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Paige smiled, her gut instinct telling her enough that she had a strong clue which mega singing superstar Polly was working with.
‘And this mega superstar came to Manchester?’ Paige asked.
Polly looked over from setting up the cups. The look on her face indicated that Polly knew Paige may have figured it out. ‘Nah we’re doing it in two teams, one here, one in LA.’
Paige nodded. ‘That’s really cool.’
‘Yeah, but it’s really intimidating. Everyday feels like the first day in a new school. I’m a bit of a wreck several times a day.’ Paige waited before saying anything further, giving Polly space. ‘But it’s too good to give up. I guess I’m just getting more resilient.’
‘I think that actually you’re just one of the bravest people I know,’ Paige said.
‘Oh yeah, it’s really brave to write songs.’
Paige laughed. ‘No it’s brave to do something that scares you and then to do it every day.’
Polly finished making the mugs of tea and brought them to the table, sitting down opposite Paige. ‘Are you not feeling very brave?’ Polly asked.
‘I think there are risks I should have taken and didn’t, and risks that I took that I shouldn’t have. It’s all very confusing.’
Polly reached forward and gently held Paige’s hand. ‘We’ll figure it out.’
It was only an hour later and everyone had arrived.
Mya grimaced. ‘Really, we’re on tea? Did nobody think this was more of a tequila situation?’
‘Paige said to start with tea and see where we end up.’ Polly smiled into her mug.
‘Right, start at the beginning,’ Sophie demanded as they all sat at the kitchen table.
‘You know most of it. I didn’t realise I’d fallen in love until it was too late, and by then I’d already broken her trust.’ Paige let out a big sigh, her shoulders dropping for what felt like the first time in days.
Sophie threw her arm around Paige. ‘Well, on the plus side, you’re surrounded by people that have all made mistakes with the people they loved, and we’re the queens of grand gestures.’
‘Yeah, but she wouldn’t want a gesture. Melanie believes everything I’ve done to help, was pay back for fixing me.’
‘But it wasn’t, you were just trying to help,’ Polly offered.
‘Yeah, and if Paige had told her about her abilities before that point, then maybe. But she found out about all of it at the same time. She’s going to assume it’s all one and the same thing. It’s all one big omission of truth.’
Sophie, Polly and Paige all looked at Mya in shock.
‘That was surprisingly insightful for you,’ Sophie added.
‘I’m choosing not to be insulted. I’m actually a very insightful person.’ They all waited. ‘All right, fine, it’s a poker skill. Like if someone will buy one bluff in a situation they’re likely to accept several. But only for a limited time. You overplay it and you lose the lot.’
Polly’s mug landed on the table with a thud as she shook her head and muttered, ‘Good God, Mya.’
‘What?’
‘You just basically said that Paige is gonna lose Melanie,’ Sophie said, as Polly continued to shake her head.
‘Oh well, I’m back on trend. Maybe I shouldn’t do the soft people stuff — not my skill-set. But for what it’s worth I don’t think you’re going to lose it all.’
Paige laughed. ‘Never change, Mya.’
Mya leaned up and kissed Paige on the cheek. ‘Love you, Paige, but let’s move this to tequila, yeah? You know I always give my best advice on tequila.’
‘Right, so let’s go through the options,’ Sophie said, pulling out a notebook and pen from her bag. Paige smiled at the familiar gesture. ‘You need to talk to her and explain that the two things are separate. That you didn’t know she was going to fix you but that the helpful things were just that. You were trying to help.’
