Page 48 of Never Too Late
Very conscious that Rob was on the other side of her, Steph did her best to sound positive as she replied. ‘Thanks, Faye. I’m sure it’ll all be fine, and I know Keith and the others will keep an eye on me.’
‘You’ll soon get used to it. The rock world’s a funny business with its ups and downs but you’ll grow to love it.’
Steph nodded and heard Rob add his reassurance. ‘You’ll be great. In a few weeks’ time you’ll be so famous you won’t want to talk to ordinary mortals like me.’
‘You, an ordinary mortal?’ Steph turned towards him and looked him in the eye. ‘I imagine your fans, particularly your female fans, wouldn’t agree.’ For a moment she thought she saw something in his expression, but it might have been her imagination. Anyway, she told herself firmly, there was no point in causing a scene on her last night in his parents’ house, so she turned back to his mother.
‘I think it’s time I had that talk about clothes with you and Tara and Lottie. I’ve got a lot to learn.’ And, leaving Rob behind on his own, she let herself be led across to where the other ladies were standing.
The party broke up at midnight, and as everybody started going off to bed, Steph felt a hand on her arm.
‘I need to give Waldorf a walk. He’s been locked up all evening. Feel like coming with me?’
She came very close to saying no, but it was the chance of seeing the dog for one last time that swung it for her and she agreed, but she didn’t catch hold of his arm as they walked down to the beach and up to his house. When they got there and Rob opened the door the Labrador came running out to greet them. They took him for a slow walk through the trees until they emerged near the cliff top, looking south towards the lights of the Tuscan coast. When they were close to the edge of the cliff, Rob stopped and turned towards her.
‘I’m sorry you have to go.’
At that moment the dog returned and positioned himself between them. Steph bent down to ruffle his ears as she replied honestly. ‘I’m sorry too.’
‘This is going to be an exciting time for you, but please don’t forget me.’
‘Are you sure you won’t forgetme?’ She came close to asking him about the woman in Sanremo but stopped herself in time. There was no point. Tomorrow she would be off.
‘Impossible.’
They strolled back to his house and when they approached it she wondered if he was going to invite her in for coffee or more. She was mildly surprised when he just kept walking and accompanied her back to her apartment. Not a word had been spoken since his promise never to forget her. Angel or demon, she knew she would never be able to forget him. He stopped at the entrance, and she saw the moonlight reflecting in his eyes. He made no move to draw nearer. Instead, he just stood there silently until she managed to find the strength to reach out and catch hold of him by the shoulders and kiss him gently on the cheeks.
‘I won’t forget you.’ She stooped to pet the dog one more time and then opened the door. ‘Ciao, Waldorf,ciao, Rob.’
‘Arrivederci, Steph.’
We’ll meet again. But was that what she wanted?
Chapter 22
The next week passed far quicker than Steph could have imagined. The flight back to London in the luxurious private jet was an exciting experience; the contrast with her recent flights in crowded, utilitarian aircraft, striking. The days that followed were mainly spent in what appeared on the outside to be little more than a warehouse in East London, but which inside had been transformed into a state-of-the-art recording studio. In the course of nine days of hard work they managed to produce the final versions of all the songs under the watchful eye of Ethan and the increasingly strident interventions of Keith, who was beginning to revert to his original authoritarian persona about which Ben had warned her. She hoped he would calm down when the recording finished as she could see that his bossiness was already beginning to wear thin with both Ben and Johnny.
Making the album was a massive undertaking. For two of the tracks they had a twenty-piece orchestra playing along with them, on another a pair of amazingly talented bongo drummers, and on yet another an outstanding saxophone player flown over from New Orleans specially for the occasion. An equally talented trio of female singers provided backing on all but a couple of tracks and greatly enhanced the overall sound. The general opinion among the dozen or so employees at the studio was that the new album had all the makings of becoming a blockbuster.
Although the others stayed at a luxurious central London hotel, Steph opted to stay with her mum, conscious that she would be jetting off to the other side of the Atlantic very soon. She and her mum talked a lot and Steph recounted in detail how life had been at the villa. Needless to say, Rob’s name came up and Steph ended up telling her mother about the anticlimactic way things had ended between them and what Willow claimed to have observed in Sanremo. Her mum listened intently before passing judgement.
‘I’m very glad you didn’t blow your top and have a scene. I’ve got a good feeling about this man, even if you haven’t. So he was with a woman… that doesn’t mean anything. Maybe it was his beautiful accompanist like you say, but that proves nothing. You’ve been spending every daylight hour recently with a bunch of men, but that doesn’t mean anything’s going on between you and any of them. Just you wait. When are you seeing him next?’
‘That’s the thing. Any day now we’re off to America and it looks as though I’m likely to be over there for most of October. There’s talk of making at least one promotional video – maybe more – and Keith says the company could choose to shoot the videos anywhere from Acapulco to Alaska. Realistically, I would think the first chance I’ll have of seeing Rob again will be at his sister’s wedding in mid-December.’
‘And have you been talking, messaging each other?’
Steph shook her head. ‘I haven’t contacted him, and I haven’t heard a thing from him.’
‘Why don’t you send him a message? Ask him how the dog is or something?’
But Steph just shook her head. ‘I think it’s best if we leave it like this. If Willow was telling the truth, it looks as though he hasn’t changed, and I want nothing to do with a man like him. If there’s an innocent explanation, he can give it to me at the wedding.’
‘But at the wedding you’ll be once again in the position of not wanting to make a scene. Shouldn’t you do something about that now?’
‘To be honest, Mum, I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment.’
Just exactly what she had on her plate became apparent a few days later when she got to the studio. Zach, left in charge by his father who had returned to LA, was waiting for her with Keith. There were broad smiles on both their faces and a pile of magazines on the table beside them. Keith was the first to speak.
