by Kayla Myles
I sighed heavily. This was what I got for being too impulsive. What am I supposed to do with the kid now?
I heard a growling noise coming from the kid, and she blushed, clutching at her stomach like she could convince it to keep quiet. It growled louder instead, and her bottom lip jutted out as if she was going to cry.
My heart melted.
“Hey kid, want to go grab a milkshake?” I asked.
Chapter 5
Tanner
“Thanks for being here tonight, guys! Have a great night!”
The crowd continued to scream even after I had walked through the divide between the huge monitors and left the stage. Usually, I’d hang back and chill with my backup band and crew after my concert, along with more obligatory fan meets, but right now, I needed to be somewhere else.
I got a text from my neighbor saying he left my daughter at the parking lot in a hurry, and that text was an hour and a half ago. I opened the dressing room with a bang, expecting to see her waiting inside, and I frowned when I didn’t see anyone. I turned back and located my agent, who was talking to the ticketing sales agent with a big smile on his face, the one he usually had when he was calculating the amount of money we made.
“Hey, Alan!” I called, disturbing him from his trance. “Where’s Beth?” I asked.
He blinked twice, and looked at me with a blank expression on his face.
“Who?” he asked, and I felt a vein on my forehead start to throb.
“Beth!” I snarled before glaring at the ticketing agent. He gulped and quickly walked away from us so I went back to my interrogation.
“My daughter!” I hissed. “I told you to look after her while I was on!”
It took him a few seconds to process what I was talking about, and when he did, his face blanched.
It was the wrong answer.
I tore off the lapel I was wearing, and threw it at a nearby crewmember twiddling with the sound system and ran out of there, my agent yelling at me to stop.
I asked him to do one thing and he couldn’t even do it. And now, my daughter was probably waiting for me somewhere, cold, alone, helpless...in a place filled with strange people.
Fucking hell. I really should stop thinking like that.
But what else was I supposed to think? My kid is a defenseless six year old girl all alone in a supermall slash concert arena. How was I going to be able to wrap my head around that?
I spotted an empty elevator and zoomed my way inside, mashing on the close button repeatedly so that I’d ride the lift solo. I jabbed the button to the parking lot and felt antsy the whole ride, shuffling my feet left and right as I watched the lift monitor indicate which floor. When the letter ‘P’ finally lit up, I dashed out of the elevator only to stop when I saw a bunch of beat up guys struggling to get up.
I didn’t come any closer because I didn’t want to get involved, but from the way these beefy looking guys are carrying themselves, they just got their asses handed to them.
I saw one of them with a floppy-looking arm, and I internally winced. I wondered what kind of guy dealt that much damage.
I wondered if Beth was here when these guys got whooped, and that thought didn’t sit well with me at all.
Oh, God. Beth. Please.
I have to find her.
I searched all over the parking lot twice over but there was no sign of her. My little dumpling was smart, so she probably went up and wandered around in the mall instead. I went back up the elevator and saw my reflection from the mirrored walls, realizing that if I go up there, people would recognize me easily. I turned my jacket collar up and took out the oversized spectacles I used whenever I wanted to walk around incognito, putting them over my eyes. I got out of the elevator and continued my search.
I looked around the shops, peering through the glasses for a little girl that looks just like me, when I see her in a cutesy-looking café, sitting in a booth while slurping on a milkshake with a girl with fiery red hair sitting across from her, her milkshake glass only half full.
Relief flooded through my body the moment I located Beth, followed by a surge of curiosity as my daughter happily chatted with this stranger, her cheeks rising up as she grinned up at the woman. The woman, in turn, had one of her eyebrows raised as she looked at her with mild amusement. It was strange, but I didn’t feel like she was a bad person. At least, she didn’t look like she meant anything bad towards Beth.
But that didn’t mean I shouldn’t check on her.
Chapter 6
Rebecca
“So, Beth, right?” I asked, the little girl nodding her head as she smacked her lips together, savoring the sweet taste of the chocolate milkshake I bought her. She had already scarfed down one of those huge cookies I got her too, her cheeks jutting out like a chipmunk’s while she ate, adding to her adorableness. “How did you end up in the parking lot all alone?”
“My babysitter left me there,” she replied.
“Your babysitter left you there?” I parroted. “Why?”
“He said he needed to do something important, and that he had to give me back to my Daddy,” she answered. I leaned back at the mention of her father. Now we were getting somewhere.
“Oh, so your Dad’s here, huh?” she nodded again. “Where is he?”
“Um…I don’t know,” she said, frowning and furrowing her brows together in thought. “Nigel just said Daddy was here.”
“So you have no idea where he is?” I asked, blanching. And just like that, we were back to square one. For all I know, that ‘’babysitter’ of hers had malicious intentions and deliberately left her at the mall all alone, and her father is nowhere to be found. Save for the stuffed rabbit she was carrying, she didn’t have anything on her to give me any other identification. And the kid was too young to remember any relevant information like her address, contact number.
