David lets go of the elevator door, but not before curling his fingers into a fist and pointing his finger at me. “You fucking bastard. You won’t make it without me.”
The doors chime and start to close. “I’ll make it because I’m without you.”
The elevator starts to move, and we all let out a collective breath of relief. It’s Hannah who speaks first.
“Jesus. That could not have gone any better. How do you both feel?”
I’m not sure how I feel. David was what I believed to be a friend and then to find out that he’d been manipulating me all those years, I feel angry but relieved it’s over for now. I feel like a fool. I feel like the spouse that’s been cheated on. The realisation that our friendship was all a ruse. I feel lost.
“To be honest. I just want to get back to Madelyn.” I shake my head and smile to myself. “I’ll say it for you, Sean. I’m whipped.”
Sean’s smile spreads knowingly across his face. “Nothing to be ashamed about.”
The elevator shudders to a stop and the doors open to chaos. The small space is highlighted with flashes going off like a firework display. I’m temporarily blinded by the lights when my ears are pummelled with questions.
Are you back together? Where have you been? What’s your relationship with Madelyn Worthrington? Is this a love triangle? Is it true you have been washing your clothes in a dishwasher, Reece? What are you wearing? When will the new album be put out?
Hannah takes control and steps in front of us, but we all know David has tried one last attempt to undermine us and catch us off guard. “Hello everyone, thank you for coming out on such short notice. A release statement is currently being prepared, and we would love to give you all the exclusive.”
“So ladies and gentlemen if you would be so kind as to step away from the elevator and join me over here, I will collect your details to ensure you are the first to receive the press release,” another female voice calls over the ruckus.
Sean and I look at each other while Hannah leans forward out of the elevator. “Thank you, Deni,” Deni? Sean and I both shake our heads in disbelief. “Yes, if you could all follow her instructions. The boys would like to go and get ready for their big announcement. Don’t worry. You will all get an exclusive.”
Hannah turns to usher us out of the elevator, which is virtually impossible with all the photographers snapping away. I look over to Deni, who is busy with her tablet collecting names and numbers and pays us no attention. There’s a woman mulling around the front entrance with her phone in her hand and she breaks out into a smile as Sean and I approach the door.
Hannah’s heels clicking on the tiles are muffled by the reporters still calling out questions. “Head to the Regents, get a couple of rooms. Looks like we are staying the night guys. I’ll be here with Deni to sort this out. I’ll be there soon okay.” She gives Sean a quick kiss on the lips while I try to slink further under my hat. The cameras go crazy again trying to capture the kiss.
“Come on, Romeo. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I say and pull the door open for him. We don’t get far before we are stopped again.
The woman takes a short step but doesn’t block our path completely. “Can I get your autograph? Can I please get a photo?”
Old habits die hard, and this was part of the fun, meeting the fans. I take off my hat and smile at her. “Sure.”
Grabbing Sean around the bicep and pull him back before he has a chance to even question or say no. “You, my dear, are getting an exclusive. You’re getting the first official photo of the members that were formerly Backbeat.”
“What?” the woman whines. “But you can’t split up. You were so good together.”
I look at Sean and nod. “That we were, our circumstances have changed. Make sure you post this up on every social media thing you have. What’s your name?”
“Catherine. My daughter, Jessica is fifteen, and this is going to give me massive props. She will say I photoshopped it. I’ll have to get her to help me with the social media side of things.”
“Here,” I take the phone from her. I flick the camera over to video recording and make sure her mom is in the shot. “Hi Jessica, your mom said you won’t believe her. Say hi, Sean.”
“Hi, Sean.” The smartass beams as he wraps his arm around the woman’s shoulders while she and I burst out laughing. I hit the stop button and hand back the phone.
“Send that to your daughter as a message and she will pretty much know what to do with it,” I said.
The woman hugged her phone to her chest. “All the very best then boys. Thank you.”
Sean and I wave her off as we head in the opposite direction to his car. “Geez, almost feels so surreal. Like they’ve got the wrong person.”
“Let’s go grab something to eat before we head to the hotel. We have some time. Burgers and beers?” I point to the restaurant across the road.
Sean shakes his head. ‘I’ll just stick to the burgers. I need all my wits if we are going to be facing the pack of vultures.”
His comments make me laugh as we cross the road. “Not a smart move. I’ll join you in the burgers. Send Hannah a message and let her know where we are just in case.” Burgers seem like the perfect way to shake off the pretentiousness of the past. Sean and I continue talking about what happened in David’s office while we are shown a booth. The seats barely had a chance to warm when the television starts broadcasting the picture and video posted by Catherine. I turn my back to the television when our plates arrive, and I pull out my phone.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Sean asks.
“Taking a photo. If it’s any good, I can try and recreate it.” I look up at Sean’s face. He was looking like I’d grown a second head.
“You … you cook?”
“I cook. I don’t necessarily cook well, I do enjoy it though. Hope to get better at it. Look at my Pinterest boards. These are other people’s recipes, but these are mine.” Sean looked down at my phone before bringing his eyes back to mine.
