Lucky Star

by K. L. Shandwick

  “You’ll send Daisy? What the fuck are you, the pub manager now?”

  I laughed and cut him off, leaving him wondering if I’d heard him cussing a “Fuck you” under his breath.

  As I sought out Daisy, I wondered if Paddy may have felt vulnerable at being recognized by someone. He was in Ireland, and although he may have been able to walk the streets of Belfast undisturbed, people weren’t used to seeing him as a famous rock star south of the border.

  People may have hesitated when they saw me because of the cover story we’d invented, but there would be no mistaking who Paddy was, and I knew they’d have recognized my bandmate in an instant.

  Instead of bringing Paddy straight up to the function room, Daisy took him and Bernie up to her sitting room. When she came back, she told me to finish collecting the glasses, and go keep Paddy company.

  “Bring them to the function room once the band begins to play because by then, most would be too drunk and enjoying themselves dancing to notice him,” she advised.

  I hated to tell her she was fooling herself. Our days of anonymity were numbered and it was highly likely that as we moved into a new year together, a new chapter was on its way for us.

  My cell buzzed in my pocket as I was carrying glasses back to the bar. I knew instinctively it was Paddy and made my way to Daisy’s apartment to see him.

  Surprised by his appearance, I stood gawping at him for a few seconds, trying not to laugh, but the longer I stared at my long-time band mate, the less I could stifle a grin. I was amazed that in the month since I’d seen him, he had grown a mighty impressive beard.

  Unlike the rest of us in the band, he hated face hair, and no matter how wrecked he’d been the night before, he’d always started his day by showering and shaving. In fact, I’d never seen him any way other than clean shaven. He’d stated on more than one occasion that wearing a beard must have felt like having a pussy stuck permanently to your chin without the pleasure of the scent or the taste.

  A huge grin spread on my face and I knew I couldn’t allow the opportunity to pass without saying something.

  “What’s with the pussy?”

  “Yeah, this right here is love,” he stated smoothing it down without a hint at humor. “I did this for you and that girl of yours, or did you want everyone to notice me tonight? You do know you’ve run out of time with this open secret of yours, don’t you?” he asked, pouring a large, neat malt whiskey from his favorite rare brand, a bottle he’d obviously brought with him, and downed it in one gulp.

  My eyes darted to Bernie and she shrugged. “He’s worried about you.”

  Paddy waved the glass in his wife’s direction, as if to say, listen to what she’s saying. It was clear from his posture that this hadn’t been his only drink of the evening. He was well on his way to being drunk.

  “The only thing I can advise is that you to go public with Daisy and let the PR team limit the damage,” he said. Blinking slowly, he poured himself another drink before continuing. “We went over this for months. I thought if she took you back and you didn’t manage this, it would blow up in your face. While you’re here with her, that may offer her a little protection, but what happens once you leave again?”

  “Don’t you think I haven’t thought about it? Christ, it’s all I’ve thought about since she came to New York. Looking at our itinerary, we’ve got no down time together until February, and I know I need to do something before I head back to the US.”

  Our serious discussion was interrupted when I heard the faint rumble of feet stomping and vibrating through the building to an insanely fast tune being played in the distance.

  “Let’s just get the night out of the way and have fun—please?” I implored. Paddy chuckled, himself distracted by the music, and immediately got caught up in the tune by slapping his thighs. As a drummer, he could never hear a catchy tune without adding his percussion to the piece.

  I couldn’t help but grin because it was so funny how our angsty conversation had taken a turn that way.

  “Okay, your call,” he agreed.

  “Shall we?” I asked, smiling. I stood and gestured toward the door by way of an invitation to join the others. Bernie stood and flashed me a sloppy half-cut smile and began doing this weird looking jig thing that was a cross between river dance and a drunk female trying to stay on her heels, as she disappeared out of the room.

  “Irish Dancing,” Paddy said through a chuckle. “Her ma made her go when she was a kid. I think she’s got much better moves when she’s lying down than when she’s standing up these days,” he offered with a wink, as he too staggered a little when he made it to the door, but missed holding onto the handle.

