It Started that Night

Part 9

After a hectic week of shows and non-stop travelling, as Monday morning arrived Dex was glad of a day off.

Though his mood had improved he felt physically and emotionally drained. Their European tour was coming to a break, just a few more TV appearances and a couple of festivals and it was back to the states for a few weeks.

Lying on his bunk he pulled back the curtain and peeked out. Paris was beautiful at dawn, the city looked empty; it was too early for the usual inner-city hustle and bustle. He'd never seen a city look so peaceful. He needed to be out there. He looked at his watch. 5.52am. He was wide awake. Everyone else was still asleep. He crept out of bed and pulled on his trousers and hoody, he grabbed his trainers and tiptoed to the door. Slowly pushing the door open it made a huge creaking noise!

He froze.

"SHIT!" he whispered to himself, listening for a second. No one seemed to be stirring. He crept down the steps and closed the door again, breathing a sigh of relief that he'd got out. Mac would freak if he knew he was out alone but he wasn't one for sticking to the rules. He put on a hat and sunglasses and went for a run.

It felt amazing to be out in the city at that time of day. The crisp morning air made just breathing feel amazing. He was cold, he hunched his shoulders up and pulled his hoody sleeves down over his hands, clenching his fists shut to hold them there. There were barely any cars on the roads and few people around; he could walk around freely without being hounded by fans or paparazzi. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon, it was so peaceful he could hear the sound of the river flowing. It was one of those times and places that made him forget everything and just be happy to be alive.

He walked down the side of the river, and as he did lyrics for a song came flooding into his mind. He got out his phone and sat on he edge of the river, typing the lyrics on his phone. Often the best songs were written when the lyrics came out of nowhere.

He finished writing what was in his head and turned on his camera to take a photo of the river. It was the most amazing view and he wanted to take a photo in every place he visited whilst he had the opportunity to see the world. He looked at his photo, and then flicked to the next. It was of Millie, the one he had saved from Ricco's Twitter. He stared at the photo, just seeing her face in a picture made him feel odd, almost nervous

"Who are you, Millie?" he asked himself. "Why do I feel like I need to know you?"

He looked up from his phone, the sun was just high enough to shine through the gaps in the Eiffel Tower, making it appear to glow.

"Wow," he whispered under his breath, lifting his phone to take a photo. This place is magical! I need to bring her here, he thought. Yet he couldn't quite understand why his mind was thinking like that. Of course he wouldn't bring her here. She was a fantasy in his head, a stranger.

He continued writing lyrics for a while longer, when he finally looked up he hadn't even noticed that the city had started to get busy and fill with people on their way to work. All of a sudden the city had woken up, it was a different place, with a totally different atmosphere. He needed to get back to the bus before he started to get mobbed by fans!

He put his hood up over his hat and walked back through the city, it was so lovely to just be alone for a while. This tour was so crazy he never got time alone to just think and enjoy the cities they visited. As he walked alone his thoughts turned to Millie again. Would it be so bad to date a fan? Other people do it, she was obviously close to that Salvatore guy, he was well known and she'd not sold any stories on him. It was Dex's biggest fear. He needed his private life to be private; it was the only thing he had left to himself.

As he was walking he watched all the people coming and going, everywhere he looked were couples, walking hand in hand, arm in arm, talking, laughing, kissing. He suddenly felt quite lonely. It was the only thing missing from his life.

"DEX!" He heard someone shout his name. He jumped, looking around; a group of young girls dressed in school uniform were heading straight towards him, excitedly.

"Oh fuck!" he muttered under his breath. He'd been noticed! The girls hurried towards him, he stopped.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed one girl. "You Dexter Rose! From Craze!" He loved the way his name sounded in a French accent.

"I have picture?" another girl asked, already positioning herself next to him whilst handing her camera phone to another of the girls.

"AND ME!"

"And me!" came from two more of the group. Dex was nice and posed for photos despite feeling annoyed to have his peaceful morning shattered. He signed things for each of the girls as quickly as he could. By now passers-by were becoming curious about the crowds around him and were coming over to see who it was. The crowd was getting bigger and bigger and Dex was becoming nervous. He had none of his security with him, if he didn't get out now it would be impossible.

"I'm sorry, I gotta go," he said, trying to find a way out through the girls surrounding him, which by this time had grown to around 100 people. He walked quickly to the road with a trail of girls following him and hailed a cab,. He jumped in, breathing a sigh of relief. The cab pulled away with girls chasing it down the road.

"Wow, you popular," said the French driver.

"Where you go?" he added.

"Le Reservoir please," Dex replied.

"Okay. Celebrity?" asked the cab driver in his limited English.

"I'm a singer in an American band," he replied.

"We're touring Europe right now, we played Le Reservoir last night," he added. He wasn't sure if the driver understood a word he was saying!

"Ah," replied the cab driver. Dex looked out of the back window, they were gone. He was free. His phone beeped. Pulling it out of his pocket he had a text from Mac.

Where are you? Ya alright?

Yeah, back in 5

replied Dex. he knew Mac would be pissed that he'd left alone, mentally preparing himself for the third degree when he got back.

As the cab pulled up next to the venue, Mac was waiting for him, at only 8am crowds were already gathering outside the venue for so much as a glimpse of Craze before they left. Mac opened the cab driver's door and paid Dex's bill for him, then opening the back door he threw a black coat over Dex's head and helped him out of the car. As soon as he stood up the fans erupted into a deafening chorus of screams. Escorting him past the crowds of fans Mac whispered into his ear,

"You can't do this again, bro."

"Sorry, man!" replied Dex, he was a security nightmare, he knew he couldn't just go walking around in a foreign city on his own but he just felt like he needed it this morning and he was glad he did, he felt pretty good for the first time in a long time and he'd written nearly an entire new song. A pretty good one!

Dex climbed aboard the bus. Everyone was up now getting ready to head to the airport. They were flying to the UK for a few days for some TV appearances and promotional interviews, before doing a couple more festivals and then heading back to the US. As they left Paris for the airport Mac handed Dex a phone.

"It's Olivia from your management," he whispered, handing Dex the phone. Great! a telling off from her now too he thought, bracing himself.

"Dexter, we've had a private job request for you. They want you to launch a fashion line at a designer store."

"Nah," Dex said immediately, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"I know you don't do PAs and I wouldn't normally even bother to ask you, but they've put up £500k for you, so I thought it was worth pitching to you," exclaimed Olivia.

"What? Seriously?" he asked. "£500k for what?" he added.

"Just to be there," Olivia explained.

"That's crazy! But nah. I'm not doing a PA," said Dex. He was never going to be bought. It just wasn't his thing. He handed the phone back to Mac.