See You at the Show (4 page)

He closed his laptop and stood up, pushing his chair back behind the large, circular desk.
 
He had a few more calls to make but he knew he should really go and see Samantha.
 
He’d only got back from
London
three hours ago and he hadn’t seen her for over a fortnight.
 
She’d been over in their Tuscan villa with her parents, sister and brother-in-law and their two children.
 
He’d wanted to join them but other commitments had kept him in the
U.K.
 
She’d arrived home about an hour ago; he’d seen the car pull up at the back door in the courtyard from his office window, and she’d have known he was home too because he’d left his coat and suitcase in the front hall, but she wouldn’t have wanted to disturb him.
 
That was Samantha all over.
 
She always knew the right thing to do.

Daniel turned the light off and closed the door behind him, suddenly just wanting to see his wife.
 
Maybe they could go out for dinner tonight, spend a bit of time together.
 
She could tell him all about
Tuscany
.
 
He hadn’t been to their Italian home for a while and he was interested to hear all about their neighbours and if anything had changed since he’d last been there.

He smiled to himself as he walked across the courtyard, a bright and colourful space filled with a myriad of flowering pots and shrubs, all ordered and placed in their positions by Samantha.
 
Pushing open the white stable door he walked into their large and airy French-style kitchen.
 
With it’s powder blue units, huge aga and massive distressed pine table that sat in the centre of the room it was both stylish yet cosy.
 
Samantha had designed it all.
 
She’d designed most of the house.
 
She’d designed most of all their homes really.
 
Daniel had neither the time nor the inclination and Samantha had been quite happy to do it all so he’d seen no reason to stop her.
 
She had great taste.

“Darling!
 
You’re home.”

His wife’s perfectly clipped tones made him turn around and he smiled at her as she walked into the kitchen, tanned and glowing.
 
She looked beautiful.
 
But then, even after twenty years of marriage, he still thought she was beautiful with her baby blonde hair and cornflower-blue eyes.
 
She’d made his life perfect and he adored her.

She returned his smile and walked over to him, kissing him quickly.

“You’ve been working too hard,” she said, loosening his tie.
 
“You look tired.”

He held her loosely around the waist, gently stroking some stray strands of hair from her eyes.

“You look amazing, do you know that?
 
Tuscany
obviously agrees with you.”

“Well, what is there to disagree with?” she smiled, looking at him.
 
She’d missed him.
 
She really had.
 
“The weather was glorious, the food wonderful and the wine, as usual, was sublime.
 
I’ve brought you back a bottle of your favourite Chianti.
 
How about a glass now?”

He nodded, letting go of her and watching as she walked over to the dresser at the back of the kitchen.

“I thought we could go out for dinner tonight,” Daniel said as he took two glasses from the cupboard.
 
“Maybe Maxies?
 
I know you love their sea bass.
 
You can tell me all about the holiday.”

She poured the wine and handed him a glass.

“Do you mind if we don’t, darling?
 
I’m really tired after the flight.
 
I was hoping we could have a quiet dinner here, just the two of us.
 
Is that alright with you?”

Daniel smiled, kissing the tip of her nose.
 
“That’s fine with me.”

Samantha put down her glass and slipped her arms round his neck.
 
“Maybe, after dinner, you could run me a bath.
 
Then I could give you a much needed back massage; help you to relax a bit.
 
And then, I thought both of us could have an early night.”
 
She kissed him gently.
 
“How does that sound?”

He smiled, pulling her closer.
 
“That sounds just perfect to me.”

“Good.”
 
She smiled back, letting go of him and walking over to the fridge.
 
“You go and get changed and I’ll fix us something to eat.”
 
She turned round and looked at him again, still smiling.
 
“Something quick.
 
Because I’ve missed you, Daniel.
 
And I really need that early night.”

And Daniel wasn’t going to argue.

CHAPTER FIVE

Black Rock Diamond was last on the bill on the final day of the festival.
 
The headlining act.
 
The last day or so had seen an influx of their fans hit the island, with rockers and their music now mixing with the clubbers and the hippies and the families that usually frequented
San Antonio
.
 
The rock vibe had definitely taken over and the whole atmosphere around the festival site itself was electric.

Stevie had spent a lot of the day with some of the guys from the crew, just hanging out and talking to the fans, and it was evident that many had come to
Ibiza
just to see Black Rock Diamond.
 
A pre-cursor to their much anticipated stadium tour.
 
The band had to put out a good performance here because people were watching, and not just the fans.
 
They’d proved a lot over the years but the hard work wasn’t over.
 
If they couldn’t pull off these forthcoming stadium gigs then all that hard work would have been for nothing, and they knew that.

Standing at the side of the stage, one of the best places to be at gigs like this for sheer atmosphere and a kick-ass adrenilin rush, Stevie watched an Australian band she’d once worked with a few years ago hold the crowd in the palm of their hand.
 
They were good, they were getting the crowd going, the atmosphere was incredible, and Stevie smiled as the band’s front man threw her a big grin from the stage.
 
They’d once had a bit of a thing going, nothing serious but enough to have given her some happy memories.
 
