I have no words. They are all wired.
‘Hi,’ says Birdie, appearing out of nowhere. ‘Matteo sends his apologies. He cannot come skating.’
I frown with frustration. ‘Why not this time?’
‘Work. Clients. Organising his business,’ she says abruptly. ‘He is a very busy music producer.’
As if I didn’t know.
She shrugs at my obvious disappointment. ‘I did try to persuade him not to work. That’s always the problem with him. He chooses work over everyone else. Every single time.’
Her words hang in the air. I know what she’s up to. Planting seeds of doubt.
‘I have a surprise for the boys.’
Liam and Ged try hard not to look excited. Their eyes keep flitting from me to Birdie.
‘I have invited my friend to say hi.’
Just then a huge entourage sweeps towards us.
‘Bonjour, ma cherie,’ says Birdie, kissing her on both cheeks. ‘I’d like you to meet some friends of mine. They are here celebrating their stag do.’
‘It’s a pre-moon,’ says Liam snippily, until he sees who he is talking to.
I can’t see who it is as I’m standing behind her, but watching my friends’ jaws hit the floor suggests the woman is famous.
‘We’re not usually this yellow!’ bellows Liam, his voice ten octaves higher than normal.
‘He means we’re huge fans,’ says Ged. ‘Huge, huge fans.’
The woman holds out both hands for them to grab. ‘Love the outfits,’ she tells the Dollz admiringly. ‘Roller skating? So retro. So cool.’
Birdie leans in to tell her something none of us can hear.
‘Say hi to Matteo for me,’ the famous celebrity replies with a laugh. ‘Catch you both later?’
The minders crowd round her and they scuttle away through the maze that is the casino floor.
‘Fuck me,’ says Big Sue. ‘That’s the way to do security detail. Did you see how many gadgets they had?’
‘Who? Who was it?’ I ask.
Liam, with sparkles in his eyes, carefully looks around before mouthing the name. ‘She’s even more gorgeous in real life. Thank you, Birdie,’ he gushes. ‘Do you want to come roller skating with us?’
What?
* * *
My big fear is that they’ll all suddenly crash and burn mid-roller skate and leave me with Birdie, but to be fair to them all, they are bang up for it. It isn’t until twenty minutes in, and we are all merrily roller skating and rollerblading away to a selection of nineties bangers, that the true reason for Birdie wanting to tag along with us is revealed.
I’m just building up speed on the way round when I suddenly hit something and go flying to the ground.
‘Oops,’ says a catty voice. ‘Sorry.’
Birdie hovers over me, hand on hip. I growl as she skates off. I won’t make a big deal out of it. I’d hate to make things awkward for Ged and Liam. They invited her, they can entertain her. I’ll take myself off for a skate on the far side, away from them all. But while I’m rolling backwards, practising some basic drills, I’m knocked sideways and thrown back down to the wooden floor.
‘What the hell?’ I say.
