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He would

‘Miss Adaer, Kate Greenhill, popped her head around the dressing room door at the concert hall in Berlin ‘You’re on in five minutes’

Aiesha adjusted her droplet earrings, trying to fight the ants’ nest of nerves in her belly She would have to get used to this if she was asked to join the rest of the tour Nerves Panic Doubt What if she missed a note? What if her voice froze? What if the audience hated her? ‘Thanks, Kate What’s the crowd like?’

Kate grinned at her in the light bulb-lined mirror ‘Massive A sell-out To be honest, I think they’re here to hear you, not the band The boys won’t be too happy about that This is supposed to be their comeback chance’

Aiesha knew she should be feeling satisfied Proud of what she had achieved in spite of all the setbacks in her life She had been booked as the supporting act for the opening concert of the band’s reuniontour She had an album in production She had the prospect of fans Fame Fortune

But she was lonely

Desperately, achingly lonely

James hadn’t contacted her Not once She kneas for the best He had to distance himself from her, especially now Her stepfather had finally sold his story to the press She suspected he had waited until now so he could go for collateral dae He couldn’t have ti a sone viral The press had subsequently sourced photos from all over the place It had stirred up renewed interest in the scandal with James’s father, which would cause enormous embarrassment and hurt to Louise and Ja led out of court on the day he was sentenced

Lovely Just lovely

Her business ood while she was building her career as a solo artist, but Aiesha wasn’t so sure She wanted to distance herself from her past She wanted to be known for her y bloodline or step-relatives or her past behaviour It would be different if she were a rock-and-roll chick But she wasn’t She was a love-song and ballad singer with a hint of blues and jazz

Louise Challender had sent her roses and a sweet ainst her chest and cried so much the make-up artist had hysterics

The card said: ‘I always knew you would make it Love you, Louise’

But she hadn’t made it Not yet Maybe not ever if the news of her past kept resurfacing like a bad smell at a perfume launch