Picking up his phone again, he quickly downloaded the TikTok app, which he’d been avoiding because it made him feel too old, and did a search for the song. Countless results appeared on his screen, so many that it took him a good minute of scrolling before he found the one from the agency’s account. Tapping it, he had to concede that Bella’s voice went supremely well with the stunning visuals of the West End flat Ruby had paired with it. The thirty second clip had garnered a lot of traction.
That wasn’t enough for Bella to be panicking, though. Her song must have been used by someone else. Curious, he scrolled back up and looked at the view counts of some of the other videos that had sampled Bella’s song. Near the top was a sixty-second excerpt of a hit Netflix show, complete with beautiful people making sad eyes at each other, overlaid with Bella’s resonant vocals. The combination was perfect. Noah felt a tingle going down his spine: Bella was a rare talent, and now, it seemed, the world of TikTok was realising it, too.
It was a few minutes before he realised he was watching the same video on repeat. Shaking his head, he clicked on a couple more and took a sharp breath when he realised that a cover, by a male artist, was also doing pretty good numbers. He looked at the hashtags: Jason Flyte. He had to concede, the guy was good. But Bella was better.
‘I’m off, Boss.’ Ruby stuck her head around the door of his office. ‘Have a good weekend.’
‘I will.’ Noah glanced up from his screen. ‘Oh, Ruby?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Next time you want to rescue a singer from the bowels of obscurity, you’d better check with me first.’
‘Whaddya mean?’
Noah grinned. ‘Isabella Indigo called, and she’s pissed off.’
Ruby’s look of perplexity kept Noah entertained all the way home, and most of the way down the M4 the next morning.
60
By the time Bella had drunk her third cup of coffee on Saturday morning, she was starting to realise the caffeine was making her more, not less, jumpy. She’d slept badly the night before; a combination of anxiety dreams about the upcoming gig and irritation and paranoia about her viral TikTok song keeping her from a truly restful sleep. Those same old dreams she used to have in the old days when she was touring Europe of forgetting the words, being on stage and finding that the music was completely unfamiliar and then falling flat on her face doing a failed stage dive plagued her until the small hours. She was also irritated with herself that she hadn’t firmed up the time that Noah was going to be coming back to Lower Brambleton. The thought of him showing up at any point was filling her with a combination of dread and that involuntary, churning excitement she felt about being attracted to him.
It was no good hanging around the cottage, feeling her adrenaline spike to ridiculous proportions. She might as well pop down to the pub early and make sure that everything was in place for the gig. Although she and Jason had set up the stage perfectly, there was always the possibility that things could have been moved overnight or even that morning. The pub was likely to do a busy lunchtime trade and she didn’t want to turn up later on and have to start rearranging stuff again. Shrugging on an old T-shirt and a pair of ancient jeans and pulling her hair back into a messy ponytail, she headed out.
There was a delivery at the pub, and Paddy gave her a wave through the hatch of the cellar where the barrels were stored. ‘I’ve made sure they’ve all been changed and we’ve got plenty on top for your big comeback tonight!’
Bella grinned back at him. Paddy always seemed to take everything in his stride; perhaps that’s what she ought to do a little more of, too. What did a lot of views on TikTok matter? She wasn’t going back to that life, and she had no intention of putting herself through the stress of it again. Tonight was a one-off and after it she could look forward to a modest boost to her income from her share of the royalties.
Wandering into the bar, she passed the time of day with Jen and then checked out the stage area, which had been covered overnight with a tarpaulin in case of rain. Everything was in place for her fabulous comeback, she thought wryly. She was surprised, as she regarded the stage, how it seemed to calm her nerves. She’d always loved performing once she was up there, shrugging on Isabella Indigo’s persona and hiding Bella West from the world. This gig would be different: there were plenty of locals who would see Bella and not Isabella on that stage tonight, but for the first time since she agreed to do the fundraiser, that felt like a support and not a worry.
Bella began to hum her first number under her breath and run through for the umpteenth time the set list for that evening in her head. There were no surprises there. She began to sing, and even without the backing track she knew she sounded good. Better than good. She could do this. Of course, there was a whole afternoon to get through before the gig began at eight that evening, but she knew she was ready.
As she reached the second chorus, she paused and heard clapping behind her.
‘You sound wonderful, love.’
Spinning around, she saw Mollie and Jen standing by the entrance to the pub’s garden. ‘Thanks. Good enough to get a few donations on top of the ticket price tonight, I hope!’
Mollie smiled. ‘You’re doing a brave thing for us, Bella. I appreciate it, and the cats will, too.’ She turned back to Jen. ‘I’ve brought some pin badges and pens over for the top of the bar, if anyone wants one for a donation. Paddy said it’d be fine.’
Satisfied that all was well with the setup, Bella walked into the pub. ‘I hope I don’t let you down,’ she said softly to Mollie as she passed her.
‘You couldn’t if you tried, love.’ Mollie gave her a hug. ‘I can’t wait to hear – what was your stage name – Isabella Indigo – in full voice tonight. I think the village is in for a real treat.’
‘Thanks, Moll.’ Bella smiled. Mollie looked as though she was about to add something else, but at the last minute she seemed to think better of it. Bella said goodbye and promised to catch up with her after the gig. She felt as though she’d need the support if something didn’t go to plan.
Bella was still smiling as she headed back to the cottage. She usually couldn’t eat a thing before a gig, so she wanted to line her stomach with a good, early lunch. As she went over the set list one more time and then thought about the ensemble she’d been putting together to wear, a white Tesla pulled into the pub car park, but she was too preoccupied with what was to come to notice.
61
‘So, can you see how, financially, it might make sense? I need a lower-risk option for at least the first year and moving into the same building as the charity shop would give you, Mollie, and you, Martyn, the security you both need to sustain the shop and protect against rising costs. What do you think?’
Noah leaned back in his chair in the office of Purrfect Paws and turned his full attention to the two other people in the room. When he’d requested this meeting earlier in the week, he’d been optimistic that he’d come up with a watertight plan that would satisfy both of the other parties involved. Now, as he looked at their faces, he wasn’t so sure.
‘I can definitely see where you’re coming from,’ Martyn Fellowes, the owner of the building, began. ‘After all, launching a second branch of any business is a risk, and, on the surface, this is a scenario that benefits us all.’ He looked intently at Noah, and Noah felt the scrutiny. ‘And your case is persuasive.’
Noah could feel a ‘but’ coming but tried to compose his features into something resembling a neutral expression. He hadn’t felt this nervous since he’d been in front of the head teacher when he’d been caught smoking behind the gym in the Sixth Form.
