Chapter 31

 

Mel smoothed her hand gently over the material of her red top, getting rid of the last crease that was showing along its front.  The top had been screwed up in her bag all day, and in all honesty wasn’t really looking that bad considering. 

 

Returning to the mirror, she examined herself for the last time.  Considering she had got changed in a public toilet she had scrubbed up quite well, no one would have ever guessed that she had spent the day in the rain and sat on a bench.  

 

Yet again she was wearing one of her sisters outfits, this time a tight fitting red top with a low-neck line that scooped around her chest with a pair of black trousers with a red and gold band round the top. 

 

She was ready to go.

 

She hadn’t bothered going to the show to see Christian earlier, it seemed silly going to “fan” things now, she wasn’t really a fan anymore, she was his friend, and friends didn’t stand in front of the stage with a load of screaming girlies … friends went to bars with him.

 

Smiling she pulled her top down a little further and tottered her way out to Jacks, the bar that Christian was sure to be in tonight.

 

Sure enough she was right, she noticed the a1 party the moment she walked in, and they noticed her too.  Mark was already waving frantically at her, and was now making his way over to her.  Perfect, plan C was about to be actioned.

 

“You came!” he exclaimed excitedly.

 

“Sure did.”

 

“Still not with the others?” he asked, looking behind her for her friends.

 

“Nope, all on my own.”

 

“Awww, well we can’t have that, let me get you a drink.”

 

She smiled at him gratefully and followed him over to the bar.  He really was a true gentlemen, always knew exactly what to say and how to make her feel better.

 

Accepting the Smirnoff Ice off him, she settled down on the stool next to him.

 

“So how was the gig?” she asked.

 

“Very good, good crowd, and even the people sat on the tables at the back joined in.”

 

Mel laughed and took a deep swig of her drink.

 

“So you not here with anyone either then?”

 

“I’m here with the guys”

 

“You know what I mean,” Mel replied.

 

“No.”

 

“Are you here with a girl?”

 

“Oh I see,” he replied, “nope, no girl.”

 

“Sexy guy like you has no girl?” she asked him in disbelief.

 

He blushed slightly red and looked down at his feet.

 

“Seriously, I can’t believe you haven’t got a girlfriend.”

 

Mark was beginning to look awkward now, and Mel silently kicked herself, she had obviously completely overdone it, he looked like he was about to run.

 

He got up off his stool, but rather than walk away turned to look at her.

 

“Want to dance?” he asked.

 

“Sure”

 

He took her hand and lead her over to the dance floor where several other couples were already dancing.

 

Being a nice slow song Mel found herself wrapped up in Mark’s arms.  He had nice arms, she had never realised before now how strong and muscley they were, she felt so safe in them. 

 

“You have lovely arms,” she whispered up to him as she leant her head on his shoulder.

 

He responded by moving his arm to a slightly lower position on her back, it felt nice, not Christian kind of nice, but nice all the same.

 

Looking over Mark’s shoulder she could see Christian and Ella behind them, dancing their own dance, completely lost in their own little world.

 

“They’re so sweet aren’t they?” she forced her mouth into a smile.

 

“Who?”

 

“Chris and Ella”

 

“Yep, love’s young dream those too,” Mark agreed, “I haven’t seen him this happy for ages.”

 

“I’m glad he’s found someone,” Mel commented, looking up at Mark and smiling, “everyone deserves to be happy.”

 

She glanced back over towards them, they were kissing now, their mouths locked tightly around each other.

 

“Wish they wouldn’t do that the whole time though.” Mark commented, “its quite gross.”

 

“Yep gross to watch.” Mel agreed.

 

Looking over his shoulder again she noticed that they had finally come up for some air and Christian was looking straight over at her.

 

“Gross to watch, but fun to do,” she finished.

 

Checking that he was still looking she turned her attention back to Mark and looked straight into his eyes.  Smiling gently at him she could feel his head begin to lower in towards hers.  She looked up at his mouth.  He had gorgeous lips, reaching out a tentative hand she stroked her fingers along the top one and then the bottom one before standing up on tiptoes and gently moving her lips against his in a single kiss.

