See You at the Show (12 page)

Johnny pushed a hand through his messed-up black hair and sighed.
 
“It doesn’t matter.
 
Forget it.”

“Forget it?
 
Johnny...”

“I’ve gotta go.”
 
He jumped out of the back of the truck, leaving Stevie totally confused.
 
“See you later, Stevie.”

“Johnny?
 
Jesus, what is
wrong
with everyone today?”

She sat down on one of the huge metal boxes of equipment, taking out her ‘phone and pressing the speed dial number for Mark.
 
Something was up with Johnny; she had no doubt about that.
 
Ever since the festival in
Ibiza
there’d been times when he’d acted really strange, sometimes around her but especially around Mark.
 
She’d find some time to talk to him, and hopefully soon, but right now she just wanted her man.
 
She wanted Mark.

She crossed her legs up underneath her and smiled as his deep, Californian voice came down the line.

“Hey, baby.
 
How you doing?”
 
He sounded tired, like he’d just woken up.

“Did I wake you?” she asked, fiddling with the frayed leg of her shorts.

“No.
 
No, you’re ok, honey.
 
How’s it going over there?”

“I reckon we’re almost done.”

“Get your gorgeous ass back here then, because I’m bored.”

“I’m nothing but a plaything to you, am I?”

But she was smiling as she said that.
 
Playing with Mark Cassidy was always a pleasure.
 
It was never just one way traffic.
 
He made sure she had her fair share of fun -
  
most of the time.

“Just get back here, Stevie.
 
ASAP, baby.”

“Are you in bed?” she asked, looking outside, trying to gauge what there was left to do and how long she was going to be.

“Totally naked and waiting for you.”

She closed her eyes for a second, imagining his perfect, hard, toned body.
 
It was a picture imprinted firmly in her mind.
 
Hers and Christ knows how many others.

“Well, I’m gonna be about an hour or so yet, Mark, so, you’re gonna have to play by yourself for a little while.”

“An hour?
 
Jesus, Stevie.”

“I’m working, Mark.
 
An hour, ok?
 
And you’re more than capable of amusing yourself until I get back.
 
Just save some for me, alright?”

She ended the call and shoved her ‘phone down the back pocket of her shorts, jumping off the box she was sitting on and giving it a nudge down the ramp with her foot.
 
The quicker she got this finished the quicker she could get to Mark, because Johnny was right.
 
They
were
going through one of their calmer periods.
 
Ever since they’d arrived back down south there’d been no fights, no shouting.
 
No groupies.
 
But Stevie also knew that was only because they had a few days off before the Wembley gigs.
 
A few days before Mark Cassidy turned back into that ego-centric rock star he loved to portray and the games would begin all over again.
 
She only hoped he was going to behave himself tonight.
 
These kids were too young and vulnerable to be given the Mark Cassidy treatment.
 
She
could take it.
 
She’d learnt to not let it get to her, to not let it affect her.
 
Or she thought she had.
 
But the one thing that was starting to worry her, starting to hammer away at the back of her mind, was the one thing she’d never really wanted to happen.
 
It had never happened before and it was confusing.
 
Mark Cassidy was a player, she’d known that all along, so why now?
 
Why was it happening now?
 
Why, all of a sudden, was it starting to hurt?

CHAPTER TWELVE

The noise coming from Audra and her friends was almost excruciating.
 
A sea of loud and impatient teenagers, mostly girls, stretched out across the make-shift outdoor concert arena and Daniel and Samantha stood on the terrace of the Country Club watching the over-excited crowd wait for the band to appear.
 
They were constantly shouting and screaming but the only thing happening on the stage at the minute was the odd technician or crew member running out to check something.
 
Daniel wondered if she was still here, the woman he’d bumped into this afternoon.
 
She was one of the crew; he knew that now, so surely she was still here?

“Daniel?
 
Did you hear what I said?”

“Hmm?
 
Oh, sorry, darling.
 
The noise – it’s a little distracting.”

“That’s why I’m going inside.
 
I can hardly hear myself think out here.
 
Heaven knows what it’s going to be like when the band comes out, although I’m mildly curious to have a look at this lead singer of theirs.
 
Audra tells me he’s a bit of a dish.”

Daniel looked at his wife, so perfect and beautiful in a stunning blue cocktail dress, her blonde hair piled up on top of her head without a stray strand in sight.
 
She looked amazing.
 
But for some reason he had this urge, this unexplainable urge to see the mystery Swedish woman again, with her denim cut-offs and tattoos, attitude oozing from every pore.
 
He wanted to see her again.
 
He just didn’t know why.

“Sorry, what did you say, darling?”

Samantha smiled, kissing her husband quickly.
 
“The lead singer.
 
He’s supposed to be quite a good-looking young man.
 
Are you coming inside?”

“No.
 
No, I’m going to stay out here a little longer.”

“Are you sure?” Samantha said, still smiling as she squeezed his hand.
 
He’d been a little quiet ever since he’d got home that afternoon but she just assumed he had a lot on his mind.

He smiled back, kissing her gently.
 
“I won’t be long.
 
I just need the fresh air.”

“Ok darling.
 
