Tease (35 page)

Sienna scanned the room but couldn’t see any sign of Tiger or her crew. She dragged Georgia over to a stunning
Mae West look-alike mixing cocktails behind the bar and asked where she could find Tiger Starr. Mae West replied in a low, gruff voice that Tiger was in the private area and to knock three times at the wooden door. Sienna smiled, clocking Mae’s Adam’s apple, and complimented him on his amazing outfit before dragging Georgia back in the direction they came from to a small
Alice In Wonderland
-sized door. She knocked. Three times. A tiny confessional-style window slid open and a pair of watery blue eyes peered out questioningly. The window slid shut. Sienna waited. Nothing. She knocked again. Three times. The window slid open and the blue eyes peered out again.

‘I’m Sienna Starr, I’m Tiger Starr’s sister!’ she bellowed through the window. The door opened and a hand reached out and motioned the girls inside. Spotting Tiger’s pink hair instantly, Sienna marched over to her table angrily.

‘Bloody hell!’ she shouted in her sister’s ear. Tiger span round in her chair.

‘Wow! Hi! That’s not much of a greeting is it? Oh hi, Georgia.’ Tiger nodded kindly.

‘Jesus, what’s with this place! It’s easier to get in to the friggin’ French Foreign Legion!’

‘Oh you should have called me, I’d have come and got you at the entrance.’ Tiger smiled.

‘Yeah, yeah. I’m sick of having to tell everyone I’m your friggin’ sister. I have a name too you know.’

‘Okaaaay,’ said Tiger, bemused. ‘Why don’t you relax, have a glass of champagne!’ she said, pulling up chairs for
the girls. Sienna nodded over at Blue, Lewis, Hartley and Pepper before slumping down into her seat. She scanned the room, recognising a couple of actors, a singer and a supermodel. The decor was distinctly more ‘Opium Den’ in here.

‘I’m really pleased you came, Sienna,’ said Tiger, smiling. ‘Thank you.’ She reached out to squeeze Sienna’s hand. Sienna kept it clamped shut in a fist. ‘You look nice, the pair of you. Very smart,’ persevered Tiger. ‘I especially love your dress, Sienna. Your figure’s looking fantastic. Jessica Rabbit eat your heart out.’

Sienna scowled at the compliment and crossed her arms over her front. She didn’t need reminding about her new curves, especially in the face of Tiger having lost most of
hers
.

‘Yeah cheers, I owe it all to champagne,’ said Sienna, brushing off the flattery, and wondering why her sister seemed unusually relaxed and happy. ‘So what’s the news then?’ Sienna asked, cutting to the chase. Tiger handed over a couple of glasses of Taittinger and pushed a bowl of fresh strawberries and peppercorns across the table towards the two girls.

‘Well,’ said Blue dramatically from across the table, ‘Lewis caught Tiger’s stalker on the prowl in her garden last night!’

‘Oh?’ said Georgia.

‘Stalker?’ asked Sienna. ‘Didn’t even know you had one.’

‘No, you wouldn’t, would you,’ said Blue, ‘since you don’t
pay too much attention to your sister unless you’re getting something from her.’

‘Okay, guys, this is supposed to be a celebration,’ cut in Lewis, holding his hands up in the air.

‘Yeah sure,’ said Sienna, sneering at Blue, ‘so who’s this stalker then? That weird little guy who turns up at your shows?’

‘God no, I feel so terrible about him. I was convinced it was him, and I feel so bad now. I knew all along he was just a sweet little man,’ sighed Tiger, looking genuinely upset.

‘So who was it in the garden then?’

‘Rosemary Baby,’ said Lewis.

‘Who?’

‘Rosemary Baby!’ said Lewis, Blue and Tiger in unison.

‘Didn’t I meet her once?’ Sienna sputtered. ‘With your friend, Tiffany …?’

Tiger nodded sadly.

‘Rosemary Baby? Like the film? About the spawn of Satan?’ smirked Georgia, doing her best not to catch Lewis’ eye. She was still giving him the silent treatment.

‘Er – in a manner of speaking,’ said Blue, trying not to snigger. ‘Rosemary Baby is an old washed-up performer with a bad case of the green eye. But now, the ugly mo’ fo’ is in custody awaiting trial. Last we heard she was locked in a cell, screaming to the warden that she was a superstar who needed her yoga mat. But at least she confessed to the anonymous letters and everything.’

‘Letters?’ asked Sienna and Georgia in unison, arching their eyebrows higher with each twist of the tale.

