See You at the Show

by Michelle Betham

  He walked into the kitchen where Angus was sitting at the dining table sorting through the post, a pile of newspapers by his side. Daniel always liked to look through the newspapers over breakfast, even the tabloids. He liked to get all angles on the day’s news.

  Angus looked up and smiled. “Good morning, Daniel. Are we all ready for the day ahead?”

  Daniel looked at him. Why was he so cheerful? “Something put you in a good mood, Angus?” Daniel poured himself a mug of tea and sat down at the table.

  “Nothing in particular, no.”

  Daniel took a sip of tea and put his mug down, taking a newspaper from the top of the pile, but it was the one underneath that caught his attention, the one he’d initially picked up now discarded on the floor, and all he could do was stare at the front page, at the words that screamed out at him - and that’s when his whole world stood completely still.

  ***

  Stevie woke up and turned onto her side, looking at the sleeping figure beside her. The most incredible, most annoying, most irritating man she’d ever met in her life but he was a habit she just couldn’t kick. Wouldn’t kick. And let’s face it, she’d tried. But watching him up there on stage last night, she’d known that trying to persuade herself otherwise was pointless. Mark Cassidy was still her greatest weakness. A handsome, sexy pain in the arse that she couldn’t stop needing.

  She leaned over and kissed him slowly, moving her mouth against his until his eyes opened and he smiled that Cassidy smile, pushing her over onto her back as she laughed out loud.

  “It’s your early morning wake up call, Mr. Cassidy.”

  He lay between her open legs, his fingers running over her breasts. He was awake all right. Very much awake. Or part of him was, anyway. Jesus, he’d missed this, he’d missed waking up with her there, missed waking up and starting the day making love to her.

  She put a hand to the side of his face, stroking it gently as she looked up into his eyes. He was so handsome, but he knew it. Had anything really changed since she’d left? Everything he’d said before, did he still mean it now? And did she want him to? None of that mattered at the minute anyway. She didn’t really want to get into anything too heavy or too deep right now, there was way too much to think about as it was. She just wanted to be with him, and to work out what her next step should be, but that could wait. For a few more minutes, anyway.

  “You coming in then, Mr. Rock Star?”

  He smiled, stroking the hair from her eyes. Was he coming in? You bet he was.

  “I’ll take that as a yes, then,” she said, feeling him touch her, checking she was ready, but she was oh so ready. She’d never been more ready. So she closed her eyes, drew her legs up around him, and gave in to another fix of Cassidy heaven, pushing Prime Minister Madison very firmly to the back of her mind.

  ***

  Luke was still taking it all in as he pushed the newspaper aside. The newspaper that claimed to tell all about the life of his mum. The newspaper that claimed it knew all about the reasons why she’d abandoned her husband and two year old son fifteen years ago. His dad had told him the real story so a lot of what he’d just read had seemed somewhat fabricated or exaggerated, something his dad had told him to expect, and he should know. It was what he did for a living.

  But none of it felt real for Luke. All these years and he’d never given his real mum a second thought, he’d never needed to. Caitlin had brought him up as her own and he’d loved her. She’d been an incredible parent, and it had hurt him a lot when her and his dad had split up and now, like a smack in the face, his birth mum had crash landed back into his life and while he should want to forget all about her he couldn’t. Despite everything he’d been told, and everything he’d just read, she was his mum. This woman splashed all over the newspapers was his mum and he couldn’t help but be intrigued. She was very hard to ignore. And he knew his dad felt the same, even though it was obvious he was having trouble dealing with it all. He was usually such an in-control kind of guy was his dad but the re-appearance of Stevie Stone, or Stefanie Fredriksen – whatever she was called – this had unsettled him. But he’d told his dad one thing, and he’d meant it. He’d done nothing but think about it since he’d found out the truth, and he really wanted – maybe needed - to do it. So Luke had come to a decision. He wanted to meet his mother.

