by Bev Dulson
His eyes were on her too. ‘What about me?’
‘Who are you?’
‘Stick around, kid, you just might find out,’ he winked at her, reached across her and grabbed two bottles of Bud from the table, popped them both open and passed one to her.
Magenta had drunk far more than she normally would before she did live interviews, in fact, she would normally just have one shot of something to take the edge off. She couldn’t be sure how many Bacardi’s she’d had, especially as she’d poured them liberally. The make-up and salon girls had done a decent job in making her look like the Magenta everyone knew, but as she stood in the bathroom of the green room looking at her reflection she knew that rock chick Magenta had gone AWOL, where was her fire? She looked beaten.
‘C’mon girl, you can do this, scouse girls don’t get scared.’
Yes – she could do this, all she had to do was sit next to Johnny and once the banter started, they’d be fine, she’d be fine. She’d done a billion interviews, she was just feeling a bit spooked and this Roxie thing had thrown her off her game slightly. Nothing to stress about.
‘Where the hell have you been?’
Trina was greeted by Magenta in the corridor on the way to the stage as she was on her way to meet Erika, she didn’t sound angry, she sounded concerned.
‘Johnny...’
Magenta held a hand up. ‘Stop right there. You need to stay away from Johnny, you’re vulnerable right now. I love him to bits but he is shit with women and you don’t need him to turn your head, especially right now when you’ve got all this stuff going on with Dean. It might seem like a good idea to get back at Dean with a revenge shag and to be fair, there probably isn’t anyone better to do it with than with Johnny, but I don’t want to see you get hurt any more than you already are.’
‘Johnny can’t hurt me, you have to have feelings for someone for them to hurt you and it’s not like that, he just caught me at a low moment when I needed someone. He looked after me, that’s all. There is nothing more to it than that. How can there be? I’m in the middle of my marriage potentially breaking up,’ she whispered this, Tango the bodyguard was only a two steps behind Magenta.
‘Potentially?’
She sighed. ‘I sent him back home. I need space to think. Is my marriage really over? I need to consider the kids...he said it’s just a fetish. Most people have fetishes don’t they?’
Magenta shrugged. ‘Maybe, but you’ve got to be comfortable with what’s going on and I don’t think you are or will ever be.’
‘It’s twenty years, twenty years of my life. How do I start again?’
‘You’re tough, T. You and the kids will be OK, you’re financially secure so that’s one headache you don’t need to think about and once you’ve picked yourself up, move on. It’s not starting again it’s the next chapter and you’re holding the pen.’
She tried to smile. ‘God, you can tell you write songs, with all that chapter and pen stuff.’
Magenta hugged her friend. ‘Also, you’ve got me.’
‘Hey, I haven’t even asked how you’re feeling with the letter and extra security.’
‘I’m fine, I always am.’
Tango stepped forward. ‘Magenta, we need to head towards the stage.’
She nodded. ‘Catch you after the show, T.’
Hunter was walking towards her. ‘Just checked out the stage and your walkway, everything is fine.’
‘Babe, you don’t have to do this.’
‘Yes, I do. You’re struggling with all this, I need to do what I can to take the strain from you.’ He held her hand and led her down the corridor towards the stage where James Corden was doing his opening link and Johnny was already waiting in the wings along with Erika ready to update the official social media accounts. With Hunter leading her and Tango behind her, she knew she was safe.
James started his introduction. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, I am extremely honoured to welcome onto the stage, all the way from Liverpool, England, our very own English rose and your home grown American rock God...’
Magenta turned to Hunter, she squeezed his hand and as she met his warm aqua blue eyes, something flashed behind him, a bright light blinding her.
‘Please put your hands together and raise the roof for Magenta Valentina and Johnny Kidd.’
Johnny was already half way across the stage, waving to the audience, then high fiving James, pulling him into a man hug. Magenta was rooted to the spot in the wings.
‘Babe, what is it? What’s wrong?’ Hunter could feel her shaking in his arms.
