplane that they would be expected to make appearances at various venues during the evening. Even though she had only been in Vegas less than twelve hours, Honey Lou knew it just felt right; as though it was a home from home already.

‘Fuck it!’ yelled Georgia, springing up from her stool. ‘I’ve spilt red nail varnish on my Danskins! Oh crap! Ohhh! Honey Lou, could you get me another pair from Blue while I clean all this mess up? Cheers, babe.’

Honey looked up in disbelief. She had only just managed to tame her afro and pop on her wig cap, surely Georgia couldn’t expect her to leave the dressing room like that, especially without a scrap of make-up on yet?

‘Er, could you make it snappy? It’s not like we’ve got all day,’ ordered Georgia. Not feeling very assertive in a wig cap, Honey Lou bit her tongue to keep the peace, and scrabbled in her holdall for a headscarf to cover her head.

‘Like, now!’ yelled Georgia. Honey Lou jumped to attention, dropping the scarf and hurriedly making for the door. She cursed under her breath as she made her way down
the corridor, hoping no one would see her, especially not Tiger. She wanted to make a good impression all the way.

Reaching Tiger’s suite, Honey Lou tentatively knocked at the door. There was no answer, although she could hear loud music blaring. Blue must be in there, she thought to herself. She knocked again, louder. After what seemed like minutes, Honey decided she would have to leave empty handed. Georgia could jolly well sort her own tights out. That moment, the door swung open. Tiger looked terrible. There she stood in the doorway in the most unbelievable shimmering red gown, which she barely filled with her noticeably diminishing frame. Her hair was scraped back beneath a thick hair band, revealing alarmingly sharp cheekbones. Big black bags circled her eyes, which were puffy as though she had been crying, and her normally silky olive skin looked pale and pasty. She looked gaunt, worn-down and haggard. She certainly hadn’t looked like this on the aeroplane; she had looked glamorous and fluffed up as always, and she had hidden her body under a chic shift dress.