Chapter 12

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The recording continued throughout the morning. Ellen was really getting to know the real Westlife, what they liked, their habits and any other information she could squeeze out of them. Ellen tried as much as she could to act normally around Kian, but he made things difficult, he kept glancing at her, and every time she blushed. She tried the avoiding tactic, by standing next to the others instead of near him, but he just came closer. By lunchtime, Ellen wanted to shout at him and question him, but with the other members there, it made it complicated. They all decided to break for lunch; there was a café at the other end of the street they often went into. Ellen grabbed her bag and Kian waited until the other members were out of the recording area until he spoke into Ellen’s ear.

“Why are you avoiding me?” He said it in a hushed whisper, and a shiver was sent down Ellen’s spine.

“Because I don’t know what happened before the others came in, and to tell you the truth, it frightened me a little” Ellen moved away from him, and turned to face him, a few tears gathering in her eyes.

“Why did it frighten you?”

“Because it was as if we had known each other for years, as if we were close, but we have practically just met and I don’t understand it. I could basically feel the electricity sparking between us.”

“I know what you mean, I don’t understand it either. What should we do?”

“We should leave it. I want us to be friends, and I want us to be able to be in the same room and not feel awkward. We should pretend it never happened, okay?”

“That wasn’t quite what I was thinking”

“What were you thinking then?”

“I was thinking that we should act on our situation” He leant in closer and tried to kiss Ellen. She pushed him away and walked out the door.

“The others will be waiting, we don’t want to seem suspicious” She smiled innocently and Kian dropped his shoulders and solemnly walked out the door after her.

 Nicky, Mark and Shane were waiting for them at the foot of the building. When they questioned Kian, he said that he was making sure that everything was safe and the door was locked, and Ellen said that she didn’t want to leave him on his own. They seemed to buy the cover story, and they all set off for the café up the road.

 They walked through the door and were welcomed by a plump man dressed in a chef’s attire. They seemed to know him and him them, and the congregation were seated at a large table. Westlife ordered ‘the usual’ plus one more and they all turned to face one another. Ellen thought that things could return to as they were before Kian tried to kiss her, but he didn’t seem to want that. Kian sat next to Ellen and grabbed her hand under the table. Ellen pulled her hand out and carried on listening intently to the conversation, not making eye contact with Kian, who was staring at her. The food came over and they continued to chat whilst eating. They spoke about past experiences at concerts and on the tour bus and Ellen was having a great time, even though Kian was being a little sod.

 He kept trying to grab her hand and put his arm closer to her, and every time Ellen kicked him under the table, she was desperate for him to stop. She shot him a piercing look, and from then on he backed off. Emma had named the glare that Ellen delivered to Kian the death glare, and it was called that for a reason. Once they had all finished, they paid the plump man and started to walk back up the street to the recording studio. The others walked ahead and Kian stepped back so that he was walking next to Ellen. He tried to grab her hand and she punched him hard on the arm. He let out a little yelp and the others turned around. Ellen carried on walking and Kian said that his arm clicked and they continued to walk. Once they had got to the studio they unlocked the door and set to work once again. Ellen was asked to sing with Shane in a duet, whilst the others sorted some stuff out. Ellen jumped at the chance, and Shane asked her to pick a song. Ellen said that she didn’t mind, whatever he wanted to do. Shane picked ‘That’s Where You Find Love’ from the Face To Face album. Shane sung his parts, and Ellen sung Mark’s. The finished tune sounded good, and Ellen was happy with the enthusiasm they showed towards her.

 The ‘stuff’ that the others were sorting out was kept a secret, and Ellen was the only one not to know what it was. She assumed it was something that was confidential, that only Westlife and their manager could know about. Kian seemed to be acting like he was when they had first met; he didn’t flirt or try to grab her hand. Ellen was actually surprised that he had given up, but assumed that he obviously didn’t want her that much. She wasn’t prepared to become someone he goes out with because he was on the rebound from a broken marriage, and he knew that now.

 After a long day, they recorded one last song before going out for another break in the afternoon. Mark and Shane stayed behind; they said that there was something they wanted to sort out with the studios owner. Ellen decided not to ask, and she, Kian and Nicky went for a walk around the park that was nearby. The boys were talking about things to do with the tour, and soon stopped once they realised that Ellen had started staring into space. She stood in between them both, and she fitted in with them perfectly. She looked like a band member, not some annoying fan. The walking in the park seemed very natural to Ellen, and she never wanted it to end.

 They sat down on a bench and asked Ellen questions about her life and the things that she enjoyed doing when she wasn’t listening to or doing anything to do with Westlife. She said that her world revolved around Westlife, and she enjoyed spending time on her own, but also going down the town with her friend Emma, but that had become a rare treat as Emma was now always on duty, and what spare time she did have was spent with Olly. Ellen didn’t mind, they were young and in love, and Ellen admired it in a way. She also told them that she now worked for her brother as a receptionist, and they were intrigued that she knew a fair amount on cars, having being taught by her brother, Adam.

 They were about to make a move back to the studio when Ellen’s phone rang. The ‘Uptown Girl’ song started to play as it was her ringtone, and Nicky and Kian started to sing along until she answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Ellen, is that you?”

“Emma, what is it?”

“It’s the diner”

“What about it?”

“Erm…”

“Spit it out Emma” Ellen was starting to get frustrated and the two boys sensed it.

“It is being knocked down…now!”

“What, why?”

“I don’t know, they won’t tell me, something about an unsafe structure that could crumble at any minute, that is all they could tell me”

“I’m coming, I will be there as soon as I can, where are you?”

“Next to the diner”

“Go home, you could get home.” Ellen didn’t give Emma time to object as she hung up and turned to face the two boys, who had bewildered looks on their faces. She explained what was happening and Kian offered to give her a ride home, as he was the only one that knew the route without a SatNav. She kindly took up his offer, and expected to see him turn up around the corner in the black 4x4 that had brought them there. But Ellen was in for a shock. Kian pulled up in a black Ferrari, and he opened the door. Ellen jumped in and Nicky made his way back to tell the others what was going on.

 Ellen realised that Kian had brought the Ferrari for a reason. He put his foot down on the throttle and sped through the traffic. They arrived there sooner than she expected, and had surprisingly not been pulled over by the Police or caught by a speed camera. She climbed out of the car and ran towards the pile of rubble that surrounded the floor. They were too late. The diggers had gone, and the diner was now a pile of rocks and dust. Ellen struggled to breathe as she breathed in the dust from the demolition. There was no one there, they had all left. She sank to the ground and burst into tears. Kian came down and knelt beside her. She had her head buried in her hands and as he put his arm around her, she hugged him tight as he stroked her arm gently. She sobbed into his t shirt, and he gently kissed her on the forehead. He sighed as she continued to cry.

 After a few minutes, Ellen pulled away from Kian, wiped her eyes and stood up. She walked over to the rubble, and threw some loose stuff onto the larger mass. Kian came to stand next to her and clasped her hand. This time Ellen didn’t resist, and she gripped his hand tight. She rested a head on his shoulder and they stood there in the tranquil of their minds.

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