"That night when I met you I was belatedly helping an old friend, Jordan, to celebrate his birthday. I had been on stage when he had his official party. I only knew Jordan, the others were his friends and he wanted to impress them by showing how close his was to me. When I saw you I knew you were different. For one thing, I knew you recognised me but you didn't act like I was from another planet as many girls do. You were efficient, very polite and acted professionally. Plus I sensed there was something sad you were hiding very well. I couldn't take my eyes off you. I found you very attractive and yet you didn't seem to know it. For some reason, many of the girls I meet want to get into bed with me so they can boast they fucked Danny Cooper. Not you, and that made me want you more than any other girl I'd known. I knew I didn't just want sex; I wanted something meaningful; something I'd never had before. I wanted to make love to you. I wanted you to enjoy that experience and I knew you wouldn't be boasting about it afterwards. I was right, wasn't I?"
"I've never told anyone, not even my best friend and I tell her almost everything. She asked me outright if I'd slept with you and I hated lying to her when I denied it."
"That was the first and only night when I really enjoyed sex. I say sex because I've never made love to anyone before or since. You gave yourself to me totally. You never asked me for anything and I thought you enjoyed the experience too."
"I still replay that night in my dreams," she told him dreamily. "No one makes love like you do. You spoiled me for other men."
"And you spoiled me for other women. I told you I had an idea for a song called 'Waiting for me'. At the time, I thought it would be a slightly flippant song pun on your being a waitress who waited on me. But as I developed it in my head I began to have a different idea. As I said, it was the best sex I had ever had and yet I was leaving you behind. I wanted to meet you again and hoped that you would be waiting for me when I found you. Sadly, I didn't find you until last night. You stayed in my thoughts. 'I had a dream', 'Lost', 'Empty Spaces' and 'Where Are You Now?' were all written with you in mind. No matter how many girls I was with, and I'm ashamed there were hundreds, I still kept coming back to you.
"I was interviewed once and asked if there was someone I was missing that inspired these songs. I denied it of course. If I'd said anything they might have hounded you and I didn't think you would want that. Anyway, I thought you'd probably moved on since then. Someone as beautiful as you would almost certainly have been snapped up. Let's move on. We had a fantastic tour all over the world, and found girls in all countries were no different to British girls. They were all more than happy to have sex with us and considered they lucky to have done so.
"Still I thought of you and I began to become disillusioned with all this meaningless sex. I began to complain of headaches and went to my own room to rest but it was really to think about you. 'Where are you now?' was me admitting to myself that I had no idea where you were and no means of finding out. It was almost a song of despair. One other thing I cut down on was drinking and drugs. In fact I had completely cut drugs out of my life when Harry and Keith were killed. I had once again feigned a headache and gone to my room. I have no idea why they were out on the road. They were out of their heads; they had to be. And why with the two girls who died too? Were they taking the girls back to their homes in some misguided chivalrous act?
"Anyway their deaths devastated me. I had known them since we were four. I didn't want to be interviewed and be asked questions I didn't want to answer. Questions I couldn't answer. I wanted to crawl away and hide until the story died down. Mike was brilliant. For the first couple of weeks, he hid me away, moving me every two or three days and obtained new clothes and items to help to disguise me. And then I went out on my own, staying in little out of the way places. Fortunately, no one recognised me. And even more fortunately, I ended up here at the same restaurant you were at, and exactly at the time you were dumped for the second time.
"Now that you have heard my story, warts and all, I need to ask you some questions. You are aware of the large number of women I've had sex with but I can assure you there have been none since Harry and Keith. I can also assure you that you are the only person I have made love to. I'd love to make love to you again but I don't want a one-night-stand. Would you be willing to ignore my previous life and allow me to make love to you again?"
"What are you asking? Do you want mean for a few days, a week, a month or what?" The idea of making love with him again was appealing, exceedingly so, but the idea that it would last only for a short time was haunting her. Would she be able to walk away having experienced him again? Would she be able to pick herself up and find someone else? She needed him to be specific.
"I've told you Mike wants me to go solo. I think I'd like that too, but I know I'd be lonely. I'd like to have somebody to keep me company. It's asking one hell of a lot, but I'd like that person to be you. Not for a few weeks but long term. I've told you I think of you often and that I dream of you. What I haven't admitted because I didn't want to frighten you is that I love you. You may think I can't possibly be but I've had you on my mind and in my heart since I first saw you. Please? Please be the one to bring me back to normal life."
Jamie was stunned. "I need to think about this," she whispered to him. "It's not something I've even considered. I've longed for you to make love to me again since that night, but never dreamed it would be possible. I need to be on my own for a while. Can you drive me into town?"
