See You at the Show

by Michelle Betham

  Samantha looked at her husband of twenty years and that same feeling of uneasiness she’d been feeling for weeks now hit her even harder. He was going to tell her something she didn’t want to hear, she was sure of that, she could see it in his eyes. And she just wanted to run so she didn’t have to hear him say it. She wanted to hide away and hope it all got better.

  “Samantha...”

  She threw the tea towel she was holding down onto the bench and looked at him, trying hard to blink back the tears that were threatening.

  “You’re leaving me, aren’t you?”

  Daniel didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t expected that. Her words had come as a bit of a shock. Had she suspected something all along? He shouldn’t really be surprised though, should he? Considering his behaviour recently.

  “I...”

  “Just say it, Daniel. If you’re going to say it just get it over with.” She had to hold onto the kitchen bench to steady herself because the reality of what was happening was making her dizzy.

  “Samantha, this isn’t easy for me...”

  “And how do you think it is for me, Daniel? Is this supposed to be easy for me?”

  He shook his head, finding it hard to look her in the eye.

  “So, it’s happening then? You’re really leaving me?”

  He looked down at the ground. “Yes. Believe me, Samantha, it’s not a decision I came to lightly, I want you to know that...”

  “Is there someone else?”

  Daniel didn’t miss a beat as he looked up at her. “No.”

  She stared at him. Was he lying to her? “So, why are you leaving me then? If there’s no-one else?” She wanted to believe he was telling her the truth, that there really was nobody else because maybe then there might be some chance that this could work itself out.

  “It isn’t working for me anymore, Samantha. The marriage, it’s run it’s course...”

  “In your opinion.”

  “I’m not making you happy anymore, am I?”

  She turned away for a second, looking out of the window at her perfect garden as her perfect life came crashing down around her.

  “Do you need some space?” she asked, her voice quiet. “Maybe if we just spent some time apart...couldn’t we just try?”

  He walked over to her, wanting to touch her but knowing it could only make things worse.

  “We’ve been apart more than we’ve been together for months now really, haven’t we? And I think that’s the problem, don’t you? We should have spent more time together. We’ve grown apart, Samantha.”

  She turned round, her voice a little louder, a little angrier than it had been before.

  “No, you’ve grown apart, Daniel, not me. I haven’t gone anywhere, I’ve been right here, waiting for you, like the good little politician’s wife I am. You’ve been the one growing apart from me. I didn’t want you to go.”

  His heart was breaking as he looked at her, the tears starting to stream down her face and he just wanted to hold her but that could send out the wrong message. He hated himself for doing this, but he was still so sure it was the right thing to do. Even though he’d hurt someone he’d never wanted to hurt because all she’d ever done was be there for him, even though that was happening and it was the most painful thing he’d ever done, he was still sure he was making the right decision. He still wanted Stevie. Christ, he wanted her now, even looking at his wife as she broke down in front of him all he wanted was Stevie. What kind of a man did that make him?

  “Samantha, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

  “Sorry is such a pointless word, Daniel. It doesn’t fix anything, it doesn’t help.”

  “I know. I know that,” he sighed, pushing a hand through his hair.

  “Why didn’t you just talk to me, Daniel?” She rooted around in the pocket of her apron for a handkerchief to wipe her eyes with. She didn’t want to cry any more. Not in front of him, anyway.

  “It wouldn’t have solved anything, Samantha. It really wouldn’t.”

  She felt defeated. All the fight had left her. She’d known this was on the cards and she’d thought she was prepared for it, prepared to fight to the death for her husband. But now it was actually happening she realised how pointless it was, to fight a battle she didn’t think she could win. Not right now anyway. Because part of her still thought he was lying to her. Part of her was still convinced someone else was involved somewhere along the line and until she knew what she was really up against how could she possibly begin to win him back? He wasn’t going to tell her the truth tonight, that was obvious. She was just going to have to live with what he was telling her for now and find out the truth for herself. So crying wasn’t going to help. She had to get over the shock and the reality of being left alone and prepare herself for whatever was going to come next.

  She leaned back against the kitchen bench, untying her apron and throwing it down beside the discarded tea towel. “So, what happens now?” She sounded more controlled than she really felt. “Do you want a divorce?”

  Daniel hadn’t even thought that far ahead, he really hadn’t. He hadn’t thought past getting back to London and seeing Stevie, and even that was going to get more complicated from now on. So he avoided answering her question.

  “I’m going back to London.”

  “Straightaway?” She looked at him, willing him to stay but knowing there was no reason for him to do so. Not anymore.

  “I think it’s best, don’t you? I’ll stay in the London apartment. It’s probably best if I’m based there anyway, what with the Election almost upon us.”

  She grabbed a cloth and started wiping down the work surfaces, trying to keep busy so she didn’t break down in front of him any more than she had done already. She could get through this, she’d find out the truth and get him back, eventually. It was just going to take time, so she had to be strong and she had to be patient. And she could do that.

