Chapter 24

Candice

It’s official. Mick is my boyfriend. He told an entire crowd tonight. My soul feels like it’s found its counterpart and I know I’m falling for him. We’re sitting in his dressing room, waiting to grab a drink and a bite to eat with Knox and Caroline.

“We should probably get going?” I ask.

“Random question first. What is your middle name by the way?” he asks.

“What?” I reply. I felt a weird tingle in my stomach. The man I’m falling for doesn’t even know my middle name. I shake my head.

“I don’t actually have one,” I say.

“Oh.” He nods.

“What’s yours?” I ask.

“Uhhh,” he says, “It’s embarrassing.”

“I bet I could Google it.” I grab my phone.

“Don’t!” He snatches it out of my hand.

“Mick! Come on,” I say as I try to reach for it.

“I’ll tell you what it is as long as we make a promise now to stop Googling each other,” he says.

“Why? Is there something you don’t want me to see?” I ask.

“No, of course not. People make shit up. That’s the nature of this business so I just want to have a fighting chance of making this work without millions of people saying I’m cheating on you or you’re sleeping with Conner or whatever the fuck else they can say.”

“I agree.” I hold out my hand.

“Deal.” He shakes it.

“So? Middle name?”

“It’s Slash and Jagger.”

“Mick Jagger Slash Davies.” I cover my mouth to keep from burst into giggles.

“Close. Mickey Slash Jagger Davies.” He sighs.

“You’re joking. You’re telling me your names are the names of the most famous singers in the world?”

“Yep,” he says. “Parents were, and still are, big fans of The Rolling Stones and Guns ‘N Roses.”

“How did Violet get such a normal name?” I ask.

“Oh well—” he trails off.

“She has famous middle names too?”

“Violet Stevie Melissa Davies.”

“Melissa? Why?”

“Melissa Etheridge.”

“Oh my God. Incredible!”

“My parents are crazy.” He shakes his head.

“They had two very amazing children, so I think they did okay.” I wrap my arms around his shoulders.

“They have one amazing child and one okay child,” he says and places his hands on my hips.

“Stop making yourself sound worse than you are. You make mistakes but so do we all. Maybe you’re not perfect but you fit me perfectly,” I say. He drops his hands from my waist and pulls back from me.

“Amazing,” he says and grabs his phone out of his pants.

“What?” I frown.

“I’m writing that down. You just gave me an amazing idea for a song.” He gives me a quick kiss on the lips. “Wait here. I’ll be right back. I just need to get my writing book. God you’re a genius.”

“I try,” I call after him. I shake my head and laugh. My phone starts vibrating and I fish it out of my pocket. Felix’s name flashes across the screen. He had called multiple times since the show. Mick’s declaration is already everywhere.

“Hello?” I answer. I need to end this once and for all.

“Candy,” he breathes. “You answered.”

“Yeah sorry. Just been a bit preoccupied. I was going to call you,” I say.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Nothing. Just hanging out.”

“You know what I mean. What are you doing with him?” The venom in his voice is evident.

“What do you want me to say?” I ask.

“That you’re just going through a phase, and you want to come back home,” he answers.

“I don’t want to come home. We’re not together anymore. Let me remind you, you cheated on me more than ten times over two years.”

“It was never more than ten times.”

“Are you sure?”

“I love you,” he says.

“Those words don’t magically fix everything,” I say.

“Has Mick lied to you yet? Because he will,” he says.

“He hasn’t.” My gut churns. Mick told me the truth about his parents but sometimes when he looks at me, I feel in my bones there’s something else he’s hiding.

“I doubt that. Either way you’re going to figure out he’s worse than me. He’s twenty-one for Christ’s sake. You need someone who’s mature,” he says.

“You’re not referring to yourself when it comes to mature are you? Because you’re far from it, mate,” I say.

“Candice, just come home.”

“You’re not even home. You’re in Oslo.”

“You know what I mean. Come here. I had dinner with your parents last night,” he says. “They said they wished we could have worked things out.”

“I’m sure they did.” When it came to Felix, Alan and Cynthia Bryan are his biggest fans.

“Just think about it. When he hurts you, ‘cause he will, you can come back. I will wait for you,” he says.

“I got to go.” I hang up before he can say anything else. After the call ends, I hover over my Google Chrome app. I want to Google myself and seeing as how I promised Mick I wouldn’t Google him; I’d still be keeping my word. I type my name into the search bar and see a picture of Mick. Model Isabel Conroy Devastated by Mick Davies Announcement of New Girlfriend. I knew Mick had an ex-girlfriend he was serious about but how could I have not known it was Isabel Conroy. I click the story and wait for it to load.

