Page 51 of Going Solo

“Are you winding me up? You cannot be serious right now.”

Cole rocked from side to side, his top teeth chewing his bottom lip.

He shrugged. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“Catching up? For the past ten years there’s been wall-to-wall coverage every time you’ve taken a shit. We don’t need to catch up, Cole. Despite my best efforts, I have been kept relentlessly informed about your every move. I just want to be left alone to get on with my life.”

“Wow, that’s really a no, huh?” Cole said. “Look, clearly I’ve got some work to do to mend some bridges here?—”

I picked up my blazer from the couch and put it over my arm, the universal gesture forI’m out.

“We’ve got a big day tomorrow,” I said. “I should get some sleep. I will see you tomorrow for the interview.”

“Please come. I’ve got this amazing house in Milngavie. You should see the record collection.”

That pulled me up short. “You’re staying in the West End, ain’t you? There’s a hotel currently surrounded by hundreds of screaming Kenneddicts and half the UK press.”

“I thought you were relentlessly informed about my every move?” He cocked an eyebrow. “That’s a decoy. I never stay centrally. You can’t get any sleep with all that going on outside. Seriously, come back with me. I’ve got Marcel Dupont working the kitchen for the whole tour. He’s a genius with?—”

“The Michelin-star chef?”

“His mac and cheese is off the charts. You have to try it.”

That was it. I was out. He had choked my chain long enough. “Pass. I’m going to Wagamama with my producer and his boyfriend.”

“I like Wagamama,” Cole said hopefully.

“Absolutely not. You’re not invited.”

“But Fiona said we’re meant to be getting reacquainted.”

“I’m going to dinner with my friends, not trying to make the front page.” I stepped around Cole and opened the green room door. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t be late for your interview. Five o’clock. It’s the caravan right out front. You can’t miss it. It has the words ‘Toby Lyngstad’s a mug’ written in big neon letters right above the door.”

I marched out of the room.

“I’ll be there,” Cole called after me.

ChapterTwenty-One

We heard the screams first. From inside the broadcast van, Nick and I watched the stampede towards the arena’s stage door. A horde of fans in pursuit of a pop star is truly a spectacle to rival wildebeest crossing the Serengeti.

“Our guest is on his way,” I said as Kenneddicts swarmed Cole and his security detail. They were being followed by a camera crew. “Not sure how long it’s going to take him to get here, mind you.”

From the other side of the studio glass, Nick gave me a thumbs up. We were live on air. A package of interviews we’d recorded with fans in the street earlier in the day was playing out.

Nick’s voice came through in my cans. “Let’s play ‘Genevieve.’ If he’s in the seat by the bridge, we’ll go straight into the ninety-second career recap. If not, let’s buy ourselves three minutes with ‘Young, Dumb, and Numb.’”

It was my turn to give Nick a thumbs up.

Cole was signing autographs and posing for selfies, slowly but surely drifting towards us. He looked every bit the rock star. The swept-back hair, the sunglasses, the leather jacket over a vest. To be honest, he looked like he’d self-consciously dressed in exactly what he’d been wearing the first day we met. It felt like a power play, and I wasn’t having it.

Cole’s entourage arrived at the van door. I didn’t move. Nick looked at me.

“Are you going to make Britain’s prince of pop knock?”

I shrugged. In the end, Fiona did the knocking. I opened the door, and Fiona and Cole stepped inside.

“Where do you want me?” Cole asked. It was flirty and that annoyed me. I pointed to the empty seat. Cole sat down, grabbing his headphones. I sat opposite him, the studio desk between us. I put my cans on and fiddled with some knobs, giving him zero chat. On the other side of the glass partition, Nick was offering Fiona a seat. Outside, the WebFlix camera that had been following Cole around was pressed hard up against the glass of the van, filming. It was the only camera allowed inside the security cordon. I’d drawn the line at letting it inside the van, citing health and safety, as there was as serious risk I’d strangle Cole with the cable.

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