Tango was moving behind Hunter.
‘Magenta, it’s fine, it’s just a light bulb that’s burnt out, that’s all that caused the flash.’
‘I can’t do it, I can’t go on. I can’t.’
Hunter put his palms to her face, tilting her head so she was looking directly into his eyes.
‘You’re safe babe, it was nothing. I won’t let anything happen to you. You’ve been in tougher situations than this.’
She physically crumbled in his arms, her head buried in his shoulder, her body shaking as she sobbed. Whatever was going on with Mags, this wasn’t how she dealt with things. There was no way she was going on stage tonight. Over Mag’s head he could see confused looks from Johnny and James holding his finger to his earpiece waiting instruction from the production crew.
Johnny’s eyes locked with his, he just shook his head and knew instantly that he’d got the message and watched him slip easily into the interview, having the audience in the palm of his hand as James quickly made up an excuse for Magenta’s absence.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
L.A. – Max’s apartment
Lazing in his double bed, which was really a larger than average single bed, surrounded by his laptop, cell, tablet and with his portable TV on, Max was in his element. This was the best breakfast in bed he’d had in ages, Magenta in complete meltdown, served up on plate with a side order of revenge. Surveying all the social media updates, #mentalmagenta trending on Twitter and all the Facebook, Instagram shares it was surprising how quickly she had spiralled. The Magenta he knew was made out of tougher stuff, still it just made her downfall all the more spectacular and rewarding.
TMZ was running with the story. It had broken overnight when she’d failed to show on stage with Johnny on the James Corden show, despite being in the building. There was one thing he could say about Magenta, she was the ultimate professional, so for her to pull out of a commitment, something big must have happened. There had been a quick tweet from her camp to say she’d been suddenly taken ill. He hadn’t bought that at the time, that was standard issue response for any catalogue of catastrophes. No, something more serious had occurred.
Fortunately, for the James Corden show, Johnny had been entertainingly hilarious and as a quick replacement at the end of the show, Roxie Meyers who coincidently happened to be nearby on a press junket was able to step in and sing her heart out – quite a coup for the Corden show. Max smiled to himself, coincidence or well planned opportunity. The appearance of Roxie had sent Magenta over the edge and that’s when social media had gone into over drive.
No one was buying the story that Magenta had been struck down with some mysterious illness, not after the footage from inside the theatre had leaked. He clicked onto the video that currently had over one million views, he’d contributed to a lot of those views, the pleasure of seeing his ex-wife in complete meltdown was too good not to keep watching, pure car crash viewing. He watched as her fiery red hair filled the screen as her head flung back in rage as she turned on those around her, GI Joe and that trampy mate of hers from Liverpool. ‘What the actual fuck is going on?’ She could be heard yelling repeatedly. No one seemed to be able to calm her down, her hands now flinging in the air as she tried to push people away. ‘First she steals my song and now she has my spot on this show. What next, my career? My life?’ Her big security guard seemed to be taking control, managing to overpower her and move her
to one side. Max smiled at this, that must be a kick in the teeth to old GI Joe, so used was he to being Magenta’s protector. He wondered idly for a second what the beefed up security was about, but pushed it out of his head as he pressed pause on the clip. He had more important things on his mind.
Picking up his cell, he rang one of his contacts. ‘Buckley, it’s me. It’s out now about the song, make sure any links to me are buried if Highway 65 ask about it, don’t forget, I still have that video tape, you wouldn’t want your career to crash and burn would you? You’ve stolen once before, I can easily frame you for stealing Magenta's material. You can see the damage I am still capable of doing. Max Maxwell ain’t finished yet.’
He didn’t wait for the music agent, Jax ‘Buck’ Buckley to respond before ending the call. He knew when he’d seen Roxie that Jax would be the perfect representation for her, perfect because he was one of the few people that Max still had a hold over. With Jax’s help, Roxie was now signed to Highway 65, but Max wasn’t ready to reveal his part in the deal just yet. The less Magenta knew of his involvement the better, only on his terms would she find out.
