Page 64 of Girls Just Want to Have Sun

‘Mi teléfono en el toiletto plástico! Emergencia grande!’ I yell, beating on the doors with sheer embarrassment that I’m making this seem much more of a crisis than it actually is.Why is the Spanish for Portaloo not adequately covered in the A level syllabus? Why?

I keep calling Tash’s phone and strain to listen out for the ringtone against the festival music blaring out.

I get to the end of the first row and press my face to the door as it opens, sending me toppling to the ground. I am cringing with embarrassment as I struggle to get up, the bodysuit reluctant to allow even an inch of movement. This is so not going to work. I put out an urgent message to the WhatsApp group explaining our predicament. I stand staring at my phone as decades pass without so much as a ping. I have no way of knowing if any of them has picked it up and will help. I take outmy map of the site. The only thing I can do is suck it up and go to the management tent.

I jostle through the crowds and approach the security guards at the entrance who block my way, check my lanyard and point me towards the hospitality tent.

‘No,’ I yell crossly, putting a hand on my hip. ‘I’m not after free drink. I’m after Matteo. The boss man.El jefe.’

The guard indicates that he can’t hear or understand me.

‘QuieroMatteo!’ I yell. Time is very much of the essence.

The guards burst out laughing. ‘Te quieresMatteo?’

‘Sì,’ I shout past them into the tent, hoping he can hear me calling. This is so frustrating. We now have only thirty minutes to find the phone, find the stage and do the set.

‘You’re in love with Matteo, are you?’

I spin round to see Alex marching towards me with a startled expression on her face.

‘What? No. I was telling them I want him, as in I want to see him.’

‘Well,’ she says, putting her hands on her hips to mirror my actions, ‘you’re screaming at the top of your lungs to the entire management team inside that you want my business partner both emotionally and sexually, as in you love him. L.O.V.E. Love. Now, if you could stop making a fool of yourself for five minutes,’ Alex continues in a cruel tone, ‘you need to get yourself on fucking stage right now. He doesn’t need another groupie. He has plenty of those already.’

My jaw drops at her stinging accusation. I take in her cold, hard expression and feel my face burn with embarrassment. The only thing that could make this moment worse would be to run into Matteo. So naturally, when I see him emerge from the tent to stand right in front of me, his eyes swivelling between Alex and me, I panic.

‘That’s enough,’ he says to her sharply in Spanish.

He has replaced the bandage covering the corner of his eyebrow, and his black eye now matches mine. It simply makes him even more rugged. He’s wearing shorts and a T-shirt as though he’s stepped out of a Hugo Boss photo shoot. I feel stunned at the mere sight of him.

I’ve just hollered to everyone around that I love him. And at that moment, I think it might be true.

‘I’ve got this,’ he says over his shoulder to Alex, waiting for her to leave before he turns back to me.

‘It’s not what it sounded like!’ I squeak, finally finding my voice.

‘Oh?’ he says, stepping towards me with a frown. ‘So, you’renotin love with me?’

He’s playing with me. I feel my eyes mushroom out of their sockets. His face is a mere foot from mine. His eyes roam casually over my body. He probably thinks I’m mad or drunk or both. He’s so mesmerising I can barely look him in the eye.

‘Listen,’ I say, lowering my voice. ‘Can we talk?’

He leads me into the tent.

‘What’s gone wrong now? I specifically remember you promising me’ – he checks his phone – ‘three hours ago that there was to be an evening of no drama.’

Cheek. He can be a little too presumptuous, can’t he?

‘There’s no drama. I just need you to help me with a few technical issues,’ I say in a whatever-do-you-mean type of voice, not waiting for him to respond. ‘First, I need to find Tash’s phone. It’s got all the Dollz’ backing tracks for the gig on it. I also need you to help me find the Dollz. They’ve gone AWOL all over the bloody place. And finally, the stage. None of us has a clue which one we’re supposed to be on or when.’

There is a short silence before Matteo answers. His eyes are glinting. He is enjoying this. ‘Phew, for a moment there I thought something had gone horribly awry.’

‘Fine. You’re right. It’s another shambles. Please,’ I beg. ‘I can’t afford for this to go wrong. Nancy will sack us all and I’ll be jobless, homeless, and my life will basically be over.’

Matteo looks at me in surprise. It’s probably best to keep my volatile emotional and financial state under wraps. He hasn’t exactly seen the best of me since I stepped foot on that plane.

‘I’m just panicking,’ I say. ‘Can you help me?’

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