Page 5 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘Reckon I might find her hiding out in my suitcase.’

‘Where’s the rest of your stuff?’

‘I checked in already.’ He looks to the Peli cases. ‘Want some help with these bad boys?’

It’s an evening flight. After boarding for Tokyo, a cabin crew member offers me champagne. Taking my glass, I raise it to Duncan, seated over on the other side of the business class cabin, offering him a silent toast. We aren’t used to this kind of treatment. Duncan does the same, a wry smile on his face because he knows the next few months are likely going to be torture for me. Meredith sits in the rear-facing seat opposite.

‘So how did you come to get this job?’ I ask Meredith after take-off.

‘I, uhm, my dad… he works for Silverpix. He’s an exec in the finance department. It’s not how I got the job, but…’ Her voice tails off.

‘So, what, you graduated college and then took on this job?’ I say, saving Meredith the agony and embarrassment of admitting that nepotism is exactly how she came by the role.

‘Something like that.’

‘You look young, if you don’t mind me saying.’

Meredith flushes again. ‘Yeah, people kind of say that about me.’

‘You can’t be more than, what, twenty-four?’

‘Twenty-four, exactly, how did you guess?’

‘Well, you look younger.’

Meredith changes the subject. ‘So, you should probably get familiar with the band whilst we’re here. Where do you want me to start?’

I’m finishing the last dregs of my champagne, hoping I might be offered a top-up. ‘Don’t know. Maybe give me some general history first. They were a manufactured pop group, and they auditioned across the world, I know that much.’

‘Correct,’ Meredith says with a smile. ‘Six years ago. It was a reality show calledSo You Wanna Be a Star?The producers wanted to put together a boy band and a girl band from different points across the globe. Auditions were held in Sydney, Seoul, London, New York and Los Angeles, then the final thirty contestants went on to compete in the main show in LA. Anyone auditioning had to speak English: that was a prerequisite. The makers were looking for all-rounders. Individuals who could both singanddance. For the boys, there were six winners, but a Korean contestant, Kye Yo-Han, dropped out shortly after the band formed.’

‘Why was that?’

‘Basically, he got too homesick. Went back to Seoul. He’s a big star there now. K-pop. He wasn’t replaced because the judges concluded the band looked better as a five.’

‘I remember their faces plastered all over the sides of London buses at the time. Didn’t something happen to another member?’

‘Yes, a second member dropped out. Personality issues, dynamics, the reasons aren’t known openly. The judges voted that he be replaced by a runner-up, Danny Miller, an American.’

I look up as a woman from the cabin crew comes to my aid with another glass of champagne. I thank her gratefully. Meredith passes me a photo of the final group, when Rebel Heart was first formed. The band members are still in adolescence and look painfully young.

‘Their first single, called “Lovesick”, currently has nine hundred million views on YouTube. The fans call themselves Rebelles.’

I almost choke on my champagne for laughing. ‘Rebelles?’

‘As in, you know, like, beautiful rebels.’

‘Riiight. Could be worse, I suppose.’ I point at one of the boys, the one with curly hair. ‘This one here… he’s supposed to be the ugly one, right?’

Meredith gasps, as though I’ve insulted a loved one. ‘I wouldn’t go so far as to call himugly.’

I raise my brow. I need honesty if I am going to do this job successfully. ‘Isn’t that what he’s famous for though?’

‘Caleb. Caleb Whitlock. Known as Cal. He’s Australian, from Sydney, or Bondi Beach to be exact. Not the best looking, but he’s got an athletic build, his dancing is off the hook and his singing voice is to die for. The judges on the show thought he didn’t have the right look but the public kept voting for him. Eventually the judges caved to public pressure and he went onto the LA finals, where he made it through.’

‘Did I read there was some drama on Twitter involving him a while ago?’

‘Oh yeah. The whole Bianca Lawson saga.’

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