It was the first of July and a1 were in the middle of celebrating their third number one. Earlier that evening, the song had shot straight to the top of the charts.
"Here's to three more number ones!" Ben shouted over the noise at the loud London nightclub, holding his glass of champagne in the air and knocking it against Paul's.
"This is the best weekend we've had in some time," Paul grinned before drinking more champagne. "Not only are we number one and have three days off, but Sam's here and I'm going to pull her,".
Paul was referring to one of a1's tour dancers called Sam who was at the club that night. He watched her from a distance, admiring her perfect dance moves. He had fallen for her the moment he spotted her at concert rehearsals two months ago. They had spoken to each other but Paul hadn't yet plucked up the courage to ask her out.
Chris came and joined them, holding a big bottle of champagne. "Have some more," he said, topping up Paul and Ben's glasses.
Mark joined them too. "Yeah, make the most of tonight. Because in a few days we'll be back on the road again and won't have much time to party,".
At that moment, Ben's girlfriend Lisa and Mark's girlfriend Debbie came along. "Let's have a dance," Lisa said as she took Ben's hand and led him away from the bar and over to the dancefloor. Mark and Debbie followed closely behind.
"Now's your chance," Chris said, grinning to Paul as Sam came walking over towards the bar. "I'll leave you alone with her,". With that, Chris went off to find his girlfriend Lucy.
Paul sat on his wooden stool nervously, racking his brains for things to say to Sam. He was usually very good with the ladies, always coming out with a smooth chat up line... but Sam was special to him. When she was around he became shy. Blushing, he looked down at the ground.
Sam noticed that Paul was at the bar alone so she joined him. "Hi Paul, not too drunk?!" she joked before ordering a vodka & coke.
Paul shook his head. "I've only had a couple of glasses of champagne," he told her.
Sam sat on the seat next to him and put her hand to her head. "I've got a bad headache," she told him. "I think I'll leave soon,".
Paul's heart sank. "Oh... but...".
Sam looked at him, confused. "But what?".
Paul blushed again, getting embarrassed. "Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm sorry you feel bad, I hope you feel better tomorrow,".
Sam said goodbye to him and left, leaving Paul feeling gutted. "I should have offered to take her home!" he said to himself, feeling annoyed.
"Talking to yourself, Paul?".
Paul looked up to see his friends Katy and Helen. "Yeah, sorry," Paul muttered. "Girls, I'll buy you drinks,".
Paul got Helen and Katy drinks then told them what had just happened with Sam. "I blew my big chance," he moaned.
"Awww, don't worry Paul," Helen said, giving him a friendly hug. "You'll see her again in a few days so you can ask her out then,".
"Yeah," Katy agreed. "You've got a few days to think up a good chat up line!".
Over the other side of the club, Ben and Lisa were bored of dancing so they were sitting in the VIP section with their mates Heather and Lissa. "I think we should go shopping tomorrow," Ben said. "I need some new trainers,".
"Let's go to Oxford Street, all of us could go," Heather said. "Nike Town do really good trainers,".
"Can we come?" Debbie asked, as she and Mark entered the room.
"Of course," Ben said. "We could ask Jo, Sarah, Lauren, Paul, Lucy, Chris and Sam to come too,".
Chris and Lucy were also in the VIP section, but they were sitting separately from the others. They had found an empty leather sofa and were snuggling up next to each other. "I just heard Ben say something about going shopping," Chris whispered in Lucy's ear. "But I don't fancy going. Why waste a day that we could use on a date?".
Lucy smiled and gave him a gentle kiss. "I'd love that, Chris. We could take a trip down to the coast while the weather is good,".
"OK then, we'll leave first thing in the morning," Chris replied. "We could go shopping for an engagement ring,". He and Lucy had recently got engaged but Chris hadn't got her a ring yet.
A big smile lit up Lucy's face. "Yeah, that's a good idea,".
Chris stood up. "I haven't seen Paul for a while, I'm going to go and see if he's OK,". With that, Chris left the room.
As Chris walked out of the VIP section, he was sure someone was watching him. With an uneasy feeling, he looked over his shoulder... to see two men wearing all black.
Trying to ignore them, Chris went off in search of Paul. He had seen Sam leave the club alone so he knew Paul wasn't with her.
But before he had the chance to find Paul, he felt two pairs of hands grab his shoulders.
"What's going on?!" Chris shouted as the two men wearing black dragged him out of the club. He shouted loudly but as it was so noisy, nobody heard his cries for help.
"You're coming with us," one of the men said in Norwegian, pushing Chris into the back of a car with dark tinted windows.
"You can't do this!" Chris shouted, trying to open the doors. But they were locked.
The men got into the front of the car and started driving away at a very fast speed. "Oh yes we can!" on said.
"But my fiancee and my friends don't know where I am!" Chris protested. "Tell me where you're taking me!".
"You'll soon see," the other man said with a sly smile as they drove away into the night.
.