Crystal (23 page)

‘It’s only for a week,’ he replied surfacing from the kiss.

‘Do you know that’s the second longest time we’ve been apart since we met?’ Crystal said, wondering how she would survive without him. For the last four months they had become practically inseparable. She’d even stopped worrying about Stella because no matter how much she flirted with Jake he really didn’t show any interest in her beyond that of an employee and a friend. Jake didn’t even seem hung up about his ex any more and to Crystal’s delight he talked about getting rid of the tattoo of Eve’s name on his wrist, saying maybe he should get someone else’s name on his arm instead. ‘Okay,’ she’d replied, ‘maybe I’ll get one too.’ They didn’t have to say that they meant each other’s names. Crystal had fallen for him hard. She was in love. There was just one problem. Even though she thought they could not have been closer, Jake still hadn’t said he loved her and that stopped her from telling him. Tahlia advised her to be patient, and that he would tell her in his own time; Crystal just hoped that she was right.

Jake smiled. ‘Just think what a good time we’ll have catching up when I get back.’ And with that he kissed her again, got up from the bed, grabbed his bag and walked out of the door, pausing to turn round and blow her another kiss.

Crystal sighed as she curled up under the duvet, and, holding one of his T-shirts, she fell asleep. She was woken by her mobile, and, thinking it would be Jake texting her from the airport, she reached for it. But it was Max.

‘Back in London on Wed have to see you. Will call with time.’

Crystal felt as if she’d been punched. She’d almost forgotten about Max. Almost. She’d allowed herself to believe that he must have decided there was nothing more to be gained from blackmailing her. She’d obviously been wrong. She’d been burying her head in the sand about Max for too long. This couldn’t go on. She had to do something.

The girls were rehearsing the dance routines with Tash for the final two songs from their album – one would be their Christmas single, the other two would be released the following March. They’d all grown in confidence since their first single and now their videos were known for their sexy dances and slick concepts. Usually Crystal would have been full of enthusiasm. She was often at her happiest when she was working but that Monday morning she felt sick with dread and anxiety. Her mind was made up. There could be no more excuses: she was going to see Max and tell him that his hold on her was over, she would tell Belle what had happened. She was expecting her to be angry and to hate her for what she’d done but somehow she hoped that they could work together on the final tracks. It all seemed so simple in her head, so clear-cut, but she knew in her heart life wasn’t like that.

To distract herself she booked into a tattoo parlour. She decided on a simple black design of the Chinese character for J on the inside of her wrist. It bloody hurt! Though not as much as her love heart, and every time she looked at the tattoo somehow it made her feel closer to Jake, feel that she would be able to deal with Max . . .

On Wednesday, just as she was leaving the studio, Max called her: ‘I’m at the club, I need to see you now.’

Just hearing his voice after so long sent a shiver of apprehension down her spine. ‘What do you want?’ she demanded.

‘I’ll tell you when I see you.’

Crystal had vowed never to go to Max’s club again and thought about suggesting they meet somewhere else. Then she checked her watch; it was half eight, there’d be plenty of Max’s staff already there and she wanted this over and done with. When she got there she’d insist on meeting him at the bar, tell him it was game over, and leave.

‘I’ll be with you in twenty minutes,’ she replied, ending the call. She usually rang Jake around this time, but she didn’t want to put on an act and pretend that everything was okay. She’d call him after she’d seen Max.

The door to Max’s was shut which wasn’t unusual at this time of night. She rang the bell and waited for someone to answer but there was no reply. Instead the door swung open. Music was pumping out from the downstairs club. She hesitated for a few seconds, gathering her courage, then walked down the stairs, dreading the moment when she would see Max. At the bottom of the stairs she pushed open the heavy door that led into the club and stepped inside. But immediately she sensed something was wrong. The place was deserted; she couldn’t see anyone. The bar had been emptied of drinks, except for one bottle of vodka. The expensive black velvet couches and glass tables were covered in dust sheets. She quickly turned round to go and screamed when she saw Max standing in front of the door, blocking her exit.

‘I don’t look that bad!’ he laughed at her. ‘Good to see you too, babe.’ He moved forward, obviously intending to kiss her, and she took a step backwards. He laughed. ‘I thought you might have mellowed, thought you might have missed me.’

‘Where is everyone?’ she demanded, fear pulsing through her at being alone with Max.

