‘Okay,’ Owen said into the microphone, holding up his hand for attention, ‘there’s one more member of the band who should be with us tonight. Without this guy, none of us would be here. So, please, give it up for Will Sargent!’ he shouted, and the crowd cheered and whooped like mad.
‘What’s this?’ Will said irritably to their tour manager, Roy, who was backstage with him. ‘We didn’t plan it.’
‘I guess they want you to join them onstage.’
Will sighed. He wasn’t in the mood for this. But Owen had the crowd chanting his name now, a rhythmic mantra, urging him on stage.
‘Will! Will! Will!’ they chanted in unison, led by Owen.
Bowing to the inevitable, Will plastered a professional smile on his face and marched on stage. The crowd erupted as he appeared, blinking in the spotlights. Though he had removed his jacket and bow tie, he was still rather over dressed in his wedding attire, and there were several wolf whistles, which he received with a self-deprecating smile.
‘Oh, isn’t he gorgeous?’ the girl next to Kate squealed to her friend.
Owen threw his arm around Will, holding him in a firm grip as they stood facing the audience, preventing his escape.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Owen said, into the microphone, ‘everyone should have someone to kiss on New Year’s Eve. We’ve all had a New Year kiss,’ he indicated the band, to a roar of approval. ‘You’ve all had a New Year kiss,’ he waved at the audience, who hollered their assent. ‘But poor Will here hasn’t.’
‘Awwww!’
‘So, girls and boys, we’re looking for a volunteer from the audience.’
The crowd went wild at this, hundreds of girls throwing their hands into the air, shrieking excitedly.
‘For fuck’s sake, Owen,’ Will growled through clenched teeth, ‘we’re not doing panto!’
‘Who’d like to give Will a New Year kiss?’ Owen continued, blithely ignoring his protests.
Will struggled to maintain a good-humoured smile as Rory was dispatched to pick someone out of the audience to kiss him. He’d paste Owen for this later – and anyone else who’d been involved in it, he thought, noticing the eager excitement on Louise’s face.
Gosh, Will’s really popular,Kate thought, dismayed as the girls around her jumped up and down excitedly. ‘Me, me, me,’ they squealed, stamping on her feet and elbowing her in the ribs as a beefy bouncer, guided by Rory, scanned her section of the mosh pit. Panicking that he wouldn’t spot her among the ocean of bodies, Kate hopped up and down too, waving frantically at Rory. Then his eyes met hers, and he smiled. ‘Her,’ he said, pointing her out to the bouncer, whose thick, muscle-bound arm plunged into the throng. Kate reached out to him, but in the fray it wasimpossible for him to determine which flailing arm was attached to which girl and, to her horror, his big hand closed around the arm of the girl beside her, who grabbed him with a triumphant yelp.
‘Hey!’ Kate yelled in outrage. ‘Hands off, he’s mine.’
Fuelled by a huge surge of adrenalin, Kate whacked the other girl’s arm until she was forced to let go, and she grabbed the bouncer’s. Then, as if by magic, she was being lifted into the air, floating over the sea of bodies and landing on the stage beside Rory.
‘Hi.’ He grinned at her, eyes crinkling at the corners. ‘I thought we’d lost you there for a minute. Lucky you’ve got such a mean left hook.’
‘Oh God, I hope I didn’t hurt that girl.’ She glanced back into the mosh pit. She couldn’t believe she’d lashed out like that.
‘I’m sure she’ll live. Now, go get him.’
Meanwhile, Will couldn’t see what was going on at the other side of the stage, his view blocked by the clutch of security men involved in hauling the volunteer out of the mosh pit.
Better get it over with,he thought, bracing himself to give a polite peck on the cheek to whoever Rory had pulled out of the audience – probably some groupie who wanted to be onstage with Owen.
Then the bouncers dispersed, and he couldn’t believe his eyes, because there, walking shyly across the stage towards him, was Kate. She ran the last few steps and threw herself into his arms.
He looked down at her, almost floored by the love in her eyes, which sparkled with pure happiness.
‘I love you,’ he said.
‘I know. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.’
Then their lips met, and the crowd whooped as they kissed passionately while fireworks crashed around them.
‘Oh my God! That was nearly me,’ the girl the bouncer had grabbed initially moaned to her friend, rubbing her arm as she watched enviously.
‘Don’t be stupid!’ her friend snapped. ‘She was a total plant.’