“Ready to go?” I look up at Mick as he enters the room.

“Er, yeah,” I say and quickly exit out of the app.

“What were you looking at?” he asks.

“Just at my beauty app. They did a tutorial on smoky eyes,” I say.

Mick blinks at me, trying to register what I said. “Right,” he says after a minute. “Because I know what that is—”

“It’s a makeup technique. I can teach you later,” I smile.

“Come on my sassy little stylist. Can’t keep royalty waiting,” he says.

“Yes, your majesty.” I slip my hand into his.

“Let’s make this dinner as fast as possible and then go home for a full night of mind-blowing sex,” he says.

I let out an uncontrollable yawn.

“No, you cannot fall asleep,” he says and pinches my side. We head out of our room.

“Oi! It’s eleven o’clock at night. I’m tired,” I say as we get to the elevator.

“Dinner is with your family so technically this is your fault.” He sticks his tongue out at me.

“How was I supposed to know my brother would fly here and want to be friends with you?”

“He’s always wanted to be friends with me,” he smiles.

I roll my eyes as we approach Knox and Caroline.

“Let’s go,” Caroline says. “I’m starving.”

My tummy growls, “Me too apparently.”

Rex gives us a lift to a quiet little restaurant not too far from our hotel. We walk inside and it was completely empty.

“Hello,” the hostess greets us. “We kept the restaurant empty for you all so you can have your meal in privacy.”

“Thank you so much,” Knox says.

“Not a problem. Right this way.” We sit at a booth with Mick and me on one side and Knox and Caroline on the other. It was weird to think the last time we did this was only a month ago and it had ended badly.

“Your parents are calling me.” Caroline frowns as she looks at her phone, “Hello? Hi Lottie… I’m just out with Mick and Aunt Candy and Daddy. How’s Nana and Poppy?” She gets up from the table and walks towards the entrance.

“How is Ma and Da?” I ask.

“Good. They miss you,” Knox replies.

“I miss them too. It’s been a while,” I say.

“They’ll be here in three days,” he says without looking up at me.

“Wait what?” I ask.

“Caroline and I talked about it, and we are going to send Lottie over here with you guys for the week before Caroline comes to Paris to meet up with us. Ma and Da said they would bring her over to the States.”

“So Ma and Da will be on tour with us?”

“Yep.” Knox nods.

I look at Mick who’s studying the menu. “Do they know about us?” There’s a lump in my throat. The thought of introducing my parents to Mick gives me the bad kind of butterflies.

“Yes,” he says.

“Oh,” I say.

“Are you ashamed of me?” Mick frowns.

“No that’s not it. My parents are—"

“Traditional?” Knox finishes.

“But they have you for a son,” Mick says. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. I just mean you’re the biggest rock star in the world and you’re their son so I mean how different can it be with me?”

The truth was that our parents and Knox hadn’t always been on the best terms over the past twelve years. They had always loved him though even when he was battling his addictions, but it didn’t change the fact that they had always wished we had both gotten sensible careers. Still, they did like all the benefits that came along with this lifestyle. My dad had never left Ireland before Knox hit it big. Now they tour the world to see The Hestons.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Knox shrugs.

“How’s the tour going?” I change the subject.

“It’s going well. There’s been a few issues with the new album,” he replies.

“Oh, like what?” Mick asks.

“I can’t seem to find one song that stands out. Like the song that brings the whole album together and sells itself.”

“I’m not sure how much service I could be but if you need my help or whatever then let me know,” Mick says.

“Really?” Knox asks.

“I mean it was a stupid suggestion. I know you probably don’t need someone like me—” Mick starts to ramble. I have never seen him so self-conscious.

“That’d be great actually. When’s your next time off?” Knox asks.

“We have about 3 days after Boston and before Chicago,” he says, looking at his calendar.

“We’ll be in Berlin and perform the night of your Boston show then we have two days before we need to be in Frankfurt. Can you meet me in London for two days?” Knox asks while also scrolling through his calendar.

“I should be able to. I’ll hop on the jet after the show in Boston,” Mick says.

“Okay, great,” Knox smiles.

“Are you coming?” Mick says. Knox looks at me.

“What?” I am so lost.

“Are you going to come to London with me?” he asks.

“Oh. Uh I don’t see why not?” I reply.

“Awesome.” Mick places his hand on my leg and gives it a squeeze.

“What’s awesome?” Caroline says as she joins us.

“Mick is going to come to London after the Boston show to help me out with the album,” Knox says.

“Really?” Caroline raises her eyebrows.

“Yup,” Knox says.

“You guys are just best friends now?” Caroline asks.