Max looked angry. ‘The club’s shut; the bastard bank
stopped my overdraft. But, anyway, let’s not talk about that. Come and have a drink and we can get down to business.’

When Crystal didn’t move, he grabbed her arm and led her over to the bar, his fingers digging into her skin.

‘Now you just sit here,’ he said pulling out one of the few remaining stools, ‘and I’ll get us a drink.’

Crystal sat down, while Max climbed over the bar and poured out two large glasses of vodka. Her heart was racing and her mouth felt dry. She had planned to tell him that she was going to tell Belle the truth but now she couldn’t risk it. She just wanted to get out of there. She’d go along with whatever he said.

‘I know I said I wouldn’t ask you for any more money, and this really is the last time, I promise,’ Max told her, sliding her drink across the dusty bar to her. Then he once more climbed back and sat down next to her.

‘How much?’ Crystal asked quietly, thinking the quicker she agreed, the quicker she could get out of there.

‘Just twenty.’

‘Fine, I’ll transfer it tomorrow. Can I go now? I’m meeting someone in ten minutes.’

‘Have a drink first,’ Max insisted, ‘I haven’t seen you for ages.’

It was so eerie the way Max acted as if he had never raped her in Ibiza, as if he had never blackmailed her, as if they were friends. Crystal took a small sip of vodka.

‘It’s funny seeing you at the club again; all those memories. We were good together, weren’t we?’ Max said. And Crystal wanted to shout,
No we weren’t! You’re a psycho.
Instead she muttered, ‘It seems like a long time ago.’

Suddenly the front doorbell rang, ‘Who the fuck’s that?’ Max said irritably, going to answer it. Crystal waited until he had gone out of the door, then got up and followed him, reasoning that if there were people there he wouldn’t be able to prevent her leaving. But she stopped, hearing Max shouting. Instinctively she moved towards one of the corners of the club which wasn’t lit and waited, listening, wondering
what was going on. There was a lot of shouting followed by the sound of someone falling down the stairs. And then Max was shoved through the door by two heavy-set men.

Max was pleading with them. ‘Tell him I’ll get him the money, I can do it by the end of the week.’ He sounded scared. Crystal shrank further back into the shadows, crouching behind one of the tables, praying that she couldn’t be seen. It didn’t exactly look like a social call.

‘You do that, and we’re here to make sure you don’t forget. Not like last time.’

Max tried to make a run for it, but the two men, although beefy, were surprisingly quick and he only got as far as the bar when they both grabbed him. From her hiding place she couldn’t see what was happening but it didn’t sound good. She put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from crying out, as she heard Max being thrown against the bar and viciously punched and kicked. He screamed out in agony and pleaded with them to stop. Crystal was terrified. She contemplated running out and trying to stop them but they didn’t sound like the kind of men who would listen to reason. It went silent; she couldn’t hear a thing. ‘He’ll have a headache tomorrow,’ one joked as they walked out of the club.

Crystal stayed still for a few minutes, fearful that the men might come back. She tentatively got up and made her way to the bar, dreading what she was going to find. Max was lying on his back, his face a bloody mess. He was barely recognisable. She clasped a hand over her mouth to stop herself retching. Then she forced herself to bend down. ‘Max,’ she called urgently, ‘can you hear me?’ He gave no sign that he could, and his breathing sounded rattled and shallow. Frantically she searched in her bag for her phone and with a voice shaking with emotion she called for an ambulance.

The next couple of hours were like a nightmare – the paramedics arrived and tried to revive Max before rushing him to hospital. Crystal sat in the ambulance willing him to be all right. She hated him for what he’d done to her but there was no way she had wanted this to happen.

‘I came as soon as I could,’ Tahlia said, immediately running over and hugging Crystal, where she sat curled up on the sofa in the waiting room. She’d been there for over an hour on her own, believing the worst and tormenting herself further by thinking that she should have intervened.

‘Are you okay?’

Crystal had held it together up until then, but as soon as her friend hugged her, she gave in to the shock and fear, sobbing, ‘No I’m not.’

Through her tears she told Tahlia about the attack.

‘Jesus,’ Tahlia exclaimed, looking horrified. ‘What kind of people had he got himself involved with?’ Crystal was just about to answer when Belle burst into the room.

‘What the hell happened?’ she demanded, standing in the middle of the room, hands on hips.

For months Crystal had been rehearsing what she was going to say to Belle in her head. She had thought of a million ways to explain it. She knew it was never going to be easy, but she hoped at least it could be done calmly. There was no chance of that now.