  “Then go.” She looked at him. “There’s obviously nothing left to talk about, is there?”

  He shook his head, feeling more than a little bit lost. Being here, with this going on around him, he felt out of control. This was his home but he really didn’t want to be here anymore. “I’ll go upstairs, pack a few things.”

  She nodded, continuing to scrub away at dirt that wasn’t there, not able to look at him for fear of losing it, of letting him see just how much this was tearing her apart. She loved her life, she loved her husband. But it was quite obvious he didn’t love her – or their life - anymore.

  “Are you going to be ok?” Daniel asked, still wanting to touch her, to comfort her, but knowing he couldn’t. It wouldn’t be right, under the circumstances.

  “What do you think?” She threw the cloth into the sink and turned to look at him. “I’m jumping through hoops, Daniel. You come home, for the first time in days, and tell me you’re leaving me after months of making me feel as though I didn’t even exist so how do you think that makes me feel?”

  “I’m sorry, Samantha. You really don’t deserve this.”

  She couldn’t help laughing, a real cynical laugh. “No, I bloody don’t deserve it, after all the years I’ve given to you. I don’t deserve it at all.”

  He looked down at the ground again, his hands deep in his pockets. “I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to make this any better.”

  “You can’t. Just go and pack, Daniel. I think I’d prefer it if you weren’t here right now.”

  He looked at her. All those years of marriage and he’d never thought it would ever have come to this. Throughout his whole life everything had always been so ordered and safe and Samantha had always been there. Now all that was going to change, yet he couldn’t help feeling a little excited.

  “I still care about you, Samantha...”

  “Please, Daniel. Just do what you have to do and leave me alone. Do that for me, ok?”

  He nodded, walking out of the kitchen without looking back once. And for that Samantha was gratef
ul because she couldn’t stop the tears from falling anymore. This comfortable, perfect part of her life was over. It was gone, and now she had to get ready for the fight of her life – finding out just who it was who’d taken her husband. And winning him back.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Stevie had been thrown head-first into something she never thought she’d ever do and she didn’t like it, it smacked of a situation she didn’t have control of, it put her in a weak position. But she found herself doing anything it took to have Daniel in her life, no matter how much she hated it.

  He’d left his wife, and that news had hit the headlines just days after it had happened and she’d then had to sit and watch it all unfold in front of her on TV, read about it in newspapers, knowing they were spinning it all to make him still look respectable whilst they helped him to live a secret lie behind closed doors. Because that’s what she was now. A secret. She knew the score. She’d had it explained to her. She’d been given the choice of walking away if it wasn’t what she wanted, and it wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t. But Daniel was. He was so far under her skin she had no choice. Even if it meant sacrificing part of who she was to be with him.

  The General Election was just days away now, and Stevie had spent most of the past few weeks watching as Daniel spent more and more time away from London, criss-crossing the country, campaigning hard, trying to win the votes of people who may just have lost a little bit of the trust they’d previously had in him since his split from Samantha. He was working flat-out, and if it wasn’t for the fact he was frequently on TV Stevie wouldn’t have seen him at all. But she knew this was the most important time in his life. It was everything he’d worked for, his life’s ambition. She had to take a step back and remember she came second to all of that. The country was in the throes of Election fever but all she wanted to do was be with the man everyone was still tipping to enter Downing Street. She just wanted to be with Daniel.

  She was in his London flat now, waiting for him to come home because he was on his way and she couldn’t stop that little shiver of excitement at the thought of seeing him again. She was just kicking her heels really, until he got there, but this was what she did now – waited around until he was free. She had no other option. Her life was a whirlwind of secrecy.

  She’d been given a mobile ‘phone to be used specifically to call Daniel, and he had one that he was to use only to call her. She couldn’t call him on any other number. She couldn’t be seen outside with him, she couldn’t talk about him, she couldn’t give anything away. It went against everything she stood for but this man had got to her in a way nobody else had ever done before and anyway, she was good at keeping secrets, wasn’t she? She should know. There were things in her life she didn’t talk about, things she didn’t want anyone else to know. So she shouldn’t really be finding what was happening now a problem.

  The sound of the door closing signalled Daniel’s arrival home and she ran out into the living room, smiling as she saw him, looking every inch the politician in his dark suit and tie. Until he saw her. Then his whole demeanour changed. His face broke into a smile and his shoulders relaxed as he threw his case down onto the floor, putting his hands in his pockets. “You got here then?”

  “Yeah. The babysitters dropped me off half an hour ago.”

  He laughed. He knew she hated everything she was having to go through to be with him but she was dealing with it very much in her own way.

  “Are you staying? The night, I mean.”

  “Well, the hassle it takes to get here makes it almost certain I haven’t just popped round for a cup of tea and a quick hello.”