“For as long as I’ve known you, you have never cooked. You never showed an interest.”
“Didn’t have any need to before.”
“Jesus. The Reece I knew only had eyes for the stage, girls, and bucket loads of cash. Feel like I need to interview you to get to know you. Does anyone know the real Reece Ashton?”
I bark out my laugh as I take a mouthful of burger. Oh hell yeah, this is going to be on the recreate list. “Only one person who knows me and I’m still learning to know her.”
“So she’s the real deal?”
“The realest deal I ever want to make.”
Chapter Forty
MADELYN
To say Portmouthe is a sleepy village is right. When helicopters with news channels on the side start landing in the fields around, you quickly learn that shit’s going down.
Mr Clementine raced into the shop and started putting stickers over the drinks in the fridge marking them up by more than fifty percent.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You might want to get back to Trent’s,” he said just as the first person with a huge camera around his neck came into the store. Mr Clementine pushed me past him as he made his way to the counter. “Hello. How can I help you?” I’d almost made it past the fresh produce section of the storeroom when I heard him speak.
“We are looking for a girl. A woman named Madelyn Worthrington.” Ahh, fuck. I didn’t even bother to look back. I grabbed a cap off the rack as I left via the back door to Trent’s Jeep. By the time I’d pulled out onto the street, a small crowd had developed at the front door. I didn’t have to worry about Clementine giving me up. He’d charge them a small fortune on food supplies and still act dumb, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that my time under the radar has run out.
I head towards David’s house and couldn’t turn into the street, even if I wanted to. I’ve got to watch for the traffic that’s clogging our normally deserted streets. I answer my
phone on the first ring.
“Madelyn. Don’t come back to the pub,” Trent says in a hushed but frantic tone. My foot moves off the accelerator, and I pull off to the side of the road. “That fucker David has had his last attempt at selling you out. He didn’t say your name, but he’s pretty much told everyone who you are and about your relationship with Reece. I’m making sure all his stuff is moved into your room. Don’t worry. I’m not looking at anything. I just don’t trust them. At least if it’s in the house, there’s security.” My stomach drops and I squeeze my eyes tight. I’m instantly pissed off. I spent time making sure things were nice in there for him, and now it’s all going to be packed up. “Don’t let him get to you Mads. I know you stay away from the media, but for the love of all things good and holy, please stick to that today. Shit’s going to get ugly, and you don’t need to worry yourself with that.”
“Where can I go? I can’t stay here, they are camped out at the store, I don’t have my place anymore, I can’t come to you. Where am I supposed to go?” Even I’m surprised at the shake in my voice. I do a quick calculation of my bank account, and I might be able to get a motel room for a couple of nights. “I can head to Dareton. Get a room there 'til this blows over.”
“My suggestion? Go to the guy that’s caused all this. Ring Reece and tell him what’s going on and get him to help sort it out.”
I’m hesitant to call, I do want to let him know what’s going on here. “Thanks, Trent. I’ll give him a call and let him know what’s happening.”
I thank him again for calling and checking on me. My hands shake as I lower the phone and disconnect the call. I put my phone in the centre console when a knock on the window makes me jump. The person steps back at my loud scream, and we both clutch at our chests. “I’m sorry,” he says. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I thought you saw me.” He’s a new face to the township and my skin prickles at his smile.
“Sorry, no. I was on the phone,” I say as my heart beats frantically against my ribs. I press the button to lower the window while my other hand lowers my cap even further. The nervousness in me makes me laugh, which in turn makes the stranger laugh. “Are you okay?”
“Got a set of pipes on you, that’s for sure. You could be the town siren with that scream. I’m hoping you can help me out. I’m looking for a girl—”
I try and keep my face as neutral as I can. “Okay, there are websites you can go on to meet plenty of girls.” At least he laughed at my attempt to try and keep it light.
The guy shuffles on his feet and bends down to get a better look under my cap. That sensation of your stomach roiling should never be ignored.
“Oh no. This girl is a very specific girl. Do you know her and where she might be?”
I feel blindly for my phone in the centre console while feigning my interest. “What’s her name?”
“Madelyn. Do you know of any Madelyn’s in town? The guy at the store said there’s no one here by that name after selling me a ten dollar bottle of water.”
“Sorry, can’t help you. That name doesn’t ring any bells. You sure she was in this town? Maybe the information you got was wrong.”
I watch him cautiously as he reaches behind. Thankfully the car is still running so if I need to make a quick getaway, I can. “Really? I think you know her quite well. If I were to guess, I’d be saying that’s you in this picture.”
He shows me the photo, and I recognise it immediately. It’s an old photo of me and James. My heart starts to pound again as I struggle to remain non-plussed. “I can see how you’d think so. She has blonde hair. As you can see, I don’t.” I flip my hand behind my hair to prove my point. “Sorry, I can’t be of any more help.” I press the button to raise the window as he narrows his gaze at me. “You have a good day.” By the time I’ve looked back up to him, he’s got his camera up to the window and taking photos. I turn my head away from him and raise my hand. “No!” The engine roars as I stomp on the accelerator. The photographer stumbles back a few steps to ensure I don’t knock him over. “Fuck it.”
