"G.o.d bless you," Holly said, making the sign of the cross at them as she pa.s.sed.

"What is she, a princess or a priest?" laughed Paul as she entered the club.

"She's out of her mind," laughed Mustache Man, "but it's the best excuse I've heard while I've been on the job," and the two of them sn.i.g.g.e.red. They regained their composure as Ciara and her entourage approached the door.

"Is it OK if my film crew follow me in?" Ciara said confidently in a brilliant Australian accent.

"Hold on while I check with the manager." Paul turned his back and spoke into the walkie-talkie. "Yeah, that's no problem, go ahead," he said, holding the door open for her.

"That's that Australian singer, isn't it?" Mustache Man said to Paul.

"Yeah, good song that."

"Tell the boys inside to keep an eye on the princess and her lady," said Mustache Man. "We don't want them bothering that singer with the pink hair."

Holly's father choked on his drink from laughing, and Elizabeth rubbed his back for him while giggling herself.

As Holly watched the image of the inside of Boudoir on the screen she remembered being disappointed by the club. There had always been a mystery as to what 'Boudoir' looked like. The girls had read in a magazine that there was a water feature inside that Madonna had apparently jumped into one night. Holly had imagined a huge waterfall cascading down the wall of the club that continued to flow in little bubbling streams all around the club while all the glamorous people sat around it and occasionally dipped their gla.s.ses into it to fill them with more champagne. But instead of her champagne waterfall, what Holly got was an oversized fish bowl in the center of the circular bar. What that had to do with anything she didn't know. Her dreams were shattered. The room wasn't as big as Holly thought it would be, and it was decorated in rich reds and gold. On the far side of the room was a huge gold curtain acting as a part.i.tion, which was blocked by another menacing-looking bouncer.

At the top of the room the main attraction was a ma.s.sive king-size bed, which was tilted on a platform toward the rest of the club. On top of the gold silk sheets were two skinny models dressed in no more than gold body paint and tiny gold thongs. It was all a bit too tacky.

"Look at the size of those thongs!" gasped Denise in disgust. "I have a plaster on my baby finger bigger than those."

Beside her in Club Diva, Tom chuckled and began to nibble on Denise's baby finger. Holly looked away and returned her gaze to the screen.

"Good evening and welcome to the twelve o'clock news, I'm Sharon McCarthy." Sharon stood in front of the camera with a bottle in her hand serving as a microphone, and Declan had angled the camera so that she could get Ireland's famous newsreaders in the shot.

"Today on the thirtieth birthday of Princess Holly of Finland, her royal self and her lady-in-waiting finally succeeded in being granted access to the famous celebrity hangout Boudoir. Also present is Australian rock chick Ciara and her film crew and..." She held her finger to her ear as though she were receiving more information. "News just in, it appears that Ireland's favorite newsreader Tony Walsh was seen smiling just moments ago. Here beside me I have a witness to the fact. Welcome, Denise." Denise posed seductively at the camera. "Denise, tell me, where were you when this event was taking place?"

"Well, I was just over there beside his table when I saw it happening." Denise sucked in her cheekbones and smiled at the camera.

"Can you explain to us what happened?"

"Well, I was just standing there minding my own business when Mr. Walsh took a sip of his drink and then shortly afterward he smiled."

"Gosh, Denise, this is fascinating news. Are you sure it was a smile?"

"Well, it could have been trapped wind causing him to make a face, but others around me also thought it was a smile."

"So there were others who witnessed this?"

"Yes, Princess Holly beside me here saw the whole thing."

The camera panned across to Holly where she stood drinking from a champagne bottle with a straw. "So Holly, can you tell us, was it wind or a smile?"

Holly looked confused then rolled her eyes. "Oh wind, sorry, I think it's this champagne that's doing it to me."

Club Diva erupted in laughter. Jack as usual laughed the loudest. Holly hid her face in shame.

"OK then...," Sharon said, trying not to laugh. "So you heard it here first. The night when Ireland's grimmest presenter was seen smiling. Back to you at the studio." Sharon's smile faded as she looked up and saw Tony Walsh standing beside her, not surprisingly without a smile on his face.

Sharon gulped and said, "Good evening," and the camera was switched off. Everyone in the club was laughing at this stage, including the girls. Holly was finding the whole thing just so ridiculous that she had to laugh.

The camera was switched back on and this time it was focused on the mirror in the ladies' toilet. Declan was filming from outside through a slit in the doorway and Denise and Sharon's reflections were clearly visible.

"I was only having a laugh," Sharon huffed, fixing her lipstick.

"Don't mind the miserable sod, Sharon, he just doesn't want the camera in his face all night, especially on his night off. I can understand that."

"Oh, you're on his side, I suppose," Sharon said grumpily.

"Ah shut up, you moany old wh.o.r.e," Denise snapped.

"Where's Holly?" Sharon asked, changing the subject.

"Don't know, last time I saw her she was doing a few funky moves on the dance floor," said Denise. The two of them looked at each other and laughed.

"Ah...our poor little Disco Diva," said Sharon sadly. "I hope she finds someone gorgeous out there tonight and snogs the face off him."

