She
looked at him. He was staring out of the bus window as it sped along the
motorway, his mood resembling something close to petulant. Or maybe he really was just tired, after all, wasn’t
everybody?
“That’s
not the way it works, Johnny, and you know that.”
He turned
to look at her. “Have you ever been in love, Stevie?”
“Where
the hell did that come from?”
He’d
never once asked her anything like that before. It was a subject neither
of them had ever felt the need to talk about and God knows why he
was bringing it up now.
“Have you?”
Johnny
watched her reaction closely. Something had changed in her eyes when he’d
asked that question, but whether it had anything to do
with Mark he couldn’t quite work out.
“No. No, I haven’t been in love.” A lie. ”Can we change the
subject now?”
She
leaned over to grab a cigarette from the box lying on the table in front of a
now sleeping Jack.
“Not even
with Mark?”
She lit
the cigarette, leaning back in her seat, forgetting that Ava was still in the
vicinity. She suddenly just really needed one.
“I’m not
in love with Mark. I’ve never been in love with Mark.” She looked
at him, pushing a hand through her hair and away from her
face. “Is this going anywhere, Johnny?”
He shook
his head. “Maybe I just don’t understand you two as much as I thought I
did.”
“What
the...Johnny? Where are you going?”
“To grab
some sleep before we get there. I’m shattered.”
Stevie
watched him make his way to the bunks, throwing Mark a strange look as he
arrived back out front.
“What’s
up with him?” Mark asked, slipping
into the seat next to Stevie.
“Beats
me.” She smiled at him as he leaned in for a quick, hard kiss. “You
feeling a bit calmer now?”
“When am
I ever anything else?” he grinned, pulling her against him and going in for
another kiss. “But
yeah, I’m feeling a lot
calmer. However, if you’re offering to make me feel just that little bit
more relaxed...”
She
laughed, laying her legs over his as he ran his fingers up and down them,
creeping up the bottom of her denim shorts as their mouths met
again in a slower, deeper kiss.
“You know
what,” she said, gently stroking the back of his neck as they continued to
kiss. “I reckon we could both do with getting our
heads down for a bit.”
“A
bit of what, though?” Jack smirked, waking up and stretching out.
“Sleep,
Jack. Unlike you lot, when we get to the stadium me and the guys have got
shitloads to do. You just bugger off to your hotel,
smoke joints and demand crates of lager while we’re working our arses off setting everything up. You
might be getting the day off today but the rest of us have got to start sorting
things out for tomorrow.”
“Is that
what we do?” Jack said, winking at her. “Smoke joints and drink lager?”
“Pretty
much, yeah,” Mark laughed.
“Jesus,
why do I bother?” Stevie sighed, swinging her legs off of Mark's and
straightening her t-shirt.
“Hang
on. Weren’t we going for a lie down?” Mark asked, grabbing Jack’s
cigarettes before he put them back in his pocket, taking out two, putting one
behind his ear.
“I’m not
in the mood anymore.”
“I
thought you were always in the mood?” Jack said, standing up and leaning back
against the side of the
table.
“Can you
tell him to piss off, Mark? He’s really starting to wind me up today.”
Jack
whistled, leaning forward to ruffle Stevie’s hair. She slapped his hands
away, kneeling up on her seat to get a better aim at him.
“Ok,
kids, can we just try and play nicely now.” Dave Deacon emerged from the
back of the bus, throwing the video camera at Mark.
“And I think this belongs to you, or I’m assuming it does seeing as you appear
to be starring in whatever’s on
there.” He looked at Stevie as he walked past, but she ignored him.
He was really starting to annoy her, too.
“And make sure that doesn’t get into the wrong hands. The last thing we
fucking need is a sex tape scandal in the
middle of a tour.”
“Oh,
yeah!” Jack grinned, snatching the camera from Mark. “New footage!”
“Hey,
hang on, give that here, Jack!”
