by Every, Donna
“Cinnie, this is the last place I would expect to see you. You look great!” And she did.
“Thanks, Nick. That was some concert. I was in tears one minute and dancing and singing the next. You’re a genius.”
“Thanks, Cin. What brings you to Miami?”
“I live here now. I’ve had enough of New York for now. I’ve opened a studio and I’m training dancers.”
“That’s great.” Images of the last time he’d seen her flashed in his mind, causing him to adjust his stance. Wow! It was coming back to him now.
“I was just remembering the last time I saw you,” he admitted.
She smiled knowingly. “That was pretty awesome. Feel like some spice tonight?” She laughed. “I don’t live that far away.” Well she certainly wasn’t shy and, anyway, cinnamon was supposed to be very good for your health…
Shari decided to make the most of the beautiful day by having her breakfast on the terrace of the restaurant where she could enjoy the warmth and the breeze that stirred the nearby plants. She gave the waitress her order and picked up the copy of the Miami Herald that was placed on the table for her. She scouted the entertainment pages and was rewarded when Nick’s name caught her attention.
Nick Badley Wows Miami
Last night Nick Badley and his band performed at the American Airlines Arena before a sold out crowd. This was the first concert since the tragedy in Chicago where two fans and a security guard were killed when crowds rushed the gates before their concert. Nick Badley paid tribute to the victims during the concert with a moving song performed in darkness, lighted only by tiny torch lights which were given to patrons at the gate. There was reportedly not a dry eye in the place. After a short break, the reputed bad boy came back on stage like a new man and gave the fans an unparalleled performance. The band doesn’t seem to be missing Tim Benson as the new drummer, Paul Granger, played as if he’d been with them from day one. Nick and the band will perform in Fort Lauderdale tomorrow and several cities around the East Coast before climaxing their world tour with a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. Ticket masters say that it has already been sold out.
Great article. Lily would be pleased. She flipped through the other pages expecting to see a photo of Nick with a woman in his lap or something, but she saw nothing. Did Nick actually come back to the hotel alone? Not that it was any of her business.
Looking up from stirring the coffee that had been delivered to her table while she read the article, she spotted Lily heading towards her table. She didn’t look particularly pleased.
“I don’t suppose you’ve seen Nick this morning?”
“You know it’s kind of early for him to be up,” said Shari, looking at her watch. It was just after nine.
“Well, he needs to get up and get his act together. The tour bus will be at the marina at eleven. He’s not in his room and he’s not answering his phone. I don’t even think he came back last night!”
“Do you think he’s alright?” Shari began to get a bit concerned.
“I have no doubt that he’s alright. Or at least he was when I saw him leaving with Cinnie Brown.”
The day suddenly lost its brightness. Why should she care if Nick spent the night with some other woman or not? How many times did she have to remind herself that he wasn’t hers?
“Who is Cinnie Brown?” She couldn’t help asking. What kind of name was ‘Cinnie’ anyway? Or maybe it was ‘Sinnie’, which would be more appropriate.
“Cinnamon Brown. She used to be a Broadway dancer. I think Nick spent some time with her when we were in New York last year. I saw them leaving together and he hasn’t been seen since. I hardly think she killed him and dumped the body, so I assume he’s still at her place. I’m going to have to get someone to pack his stuff and take it over on the yacht. Seriously, I could strangle him! He promised he’d be in early.”
Shari felt that she could strangle him as well, but for a totally different reason. Couldn’t he see how senseless these one night stands were? What was he looking for? Or what was he running from? This only confirmed to her that he was definitely not for her; not that he had expressed any interest in being the one for her, other than wanting her in his bed. She thought that he was beginning to change, but he was obviously still the shallow, oversexed rock star that she had first encountered in Las Vegas. That made her unaccountably sad.
The tour bus was breathtaking, but even the unbelievable luxury was losing its appeal for Shari after they’d been sitting in it for an hour waiting for Nick. They’d all come over on the yacht to meet the bus for 11 o’clock and Nick had not turned up as yet. Lily was furious and Brad was not too happy either. Neither was Shari.
“For heaven’s sake, we could have driven to Fort Lauderdale and back by now,” snapped Lily. “I’m seriously going to kill him.”
Steve didn’t seem to mind since he had Marie to occupy him. Paul, Simon and Brian entertained themselves by watching one of the large flat screen TVs, while Brad was busy making calls on his cell phone. Shari silently stewed at how inconsiderate Nick was even while she tapped away on her tablet.
The screech of tires made them all look out the windows expectantly in time to see Nick unfolding his tall body from a small compact sports car driven by a beautiful woman with reddish brown hair. She waved happily to Nick as she reversed and blew a kiss before racing off.
Nick looked rumpled in the black shirt and pants that he had worn to the party the night before. He shaded his eyes with his hands, having no sunglasses. Lily stormed out to meet him and, while Shari couldn’t hear what she was saying, her gestures and the expression on her face didn’t need much interpretation. Nick seemed to let her rant and rave for a while before slicing the air with his hand to cut her off and striding away, throwing a comment over his shoulder.
