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Chapter Thirty-One

It took a couple of seconds to realise the clattering from the kitchen was Charlotte clearing away the previous night's mess. It had hardly been a wild party, but the impromptu dinner that her, Kris and I had enjoyed certainly hadn't been a sober affair.

The Ambition had been running to a gig straight from the group performances. It was an important one, Charlotte had informed me. A closed, invite-only party with record label execs. I couldn't help wishing Noah had given me the liberty of this information, like Alex obviously had done with Charlotte.

"They wanted to keep it quiet," she had explained over a mouthful of spring roll. "Their management have really been pushing them recently and, if it all comes off as planned, they could be signed to a label and off on tour by the summer"

Great. Wonder if I'll at least have Noah's number in my phone before he runs away to live the high life?

Dragging my hungover body into the kitchen to help with the clean up, the hissing noise escaping under the bathroom door signaled that Kris was already in the shower. I often wondered whether he should contribute towards our water bill with the amount of time he liked to spend in there, using all our products and singing loudly.

"I've got to leave in about an hour," Charlotte murmured as I entered. Barely glancing around, she seemed lost in her thoughts as she wiped down the worktop with lemon-scented disinfectant.

"Alex is coming here, then we're getting the train up to Cambridge."

I quickly swallowed the two paracetamol I was popping into my mouth, the cold water instantly cooling the heat in my temples. "Oh shit, I'd almost forgotten about that."

"Yeah. I hadn't," she responded. "It's going to be a nightmare..."

I'd only met her parents a couple of times; once when they dropped her off at the flat on our move-in day, then again when they came to do some Christmas shopping. Her mum seemed nice enough, a bit snooty, but friendly enough. Her dad, on the other hand, couldn't have lived up to the preconception of a smug, high-earning company director more if he'd tried. I couldn't imagine he would go particularly easy on Alex; the older, tattooed musician who'd asked his only daughter for her hand in marriage after knowing her just a few weeks.

"So, is Kris staying here for the weekend?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"No, he's just using all our hot water and shampoo then he's going down to Brighton for the night," she smiled.

As I smiled and shook my head back at her, Kris came wandering into the kitchen right on cue.

"Fresh as a daisy," he purred, draping his arm against the doorframe wearing only a towel.

"Glad we could fund your lavish lifestyle yet again," I joked, flicking him on his bare chest as I walked past to grab my own time in the shower.

Once I was dressed in my black skinny jeans and an oversized grey hoody, I piled my wet hair up into a loose bun and joined Charlotte and Kris in the living room, where a hot coffee was already waiting on the table. As we chatted, trying to avoid the inevitability of Charlotte's trip to Doomsville, I tried to subtly garner more information on the boys' gig the previous night.

Alex had text Charlotte afterwards to say it had gone really well - better than their management had expected. An executive from one of the bigger labels in attendance had stayed to have a drink with them so, fingers crossed, Alex thought they might be in with a chance of getting a deal.

Even just mentioning his name, Charlotte's face beamed. My heart grew a little each time at the glimmer of her genuine happiness; even after all she'd been through.