Chapter 14 #5
She hadn’t even thought about the logistics of getting in.
She just knew she needed to see Will. Her doubts about him had melted away as she stood on that roof terrace and she couldn’t wait to tell him.
She remembered the excitement in his face that morning when he had told her he was working on a new ‘project’.
This must have been it. And she remembered how bleak he had seemed tonight, that sad, haunted look back in his eyes.
She wondered now how she could ever have doubted him.
* * *
Of course, the taxi driver was right. She couldn’t get into the auditorium without a ticket, and her attempts to get through the stage door were met with a solid wall of resistance in the shape of two very burly and extremely conscientious security men.
Her pleas that she knew the band were met with heard-it-all-before indifference.
‘I’m a friend of Will Sargent’s,’ she pleaded, trying a new tack.
‘Course you are, love,’ one said patronisingly.
Of course, it wasn’t very plausible. After all, any Walking Wounded fan would know Will’s name – and if she really was a friend of his, why wasn’t she on the guest list? No doubt they had heard it all before from crazed fans desperate to get backstage and into Owen’s jocks.
‘Can you please just let him know I’m here?’ she begged. ‘He’ll want to see me.’
‘Sorry.’ He shook his head implacably.
‘Look, love,’ the other one was regarding her almost pityingly, ‘it’s New Year’s Eve. You must have somewhere better to be than standing here arguing with us.’
‘Yeah, you’re not getting in, so why don’t you go home?’ the first one said, not unkindly.
Kate was aware of how pathetic she must look, shivering in the snow, all decked out in her wedding finery like some weird groupie well past her use-by date. But she didn’t care.
‘What about Louise?’ she persisted. ‘Could you tell her I need to see her?’
‘Louise?’ The security men perked up at the mention of Louise – that wasn’t a name with which the average fan would be familiar.
‘I’m Kate O’Neill,’ she said eagerly. ‘Please just tell Louise I’m here. If she doesn’t want to see me, I’ll go away, I promise.’
The two men exchanged a look, then seemed to come to a decision, one nodding to the other.
While one drew away to talk into a mobile, the other continued to block the door.
Kate waited anxiously, but moments later, to her intense relief, Louise appeared.
‘Kate!’ She beamed, and the security guards stepped aside.
‘It’s really good to see you.’ She hugged her, pulling her inside.
‘Louise, I have to see Will,’ Kate babbled.
‘Good. I was hoping that was why you were here.’ Louise smiled. ‘Come on.’ She began to lead Kate towards the backstage area. ‘No, hang on a minute.’ She came to an abrupt halt. ‘I’ve got a better idea…’
* * *
Backstage, Will’s mobile rang. Checking the display, he was surprised to see that it was Tina. ‘Hi!’
‘Don’t sound so scared,’ she said.
Will gave a wry laugh. ‘I’m just… surprised, that’s all.’
‘I bet. Guess where I am!’
‘I don’t know – Cambodia?’
‘No. Rehab!’ she announced brightly.
‘Rehab?’
‘Oh come on, you’re not that surprised, are you? Turns out the only person I was fooling was myself.’
‘Well, I’m glad you’re getting it sorted out. So, how’s it going?’
‘It’s okay, actually,’ she said, sounding surprised. There was a moment’s silence. ‘Anyway,’ she began again, slightly awkward, ‘one of the things they’ve been getting us to do here is to apologise to people we’ve hurt in the past and… well, I figured I owed you a call.’
For a moment Will was stunned into silence. Then he said, ‘You don’t owe me anything, Tina.’
‘Really? I know I was a bit of a nightmare the past year or so.’
‘I was no picnic myself.’
‘I could say it was the coke but, well, I’m trying to accept responsibility for my behaviour these days,’ she said ruefully. ‘So, I’m sorry for being such a pain in the arse.’
‘If anyone’s apologising, it should be me. I’m sorry about the way things ended.’
‘Oh, you weren’t entirely to blame. I guess we both knew we were flogging a dead horse. It was my fault we hadn’t called time on it long before. But you know me, letting go was never my strong point.’
‘No,’ Will laughed, ‘it wasn’t.’
‘Let’s say we’re quits.’
‘Okay – quits.’
Tina took a deep breath. ‘So, how’s old whatserface?’ she said jauntily.
‘Kate is fine – I think. I mean, she seems fine. I saw her earlier at Lorcan’s wedding.’
‘Oh! You’re not—’
‘We’re not together, no. It… didn’t work out.’
