Page 54 of Never Too Late
‘Hey, Steph, that was great. How did it feel out there on stage?’ The TV host, brimming with bonhomie, transferred his attention to her and she saw a now familiar microphone on its boom swing towards her. She took a deep breath and replied.
‘I’m still trying to come to terms with it myself. Being out there alongside legends like Keith, Ben and Johnny has been my dream – has probably been the dream of thousands, maybe millions of people – for so long that I still can hardly believe it’s happened. Tell me this isn’t a dream, would you?’
‘This is no dream, Steph, and you and the rest of the band were terrific.’
He then produced a volley of questions, which she managed to deal with pretty well after a month of practice, before he finally offered her the chance to pass on her own message. ‘Steph, this is being broadcast all over the world so do you have anything you’d like to say to anybody? Your family maybe or somebody special?’ The innuendo in his voice was as obvious as the cheeky grin on his face.
‘If my mum’s watching, I’d like to tell her I love her – although I’m sure she knows that. And I’d like to thank her for all her love and support… along with my dad, of course.’ Her voice faltered for a moment. ‘If it hadn’t been for his influence none of this would have happened.’ While she reached for a tissue and wiped her eyes an idea came to her. ‘And as for a message to somebody special, I’d like to send lots of love to Waldorf, my perfect companion.’
‘Waldorf, that’s some name!’
‘He’s some guy.’ This time she wasn’t talking about the Labrador.
Chapter 25
All the way back across to the UK she couldn’t stop her brain from churning. Once the euphoria of the concert had begun to subside, she had found herself reflecting ever harder on this new life of hers and on the position in which she now found herself. The concert had been terrifying, gruelling, but immensely satisfying, and she could still feel a terrific buzz inside even now after three days. It had been an uplifting experience and she knew she would never forget it. The media had reacted in an overwhelmingly positive way to the concert, and photos of the band – and her face in particular – were now popping up all over the place on magazine covers and newspaper hoardings, catapulting her from obscurity into the limelight. She had become an overnight sensation and she still didn’t know if she was going to be able to cope with the pressures this produced on her and her private life – or at least, what little was left of her privacy. It really had been a baptism of fire, but she was looking forward to their next concert, scheduled to take place at the O2 Arena in London in just over a month’s time.
On a personal level, this only increased her problems. There was no doubt in her mind that she had enjoyed performing on stage and she wanted to do more of it. Yes, the media attention was a pain, but there was no getting away from the fact that she could see herself staying with Royalty for years to come. The three men had rapidly become a second family to her, and she owed it to them to do her best for the group and for herself. The downside to this was the inevitability that this would take her ever further from Rob and deep down inside she was already admitting to herself, even if not to anybody else, that she loved him. The binary choice was ever starker – Royalty or Rob.
The recurring thought running around and around in her head was whether maybe the band had now become the real love of her life. She knew she wanted to keep her place in the band, but she also wanted Rob. The sad reality of the situation was that – at least for now – she was going to have to choose between the two. In fact, she reminded herself as the aircraft landed at Heathrow, the choice was already made. As she had told her mother, she had signed a contract that bound her to Royalty for the foreseeable future and in return guaranteed her financial security for life. Yes, she should be able to see Rob, maybe even snatch a few weekends with him and Waldorf in Italy, but Sol and Keith had both warned her in no uncertain terms that her life for the next few years was likely to be busy and nomadic as Royalty toured the globe. Add to that the fact that Rob’s own career took him off all over the world, and the chances of them being able to spend quality time together appeared slim. She couldn’t help wondering if Rob was having similar thoughts, trying to also decide between his travel-heavy career and their nascent relationship…
Apart from the next Royalty concert in December, there was another concert not far from her thoughts and this was scheduled to take place in just two days. This one was to be at the Royal Albert Hall in London and the star of the show was to be Rob Sinclair, aka the love of her life.
Or was he?
After landing in London, they were escorted through a crowd of fans and transferred to a lesser-known luxury hotel on the fringes of Chelsea, where Keith told her they should be able to keep a low profile while they took part in interviews and chat shows on different TV channels as well as rehearsing for the O2 concert. As before, Steph protested that she preferred to stay with her mum, but the others advised her to hold on to her hotel room in case the media got wind of her return to her roots. She very quickly discovered that they were right, when she headed off to see her mum. As her cab drove along the street towards the house, she spotted half a dozen people hanging about on the pavement at the front, most carrying cameras. She crouched down on the seat and told the driver not to stop. Instead, she got him to drop her around the corner, and she sneaked back along the narrow alley at the rear of the row of houses. Letting herself into the garden by the back gate she hurried across the lawn and tapped on the French windows. Seconds later she was inside, hugging her mum.
With the net curtains closed, they were able to sit down on the sofa and catch up unobserved. Her mother had been following the progress of the group across North America and had even recorded the coverage of the Santa Monica concert. She offered to play it to Steph who shook her head.
‘I know it by heart, Mum. It was an experience I’ll never forget.’
‘You were so good; the whole group was. Tell me; did your Rob come over to see you play?’
‘No, he was in Stockholm for a concert of his own that night, but we spoke on the phone.’
‘And how are things between the two of you?’
‘Things are great… when we’re together. The trouble is that that’s not very often. I haven’t seen him for a month.’
‘Well, we’re going to see him the day after tomorrow.’
‘We?’
Her mum nodded triumphantly and reached for an envelope on the coffee table. It was addressed toGentilissima Signora Zaninand inside were two tickets and backstage passes to Rob’s concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
‘There’s a lovely note along with the tickets, inviting me to come to the concert and then to come for dinner afterwards.’ She gave Steph a beaming smile. ‘Isn’t that sweet of him?’
‘It really is. I hope you like him when you meet him.’
‘I have no doubt about that at all.’
‘I hope so. At least I can guarantee you’ll enjoy the concert.’
When they got to the concert on Friday night, it was to find that their seats were in one of the very best boxes, looking down onto the stage from close range. The auditorium was full and there was an expectant hush in the huge concert hall. Steph and her mum soon discovered that they would be sharing the box with one other person. This was a grey-haired lady in her sixties or early seventies who introduced herself to them as Dulcie Dooley and Steph immediately recognised the name.
‘How lovely to meet you. Rob’s told me all about you.’ She turned to her mum. ‘Mrs Dooley was Rob’s music teacher, the person who first set him on course to becoming a violinist.’ She glanced back at Mrs Dooley. ‘And, from what he told me, you were his surrogate mum when he was all alone at boarding school.’
‘I had a very soft spot for Robert. I still have. It’s lovely to meet you, too, Stephanie. Robert called me the other day and told me who you are, but I would have recognised your face anyway from the TV. How exciting for me to meet such a famous and successful musician.’
