A month later, everyone was in New York for a long weekend. a1 were opening act for BSB's three New York concerts so the girls had come along with them.
"Look, there's Lucy," Heather said as she walked through the airport with Ben. Lucy was already in New York, since she was touring with Nick, and had arranged to meet them at the airport.
"Hi, I've missed you lot," Lucy said as she led them all out of the airport into the busy street. Four yellow taxis were waiting to drive them to the hotel.
Christian, Mark, Naomi and Sarah got into one, Linda, Sam, Paul and Helen in another, Katy, Jenny and Carly shared the third. That left Lucy, Ben and Nick to take the fourth.
"Have you and the boys been rehearsing your set?" Lucy asked Ben as they sat in the taxi, which slowly inched through the heavy traffic.
"Yep, we've got it perfect now," Ben said proudly. "We'll be ready to take the stage tonight,".
"Have you had a hospital checkup yet about the baby?" Lucy asked Heather.
"I've got one on Tuesday, just after we get back," Heather said, feeling uneasy. She didn't like talking about the baby, she wasn't sure if she wanted it.
"I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl," Ben said excitedly. "I'm really looking forwards to having a kid,".
They finally arrived at the hotel and checked in. "What a posh place," Heather noted as she checked out the marble bath and silk bed covers.
"Oh, I forgot to mention," Lucy suddenly said. "I heard from Tasha, she's also over here because her boyfriend Marat is through to the final of the US Open tomorrow!". Tasha's boyfriend was a top tennis player called Marat Safin.
"Wow, that's cool," Heather said. "We should go and watched the match to cheer him on,".
That night, the girls sat in the pit watched the BSB concert. It was an amazing show and a1 did a great job as opening act. Afterwards they went backstage.
"What are we doing tomorrow?" Heather asked everyone as they all sat on sofas in a1's dressing room. "I want to go shopping,".
"I'm going to the tennis match to see Tasha," Sam stated. "Anybody else want to come?". Sam was feeling lonely because Russell couldn't book any time off work so he wasn't with them.
"I'll come," Carly said. Naomi and Christian also wanted to go.
"The rest of us can go shopping," Heather said.
Lucy came in and joined them. "I'll come shopping too," she said, sitting on the sofa between Ben and Christian. "I need some new shoes,".
"You could buy your bridesmaid dresses tomorrow," Sam said with a smile.
"Huh?" Linda said, puzzled.
"I want you to be my bridesmaids at me and Russell's wedding," Sam stated, meaning Heather, Linda, Helen, Lucy.
"Awww Sam, thanks I'd love to!" Heather said, giving her a hug. "Have you set a date yet?",
"It'll in early spring next year," Sam said. "Quite a while yet,".
"That's around the time our babies are due!" Helen pointed out to Heather.
"Oh, is it?" Heather said, trying to sound excited, but she wasn't. She was dreading having the baby. She didn't want it any more.
"Great shot!" Tasha yelled enthusiastically as she and Sam sat in the first row watched the tennis final. Marat Safin was playing Pete Sampras and Marat was winning by miles.
Sam couldn't help thinking Pete looked cute. Although she was engaged, she couldn't help getting feelings for him.
Marat won the match and posed for the media as they bombarded him with questions. Finally, he was able to get back to Tasha in his dressing room.
"Well done, I'm really proud of you," Tasha said, giving him a hug.
"I couldn't have done it without your love and support," he said with a smile, before disappearing into the shower.
"Is Pete's dressing room nearby?" Sam wondered out loud.
"It's just down the corridor," Tasha told her.
Sam wandered down the corridor until she came to Pete's door. It was open slightly, she could see him inside looking really down.
"Don't worry, you can win other tournaments," Sam said trying to cheer him up.
Pete looked up and saw her. "Yeah," he mumbled.
"You played really well," Sam said.
Pete got up and let her inside. He couldn't help thinking how fit Sam was. They were soon chatting away.
"Are you doing anything tonight?" he asked her.
"Nope, nothing," Sam said, completely forgetting about Russell.
"Great," Pete said. "I'll take you out to dinner,".
Meanwhile, the others were having a great time shopping. Linda had spotted a bridal shop on Fifth Avenue so they had gone inside to look at bridesmaid dresses.