‘Oh…’ There was a long silence.
‘This is where I should say I’m sorry to hear that,’ Tina said eventually, ‘but—’
‘That’s okay.’
‘This forgiveness thing, well, it’s kind of a learning curve.’
‘You’re doing great.’
Tina sighed. ‘Well, I’d better go. I think there’s a group hug or something at midnight. I’m not sure I can stand the excitement!’
Will laughed. ‘It’s good to hear from you, Tina,’ he said, and meant it. ‘You sound more like your old self.’
‘Well, I’m getting there. Happy New Year, Will.’
‘Happy New Year.’
* * *
The minute Kate entered the auditorium, the heavy thump of bass blasting from the amplifiers hit her like a punch to the gut.
The atmosphere was electric. A vast sea of bodies writhed in ecstasy as Owen and Rory wove around the stage and Phoenix’s strong, spellbinding voice soared over the heads of the crowd.
The beautiful, sexy creature that was Walking Wounded live was at its most thrillingly seductive.
A huge roar went up from the crowd as Owen played the opening chords of one of their most anthemic songs, and several thousand hands were raised to punch the air in unison.
Kate was lowered carefully into the mosh pit by two of the security team – to howls of outrage from some of the throng, who stared at her with a mixture of curiosity and indignation.
She smiled at them apologetically, feeling self-conscious.
She was ludicrously overdressed for a rock gig and was regretting having let Louise talk her into this.
She should have gone backstage and met up there with Will, she thought, growing increasingly anxious as midnight approached.
There seemed to be so much that could go wrong.
Damn Louise and her sense of the dramatic.
Suddenly a clock replaced the faces of the band being projected on to the big screens and the countdown to midnight started, the crowd shouting ‘TEN, NINE, EIGHT…’
Backstage, Will heard the countdown begin with a heavy heart. The start of another whole year without Kate, he thought. What was there to celebrate about that? She had looked so gorgeous today at the wedding – so gorgeous and so unhappy…
‘THREE, TWO, ONE,’ the crowd thundered. ‘HAPPY NEW YEAR!’
The auditorium exploded in a riot of cheers as stardust and balloons floated down from the ceiling, showering everyone with coloured glitter.
The band broke into a souped-up version of ‘Auld Lang Syne’, and everyone grabbed each other for New Year kisses.
The audience cheered as Summer appeared from one side of the stage, shyly kissing Phoenix, and Louise appeared from the other, to receive a very enthusiastic embrace from Rory.
Georgie hopped down from her drum riser and threw her arms around Owen, who gave her a brotherly kiss on the cheek.
‘Okay,’ Owen said into the microphone, holding up his hand for attention, ‘there’s one more member of the band who should be with us tonight. Without this guy, none of us would be here. So, please, give it up for Will Sargent!’ he shouted, and the crowd cheered and whooped like mad.
‘What’s this?’ Will said irritably to their tour manager, Roy, who was backstage with him. ‘We didn’t plan it.’
‘I guess they want you to join them onstage.’
Will sighed. He wasn’t in the mood for this. But Owen had the crowd chanting his name now, a rhythmic mantra, urging him on stage.
‘Will! Will! Will!’ they chanted in unison, led by Owen.
Bowing to the inevitable, Will plastered a professional smile on his face and marched on stage.
The crowd erupted as he appeared, blinking in the spotlights.
Though he had removed his jacket and bow tie, he was still rather over dressed in his wedding attire, and there were several wolf whistles, which he received with a self-deprecating smile.
‘Oh, isn’t he gorgeous?’ the girl next to Kate squealed to her friend.
Owen threw his arm around Will, holding him in a firm grip as they stood facing the audience, preventing his escape.
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Owen said, into the microphone, ‘everyone should have someone to kiss on New Year’s Eve.
We’ve all had a New Year kiss,’ he indicated the band, to a roar of approval.
‘You’ve all had a New Year kiss,’ he waved at the audience, who hollered their assent. ‘But poor Will here hasn’t.’
‘Awwww!’
‘So, girls and boys, we’re looking for a volunteer from the audience.’
The crowd went wild at this, hundreds of girls throwing their hands into the air, shrieking excitedly.
‘For fuck’s sake, Owen,’ Will growled through clenched teeth, ‘we’re not doing panto!’
‘Who’d like to give Will a New Year kiss?’ Owen continued, blithely ignoring his protests.
