CHAPTER 1.

CHAPTER 1:
I met Chris Martin in high school at Phil's Christmas party. We became unbelievably close in a matter of weeks, then we were inseparable. He was my best friend and made me feel absolutely invincible. Of course, being that close, there was a relationship.
We started dating in college and had the most unbelievable time together. Our days were full of making music, drinking with friends and spending the entire night talking and making love. But it wasn't real. We both agreed when we signed our record deals that it wasn't going to work and we decided to remain friends. I guess that didn't pan out the way we wanted it to.
Chris's band Coldplay sold unbelievable amounts of records and traveled the world. I was more successful than I could even ask for, playing places like the Fillmore and Royal Albert Hall. Even though we had incredibly hectic schedules, one thing kept it so we could always see each other- Phil Harvey. Phil was both my tour manager and Coldplay's. He was unbelievably busy dealing with the two of us but he loved and dealt with every second of it perfectly. After things happened between Chris and I though, Phil no longer worked for me. Or talked to me.
Anyway, all the drama started five years before my wedding. Things in my life were going perfectly. I had just finished a long, successful tour, I had some of the greatest and most supportive friends and family in the world.
On a typical Tuesday afternoon I flew from Moscow back to a sunny, beautiful London day. My feet hurt, my head ached and I was in desperate need of a shower. Despite all that I couldn't help but be happy. It was good to be home.
I was standing on an escalator, bags sitting at my feet, trying to ignore the paparazzi when I saw my welcoming committee waiting for me at the bottom. They had made a makeshift "Welcome home, Zoe!" sign that looked like it was made by a five year old. Sitting underneath it with their arms over each other were all my great friends- Phil, Jonny, Guy, Will, Natalie, Gertrude and Chris- singing one of my singles. I burst into laughter, watching them all make complete fools of themselves. My friends were the greatest people on earth.
"You are a bunch of idiots." I said when I got to the bottom of the escalator, trying to hide my gratitude behind humor.
"Welcome home!" They all said in off key unison and gave me a group hug. "Oh, you smell like crap!" Jonny added.
I smacked him across the shoulder and smiled at all of them. "Well, what are we doing, kids?"
"Dinner at Doyle's." Phil said. "So go home, get changed and take a shower. Jonny's right, you stink."
Natalie and Gertrude came to my apartment with me and made themselves at home while I scrubbed myself clean. The entire time I was alone I couldn't stop thinking about Chris. Why was he so quiet? I hadn't seen him in weeks, I thought he'd be more enthusiastic. "Is Chris mad at me?" I said, walking into my living room after I'd dried and styled my hair.
Gertrude and Natalie froze from what they were doing and gave each other a face. I recognized it. They were keeping something from me.
"What was that?" I said, pointing my finger at the two of them.
"W-nothing!" Natalie said, going back to the People magazine she was scanning.
Gertrude was a much worse liar than Natalie, so I waited for her to say something.
"What, Zooey? It was nothing. And no, Chris isn't mad at you. God, you're so paranoid."
Since I was so exhausted I let it slide. I knew something was up, though. "So what's been going on while I was gone?"
"Oh, not much." Natalie said. "Phil broke up with that girlfriend of his."
"Thank god. Ooh, how's your brother's baby?"
"Perfect." Natalie gave me a smile that thanked me for remembering. "The surgery went absolutely perfect."
A few hours later we changed and left for Doyle's. Dusk was coming over the city, and the people were home from work, ready to go out and drink away the day. Doyle's was in my favorite part of North London. Just a few blocks away from Chris's house, it was a place Chris and I would love to go after a long day of writing and recording. Then we'd go up to Parliament Hill at Hampstead Heath and just talk the night away, finishing our beers, watching the city sparkle and the sun rise. Those were some great days, and I couldn't wait to do that again tonight.