“Mark,
it’s ok. It’s nothing he hasn’t seen before. If it keeps his tiny
mind occupied for half an hour it’ll be worth it.” She pushed Mark
up out of his seat, taking his hand. “Come on. Let’s go get that
lie down. I need to get out of here.” She
looked back at Jack, throwing him a sarcastic smile. “Oh, and enjoy the
show, Warner. But you watch that
right hand of yours. I know you get off on watching me fuck but don’t
work it too hard, ok? You’re gonna need
it tomorrow.”
“Funny
girl.”
She gave
him the finger.
“Yeah,
ladylike, Stevie. Very ladylike.”
“There’s
nothing ladylike about me, Jack. And your front man’s about to find out
just how unladylike I can
really be.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Daniel
never tired of walking into the House of Commons. The grandeur and sheer
scale of the building made it a place he never tired of
coming to. As a student he’d dreamed of one day walking in here as
a Member of Parliament, and now that
part of his dream had been realised he was just waiting for the next
stage to take shape.
Andrew
Mitchell still hadn’t yet tendered a formal resignation from his post as party
leader, but the rumours were getting stronger every day
that it was nothing more than a formality. It was going to happen.
It was just a matter of waiting. Something
Daniel was quite willing to do.
He walked
along the corridor on his way to his office, smiling and saying hello to people
he knew - fellow MP’s, colleagues he worked closely
with, and even those he didn’t. He was a very approachable man,
much liked and greatly admired.
Which is why he already had the backing he needed to run for the
leadership. As soon as Andrew Mitchell stepped
down.
He walked
into the annexe to his office, smiling at Amy, his secretary.
“Good
morning, Mr. Madison. Would you like your coffee now? I’ve put your
newspapers on your desk
and left some messages by the
telephone. Some of them may be fairly urgent. Here’s your post.”
He took
the pile of envelopes from her and smiled again. “Thank you, Amy.
I’d love a coffee now, if it’s no trouble.”
“None at
all.” She got up from behind her large and extremely tidy desk and went
over to the small kitchenette in the corner of the
room. “Did you have a good break?”
He sat on
the edge of her desk, putting his briefcase down on the floor.
“I had a
wonderful few days thank you, Amy. It was nice to be home for a
while. Very restful.”
He
started opening some of the letters Amy had given him.
“And Mrs.
Madison? How is she after her holiday?”
“She had
a lovely time. Tuscany
was a joy to visit, as usual. It’s done her the power of good.”
Amy
smiled, handing him his coffee. She’d worked for Daniel Madison for over
two years now and he was simply the nicest, kindest person
she’d ever worked for. He was talkative, friendly and never spoke down
to her. She was very lucky, and
she knew that.
“Would
you like me to make any calls for you?” Amy asked. ”I can go through your
e-mails if you like;
see if there’s anything that needs
attending to.”
“That
would be extremely helpful, Amy, thank you,” Daniel smiled, picking up
his case and entering his office, closing the door behind
him.
He put
his case down on the desk and walked over to the window, putting his hands in
his pockets as he looked out at the view.
There was no place he’d rather be right now except, maybe, at home with
Samantha. He was more than aware that his
wife would prefer him to spend more time with her, and that she also knew this next stage of his career was
only going to take him away from her even more, but it was what he needed
to do, and she knew that,
too. But she’d never stop him; she’d never stand in his way because she
really was the perfect wife. He was a
very lucky man.
The sound
of the telephone ringing made him turn around and he walked back over to his
desk, pressing the intercom, Amy’s voice coming
loud and clear over the speaker.
“It’s Mr.
Gordon on line three, Mr. Madison.”
“Thank
you, Amy. Put him straight through.”
Angus
Gordon was a fellow MP and a very close friend of Daniel’s. Thick set,
grey-haired and in his mid-50’s, with a gentle Scottish
accent owed very much to his Outer Hebridian heritage, he was
masterminding Daniel’s forthcoming leadership
campaign. He was a master of spin, and he knew more than anyone how capable Daniel was of not only
winning the Leadership Election, but of also winning the General
Election. He was the kind of person Daniel
needed by his side as things moved forward, and Daniel was very much aware of that.
“Angus,
how are you?”
“Have you
got the TV on, Daniel?” Angus’s voice was more than a little excited, and
Daniel knew that he never got excited without good reason.
