Falling Angel

by Carmen Richter

  “I like to think I’m pretty easy to work with. I don’t ask for a lot and I don’t complain about much. But the one thing I ask is that you do your jobs correctly and that you don’t compromise my safety or my crew members’ safety. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to getting to know you guys and working with you. I know you just got in from a two-hour flight, so I ordered some pizzas for you. Feel free to dig in. There should be plenty for everyone.”

  I was momentarily speechless. Why hadn’t any of this gotten out? I would have thought that something like someone tampering with equipment at a world-famous rock star’s concert would have been newsworthy. Aaron had told me there was more to the story, but I wondered why he hadn’t gone into more detail. Maybe he couldn’t for some reason? Maybe Reagan had told him and he wasn’t supposed to know at all, so he didn’t feel comfortable sharing it?

  And the way she was talking to us, explaining everything, coupled with the fact that she’d gone out of her way to buy us lunch before we started working… It wasn’t at all what I’d been expecting when I’d walked into this room.

  “We appreciate that, since we came here straight from the airport,” I managed to say.

  “I know. I really appreciate you guys getting here on such short notice, so I didn’t have to cancel any more shows,” she said.

  “It’s no problem. Anything we should know about your security protocol? Or is Josh going over that with us?” I asked.

  “No, I’ll talk to you guys while you eat. Um, obviously, you’ll need to sweep the venues and my hotel rooms before I can go in. And I get escorted from whatever hotel we’re staying at to the venue for sound check and I stay at the venue until the show starts. I’ll need two or three of you for the VIP meet and greet. It doesn’t happen often, but some guys have tried to get a little frisky in the past. I don’t go into the audience during the show, so you’ll just need to have guys posted in either wing offstage in case someone gets a bug up their ass and tries to jump onstage or something. And then you’ll just coordinate with the venue security for what happens with security in the audience. I will let you know that I don’t care about people taking pictures or video. I don’t even really care about the flash on cameras. I can’t see it anyway, with the strobe lights and stage lights shining in my face. So if you see venue security giving someone a hard time about it, please stop them. The only other thing is that I do try to go out to sign autographs and take pictures for fans after all of my shows, weather permitting, and if that happens, I’ll need a couple of you with me.”

  “Okay, can do,” I told her as I grabbed a couple of slices of pepperoni pizza and sat at a table.

  So far, this wasn’t horrible. It was all pretty standard. And she got points in my book for signing autographs and taking pictures after her shows, not to mention for being cool about pictures and video at her shows. A lot of artists weren’t. I’d worked security for a couple of artists—a lot less famous than her—who literally made people put their phones in a locked bag when they walked in the door and go to designated areas if they needed to access them during the show.

  “There’s one thing I need to ask you,” I continued after taking a bite. “Protocol at Eagle Security is to use a code name for you among the team, so if anyone hears us radioing to each other, it’s not immediately obvious that we’re talking about you. Do you have a preference as to what we call you?”

  “As long as you’re not calling me ‘bitch’ or ‘hey you,’ I don’t care,” she laughed, revealing a cute set of dimples that I’d never seen in any pictures. “I’ll let you guys figure that out. Just let me know what you decide on, so I’m aware of it if I need to be.”

  “Let Ari pick it,” Hector snickered with his mouth full.

  I laughed. “Let her pick it and we’ll be stuck calling Daphne ‘fairy princess’ or some shit.”

  “Who’s Ari?” Daphne asked, cocking her head slightly.

  “My daughter, Arielle,” I explained. “She’s a huge fan of yours, actually.”

  “Aww,” she giggled. “It would be adorable to let her pick the name out. You should. Does she know who you’re working with?”

  “Yeah. Apparently I’m the coolest dad ever now,” I chuckled.

  “What’s her shirt size?” Daphne asked. “I’ll put together a swag bag for her.”

  Shit. The last thing I wanted was for her to think I was fishing for free stuff for my kid on my very first day.

  “You don’t have to do that,” I mumbled, embarrassed.