  Thankfully, they had kept the disco lights circling the room, which I guessed had been designed as a thin veil of disguise for Paddy and me. They seemed odd when people were busting their moves on the dancefloor in a fast paced, eightsome reel.

  Daisy, Terry and the other bar staff were now operating at full capacity, with eager customers impatiently waving cash and empty glasses in their hands in an attempt to get their attention.

  Leading Paddy to a table right at the back of the room, my eyes went wide when I saw Nick sitting there, grinning up at me.

  “I love Irish girls,” he called out, his voice barely audible above the band.

  Two sweet looking girls sat, one on each knee, his face covered in lipstick, his hand up the short skirt of the girl to his right.”

  Leaning over him I spoke into his ear. “Whoa, rock star. That’s not how you behave in a host country.”

  “I never asked them to sit here, they put themselves on my knees.”

  I glanced to the girls who were obviously enamoured by my nephew, their eyes full of lust. I mouthed, “Condoms,” to him and asked, “Where’s Ryan?”

  He shrugged. “Dance floor? Last time I saw him he was dancing with Belle.”

  Glancing around the room I saw Daisy’s parents with Belle, Ryan and Catrina over by the door. They were looking for us. I waved and Ryan waved back, he turned to speak to the others and pointed directly toward me.

  Once they were all seated around the big round table, and introductions had been done with Bernie and Paddy, Ryan helped me take an order for drinks. Out of habit I grabbed some glasses as we made our way through the dancing crowd and stopped near the hatch to the bar. As if Daisy instinctively knew I was there, she turned to look at me and smiled.

  A grin immediately painted my face as I settled the empty glasses onto the bar counter. I took her in for a moment, enjoying her smile before I tilted my head and sighed.

  “Right, you said you were done when the band started playing,” I reminded her. “Make up this order and I’ll grab some glasses. When I come back, you’re mine for the rest of the year.”

  Daisy glanced at the busy bar scene and gently shook her head.

  “But look—”

  “I am looking, and I flew all the way here to bring in the New Year with you. I’ve kept my end of the bargain,” I said, nodding at the empties on the counter, “it’s your turn to keep your promise now.”

  Nodding, she agreed, “Alright, five minutes and I’m done.” Turning away from her, I weaved my way around the dancers to first three tables by the side of the stage and collected up a dozen glasses. Stacking the pints in one hand and wine glasses by the stems in the other.

  “Hey, Barney, I can’t wait for the bells to chime at midnight. Make sure to be close by so as I don’t have to come and find you,” a short redhead called out.

  Brazen, she grabbed my ass while my hands were fully laden with fragile glass. I managed to swerve to the side without dropping any of them and quickly ducked out of her way.

  Daisy had already left the bar by the time I returned and when I sought her out, I was pleased to see her by our table with the tray of drinks in hand.

  The vibe in the room was incredible, but I had noted as the drinks flowed, a few of the women got a bit less inhibited. That incident hadn�
�t been the first time that night I’d been hit on, as several had already pinched my ass, hugged me and demanded they took selfies with me.

  Sitting on the last available chair, I grabbed Daisy’s waist and pulled her down on my knee, then noticed Cat wasn’t sitting with my girl’s parents anymore. Scanning the room, I caught sight of her seated in a small alcove by the side of the bar, deep in conversation with Terry. She looked worried, and before I was conscious of what I was doing, I’d placed Daisy on my chair and had wandered over toward them.

  “Cat, you okay?” I asked, looking concerned, and glanced pointedly toward Terry.

  “Fine. Everyone’s up on the dance floor. Even the boys have been dragged up by a couple of girls. Terry’s trying to persuade me but I’m a bit self-conscious.”

  Before I could reply, Daisy grabbed me from behind. “You’re Dancing.”

  “I am?”

  “Yes, you are,” she ordered as she took me by the hand and led me into the centre of the floor.

