See You at the Show (18 page)

“Everything ok with you and Mark?” Billy went on.

“Why does everyone assume there
is
a me and Mark?”

“Easy mistake to make, Stevie.”

She said nothing.

“Don’t you
want
anything from it though?” Billy went on.
 
“Whatever this relationship is between you two?”

She looked at him again.
 
“What
is
this, Billy?
 
I didn’t come here for counselling, I came here for a drink.
 
And the longer I’m here the more I’m needing.”

“Do you ever wonder why his behaviour’s changing though, Stevie?
 
Why both his
and
Johnny’s behaviour’s changing?”

“Jesus, Billy.
 
You’re starting to do my head in as much as the rest of them now.
 
Do you have a point here?”

He shrugged, taking another drink.
 
“Do you never think about settling down?”

“You’re beginning to sound like your wife.
 
And no, not really.
 
I love what I do.
 
I love this life I have.”

“Do you love Mark?”

Where the hell had
that
come from?

“Ok.
 
Enough of the questions, Billy.”
 
She was saved from anymore of his pop psychology by her mobile ringing.
 
She pulled it out of her pocket and checked the caller I.D. - Daniel Madison.
 
“I’ve got to take this.
 
In private.”

Billy held his hands up in surrender and got up, leaving her to it.
 
Stevie watched him leave before saying anything.
 
“Hey.
 
You managed to get away then?”

“You make it sound like something’s going on.”

“Isn’t it?” Stevie asked, pulling the bandana off her head and running her fingers through her short, tousled hair.
 
“You’re telling me your wife’s ok with you coming down here a few hours early to meet up with some tattooed female roadie who works with a rock band?”

“Now you’re making it sound sordid.”

“Are you there?
 
At your place?” Stevie asked, ignoring his comment.

“Yes.
 
I am.”

“And you’re ok with me turning up on your doorstep?”

“You know the answer to that.
 
How long are you going to be?”

“Give me fifteen minutes.”

She ended the call and slipped the ‘phone back into the pocket of her jeans, checking her watch.

“Who were you talking to?” Mark asked, sitting down next to her and swinging his feet up onto the table in front of them.

“Since when did you start screening my calls?”

“I was only asking.”
 
He took a long swig from his bottled lager.

“It’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Are we going back to mine tonight then?”

She looked at him.
 
“You
are
kidding, right?”

“Jesus, no, of course I’m not!
 
Come on, baby, we haven’t been together for days now.”

“Two days, Mark.
 
Two bloody days.
 
And that’s because you’ve been acting like a jerk.
 
First I’ve got Johnny going all weird on me and then
you
start.”

“Didn’t stop you hanging out with
him
though, did it?” Mark said, kicking the table away from him.

Stevie stared at him.
 
“Have you any idea how much you sound like a spoilt child right now?
 
Have you heard yourself?
 
What is
wrong
with you two?
 
He’s your best friend, stop bitching about him.”

“He’s trying to take you away from me, Stevie.”

“Ok, whoa, stop right there.
 
Firstly, nobody is trying to take me away from anyone because I’m not
with
anyone, alright?
 
And secondly, whatever it is that’s going on with you two, leave me out of it.
 
You’re both making me crazy and I’m not in the mood to deal with it right now.”
 
She got up, downing the last of her beer.
 
“I’m outta here.”

“Where you going?”

“Like I said, Mark, it’s got nothing to do with you.”

“Jesus, Stevie, what’s happening to us?”

She stopped and looked at him as he got up and came over to her, and she didn’t push him away as he pulled her closer, kissing her slowly.

“Nothing’s happening to us, Mark,” she said, pulling away from him slightly, her voice quiet as she looked up into his eyes, Billy’s question now ringing in her ears.
 
“It’s just one of those things.”

“What do you mean, it’s just one of those things?”

She broke free of his grip and started walking away from him.

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?
 
Stevie, come on!
 
What’s that supposed to mean?”

But she didn’t want to talk to him; she didn’t even want to look at him.
 
She wanted to get away from him - and this world - even if it was just for a few hours because things were changing and she was confused; a feeling she didn’t much like.
 
Maybe time away would help her focus, get her head straight.
 
And maybe it wouldn’t.
 
After all, where was she going?
 
To some high profile politician’s home to sit and have a chat?
 
What the fuck was
that
all about?
  
But she wasn’t going to think about it too much because if she did, she was going to realise how crazy it all sounded, turn around and walk straight back into the just-as-crazy world she was leaving behind for tonight.
 
Catch-22.
 
She might as well go with the risky choice.
 
Better the devil you know wasn’t hitting home this time.
 
She’d go see Daniel Madison.
 
From one crazy guy to another.
 

***

Daniel was nervous.
 
He was so nervous he almost felt sick.
 
What the hell was he doing?
 
He’d almost ran out of the house, leaving Samantha with some garbled explanation about how he had to get to London straightaway, and she hadn’t even questioned it.
 