  He looked at her. She was dressed in head-to-toe black from the bandana round her head to the tight-fitting t-shirt, to the army boots she was wearing, her tattoos on full display, her incredible blue eyes lined with smokey black eyeliner, her lips pale in her tanned face. He thought she had a tendency to appear a little intimidating to anyone who didn’t know her, but at the same time she carried an intense beauty that was just mind-blowing. She scared him; she made him more nervous than anyone had ever made him feel in his life but the excitement she’d put into his life was indescribable.

  “Are we going to have these half hour conversations before anything happens every time you walk through the door, Daniel?”

  “Sorry?”

  She walked over to him, loosening his tie. “Get the jacket off, come on, you’re not on the campaign trail now.”

  He shrugged it off, letting it fall to the floor as she dragged him by the hand into the room, pushing him down onto the sofa and climbing astride him. “Now shut up and say hello properly.”

  He pulled her down onto him, his mouth touching hers in a slow, gentle kiss and every ounce of stress just melted away. He was back in this safe little world, this private bubble they’d been forced to live in and it felt good. Sometimes he never wanted to leave.

  “You are incredible,” he said, sliding his hands up under her t-shirt.

  “It’s pointless trying to campaign me, Mr. Politician. None of that’s gonna work on me.”

  He smiled. “Are you going to give me the welcome home I deserve then?”

  “Whoa, you’re keen aren’t you? I’m training you well, Mr. Madison.”

  “The best teacher I ever had,” he whispered, sitting up but holding onto her waist, keeping her astride him. “Listen, Stevie...”

  “Oh Jesus, we’re not getting serious already, are we?”

  “When this Election is over, if I win...”

  “There’s an ‘if’? I thought you were almost a dead cert. That’s what all these polls are indicating anyway. And do you know what I heard the other day when I was forced to sit and watch every news channel going just to get a glimpse of you? I heard that the female vote is swaying very much in your direction because you are one fucking handsome son-of-a-bitch.”

  “Nothing to do with my policies then?” he smiled.

  “Baby, I don’t even know what your policies are.”

  “Do you want me to show you?”

  “You can show me anything you like.”

  She had him again; right where she always managed to get him. In a position he couldn’t get out of. He’d lost his train of thought, everything now just led to her. Daniel Madison, Prime Minister-in-waiting, was facing the only weakness he’d ever had in his life. And her name was Stevie Stone.

  ***

  Angus flicked through the magazine, sitting back in his chair as he took in every detail that stared back at him from the pages. Stevie Stone in glorious, naked technicolour. No wonder Daniel was infatuated with her. She had one hell of a body. This was what the soon-to-be next Prime Minister of Britain was probably sleeping with right at this very moment. This was the woman who’d made this whole Election campaign a hundred times harder than it should have been, and she wasn’t set to make it any easier once Daniel entered Number Ten Downing Street on Friday, because he would. It was practically all over, bar the shouting. Polls indicated a land-slide victory for his Party and a new Government was set to take over the country, but where did that leave Stevie Stone?

  Angus was making it his job to find out as much as he could about this strange and different young woman, and these pictures from a rock magazine, they were just the start. But if Daniel really was serious about making his relationship with her public then a lot more digging was going to have to be done. It was important they knew what, and who, they were dealing with, they couldn’t afford anything to come tumbling out of the closet when they least expected it.

  He couldn’t help sneaking another look at the magazine spread, those blue eyes of hers staring back at him as she showed off everything God had given her – and He’d been extremely kind to Stevie Stone.

  Closing the magazine he threw it into a drawer. It was best to leave that alone because he was beginning to see why she’d got under Daniel’s skin so quickly. She was certainly a fascinating young lady, but was she someone who could pull off being the
partner of a Prime Minister? Looking the way she did? Because that’s what it still came down to for somebody in Daniels position. And Angus doubted very much that Daniel had even given that a second thought.

  He got up and poured himself a drink. There was a lot of work to be done yet before they even thought about making her public. Best to keep her completely under wraps until it was certain Daniel wasn’t thinking with his penis because, looking at those pictures, Angus could well understand any man doing just that. No, Stevie Stone would have to stay in hiding for a little while longer.

  He walked back over to his desk and opened the drawer, taking out the file that was underneath the magazine, opening it up and reading the first page again. There was absolutely no way she could be made public just yet, because Stevie Stone wasn’t really who she said she was, Angus had found that much out, but for now he was just going to sit back and see exactly what it was that she chose to tell Daniel. And after that he’d decide what his next move would be.

  ***

  “We need to talk, Stevie.”

  “Christ, Daniel, that’s all you ever say to me these days.”

  “Because it’s very important, sweetheart. I need to know what’s going on because on Thursday things could change very rapidly and we need to talk about what happens next. With us.”

  She looked at him, crossing her legs up underneath her as she sat on his sofa, eating popcorn and drinking beer in tiny denim shorts and a white vest. She looked like some unbelievably sexy biker girl and he found himself getting turned on again just thinking about what she could do to him with that mouth of hers. Samantha had never done that. He was forty-four years old and until he’d met Stevie Stone nobody had ever done that to him.