Protective Secrets (The Protective Series, Book 3)

Chapter Thirty-One

The crowd screamed and cheered for Ricki-Lee the moment she stepped foot on stage, accompanied by two back-up dancers. Twirling in her black dress, she smiled widely at the throngs of young fans lined up by the front, almost crying at the mere sight of her as they clawed and reached out for her over the edge.

"Hello Watergardens!" She beamed in her bubbly, nasally Australian voice. "It's really great to be here today. I hope you enjoy hearing some of the songs from my most recent album, Dance In the Rain."

Recent? I thought to myself. That album was released back in two-thousand and fourteen.

The only recent music I could think of that she'd released since then was the single Not Too Late. Like Samantha Jade, Ricki-Lee had written a song during the postal vote to fight for LGBT marriage in Australia. I admired them both for that. And I admired the country even more for finally learning to embrace us, instead of alienating us like we were extraterrestrial life forms carrying foreign diseases.

The bill had successfully passed late November. I remember standing amongst the crowd gathered in the centre of Yagan Square, nervously holding my breath, my hands firmly balled into tight fists by my sides as I braced myself for the results. My nails had sunken so deep into the skin of my palms they'd left dark grey indents. All around me, the bright, vibrant colours of the rainbow flag were everywhere; draped across shoulders, painted across faces, tie-dyed into shirts, and even temporarily tattooed on to arms, legs and torsos.

"Results of the division is aye's forty-three, no's twelve. The matter is resolved and the affirmative — the bill has passed." One of the male senators had said, addressing the whole upper house as a whole.

An eruption of noise followed. Everyone was cheering, crying, and screaming in pure, uncensored delight. A guy standing next to me grabbed me by the shoulders and smashed his lips into mine, throwing his arms up into the air as he turned around and ran over to his friends.

I blinked a few times, processing what had just happened, when suddenly a whole crowd swallowed me up in the middle of them. Dozens of people were kissing my face on both sides, then promptly turning to the next person and repeating the action. It was one of the days I would never forget.

"Cause I'm all dressed up, can't fight this feeling. I can't get enough. Don't need a reason. Making love tonight, palms to the sky. Cause I'm in the mood tonight."

I shook my head and tried to fight the smile that was slowly taking hold of my facial muscles. While it wasn't exactly uncommon for Ricki-Lee to sing not-so-subtle songs about sexual things, it was the first time I was hearing this song for myself.

For the entire time she was on the charts in two-thousand and fourteen, Giddyup had been the main song to dominate the Australian music charts. I remembered walking through the breakfast aisle in Woolies with my elbows crossed neatly over the handle of the shopping trolley, raising an eyebrow the moment the sound of poppy electronic synthesised beats blasted from the speakers. My attention halted on the bread racks for a good two minutes, not even paying the slightest glimmer of attention to what I was staring at. My brain was too preoccupied attempting to figure out what I was listening to, and how they'd managed to play a song like that in a family store.

Focusing my attention back on my Canon, I pivoted the camera around on its tripod, following Ricki-Lee as she made her way through the crowd. She reached out and gently grasped hands as she continued to sing, briefly locking gazes with some of the excited eyes glistening up at her, like she was the best thing in their world to exist right then. For many, that's exactly what she was.

I'd followed her journey from Australian Idol, to the Young Divas, and finally, to her own solo career. To say Ricki-Lee was an inspiration would've been a gross understatement. Aside from shedding half her original body weight, she was one amongst the few of Aussie artists who donated money to charity, visited sick kids in hospital, and even signed albums for adoring fans when she wasn't supposed to.