Lily returned to the bus with steam practically coming out of her ears.
“He said that he has no desire to ride in the bus if I’m going to be constantly nagging him so he’s going to catch a cab!”
“What? After we sat here for an hour? I don’t think so,” Shari declared, heading for the door.
She caught up with Nick as he had almost reached the marina office where she assumed that he was going to call a cab.
“Nick Badley,” she began.
“Don’t start too. One nagging woman is enough. You guys should have left without me.”
“I couldn’t agree more, but since we’ve been waiting for over an hour the least you could do is get in the bus so that we can be on our way. I know teenagers more responsible than you! Are you going to let testosterone rule you your whole life?” She asked in disgust.
“Nothing rules me! I call the shots and I decide who, when and where. Since you’re not interested, why do you care what I do and who I do it with?”
“You think I care? I only care that you’ve kept all of us waiting for over an hour!” she lied.
“Well, let’s get going then,” he commanded, brushing past her angrily to head for the bus.
“Did you really have to sleep with Cinnamon Brown last night?” She asked quietly from behind him.
That stopped Nick in his tracks and he turned back to face her, catching the hurt on her face before she had time to school her expression into one of indifference. His shoulders slumped.
“No, I didn’t have to. It didn’t mean anything. I know that we don’t have any understanding, but I’m sorry,” he said.
“I don’t even know if I can believe that, Nick. It’s a habit with you and habits are hard to break.”
“You’re right. It’s become a habit, but I’ve read that you can break a habit in thirty days. I can break this habit.”
“I really hope you can, Nick, for your own sake.” Shari passed him and headed back to the bus.
He stared after her for a moment before following her. He was now disgusted with himself for spending the night with Cinnamon. It hadn’t been worth the hurt he’d seen in Shari’s eyes. He had to chang
e. He had to.
Chapter 20
Tim threw down the Miami Herald in disgust. The article would have pleased Lily, but it pissed him off. It was as if the reporter was deliberately trying to rub his nose in it.
“ ‘The band doesn’t seem to be missing Tim Benton’,” he repeated aloud. He picked up his cell phone and called Nick’s number. It went straight to voicemail. Of course it was barely noon so Nick was probably still asleep in somebody’s bed. That was more than he could say for himself because Sarah had moved out of their room when he was on the road and still refused to have anything to do with him unless he agreed to go to rehab. He left a voice message asking Nick to call him, although he doubted that Nick would return his call.
He could use a drink. Heading to the kitchen, he poured himself some vodka and found some orange juice in the fridge to add to it. He was bored out of his mind. A few weeks ago he’d been sick of being on the road and now he would give anything to feel the adrenaline rush from being on the stage, even if the fans were screaming “Nick”. He cursed. Damn that Shari Goodwin and all her questions. She’d said that not all women wanted to sleep with someone famous. Who did she think she was kidding? He had seen how she looked at Nick. Always Nick. He called Nick’s phone again.
“Hi, Nick. It’s me again. Congrats on the concert last night. I just read the Herald. Great article! Give me a call; I need to talk to you.”
He would give him another hour to get his act together before he called him back. He needed his job back or he’d completely lose it. Drumming was his life. He could probably get a gig with another band, but there was no way he could walk into a band as successful as theirs. Not that he was part of it anymore. Why did he mess that up? Actually, he didn’t mess it up; Shari Goodwin did. Brad had threatened to get another drummer before, but he’d never followed through until she pushed him to do it.
An hour later he called back. He was almost surprised when Nick answered the call.
“Hi, Nick. I’ve been calling you.”
“Yeah, I saw the missed calls. We just got into Fort Lauderdale and I’m damned tired. What do you want?”
“I was just calling to congratulate you on the concert. I read about it in the Herald today.”
He’d forgotten that Tim had a place in Miami Beach. He was sure that Tim hadn’t called him to congratulate him. What did he really want? He wondered if he knew that Sarah had called him.
“Thanks, Tim, but what do you really want? Have you checked into rehab yet?” He got straight to the point.
“No, not yet. I’m enjoying spending a little time with my wife. Thanks for telling her I got fired, by the way.” OK, so he knew.
“You should have told her yourself. Look, Tim, you need to sort yourself out before you mess up your life completely.”
“You already did a pretty good job of messing it up, Nick. I’m bored to death, Nick. I need my job back. I’ll straighten up, man.” He hated to sound as if he was begging, but he was.
“We’ve got somebody, Tim. Once you get cleaned up I’m sure that Brad would be glad to help you find a band.”
“I don’t want just any band; I like playing with you guys. We were doing alright until Lily insisted on that documentary and brought in that journalist.”
“This is not Shari’s fault, Tim. You know that both Brad and I talked to you about getting your act together long before she came.”
“That’s what I expect you to say, Nick. After all, you’re probably banging her in spite of what she said. She must be some piece of –”
“Stop right there, Benton!” Nick was glad that he was on the phone and not in front of Tim because he knew that he would have stopped the words with his fist before they even got out of his mouth. Tim was not in the least sorry, so, as far as Nick was concerned, he deserved everything he got. Nick wanted nothing more to do with him.