Ugh. Maybe Chase or Elliot would have more luck with her than I would.
“Do you know your dad’s full name, at least?” I asked, thinking to ask Elliot to do a background check on the kid so I could get her home.
She nodded vigorously.
“Yep! He’s really famous! His name is--,”
“Hey, sweetie! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” I frowned as a guy with spiky black hair and huge glasses approached us, his eyes on Beth. My senses immediately went on high alert as I stared at him.
“Excuse me, but who the hell are you?” I asked suspiciously.
“Hello, Daddy,” Beth greeted, giggling up at the man. I looked at the both of them, my mouth falling in shock as I noticed how young her father was.
“He’s your father?” I asked dumbly.
“Come on, Pumpkin. Let’s get out of here,” ignoring me and extending his hand towards Beth. The little girl nodded and finished her drink before sliding out of the booth and smiling up at me.
“Thank you for saving me, Becca,” she said, grinning. I blinked at her. Her dad clutched at her little hand and began to walk away, and that was when I regained my senses.
“Hey, wait a second,” I said, getting up and pulling him back by the shoulder. He glared at me, annoyed.
“Look, lady, if you want some kind of compensation--,” he started, and I scowled, cutting him off.
“Oh, please. I don’t need your fucking money. I just wanted to tell you to take better care of your daughter next time.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” I said, fixing him with a glare of my own. “Your kid could’ve gotten into some serious trouble back in the parking lot, not to mention she hasn’t eaten anything at all back at her ‘babysitter’s’ place.” I wrote double quotation marks in the air with both of my hands as I continued to rant. “Next time, don’t leave your kid to some incompetent fool if you can’t even take care of her yourself.”
His face looked like I had struck him, and I looked down at Beth who was watching us both curiously, too innocent to understand the tension between us.
“I
’ll see you around, kid,” I muttered, before turning away from them.
The concert was probably over by now. I should just head on over to the cinema and wait for the girls there.
Chapter 7
Tanner
After a riveting conversation with my daughter about what transpired last night, I had resolved to do a multitude of things to ensure it never happened again. And it irked me how poorly I treated the woman who single-handedly saved my daughter from the scum that were after her, and I hoped I would see her again so I could properly apologize for my behavior.
The next morning, I immediately called my manager and told him I wanted a new agent, telling him about what could’ve happened to my daughter due to his incompetence. My manager tried to reason with me to give the guy another chance, but I wasn’t having it. The man only cared about lining his own pockets, and I’ll be damned if I let him profit on me anymore.
The next thing I asked for was to hire a team of bodyguards to protect me, and by extension, Beth. I didn’t want just any ragtag bunch, either. I wanted professionals, and I was going to personally read through their qualifications myself, so I could be sure they were the best of the best. I was quite meticulous when it comes to such matters, and it was a quality transposed onto my craft as well. I could not be contented unless the mood was perfect, the strums of the guitar and the rest of the instruments colliding with each other in harmony, every note drenched in perfection.
My manager had sighed heavily after hearing all of my demands, but he knew I wasn’t one to budge on things I cared about, so he promised to get on top of it and call me as soon as he found an agency suitable. With nothing else scheduled the rest of the day, I made my way to the kitchen to make some pancakes. It was the only way to get my daughter up off the bed by herself.
Sure enough, like a mouse headed for a mouse trap baited with the world’s finest cheese, I heard the door upstairs squeak softly, and then the pitter patter of feet as she came down the stairs, her nose turned up and sniffing the air. I chuckled as I flipped another pancake.
“Is that for me?” she asked, grinning widely.
“It’s for both of us, and only if you wash your face first,” I answered. She clapped her hands together with a jubilant smile before racing back upstairs to do what I told her to.
I was placing stacks of pancakes down when she got back down, her curly hair still wild and all over the place, but her face clean and a little pink. She raised her knife and fork at the ready, her eyes trained to her plate as I placed two pieces of pancakes on it, and then drizzled it lightly with chocolate syrup.
“Thank you, Daddy!” she exclaimed, jabbing her fork on the pancake and taking a huge bite.
“You’re welcome, Pumpkin,” I replied, taking my seat across from her and helping myself with breakfast. “Did you sleep well?”
She nodded, her mouth full.
“Do you still remember the woman who helped you last night?” I asked.
“Becca?” she answered, swallowing. “She’s really pretty, Daddy.”
I remembered the woman’s violet eyes blazing as she glared at me, her red hair bouncing from behind her in a ponytail and mentally agreed with Beth. That Becca woman was really pretty.
“Did she really fight off three bad guys by herself?” Beth’s eyes widened as she nodded, her face uncharacteristically serious.
“She was so amazing, Daddy! She kicked the baddies’ butt like Blossom!” she squealed. I tilted my head.
“Blossom?” I parroted.