 

Pulling away she had another quick look over his shoulder, Christian was still looking, it was hard to read exactly what he was feeling, may be it would be best to try again, see what happened.

 

Smiling at Mark she closed her eyes and leant in for another kiss, this time making sure that the contact was maintained for longer and opening his mouth so that she could slowly and obviously slip her tongue right in.

 

Now if this didn’t make Christian jealous then she didn’t know what would.

 

Finishing the kiss she looked for him again, but he had gone. 

 

Maybe he was so jealous he had run off in a jealous rage and was about to break up with Ella right this moment.  Mel felt so excited she could have jumped up and down.

 

“Mel!”

 

Mark’s arms were holding onto hers and he was shaking her gently.

 

“Sorry, was just thinking.”

 

“About?”

 

“How nice that was,” she smiled at him.

 

“But it didn’t mean …”

 

She smiled at the worried look on his face, “no I’m not about to try and marry you.”

 

He laughed and immediately relaxed.

 

“I really enjoyed that,” he admitted, “I haven’t done that for a long time, it was nice.”

 

“Yeah it was,” she smiled at him.

 

“Where you staying tonight?” he asked.

 

Mel looked at him, shocked.

 

“No, I didn’t mean that, I was just checking you have somewhere to go seeing as  your friends aren’t here.”

 

“I’ll be fine,”

 

“You staying at the resort?”

 

“Not exactly”

 

“Where then?”

 

“I was planning on sleeping in the railway station,” she confessed.

 

“You can’t do that!”

 

“I’ll be fine,” she insisted.

 

“I’m not letting you do it,” Mark said firmly, “it’s dangerous and it’s so cold out there you’ll make yourself ill.”

 

“Well where do you suggest I go then?”

 

“Come and stay in our apartment.”

 

Mel opened her mouth in shock, “I cant do that I’m a fan, you cant just have fans stay in your apartment, its not right.”

 

“Mel, it’s OK, I don’t want you on out on the street, I’d much rather you stayed with us.”

 

Mel shook her head again but Mark had already taken her by the arm and was steering her out of the club and towards the apartments.

 

“Don’t know how I let you talk me into this,” she muttered as they crept their way down the dark little alleyways.

 

“I can be very persuasive,” Mark whispered back.

 

“So what is your apartment like?”

 

“You know Butlins,” Mark replied cheekily, “it was hardly the Ritz to start with and now it has the addition of Ben’s smelly socks its even worse.”

 

“Suddenly the train station seems appealing,” Mel joked.

 

Stopping at the next block of apartments Mark got out his key and quietly unlocked the door and let them in.

 

“Is anyone else here?” Mel asked as they crept their way into the small lounge area.

 

“Not sure, don’t worry about them, lets just get you settled.”

 

Moving down the little corridor Mark turned off into one of the rooms.

 

“Here’s your bed.”

 

“Whose bed is it really?” Mel asked, eyeing the suitcase that was sat on the floor.

 

“Mine.”

 

“Mark, I can’t take your bed,” Mel replied, “you take it and I’ll go and sleep on the couch.”

 

“Don’t be daft, right you got your night stuff?”

 

Mel glowed red, “no I didn’t pack anything.”

 

“You are strange,” Mark smiled, “its OK, take one of my shirts, now you get yourself sorted and I’ll be back in a moment to check you are OK.”

 

And with that he turned and left the room.

 

Slipping the top off over her head Mel climbed into Marks shirt and quickly buttoned it up over her body.  It was pretty cold still and so she was grateful to hop quickly into the covers and pull them up tightly against her chin.

 

A minute later and the door creaked open, true to his word Mark was coming back to check on her.

 

Yet it wasn’t Mark that was standing in the doorway looking at her, it was Christian, and the look on his face was that of pure shock.

 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, clearly embarrassed, and quickly turned to leave the room, bumping into Mark who had just entered dressed only in his boxer shorts.

 

Christian did a double take, looking quickly over at Mel sat in Mark’s bed and then back at Mark who was standing in the doorway holding a glass of water.

 

 

After a moment Christian broke the awkward silence.

 

“Mark, I think we need a word.”

 

And with that he lead him out of the room.