Bad Boy vs Millionaire

by Candy J. Starr

  I picked up the phone and asked for someone to pick up my bags but Dad pulled the phone off me.

  “That won't be necessary,” he said and hung the phone up. What was he trying to prove? He couldn't force me to stay there against my will.

  “You can leave tomorrow if you must go. Tonight we are having dinner with Tamaki and Ichiro and I'm not having you run out on that. If you are planning to book a flight, just remember it's my credit card you're using. You wouldn't want the embarrassment of it being cancelled.

  I hoped he'd leave. I turned to the window so he wouldn't notice the tears that threatened to burst out or the quiver of my lip. He didn't say anything but I heard the door close and knew even a lifetime wouldn't be enough to make me trust my father again.

  Still, I had no money to book my own flight. I rang the promotions guys to reschedule.

  Chapter 9. Hannah

  Everything about the restaurant reeked elegance. The soft music playing in the background, the sparkle off the cutlery, the dazzling view of the city lights from the 50th floor window. Dad and I had been led into a private room. The quietly spoken waiter pulled out the chair for me and, when I was seated, arranged the napkin on my lap. I'd forgotten people treated you like that when you had money.

  “Will you have something to drink while you wait?” he asked.

  Dad gazed briefly at the wine list.

  “You prefer champagne to start?”

  I nodded while Dad put in the order for the type of champagne few people even knew existed, let alone how to appreciate.

  “This is the life,” he said as we waited for his guests to appear. “This is how a man should live.”

  It just seemed crazy that a person could go from rich to poor to rich again without any warning. Other people lived their lives at the same level forever, maybe veering up or down a little, but not moving from having to scrape coins together to buy a coffee to having a private dinner in one of the world's top restaurants. Surely it made more sense for people to live their lives with some stability, one way or the other, than to be on a stupid rollercoaster never getting time to catch your breath.

  I didn't want to look at Dad and definitely didn't want to talk to him. He'd forced me to come along but he couldn't force me to talk to him or agree to his stupid plan. If he didn't let me go home, I'd sell all those fancy clothes he’d bought me and make a run for it. Or get Angie to send me some money or do something desperate like that.

  Out the window, the city seemed to stretch on forever. I wondered where the lights ended. It seemed so immense. How did people live so cluttered together? Even though I was high above it all, I felt like the weight of all those people were pressing in on me.

  I turned when I heard the door open. Dad rose to shake hands as Tamaki and his father came into the room. The older man wore glasses and had the kind of suit that has been cut to hide a paunch. His face was leathery and tanned compared to Tamaki, and he had jowls that gave the impression of a toad.

  I smiled and shook his hand but his flesh felt clammy against mine and his handshake lacked any strength or conviction. As he shook my hand, he looked me up and down as if working out how much I'd bring at market. His tongue darted out over his lips. I shuddered. This man did not look like he could be Tamaki's father except for a certain similarity around the eyes and his height. He lacked the bone structure and fine features but he made sure it was obvious he had money with the big, gold rings on his fingers and the way he kept touching his Rolex.

  They sat down and, after the formalities, the talk turned to business. International business and the problems they had. It wasn't that I couldn't follow what they were saying, just that I didn't care. The glass of wine had gone straight to my head and I could almost curl up under the table and nap. I picked up my glass of water instead, hoping it would wake me up.

  “What do you think, Hannah?” Dad asked.

  What did I think about what? I'd not been listening. I'd been watching the lights through the window with their hypnotic flickering.

  “Sorry, I'm a bit sleepy,” I said.

  “I'm sure Hannah wants to help us out,” Ichiro said.

  Help them out? If my father had agreed to anything dodgy, I'd kill him. I almost wished we'd been seated with everyone else in the restaurant, rather than in this private room where no one could see us.

  “But we can leave the business talk until after dinner,” the old man continued. “We don't want to ruin our appetites.”

  At that, the waiter returned with platters of delicately arranged fish.