  Rather than join in with the rest of the revellers enthusiastically jigging up and down, Daisy put her arms around my neck and gave me a tender unhurried kiss. A bold move since her parents had likely been watching her. Her warm body felt heavenly in my arms and for a few minutes, despite being surrounded by a couple of hundred people, Daisy and I fell into our own bubble of pleasure. Time was short and we’d seen too little of one another this time around.

  The following hour and a half were the most fun I’d had in years, until Daisy was called away by a member of staff to deal with something no one else could.

  At forty minutes to midnight, when she hadn’t come back, I found the member of staff who had interrupted us and asked if she knew where she was. After hearing she had gone to get more change from the other cash register, I found her counting out coins in the downstairs main bar.

  “You left me for this? Couldn’t Terry have done that?”

  “He could have, but no one can find him.”

  “What the fuck? Right, let me help and after you’ve finished this, you’re not working anymore toni—”

  “Shh, can you hear that,” she asked, eyes widening as she froze and cocked her ear to the side, listening. “There's someone giggling in the cellar. If that’s Terry down there with some floosy, I’ll beat him over the head with a stick.” Right then, I felt afraid for Terry.

  I followed Daisy to the cellar door, which was open, and the lights were on. Low whispers and more female giggling came floating up the stairs.

  “That’s not Terry”, Daisy remarked in a whisper, concerned as she started down the first couple of steps.

  “Really?” she asked, her hands immediately landing on her hips. I couldn’t see past her at that point, to know what she saw. “Right,” she stated turning and looking up at me.

  Daisy’s face was bright red, and she looked more than a little flustered. “This is more your business than mine,” she said in a growly tone, pushing past me, and scurrying back up the stairs.

  When I bent down to get a view into the cellar, two semi naked girls sat atop two kegs, legs astride Nick and some young Irish wingman I didn’t know. The young men poised between their respective hook up’s legs, their pants at their ankles.

  “I hope you guys have condoms on,” I warned, loud enough to gain their attention.

  “Seriously?” Daisy snapped, making a huffing sound of disappointment from the top of the stairs.

  “Not yet, you interrupted us before we had gotten that far,” the kid who wasn’t Nick shot back in frustration.

  “Never mind fecking condoms. Do not use my cellar to fuck girls. I’ve got health and hygiene rules to follow. And you, Kelly Kilpatrick and Josephine Sullivan. What do you two girls think you're doing? All of your parents are sitting upstairs… and you’re… you don't even know these boys,” Daisy spluttered.

  “Do you know who he is?” Kelly asked, her eyes glittering with excitement like she’d wanted to tell Daisy her news. I knew instantly they knew who I really was and cussed my drunken nephew’s loose tongue under my breath.

  “I’m more interested in who you both think you are,” Daisy muttered, pushing back down the cellar stairs, all shame about their state of dress forgotten, as she took back control of the situation.

  “Get your knickers off the floor and back on those arses and get those said arses straight back upstairs,” she hissed.

  “Nick, not cool,” I told him, shaking my head and couldn’t help notice the two girls pulling their panties back into place, under their skirts.

  After they’d gone with Daisy, I stared at my nephew, rubbed the back of my neck and chuckled. “Damn.

  How to piss off my girlfriend,” I stated.

  Nick opened his mouth and closed it again. I could practically hear him thinking on his feet in that moment.

  “We were… keeping them busy,” he eventually offered, with a look on his face like he had signed up for national service.

  “It’s true,” his still nameless accomplice agreed.

  “They saw you and Paddy, then looked at me. You know we look similar and you can’t argue with our family genetics. I noticed them pulling their cells out and they started taking pictures. When they took a picture of you and Daisy kissing on the dance floor, I felt I should do something,” my nephew added, trying again to appease me.

  “Oh, so you were going to fuck them to protect my identity?” I threw my head back and laughed. “I’ve heard some tall stories in my day, but this one?” I laughed again.

  Both boys stared at one another like they couldn’t see the funny side of what Nick had said. I sighed, figuring I should at least cut them some slack as neither of them had gotten laid.