‘Er, look, we aren’t publicising the extent of the stalking,’ interjected Lewis awkwardly and shooting a look at Blue. ‘Let’s just say, Tiger’s been targeted for a few months and now we’re just looking forward to things getting back to normal and being able to concentrate on the shows. Tiger wanted to have you here Sienna, to share in the celebration of the end of a dark period,’ said Lewis, raising his glass in Sienna’s direction.

‘Like I said, I’m really glad you could make it.’ Tiger beamed.

‘To good times ahead!’ squealed Blue over the music, clinking everyone’s glasses noisily. Sienna clinked glasses and smiled broadly.

‘To Tiger,’ she said. ‘I do hope you enjoy this evening, dear sister.’

‘Oh thanks, Sienna! That really means a lot,’ said Tiger, visibly touched. ‘It’s just a huge relief, to be honest. I’m going to let my hair down tonight.’ A leer crept across Sienna’s face. Tiger didn’t notice. ‘I’m glad you came,’ she continued, reaching out and placing her hand on Sienna’s arm. Sienna was getting excited. Excited at the thought of the look on Tiger’s face in the morning when she saw what was waiting for her in the newspapers. Excited that by the looks of things she would be reading the headlines with the biggest, fattest hangover of the century. Enjoy, dear sister, enjoy, thought Sienna, washing back her champagne happily.

Tiger woke with a start as Gravy jumped up onto the bed. The sun was blazing through the window. She had forgotten to draw the blinds last night. The birds were singing outside. Loudly. Tiger’s head was pounding as she wracked her brains, trying to remember coming home. All she could say for sure was that it had been a great night. She’d have to check her bar bill later to see just how great it had been. She rolled over and buried her face in the cool side of the pillow, expecting Blue to come in any second with a glass of water and a hair of the dog and any gossip about who he’d pulled at the end of the evening.

Tiger felt as though today was the first day of the rest of her life. No more letters, no more suspicion, no more paranoia, no more ‘what ifs’, no more ‘whodunnits’, no more ‘I know your secret!’ As if! A tinkle of laughter escaped her lips at the absurdity of getting herself in a lather for months over the obsessive games of some washed up, chinless, titless wonder who should have bought a one-way ticket to the nuthouse a long time ago. If only Tiger had known it was Rosemary Baby sniffing around, she would have called Tiffany Crystal and let her wait in the garden for her personally! Tiffany would be thrilled to
know that nasty piece of work would soon be rightfully behind bars. Deep down, everyone knew that Rosemary had tried to kill Tiffany. It was a travesty she had not been brought to justice but now that would change. Funny how good things come out of bad, sometimes.

Tiger felt thirsty and wondered when Blue would be up – and if he fancied going out for breakfast. She reached out to dial his room from the phone next to her bed. No answer. Maybe he was already up fixing breakfast, she thought hopefully. Tiger cuddled Gravy and snuggled under the duvet, determined she was going to have a relaxing day off after all the drama of the last few months. Her eyelids felt heavy. She was so tired, she felt she could sleep the whole day. Maybe she would …

‘What do you have to say for yourself?’ boomed a voice through her sleepy fug. Tiger jolted and snapped her eyes open to see Lewis standing at the foot of her bed.

‘Lewis! Did you just come in without knocking?’ Tiger gasped, quickly pulling the silk sheets up to her chin and grabbing Gravy, who was growling protectively. ‘What are those?’ she asked, regarding the pile of newspapers in his arms with suspicion. Lewis dropped them onto her bed with a heavy thump. His breathing was even, but heavy and furious. Tiger sat up and reached out gingerly for the top of the pile.

‘Needless to say your publicist has officially dropped you as of this morning,’ he said flatly. ‘I have no idea what the Americans will have to say about this, when they hear there’s yet more scandal. So. Is it true?’

Tiger’s eyes skimmed over the headlines, her vision blur-ring as she scrabbled through the pile frantically. She picked out words here and there. ‘Tiger Starr’s teenage pregnancy scandal!’… ‘schoolgirl disgrace’… ‘heartlessly abandoned baby boy’ … ‘living a lie’ … ‘the sleaze beneath the glamour’, Tiger shook her head in disbelief, unable to speak.

‘I asked you, is it true?’

‘N-n-n … w-w-w …’

‘Exactly. I gave you the chance to tell me. Thanks.’ Lewis stormed from the room, slamming the door so hard it ricocheted in its hinges. Gravy hid under the bed. Tiger felt the familiar sensation of her throat closing as her breathing became shallow and frantic. The pounding in her head was increasing, the pressure at her temples unbearable. She leapt up to the window for air but stumbled and fell. She lay there on the carpet, panic stricken, gasping for breath, unable to scream, unable to cry.

