Ace Huxley's Daughter

9

The fire began to die down, burning to an ember as people called it a night. 1am, stars shining, throats dry from laughing and singing, stories of tours past have been thrown around like confetti. But she still sat, watching the fire burn silently. Her dad and friends had called it a night 20 minutes ago and she'd been talking to Blake for the past hour. But now he was leaving too. She didn't want to sleep. She stood up, tugged the bottom of her shirt, and walked towards the treeline. Was she mad? Where was she going?

I pushed myself from my chair, standing up carefully. Aiden and Kace were passed out beside me and I did not need them waking up to grate on me about this. The less they knew about my little addiction, the better. I didn't need word getting out about it. Or about our little supply room trip.

She'd vanished. In the time it took me to get to the treeline without making any noise, she was gone. Panic began to set in as I looked around the pitch-black space. Dark hair, dark shirt, dozens of trees. I was fucked.

"You know there are other girls here right?" I squinted. "Up." I looked up slowly. Her legs dropped down from the branch, hands gripping it on either side of her. "You don't need to watch me all night. There's girls staring at you like a piece of meat hanging in a shop window."

"Why are you up a tree?"

"Because some random guy was following me into a wooded treeline in the middle of the night?"

"And you're safer up a tree?"

"I could wait until you got deeper and get out." Fair. That is actually pretty smart.

"I didn't know you were tagging along for the rest of tour."

"Not the rest of it. Just 7 weeks. I've got an event before we hit Spain that I apparently can't miss so I'm flying from Barcelona on the 6th of September." I nodded. This is the first conversation I've had with her where she hasn't been snarky. Maybe she learned her lesson.

"So why were you coming into the woods alone?" She smiled, jumping down until she was a few feet away, her converse snapped a few twigs as she landed and she pulled her hair out, walking past me and down through the trees. I followed, deciding I wasn't going to leave her alone. I wasn't being held responsible for something happening to her. At least if I was here, nothing would.

"Dad's told me about this place before. He comes here every tour. Stops off for the night. Used to call it his piece of paradise in the chaos. I've been a few times. Before him and my mum got divorced, we'd take a few days when he wasn't touring." We broke through the treeline and she climbed over a dilapidated stone wall, walking through waist high wild grass until she reached the middle and looked up.

Silence.

Stars.

So many stars.

We probably could have seen these from camp but I guess the sound of people throwing up was kind of a downer. She sighed, sitting down, laying down and I slowly did the same. Putting some space between us.

"We used to count these stars hundreds of times over. Just the 3 of us. Dad would sing some off chart song I'd never heard and we'd fall asleep. Right here. No sleeping bags, no tent. The car and all our stuff back on site. But out here it was just us and it was perfect."

"Sounds it." There was a long silence before she spoke again.

"What do you do? Here I mean. On tour."

"Mainly lighting rigs. Help out where I'm needed." She nodded. "What do you do? Outside of here." She laughed.

"I just finished uni."

"What did you study?"

"A man of many questions aren't you?"

"You asked me, I'm asking back."

"Do you ask all the girls you fuck this?"

"I usually don't see them again."

"I'm a lawyer." Fuck off. She was not. I faced her, narrowing my eyes slightly. "What?"

"No, you're not."

"I am. Cambridge. Graduated in May."

"There isn't a chance in hell that Ace Huxley's daughter is a fucking lawyer. That's boring as hell." She raised an eyebrow. "What kind of law?"

"Family."

"Oh, come on." I laughed, sitting up. "You have to be joking."

"I'm not. My mum's one, owns a big office in London. I'm going to be working with her." I cocked an eyebrow. I have never, in my entire 25 years heard someone less excited about the rest of their life. No smile, no sparkle in her eye. Nothing.

"Tell me about it."

"What?"

"If you're a lawyer, tell me about it. Tell me about working with you mum. I'm guessing you temped with her?"

"Yeah."

"So, what kind of cases did you have? What made you go into Law like her and not music like your dad, because you know you can sing. That's obvious. Or something else. I'm sure you're a girl of many talents."

"What are you on about?"

"You just don't pose me as the poncey lawyer type is all." Her brow furrowed, sitting up and pulling a blade of grass beside her, folding it over and over again.

"Well, I am."

"Hmm. Say it with a little more passion and people might think you're excited." Still not looking up. "What does your dad think?"

"My dad thinks a lot of things. It's none of your business what he thinks about my career."

"So, he agrees with me, that it's not you." Her head snapped up, watercolour eyes I hadn't stopped thinking about for days.

"You think you're smart tough guy? What about you? Didn't you have enough of climbing frames in primary school? Gotta do it for a career too?"

"I love my job. Working for your dad is a dream I've been shooting for since I left school at 16. I would happily tighten screws on rigs until I'm 90. It's hard work but worth it for free tickets, backstage access. I get to travel the world, hang out with superstars, I get free campfire performances. I could go on." She went back to pulling at grass. "Just so you know, that's the kind of passion you should be able to talk about in a job you'll be doing forever. Not just that you'll be working with your mother."

"You sound like my father."

"Good. Maybe one of us and make sure his beloved Callie isn't processing divorces for the rest of her life like some pathetic scholar."

"I came out here to look at stars, not be lectured by some roadie who doesn't even know me. So, either sit quietly or get fucked." Okay, maybe I pushed a nerve she didn't need to be hit right now. Silence. I laid back down, pretending to zip my mouth and throw the key away. Maybe another time.