I met Leigh in the hotel lobby an hour after Nick had left my room. We caught a taxi to an out-of-town shopping mall that Leigh knows, and now we are wandering around a clothing store.
“Oh wow Starr, look at that dress!” Leigh hurries over to a single deep red dress hanging off a rack. She picks it up and holds it against me. “It would be perfect for you honey!”
“I doubt it,” I laugh. “And anyway, where would I wear it?!”
“We’ll go out tonight. For dinner,” she pushes the dress into my arms and rushes over to another rack. Leigh is a whirlwind when it comes to clothes shopping. “Wow…” she holds a deep pink dress up against herself. “That feels gorgeous.”
“It looks it too,” I say. “Try it on!”
“Oh no, pink isn’t my colour at all.”
“Sure it is! Try it on Leigh!”
“Oh ok then…” she giggles and adds the dress to her growing pile. “So Starr… You and Nick?”
“Real subtle Leigh,” I laugh and she pushes me gently.
“Shut up! Well? Tell me!”
“Ok…” I grin at her. “We talked last night and we sorted a few things out and…”
“You’re back together again?!” she asks excitedly.
“Yeah.”
“Excellent!” Leigh hugs me quickly. “Brian will be so happy. He was always tellin’ me how happy you made Nick, and then when you split up he would say how down Nick seemed. He thinks you’re perfect for Nick cos you don’t want anything from him.”
“How do you mean?” I ask as we head towards the changing rooms.
“Well, girls have always wanted things from Nick. Like fame or money. Or they needed him to justify their existences. But you don’t. You’re pretty strong in your own right.”
“Well that’s one word for it,” I laugh.
“This is like bein’ 15 again!” enthuses Leigh as we jostle for space in front of her mirror.
It’s 10pm and we have decided to get dressed up and meet our guys after their show for dinner. Leigh has booked us into a real exclusive restaurant.
“Well, will I do?” she asks after combing her hair. I step back and look at her. We had agreed the pink dress had been a bit much but she bought a deep pink corset and a long black skirt instead. She looks amazing. Her blonde hair is tied up in a loose knot and a few tendrils frame her face.
“You surely will,” I say in a bad imitation of Brian’s southern drawl and she laughs.
“Let me look at you.” I step back and do a quick twirl.
I’m feeling pretty damn good. I bought a long black dress which is cut perfectly for my figure – accentuating my bosom and trim waist. The length reaches my ankles and there’s a side split up to my thigh. My hair is loosely tied back and a few curls fall around my face.
“You’ll do too,” Leigh declares.
“Why thank you ma’am,” I drop a fake curtsey and she laughs. “How long we got?”
“About an hour I guess. Brian said to give them 30 minutes after the show to shower and change.”
“That’s perfect,” I giggle and pick up my bag.
“For what?” she sits on the bed.
“For this!” I pull out a bottle of white wine and grin at her.
“Oh yes! You read my mind!” She grabs two glasses as I pour the wine. “Here’s to you and Nick,” we clink glasses and drink.
“And to you and Brian,” again we clink and drink.
“To Kevin!” Leigh giggles and we drink to each of the boys before opening another bottle of wine and moving on to the tour crew.