"I can't drink. I only just sobered up." I protested.
"Okay, let's go get a McDonalds then. We'll be able to hear better to chat anyway."
My stomach growled.
"Yes, let's." I agreed.
Erica
I tore into my double cheeseburger like I’d never eaten before, clearly having the I've-drunk-too-much munchies.
"I can't believe I just spent my evening with Rex Carlton." Freya said dreamily.
"In a canteen with Roman Idiri and having to take notes." I took the notepad from my bag and had a look at what she'd written down to find only doodles of love hearts with hers and Rex's name on them.
I slammed it on the table. "Really, Freya? No information on them whatsoever?"
She sipped her coke through the straw before breaking off. "I'd have liked to have written down his inside leg measurements, the size of his cock, and his address and contact details, but being in a canteen meant the nearest I got to a sausage was seeing bangers and mash on the menu."
She put her drink down. "Anyway, what were you up to with Noah Granger all that time, shut in a private dressing room? Have you jumped onto Team Noah, or actually jumped Noah?"
I huffed. "No. Noah made me lots of coffee and helped me sober up. He's clearly in love with Stacey, poor guy. He warned me off Zak, told me he's basically after anything in a skirt." I looked down, "and here I am wearing trousers."
"Erica, you are now running their fan club. You're going to be able to get clear access to the dude. So, we can make sure next time you have a skirt and no panties. All is not lost."
"Except my panties apparently."
We giggled, and I felt better. It was true. This would not be the last time I met my crush. Not now I was a main player in their future career. I celebrated with two more double cheeseburgers.
From:
Date:16th November
Subject:
THEY MADE THE FINAL!!! (Of course they did).
From the ONLY OFFICIAL fan group of The Paranormals.
OMG did you see this week's live show? Of course you did, you’re a Sub!!! That rendition of Wildest Dreams! Like Carmela said they certainly put the wild into their performance. Did you growl too?!!!
But it's next week now that we need to get ready for. Get your dialling fingers at the ready so we can have our Paranormals crowned as Britain's Best New Band. (I'm already having to fan myself).
Also, don't forget to send any questions you have for the band to me, so I can go meet them and put your questions to them.
Aren't I the luckiest woman in the world? Please don't hate me, someone has to get you the lowdown on our rock gods.
Until next week (eeek). Erica xoxo
I typed the kisses and hugs with a flourish. This was really happening. I'd been in touch with Bill Traynor's Personal Assistant and she'd set me up with everything I needed to launch my fan club and sent me two tickets to the final! I was going to get to meet Zak again and this time I'd make sure I looked amazing!
Bill was the main man on the show and his PA had explained that the band had a contract with him to handle their PR, but should they win they would get their own team. For now though, Alana was my contact.
I had to admit to being disappointed at not having the band members' personal emails or phone numbers, but then again, I'd have probably drunk-dialled Zak, so maybe for now it was for the best. I just had to hope that when the final came, it wasn't the only thing that did, and that I managed to get horizontal under Mr Jones.
"Erica! You're going to be late for work." My mum's voice shouted up the stairs.
I sighed and putting the laptop on the desk in my room, I headed for the shower. Twenty-one years old and still living at home, being treated like a fourteen-year-old by my mother. But then again, my obsession with The Paranormals bordered on a teen crush, so what did I expect? Yes, I had a couple of photos of the band on my walls now, sue me.
I wandered down to the kitchen and my mum handed me a slice of toast. "Your coffee is on the table. I'm off. I'll see you tonight. Chicken dinner for tea, okay?"
"Yeah, great." I kissed her on the cheek. "Have a good day."
Once I heard the door bang, I took my drink and toast through to the living room where I wasn't supposed to eat because my mum hated crumbs going down the edge of the sofa. I needed to set off soon but for now I'd have a little daydream about Zak and the final before real life, AKA my supermarket job, beckoned.
I thought about the few boyfriends I'd had up until now. There'd been no one serious. My mum said I was too picky, but I just thought maybe it was me and I attracted the idiots. My longest relationship had been for three months, but Gary had been in love with his reflection, not me. He'd started going to the gym and that had been the end of us, because the nearest I got to sport was on the name of my deodorant. At least he'd probably found his happy ever after there, AKA the gym's floor-to-ceiling mirrors.
Finishing my coffee, I grabbed my belongings and walked to the local supermarket where I worked.
I didn't mind working on the checkout. You got to know people who lived in the area and passing the time of day with people, especially those I'd got to know a little since I'd started here, made the day go faster. Mrs Merrill who came in every morning for a paper for her husband was one of the first to my till.
"Morning, Erica dear."
"Morning, Mrs Merrill. How are you today?"
"I'm great, apart from my left hip's giving me a bit of grief as usual. Now, that young man you like is on the front of the paper again."
I already knew and had read in detail all the day's newspaper reports about Zak's antics and the rest of the bands' news. Alana had arranged for me to be sent a daily press email and then I also pored over all the papers and magazines before I started my shift. Zak had apparently been involved in a threesome, and the women were both reporting that he was so amazing they were dreaming about him and having sleep orgasms. I wanted Zak-related sleep orgasms.
"I know. He's a bit of a naughty one." I settled for as a reply, instead of my thoughts on sleep orgasms.
"Well," she leaned in conspiratorially, "If I was fifty years younger, I'd queue up for a go."
I laughed. "I have tickets for the final."
"Ooh, with you doing that fan thing?"
"Yep."
"I don't know how you work all that machinery. My granddaughter has set up my phone for me. I said I only wanted to do phone calls, but she taught me texts, and then she got me to do a TikTok with her. I had to wave my arms about. I think teenagers are bored. Anyway, she left the app on my phone and let me tell you, I did not know how many gorgeous men over the age of thirty lived in the world and they are all showing their guns and swinging their hips on TikTok. Made this seventy-nine-year-old woman here feel like she has a new reason to carry on living."
She did a bit of a dance. I wondered if Mrs Merrill was having TikTok hot men sleep orgasms and then I wanted to puke out my own thoughts.
"Oh, it's only really sending emails. But I'm hoping I'll get close to the band at the final and get some good gossip and info for the fans."