The Unexpected Life of Carnegie Lane (18 page)

Lilli became slightly concerned for her younger sister, although, it was overruled by her joy at the fact Jason was leaving. He had done his time, everyone was over him, but it was impossible to tell him that. He meant well, and as annoying as he was, she loved him.

“She’s not pregnant…is she?” Lilli thought for a moment. She was the only one so far with kids, that she knew of anyway.

“No…she’s fighting with Nate. She’s just really sad and she needs me.”

“Well, Jason, if that’s what you need to do, then I’ll help you pack.” She jumped up and went to the spare room. The smile on her face was obvious, and the one thing she was sure of, Kat and Nate would never fight for long, so there was no problem that needed to concern her.

She was pleased that he was walking behind her and couldn’t see the happiness that lit up her face. In the lounge room her husband and the kids all stopped playing and just looked at each other. They were stunned. They were also relieved. They had done their time. It would undoubtedly come again, but right now… they were about to free themselves from Uncle Jason who had an uncanny knack of scratching play station games and overriding saved checkpoints and being embarrassing at weekend soccer games.
Thanks Aunty Kat
, they thought.

The concert was a screaming success, quite literally. Nate Bowman and his band smiled for the cameras and mobile phone shots with a horde of love struck fans, they then made statements to the press about how good they felt doing a show that benefited the school and their music program.

Leonie, Nate’s assistant and the publicity manager for the band, was pacing nervously at the back of the hall. She had received an email from Kat, who was clearly, not impressed, trying to figure out who was the mole for Richard Toll. It hadn’t taken her long to figure it out. There was only one other staying at the Hotel, since they booked it out in its entirety, except for that mysterious guy in that one room and he
had
strangely appeared in a couple of different locations at the same time as they did. She looked around, trying to see if he was here at the concert. Sure enough, he was there watching eagerly along with everyone else. She walked over to him and sat down.

“Was a good show wasn’t it.” She said, attempting to strike up a conversation without alarming him.

“Yeah, it was great. I didn’t know the band was so heavily into supporting education.” He replied, fishing for information.

“Oh we do it occasionally, different things, for different schools.” She was lying, although not entirely, they usually just donated money to the schools where their relatives had kids attending.

“That’s such a good thing to do. What made you choose this school?”

There was now not a doubt in her mind who he was. She had to be careful how she worked her answers, although some degree of honesty here was the best policy.

“Nate has good friend that lives here in Bundaberg, a writer actually. Her girls are in their final year of school and we decided that since we were in the country for the concerts, we would come and do something special for them. Their exams start in a fortnight, and a lot of the kids who would like to come to Brisbane wouldn’t be able to make it.”

She stopped talking to allow him to think about what she said.

“Oh I see. And she is a writer, did you say? Anything published?” He had never heard of Carnegie Lane, so she either worked under a different name, or was reasonably new to the industry. It was how she knows Nate Bowman and in what capacity that interested him the most, he wasn’t much of a reader to care about what she wrote, nor did it matter.

“Not sure, I don’t know her that well, she’s just a friend, no big deal. Well I’ll see you back at the hotel I guess, I better go round this crew up. Bye…err, sorry I didn’t get your name. I’m Leonie.”

“Oh, hi Leonie, I’m Tye, Tye Markham.” He put out his hand and shook hers politely.
Tye Markham
she thought to herself a few times, just long enough for her to remember his name.

Tye watched her as she walked back over to where the band was, she was careful not to bring any attention to their conversation, not yet. She knew how to play this game, years of heading off potential gossip columns had served her well.

The reality with Tye, was he was green. This had been a case of “beginners luck”. He didn’t see it that way or recognize that it was now he who was being played. He was a little disappointed that Leonie had told him as much as she had in a way. It shot the secrecy out of the water, although Richard was bound to see it differently. He settled in and continued to watch the crowd and the band as they signed autographs and had their photos taken for the local paper.

He watched Carnegie Lane closely. She was sitting with Sienna, who was talking constantly in her ear. Olivia and Sobian were standing with their apparent “new friends” who they had acquired magically overnight, although neither of them seemed that interested in their attention. After a while, the crowds began to subside, and the band went back to the Hotel, along with Carnegie and the kids. Tye made his way back also and was met, coincidently, in the foyer, by Leonie.

“Well, we meet again.” She said to him with a smile on her face. She had been waiting for him, and hoped he would arrive soon.

On the way back to the hotel, she had filled Nate in on what she knew, and what she undoubtedly suspected.

“Turn this around Nate. Your sister is going to kill you if you don’t and with good reason. You should have told me what was going on you know. I knew nothing about Carnegie Lane before I got here.”

“There was nothing to tell. I’m just doing something nice for her. That’s all.”

“I get that, although what Kat is saying is right, Richard Toll is ruthless and if he can’t find a real story in this, he will possibly just create his own, and none of it will do her any good if he does.”

“I think your all making a mountain out of a mole hill.” He said, as he turned his head looking out a window staring at nothing, signaling her with his hand to stop asking questions. He felt bad enough and knew he had to call Kat. It wasn’t that he was trying to go behind her back, he was attempting to avoid conflict. Whatever the reason, he felt a connection to Carnegie. He didn’t know exactly why she made him feel so at peace, it was just that she did. He didn’t want to give her up just yet.

“Well, this Tye is staying at the hotel, so I’m going to invite him right into the thick of it, and ask him if he wants to join us all for a few drinks. Since Carnegie and her family will be there, it will be an opportunity to attempt to take the emphasis off any secret liaisons. What do you think?” She was waiting for a reply, he didn’t give one, so she nudged him a little. “NATE…I’m talking to you.”