  “Looks good, huh, Hannah?” Dad smiled.

  I smiled back but, in my head, counted the minutes until I could politely end this and go to my room and sleep. As I glanced up, Tamaki caught my eye and smiled.

  The waiter poured me another drink but I kept sipping my water. I wanted to keep a clear head.

  As I ate, Ichiro talked about his new car. Blerk, cars. I couldn't think of anything more boring. Some shiny new sports car would never smell as good as Jack Colt's car with the smell of old leather and the extravagance of a bygone era.

  Dad nudged my leg.

  “Sounds like a great car,” I replied without looking up from my food. This was some damn fine sashimi. The scallops were especially good with a subtle sweetness that spread through my mouth dissolving all my anger at the world in general and my father in particular. For that moment, nothing existed but me and the scallop.

  “I'll pick you up tomorrow and take you to the airport. What time are you flying?” ask Tamaki.

  “Um, I'm not sure…” I wasn't sure if this was a trap and I could get to the airport on my own.

  Dad pressed his foot on mine.

  “Of course, you can go with Tamaki. It's lovely of him to offer.”

  I stared out at a trail of lights in the distance. Increasingly, it seemed as if there was some grand plot that everyone knew about except me.

  “We will have to have a big wedding. It's going to take up a lot of Hannah's time but we want to move on this quickly.”

  I gulped and the tuna I'd been eating stuck in my throat, choking me. How did this go from a lift to the airport to marriage?

  “Wedding? What?”

  I stood up. These people were insane, and that included my father. Married. I had no intention getting married for years. And definitely not to some jerk I'd only met minutes before. That was barbaric.

  “Settle down, hon. It's―”

  “I won't settle down. I'm not one of those girls like we saw when we were shopping. I'm not going to have some guy sleazing all over me just to get a lousy designer dress.” I turned to my father. “Is this what it's come to? You are going to sell me off for a few bucks?”

  “It's not like that,” Tamaki said. “You need to listen to your father.”

  “What? Listen, mate, I'm not going to marry you and your cheekbones and your razzle dazzle smile. Go get yourself a real girlfriend. Or boyfriend if that's what you are into.”

  “Hannah!”

  There was nothing else for it. I couldn't stay around here. I threw my napkin on the table and walked out.

  Chapter 10. Hannah

  I got off the plane in a foul mood. Being confined to a small space for hours with a bunch of random strangers is not one of my favourite things and I sure as hell was not going to use my father’s money to fly first class. I regretted my pride when I found out I had a mother with a crying baby on one side of me and a guy determined to drink out the entire drinks trolley on the other.

  But at least I was going home, where people were sane and not trying to marry me off. Tamaki seemed like a decent guy. Why would he agree to this? Maybe he was gay and he wanted a beard or maybe he had some dark secret. I didn’t care. I’d never see him again.

  I rushed off the plane as soon as we landed, pushing through the crowds, hellbent on getting to the taxi rank before anyone else. I was totally oblivious to anything around me until someone came bowling out of nowhere and threw themse
lves at me. Even then, I shook them off, thinking it was a bratty child up to tricks.

  “Hannah, have you forgotten me?” A green-haired Angie stood in front of me wrapped in a faux fur coat.

  I hugged her back. Then an extra pair of arms wrapped around us both.

  “Eric!” I squealed.

  I couldn't believe they'd gone to all the trouble of coming to pick me up. No one ever met me at the airport. It was usually taxis or private cars. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed those guys. Coming back really felt like coming home with them there to greet me. All the tension and crankiness from the flight melted away.

  Then I noticed him, hanging back.

  Jack Colt gave me a salute then grabbed my suitcases.

  “Hurry up, airport parking costs a fortune. If it clicks over to the next hour, we're screwed.”