He wasn’t Mark though.
 
Nobody came close to Mark Cassidy.
 
And that was the problem.

“You forgiven me yet?”

Stevie didn’t take her eyes off the stage even though she knew he was standing right beside her.
 
“Forgiven you for what, Mark?”

“For being an idiot.”

“It’d be difficult to forgive you for that when you spend your entire life acting like one.”

She felt him touch her waist, his fingers sliding up under her t-shirt, his breath warm on the back of her neck but still she didn’t look at him.

“Focus, Mark.”

He started kissing her neck and she tried not to flinch but they hadn’t had sex for days now and it was getting harder to say no to him.
 
Especially when she didn’t really want to.

She turned round and leaned against the wall, smiling as she looked at him.
 
God, he was sexy.
 
He was so bloody sexy in his trademark black t-shirt that showed off his tattoos, jeans and army boots, his dark hair all messed up, giving him that ‘just got out of bed’ look that made him so hot.
 
Because he
was
hot.
 
Mark Cassidy was incredibly hot, and she wanted him.
 
Right now.

“I meant, focus on the gig, Mark.”
 

“We’re always together the night before a gig, Stevie.
 
Always.
 
And you pushed me away last night.”

“Because you were acting like a prick, Mark.
 
I deserve a bit of respect.”

He was so close to her now and she could feel herself giving in to him.
 
No matter what he did, no matter what either of them did they’d always gravitate back to each other eventually.
 
It was almost a given.

“I’ve said I’m sorry, honey.
 
I can’t say anymore.”

She put her hand on his face, stroking his rough chin, the sound of the heavy guitar music turning her on as she looked into the eyes of her on-off rock star boyfriend.
 

“Yeah, well, maybe I don’t want you to say anything else.
 
Maybe it’s time you kept your mouth shut.”

He smiled, moving himself even closer to her.
 
“Y’know, there are one or two other things I could do with this mouth that might just make you change your mind about me.”

She couldn’t help smiling too, knowing exactly what he meant, and it made her want him even more.
 
“And then will you focus?
 
This is a big night, Mark.
 
You need to go out there and give it your best, and I mean that.”

He put his hand in the small of her back and pulled her against him, kissing her slowly and she felt her stomach dip with every movement of his mouth on hers.

“Promise me, Mark.”

“I promise.”

He let go of her as he threw her that killer smile, and she watched as he walked off, knowing he was going to his trailer and knowing she was going to follow him.
 

“You not going with him?” Johnny asked, suddenly appearing at her side.

“Of course I’m going with him.”

She looked over at Colin, one of the band’s guitar technicians, and he nodded, smiling at her.
 
The guys in the crew knew more than anyone else what she was like around Mark, and she just wished she could be stronger.
 
But he was the one thing she couldn’t say no to.
 
Not all the time.
 
Not when she needed him like she did now.

She looked at Johnny as he lit a cigarette, taking a long, deep draw on it.

“Why do you do it, Stevie?”

“Do what?”

“Put yourself through all that shit with Mark.”

“It’s not shit all the time, Johnny.
 
But you know what he’s like before a gig.
 
It’s his way of calming down.”

“It’s his way of getting you to do exactly what he wants you to.”

He handed her the cigarette and she took a draw on it, handing it back to him.
 

“I need him, Johnny.
 
Simple as that.”
 
She tightened the bandana that was covering her white blonde hair and kissed Johnny quickly.
 
“I won’t be long.”

“Just get him on stage on time will you?”

She smiled at him as she ran off, knowing they didn’t have long but knowing she had to have him, no matter what.
 
Mark Cassidy got in the way, he tainted everything she did, he infringed on every aspect of her life but she wanted him like nothing else.
 
She always would.
 
Always.

***

Johnny sat down on the steps of the ridiculously large trailer the band had been given and lit up another cigarette, leaning back and blowing smoke into the air.
 
It was almost
9pm
, the sun was just about to go down for the night and they had around half an hour before Black Rock Diamond was due to hit the stage.
 
The temperature was still too warm, the humidity too high, something Johnny wished he was himself.
 
High.
 
He wasn’t really having a great day, even though everything was going like a dream for him and the guys.
 
He needed something to take the edge off things.
 

He sat up and rested his elbows on his open knees as he looked at everything going on around him.
 
The noise, the people, the sound of the crowd and the pounding of the music, this was where he’d always dreamed of being, amongst all of this, with everything that came with it.
 
This was his life now.
 
But sometimes he felt as though something was missing.
 
He just couldn’t work out what.

He’d been a bit hard on Stevie too.
 
She knew what Mark was like and she didn’t need him acting like he had done with her.
 
He wasn’t her keeper, she could look after herself.
 
He just didn’t like to see Mark treating her the way he did sometimes.
 
Stevie didn’t deserve it.
 
But then, she could give as good as she got when she wanted to.
 
Everyone was more than aware of that.

He could hear her and Mark inside the trailer now, laughing, talking, having the frantic sex they always seemed to have, and while part of him wanted to move away and avoid listening to the familiar game play out in front
 
of him yet again, he couldn’t be bothered.