We go to the bar and Gavin taps the bar.
‘Tequila OK with you?’
I nod and he orders two shots of tequila with lime and salt and two bottles of beer. We do the tequila, lime and salt thing quickly. I notice his eyes linger on my mouth when I put the lime between my lips and suck it. Then he picks up his bottle and so do I. He points to a sofa a couple have just vacated.
‘Let’s be comfortable,’ he says.
I follow him and we sit at the table. A waitress brings two more tequilas and we down them immediately.
‘Hoo,’ I exhale. ‘That’s me done.’
He grins. ‘Lightweight huh?’
‘I haven’t got hollow legs like you,’ I retort.
He laughs.
‘So,’ I say leaning in. ‘Tell me, what am I doing wrong? Why does everyone hate me so passionately?’
‘You’re not doing anything wrong, love. Long, blonde hair, big lips, and seductive, secretive cornflower blue eyes. What’s not to like?’ he asks cheerfully.
I frown at the sexual description, but I have noticed that this is the way all the band members talk. They always seem to be coming on to you even when they’re not.
‘If Cash had taken Ke$ha or Selina Gomez or any other celebrity as his girl, there would be no problem,’ he explains. ‘But because he took an ordinary girl, it turns everybody into green eyed monsters thinking that you have risen above your station and taken what you don’t deserve. As long as you are with Cash you will have to put up with it. It will never stop. They’ll always hate you.’
I stare at him unhappily. ‘That doesn’t sound very hopeful. Isn’t there anything I can do to make the situation better?’
‘Nope. The nicer you are to them the worse they will be to you. Your best bet is to just ignore them and enjoy your time with Cash. Soon enough it will be all over.’
My eyes widen. He sure didn’t pull his punches. I pick up my beer and take a small sip. It’s one thing for me to tell myself that obviously my relationship won’t last. How can it possibly? We are from different worlds. But it is quite another thing to hear it spelt out so succinctly by someone else. I swallow the beer and the lump in my throat and to my horror my eyes unexpectedly fill with tears. Why I am crying I do not know.
‘Hey,’ he says, his face creasing up, and puts a hand on my shoulder.
‘Oh, God, I feel like such a fool,’ I say, gently pressing my knuckles into the corners of my eyes so I don’t spoil my make-up.
‘Come here,’ he says, and suddenly drags me to him. Before I know it he has pulled me to him and is kissing me. On the mouth! It takes a second for me to get over the shock of the fact that I am in his lap, his hands are around my waist, and his hot mouth is on mine. I turn my face away and placing both my hands on his chest I push away from him. I push away so hard I feel myself falling backwards. I land on the floor humiliated and furious. From my prone position on the floor I see Britney is standing over Gavin. Her face is twisted with anger, or perhaps even hate.
‘Get up,’ she snarls.
‘What the fuck?’ he says.
‘Get up you little worm.’
‘Calm down, Britney,’ he says, looking around him worriedly.
‘If you don’t get up I’m going to tell my brother what you did.’
He flies up from his seat and looks at her with shifty eyes. ‘Listen,’ he starts to explain, but he gets no further.
‘That’s for what you did to me,’ she says, and delivers a vicious karate chop to the side of his neck. He goes white, his body arches, and his mouth opens and closes like a goldfish.
‘This is for Tori,’ she cries ferociously and aims two blows in quick succession into his midriff. He clutches his stomach and bends double. His face is contorted and a hoarse rasp struggles out of his mouth.
‘And this one is for messing with my brother’s girlfriend,’ she says, and executes a sideways kick into Gavin’s nuts just like Rita Ora does to the bad guy’s belly in her Black Widow video.
His eyes bulge with the agony and shock, then he blinks and crashes to the right, knocking down a stool. He curls up on the ground, odd choking sounds crawling out of his open mouth.
‘Oh, and just in case it’s not perfectly clear yet, you are uninvited to my party, tomorrow,’ Britney spits. She turns to me. ‘Come, Tori. Let’s go.’
I am too stunned to do anything so Britney holds her hand out and helps me up from the floor. I take one more look at Gavin writhing on the floor before I turn away. All around us people are staring. As we take our first step we come face to face with Octavia. Her mouth is open in astonishment. She snaps it shut, and throwing a furious glare at us, she dashes forward to help Gavin.