  “I want to. No way in hell will we sell all the stuff anyway, and if she’ll appreciate it, I’m happy to give her some of it,” she insisted.

  Again, I was blown away by her going out of her way to do something nice for my daughter. She’d never even met Arielle, and she’d known me for all of ten minutes. But then again, she probably did things like give away swag bags all the time. It was probably nothing to her.

  “Kids’ medium,” I told her. “Thank you. She’ll be thrilled.”

  Half an hour before the VIP meet and greet, I was sitting outside Daphne’s dressing room. Since Daphne was getting dressed and I had some down time, I decided to see if I could FaceTime with Rachel so I could check in with Arielle.

  “Hey, dude,” Rachel said by way of a greeting as her face showed up on my phone screen. “Slacking on the job on your first day?”

  “I’m working,” I insisted. “I’m sitting right outside Daph’s dressing room. She’s getting ready for the VIP meet and greet, so I’ve got some down time. Thought I could check in with Ari.”

  “Daph? Already? Getting pretty friendly with her,” she teased.

  “She insisted on us calling her Daph. She’s way more laid-back than I expected. Actually really easy to work with so far. Anyway, is Ari around?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Give me a second.” She walked out of the living room and down the hall to her spare bedroom, where Arielle was staying. “Ari, your dad’s on FaceTime. He wanted to check in with you while he had a few minutes.”

  “Really?” came Arielle’s voice.

  “Really,” Rachel chuckled. “Here you go, sweet pea.”

  There was a scuffle as the phone was changing hands, and then I saw my favorite face in the world. My daughter’s face. The one face that had the power to make even the absolute worst day better just by smiling at me.

  “Hey, jelly bean,” I said, smiling at her. “You behaving for Aunt Rach and Uncle Tim?”

  “Yeah. Did you meet Daphne?”

  “I did. She’s nice. I actually think she might be putting together some stuff for me to send to you. But I just wanted to FaceTime you while I have a few minutes. I’m about to take Daphne to meet the people who have VIP tickets.”

  “Oh. Okay. I miss you, Daddy.”

  “I miss you too,” I said, feeling my eyes sting a little.

  I wanted to see a real smile on Arielle’s face before we got off this call, so I made a decision on the spur of the moment. I hadn’t actually planned on letting her pick Daphne’s code name, but if her suggestion wasn’t too horrible, we could run with it, I supposed. And I knew Arielle would love getting to be involved.

  “Hey, my team and I have a very important job for you. We need a secret name for Daphne, for when we’re talking about her on our radios. Uncle Hector said we should let you pick it, since you’re such a big fan.”

  “Angel,” she said immediately. “From my favorite song. ‘Queen of the Angels.’”

  That…actually wasn’t terrible.

  “Okay,” I chuckled. “Angel, it is. Hey, I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Okay,” she sighed. “Bye, Daddy.”

  “Bye, munchkin,” I said, then ended the call.

  I put my phone in my pocket and looked over to find Daphne standing next to me. I immediately stood up and cleared my throat. Great. I’d been caught slacking on the job on my first day.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled.

  “Don�
��t apologize,” she said with a smile. “That was your daughter, I’m guessing?”

  “Yeah. She’s staying with my sister while I’m on the tour.”

  “It’s just the two of you?” she asked.

  I nodded.

  “How old is she? Oh, my God. I’m sorry. I can’t believe I just asked you that when we barely know each other. I swear, I’m not a creeper. I just want to get to know you a little, since we’re going to be spending a lot of time together. The whole crew is kind of like one big family, and other than my band, you’re going to be the ones I’m working the closest with, so…”

  I smiled. I would never have expected her to be a rambler, but it was kind of adorable.

  “It’s okay,” I told her. “She’s eight.”

  “You don’t look old enough to have an eight-year-old daughter,” she chuckled.

  “I was seventeen when she was born,” I admitted without even thinking.

