Page 62 of Benidorm Again

‘This day just keeps getting stranger and stranger,’ I say to Ged, later that evening. He is pacing up and down our living room. All he needs is a pipe and a deerstalker hat.

‘So, if Luke is the Maestro’s godson, that must mean the Sinfonia are doing the Norwegians a huge favour. Perhaps in return for some generous Arts funding? Maybe Luke’s parents have asked his godfather to keep an eye on him, and him singing on tour keeps him out of trouble?’

‘Yes. Yes, that’s it,’ joins in Liam, excitedly. ‘Luke is the wild card of the family. The black sheep. The difficult second child. The oddball. They have shipped him off. I wonder what he has done to warrant being sent here to Newcastle.’

‘Must be really bad,’ Ged agrees.

‘You lost me at Arts funding,’ I say, putting a stop to the speculating and endless clichés. ‘But we don’t have to worry about Luke, or Count Nikolai or whatever he’s really called, because I won’t be seeing him again until the next tour. Which, thankfully, is months away. Besides, when we get back from Las Vegas, I’ll buy another locket and return the antique one to the Maestro. Let’s just forget all about it fornow and concentrate on having a great time in Benidorm and then Las Vegas.’

‘Quite right. We have much bigger things to worry about.’ Liam starts jumping up and down. ‘How did you get on shopping today?’

They peer at my cases, all packed and ready to go. ‘Have you got everything?’ Ged asks, getting out his checklist to supervise me.

I nod. ‘Cherry is bringing all the Barbie and Ken outfits with her to Benidorm for us to try on.’

‘What about the pink glitter cowboy hats?’ Ged asks.

‘Big Sue has those. They have a picture of you two kissing on them,’ I assure him.

‘And the Elton John big heart sunglasses?’

‘Tash is in charge of those. She also has the ‘last night of freedom’ satin sashes, the deely boppers, the handlebar moustaches and a wide range of inflatables.’

‘Good. Good,’ says Ged, famous micromanager that he is. ‘And I assume it’s all vacuum-packed in with the hold luggage? They’ll never let us through security withall of that stuff.’

I nod. Thank God for next-day delivery. Vague memories come back to me of The Dollz getting stopped at security and all their sex toys and fake tan being taken off them. They were livid. ‘I’ve hidden them amongst the clothes.’

We are all flying to Benidorm tomorrow morning with The Dollz. Ged and Liam are back staying in the granny flat annexe of the villa because the hotel they were thinking of booking refused to let them sunbathe naked on their balcony. The Dollz are in the main villa.

‘I can’t wait to have an all-over tan,’ says Liam excitedly. ‘I’ve bought us that heavy-duty, deep mahogany tan accelerator off TikTok. We’ll look amaze!’

Ged rolls his eyes.

While they lie sizzling away turning the colour of a creosote, me and The Dollz will be gigging at Voices and Benidorm Palace before we all fly out to Las Vegas together.

This is the bit I have yet to get my head around. I open Nancy’s email on my phone. She has booked us to do three nights in Vegas over the course of a week, plus the dubious thing we need to do for Eddie at Talent Star. We are also doing Ged and Liam’s pre-moon spree by day, and on the alternate nights. While I am also trying to enjoy a romantic break with Matteo, so that we can spend some much-needed time together.

My heart starts racing at the stress of it all. There just aren’t enough hours in the day to squeeze it all in.

I have still not plucked up the courage to tell him.

But I will.

I will.

PING.

Matteo’s name flashes onto my screen. He is messaging to let me know that he will be unexpectedly free tomorrow for a few hours if I’m available to facetime.

‘What’s wrong?’ Ged asks.

I show him the text.

‘But that’s a good thing, isn’t it?’ he says, sounding confused.

I blink rapidly. ‘Yes. Yes, absolutely.’

‘Then why do you look so worried?’ He screws his eyes at me. ‘You have told him we’re all coming to Vegas, haven’t you?’

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