Page 53 of Never Too Late
‘I suppose the alternative is that you tell Keith and the others that you’ve changed your mind and you want to leave the band.’
‘Don’t think I haven’t considered it. The thing is though that I just can’t do something like that to them. Apart from the fact that I’ve signed a contract, I owe it to them to stick with it although I’d be lying if I said I enjoyed all the baggage that comes with fame. If it was just the music, I’d be fine, but I feel like my life’s no longer my own.’
‘Just remember that your health and happiness are the most important things.’
‘You’re right. The guys tell me the media attention will calm down with time and I should still be happy, even if it has to be without Rob.’ Her mum made no response but both of them could hear the doubt in her voice.
Making the new videos provided a couple of days of diversion. To the director’s chagrin, Steph dug her heels in and refused to appear in a bikini – particularly one of a selection of microscopic bikinis Bexley had insisted on buying for her in LA – but she had to agree to appearing in the sort of revealing tops and short skirts she would never normally have dreamt of wearing. Ben and Johnny provided reassurance and support for her, although Keith was getting ever more domineering as far as what she and the others should do. Ben reported to her one night that he and Johnny had taken him to one side earlier in the day and tried to convince him to chill out but had had little success. Ben even muttered darkly, ‘If he carries on like this, I might chuck the whole thing in, just like I was thinking of doing before Vince’s death.’
This left Steph with mixed feelings. If Ben really did pull out of the band, maybe even accompanied by Johnny, that would surely signal the death knell of Royalty and, with it, the sudden end to her very short career as a rock star. Although her eye-watering salary and the share of royalties on the new album would keep her going for ages, it would be frustrating to see her big break dissolve into thin air. On the other hand – and far more important in her eyes – was the fact that the demise of Royalty would allow her to spend much more time with Rob. As long as he still wanted her.
The impromptu concert took place right at the end of October when they were back in California once more. Sol’s company had rented Santa Monica Pier for the event and by the time Steph and the band arrived there at sundown there were thousands of people crowding the beach. Despite being a free concert, Keith had asked for donations towards his World Hunger Trust, and volunteers with collecting buckets squeezed in and out of the throng of people. As well as the lucky onlookers who managed to find a place on the sand, the concert was also being filmed and broadcast live across the world, and a hastily erected grandstand was packed with journalists and music critics who would further spread the word of the group’s resurrection to anyone who hadn’t yet heard.
As Steph stood at the side of the stage, apprehensively waiting to go on, she felt a touch on her arm. It was Faye, who had flown in specially for the occasion.
‘Feeling nervous?’
‘Terrified.’ They hugged. ‘It’s great to see you, Faye.’
‘And you. Don’t be frightened. It’ll go wonderfully, I’m sure. I’m glad I got to you before you went on. I have a message for you from Rob. He says he’s missing you terribly and he can’t wait to see you again.’ Faye’s eyes sparkled. ‘I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’ve found each other.’
‘Not as happy as I am. The trouble is that he’s got his life and now I’ve got this life and it looks like never the twain shall meet.’
‘You’ll sort yourselves out, don’t you worry.’
At that moment the lights of the stage were extinguished, and an expectant hush spread throughout the audience. Keith materialised at Steph’s side with the other two. ‘It’s show time, folks! Come on, let’s show them Royalty are back, even better than ever!’
Steph barely felt Faye kiss her on the cheek before Keith led them out onto the stage. There was just enough light for her to see her way, trying desperately not to trip over anything as she crept around all the paraphernalia to her keyboards. The audience must have spotted movement as a groundswell of noise started to rise up in a low rumble. Seconds later the lightshow started with flashing lasers and strobes, while the video of them in the Everglades appeared on the huge screen behind them. The noise from the crowd became a roar and she only just heard Johnny beat time with one drumstick against the other as he called out, ‘One, two, three, four.’ And they were off.
Although she subsequently learnt that the show had lasted over two hours, it felt as though it was over in a matter of minutes. The presence of the crowd, like an invisible animal out there roaring and screaming, was unnerving at first, but she gradually got used to it and when she produced just about her best ever performance of the piano solo from the group’s former hit, ‘Getting Back on Top’, she could distinctly hear the crowd chanting ‘Steph, Steph, Steph’ and it felt good.