Mind you, he hadn’t exactly given her a chance.
 
And the worst thing was, he didn’t even feel guilty.
 

Any second now she’d be here, this loud and beautifully different woman who’d turned his world upside down, and he couldn’t wait to see her.
 
He couldn’t wait.
 
Even if he still didn’t know why.

The sound of his ‘phone ringing made him jump.
 
He was so on edge it was ridiculous, his hands shaking as he tried to answer because it was her.
 
It was Stevie.

“Are you ok?” he asked, peering out of the window of his large yet homely flat.

“I’ve just pulled up outside now.”

He squinted as he looked down from the window.
 
“Are you on a motorbike?”

“Yeah.
 
What’s so strange about that?”

“You’re on the ‘phone.”

“Oh, quit with the health and safety speech.
 
I’d parked up before I called you.
 
Let me in, will you?”

He pressed the buzzer to open the front entrance.
 
“Come straight up, top floor.
 
I’ll leave the door open for you.”

What was he supposed to do now?
 
Should he get them some drinks?
 
God knows he needed one.
 
Walking into the kitchen he checked the fridge and cupboards to see what he had in but there wasn’t much there.
 
A single bottle of wine, a half bottle of vodka, a little tonic water.
 
He hadn’t really stocked up because he hadn’t been expecting anyone.
 
He usually ate out whenever he was here.

Hearing the front door slam shut he walked back into the living room.

“Whoa...this is some place you have here,” she said, looking around her.
 
He watched as she did a full 360 degree turn, taking everything in from the huge fireplace to the ornate light fittings and oversized sofas.
 

She was dressed in jeans, black t-shirt and those heavy biker boots she seemed to like wearing.
 
It was also the first time he’d seen her without the bandana round her head, her hair a vibrant, almost shocking white blonde with vivid red and black streaks running through it.
 
It was short and tousled, a side fringe falling slightly over one of her incredible blue eyes and as far as Daniel was concerned she was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
 
He felt almost breathless as he looked at her.

“What you staring at?” she asked, putting her biker’s jacket and helmet down on the dining table.

He stood there, his hands in his pockets as he stared at her.
 
It was like he was rooted to the spot.
 
“You,” he said.
 
“I’m looking at you.”

“Well, don’t.
 
It’s creeping me out.”

She sat down on one of the oversized sofas, curling her legs up underneath her.
 
“You got any beer?”

“I...I don’t know.”
 
He pushed a hand through his hair, his stomach a knot of nerves.
 
“I’ve got wine.
 
And vodka.
 
I’ve got some vodka...”

“Great.
 
Vodka would be good.”

He quickly got the drinks and went back into the living room.
 
She seemed to have made herself very much at home on his sofa, flicking through the music channels on his TV.

“You can sit down you know,” she said, looking up at him, taking the glass he held out to her.
 
“I won’t bite.”
 
She smiled.
 
“Not unless you want me to.”

Jesus.
 
He had no idea what to do next, this was totally new territory to him.
 

He knocked back half his glass of vodka and tonic in one go, feeling it go straight to his head.
 

She smiled at him again, taking a large drink herself.
 
“You nervous or something?”

“A little, yes.
 
I...I’ve never done anything like this before.”

She looked at him.
 
“And what exactly
is
this, Daniel?”

He sat down on the arm of the sofa, staring into his drink.
 
“I have no idea.”

Stevie put her glass down on the table in front of her and knelt up, resting her arms on his knee.
 
“You said you wanted to talk to me so, talk.”

He looked at her.
 
She was the most incredible looking woman he’d ever set eyes on, despite the tattoos and the clothes and the attitude.
 
Or should that be, because of?

“I don’t know what to say to you, Stevie.”

She rested her chin in her hand and smiled at him.
 
“Do I scare you?”

He laughed, a tiny part of him starting to relax.
 
“Yes.
 
A little bit.”

“I’m not really as bad as I look y’know.”

“You don’t look bad.
 
You don’t look bad at all.”

She sat back, crossing her legs.
 
“So, what do you want to know?”

“You make it sound like a job interview.”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Daniel.
 
I don’t even understand why I’m here.
 
And I’m not sure you do either.”

He got up, taking another drink.
 
His head was a mess, his well-ordered life was being turned on it’s head and he was scared.
 
He was scared of what he’d done and what he might do next because he was losing control by the second.

He turned around and looked at her.
 
“I just want
you,
Stevie.
 
That…that’s all I want.”

She didn’t flinch, the expression on her face not changing at all.
 
“Why?
 
Why do you want me?
 
Because I’m different?
 
Because you’re bored with your perfect life and fancy something you’ve never had before?”

“Stevie...”

“No, you see, this isn’t sitting right with me.
 
I don’t understand any of it.”

He downed the rest of his vodka, leaning back against the wall, closing his eyes.
 
“Neither do I.”