Following the Stars

Chapter Twenty Six

Lexie woke up feeling slightly jaded. She had consumed many cocktails the day before at the wrap party, but she actually felt a lot better than she thought she deserved which was a bonus. She grabbed her phone and shut off her alarm, instantly regretting agreeing to take the kids to school one last time before she flew home tomorrow. As she rolled over attempting to get out of bed, Ava knocked on the door and came in with a cup of coffee. "You're a life saver." "Don't mention it. From your Instagram story, it looked like you drank everything." "I didn't even mean to, we were just having such fun. I'll miss them a lot" "still ready to leave in 30?" "Yep, wouldn't miss it for the world!" Lexie said sarcastically giggling.

The brunette spent a lot of the day sorting our her cases and packing what she no longer needed. She also was desperately trying to find an outfit for that evening. Luckily Gina had been messaging the day before and had given her the vibe for the venue. A cocktail dress would suffice, she just had to find the right one.  After a few hours, she had an outfit for the evening picked out, her cases packed and she decided to spend some quality time with Gary and Ava. They had a late lunch on the patio and were planning the big upcoming promotional tour for her album.
"So I'm thinking the first single at The Grammys. Then the second at The Brits. You'll knock it out the park."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it will be epic."
"So shall we release 1st February? I really need to confirm with the label soon."
"Sounds good to me!"
"Gosh this is so exciting. I can't wait to hear what you guys have been working so hard on."
"She's a superstar. Plus it sends a nice clear message to that fucker who messed her around."
"Ha, which one Uncle Gaz?"
"Exactly."
"What time are you off out Lex?" Asked Ava.
"Johnny is picking me up at 7:30"
"What is this, some kind of date?" Asked Gary in a protective way.
Both women laughed "Ha. No course not, what made you think that?" "Oh Gaz. Even if it was you don't need to worry, that's Tom's job not yours."
Lexie's eyes widened as she looked at Ava. The latter winking confirming her secret was safe.

After the kids had returned from school, Lexie spent time with each of them, she knew she would miss them when back in England, before she rushed off to get ready. After showering she styled her hair with a big bouncy blow dry, she donned fairly glam make up before putting on her dress. It was an extremely fitted midi black cocktail dress, it was covered in lace, and had a sweetheart balconette style neck line. Rummaging through her case she found her trusty black Louboutin heels that instantly gave her 4 inches in height, and filled her clutch bag with the essentials. Slowly she descended the stairs and grabbed a thin black wrap coat she kept out earlier. She hovered by the front door, she felt giddy at the prospect of seeing Johnny again but also rather nervous. What if he had changed his mind? What if he no longer liked her in that way? She got flustered just thinking about him, how was she going to sit next to him at dinner all evening? Finally her phone pinged.

Just pulling in. Xxx

Will be 30 seconds. Xx

That's extremely precise... xxx

"Right, I'm off, don't wait up! Bye!!" Lexie rushed out to the foyer and put her coat on. Gary and Ava barely had a chance to leave the kitchen before yelling "Bye! Have fun!" "See ya then!" "Daddy, why didn't Lexie bring her friend in? I like meeting her friends." "Oh I don't know darling, maybe they were running late or something. Come on let's get you to bed." Gary said taking his child's hand.

Lexie was already out the front door stood on the steps as Johnny's car pulled in. She climbed in the back as elegantly as she could, smiling at Johnny. "Thank you for picking me up." "No problem at all.. I'm a.." "Gentleman, I remember." Lexie said smiling. "Sorry I didn't invite you in, the children are still awake and it would have been carnage, especially if they had worked out I was going out to dinner with Captain Sparrow." Johnny chuckled "That's no problem, I get it." "The place we are going to is only 20 minutes or so. It shouldn't take too long." "Amazing. Where are we going?" "One of Alice's loft penthouses. It's incredibly cool, he just uses it for socialising." "Oh wow." "Yeah wait until you see it doll."