"Yeah," agreed Denise. "Come on then, let's go find her a man," she said, putting her makeup back in her bag.

Just after the girls left the toilet another toilet flushed from the cubicle. The door opened and out stepped Holly. Holly's big smile faded quickly when she saw her face on the screen. Through the crack in the door you could see Holly's reflection in the mirror; her eyes were red from crying. She blew her nose and stared miserably at herself in the mirror for a while. She took a deep breath and opened the door and carried on downstairs to her friends. Holly hadn't remembered crying that night; in fact, she thought she had gotten through it very well. She rubbed her face while she worried about what else was coming up next that she couldn't remember.

Finally the scene changed and the words 'Operation Gold Curtain' came up. Denise screamed, "Oh my G.o.d, Declan, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" very loudly and rushed off to the toilet to hide.

She had obviously remembered something.

Declan chuckled and lit himself another cigarette.

"OK, girls," Denise was announcing. "It is now time for Operation Gold Curtain."

"Huh?" Sharon and Holly announced groggily from the couch where they had collapsed in a drunken stupor.

"Operation Gold Curtain," Denise exclaimed excitedly, trying to drag them to their feet. "It's time to infiltrate the VIP bar!"

"You mean this isn't it?" Sharon said sarcastically, looking around the club.

"No! That's where the real celebs go!" Denise said excitedly, pointing at the gold curtain, which was blocked by possibly the biggest and tallest man on the planet.

"I don't really care where the celebs are, to be honest, Denise," piped up Holly. "I'm fine here where I am," and she snuggled into the cozy couch.

Denise groaned and rolled her eyes. "Girls! Abbey and Ciara are in there, why aren't we?"

Jack looked curiously across at his girlfriend. Abbey shrugged her shoulders weakly and held her face in her hand. None of this was jogging anybody's memory except of course Denise's, and she had fled the room. Jack's smile suddenly faded and he slid down in his chair and crossed his arms. It was obviously all right for his sister to act the fool but his girlfriend was a different matter. Jack placed his feet up on the chair in front of him and quieted down for the rest of the doc.u.mentary.

Once Sharon and Holly had heard that Abbey and Ciara were in the room, they sat up attentively and listened to Denise's plan. "OK, girlies, here's what we're gonna do!"

Holly turned away from the screen and nudged Sharon. Holly couldn't remember doing or saying any of these things at all; she was beginning to think Declan had hired look-alike actors as a horrible practical joke. Sharon turned to face her with wide worried eyes and shrugged. Nope, she wasn't there that night either. The camera followed the three girls as they very suspiciously approached the gold curtain and loitered around like idiots. Sharon finally built up the courage to tap the giant on the shoulder, causing him to turn around and provide Denise with enough time to escape under the curtain. She got down on her hands and knees and stuck her head through to the VIP bar while her b.u.m and legs stuck out from the other side of the curtain.

Holly kicked her in the b.u.m to hurry her along.

"I can see them!" Denise hissed loudly. "Oh my G.o.d! They're speaking to that Hollywood actor guy!" She took her head back out from under the curtain and looked at Holly with excitement. Unfortunately, Sharon was running out of things to say to the giant bouncer and he turned his head just in time to catch Denise.

"No no no no no!" Denise said calmly again. "You don't understand! This is Princess Holly of Sweden!"

"Finland," Sharon corrected her.

"Sorry, Finland," Denise said, remaining on her knees. "I am bowing to her. Join me!"

Sharon quickly got on her knees and the two of them began to worship Holly's feet. Holly looked around awkwardly as everyone in the club began to stare, and she once again gave them the royal wave. n.o.body seemed very impressed.

"Oh Holly!" her mother said, trying to catch her breath after laughing so hard.

The big burly bouncer turned his back and spoke into his walkie-talkie. "Boys, got a situation with the princess and the lady."

Denise looked at both the girls in panic and mouthed, "Hide!" The girls jumped to their feet and fled. The camera searched through the crowds for the girls but couldn't find them.

From her seat in Club Diva, Holly groaned loudly and held her head in her hands as it finally clicked with her what was about to happen.

NINETEEN.

PAUL AND MUSTACHE MAN RUSHED upstairs to the club and met up at the gold curtain with the very big man. "What's going on?" Mustache Man asked him.

"Those girls you told me to keep my eye on tried to crawl through to the other side," the big man said seriously. You could tell by looking at him that his previous job involved killing people if they tried to crawl over to the other side. He was taking this breach of security very seriously.

"Where are they?" Mustache Man asked.

The big man cleared his throat and looked away. "They're hiding, boss."

Mustache Man rolled his eyes. "They're hiding?"

"Yes, boss."

"Where? In the club?"

"I think so, boss."

"You think so?"

"Well, they didn't pa.s.s us on our way in, so they must still be here," Paul piped up.

"OK," Mustache Man sighed. "Well, let's start looking then, get someone to keep an eye on the curtain."