  ***

  “I’ve got the day off, baby so, what do you say? How about we just go back to bed and get re-acquainted?”

  Stevie smiled, slipping her arms round his neck as he rested his hand in the small of her back, stroking it so lightly it sent shivers down her spine.

  “I thought we’d already got re-acquainted last night. And this morning, twice.”

  He laughed, that deep, throaty laugh and she pushed herself against him, kissing him slowly.

  “You’ve been away a long time, Ms. Stone. I’m kinda outta practise where you’re concerned.”

  She’d missed that Californian accent, that laid back way that he spoke. She’d missed so much of him in reality. She just wished she’d realised sooner because she had no idea what to do now. She needed to speak to Daniel, that was more than obvious, but not yet. She didn’t want to leave here yet because this was just like old times, her and Mark Cassidy here in her London flat, hanging out, making love. And she was enjoying it too much to let it go.

  “Are you saying a Rock God like yourself has lost his touch?” she smiled, playing with the hair at the back of his neck.

  “I never said that.”

  “Yeah, you did.”

  He grabbed her round the waist, making her laugh out loud as he turned her round and pushed her up against the wall, sliding his hand up the shirt she was wearing, stroking her hip bone as his mouth rested against hers.

  “I think you need to see just how in touch I am, Ms. Stone.”

  “You’re all mouth, Cassidy.”

  He smiled that smile as his fingers tightened around hers. “And don’t you just love where that mouth went last night.”

  She groaned as he kissed her neck, his fingers continuing to stroke her hip, sliding down, making their way to where she wanted them so bad but the sound of the doorbell made them both stop in their tracks. Although Mark seemed in no hurry to move away from her.

  “Leave it,” he said, still holding onto her hand, but she was distracted now.

  “Mark, baby, I have to get it. It might be important.”

  He groaned, reluctantly letting her go and she smiled, kissing him quickly.

  “Whoever it is I’ll get rid of them, and we can get back to this a.s.a.p., ok?”

  “You leave me no choice, honey.”

  She pulled herself together, running her fingers through her hair as she ran to the door, flinging it open. But she just wasn’t prepared for what was waiting for her there on the other side. She wasn’t prepared at all.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  She was in shock. Seeing Connor standing there, the man she’d ran out on fifteen years ago, it shook her to the core. Despite knowing this was always going to be a possibility once she’d become involved with Daniel she’d let herself think it would never really come to this, that her past would never catch up with her but it had. For the whole world to see. Her biggest nightmare, but she was going to have to face it now. She had no choice anymore. She couldn’t run away this time.

  Stefanie Fredriksen had been just sixteen when she’d met Connor Franklin in a bar in Manchester on a night out with friends. She’d not long said goodbye to her parents as they’d made their way back to Sweden without her and she’d been in the throes of living the life of a typical teenager with no ties and nobody looking over her shoulder. She’d found a job in a city centre restaurant as a waitress and was living in a small but comfortable flat with three other girls and she’d loved her life. Loved the freedom and the control she’d had over everything in this new and wonderful country she was starting to call home. But that had all changed once Connor had walked into her life.

>   Originally from Dublin he’d been a twenty-one year old journalism student, tall and dark with twinkling blue-grey eyes and a Southern Irish accent that she hadn’t recognised at the time but had fallen in love with immediately. Back then she’d still been getting used to all the different accents and dialects she came across, having only been in the country for three years. All she’d known was that Connor Franklin looked great and had a voice she could listen to all day.

  He’d been in his final year at University, about to graduate and he’d had a job at a local newspaper as a junior reporter already lined up. He’d had everything worked out, everything planned, but he hadn’t accounted for the arrival of Stefanie Fredriksen. Young, beautiful, and from the second he’d seen her he’d had to have her.