"This is beautiful," Heather said, running her fingers over the smooth silk. It was a pale lilac colour and long, quite strappy.
"Ooooh, I like it!" Lucy agreed. Linda and Helen also thought it was nice.
They each bought a dress, getting one for Tasha too since Sam also wanted her to be a bridesmaid.
"Now let's go and buy my shoes!" Lucy said impatiently. "We only have an hour before we meet the boys,".
"What shall we do tonight after the concert?" Helen asked as they piled into a taxi to go to Bloomingdales.
"We're too young to go to any clubs over here," Lucy informed them. "You have to be 21 over here and they're quite strict about checking ID. Nick said that Ben had invited him to have a lad's night out, so I think us girls should do something,".
"What about a Broadway show?" Heather suggested.
"Or we could see a film which isn't out in the UK yet," Linda said.
They agreed on a trip to the cinema. After the concert they set off to the nearest cinema while the boys had a Playstation tournament in Ben's hotel room.
Paul was the first to get knocked out. "That's not fair!" he yelled, he was sure Nick had been cheating. He stomped out of the room and into his own room.
He remembered that Katy's room was next door so he knocked on the wall. "Are you there Katy?" he shouted.
A few moments later, Katy was at the door. "Hi," she said, walking in and sitting on the bed.
Paul locked the door and followed her in. "Where's Helen tonight?" Katy asked.
"She's out at the cinema, won't be back for ages," Paul assured her. "We're both alone tonight, why not hang around together?".
Katy couldn't say no, after all she fancied Paul madly. She was glad she was wearing a tight top and a short skirt.
Paul forgot about Helen once he and Katy got settled in the room. They chatted and watched TV, slowly getting closer to each other. It wasn't long before they were in each others arms.
"Oh no," Paul said when his mobile rang. It was Helen. "Hello?" he answered.
"Hi baby," Helen said happily. "We just came out of the cinema, I'll be back in about ten minutes,".
"I suppose this is it then," Katy said, standing up to leave the room.
"No!" Paul called out. "Go into your own room and I'll join you soon,".
Katy did as he said, smiling.
"I'm really sorry Helen," Paul said as she returned. "Mark's upset about something, I'm going to cheer him up. I might be in his room all night,".
"Oh, OK," Helen said, believing him.
Grinning, Paul rushed to Mark's room. "Can you cover for me?" he asked, explaining the situation.
"I don't like doing this," Mark sighed. "OK, just this once,".
"Thanks mate!" Paul rushed off to join Katy.
They spent the night together without Helen suspecting a thing.
The next day was Sunday. As Paul ate lunch with Helen, he was feeling ever so guilty. He loved Helen and couldn't believe he'd cheated on her.
"What do you want to do this afternoon?" he asked her.
"We could go sightseeing," she suggested.
"OK," Paul agreed. After lunch they set off towards the centre of the city, equipped with Helen's camera to take lots of pictures.
As they passed Tiffany's, Paul saw a gold diamond ring in the window. It would be the perfect gift for Helen. "In here," he said, leading her inside.
"I can't, it's too expensive!" Helen protested when Paul asked for the ring for her to try on.
"No it's not!" Paul lied. It was $10,000 but he didn't care. He was feeling really guilty about what he had done the previous night.
"It's a perfect fit," he noted. "I'll buy it,".
"Paul, you shouldn't have done that!" Helen argued as they left the shop after he paid. Helen loved the ring but thought it was much too expensive.
"Shhh! I don't mind spending that much, honest!" Paul assured her. "Come on, let's go and have a coffee in Central Park,".
At the same time, Christian and Naomi were at a basketball match, Sam and Pete were spending a passionate afternoon in his mansion, Lucy was watched BSB rehearse, Sarah and Mark were in the hotel pool and Heather was in the hotel room with Ben.
"I feel sick," Heather moaned.
"Maybe it's morning sickness!" Ben exclaimed.
"I dunno, it might be the dodgy popcorn I ate at the cinema last night,".
"I was looking at baby clothes in the shops yesterday," Ben told Heather. "I saw some really sweet dresses, I hope we have a girl,".
Heather folded her arms. "Will you stop going on about the baby!" she cried.
Ben jumped back, shocked. "Sorry," he said softly, putting an arm around her. He was worried. Why was Heather acting like this?
.