The camera secretly followed the three bouncers as they patrolled the club looking behind couches, under tables, behind curtains; they even got someone to check the toilets. Holly's family laughed hysterically at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

There was a bit of commotion at the top of the club and the bouncers headed toward the noise to sort it out. A crowd was beginning to gather around and the two skinny dancers dressed in gold body paint had stopped dancing and were staring with horrified expressions at the bed. The camera panned across to the king-size bed that was tilted for display. Underneath the gold silk sheets there appeared to be three pigs fighting under a blanket. Sharon, Denise and Holly rolled around screaming at one another, trying to make themselves as flat as possible so they wouldn't be noticed. The crowd thickened, and soon enough the music was shut down. The three big lumps under the bed stopped squirming and suddenly froze, not knowing what was going on outside.

The bouncers counted to three and pulled the covers off the bed. Three very startled-looking girls appearing like deer caught in headlights stared back at them and lay there as flat as they could on their backs with their arms stiffly by their sides.

"One just had to get forty winks before one left," Holly said with her royal accent and the other girls burst out laughing.

"Come on, Princess, the fun's over," said Paul. The three men accompanied the girls outside, a.s.suring them that they would never again be allowed back into the club.

"Can I just tell my friends that we're gone?" Sharon asked.

The men tutted and looked away.

"Excuse me? Am I talking to myself? I asked you if it was OK if I go in and tell my friends that we had to leave?"

"Look, stop playing around, girls," Mustache Man said angrily. "Your friends aren't in there. Now off you go, back to your beds."

"Excuse me," Sharon said angrily, "I have two friends in the VIP bar; one of them has pink hair and the other one..."

"Girls!" he raised his voice. "She does not want anyone bothering her. She is no more your friend than the man on the moon. Now clear off before you get yourselves into more trouble."

Everyone in the club howled with laughter.

The scene changed to 'The Long Journey Home&rsquo, and all the girls were in the taxi. Abbey sat like a dog with her head hanging out of the open window by order of the taxi driver. "You're not throwing up in my cab. You either stick your head out the window or you walk home." Abbey's face was almost purple and her teeth were chattering, but she wasn't going to walk all the way home. Ciara sat with her arms crossed and with a huff on her face, angry with the girls for forcing her to leave the club so early but more embarra.s.singly for blowing her cover as a famous rock singer. Sharon and Denise had fallen asleep with their heads resting on each other.

The camera turned around to focus on Holly, who was sitting in the pa.s.senger seat once again. But this time she wasn't talking the ear off the taxi driver; she rested her head on the back of the seat and stared straight ahead out into the dark night. Holly knew what she was thinking as she watched herself. Time to go home to that big empty house alone again.

"Happy Birthday, Holly," Abbey's tiny little voice trembled.

Holly turned around to smile at her and came face-to-face with the camera. "Are you still filming with that thing? Turn it off!" and she knocked the camera out of Declan's hand. The end.

As Daniel went to turn the lights up in the club, Holly slipped quickly away from the gang and escaped through the nearest door. She needed to collect her thoughts before everyone started talking about it. She found herself in a tiny storeroom surrounded by mops and buckets and empty kegs. What a stupid place to hide, she thought. She sat down on a keg and thought about what she had just seen. She was in shock. She felt confused and angry at Declan; he had told her that he was making a doc.u.mentary about club life. She distinctly remembered him not mentioning anything about making a show of her and her friends. And he had literally made a show of them. If he had asked her politely if he could do it, that would be a different matter. Although she still wouldn't have agreed to do it.

But the last thing she wanted to do right now was to scream at Declan in front of everyone. Apart from the fact that the doc.u.mentary had completely humiliated her, Declan had actually filmed it and edited it very well. If it had been anyone else but her on the TV, Holly would have thought it very deserving of the award. But it was her, so therefore it didn't deserve to win...Parts of it had been funny, she agreed, and she didn't mind so much the bits of her and her friends being so silly, it was more the sneaky shots of her unhappiness that bothered her.

Thick salty tears trickled down her face and she wrapped her arms around her body to comfort herself. She had seen on television how she truly felt. Lost and alone. She cried for Gerry, she cried for herself with big, thick, heaving sobs that hurt her ribs whenever she tried to catch her breath. She didn't want to be alone anymore, and she didn't want her family seeing the loneliness she tried so hard to hide from them. She just wanted Gerry back and didn't care about anything else. She didn't care if he came back and they fought every day, she didn't care if they were broke and had no house and no money. She just wanted him. She heard the door open behind her and felt big strong arms wrapping themselves around her frail body. She cried as though months of built-up anguish were all tumbling out at once.

"What's wrong with her? Didn't she like it?" she heard Declan ask worriedly.

"Just leave her be, son," her mum said softly, and the door was closed behind them again as Daniel stroked her hair and rocked her softly.

Finally after crying what felt like all the tears in the world, Holly stopped and let go of Daniel. "Sorry," she sniffed, drying her face with the sleeves of her top.

"There's no need to be sorry," he said, gently removing her hand from her face and handing her a tissue.

She sat in silence while trying to compose herself.

"If you're upset about the doc.u.mentary, then there's no need," he said, sitting down on a crate of gla.s.ses opposite her.