He pressed replay on the video, 1.5 million views. Sometimes he loved the internet! At this rate, Magenta’s career would be over by the end of the day.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Trine and Hunter along with Logan were sitting in the open plan breakfast room in Logan’s apartment which was currently Magenta and Hunter’s temporary home.
‘Erika has managed to get blocks on the sites currently showing the video so it can’t be shared again, but it’s harder with people who may already have it saved on their devices. She’s back in the office now, working with IT to do as much damage limitation,’ Trine informed the two men.
‘Great, you’ve done a brilliant job trying to get this shut down, I appreciate it.’ Logan smiled at her.
‘Yeah, me too, sorry T, feel like I wasn’t much use last night, I should’ve been more aware, something like that was bound to get filmed.’
‘If it’s any consolation, I think these videos came from Roxie’s team, they were filmed inside the venue and they stood to gain from any negative press against Magenta,’ she turned her iPad round to show them what she was looking at. It was a screen shot of the morning headlines all put together. Everything related to Magenta was negative whereas Roxie’s headlines were all about her rising star and what a role model she was to young fans.
Both Hunter and Logan pulled a face. ‘She’s gonna flip when she sees that.’
Logan leaned forward. ‘The bigger issue is the fact that it’s now in the public domain that Magenta has accused Roxie of stealing her song...’
‘I still think Max is behind this,’ Hunter interjected.
‘I understand where you’re coming from but Jax Buckley is the guy behind Roxie’s new found fame, he sent her demo to Highway 65, he and Max had a massive falling out years ago. Max sued him for stealing songs belonging to Maxwell Int...’
‘So, exactly what’s happening here? We need to speak to this Jax guy.’
‘Already on it, he’s coming to meet me this afternoon.’
‘I wanna be in on that meeting,’ Hunter stated.
‘Me too.’
They spun round, Magenta sauntered into the room. If they had been expecting a hung over, broken mess that’s not what they got. Hunter smiled as he took in her appearance, black knee high boots over her black jeans, a loose fitting Guns ‘N’ Roses T-shirt, which slouched down over her right shoulder, her hair was pulled back in a high pony tail, a flame of red mixing up the black colour code, her oversized Chanel sunglasses were sitting on top of her head. Her green eyes burned with rage, only made even more obvious by her smoky eye shadow, outlined in black kohl eyeliner. He knew that look, she was ready for war. He jumped up, taking her hand in his and pulling her close. ‘What’s your plan, la? You know I’m right there with you.’
‘Right now, I don’t have one, but I sure as hell am damned if I’m sitting in here all day, tracking social media to see what shite they are writing about me now. It’s a beautiful day in New York City and I am going for a walk, with my gorgeously hot boyfriend and I’m going to put my shoulders back, hold my head high and wear my favourite lipstick,’ she grinned as she pulled out a red lipstick from her pocket. ‘Oh and later, we’re gonna bust Jax Buckley’s balls.’
‘Hell yeah, that’s my girl,’ Hunter flung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
‘When there is thunder, you don’t run for cover, you become the lightening.’
‘Excuse me, Magenta,’ Tango was sitting quietly in the corner, so quietly they’d all forgotten he was there. The thought flashing through Hunter’s head that he was good. ‘If you’re going for a walk, I’ll need to come with you.’
‘Tango, I am giving you the morning off. Hunter and I will be fine.’
‘Magenta, I’m over ruling you, after last night there’s a lot of interest in you, more so than usual. Tango will be with you, but he’ll give you and Hunter space.’
Tango nodded. ‘You won’t even know I’m there ma’am.’
Magenta could feel the tension in Hunter’s body. She knew he was hating this, this guy was stepping all over him, this was Hunter’s thing, this was what he did. She also couldn’t deal with his stupid name, Tango, felt like she was talking to a pet dog.
Hunter leaned into her, his lips brushing her ear. ‘I got you, babe,’
She turned to him. ‘I got you too,’ she smiled, her smile turning to a laugh. ‘Who do we think we are, Sonny and Cher?’