  They’d fallen into a relationship almost immediately. She’d loved his Irish charm and his dark good looks, and he’d thought he’d died and gone to heaven when he’d found out she was Swedish. He’d had quite a few relationships before but none of them had even come close to Stefanie. She’d been something else. Right from the word go she’d known what she wanted, she’d been as driven as he’d been and he’d found that such a turn on. But what neither of them had wanted was a baby. Not when they’d both been so young. Settling down hadn’t been an option, it hadn’t been in either of their plans but it had happened. They’d been careful, they hadn’t been stupid or careless but mistakes happened and they’d been unlucky. Although unlucky wasn’t something they’d felt when they’d finally met their son.

  Luke’s arrival changed everything, but babies had a habit of doing that whether you liked it or not, and suddenly both Connor and Stefanie had found themselves wanting to be a family. They’d got married in a quick and quiet registry office ceremony with just two of their friends as witnesses, and found a little flat together, both of them wanting to look after this new and precious thing that had landed in their lives unexpectedly, although he was anything but unwelcome.

  At least, for one of them, they’d thought that’s what they’d wanted. While Connor had gone out to work at the newspaper during the day and his job as a barman at a bar in town five evenings a week, making the money they’d so desperately needed, Stefanie hadn’t taken well to being a housewife. She’d loved being a mother, she’d loved Luke unconditionally, but being in the house all day with just a baby for company had started to get to her. All her old friends had given up on her, they hadn’t wanted to hang around someone with a child, and she’d needed some adult company. Connor had done his best, he’d tried to be around as much as possible but his work meant he was out more than he was ever at home so when Kyle, one of his best friends, had popped round to the house one day to find Connor out and Stefanie down and depressed, he’d stayed for a few hours to keep her company and help out with Luke. It soon became a regular thing, him popping round to help her out and she’d enjoyed it. It gave her a break, gave her someone to talk to.

  And at first it had all been very innocent, but then things had taken a darker, more sinister turn when Kyle had started getting mixed up with drugs, coming round to the house with small pouches of cannabis, which she’d turned a blind eye to in the beginning. Until he’d persuaded her to try it one afternoon when Luke had been driving her crazy with his crying and she’d just needed something to relax her.

  After that she’d found herself smoking it on a regular basis when Connor was out of the house, always making sure the place was well aired and rid of any tell-tale smells before he got back home. And that was as far as it should ever have gone, and even that should never have happened, but Kyle suddenly lost his job and he’d needed a way to make some decent cash quickly and when she’d seen the amount of money he’d had on him one afternoon she’d been curious.

  What she should have done was run a mile when he’d told her he was working with a gang of local drug dealers, but the lure of money had been too great, and she’d almost got involved with a group of people she should never have gone anywhere near. Almost, because the chance to let it get that far had never happened. And whilst that in itself had been a good thing, what had happened next had been just as terrifying.

  Drugs had changed Kyle, and he’d moved onto harder more dangerous things but he’d continued to visit Stefanie, coming round to the house despite Connor telling him to keep away once he’d found out exactly what it was he was mixed up in. But Stefanie had still wanted him around, so she’d kept Kyle’s visits a secret from her husband because she’d still craved that company, ignoring the changes in his personality in her need to have a break from the routine of looking after Luke. She hadn’t liked being lonely and Kyle made her laugh – most of the time.

  But he’d started reading things into the way Stefanie was around him. He’d mis-read signals, thought her wanting him around meant much more than it actually did, and when she’d finally agreed to help him sell drugs on the local estate he’d taken that as the last come-on he’d needed. And she hadn’t seen it coming, she really hadn’t, because she’d been young and naïve and stupid and she’d paid for that in a way nobody should ever have had to.

  Connor had come home to find her curled up in the corner of the living room, battered, bruised and terrified, with Luke screaming the house down. Kyle had thought she’d wanted more than friendship and when she’d told him no, that wasn’t the way it had been at all, he’d turned on her and she’d fought back, she’d found the strength from somewhere, but not enough to stop him from beating her so badly it was all Connor could do not to throw up when he’d seen the cuts and slashes on her face and body, blood dripping onto the carpet from the knife wounds Kyle had inflicted on her all because she wouldn’t sleep with him.