“Oh, sorry was miles away…yeah go for it Leonie, whatever you want.” He turned and continued staring out over the cane fields they passed on their way back. He wasn’t really listening. Nate Bowman was lost in a world of his own, back in a memory he had tried to forget.

Back at the Hotel, Tye Markem couldn’t believe his luck. He thought all his plans were all falling into place, it
had
to be a sign he was really good at what he was doing.

“Hi Leonie how’s it all going?” He asked, smiling at her innocently.

“Oh great. We are just having a bit of a relaxing drink in one of the rooms and winding down before we go to Brisbane tomorrow. I’m just ordering some munchies down here, it’s quiet and I can think better.” She had a menu conveniently in her hands and pretended to go back to studying it. Then she looked at him again.

“Would you like to join us?” She asked smiling at him with those wide eyes.

“Oh, I couldn’t possibly.” He said, trying to act star struck.

“Come on, it will be fun. It will add to your memorable holiday.”

“Well, I’d love to, actually, what room and what time?”

“Nate’s room, top floor to your left, I’m sure you’ll find it without too much trouble. See you there in say...half an hour?”
Oh god I hope I’m doing the right thing
…she thought.

“Great, see you then Leonie.”

Once he was in the lift, she picked up her phone and called Katalie. Over time, they had become firm friends and what she needed right now was a partner in crime. Somehow between the two of them, she was sure they could find a way.

“What did you say his name was?” Kat asked her, if she knew a hit man, he would have been activated, although it was hard to say who the target might have been.

“Tye Markham. I’ve never come across him, he must be one of Richards cronies there.”

“Well, just make sure you keep Carnegie off my brothers’ knee, if it seems to be headed in that direction. I can’t believe this, we are just about to get her over here and start working on her tour and the media set up for her book. The last thing I needed was Nate in the way.”

“What’s the fascination, it’s not like she’s outstanding, no offence, you know what I mean.”

“I couldn’t tell you. He read her story, oh and I have to say, it is really good. And that was it, he started contacting her. He just loved it.”

“What’s the book about? I might read it myself.”

“It’s a cosmic love story, hard to explain, as soon as I can get you a copy I will.”

“Wow, never knew Nate to be into love stories.”

“Me either. Anyway, he likes this one. It will do great and with Nate around it can only do better, I get that, but this is my first contract. I really need to show this industry I can bring a book to the best seller table without leaning on him. It’s hard to get them to take me seriously as it is.”

“I know, and Kat, you’re good at what you do, wait and see, this is a storm in a tea cup, one which hasn’t even erupted yet. What’s the release date on that book anyway?”

“We are pushing for late August with the publishers, to get it out and running before Christmas.”

“Well, I better go, and get this little gathering in order. You take care and leave Tye Markem to me. I’ll try to throw him off best I can.”

“Leonie, I don’t know what he would do without you sometimes.”

“Me either…”

“Bye Kat and keep me posted!”

Katalie hung up her phone and just breathed. She was feeling a little better than she had earlier. Her phone buzzed and she looked to see a message waiting for her. It was from her brother, Jason:

ON THE 10PM FLIGHT TO LONDON. I’M ON MY WAY

“Great…” She said out loud to no one. Kat regretted sending that email within five minutes of it leaving her inbox. There were times when she wished that the ‘
send email
’ had a ten minute ‘
I’ve changed my mind button
’ just in case something was said that you had the opportunity to regret, forever held over your head in print. This was one of those moments.

Katalie sent him a reply text. She knew there was no point in trying to stop him. It just meant that Jason was coming back to stay with her, about three months sooner than she expected.

CAN’T WAIT!

SEE YOU SOON…

XX KAT!

While Katalie paced in her office inventing ways to kill her brother using psychic forces, Nate Bowman and his band enjoyed the company of Carnegie Lane and a few invited guests at a small gathering after the gig. Leonie watched as Tye Markham talked casually to them all as if he was an old friend. “
Snake…
” She thought to herself, hating that he was drinking their wine and eating their food, all the while trying to turn their lives into a paparazzi nightmare.

If one group broke a story that began to sell, it wouldn’t take long before the photographers would be out in plague proportions. Getting a story that caused controversy was like getting a virus. It was really hard to shake off, and the only cure was time. Luckily, there wasn’t much to see, not unless you were watching closely. Nate’s eyes followed Carnegie, every step that she took. He smiled at her every time she made eye contact, yet she sensed something had changed, a distance that two nights ago hadn’t existed.

She didn’t know he had been warned by Leonie to keep his distance. It was harder than he imagined. All he wanted to do was talk to her and recreate the perfection of that one very interesting night.

Moments became minutes that soon turned to hours. Carnegie Lane gathered up her children and prepared to go home, saying goodbye to everyone and holding Nate’s hand for a moment longer than she should before she turned around and walked away. A part of her stayed behind in that room and part of that room left with her. It didn’t feel great whatever it was that began to tug at her from the inside. For the first time in a long time, there was confusion in her mind, and a feeling in her heart long forgotten began to surface.

It was hard to know if it was self preservation or if she was again becoming lost in her own tragedy, for Carnegie was once again absent… from herself. Her mind was back to a time long ago, a time when she held the hand of another and believed without doubt it would be forever. Now here once again, she could feel it. The same whimsical sense of falling for someone and it scared her beyond belief.