"You don't have to go. I'll take the car and leave you until what? Eight o'clock? I'll get us something to eat. Chinese? Indian? Pizza? You choose. And if you haven't come to a decision after we've eaten, you can sleep in the spare room and I'll leave you again tomorrow to give you more time. Can you work with that?"
"I think so. And I'll have a pizza, hot and spicy." He nodded and left.
Once Jamie was on her own she called Amy. Her phone rang several times before she picked up. "You'll never believe what's happened. Are you sitting down?" She then explained Calvin's actions the previous night, meeting Danny and not recognising him and then sleeping with him but without having any kind of sexual activity. Amy wasn't that surprised by Calvin's behaviour. She told Jamie she had always had her doubts about him. But she was shocked that Danny witnessed it and dumbfounded that she had slept with him and nothing happened. Jamie explained it was at Danny's insistence that she should know all about him before they repeated their previous night together. At that, Amy said she was really upset that Jamie had lied to her. She was mollified a little when Jamie explained she'd said nothing because it was a one night stand as far as she was concerned and she didn't want the story getting out and being hounded by the press.
"Now, the really interesting bit and the reason I called is that I'm desperately in need of your advice. And what I'm about to tell you is for your ears only. It must not and I stress must not, be divulged to anyone. Do you promise?" Amy gave her solemn promise. "Danny wants to have a solo career but he says he'd be lonely travelling around the world on his own so he wants me to go with him; to keep him company at night. And other times."
"Did you just say Danny Cooper wants you to go on tour with him? And wants to have sex with you? Why do you want my advice girl?"
"He insists it's not sex. It'll be making love and I can tell you it was fantastic. But I'll be in the public eye. I'll have my photo in the papers, maybe even on television. I'm not sure I can handle all that. That's why I need your advice."
"Listen friend, you have no job; you have nowhere to live and one of the hottest men on the planet wants to make love to you. You enjoyed the last time you spent the night with him, which you describe as fantastic, so am I missing something?"
"When you put it like that, no. Except for being in the public eye."
"They'll have people who can help you with that," Amy interrupted." And anyway, don't you think you're being rather selfish?"
"Why?" Jamie couldn't believe her best friend would accuse her of being selfish.
"Because if you're with him, you'll be able to get me front row tickets for free." Amy laughed and Jamie laughed with her.
"What are friends for? You give me free advice and I get you free tickets. Sounds like a deal, except you'll have to pay your own fares to get to wherever we are."
"But you'll get me accommodation, right? I might want to visit abroad." Amy sounded serious.
"No promises."
"Right, when he comes back, tell him you'll only agree if he gets me a room too wherever you're staying. Tell him I persuaded you and I deserve to be rewarded." With that as her final demand, they ended the call.
"Is it safe for me to come in?" Danny grinned as he opened the door and poked his head inside. "I've pizza as requested and I insisted on extra jalapenos for you."
"Can we eat first before I tell what I've decided?" Jamie sounded serious and Danny felt nervous. He agreed and they sat and ate their pizzas and drank a beer,
"I phoned my friend Amy while you were out and told her everything, including our first night together and how we slept chastely together last night. I also told her what you wanted of me. I told her I'm worried about being in the public eye; in newspapers, magazines and even on television."
"Mike has a team who can coach you with all that," Danny interrupted.
"That's what Amy said. She advised me to accept on two conditions." She raised her eyebrow.
"Anything. I'll do anything if you agree."
"Well, she said as she persuaded me to agree, she should be rewarded. She wants to come and watch some shows and she wants free front row seats."
"Accepted."
"And she wants you to provide a room free if she has to stay overnight. Those are her conditions."
"And if I agree, you'll agree?"
"Oh and I have one condition too. You will not have sex with any fans or groupies."
"Why would I want sex with anyone when I have a wife who I can make love to any time I want? And I will want a lot."
"Whoa! What did you just say?" Did she want to be a wife right now? They hardly knew each other.
"Ah, that kind of slipped out. You weren't the only one who did some deep thinking over the last few hours. I meant to discuss it with you first because there might be a problem." She raised her eyebrows, urging him to continue. "Over the years there have been three women who claimed I fathered their children. DNA tests disproved them all. More importantly, I underwent a series of medical checks and they showed I couldn't have fathered their children, or any children. It seems I have a very low sperm count and the chances of children are slim to none. You needed to know this information before I discussed possible marriage with you. For all I know, you desperately want children and couldn't countenance marriage to someone who couldn't father them. I'm sorry I said what I did. I was expressing my own desires without considering yours. Please can you forget my presumptuous statement?"