I’ll get us a glass of that chardonnay George is recommending and I’ll see you inside.”

He watched her move indoors with the grace and poise of a royal princess, waiting until she was out of sight before moving down from the relative safety of the terrace to the area closer to the stage.
 
He needed to know, and he didn’t know why, he just needed to know if she was still here.

Suddenly the crowd of mostly teenage girls erupted into a cacophony of boos and catcalls as somebody ran out onto the stage, and Daniel looked up to see who it was that was getting the full brunt of their teenage angst - and there she was.
 
It was her.
 
The woman from this afternoon.
 
It was her.
 
Now dressed in combat pants, the same heavy black boots and a black vest with ‘
CREW
’ written across the back of it, her short hair still covered by a black scarf, she seemed unphased by the negative attention she was getting.
 

“That’s Stevie,” a voice beside Daniel said, and he looked to see who was there.
 

A man dressed in jeans and the same ‘
CREW
’ t-shirt stood beside him, looking up at the stage.
 

“Stevie?”
 

Colin, Stevie’s closest friend in the road-crew fraternity, looked at Daniel, his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his torn and oil stained jeans.
 
“Stevie Stone.
 
I noticed you staring at her.
 
She’s a bit of a legend in the world of rock roadie-ing is Stevie.”

“She’s a roadie?”
 
Daniel couldn’t hide the surprise in his voice.

“She’s quite something, isn’t she?
 
Been working with her for years I have.
 
She’s an amazing girl.”

Daniel looked back at the stage as she ran off to the side, out of sight.
 
“Why was she getting that reaction?”

Colin looked at Daniel through narrowed eyes, an expression that said he should really know the answer to that question.
 
“Because of her relationship with Mark Cassidy.”

“Mark Cassidy?”

“Jesus, mate, you really have no idea about any of this, do you?
 
Mark Cassidy’s the front man of Black Rock Diamond, the band.
 
Him and Stevie have been in some kind of relationship for years now.”

“Some kind of relationship?
 
What does that mean?”

“You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?
 
It means that they sleep together.
 
That’s why the girls don’t take to her much.
 
They all want to sleep with Mark Cassidy, and Stevie does it on a regular basis.”

Daniel felt a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched the stage, hoping she’d reappear.
 
“What’s he like, this Mark Cassidy?”

He found himself asking questions he’d never have dreamed of asking before, but he suddenly wanted to find out as much as he could about Stevie Stone.
     

“A bit of a bastard if you ask me,” Colin replied.
 
“Typical rock star in a lot of ways but one hell of a talented bastard all the same.”

“They’re a couple?” Daniel asked, looking at Colin again.

“It’s hard to say mate,” Colin shrugged.
 
 
“Personally, I don’t think it’s anything serious but you never can tell with those two.
 
Anyway, I’d better get backstage.
 
This lot are getting a bit impatient so I reckon it’s time we got this show on the road.”

Daniel stood there for a few seconds, letting this new information sink in.
 
She was called Stevie.
 
A strange name for a woman, but probably only so in the circles he moved in.
 
She lived in a completely different world to his, and one he couldn’t even imagine if he was honest.
 
And she was involved, in some way he couldn’t quite understand, with the front man of this band.
 
The same front man Samantha had mentioned before?
 
It must be.

He knew he should be making his way back inside to see Samantha, but he couldn’t help ignoring what he
should
be doing and go with this uncharacteristic instinct he had to see what was going on backstage.
 
He wanted to see this Mark Cassidy for himself.
 
He wanted to see
her
.

Winding his way through the mass of people as they tried to get as close to the stage as possible, he finally found a cordon of barriers lined up, fencing off an area he imagined was backstage.
 
A few rather large men in dark jackets and sunglasses were hanging around, obviously there to keep out any unwanted teenage attention, but he had a feeling he’d have no problem getting access.
 
He was a famous face himself, in certain circles.
 
He just hoped they didn’t ask him why he wanted to see behind the scenes of a private rock gig because he had no explanation to hand, other than he just needed to see someone again.
 
And he couldn’t tell anyone why.

One of the black-clad men looked in his direction, peering over the top of his dark glasses, obviously taking a second look at a face he was certain he’d seen before but couldn’t quite place.
 
But then, a prominent politician at an event like this probably wasn’t something they saw every day.

Daniel smiled as the man came over.

“I know you, don’t I?” he said, his brow furrowing as he tried harder to place Daniel’s face.
 
And then, sudden recognition hit him.
 
“You’re that MP, aren’t you?
 
You’re running for Leader of the Opposition…hang on...I’ll get it in a minute...”

“Daniel Madison.”

“That’s it!
 
I knew I’d seen you somewhere before.
 
You were on Breakfast telly the other morning, weren’t you?”

Daniel nodded, just wanting to get past the cordon.
 
He wasn’t really in the mood for small talk.

“Oh, sorry, do you want to come through?
 
Take a bit of a look around?
 
What are you doing somewhere like this anyway?”
 
The security man asked, pulling a section of the barrier aside to let Daniel in.

“It’s my Goddaughter’s party.”

“Ah.
 
I see.
 
Ok then, Mr. Madison.
 
Have a nice evening.”