Chapter 23

I walk back into the building and ask if Jimin is still in the studio and Nancy nods. "Mr Nickel has bumped all other acts for the next few weeks so we have to update the schedule. Looks like he is going to be here for full days now" she says. I tell her I will do that momentarily, but lift my arm and show her I have bought some food for them all. I walk back to the studio and the red light is not on above the door so I walk in. The sound engineer is listening to something on his headphones, playing with switches and knobs. Ji-Ho and Min-Jun are on one of the sofas looking at their phones and Jimin is in an armchair talking to someone on his phone. The hulks acknowledge me and I place the food down in front of them. "I wasn't sure what you liked so there is a few choices" I say looking to Jimin for a reaction. I don't get one. I pick up the urns that we put hot water in so they can make drinks and leave the room to go and top them up.

He didn't even look at me. Why? We were fine this morning. The dark cloud inside me starts to grow and the voice comes back. "I told you" it says in a maleficent tone. I shake my head. No, it's not going to work. He is an artist, he is in the zone, also on the phone, and it seemed a quite intense call. Also, he may be holding himself back as to not raise suspicion about what's been happening between us. That's got to be it. I'm just walking back to the little kitchen to sort the hot water when Nancy tells me I have been summoned by the boss. I gulp. Shit what does he know? I leave the urns with her and make my way up to his office.

I tap on the door with a knuckle and he waves me in, pointing at a seat which I take. Mr Nickel puts his elbows on the desk and places his chin in his hands, his fingers sliding up his cheeks and exhales. "I believe I have a lot to thank you for Aimee" he says. I tense a little, wondering what he knows. Waiting for this to back fire on me and him announce that I need to be escorted from the premises. "How so?" I ask him. "Well, I have spoken to Jimin this morning, and he told me that you got to know each other a little Friday and you took him to the zoo on Saturday, but then things got complicated for him because he was spotted. Obviously he is eager to stay out of the news whilst here in London, so the fact you have allowed him to stay with you rather than at the hotel is that little added extra you always bring to your job. I know it must be a total inconvenience to you, but the happier we can keep him the more beneficial it is for us. I will make sure you are compensated" he says with real gratitude in his voice. I can't possibly take extra money now I have slept with him, i'm not being anyone's prostitute so I politely reply and say "No Mr Nickel, I won't accept extra money from you, so far I am not out of pocket and to be fair it's been my pleasure spending time with a superstar!" I giggle inwardly. A real pleasure.

Mr Nickel is hugely appreciative of my taking one for the team, I kid you not that was what he said. I had to really concentrate on not bursting out in to a cackle. I magnanimously nod at him, and say with a dead pan face "I will take good care of him whilst he is with me sir, don't worry". I turn on my heels and leave the office, so pleased that so far we have not been rumbled. We are going to have to be so much more careful out in public from now on. We can't afford to be photographed in an intimate way. It begs too many questions, and to be fair, I don't have the answers. I don't know what his real intentions are. I don't think he is the type to have pursued this relationship with me just for the sex, surely that would be easier to do back home with the full support of his management? Maybe it is that he wants a little affection and attention from a woman, maybe he was just taken with me straight away. In videos of him with his band members, they are quite tactile with each other, but that makes sense to me because without it they wouldn't have any at all. Some people, the antis they are called, use this against them, accusing them of being gay and in relationships with each other, and if they were so what? There is nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to sexuality, you are what you are in my opinion. Perhaps we need to have a deep and meaningful so I can try and get more out of him. Hopefully some red wine later will grease the wheels.