Natalie, Gertrude and I arrived before the boys did, so we got a booth in the back of the bar and ordered some strong drinks. The bar was jam packed, and I tried to cover my face with my hand, noticing some people pointing and whispering something about me. Tonight I really didn't want to be recognized. I just wanted to order some drinks and be with my friends. "Oh, god, I shouldn't be drinking." Gertrude said and took a sip of her Cosmo. "I've got a long day tomorrow, I'm going speed dating."
"Speed dating?" Natalie said. "Seems a little desperate, don't you think?"
I nodded in agreement.
Gertrude's emerald green eyes bulged. "It is NOT desperate. If I was as famous or as beautiful as either of you it would be much easier."
"Oh come on, Gertrude." I said. "You are so beautiful you just need to-"
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Need to what?"
"Put yourself out there a bit, love." Natalie said, pulling another martini off a passing waiter's drink tray.
She sat back in her booth and frowned. "What do you mean? I mean, I'm here, aren't I?"
"S'cuse me." A tall, young, Abercrombie looking man said standing in front of us. "I'm sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to say, Zooey, I am a huge fan. Can I get your autograph?"
I smiled and acted flattered, pulling out a Sharpie and a bar napkin. "What's your name?"
"Tad." He said, smiling at Natalie while Gertrude sunk lower and lower into the booth.
I looked over at her and handed the napkin to him. "These are friends of mine, Natalie and Gertrude."
Natalie nodded and he seemed to take an interest in Gertrude, exactly what I was looking for. "Hi," he said to Gertrude who looked like she was about to die. "oh, I love your Star Wars watch. My favorite is the Phantom one."
"The Phantom Menace." She said quickly, not even making eye contact with him. Natalie began to shake her head at her.
"Oh," he said, and stood there awkwardly. "well, thanks for the autograph."
I smiled and we both stared daggers at Gertrude. "What are you staring at?" She said, tearing up a napkin nervously.
"That's exactly what we're talking about!" I said. "You get so goddamn nervous that you shut down your personality immediately. He was into you! You just need to relax, babe."
She closed her eyes and put her head on the counter. "Ugh, you're right. I know."
Natalie put a hand over Gertrude's bright auburn locks. "I can help you. C'mon, let's go get some booty calls."
"W, what about me?" I said, putting my hands in the air with a smile on my face.
Natalie looked down the bar, smiled, then looked over at me. "I think you'll be just fine here."
The two of them disappeared into the sea of drunkards while I looked down the rows of booths to see what Natalie was smiling at. It was Chris. He'd just walked in the door and already made eye contact with me, a smile on his face. "Where's the other two?"
"Natalie's trying to help your sister get laid." I said, handing him a beer.
Chris rolled his bright blue eyes and smiled. "Typical. Hey, so how's it feel to be home?"
"Fantastic." I said, smiling and putting my head in my hands. "I can't wait to start writing again. How's the new album going?"
"Not well." Chris said. "Kind've have writer's block right now."
I waved at Guy, Will and Jonny and nodded. "It happens, I'm sure it'll pass soon."
"I doubt it."
"Well, maybe it won't."
Chris gave me a look and we both burst into laughter. Guy, Will and Jonny sat down and ordered drinks, and the night was off. Every time we would have these nights I felt like I was back in college again. No one wanted my autograph, no one wanted a picture with me, we would just talk to each other as if we had the most normal lives in the world- and we were far from it.
Hours past and I must've had six beers. In other words, I was absolutely wasted, along with the rest of the gang. Gertrude never came out of her shell with any guys but I thought that that night was a good start. Natalie was making out with a guy she'd just met in the corner of the booth, the rest of us leaning back in our chair, in tears of laughter and the most idiotic things.
"And oh my god!" I said, squeezing Jonny's hand as he tried to catch his breath. "Remember when Phil was in love with that vampire? She actually sucked his blood when he stubbed his toe! And he was defending it!"
The others couldn't even reply, they were laughing so hard. "He went looney!" Chris said through fits of laughter. "He must've been smoking something to want that chick. Phil, what were you smoking?"
