Page 1 of Two Hit Wonder

Chapter One

It's not every day that you get asked to join a famous band. If being a one-hit wonder fifteen years ago counted as famous. And re-join was probably slightly more accurate. But then, Iona thought, it's also not every day that your fourteen-year-old daughter tells you to eff off for the first time. So, swings and roundabouts.

She was still rattled when she arrived at the restaurant, a trendy little place in Soho that Cam had chosen because she "knew a guy" who could get them a good table. The good table turned out to be wedged between the kitchen doors and a party of eight celebrating someone's divorce, but Iona didn't have the energy to complain.

Ellie was already there, tall and composed as ever, nursing a sparkling water. She stood to hug Iona, and for a moment Iona felt fifteen years melt away. The same Ellie. Still the calm one, the sensible one, the one who'd talked them all down from a thousand teenage crises.

"You look exhausted," Ellie said.

"Thank you, darling. You look like you haven't aged a day, which I find personally offensive."

Ellie smiled, but there was tiredness around her eyes that wasn’t really like her. "Sit. Cam's running late, as usual. Apparently there's some crisis with her… Actually, I've already forgotten what she said. Something as implausible as usual."

"Sounds about right." Iona slid into her chair and reached for the wine menu before remembering she was driving. She put it back down with a sigh that came from somewhere around her toes. She really could use the wine.

"That bad?"

"Mo told me to eff off this morning." Iona kept her voice light, but the words still stung coming out of her mouth. "First time. I mean, I knew it was coming. Fourteen. Hormones. All of that. But I wasn't quite prepared for how much it would…" She made a vague gesture at her chest. "You know. Not that any of your three would ever say anything like that, I’m sure."

Ellie's face softened. "Oh, Iona."

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I just need to not think about it for approximately two hours while we do whatever this is." She waved a hand at the restaurant. "Which, by the way, you still haven't properly explained."

"Cam wanted to tell you herself."

"That's ominous."

Ellie pulled a face that made Iona grin.

Then, the kitchen doors beside them swung open with a crash, and Cam Knight exploded out of them. She was wearing something that looked like it had been designed by someone who had a thorough knowledge of ropes and bondage, and very much less thorough knowledge of how clothing was supposed to work, and she was laughing already.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Cam threw herself into the remaining chair, kissed Iona on both cheeks without asking, and immediately started rearranging everyone's cutlery. "Traffic was mental. Also I had a thing. Don't ask about the thing."

"What thing?" Iona asked.

"I said don't ask!" But Cam was grinning, and her phone buzzed in her hand. She glanced at it, and something flickered across her face, a private smile that vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell us why we're here?"

"Yes. Right. Okay. Might as well just jump straight in, I suppose." Cam set her phone face-down on the table with visible reluctance. "So. Here's the thing. I'm broke."

Iona waited for the punchline.

"No, actually broke," Cam continued, and her voice had shifted into something almost serious. Almost. "Like, properly skint. Remember that investment thing I did with the cryptocurrency? Turns out that was a bad idea. And the club in Ibiza. Also a bad idea. And the…well, there was a horse involved at one point, but I don't want to get into that."

"A horse," Ellie said flatly.

"I said I don't want to get into it." Cam picked up a breadstick and pointed it at her. "The point is, I need money. Real money. And the only thing I've ever been any good at, besides party planning and knowing a guy, is drumming."

The word settled over the table like a held breath. Iona felt something twist in her chest. Not quite hope. Not quite dread. Something in between. She could see where this was going. "You want to get the band back together," she said slowly.

"Yes. Exactly. The Stage Girls, back from the dead, bigger and better than ever." Cam's enthusiasm was already running away with her. "Think about it, nostalgia is massive right now. Everyone wants their childhood back. We could do a reunion tour, maybe a new album, definitely some kind of Netflix documentary…"

"Cam." Ellie's voice was gentle but firm. "One thing at a time."

"Right, yes. Album first. Tour later. I've already talked to Shepherd—"

"You talked to my ex-husband before you talked to me?" Iona wasn't sure whether to be offended or not.