See You at the Show (16 page)

“I don’t know.
 
I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”

“And I thought you politician’s were supposed to be media savvy.
 
You need to get out of here.”

“Come with me.”

She looked at him again.
 
That same look she’d given him yesterday, the look that said she thought he was mad.

“Come
with
you?”
 
She had to laugh.
 
Here was some stranger, some politician from a world so far removed from hers and he was asking her to come with him, and do what?
 

“I know it sounds ridiculous, I know it does but I just...I just want to talk to you, Stevie.”

“Why?
 
What the hell could we possibly talk about?”

She was distracted by Mark walking into the room, a blonde and a redhead on either side of him, his arms around their shoulders.
 
Looked like something was back to normal anyway, but why did it make her feel like crap?

Daniel saw the look on her face change as the band’s ridiculously handsome front man entered the room, and he still couldn’t quite work out exactly what their relationship was, but he could see that something was there.
 
Whatever that something was.

“Your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

The tone of her voice told him it would be best not to continue with that conversation.

She looked at him.
 
Who was this man who seemed intent on following her?
 
What did he want from her?
 
He was persistent, she’d give him that.
 
He was also really good-looking, she hadn’t noticed that before.
 
Not in the same league as Mark, of course.
 
Nowhere near.
 
But everything about him screamed anything other than politician.
 
She was surprised to find herself kind of intrigued to know more about him, but not here.
 
There were too many distractions here.

Daniel dug deep into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper, taking a pen out of his shirt pocket.
 
She watched him as he scribbled something down on the paper and handed it to her.

“This is where I’m staying.
 
It’s my
London
address.
 
I stay there when I’m here on business or working in
Westminster
.”

She took it from him and looked at it before stuffing it into the pocket of her combat pants.

“I’m going there now,” Daniel said, standing up.
 
“If you want to...if you don’t think I’m too much of a crazy person...”

She couldn’t help but smile at him.
 
“You are.
 
You’re a nutter if you ask me.”

He smiled too.
 
She made him want to smile.
 
“I’d love to get to know you, Stevie.
 
Whatever’s going on here, and I have no idea what it is, but I can’t get you out of my head and I...I need to do something about that.”

She looked at him.
 
“You’re weird, Mr. Madison.
 
You’re very weird.”

“And it feels quite exhilarating,” he laughed.
 
“So...will I...?”

She looked over towards where Mark and Jack were talking to the two women Mark had brought in with him, then over at Johnny who was busy chatting to Billy.
 
She didn’t know what to do.
 
Everything just felt so upside down at the minute.
 
Nothing felt the same.

“Maybe,” she said quietly.
 
Then she looked at him one more time.
 
“Just, maybe.
 
Ok?”

He nodded.
 
Maybe was a positive word when she said it.
 
“I’ll take maybe.”

“It’s all you’re getting.”
 
She continued to look at him.
 
There was something about him that drew her in, something she was finding hard to ignore.
 
“Goodbye.
 
Daniel.”

It was the first time he’d heard her say his name and it made his heart jump, a strange feeling cutting right across his chest.

She got up and walked away from him without looking back, but he was going to see her again.
 
He had no doubt about that.
 
He was going to see her again.
 
And what happened after that he had yet to work out.

***

Mark lounged back on the sofa, the redhead beside him talking away in his ear but he wasn’t really listening.
 
He hadn’t really been listening to her all night.
 
He was too busy watching Stevie talking to some guy he hadn’t seen before.
 
He was trying to work out what was going on over there because one minute she was looking at him strangely and the next they were laughing together.

“Mark, baby, are we going soon?”

He looked at the redhead.
 
She was pretty enough and she had an amazing body, but she was no Stevie.
 
And she was starting to aggravate him.
 
Once the sex was out of the way he really wished they’d just disappear.

“
We’re
not going anywhere, honey.
 
We’re done here.”

“Is that it?
 
You’re just dumping me?”
 

“What did you think was gonna happen, sweetheart?
 
That we were gonna live happily ever after?”

Jack sat up, the blonde now sitting on his knee, her arms around his neck.

“Hey, if he doesn’t want you, darlin’, you can come over and join us.
 
No such thing as three’s a crowd where Jack Warner’s concerned.”

She got up without giving Mark another glance, sitting down next to Jack, his arm sliding around her shoulders as she snuggled in against him, smiling up at him.
 
Jack was welcome to her.
 
Mark was just glad she was out of his hair.
 
        

He stood up and walked over to Stevie, stopping her in her tracks by standing right in front of her.

“You got a problem?” she asked, looking up at him, suddenly angry with him for no real reason.
 
None of what he was doing was unusual but for some reason she was finding it hard to deal with tonight.

“You coming back to my place tonight?
 
We can pick up where we left off this morning.”

“Can we?
 
Fuck off, Mark.
 
It doesn’t work like that.”