  Why in the hell had I just told her that? It wasn’t like I tried to hide my age (or Arielle’s age), but I also didn’t usually admit to perfect strangers that I’d been a sad statistic thanks to a broken condom.

  And that was what Daphne was to me. A stranger. I hadn’t even known her for an entire day yet.

  “Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”

  “I’m sorry for dumping it on you like that. That’s not usually something I share with strangers.”

  “Guess we’re not strangers anymore, then. Can I ask what happened with her mom? It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”

  “Well, you already know that much,” I sighed. “We were both seniors in high school. Katelynn wanted to keep the baby, so we tried to make it work. But then she left when Ari was one, and I couldn’t put Ari up for adoption. I loved her too much. So it’s just been the two of us since then. I was going to go to school for law enforcement, but then I had to provide for her, so I got into security instead.”

  Daphne smiled. “You’re a good dad. I can tell. Do you have a picture of her? Jesus! That’s even more of a creeper thing to ask than how old she is.”

  I laughed. “No, it’s not. Here.”

  I showed her the home screen picture on my phone, which was a selfie I’d taken of us at the park a week ago. Her long brown hair was a mess because it was windy as hell that day, but I loved the picture because her brown eyes—one of the few features she had that came from me—were shining bright and she was grinning from ear to ear, showing off her missing canine tooth.

  “Oh, my God! Look at her with that missing tooth!” she giggled.

  “Yep. She was a happy camper that day because the tooth fairy was awesome and brought her your new album. I felt bad because the darn thing was hanging on by a thread, but it just wasn’t coming out, so we had to yank it. Figured she’d earned a good gift for that one instead of just a couple of bucks,” I chuckled.

  “Aww, poor thing. She’s adorable. Um, anyway, I hate to cut this short, but it’s almost time for the meet and greet.”

  “I know. Let’s roll,” I said, heading toward the stage. “Oh, by the way, apparently your code name is Angel.”

  “Angel? That’s what she picked?”

  “Yep. Her favorite song is ‘Queen of the Angels.’”

  “That’s so cute. I love it,” she said, grinning and showing off those cute dimples again.

  As we walked to the place where the meet and greet was being held and I saw her personally greet every person we passed and even take a few minutes to talk to one of her backup singers—I guessed the one who had been injured at her last show, based on the cast on her arm—I realized that the diva I’d built up in my mind didn’t exist.

  Maybe the next four months wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  “Anything unusual we should know about the meet and greets?” Ezra asked me as we got to the designated area.

  Another guy from his team—whose name I felt awful for not remembering yet—was standing outside the door waiting for us.

  “Not super unusual. I don’t mind giving hugs, but if someone tries to get too handsy with me, stop them,” I told both of them. “And I also don’t mind retaking pictures if they say it didn’t come out good. They paid good money for the VIP tickets and the professional photo op, so I want to make sure they have a good picture. Other than that, just make sure no one tries to kiss me or grab my boobs or my ass.”

  Ezra chuckled as he held the door to the room open for me. “You’re not what I expected.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “What did you expect?”

  “Honestly?”

  “Let me guess. A high-maintenance diva who treated everyone around her like her personal slaves?”

  His warm brown eyes darted downward, like he was trying to avoid my gaze, and he stuck his hands in his pockets. For the first time since I’d met him, he seemed unsure of himself, like he was nervous around me.

  “I get it,” I assured him. “If I’d read the articles that have been flying around online, I would have thought the same thing. But if you ever think I’m acting like that, please don’t be afraid to tell me and take me down a peg or two. Because that’s not who I want to be. I hated putting all of those people out of jobs.”

  “But you did it anyway,” he muttered, then sucked in a breath of air. “Shit. I didn’t mean—”

  “It’s okay,” I cut him off, putting a hand on his arm and trying not to notice how his bicep flexed under my palm. “I understand where you’re coming from. A lot of those people had families to support, just like you have your daughter. That’s why I gave every single person I let go two months’ pay as severance and made it clear that we’d give them a good reference for whatever jobs they applied for. I have friends who are just barely getting by, and I’d never want to be the reason someone ends up on the street. I just honestly didn’t feel like I had another choice, because at the end of the day, keeping that crew was putting people’s safety on the line.”