Poppy Adams regained consciousness after an exhausting twenty-four hours. She ached all over. As she blinked her eyes open she focused on the shiny hospital walls. Mother had gone, and Poppy was alone. She felt shattered. Through her emotional daze she knew she just wanted to hold her baby. As she struggled to get comfortable a nurse came bustling in through the door and prodded and poked around painfully for a bit. Poppy didn’t know what was
happening but submitted, eagerly anticipating holding her baby.

Once back on the ward and concealed behind green curtains, another nurse came with a cup of hot sugary tea.

‘I didn’t ask for a drink, I just want to see my baby, please,’ said Poppy feebly, clutching at her painful breasts.

‘You need some sugar. Now drink the tea, there’s a good girl.’

Poppy sighed and took a tiny sip.

‘Okay, I’ve had some tea, now can I see my baby, please,’

‘Has your mother not come to see you?’

‘No. I must have fallen asleep after—’

‘Yes, of course you did, dear. That usually happens.’

Poppy could hear talking from behind her curtains and a baby crying from across the ward.

‘Can I just see my child, please,’ she asked anxiously.

‘You will have to speak to your mother. I’ll call her to come and see you.’

‘I don’t want my mum, I want my child!’ demanded Poppy, angrily. Another baby started crying in the ward.

‘Calm down and drink your tea, I’m fetching your mother now.’

‘My baby! What have you done with my baby?’ screamed Poppy as the nurse hurried out of the cubicle, swishing the curtains shut behind her.

‘My baby! My baby! Where have you taken my baby?’
Poppy’s cries and screams echoed through the wards unanswered.

‘Blue! I need Blue! Lewis, where’s Blue? He’s not in his room. Bluuuuue,’ Tiger wailed from the top of the stairs, clinging to the banister. Lewis appeared at the foot of the stairs.

‘Blue? Oh, he’s the one who caused all this, didn’t you know? Why don’t you read his little note. Here.’ Lewis climbed the stairs and threw a sheet of lined notepad paper at Tiger.

‘
Darling I can’t live with myself. This is all my fault. I told Richie about your ordeal. I was so worried about you I needed to talk to someone. He must have gone to the press. I thought I could trust him I’m so sorry I’ve ruined your life, I’m beside myself. I know you will never forgive me for breaking your confidence …’
Tiger couldn’t read any further. She ran to Blue’s room and checked under the bed for his leopard-skin luggage set. It was gone. She flung open the wardrobe and was confronted with an empty space where his clothes had once been. She ran to his ensuite bathroom and saw that his toothbrush was gone. Staggering back to his bed she dissolved in tears on the floor, clutching his duvet to her cheek. Why, why, why was everything happening like this? It was all wrong! She had never felt so alone. Lewis looked on, stony faced, from outside the door.

‘Where’s the kid now?’ he asked.

Tiger wiped her tears from her cheeks as her shoulders shook.

‘I c-can’t deal with you now. You need to g-give me forty-eight hours,’ she stuttered.

‘Yeah right. Oh, by the way, you got another anonymous letter this morning. Seeing as Rosemary is in a cell and has no way of sending one, I’d take an educated guess she gave a false confession. She’s obviously so desperate for fame she’s realised the only way she’ll ever get herself talked about is to be a notorious stalker. Unless there are any more skeletons you’d care to tell me about?’ Tiger stared in utter disbelief at the piece of pink paper. As she struggled for breath, the floor seemed to fall away from beneath her, the colours before her eyes draining to black. The darkness seemed so inviting; Tiger let herself slip away into unconsciousness.

Sienna hummed as she smudged another layer of smoky kohl onto her eyelids. Leaning back from the ornate bathroom mirror she fluttered her long lashes for the full effect. Vampy, she thought, as she turned up the sound system a notch. Rex had paid for her to have top-of-the-range speakers concealed in the ceiling of her bathroom and she was enjoying the luxury every time she had a bath or a girlie pampering session. Tonight she was meeting Rex and Georgia for drinks at a fine jewellery launch party in Mayfair. All she needed now was her set of emeralds to complete her look and she was ready to go.

Shortly after the bombshell of yesterday’s newspapers, Rex had made a short and snappy announcement over breakfast that he had terminated Tiger’s account with immediate effect, and promptly asked Sienna what she thought to the idea of starting to work on Georgia’s profile. Sienna thought it an excellent idea. Overall, she was rather delighted that her handiwork seemed to have tied up a lot of loose ends for everybody and was working out rather well. She was pleased Rex and Georgia seemed to be getting on, too – Sienna had always thought it important for your friends to like your boyfriend.