Phil bent over with laughter and you could see the sweat beads coming off his head. "I believe the children call it marijuana."
My stomach hurt from laughing and my mouth hurt from smiling. And at the end of the night, Joe, the owner of Doyle's finally kicked us out like he usually would. We all stumbled out the door, laughing and giggling at absolutely nothing. Our friends made a little circle to talk and call taxis, but Chris pulled me away from it. "Come on." He said, taking my hand and walking into the night. I knew exactly where he was taking me.
We trudged up the soaking wet paths of Parliament Hill, stumbling and falling and laughing the entire time. "I haven't been this drunk since college." I said, falling down onto an old bench.
Chris sat down next to me and giggled. "I've missed this so much."
"So how's the lovely wife?" I said, trying not to laugh at the very sarcastic thing I just said.
I looked over at Chris who was looking down at his beer, a frown on his face. "Z, I gotta tell you something."
"What?" I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Is it Apple?"
He shook his head immediately. "No no, she's fine. This is about me and you. Do you uh, do you remember the day we signed our record deals?"
"Yeah, that was the day I broke up with you." I said, giggling and taking another sip of beer. I looked over at Chris, he still wasn't smiling.
There was a few more seconds of complete silence as I just stared at him, waiting to hear what he had to say. His blue eyes sparkled in the small amount of light we had, as he looked straight at me. "I uh, I haven't been able to stop thinking about that lately."
"What do you mean?" I said, feeling the tension build between us. A Scotland Yard siren started going off somewhere in the distance.
"I keep, eh, I keep thinking that was a huge mistake. That night. Breaking up."
I slid off the bench and tried to comprehend what was happening. "Now of course I don't regret my daughter." Chris said. "I love her more than anything. But I do regret Gwyneth. Zooey, I should've settled down with you."

My back was now turned to him, my hands in my hair, trying to catch my breath as a soft was now making it feel incredibly cold on top of that damn hill.
"Please say something, Zooey. I've been conjuring up the confidence to say this to you for mo-"
Before Chris could finish his sentence, I'd turned around and kissed him. All the thoughts going through my head, a few of them made sense to me. Ever since Chris and I'd broken up five or six years ago, I'd had some boyfriends here and there but absolutely none of them were steady. I guess I'd never gotten over him because as my lips were pressed against his, the feelings I felt started shooting back into my heart as if I'd just been hit by a shotgun.
Then I realized something. It's not five years ago anymore. Chris is married. He has two beautiful young children and now, I was something worse than having just steady boyfriends- I was a homewrecker.
"Oh my god." I said, pulling away from him so hard I thought he was going to fall over. "Oh my god, this is a mistake."
Chris took a step towards me. "No-"
"You're married!" I stepped away from him. "You're the frontman of one of the biggest groups in the world and I, oh my god I am such a bitch."
Before Chris could reply, I started walking down the path. He called after me a couple times but I didn't answer. I just walked with my arms crossed, head down, my mind absolutely full.
"Wait!" Chris said, stepping in front of me. "Will you please talk to me?"
"Chris," I said, feeling my face get hot and my eyes fill with tears. "I'm feeling a lot of things right now. Resentment, confusion, absolute horror and drunkenness. I just, I just want to go home and sleep. Okay?"
He nodded, frowning. "Call me, okay?"
I nodded and didn't stop speed walking until I got to my flat. After I got inside I kicked off my boots, ran straight upstairs and climbed into bed. "Chris and I kissed." I said into the phone after Natalie answered.
"Well it's about bloody time." She replied, I could hear the TV in the background.
"He's married!" I fired back as I changed into pajamas.
She scoffed. "Marriage isn't forever, babe. He's totally felt for you for a while now and I know you feel for him but don't want to admit it."
"I don't know what I feel right now." I sobbed.
"Watch." Natalie said. "Watch him. In the next few days, the media is going to blow up with the story of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow divorcing. You'll see. Just a few days."

Two months later, Gwyneth announced her pregnancy to the world.