  I scowled at him but it was a scowl with a twitch to my mouth. I’d forgotten the way he swaggered when he walked and how his smile slowly spread across his face. I’d totally forgotten the lock of hair that flopped down in his eyes. And I’d forgotten the strength in his hands. The sight of him was like a punch to my heart.

  “Do you have my boots?” Angie bounced up and down beside me. “Please, please tell me you haven't forgotten them.”

  “They're in my bags. I have presents for everyone.” I still felt uncomfortable about having bought Jack a present. I didn't know why, it just seemed a bit personal. It'd be a lot less embarrassing giving it to him if there were a group of us though.

  When we stepped outside, the glare of morning sun blinded me. I fished in my bag for my sunglasses. I’d forgotten it was morning.

  As we walked through the airport car park, I couldn't help but grin. Heads turned to stare at us. Even if Storm weren't a household name yet, they had star quality and people around us knew that. Of course, Angie in that coat and her huge sunglasses gave off a celeb vibe, which is probably what she’d intended.

  “Shotgun!” called Angie.

  “Hannah's riding shotgun. It's her homecoming,” said Jack.

  That made me grin even more. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about seeing him again and I'd spent the entire flight home playing through different scenarios in my mind. From the one where he took me in his arms and threw me on the bed, tearing off my clothes and doing all the dirty things to me without even speaking, to him having found someone else and forgetting I existed. Either way, it shouldn't matter to me. I was his manager and that was all. Maybe…

  “I’m not sure that is part of the international law of shotgun, to be honest, but I’m so happy to see Hannah come home, I’ll let it pass this time.”

  I knew Angie was making love heart gestures behind my back as I rushed to keep up with Jack's pace, which was incredibly childish, but I didn't care.

  “We can sing all the way home,” I said. “By the way, where is home? You know I'm homeless, right? And I have to have a shower and get my shit to this meeting in a few hours.”

  “You can crash at our place until you get things sorted. Angie's bought all your stuff over. We thought you'd want to freshen up before the meeting then you can come back and we can all discuss it.”

  “Yeah, and Mum's coming over to cook dinner tonight. She loves you, Hannah.”

  Woohoo! I loved Eric-Mama too. And her cooking. Her cooking was extreme, like she'd taken everything that was good in the world and made it into food form. I wasn’t sure about sleeping under the same roof as Jack though. If he was too close, my hormones might overrule my common sense.

  “She loves Hannah, hates me, it seems.” Angie pouted. I wondered when she'd met Eric-Mama. She hadn't told me about that.

  “Come for dinner too, Angie. I'm sure she'll love you when she gets used to you.”

  “She told me not to go to the airport because I'll set off all the metal detectors!”

  I laughed. What was going on between Eric and Angie anyway? They seemed a lot closer than they had been before I left. I'd have to get all the dirt from Angie when we were alone.

  Chapter 11. Hannah

  By the end of the meeting, I felt exhausted. There were so many things to think about with a tour that big. Of course, there was the potential to be seen by a lot more fans than we’d ever reached before but, at the same time, it meant a huge investment. We'd have to get so much merchandise ordered and ramp up the publicity. You couldn't let an opportunity like this go by without capitalising on it.

  At the same time, the promotions company was fully aware they were taking a risk on an unsigned band and needed to be reassured the whole time. Doing that, without backing down on our position, took a lot of work.

  I'd been nervous as hell walking in there, nearly backing out and telling them to get a real manager in to do the work instead. Or a lawyer or something. I'd never done anything like that before, I’d studied some law subjects at uni and looked good in a suit but that was as far as it went. Once I got in the meeting though, all my killer instincts kicked in. I had to make sure that I did the right thing by the guys.

  ***

  When I got back to the apartment, everyone rushed to greet me.

  “How'd it go?” they asked.

  I sat down.

  “I think it went well.” I pulled the papers out of my bag. “I'll get my lawyer to look over the contracts and then I just need to get you guys to sign them and we'll get it back to them as soon as possible. The tour starts in a month's time so you need to get rehearsing. You need to be tight. Really tight. You need to rock the pants off every single person at the concert.”

