The Bad Boy Wants Me(4)

We go down the stone steps and a young woman walking past looks casually at us and then does a double-take.

‘Cash Hunter?’ she asks, her head pushed forward like a turtle, her eyes wide with disbelief.

‘Yup, but keep it to yourself,’ he says, with a magic smile.

She slaps her hands onto her cheeks. ‘Oh my God. Oh my God. I can’t believe this. I must be dreaming. Somebody pinch me quick. Oh, my God. I’m your greatest fan. Me and my girlfriend have even got tickets to come see you in Milan in August.’ She pauses to take a breath and launches again into another gushing monologue. ‘I love your latest album. I got the CD. It’s really good. I think it’s your best work. I play it nearly every night before I go to bed.’

‘That’s very nearly like going to bed with me,’ he says with a naughty wink.

Oh, for God’s sake. Is this guy for real?

But the fan flushes brick red. ‘Do you mind very much if I take a selfie with you?’ the woman gushes, flicking her hair and patting it.

‘Mind? The pleasure will be all mine,’ Cash drawls suggestively.

Britney unhooks her hand from his and takes a step back. She’s obviously used to this scenario.

‘Anna is going to be so jealous,’ the woman mutters to herself as she fumbles around in her purse. She locates her phone, fishes it out, and stands there with an expectant look on her face.

Cash crooks the fingers of his right hand and she eagerly rushes up to nestle against his butter-soft jacket. I know what that garment feels like because I copped a feel earlier.

She holds her phone up at arm level and asks, ‘Ready?’

Both of them grin like Cheshire cats and she snaps a few shots. The selfie excuse is over and she lowers her arm, but the silly bitch doesn’t move and remains cuddled up against his gorgeous body. Smoothly, Cash steps away.

‘Just one last thing. Can I please have your autograph? For my flat mate. She’s also my bestie. She’ll be so annoyed if I don’t,’ she chatters on, her face beaming.

‘Why not?’ Cash says, a glint in his eyes.

‘Oh, thank you. Thank you. She’ll be so pleased. Her name is Anna.’ She roots around again in her bag, and comes up with a pen and a crumpled piece of paper.

Cash takes the pen from her and ignores the scrap of paper. ‘We can do better than that,’ he says with a smug grin.

Her eyes widen. ‘Oh!’

‘May I?’ he asks.

Her head seems to waggle dangerously on her neck, but she is game. ‘Of course.’

He steps forward, reaches out a hand and expertly unbuttons the top button of her blouse. Her mouth hangs open with shock, excitement, and pleasure. Not a good look. Then he moves in and autographs the soft swell of her breast, just above her bra.

‘Have fun,’ Cash says, as he returns her pen. Giggling and simpering like a fool, she takes it.

Yeah, that will please your bestie for sure. Carry that home to her. I look at Britney and she rolls her eyes at me. I try not to show any expression.

‘Well, it was so fantastic meeting you. I guess I should let you get on. OK, bye. See you in Milan,’ she babbles, holding onto the edges of her shirt collar.

‘Yeah, cool,’ Cash calls moving away from her.

I see a black Bentley start inching towards us from its parked position a few cars down and I turn towards Britney. ‘See you at the house then.’

She grins at me happily. ‘Byeeeeee.’

Without looking at her brother or the crazed fan, I walk down the pavement and get into the Bentley.

‘Hey, Victor,’ I greet, closing the door after me. ‘It’ll just be me. Britney’s going home with her brother.’

‘Right, love,’ he replies, and pulls out into the street.

In my peripheral vision I can see that the fan has walked off, Britney is bouncing on the passenger seat, and Cash is unconcernedly ripping the penalty ticket off his windscreen. In the light of the noon sun, their hair glows like antique gold, and their beauty makes them look like gods, or fallen angels. All that is missing are the white wings.

I sink back into my seat.

Wow! I didn’t do very well back there. It hits me hard that I’m going to struggle to stay with the plan. The thought is totally depressing, but I cheer up by telling myself it’s only the beginning. Yes, he won this round, but in my defense I have a few redeeming factors on my side.

a) Even I didn’t quite expect him to pack such a powerful punch.

b) I was naturally blindsided by the element of surprise as I was not anticipating his arrival before the end of the month.

I remind myself not to be so hard on myself. After all, I’ve been crushing on him forever. For as long as I can remember, and I’m talking about the kind of all consuming crush where I even refused to look at other boys. Yup, that was me.