Chapter Nine

Kathleen was so excited for the interviews that she could hardly contain herself. As she quickly walked towards the theatre where the bands were going to be performing later that evening, Mark following closely behind.

"Hey Kathleen, wait a second." he said quietly, taking her hand so that he could talk to her for a moment before she entered the venue. She turned around to face him and smiled as she looked into his eyes, trying not to become lost in them.

"Can we keep last night between us, I'm quite a private guy?" he asked her nervously.

"Yes of course." she smiled, still not quite able to believe that last night had happened.

"I won't even tell my friends." she added, trying to reassure him.

"Thank you." he smiled.

"I had a nice time though." she told him, her cheeks flushing.

"Me too." he said quietly. Kathleen smiled at him before leaning up and planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"We'd better go inside." he told her gently.

She nodded and they both walked inside together. Kathleen smiled happily as she gazed around the room and saw Eclipse lounging on the sofas in the corner of the room, waiting for their turns to be interviewed. Mark wandered over to the corner of the room and sat in silence, staring at his phone.

Kirstie smiled at Ben as he walked out of the restroom and wandered over to her. He perched on the table in front of her and turned his head, pretending to check himself out in one of the dressing room mirrors.

"How are you this morning gorgeous?" he asked Kirstie.

"I'm good, how are you?" she asked.

"Fine, just happy to spend some more time with you." he admitted.

"Speaking of which...do you want to go for a spot of lunch once our interview is done?" he asked.

"That would be great." she smiled, her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of spending some more time with Ben.

Ben glanced over at Chloe who was frantically rushing around the dressing room trying to get everyone ready and make sure that things ran like clockwork. In all the time that Ben had known Chloe, he'd never seen her that stressed.

"Is she okay?" Ben asked Kirstie.

"I think so." Kirstie said instantly knowing who he was talking about.

"I took her back to mine last night to keep an eye on her and she seemed okay, thankfully nothing happened I think she just got a fright and is a little embarrassed about the whole situation." she explained.

"Right!" Kathleen called out as she stood and quickly took charge with her clipboard.

"I am going to start with Eclipse first." she stated happily, still not quite able to believe that she was in this moment.

"You might have to circle back to us, we are a man down." Nathan told her. It was only then that Kathleen noticed Lee wasn't with them.

"Is he in the bathroom or something, I can wait?" Kathleen asked, not wanting to deviate from her schedule.

"I don't know where he is, I haven't seen him since last night." Nathan said.

"Okay fine, we'll change the order a bit then, I'll do Saga first." Kathleen said, admitting defeat.

Nathan pulled out his phone and tried to call Lee, sighing in frustration as it rang out again. Nathan couldn't help but feel infuriated with Lee lately, it was bad enough that he treated Chloe badly when it was clear to Nathan that he secretly adored her, but now he was late for work. All because he'd been out partying most of the night. Mark stood up and quickly followed Kathleen into another room.

"Hey, I've just had a thought." Ben said, gently bopping Kirstie on the nose.

"Uh oh." Kirstie laughed, slightly nervous about what he was going to come out with.

"One of the models for the shoot cancelled this morning, you could stand in for her?" Ben suggested, sounding excited.

"Not a chance!" Kirstie exclaimed.

"Why not, you could pose with me, and Chloe could make you feel amazing, it'll be fun." Ben insisted.

"Okay fine." Kirstie insisted, finally giving in. She couldn't deny that she was excited about spending more time with Ben.

"Chloe!" Ben called across the room. Chloe quickly stopped what she was doing and walked over.

"Can you do Kirstie's makeup please; she's going to stand in for Carol." Ben asked.

"Sure, no problem." Chloe smiled and started to apply the makeup.

"You okay Chloe, you seem a bit quiet today?" Kirstie asked her.

"I'm fine, just feeling like an idiot that's all. I didn't get much sleep last night either." Chloe answered quietly.

"Don't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault. Shayne's a total creep." Kirstie replied.

"I guess." Chloe sighed.

"Where's Michelle?" Chloe asked, suddenly noticing that she hadn't seen her yet.

"In bed, very hungover." Kirstie laughed.

Chloe's eyes flickered up as Lee finally walked in the door, looking very dishevelled, Matt following closely behind.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Nathan exclaimed as soon as he saw Lee.

"Out remember." Lee replied shortly, sounding hoarse.

"All night?" Steven asked.

"Most of it." Lee admitted, throwing himself down in one of the chairs.

"I feel like shit." he added.

"You look like shit." Steven agreed. Lee raised his eyebrow and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" Nathan asked.

"Nope, I was busy." Lee muttered.

"I took a couple of ladies home last night." he added.

"Sweet." Steven laughed, high fiving Lee.

"They were stunning." Lee said.

"Yeah alright, don't rub it in." Steven laughed.

"God, I'm so tired. I haven't even had a coffee. I literally only had time to shower and rushed here. Then Matt grabbed me, which made me even later." Lee explained, rolling his eyes.

"Oh shit, did you get a bollocking?" Steven asked.

Lee glanced at Chloe for the first time and shook his head.

"Okay everyone, I have an announcement to make!" Matt called out, waiting a moment for everyone to stop speaking and turn to face him.

"Shayne will no longer be a part of our label and will not be doing any shows with us, effective immediately." Matt told everyone.

"Good." Chloe heard Lee mutter under his breath.

"Chloe, I'll need you to put some makeup on Lee's cheek. He can't do the photoshoot like that." Matt sighed.

"That's fine, I've finished Kirstie anyway." Chloe said quietly.

"Perfect, we'll get Saga to do their photos first and then they can be interviewed. Get a system going so that we are ready for the charity event tonight." Matt ordered. Chloe gathered up her makeup set and smiled at Kirstie as she watched her walk away with Saga, Matt following closely behind to supervise.

Chloe placed the makeup set on the counter in front of Lee, avoiding eye contact with him. She frowned to herself as she glanced at the cut and swelling on his left cheekbone. He winced slightly as she gently used a brush to try her best to conceal it.

"Please tell me you didn't go back and see Shayne again last night?" Chloe asked, feeling slightly concerned that all of this was her fault.

"No, I didn't. I think you are overestimating how much I am interested in your life. I didn't give you or him a second thought." Lee smirked. Nathan rolled his eyes from the corner, knowing full well that Lee had barely shut up about Chloe and Shayne when they left the hotel.

"Sorry." Chloe mumbled.

"For what, are you finally admitting that I'm right?" Lee grinned, looking up from his phone and locking eyes with her.

"Right about what?" Chloe paused, midway through what she was doing.

"That it was ridiculous of you to wear that outfit." Lee said bluntly. Chloe frowned to herself slightly confused as to what he meant. She'd worn trousers and a top, yes it was fitted but it wasn't like she'd gone out in a ridiculously short dress.

"I don't want to talk about it." Chloe mumbled. She took a step back from him and put down the makeup brush, relieved that she'd finally finished.

"Just remember if you dress like a tart, people will treat you like one." he said angrily before quickly standing up and joining the rest of the band on the couch.