  Spud picked up the papers.

  “Look at you, Spud, acting like you can understand all those big words.”

  I laughed but I was surprised at the venom in Jack's words. It seemed like the Jack and Spud bromance was over.

  “I'll go through it all later,” I said. “After we eat.”

  The delicious smells from the kitchen made my stomach rumble. It really did feel like I'd come home. Then I remembered. I hadn't had a chance to buy the face masks Eric-Mama had asked for. Oh no. I'd be in trouble.

  Eric-Mama smiled.

  “Hannah!”

  “I didn't get a chance to buy your face masks. I got Angie's email just after Eric's so I had to hurry home. I'm sorry.”

  Eric-Mama grinned.

  “Oh, don't worry. It's good to see you home safe. Poor Hannah, having to go stay with the horrible Japanese. I hope they treated you okay. I don't trust those people.”

  “I'm fine. Really.”

  “See, she loves you. She just calls me Metal Face,” Angie whispered in my ear.

  “How long until we eat? I have to change.” I looked down at my suit. I wanted to get it off and into some comfortable clothes.

  I ran upstairs and got changed then got out the presents. I didn't have anything for Spud but screw him. Why on earth would I ever want to buy him a present when he'd never been anything but unpleasant to me?

  Angie squealed and exclaimed over her boots.

  “They are perfect, Hannah. And they fit just right. Wow, I've wanted these for ages but they were far too expensive with the shipping. Now I am officially the coolest person in the world.”

  Eric-Mama rolled her eyes.

  I handed over the other gifts to Eric and Jack. Jack caught my eye for a moment, the two of us locking glances but I looked away. His eyes asked questions I didn't know how to answer. For a second, I wished everyone else would disappear so we had time to talk. Time to act like a couple who had been reunited. Then I shook that thought away. We weren’t a couple and we weren’t united and I really didn’t want to burn up every time he looked at me.

  The dinner table looked as if it'd collapse under the weight of all the food. Eric-Mama had gone crazy with the cooking. What an awesome woman she was.

  “Sit down and eat, Hannah. You need to be fattened up after that tasteless Japanese food.”

  “Actually, the food was good.” Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said that. “It wasn't as good as
this, of course. I love spicy food. You work so hard to make us happy.”

  I dished up a generous plate of food but Eric-Mama took the plate from me and topped it up further.

  “Did you make sure we got a decent rider for the tour?” Spud asked.

  “Huh?” I couldn't remember any discussions about the rider at the meeting.

  “Our rider? The stuff we get after we play. Did you give them a list of what we need?”

  “What the hell, Spud? We aren’t Spinal Tap.” Jack flashed a look at me with his mouth twitching but I thought if I looked too amused, it’d just outrage Spud.

  “How could I give them a list when I don't even know myself?”

  Spud grinned to himself, as though pleased he had something he could find fault with.

  “We don't even need a rider, do we? Just a few beers are enough. It's not like we’re big rock stars, demanding fancy foods and only green-coloured towels and that kind of thing.” Eric smiled at me.

  “To be honest, I was more worried about things like how they were going to promote you. Making sure you got radio interview time and the size of your name on the posters and that kind of thing.”

  Jack smiled at me. “So, how big is our name going to be?”

  “Pretty big, considering you’re an unknown band with no interstate fan base.” I felt as though I'd been pretty damn tough when it'd come to that side of things. If they looked like stars from the start, they'd get more attention.

  “Yeah, but the rider. That is the difference between looking like a hick band with no idea and professionals. We need to make an impression.”

  “An impression back stage with groupies, huh, Spud?”

  My heart sunk. I hadn't even thought about the groupies. I knew there was always a bunch of chicks hanging off Jack but they'd be getting real groupies. Crazed ones that would go to any lengths to sleep with him. Every night. He'd be surrounded by adoring women with no pride.