“Powerpuff Girls, Daddy!” she cried, scowling at me like I was supposed to know such a thing. “Sugar, spice, and everything nice!”
“Ah, right. The bug-eyed children. Which one is Blossom?” I asked, humoring her.
“She wears pink!”
“The redhead?”
“You remembered!” she smiled happily, and I shook my head in amusement. Never a dull moment with this kid.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full. Now finish your food.”
“Are you going to work again, Daddy?” she asked, her voice lower now, and losing most of her chirpiness from earlier. I smiled and shook my head.
“No, Pumpkin. It’s my day off,” I replied, and she grinned widely.
We finished our breakfast, and I busied myself washing the dishes when the phone rang. I dried my hands and picked up the receiver.
“Okay, I’ve already let Alan go like you said, but not without him causing a huge commotion here in the office, though. His face was so red, he looked like he was going to explode,” he said.
“I don’t care. Did you get me a new agent now?” I asked harshly.
“I’m working on it,” he replied, irritated. “You’ll be happy to know that I found a protection detail for you.”
“Really? So quickly?” I said, surprised.
“Well, it was actually a suggestion by a friend of mine. You know that actress in that action flick showing last month? Veronica Langley? Well, I’m tight with her new manager, and she told me they’re using the same guys she suggested, even verified their services and everything. Apparently, these guys are all former special forces guys, so they’re the real deal.”
“Excellent. Good work, Jonathan. Please get in contact with them and have them send me a list of their most capable agents so I could choose them myself. Thank you.”
We talked about other work-related stuff, and how my new album was progressing before we finally ended the conversation. Though I felt a little guilty giving my manager more work, I knew he didn’t think I was being an asshole intentionally. He understood how important family was to me, and that was probably why he wasn’t really complaining. I should definitely treat this guy for a drink next time.
My mind went back to that woman again, which was weird because there was nothing in here to trigger me to do so. Nevertheless, I had a feeling I had seen her somewhere even before the café. It was a niggling feeling at the back of my head I couldn’t get rid of…
I was still thinking about her while I spent time with Beth, to the point that even my daughter could tell something was preoccupying my mind.
“Are you going inside your studio again, Daddy?” she asked me all of a sudden. My brows furrowed, wondering why she thought that.
“Why do you think I’m going to the studio, Pumpkin?” I asked her, and she chewed the inside of her lip thoughtfully.
“You’re making that weird face again,” she said.
“Hm?”
“You have this weird face, Daddy. You make it before you go inside your studio, and then you disappear for hours…,” she explained.
Ah, I understood. She was talking about the times I went inside my studio to write songs. These were moments I would immediately lose myself trying to capture the feeling with my pen and guitar.
“I don’t like that face, Daddy,” Beth mumbled, taking me away from my thoughts.
“What do you mean, sweetheart? Do I look bad?” I asked.
“No. It just means you’re going to disappear and I won’t be able to play with you for a while,” she answered, and my heart broke at the admission. I didn’t realize my work was causing her to feel neglected.
I placed my hand on her shoulders, and looked her straight in the eye.
“Pumpkin, I’m really sorry for not spending as much time as I would like with you,” I said. “I swear to God, I didn’t mean it. But I hope you understand that whenever Daddy goes inside his studio, or when he has to be gone for a few days, all of that is due to my work, and I’m working very hard for you. Everything I’m doing is for you, you have to believe that.”
“But I don’t like being alone, Daddy,” she whispered, sniffling a bit as her eyes started to gloss over with unshed tears. I pulled her into my chest and hugged her tightly against me, her small fists burrowing themselves in my chest as she sobbed quietly.
“I know, Pumpkin,” I said. “But I swear to you things are going to change very soon. I’ll make sure of it.”
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Chapter 8
Michael
“So the job you had for me was as a security guard?” I asked, readjusting the straps of my boxing gloves as I looked at Spencer.
He scoffed and looked at me like I was stupid. I nodded towards the sandbag and he held it at the sides, spotting for me as I gave it a first jab.
“I said a ‘bodyguard’, not ‘security guard’, bro. Get it right,” he said in annoyance.
“Sorry,” I muttered, switching to the first set of combinations. “But the general idea is the same, right? Bodyguard just sounds cooler.”
“You’ll have to protect an individual, not a mall. And since we’re experts at taking a bullet, how could this job not be any more perfect for us? I mean, your service is up to par, right?”
“Of course it is,” I grunted. I couldn’t help but give him a half-annoyed glare as I bent down and folded my jeans up so he could see my left leg—or rather, the mechanical foot that replaced it. “Wouldn’t your tour be over too if you lost your foot?”
He winced at the sight of my leg but didn’t offer any comments of sympathy or anything like that. It reminded me why I liked him. Spencer didn’t hand out pity like everyone else, since he understood that was the last thing I wanted to hear. To be honest, he’s more of the type to tell me to stop using my disability as an excuse, and tough it out like normal people.
