Chapter Six

Kirstie, Michelle and Kathleen gasped as they walked into the hotel and gazed around at the room. They had never seen so many celebrities in one room and couldn't help but feel a little out of place. As the three of them silently gazed around the room they saw the faces of so many famous people they recognised.

Chloe quickly led them over to a quiet table on the side of the dance floor. As soon as they sat down a waiter appeared and placed two bottles of wine and some glasses on the table.

"This is amazing." Kirstie breathed.

"It feels like we are famous." Kathleen agreed.

Chloe smiled at them as she poured them all a glass of wine.

"Do you ever get used to being around them all the time?" Kathleen asked curiously.

"Kind of most of them are pretty normal and some are a bit stuck up." she smiled, before quickly downing her glass of wine and pouring herself another.

"Cheers everyone." Kathleen said happily, raising her glass. A chorus of cheers echoed around the room as they clinked glasses.

"Hey Louise!" Chloe called as she spotted Louise walking past their table, looking a little bit out of her comfort zone. Chloe smiled at her and gestured for her to come and sit with them.

"Ladies, this is Louise, she is one of the singers. Louise this is Michelle, Kathleen and Kirstie." Chloe explained gesturing to each one in turn.

"Hello." Louise said shyly.

"We saw you on the stage, you were amazing!" Kirstie told her.

"Thank you, it was my first time singing in front of a crowd that big, I was terrified." Louise admitted.

"Well, you couldn't tell." Kathleen said kindly.

Louise smiled and fell silent again, her shyness taking over.

"How is your wrist?" Louise asked Chloe, relieved that she'd finally found something to say.

"It's not too bad now thanks." Chloe said.

"What happened?" Michelle piped up as she gazed down at Chloe's wrist.

"An accident with the curling tongs." Chloe told her.

"Ouch, you know Aloe Vera is really good for burns, it'll cool the skin and help to keep the wound from drying out too much." Michelle explained.

"Thank you, I'll see if I have any." Chloe smiled.

"If not, give me a shout, I'm pretty sure I have some at home." Michelle stated.

"I'm so excited about the interviews tomorrow." Kathleen randomly piped up.

"I bet you are, you're so lucky." Michelle said.

"If you wanted too, I'm sure the rest of you could come along and observe, I'm sure Matt won't mind." Chloe suggested.

"If you behave yourselves of course." she quickly added, giggling to herself.

Michelle glanced at Kirstie who nodded silently.

"We'd love too thanks Chloe." Kirstie smiled.

"I'm just so glad to have something positive after everything." Kathleen admitted.

"Huh?" Michelle frowned.

"Oh crap...I forgot to tell you guys.... David and I broke up." she said quietly.

"Wait, what?!" Michelle exclaimed.

"We drifted apart too far, neither of us was happy anyway." Kathleen explained.

"So now I'm single and ready to mingle." she added quickly.

"Wait are we all single?" Michelle asked, clearly sensing that Kathleen didn't want to talk about David anymore.

Kirstie and Kathleen nodded sadly. Michelle's gaze landed on Louise and she raised her eyebrow at her.

"Yes, I am very much single, but I don't want to meet anyone at the moment, I want to focus on my career. It's more important to me than a man." Louise answered.

"Preach to the choir sister." Chloe laughed. Holding up her hand for a high five, which Louise quickly reciprocated.

"Aww Chloe, don't you want to find someone?" Kirstie asked.

"Nope." Chloe replied quickly.

"Why not?" Kathleen asked.

"I don't know, just things didn't end well with Andy and I guess it's kind of put me off the whole thing. Also, this is going to sound really silly..." Chloe started to stay but paused.

"What?" Kirstie frowned.

"I've only ever been with Andy, like he was my first and that meant a lot to me. I'd have to be in love to sleep with someone and I don't want to be in love." she laughed, surprising herself that she had said that aloud. Clearly, she'd had too much alcohol and it was affecting her judgement.

"Wait, so if one of these celebs wanted to spend a night with you, you would say no?!" Kathleen asked, not quite able to believe her ears. Chloe nodded.

"I certainly wouldn't." Michelle laughed.

"Me neither." Kathleen added, joining in with the laughter.

Chloe rolled her eyes to herself; she'd always been the one that was on the outside of the group, even at university. She knew that she was a lot younger than the others, but she felt like they just didn't understand her. Which is why she hadn't been able to tell them how much she was struggling at the moment. It was easier to pretend.

"What about Lee?" Michelle asked, wiggling her eyebrows at Chloe.

"What about him?" Chloe frowned.

"I hate that guy and can't wait to get away from him." she quickly added.

"If you say so." Michelle teased.

"Anyway, I'm going for a dance, anyone want to join me?" Michelle asked.

"I'll be your date." Kathleen giggled as she followed Michelle to the dance floor. Chloe poured herself another glass of wine.

"You might want to slow down a bit there Chloe." Kirstie laughed.

"I can't help it, I'm so nervous about tomorrow." Chloe said quietly.

"The interviews?" Kirstie frowned, not quite understanding why Chloe would be nervous about that.

"No not that, I have applied for a new job, I've had the interview and Matt gave them a reference and they are going to call tomorrow to let me know." Chloe explained.

"Oh no Chloe, you can't leave." Louise said sadly.

"I'm sorry, but I can't work with Lee anymore, it's dragging me down too much." Chloe told them.

"He seems quite nice." Louise frowned.

"That's because he was trying to charm you, he treats me like dirt, and I've had enough of it." Chloe said.

"It's true, he does, he's really not nice to her at all." Kirstie agreed.

"So, what's the new job?" Kirstie asked.

"It would be working with a new up and coming boyband, but not as a stylist. I would be their day-to-day manager, so it's a kind of promotion. And I would go back to travelling the UK, rather than just being in London." Chloe explained.

"Wow, that sounds amazing. I really hope you get it." Kirstie smiled.

"I hope you do to, it sounds great for you, but I don't want you to leave us." Louise said, quickly hugging Chloe.

"Thanks guys, right shall we dance?" Chloe suggested. Just as the three of them stood up, Ben walked over to their table and offered his outstretched hand to Kirstie.

"You promised me a dance remember." he smiled at her. She smiled back at him, butterflies swirling in her stomach as he led her to the dance floor.