“No...”
“Then
switch it onto a news channel now, quickly!”
Daniel
reached out and picked up the remote control that lay next to his laptop,
pointing it at the large flat screen TV on the wall. It
leapt into life, already tuned to the rolling news channel he very rarely
switched off.
“Are you
watching?” Angus asked.
“Yes. I’m watching it now.” Daniel sat down on the edge of his
desk, watching as Andrew Mitchell stood outside his West
London home in front of a sea of photographers and journalists,
announcing the one thing Daniel Madison had waited months
to hear. That he was officially resigning as Leader of the Opposition
with immediate effect. He hoped
the job of finding his replacement would be a quick affair and that his
party would be up and running with a new
leader sooner rather than later, ready to head forward into the much anticipated General Election.
“It’s
going to be a quick campaign, Daniel,” Angus said as Daniel continued to watch
Andrew Mitchell give his final speech. “So, are
we ready to move fast with this?”
“Yes. Yes, we are. Angus, how many other candidates are we looking
at here?”
“Could be
up to five I reckon. But we’ve got the strongest chance, Daniel; we’ve
got the most support. We’ll have the signatures and the
backing we need before the week’s out. And you’ll walk any of the
hustings, I have no doubt about that.”
Daniel
could feel his stomach turning with an excitement he hadn’t felt in a long
time. This was it. It was really happening. He
couldn’t think of anything he wanted more than this. It was the beginning
of his ultimate dream, his goal, his life’s ambition.
And it was starting to happen right now.
Angus’s
voice broke into his thoughts. “So, we can announce you’re throwing your
hat into the ring for the leadership this afternoon then?”
Daniel
stood up and went back over to the window, glancing out across the River Thames
and the view he never tired of.
“Yes. We can definitely announce that Angus. Let’s get the ball
rolling as soon as possible.”
“Good
man. We’re going to do this, Daniel. You’ve got it in the bag, I’m
certain of it.”
“I hope
you’re right.”
“Nobody
else comes close. We’ll talk over lunch, ok? Is 1.30 alright for
you?”
“That’s
fine. I’ll see you then, Angus, and thanks.”
Daniel
hung up the ‘phone and turned round as Amy walked into the office carrying
another pile of post.
“Is
everything ok, Mr. Madison?”
A smile
slowly spread across Daniel’s handsome face and she couldn’t help smiling too.
“Everything’s fine, Amy. Everything’s more than fine. Andrew
Mitchell’s finally resigned! He’s done it,
and you know what that means don’t
you?”
She
couldn’t help laughing. His excitement was almost contagious. “I
think I do, yes.”
He walked
over to Amy, catching her in an unexpected, uncharacteristic, but not entirely
unwanted hug.
“It means
you could be looking at the new Leader of the Opposition, Amy. And maybe,
just maybe, one day, the Prime Minister himself!”
“You
deserve this, Mr. Madison. You really do.”
Daniel
let go of her, running back round behind his desk and sitting down, switching
on his computer.
“Can you
cancel any appointments I’ve got for this morning? And I’m going to have
a few letters for you to send out in an hour or so, is
that alright?”
She
nodded, placing the post down on his desk and picking up an empty coffee
cup. He was already typing away, concentrating
hard. He had a lot to do and he wanted to get started as soon as
possible.
“I’ll
sort everything out, Mr. Madison. Don’t worry.”
He looked
up and smiled. “Thank you, Amy.” He looked at his watch.
9.35. Samantha was due to attend a parish council meeting
this morning to discuss some charity functions, but she’d told him she
wouldn’t be leaving until at least
10am. If he called her now he could catch her before she left, because he
really needed to talk to her. For all
Daniel was an ambitious and driven man, throughout it all, every step of the
way, Samantha had been by his
side. She’d helped him by just being there and supporting him. She
was his beautiful wife and he loved her
and he just wanted to tell her that. He needed her to know how much
she meant to him because he didn’t
know if he could do what he was about to do if she wasn’t around. He
only hoped he never had to find out.
© Michelle Betham 2011
'See You At The Show' is available to download HERE.
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