Book 1: Echoes Of The Past

Chapter 6 - That Damn BMW Z3

"Ok sure. If you insist. But we'll have to leave by the back because we'll never get out alive otherwise."

"Are they always that..." She paused trying to find the right word. "Passionate?" she asked.

"That's quiet compared to what I'm used to and Jared would laugh if he heard you ask him that." He sighed running a hand through his hair before he saw her eyes widen as he said this.

"Erm...th-this music video I'm doing for you...they won't see my face or find out who I am. Right? I-I'm not going to be receiving death threats from hundreds of horny women, am I?" she half-joked.

"Not if I can help it, no."

"Do you ever wish your life could go back to normal?" Ivy questioned, finishing up her meal.

"Sometimes. But then I wouldn't have been able to have had some of the most amazing musical opportunities that I've been lucky enough to have experienced. The fame that comes with it...that's hard though I'll admit. I've been in some dark places because of my stupid actions and hated myself for a good while because of them. I'm truly sorry for everything I did or said about or to you."

Ivy chewed her lip looking at him. "Don't expect me to forgive you overnight."

Shannon nodded.

"Shall we go?" She questioned him.

"Oh...erm sure. Let me just get the check." He raised a hand and caught the waiter's eye and he made his way over to the both of them. "Can we get the bill?" Shannon asked him.

"Of course, Sir. Should I get your coat for you madam?"

"Please."

Shannon quickly shrugged on his jacket and buttoned it up to hide the wine stain down the front of his shirt.

The bill arrived and Ivy said, "Let me pay for my part." She rummaged around in her handbag to find her purse.

"No, let me pay Ivy. It was my idea to meet for dinner, plus you can return the favour by sorting this out for me." He gestured to his shirt.

Ivy blushed once again. "Well...if you insist."

"I do."

Shannon managed to organise with Emma to arrange for a driver to come and meet them round the back of Hotel Italia and some of the employees helped them make their way to the kitchen back entrance where they waited and a black car pulled up with tinted windows.

"Way to be conspicuous Shannon!" Ivy teased him when the car pulled up.

"Well, you saw what it was like out the front. We'd get absolutely mobbed. I don't want that for you. Plus, no one looks twice at a car with tinted windows in LA."

They both climbed into the car and Ivy told the driver her address. "There's a side street near to mine that you could pull up on. It'll be dark outside so no one will be able to recognise Shannon."

"Sure. No problem."

Shannon and Ivy chatted between themselves as the driver made his way through the city over to her apartment complex.

"So, I guess you know about me and Jack. What about you? Do you have someone special in your life? What does she think of you filming with some half-naked woman for a music video?" Ivy dug into her handbag to check her phone and saw that she had a text from Jess. She quickly glanced at it.

'How's it going? 😉'

"Oh. There's no one. I'm not seeing anyone. It's kind of hard knowing who's actually dating me for me and who's just using me." He sighed. "I've made that mistake a few times before, which the press loved." He heard his phone go, and, leaning closer towards Ivy, he reached into his trouser pocket to fish it out. Ivy caught a faint whiff of his aftershave and the musky smell of cigarettes as he did so.