‘It’s good to hear you laugh.’
His phone began to ring, he was too preoccupied by Magenta to check the ID. ‘Hunter Cole,’ he spoke into the phone.
‘Really? I was looking for Jason Lomax.’ The phone went dead.
‘What is it, what’s wrong?’
‘Nothing babe, wrong number.’
‘Hunter, I don’t believe you.’
He looked around, Tango was still hovering and Logan was in ear shot. ‘Tell you later, la, but nothing for you to worry about. C’mon let’s get outta here.’
He grabbed her hand, shoving his phone back into the pocket of his jeans.
Trine found herself yet again in Johnny’s company. He’d arrived at the apartment not long after Magenta and Hunter had gone out. She told him they’d be at Logan’s office later if he wanted to catch them, expecting him just to leave. Instead she found herself walking towards Central Park with Johnny who insisted he couldn’t stay indoors on such a gorgeous day. She’d protested, but Johnny had said she’d be saving him from having to make small talk with the bodyguard; she glanced over his shoulder and saw Romeo standing at the end of the corridor.
So there she was, walking along the streets of New York with the one and only Johnny Kidd, not how she thought she’d be spending her trip in the Big Apple, it was supposed to be a way to reconnect with her husband. She shuddered, despite the searing New York heat.
‘You Ok?’
‘Johnny, that’s all you ask me, you don’t need to keep asking me, I’m a big girl.’
He grinned. ‘Sorry, Scouse, guess I’m just trying to play the nice guy.’
‘Don’t play games, just be you.’
He was about to respond when she stopped still, her hand on his arm. ‘Oh my God, look!’
He turned round but couldn’t work out what she was looking at.
‘It’s the Home Alone hotel!’
He threw his head back laughing at the excitement in her voice. He’d forgotten what it was like to see New York through the eyes of a virgin.
‘Yeah, Scouse, otherwise known as the Plaza,’ he put his hand on her shoulders and turned her body ninety degrees. ‘Recognise that?’ He pointed across the road.
‘It’s the bit where Kevin runs into the park away from Marv and Harry and he drops the beads on the floor so they slip up.’
‘Man, is that your favourite film?’
‘Isn’t it
everyone’s?’
‘C’mon,’ he took her hand and pulled her towards the park, Romeo not far behind them. No sooner where they in the park than they came across the tunnels.
‘Wow, I feel like I’m in a film set, this is so familiar, this is where Kevin sets off the fireworks and I’m sure they filmed around here for Elf too.’
He laughed. ‘Love how excited you are about this.’
‘It’s like my childhood right in front of me.’
They wandered further into the park and sat down on the grass, they were sat in front of Essex House, she didn’t know where she recognised that from, but again it looked familiar. She loved this place. She looked over to Johnny.
‘Aren’t you worried about being out an about, being seen? What with the threats and that?’
‘Take a look around, whaddya see?’
‘Where do you want me to start? The buildings, the people, the vibe although can’t really see that, I can feel it though.’
‘What are the guys wearing?’
She took a moment as she watched the people in the park. ‘Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, sunglasses, baseball caps...’ she looked back at Johnny, she had pretty much described what he was wearing.
‘New York is one of those places where you can hide in full view. Did you know we passed Rod Stewart before sitting outside by The Plaza?’
‘What? Rod Stewart? No way!’
‘Yep, totally, I’m probably safer here than anywhere, no one is looking for me, I’m just sitting here in the sunshine, with a beautiful girl, loving life and besides that, Ole Romeo is over there with his watchful eye.’
‘This is insane, what if a fan spots you?’
‘What, like the ones over there eating bagels and wearing Broken Arrow T-shirts? If only they knew there idol was so close.’
She slapped him on the arm. ‘You have such an ego.’
‘Never met a rock star who didn’t have an ego, even Magenta’s got one, she’s just usually better as showing hers off as being fierce. She looked downright scary last night.’