“You’ll find this hard to believe, but I’m not ‘banging’ her as you said, and if I were you, I wouldn’t go down that line before you really piss off the lady and find yourself in a jail cell.”
“She’s got nothing on me because nothing happened.”
“That’s because I turned up and, if necessary, I’m prepared to say what I saw in court.”
“I can’t believe you would take the side of that b–”
“I’ve had enough of this, Benton. Whether she presses charges or not, know this: you will never work with me again and if you persist, I’m going to do my best to make sure that the only place you play is in some two-bit bar in Miami.”
“You just try, Nick. If I go down, you’re going with me. I’m prepared to see you in hell.” He hung up.
Nick was angry, but at the same time he was saddened that it had come to this. He truly wanted to help Tim, but he couldn’t help someone who didn’t want to be helped. He had brushed off Tim’s resentment of him before, but now he wasn’t even hiding it. Nick suddenly wondered if he’d been the one leaking damaging information to the media, but what would have been his motive? Damaging Nick’s and the band’s image could only damage his own. Did he hate him so much that he was prepared to take him out kamikaze style if he had to?
Shari soaked up the warmth of the afternoon sun as she sat at a table under a large, white umbrella. The sea, just beyond the hand rails, looked calm and flat with a few yachts anchored in the distance. The clear water of the pool just yards away looked inviting, but there was no way she would risk being caught in her swimsuit again by Nick. The last time was still fresh in her mind, stirring thoughts and feelings that she could do without.
They had checked into the hotel just over an hour ago and, after showering and changing into a cool sundress, she headed down to the pool area to do some work. She loved the calming beiges and whites of her room which contrasted with the dark furniture and the rich green of the decorative palms that graced the corners.
It was yet another beautiful hotel, but she’d decided that this would be her last until New York. She’d done all the interviews she needed and she’d already been to five concerts; tonight would make the sixth. It would make more sense to go back to her office, work on what she had and rejoin the band for the last concert.
She’d come to that conclusion sometime during the short drive to Fort Lauderdale as she’d watched Nick head for a bunk to sleep off the rest of his night. Quite frankly, she was not going to continue to watch him flaunt women that he’d slept with in front of her. She had more self-respect that that. For someone who claimed he would give up his ‘adoring females’ for her, he wasn’t showing it. Assuming he’d meant it in the first place. If he had, the ink hadn’t even dried before he’d broken the contract.
A movement caught her eye and she turned her head to see Nick walking towards her wearing a pair of white chinos and a navy and white striped shirt with natural brown shoes. The sunglasses were back in place and he looked devastatingly handsome in his nautical colors. Her heart ignored her head that warned her not to be taken in by his good looks and charm and started to race. Heads turned as he passed women on lounge chairs without seeming to give them a second glance. They, on the other hand, devoured him with their eyes. At least no-one approached him. She’d forgotten that being with him was like living in a fish bowl.
“Hi, Shari,” he greeted her. “Do you mind if I join you?” He was already sitting down.
“By all means,” she said sarcastically since he’d already made himself comfortable.
“You look fresh and cool this afternoon and I see that we’re matching,” he observed. She had taken the opportunity afforded by the warm weather to wear a white sundress with navy blue polka dots. The white contrasted beautifully with her light brown skin.
“You look fresh too,” she remarked. “Hardly any sign of your night of debauchery.”
“I’ve said I’m sorry about that, Shari, so let it drop, OK?
She shook her head and turned back to her tablet, ignoring him. She needed to put some space between her and Nick. A dose of r
eality was what she needed; she had to get away from these luxury hotels, private jets and tour buses. It was time to get back to her life in her 1200 sq. ft. town house and her modest car. The life she was living now was not real and she’d better not get any more used to it or it would be even harder when she had to go back to hers. She’d also better not get too used to Nick either because, after the documentary was finished, there would be a void in her life. After all, he was larger than life and filled everything around him.
“By the way, Tim called me just after I got to my room. He’d called several times before that. He saw an article in the Miami Herald and said he wanted to congratulate me, but that wasn’t the reason.”
“He lives in Miami?”
“He has a place in Miami Beach. I’d forgotten, but I don’t know where he saw the article. He hasn’t checked into rehab as yet. He says he’s spending a few days with his wife first.”
“How is he?”
“He’s still angry and is threatening to take me down with him if he goes down.” Nick shook his head sadly.
“Goes down for what?”
“Attempted rape, if you decide to file charges.”
Shari shivered. She did not like the sound of that. Nick didn’t sound overly concerned by the threat, but she knew better. She had stared Tim’s demons in the face and knew what they were capable of. A premonition made her rub her hands up and down her arms which suddenly felt chilled in spite of the weather. She didn’t know what Tim had in mind, but whatever it was she was sure it would not bode well for Nick and maybe not for her.
“Nick, you need to take him seriously. I think he’s unbalanced, so who knows what he’s capable of.”
“I’m touched that you’re worried about me, Shari, but I don’t think he’ll try to kill me or anything that dramatic.” He laughed.