Page 16 of I Knew You Were Trouble

We sit in silence. When the door swings open again, the guy reappears, relieved of his pile of clothes.

‘Ziggy says he’ll be right with you.’ He half-smiles politely, his voice gentle. ‘They’re running a little behind schedule today.’

He disappears again the other way, leaving me to grapple with my own irritation.

‘You remember all of their names?’ Meredith teases me.

‘Boy band one, boy band two, boy band three, boy band four and Aidan the Terrible.’

Meredith giggles. ‘Maybe don’t call them that to their faces,’ she says.

The corridor floods with light as the door swings open. I shoot to my feet.

‘Riiight,’ Ziggy announces in his Hackney accent, securing the door with one foot. ‘Documentary crew, would you enter, please? We haven’t got long.’

Duncan lugs himself upright, getting to his feet. I straighten out my shirt.

When I take a step forward, Ziggy blocks my path, lowering his voice. ‘I was a man down this morning becausesomeonetook him for a walk outside the hotel. I would appreciate you asking my permission next time. That’s why we’re running late today. And we’ve got a show tonight.’

My jaw drops. ‘He insistedIgo for a walk withhim,’ I argue back.

‘Next time, tell him you’re too busy. I don’t want no distractions.’

Ziggy turns around, and, furious about my ticking off, I follow him inside the vast suite, Duncan and Meredith on my tail.

‘Right, boys, listen up,’ Ziggy raises his voice on approach. I glimpse all five of the boys gathered together, four of them on the grey sofa, three absorbed with whatever is on their phones, while J.B. strums on a guitar and Aidan stares rudely right at me. I come to a halt next to Ziggy.

‘Eyes on me, please,’ Ziggy hollers, at which point Miller and Ravi put down their phones. Caleb, who is sitting on the floor, continues typing something.

‘You too, Cal. Right. This is Lexi from the UK; she’s going to be taking the reins on the documentary for Silverpix.’

‘Alright, Sexy Lexi,’ Cal trills in his Aussie accent, at which point a commotion erupts behind him. Except for Aidan, each of them throws his head back, bursting into laughter.

‘Merde,’ J.B. swears, wiping his forehead.

‘No way!’ Ravi cackles. ‘That was, like, less than a second.’

‘Pay up, boys,’ Miller says smoothly, holding up his palms. ‘I win.’

‘You win what?’ Cal turns his head and asks.

‘He won the bet,’ Aidan deadpans, tilting his head in my direction. ‘The bet abouther.’

‘What bet? I didn’t know there was a bet.’

‘Youwerethe bet,’ Miller adds. ‘How quickly you’d call her Sexy Lexi.’

‘Mate, what the hell?’ Cal shoots back.

‘Man, I was way off,’ Ravi laughs. ‘I thought it’d take at least a minute.’

‘You all owe me a hundred bucks each,’ Miller says.

Cal looks grumpy. ‘I hate the fucking lot of you.’

‘Fellas,’ Ziggy growls. ‘We don’t have all day! This is Lexi, she’s going to be shooting the documentary, and this is uh—’ He falters.

‘Duncan,’ Duncan says.

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