  “Right, zip up those flies and we’ll revisit this tomorrow. It’s getting close to midnight.”

  I waited for them to make themselves decent, locked the cellar door and took them back to the party.

  Chapter 18

  Back at the bar, I caught my girl’s attention as she was heading back behind the bar. “Baby, did you leave the TV on upstairs in your apartment? I heard music as we were coming back.”

  Daisy frowned, alarmed by my question. “No, I switched everything off. You were the last person up there. Hang on, let me go check.”

  Grabbing her wrist, I stopped her. “You’re not going up there alone. I’m coming with you,” I insisted, pulling my cell out to check the time. It was ten minutes until midnight.

  “It’s fine, just wait here, it’s probably the TV. It goes off after a couple of hours if I don’t reset it, but I may just have paused it and it could have come back on.”

  Daisy ran up the stairs before I could hold her back, but I heard her stop suddenly, turn and retrace her steps down the stairs. She looked shocked as she tiptoed toward me.

  “Holy mother of God, Jamie, it’s Catrina and Terry.”

  Pushing past her, I began heading up the stairs, but Daisy pulled heavily on my jacket, in her effort to stop me. When I reached the spare bedroom, moaning noises came from where I had previously slept, and I obviously hadn’t considered what I may find when I’d partly pushed open the door. Although it was dark, I still made out the back of Terry’s head, buried between my sister’s legs.

  As if I’d been shot, I flew back from the door and fell over Daisy’s feet who had still been standing behind me. We both stopped and held our breaths but when I heard my sister moan again, I knew we hadn’t disturbed them. I covered my ears and we hurried back down the stairs.

  “Fecking hell, Jamie,” Daisy hissed. “I had no idea—”

  “Fuck.” It was the only word that came to mind, too stunned to think how to handle what I’d seen. The image was burned in my brain and I knew I would never unsee it. It had felt far more traumatic catching my sister than it was when I’d caught my parents having sex when I was twelve.

  “Well, I suppose they’ll get to that,” Daisy mused, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

  “What?” I asked, confus
ed.

  “Fuck… that may be next on their to-do list.”

  “Jesus, I don’t know what to say,” I said, still stunned. “I mean, she’s a big girl…” I trailed off still lost for words.

  Daisy chuckled. “They’re adults,” she threw back at me, like the comment I’d made toward her when her sisters had been involved with my nephews.

  “What should we do?” she asked, but before I could think, we heard movement from up above. Like two kids afraid to get caught, we scurried out of the bar and headed back up to the dance.

  At four minutes until midnight Terry was back behind the bar. Seconds later Cat cut through the crowd, smiling innocently, without a hair out of place. She took her seat beside Daisy’s mom and I could hardly bear to look at her.

  “Where have you been?” Ryan asked. Both Daisy and I glanced at one another before our eyes automatically glanced at my sister.

  “I snuck out for a few minutes and went to Daisy’s apartment. I just needed to catch my breath,” she remarked, staring Ryan straight in the eye.

  “And did you?” I asked, unable to keep myself from pressing the point.

  Cat nodded, her eyes flitting briefly toward the bar. “I did, thanks, it was just what the doctor ordered.”

  Daisy looked down at her dress and smoothed it out, but before we got any farther into the conversation, the band stopped playing. The accordion player stood and held up his hand.

  “Please join hands on the dance floor as we see out the old year with a rendition of ‘Auld Lang Syne’.”

  Everyone moved into position, joined hands and sang. The voices sounded louder than anything I’d heard all night from either the disco or the band. When the song finished, the accordion player counted down the last twenty seconds of the old year and the whole dancefloor erupted in greetings of “Happy New Year”.

  Grabbing Daisy close to my chest, I kept her there for at least ten full minutes, while girl after girl came to wish me the best for the upcoming year. With my girl in my arms, it left them little opportunity to kiss me with tongues, cop a feel of my dick or rub themselves up against me. That had been my past experience at celebratory New Year events, and I wouldn’t allow anyone to take advantage like that anymore.