Crystal ignored her question. ‘How is he?’

‘Several broken ribs, a broken nose and concussion. He’s been given a CT scan but apparently it’s all okay. It looks worse than it is. Tell me what happened,’ she repeated. ‘Max said you’d gone round there to talk about a promotional idea of his and then these two thugs turned up out of the blue and attacked him. Did you see them?’

Crystal shook her head, and braced herself.
Here goes
. ‘No, that’s not what happened. I wanted to tell you ages ago about me and,’ she paused, trying to summon all her strength, ‘and Max.’ She looked apprehensively at Belle.

‘I had a fling with him last year and I know it was wrong but I thought I was in love with him, I couldn’t think straight.’

For a few seconds Belle was speechless, then she let rip: ‘You bitch!’ she yelled. ‘You fucking bitch, I can’t believe that you would do that to me!’

Crystal tried to explain how she’d ended it and how Max raped her in Ibiza and had been blackmailing her ever since. But Belle wouldn’t have it, even when Tahlia backed up Crystal. ‘She’s telling you the truth Belle, you’ve got to believe her.’

‘Bullshit,’ Belle shouted back, ‘Max wouldn’t do any of those things. You’re just saying that because you’re jealous that he proposed to me. I bet he realised he’d made a mistake and tried to call it off and you’re the one who went all psycho bunny boiler on him.’

‘No, please Belle, it wasn’t like that. I should have told you before. You can’t marry him, he’s a really bad person.’

‘And what does that make you then?’ Belle was screaming hysterically. ‘You’re a fucking two-faced whore. What about my wedding? You were supposed to be one of my bridesmaids. You’ve ruined everything!’

It was no good Crystal trying to say anything else. Tahlia tried to back her up but it was hopeless.

‘You wait ’til I tell Dallas. He’s going to have plenty to say to you!’

‘Oh, please Belle,’ Crystal begged, ‘let me tell him.’

‘No way! I’m not having you poisoning him with your evil little lies. I’m calling him right now.’

Crystal pleaded with her, but Belle had already flipped her mobile open.

‘Are you sure you’re going to be okay? You can always stay at mine,’ Tahlia said as Crystal got into a taxi.

‘I’ll be fine. I just need to get my head together for when I see Dallas,’ Crystal replied wearily. Back at home, she flung herself on the sofa, feeling emotionally and physically drained. Then she suddenly realised she hadn’t spoken to Jake. She would finally have to come clean about Max and she was dreading it. She reached for her mobile, which she’d switched off in the hospital. There were ten messages, most of them from Jake wanting to know if she was okay, wondering why she hadn’t called. And several from a
journalist wanting to know what she’d been doing with Max at the club. Her stomach went into free fall as she realised the press were already on to her. She called Jake, but his phone went straight to voice mail. She left a message asking him to call her as soon as he could, that it didn’t matter how late. She found herself longing for a cigarette and ended up ransacking her wardrobe until she found the packet that she’d stashed away weeks ago, in case of an emergency. If this didn’t count as an emergency she didn’t know what did. Jake had been so proud of her when she told him she’d given up, but she tried to banish that thought as she lit up. Five cigarettes and a large vodka later and if anything she was feeling worse. She couldn’t understand why Jake hadn’t rung her back. She called him again, but he was still on voice mail.

She paced round her flat, unable to relax, dreading what the next day would bring. Her mobile rang and she leapt for it, hoping it was Jake, but it was the journalist again. She switched the TV on and flicked mindlessly through some magazines, but nothing could distract her. She ended up going to bed at half four.
Please call me, Jake
, she prayed, pulling the duvet round her and hugging his T-shirt.

She’d only just fallen asleep when her mobile rang at eight. Hoping for Jake, she was bitterly disappointed when it was Dallas’s PA, Jenny, summoning her to his office for ten. Crystal’s spirits plummeted further still – she didn’t know if she felt strong enough for a showdown with Dallas. She showered, put on a long black cashmere jumper, jeans and boots, and just about managed to apply some make-up, though her hand was shaking so much she smudged her mascara and had to do it twice. She was feeling too jittery to eat breakfast; instead she had a coffee and two cigarettes. She’d stop the minute Jake called her, she told herself. She tried his mobile again but he was still on voice mail. In desperation she called Gavin who had stayed in London. She apologised for waking him and told him she needed to speak to Jake urgently.