The final number was ‘Never Too Late’, Ben’s homage to Vince, and it reduced the thousands out there on the beach to near silence. As Steph looked out over the crowd, all she could see was a mass of moving lights as people held up their phones and swayed in time to the music. The audience then erupted into a massive outpouring of delighted applause as the last notes of the guitar echoed around the pier. The stage lights came on, effectively blinding her to the crowd on the beach and she looked across at the other members of the band. Keith was beaming, Johnny wiping his face with a towel, and Ben quite obviously in tears. Relinquishing her place at the keyboards, Steph made her way across to him and enveloped him in a hug.
‘Wonderful, Ben, just wonderful. Vince would have been so pleased, I’m sure.’
He gave her a grateful smile and wiped his eyes, clearly too emotional to speak. The noise from the audience rose even higher until it changed into a chant, demanding more. Giving Ben a quick kiss on the cheek, she hurried back to her piano as Keith turned towards them and indicated they would play one more number. This was ‘Summer Nights’, one of the old ones, and it started with one of his best-known guitar solos. Steph looked on in fascination as the guitar riff split the night air. Keith raised the guitar to the heavens, a single spotlight on him, and played like a man possessed, not missing a single note. When he came to the end of his solo the audience erupted once more and Steph and the others joined in with their instruments and the song continued at full volume for ten minutes.
She looked across at Johnny over the top of her keyboard as she played and saw him give her a huge grin. That’s when she realised that she had been grinning wildly at him. All her pre-show nerves had faded away and she’d genuinely enjoyed herself, savouring the atmosphere, knowing that she had just fulfilled a dream. The light show behind them rose in intensity as the number they were playing approached its climax, and when it finally ended, the sky above them exploded into a blinding and deafening firework display. To equally deafening applause from the audience on the beach, they filed off stage and Steph joined the others in waving back at the fans and the TV cameras, filled with an overwhelming sensation of achievement. She had done it. She was now a fully fledged member of one of the greatest bands that had ever existed. Overcome by a sudden wave of exhaustion, she stumbled offstage into the wings, slumped down on a packing case and burst into tears.
She sat there and her thoughts returned once more to her father. She now knew what he must have felt when he had been in iconic concert halls, performing with the orchestra, and for a moment she felt his very real presence alongside her. She dropped her head into her hands and sobbed, unsure whether out of grief or joy.
Seconds later she felt somebody sit down beside her and a comforting arm stretch around her shoulders. It was Ben. ‘Let it out, Steph, it’s all right to cry. It’s the most natural thing in the world. You were great, just great. I’m so happy for you, for all of us.’
Steph buried her head in his chest for over a minute before she felt the tears slow and then stop. She straightened up, wiping her hands across her eyes, and kissed him on the cheek.
‘Thanks, Ben, I’m sorry about that, I don’t know what just happened.’
‘It’s the adrenalin. It’s been pumping through your body for a couple of hours and now, suddenly, the tap’s been turned off. It happens to all of us.’ He pointed across to where Keith was hugging Faye. ‘Even our lord and master himself.’ He raised his voice and bellowed over to the others. ‘Royalty’s back, guys! You’d better believe it!’
One of the roadies appeared with towels and Steph took one gratefully, burying her face in it, realising for the first time that she was soaked in sweat. Seconds later she felt a cold bottle of water being pressed into her hand and she tore off the top and upended it into her mouth and over her face before mopping herself down with the towel one more.
A familiar voice roused her. ‘That was fantastic, Steph. Now let’s get you changed. The media are waiting to talk to you all, and you need to look good.’
Steph emerged from the towel to see that it was her style guru, Bexley. ‘Hi, Bex. Did you say we’ve got to do an interview right now?’
Bexley nodded and glanced at her watch. ‘You and I have exactly fourteen minutes to get you out of those clothes, into the shower and into fresh clothes. You coming?’
Thirteen and a half minutes later Steph was rushed out of her changing room and joined the three men under the lights of the TV crew. The interviewer was a well-known face and mercifully he and Keith between them did most of the talking while she did her best to relax and drained yet another bottle of water. By the time the questions came around to her she had at least had time to catch her breath and collect herself a bit.
