Chapter 1

Since losing my job thanks to the recession I could have done two things, got straight back into the rat race or fulfil a dream I had had since I was a teen. The dream was to go to LA and see the stars, corny as hell I know but I have always worshipped at the shrine of celebrity and why not indulge myself in a bit of shallow glitz and glamour? There were only so many rainy grey days in Britain a man could take before he started to look at the holiday brochures and wished for sunnier climes.

So against the wishes of my parents who thought I should be saving my money in case of a rainy day, I headed to L.A. Hollywood was everything I had dreamed it would be and more. This is what I would have loved to have said but in reality Hollywood was very much like every other place I had visited. Get beyond the tourist spots and the awe of something new and exciting and you start to see the homeless, the grime and the unreality of it all. How many more times would I hear guys saying they were the best actor to ever wait a table in a restaurant? There was something about Hollywood that just wasn’t me and in truth after about ten days I was beginning to become homesick. I should have come here with a friend then at least I would have had someone to laugh and bitch with. I made a decision to cut my holiday short and go back home.

Walking back to my hotel after another day of window shopping I decided to stop off at a little café bar I had seen many times but never visited. There were a few tables outside but only one had a spare seat. I wouldn’t usually ask a perfect stranger if I could sit at their table but I was going home in the morning and so had nothing to loose. Sitting at the table was a guy who looked in his early 30’s wearing a baseball cap pulled down low; he was reading a magazine and biting one of his nails.

‘Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?’ I asked. ‘Nah, help yourself’ he replied kind of uninterested. ‘Cheers’. I sat down and started to look at the menu. The guy opposite was not really paying me any attention but I noticed that his arms were covered in tattoos. He was wearing a black vest with a dusting of hair peaking over the top. Across his breast bone was also a tattoo. He seemed to have a handsome face, although I couldn’t see his eyes because of his large sunglasses. He looked a little worse for wear and slightly gone to seed. ‘Anything good in your magazine?’ I asked. ‘Not really’ he replied ‘Just using it to kill time to be honest.’ He smiled a sort of a cheeky impish smile. His face looked so much more handsome when he did and it looked familiar. ‘Oh cool, another Brit, I have been here for 10 days and you are the first British guy I have spoken too.’ I smiled back at him and put out my hand ‘The names Will’. ‘Alright Will, the names Don.’ shaking my hand. Then it occurred to me. Brit living in L.A. slightly gone to seed, tattoos, reading a football magazine? Oh shit, please don’t tell me this is Donnie Williams! Donnie Williams was one of my all time favourite singers, a guy who’s career I had followed since his days in the UK’s biggest boy band ‘Now This’. He had a hugely successful solo career in the UK but had moved to L.A. to get away from the fans and media attention. He hadn’t really made it big in the States and so found the perfect place to hang out without the hassles of stardom. So what was I going to do? Pretend I don’t know who he is and just sit and have coffee across of a guy I had dreamed about having sex with for more years than I care to remember or just tell him I know who he is and that it’s cool and that I won’t bother him. I decided to play it cool and see what happened, after all even though there were many rumours that he was gay none of them were ever confirmed and so what was the point in making me look a fool, and even if he was gay, there was nothing to say that he would like me!

‘So, you here on holiday, like me or on business?’ like I didn’t know the answer already! ‘I live here mate, not far from here; this is sort of my local.’ ‘Oh cool, wow, it must be great to be here all the time’ am I mad? Could I be any more boring and bland! ‘Its OK, at least its not raining all the time’ again with the cheeky smile. ‘I’m sorry, I keep chatting on, I have just been a little starved of conversation since being here. Didn’t really think that if I came out here on my own I would get so lonely.’

‘Sorry to hear that bud, I quite like having quiet time but I know what you mean.’ He replied. ‘Listen, I am going to do a bit of window shopping at the mall, want to tag along?’ Tag along? Tag along? Donnie Williams asking me to go shopping with him! Bloody hell! ‘Yeah, would love to, I hadn’t got anything planned for the rest of the afternoon.’

‘Cool, come on then, we’ll take my car.’ He got up, threw some money onto the table and headed around the corner.

We had a short drive to the mall and chatted away, I was quite guarded with any questions I answered in case I gave the game away that I knew who he was, so far so good though.

I couldn’t help but check Donnie out as he sat in the driver’s seat. To be so close to someone that I had dreamed about for so long as a very weird thing. He was taller than I had thought and a little thicker. His pecs were quite large but seemed to be on the softer side than when he was in his videos topless. His tattoos fascinated me, there were so many.

‘One thing I miss about England though, is the smoking. You can’t do it here and I have had to quit. Been murder and I do love a good fag, excuse the pun!’ There was that smile again, his face just lit up when he smiled and the famous cheeky charm just made my heart beat faster. ‘Been hell on my waistline, I swear. Stop smoking, start eating!’ He took one hand off the wheel and patted his little paunch. Oh man! I so didn’t need to see him do that!

‘You look good to me,’ oh shit, now he will know I am gay and he will think I am after him. OK, he would be correct on both fronts but he didn’t need to know that, well not yet!

We pulled into the parking lot and found a space. He turned the engine off and looked at me ‘you know who I am, don’t you?’

‘Yes, I do, I mean I didn’t at first but after about 5 minutes I did. I am sorry, please don’t think I came looking for you, I honestly didn’t. I was having a good time just chatting and once it clicked who you were I was afraid you would think I was some obsessed fan, not to say that I am not a fan, I mean I like your music but I don’t have posters of you up on my walls or anything’ Shut up! Shut up! Shut up, you babbling fool!

He laughed ‘It’s OK, I have been in the game long enough to know when someone is genuine, and you are, I wouldn’t have asked you to come with me if you weren’t.’

The relief was immense. I rolled my eyes and looked sheepish. ‘Oh man, I thought you might think I was a stalker!’

‘Nah, they tend to hide in bushes!’ he laughed. I knew we were OK with everything. Inside I was dancing for joy!

‘Come on stalker boy, let’s spend some money.’