  She’d been kept in hospital for days while her physical injuries were treated and whilst they’d healed in time, with just a few permanent scars on her arms, the trauma of that attack never really left her. The mental scars had taken much longer to fade.

  Connor had persuaded her to go the police and he’d been with her every step of the way as she’d gone through the painful and frightening experience of re-living it all, supporting her through the months that had followed leading up to Kyle’s trial, but things had changed between them. She’d found it hard to be close to someone again. She’d still loved Connor but she’d become distant from him, and Luke. Everything just reminded her of what had happened. Of how stupid she’d been.

  After a long and difficult trial, Kyle had been found guilty of assault and sent to prison, and she’d thought that would be the end of it, she’d thought that she could finally try and move on, try and make it work with Connor, try and get back that closeness with Luke, who by that time was a beautiful two year old toddler with his daddy’s dark hair and his mum’s piercing blue eyes. But even moving house, getting well away from the area with a new job for Connor and a brand new start for them all, none of that had helped shake the ghosts from her mind. A new start was still what she’d needed but not the one Connor had given her.

  None of it had been his fault, and it certainly hadn’t been Luke’s, but she just hadn’t been able to cope with staying in Manchester. She’d tried, but she just hadn’t had the strength to do it so one night, in the most cowardly way possible, she’d collected the bag she’d packed that day when Connor had been at work, wrote a tear-stained note explaining as much as she could about why she’d had to do what she was doing, and left for another new start. With a wiped-clean slate. She’d only been nineteen. She’d had plenty of time to begin her life all over again and that was exactly what she’d done. She’d changed her name, covered the scars on her arms with hundreds of tattoos and the rest was history. Stevie Stone had been born and Stefanie Fredriksen had been laid to rest.

  Now the whole story, some of it more embellished than it should have been, was there in the newspaper in front of her. The story of her drug-fuelled past – slight exaggeration there – and her abandoned son, her ex-husband and the frenzied attack on her by his best friend. None of which anyone in her
new life had had any idea about.

  Mark sat on the arm of the sofa, watching Stevie, her face stained with tears, as she finished explaining the real version of events as opposed to the tabloid version that was gracing the front of the newspaper. He couldn’t deny that he wasn’t shocked by these out-of-nowhere revelations but he could also understand just why she hadn’t wanted to open up about any of it. But he would have been there for her if she had. None of it would have changed how he felt, and to keep all of that hidden away – especially her son – that must have been hard. And looking at her now, he could see it was also something she regretted.

  “I should have told you, Mark,” she said, her voice quiet as she waited for his reaction.

  He hadn’t said much when Connor had turned up at the door; he’d just waited for the explanation, waited until they’d told him everything. But she really hoped he understood why she’d done what she had. She’d kept it all secret, told nobody about it for the best of reasons, or so she’d thought at the time. But she’d been just as stupid here as she’d been back then, believing it would never catch up with her. She’d been incredibly naïve and this was the result. A result she regretted due to actions she should have put a lot more thought into. A hell of a lot more thought.

  Mark sat down beside her, pulling her into his arms, holding her tight as she cried again, and all he wanted to do was wave some kind of magic wand and make it all better but even he knew that this was going to take some sorting out, so all he could really do right now was be there for her. Which meant he had a lot of growing up to do and fast, but he’d do it if it meant making sure Stevie was ok, because what he’d said all those months ago he still meant, he still loved her, if anything that had only got stronger, and this changed nothing. Except the fact that their relationship had now very suddenly stepped up another level. Neither of them could run away anymore. It was time to face up to everything if they really wanted to move forward, and he certainly did, despite all of this landing unexpectedly on their doorstep. Maybe she did too, time would tell, but he was sticking around to wait and see. This time he was staying right by her side because he had a feeling she was going to need him. This morning was only the beginning.