It seems an impossible dream that I will stand in the audience watching the hero of so many of my teenage wet dreams, and I will not scream or cry his name, but will go home with the real thing, Cash Hunter.
I stand in front of the mirror, my hair loose and shining down my back, my eyes alive with excitement, my skin pink with all the blood rushing madly around my body, and with only one way to describe my dress: sexy, sexy, sexy.
I just hope to God that Cash doesn’t think it’s too slutty.
I go into Britney’s room. She is zipping herself up into a long sleeved shift dress with an A-line skirt, complete with black lace trim. I sit on the bed and tell her she looks amazing, but she takes it off and tries on two more outfits before I look at my watch pointedly, telling her if she carries on in this way much longer we will miss the concert.
‘Right. Be a devil and open the champagne bottle and I promise I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.’
I open the bottle that has been sitting on ice since we came in and grab two glasses, then return to her room. I pour the champagne and offer her a glass.
‘To a fabulous time tonight,’ Britney says.
‘To a fabulous time,’ I toast.
‘I’m so happy I am with you, Tori,’ Britney giggles.
‘And I’m so happy, Britney, to see you happy,’ I say. I almost can’t believe how the girl is changing. I barely recognize this good-hearted, warm girl.
Fifteen minutes later she is all dolled up to the nines in the black and pink Moschino dress we bought earlier and we’re ready to roll.
I call Fabio who says he’s already downstairs.
She jumps to her feet. ‘Will I do?’ she asks doing a quick and slightly unsteady twirl.
‘I’ll have a hard time keeping the guys away from you tonight,’ I tell her.
‘Don’t you bloody dare,’ she warns and bursts out laughing.
We leave the suite and go downstairs. In the foyer a group of Italian young guys blow kisses and call out, ‘Bella, Bella.’
We smile and keep moving. Fabio is right outside the entrance, smoking a cigarette, looking cool and relaxed.
‘Mediolanum Forum, Assago?’ he asks.
‘Si,’ I confirm.
As we exit the hotel’s forecourt, I realize that I can barely wait to get there, but I dampen my enthusiasm next to Britney.
‘Vaffanculo,’ Fabio yells furiously as he slams on the brakes.
Both Britney and I jump and brace ourselves on the seats in front of us.
He meets our eyes in the rear view mirror. ‘Sorry. Every time big concert, very bad traffic,’ he says.
‘Will we make it in time?’ Britney asks in a panicked voice.
‘Don’t worry, Signorina. I know all the side roads. We beat the other cars.’
Chapter Thirty-one
Tori
In the end it takes only half an hour before we are driving along a tree lined boulevard and catch sight of huge billboards advertising Alkaline on either side of the road. The band looks fabulous in the billboard photo, but my eyes are drawn to the larger-than-life image of Cash. He looks awesome. Fabio avoids the huge crowd that’s queued as far as my eyes can see and drops us off at the VIP entrance.
We show our VIP passes to two burly security guards.
‘You’re with the band?’ one of the men asks.
Britney cuts in before I can answer. ‘Where are the dressing rooms for the band? My brother’s the lead singer.’
‘The dressing rooms are on the other side of the Arena,’ the guy says with a shrug. ‘We’re on the South section and they are on the North.’
Both of us look at each other in dismay. After what seems an awfully long way we finally reach the North side. We then have to climb a large flight of steps up another floor. My heart beats as hard from exhaustion as it is from the thought of seeing Cash.
At the top of the stairs more security awaits us and more showing of our passes. It’s an absolute hub of activity now with people running around speaking into walkie-talkies. We stop outside a door that says: Band Dressing Room - Private - Do Not Enter. On a cardboard underneath the sign it reads: Cash Hunter. I feel my breath hitch suddenly and I tug at the hem of my tight dress. Britney raps on the door and shouts, ‘Are you decent? We’re coming in.’
Cash calls, ‘Come in,’ and Britney turns the handle.
Inside, Cash and Gavin are shirtless and sitting on chairs next to each other strumming their guitars. A number of empty beer bottles stand on the floor. They both look up and their eyes run down my body in my very revealing dress.
‘Hey,’ Cash says, smiling slowly.
‘Hey,’ Gavin echoes.
Cash puts his guitar down and stands up. Strangely Brittany doesn’t run to him or throw herself at him. Instead, she bites her lip and says, ‘Sorry, I didn’t realize you weren’t alone.’