“I don’t think so,” Mick says.

“Just helping each other out. I mean, it’s the least old Mick can do for me seeing as how I wrote their number one single right now,” Knox teases.

“I’ll repay the favor then mate.” Mick chuckles.

“This is freaking me out,” Caroline says as she starts to read her menu.

“Me too,” I agree.

“I thought this would be your dream?” Mick says.

“You two in cahoots? Not likely.” I smile.

“Cahoots? Really?” Mick laughs.

“Sorry I’m not cool and young like you,” I stick my tongue out at him.

“I always forget how old you are,” Mick says.

“I must be ancient,” Knox cuts in.

“Fourteen years older than me.” Mick smiles. “I guess only thirteen. I turn twenty-two next month.”

“Ugh twenty-two,” Caroline groans, “I remember twenty-two. I miss twenty-two. Are you going to go to London then?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I reply, “it’s actually good timing because I have to take care of some things.”

“Oh?” Caroline asks.

“Just with the apartment.” I take a sip of my water.

“He knows, doesn’t he?” Caroline’s eyes narrow.

“Of course,” I say.

“Who knows what?” Mick frowns.

“Felix,” I answer.

“Oh. So, I guess he cut you off then?” Mick asks.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” My eyebrows scrunch together.

“You have to go take care of stuff at home, so I assumed it was because he cut you off,” he says. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You did,” I reply. “I want to switch everything into my name.”

“All right, all right,” Caroline cuts in. “Let’s switch the subject.”

For the next hour, I listen and barely contribute to the conversation. I’m angry at Mick. How could he believe I was still taking money from Felix? I had stopped taking money out of our joint account the second I got on tour. I had cut up all the cards that were linked to him and told Felix I was going to pay him back. We get back to the hotel and Caroline and Knox say goodbye to us.

“Are you mad?” Mick asks once we’re inside the elevator.

“No,” I say.

“You know it’s rude to lie,” he says.

“It’s rude to assume I’m still taking money from my ex-boyfriend.” I cross my arms.

“How was I supposed to know? You didn’t exactly tell me you weren’t.”

“I know but you saying it makes me think you believe I use Felix.”

“Do you think maybe, quite possibly, this could have nothing to do with me?” he asks. We step out of the elevator and head to our room.

“That’s what it felt like to me,” I reply, stepping inside the monster penthouse suite.

“Candice, if you take a deep breath and rethink the conversation, I think you’d be surprised to realize it might be your own insecurities.”

I open my mouth then shut it again. I start to think about the conversation. “Fuck,” I whisper.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” He smirks and takes a seat on the couch.

“Fine. You’re a little right.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks and pats the seat beside him.

“Not really,” I reply.

“Come on baby. Tell me your problems,” he kisses my forehead.

“I don’t want people to think I love you for your money,” I say.

“I’m a cheap bastard so you’ll basically be paying for everything from here on out.” He squeezes me tighter.

“Mick, I’m being serious. The next relationship I get into I want to be able to contribute financially.”

“The next relationship you get into? So not this one? I knew you were using me.” He smiles.

“You know what I mean! This one, you prick,” I laugh, “you’re not allowed to pay for everything.”

“Candice, I have more money than I know what to do with and now you’re telling me I can’t spend it on you?” he asks.

“Not above the normal amount. Don’t buy me a car or a house or anything,” I smile.

“No elaborate gifts.” He gets up and walks to his backpack. “But I did get you something.”

“What is it?” I ask and he hands me a small box.

“Open it.”

I pull the bow off it and open the lid. Inside is a diamond encrusted anchor necklace.

“Do you like it?” he asks.

“I love it,” I breathe, “it’s beautiful.”

“You’re my anchor—er, you keep me anchored? You hold me in one spot—I mean you keep me in one spot and it’s a good thing? Shit I don’t know,” he rambles.

“Are you nervous or something?” I giggle.

“Maybe a little.”

I touch my cross necklace which was a gift from Felix. I feel a weight being lifted as I take it off. “Can you help me?” I ask. I lift my hair up and motion for him to put it around my neck. “How does it look?”

“It looks ace,” he says.

“Thank you.” I kiss him.

“You’re very welcome.” He kisses me again. He deepens the kiss before pulling back.

“Are you staring at me?” I ask without opening my eyes.

“Yeah. You’re so stunning it amazes me sometimes,” he replies. I wiggle out of his arms and stand, “Where are you going?”

“You can’t possibly think you can make a comment like that and it’s not going to end in the bedroom?”

“I’m going to compliment you forever then.”

“Let’s go big boy.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Mick grabs my hand and pulls me.

This is what love was supposed to feel like.