  “Why didn’t any of that get out? Why didn’t you release a statement?” he asked.

  “I wanted to,” I sighed, sinking down into a chair. “Hugh and Josh both said it would be best not to. They said that drawing attention to it would just make it worse, not better. I pay them for advice like that, so I’m following their lead.”

  “All due respect? I don’t think it was good advice. Because the Daphne DeVille I just met isn’t the Daphne DeVille all of those articles are portraying. You have a lot of kids—and adults, for that matter—who look up to you, and right now, what they’re reading is shattering the image of you that they’ve built up in their heads. I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but that’s coming from someone who would never have let his daughter meet the woman he read about online, but would love for her to meet the woman I’m talking to right now.”

  I smiled. “I hope I can meet your daughter someday. She seems like a sweetheart. And I’ll talk to my PR rep and tell him I want to release a statement anyway. You’re right. Hugh and Josh are good at their jobs, but I think sometimes they forget that there are actual flesh-and-blood human beings reading stuff like those articles.”

  Our eyes met, and I couldn’t quite decipher what I saw in his gaze. It was almost like he was trying to find the real me. Who I was beneath the celebrity exterior. And, for some reason I couldn’t explain, I wanted to let him see that version of me. I had no idea why. I’d known him for less than three hours and all I knew about him was that he was a single dad with an eight-year-old daughter that he obviously loved to pieces. But I couldn’t deny the pull I felt toward him if I tried.

  “Anyway, you ready to meet your adoring fans?” he asked, giving me a playful smirk.

  I liked Ezra already. My last lead security officer was a man old enough to be my father, and he was as bland and dull as dry white toast. I’d spent the past three years and six tours trying to get to know him, and the most I’d ever gotten out of him was that he had a wife, three kids, and five grandkids. I didn’t even know t
heir names, and it wasn’t because I was awful with names. And with as much time as I spent with my security officers, I wanted to have some sort of relationship with them.

  “Absolutely,” I told him.

  He left, and a few minutes later, I heard him talking to the VIP ticket holders.

  “Remember, Daphne is a person, just like you. So, please respect her personal space. She doesn’t mind hugs, but gentlemen, her shoulders are here, not here or here.”

  I couldn’t help giggling at that. I could just picture him gesturing to his shoulders, and then to his chest and his butt.

  “And just remember, everyone else here paid for this privilege, same as you. So please be respectful and wait your turn. Daphne does have the right to ask any of you to leave if you’re making her uncomfortable.”

  The door opened, and Ezra escorted the first VIPs in, a pair of girls. I took a breath and pasted a smile on my face. Showtime.

  “Okay, we just have one more person,” Ezra announced.

  “Okay,” I said, keeping the smile on my face.

  “You look tired,” he noted.

  “Is that a polite way of telling me I look like shit?” I chuckled.

  “No!” he said quickly. “Not at all. I just meant…”

  I laughed. “I’m kidding. I am exhausted. Even though I got a few days off while we were getting the new techies and stagehands trained, it’s still been a long couple of months. Madison Square Garden was my first show back in the States after I got done with the European leg of the tour. I was supposed to be playing three shows there because the first one sold out within like two hours and they asked me if I was okay adding a couple more shows to fill the demand, but I had to reschedule them for a week when I was supposed to have a break. So I’m not even getting another break until that month off. Jesus. Sorry. I ramble sometimes. Feel free to tell me to shut up any time you want. Go ahead and bring the last person in.”

  He smiled, then walked back out.

  When he re-entered with the last person who had been waiting to see me, my chest tightened and the blood in my veins turned to ice water. I wanted to scream or run or at least give some sort of indication to Ezra that I had no desire to be on the same continent as this person, let alone in the same room, but I couldn’t. I was just frozen there like a statue as the Ghost of Relationship Past stalked closer and closer to me.