"It's rather difficult to forget something like that; or ignore it. And yes, I would like a family at some stage. I've agreed to be with you as you tour. That should be a pretty good test as to whether we can live together. Let's see how we cope with that. Maybe in a year or two, if you feel the same way you can ask properly and not presume anything. And I will have time to decide how important children are to my future. One thing I am sure of right now is that when and if I do get married, I want it to be with my forever man. I've had my heart broken twice now, and that's two times too many."
"Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have found someone who is not only beautiful and intelligent but who will stand up to me and knock me back. That is one of the things I love about you. Am I authorised to call Mike and tell him I'm ready to start a solo career with you at my side?" He spoke with a twinkle in his eyes and a smile as broad as the channel on his face.
"Do I get to spend a few days alone with you before you return to be the idol of untold females?" She too was smiling to let him know she wanted to be with him. "You did promise to make love to me and I don't want a man who doesn't keep his promises."
"You're my siren and my muse. I'll tell Mike I will return to work a week tomorrow. Before then, I hope to wear you out and keep you satisfied. And give you multiple orgasms each and every day."
"Off you go, then. And I'll tell Amy and make sure she keeps it under her hat until you want to let the world in on our new arrangement."
That night he kept his promise to give her multiple orgasms and keep her satisfied. She slept peacefully again, wrapped in his arms. And when she awoke, he gave a repeat performance before they showered and had breakfast. She was in heaven but exhausted.
As they were washing the dishes, Danny's mobile rang. "That'll be Mike. No one else has this number". When he finished the call he looked nervously at her. "Mike wants to come and meet the woman who has captivated my heart. Is that OK?" She asked when he wanted to meet her. "In about an hour and a half. When I told him where I was, he said he was on his way. He is absolutely thrilled that you have helped me make what he says is the correct decision. I hope you're not too upset."
"I suppose it had to happen soon. I will need some PR training before I'm launched as the women to break so many hearts. Plus, I think I need a rest for a while before you make love to me again."
"Oh, lightweight," he laughed. "I'd better get the place looking a little more presentable and maybe we need to get some more food in."
"Why don't I tidy up and you go and get the some food. I'll make sure the spare room is aired. I assume he will be staying the night."
Before Danny returned, there was a knock on the door. The man on the doorstep was short and plump but well dressed. "I'm Mike Holland. Is Danny in?" Jamie shook her head. "And you, I assume, are Jamie? I can see why Danny has fallen so hard for you." Jamie invited him in and offered him a drink. He accepted a beer. "I can't thank you enough for persuading him to pick up his musical career. He has a supreme talent that the world needs to hear. It's a shame what happened to the other two, but in all honesty, he has carried them since I took over managing them and probably since they first started. I think he could be even bigger as a solo artist."
The door to the cottage opened and in walked a man that Mike failed to recognise. "Oh, you've got company. Are you going to introduce us?" Danny asked with a wink to Jamie. He wanted to see if Mike recognised him.
"Danny? Is that you? I recognise the voice but not the face," Mike replied, confused.
"Hi there Mike," Danny laughed. "Now you can see how I've stayed under the radar for so long. When do you think I should come out of hiding?"
"I'd like to reveal you to your fans next Monday evening. Where? Wherever I can get a large enough arena. I'll start raising hints and expectations right away. I suggest you keep your disguise until early Monday morning. We don't want to spoil the surprise, do we? I'll have someone ready at 9:00am to shave you and cut your hair. And I'll have someone for Jamie to do her hair. I want the world to know not just that you'll be starting a solo career, but that you have found the love of your life. I won't reveal anything about Jamie before I introduce you to your fans. And I'll have a speech for you to explain Jamie's role in your comeback and as the inspiration for so many of your songs. Now, Jamie, I understand you're nervous about being revealed as Danny's partner. That's normal. I'd like to get a PR coach here Wednesday to start building your confidence. Is that OK?"
Jamie looked at Danny who nodded. "How long will they need to stay?"
"It will be a lady and she will need to work with you every day until Monday and then probably once a week for the next few months. But she will stay in town, so she won't be cramping your style later in the day. It will be necessary for you all to go out for meals just so you are used to being in public with him. That's one of the reasons I want you to keep your disguise," he nodded to Danny. "While you're with the PR lady, I'll be discussing plans with Danny. Things like does he have a preference for who will play in the backing band? Where will you be based and what songs he will sing? Now, I assume there is a decent hotel in town. Let me book a room and then I'll take you two out to dinner."
"Won't people recognise you?" Jamie asked.
"Probably, but they won't recognise Danny. Now, where should I stay?"