She tried to walk past him but he grabbed hold of her waist, pulling her closer to him.

“Come on, Stevie.
 
I’m bored of the fan club tonight.”

“That’s a shame, Mark, because you’re getting nothing from me.”

She broke free from his grip and started to walk away from him, but he grabbed her wrist, pulling her back round to face him.

“You’re knocking me back?”

She stared at him.
 
“Not nice, is it?”

She pulled her wrist free and walked over to Johnny, slipping a hand round the back of his neck, kissing him hard.
 
Mark watched as his friend slid a hand round her waist, pulling her against him and the feeling in the pit of his stomach was one he’d never experienced before.
 
He’d seen this play out a thousand times.
 
He’d seen her do this with Johnny for years now, he’d even watched them having sex once for Christ’s sake, but seeing them now was making him feel sick.
 
He didn’t like it, and he didn’t want to watch it anymore.

“Are you doing this just to piss him off?” Johnny said, still holding onto Stevie but indicating towards Mark, who was now making his way over to the bar.

She shrugged.
 
“And if I am?”

He smiled.
 
“You not in the mood for him then?”

She didn’t say anything, letting go of Johnny and leaning against the wall beside him, sticking her hands in her pockets.

“Can we go soon?
 
Please?”

“Who were you talking to before?
 
Over there?
 
He looked like the same guy you were talking to yesterday.
 
The posh guy, as you put it.”

“It
was
the same guy,” Stevie said, watching Mark as he knocked back a shot of something in one go, ordering another one immediately.

“What did he want?”

“Nothing…fuck it, I’m outta here.”

“Stevie, hang on!
 
Where are you going?”

“I’ll see you back at yours, Johnny.
 
I’m gonna go see Colin and make sure everything’s sorted here.
 
I’ll catch you later, ok?”

“Yeah.
 
Ok.
 
I suppose.”

Stevie practically ran out of the room, bumping into Dave Deacon who was on his way in.

“Hey, take it easy!” he said, looking at her as she tried to push past him.

“Get out of my way, Dave.
 
I’m not in the mood.”

“I haven’t said anything yet.
 
What the hell’s up with
you
?”
 
He looked over towards the bar, where Mark was now lining up shots and knocking back beer like there was no tomorrow.
 
“You and him been pissing each other off again?”

“Like that’d be news,” Stevie said, her fingers playing with the scrap of paper in her pocket that Daniel had given her.

“We’ve got four more nights here, Stevie.
 
I need him at his best.”

“We’ve been down this road before, Dave, and I’ll ask the same question; that’s my problem because...?”

Dave looked at her.
 
She was an incredible looking woman.
 
He could quite understand why she made Mark Cassidy act the way he did - he’d often wondered what it would be like to go there himself, and he knew he wasn’t the only one.

“If you’re going to make him this crazy then at least do us the favour of calming him down when you’ve both finished playing whatever game it is you insist on playing.”

“It’s not a game, Dave.”

“Just sort it out, Stevie.
 
He fucks up on this tour and nobody wins.”

“Whatever.
 
He’s not my problem, ok?”

She tried to walk away but he grabbed her wrist to stop her, and she swung round to stare at him.
 
“Do you want to let go of me?
 
Now?”

“Listen, Stevie.
 
You’re great at what you do, nobody’s denying that.
 
But you and Mark, sort it out.
 
And soon.
 
Because I’m watching him and I don’t like what I see.”

She laughed in his face, wrenching her wrist free from his grip.

“You don’t control me, Dave.
 
And you certainly don’t tell me what to do so back off.
 
Just, back off.”

She walked out of the room, out into the corridor, and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath.
 
She could still feel that piece of paper in her pocket and she slowly took it out, unfolding it and looking at the scribbled words.
 
He’d left a number, too.
 
His mobile number.
 
This strange man from another world who was starting to play on her mind.
 
But did she really want to go there tonight?
 
Did she really want to know what he needed from her?
 
Just more questions piling up in her head alongside the ever growing list that seemed to get longer every day.
 
And whether they got answered or not was something only she could control.

***

Mark walked over to Johnny, standing right in front of him, staring him right in the eyes.
 
Johnny just looked at him.
 
It was obvious he’d had a good few drinks in the short space of time he’d been at the bar because Johnny could smell the alcohol on him.

“What’s the problem, Mark?”

“You.
 
Leave her alone, Johnny.”

“Sorry?” Johnny laughed.

“Stevie.
 
Keep away from her.”

“You’re drunk, Mark.”
 
Johnny couldn’t be bothered with this tonight.
 
Mark was acting like an idiot and he wasn’t in the mood.

“It’s time to stop this shit,” Mark went on, looking down at the ground for a second, his voice getting calmer and quieter.
 
“It’s time.”

“What?
 
Time for you to stop treating her like crap?
 
Huh?
 
Is that what you mean?”