The choice has been made for me as I head to the highway to take me to the city. Thankfully, I have a change of clothes in my overnight bag that I keep on hand for when I’m working at the store. Learned that lesson the hard way when my clothes were covered in product from stocking the shelves.
I shudder at the thought of Trent having to field the media. This is not his issue, he shouldn’t have to deal with this. My chin wobbles as the tears threaten to spill over. I notice a black SUV closing the distance behind me fast. Glancing down at the speedometer, I’m already ten over the limit. Even if I go faster, they will too. I pull my hat down and lean my arm against the window to create another barrier. I shave the ten off my speed and keep my attention directly ahead of me.
The car overtakes me like I’m standing still and pulls in tight in front of me. I’m forced to hit the brakes to avoid hitting the back of it. When I’ve put a safe distance between us, I snatch my phone out of the console to put it on the hands-free holder. Within seconds, we are crawling along the road, and I’ve punched the number for the police in. Within a few seconds, I’m connected to the police.
“Police emergency, how can I help you?”
“I’m in my car, and I’m being followed, well, they aren’t following me now, they’ve got ahead of me, and they are forcing me to slow down.”
The operator gets the details about the road I’m traveling on and the car’s registration. I’ve attempted to overtake, but they move over to block the other lane. It’s a stupid game that I’m not willing to play. Knowing that the police have to come from Dareton, it will take at least fifteen minutes, and that’s if they are available and come as fast as they can. I give her a quick rundown on why they might be after me and that it might be the same guy that was trying to find me.
“Just make sure the doors are all locked and tell me if they stop their car.”
“We are going like twenty. We are going to cause some kind of horrible car accident if another car comes up behind me. Should I turn around?”
“I can’t tell you what to do but if you do, let me know where you are going.”
“Can you stay on the line with me. I’m going to see what this fucker wants.” I hit the brakes and pull over to the side of the road. The SUV stops a short distance ahead of me. “What are they doing?”
I tell her that we are playing a waiting game. I’m not going to be the first to make a move. I’m about to tell her that nothing’s happening when I see the driver’s door open. “Just stay inside, Madelyn,” the operator tells me.
“I have no intention of getting out of this car. It is the same guy. The guy I was telling you about. It’s him. He’s a walking cliché. Tall, dark and handsome. He’s wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans. Short dark hair, tanned skin.”
“Anything in his hands?”
I lower the window and tilt my head towards the open space to get a better look. I can see the long lens camera in his hand. “He has a camera.” May as well be a gun in my mind. I call out, “I’m on the phone to the police.”
“I just want a photo,” he calls out.
“And I just don’t want you to,” I call back. The dispatcher tells me the police are three minutes away.
“Just one quick photo?”
“There’s no such thing as one quick photo in your world. That photo is going to pay for that car of yours. What’s it going to do for me? Nothing. You are going to ruin my life.”
“Just one photo?”
I’ve given him several reasons as to why I’m saying no, but he won’t change his stance. He’s not going to leave me alone until he gets what he wants. I’m grateful for the long stretch of road ahead of me. I can see the police car come straight for us and the photographer looks behind him. It dawns on him that his time is nearly up and raises the camera. I drop down into the seat and lower my head to impede the shot as best as I can.
“Where is he now, Madelyn?”
; I tell her that he’s taking photos, and she reassures me that the police will be with us within the minute. The photographer calls out my name several times in one last ditched attempt to get what he wants.
“Miss, it’s alright now.” An officer is standing just outside my door. “My colleague is talking to him.”
“I’ll let you go, Madelyn,” the operator says as I lift my gaze to the police officer and turn the key in the engine.
I say thank you to the operator as she hangs up the line. “Has he still got his camera out?”
The officer shakes his head and glances in their direction. “He put that away pretty quick when we got here. Funny that. So tell me what happened. I have the gist of what’s going on, but I want your version.”
I lift my hat to see that the photographer has indeed put his camera away. I remove my hat completely and recount my story to the officer.
“I’m sure you did a security check on me and know my background,” I say. “I have been living a very quiet life. I do not want my photo taken, and I understand that I’m in a public place, but this guy was nearly running me off the road. There comes a line when it’s harassment.”
The officer nods and moves towards his colleague. I keep a watch of all three of them before the same officer returns to my door. “I think we have all we need from here. You are right to leave. Seems that we need to check over his vehicle just to make sure that it’s up to code. I think that will give you a good head start.”
I could have reached through the window and hugged him. “Thank you so much.” I pull my cap back on my head as I restart the car. I don’t even bother to look at the photographer as I set off again. It’s only when I glance in the rear vision mirror that I start to feel relieved, and I feel like I can breathe again. I glance at the time and wonder if Reece is available. I let out a groan of frustration before I leave a message, asking him to call me back as soon as he hears this. For now, I have the trip to try and figure things out. After about ten minutes, I turn on the radio in search of some tunes anything to drown out the thoughts in my head.
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