Will struggled to maintain a good-humoured smile as Rory was dispatched to pick someone out of the audience to kiss him. He’d paste Owen for this later – and anyone else who’d been involved in it, he thought, noticing the eager excitement on Louise’s face.
Gosh, Will’s really popular, Kate thought, dismayed as the girls around her jumped up and down excitedly.
‘Me, me, me,’ they squealed, stamping on her feet and elbowing her in the ribs as a beefy bouncer, guided by Rory, scanned her section of the mosh pit.
Panicking that he wouldn’t spot her among the ocean of bodies, Kate hopped up and down too, waving frantically at Rory.
Then his eyes met hers, and he smiled. ‘Her,’ he said, pointing her out to the bouncer, whose thick, muscle-bound arm plunged into the throng.
Kate reached out to him, but in the fray it was impossible for him to determine which flailing arm was attached to which girl and, to her horror, his big hand closed around the arm of the girl beside her, who grabbed him with a triumphant yelp.
‘Hey!’ Kate yelled in outrage. ‘Hands off, he’s mine.’
Fuelled by a huge surge of adrenalin, Kate whacked the other girl’s arm until she was forced to let go, and she grabbed the bouncer’s. Then, as if by magic, she was being lifted into the air, floating over the sea of bodies and landing on the stage beside Rory.
‘Hi.’ He grinned at her, eyes crinkling at the corners. ‘I thought we’d lost you there for a minute. Lucky you’ve got such a mean left hook.’
‘Oh God, I hope I didn’t hurt that girl.’ She glanced back into the mosh pit. She couldn’t believe she’d lashed out like that.
‘I’m sure she’ll live. Now, go get him.’
Meanwhile, Will couldn’t see what was going on at the other side of the stage, his view blocked by the clutch of security men involved in hauling the volunteer out of the mosh pit.
Better get it over with, he thought, bracing himself to give a polite peck on the cheek to whoever Rory had pulled out of the audience – probably some groupie who wanted to be onstage with Owen.
Then the bouncers dispersed, and he couldn’t believe his eyes, because there, walking shyly across the stage towards him, was Kate. She ran the last few steps and threw herself into his arms.
He looked down at her, almost floored by the love in her eyes, which sparkled with pure happiness.
‘I love you,’ he said.
‘I know. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.’
Then their lips met, and the crowd whooped as they kissed passionately while fireworks crashed around them.
‘Oh my God! That was nearly me,’ the girl the bouncer had grabbed initially moaned to her friend, rubbing her arm as she watched enviously.
‘Don’t be stupid!’ her friend snapped. ‘She was a total plant.’
‘It’s okay, boys and girls, I think they know each other already,’ Owen was saying, as Will and Kate kissed, oblivious of the thousands watching.
Only when the band started playing the gorgeous, swirling guitar intro to a romantic ballad did they come up for air and realise that everyone else had left the stage and the gig was resuming.
‘We’ve got work to do.’ Rory grinned. ‘Scram!’
Taking a playful bow to huge applause, they hurried offstage hand in hand.
‘I love my Christmas present,’ Kate said, as she stood in Will’s arms at the side of the stage. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything.’
‘I can think of a few ways you can make it up to me,’ he said, kissing her again.
‘Anything in particular you have in mind?’
‘Actually, there is one thing – it’s a lot to ask, though.’
‘Is it very perverse?’ Kate smiled mischievously.
‘Very.’
‘Have you ever done it before?’
‘Never.’
‘Couldn’t find a girl willing to do it?’
‘Never found a girl I wanted to do it with.’
‘Do you think I’d like it?’
‘I hope so. It’d mean a lot to me if you’d do it.’
‘Okay then.’ Kate shrugged.
‘You don’t even know what it is,’ Will teased.
‘So tell me.’
‘Okay – but don’t forget you’ve already said yes.’
‘I won’t back out.’
Will bent and whispered in her ear, and Kate gasped.
‘That is perverse,’ she said.
Just then her mobile rang. It was Freddie.
‘Happy New Year, sweetie!’
‘Happy New Year, Freddie!’
‘Where the hell did you get to? I’ve been searching everywhere for you.’
‘Actually, I’m onstage at the Walking Wounded gig.’
‘Oh my God, you’re with Will!’ Freddie squealed. ‘Thank Christ for that!’
‘And, Freddie, I’ve got news for you. Are you sitting down?’
‘I’m positively horizontal.’
‘You’re going to be a bridesmaid!’
* * *