Part 2- This is Your Pilot Speaking

Chapter 3

Griffin paced the living room in his parents London apartment. He was angry. Angry at Bruce. Angry at Alice. Angry at himself for not having taken care of the situation earlier. He had never seen his Mum so upset. He knew she was trying to hold it in, but he could see it in her face. It took all of her energy to muster a smile. That wasn't Paddy. She always had a smile on her face, had a beautiful voice, and had nothing but kind words for everyone she met. Since she'd been back from Ibiza, she barely spoke, the twinkle in her eye was gone, her beautiful smile was forced. He had to do something about it. He couldn't just sit back and see his Mum suffer. Bruce didn't want to talk about his indiscretion. Whenever Griffin brought it up he would either change the subject or storm off. He decided to track down Alice and talk to her himself, see what she had to say about her relationship with Bruce.

The staff at the Nobu had given the Dickinson's the direct phone number for the hotel's manager. There had been occasions when a fan had called the front desk claiming to be one of the Dickinson kids. The staff, not knowing any better, would transfer the call to Bruce's room. Any young person with an English accent claiming to be related to Bruce would get away with it. It got so bad that the hotel manager gave his personal number to the Dickinson's for their personal use. If they needed to get ahold of Bruce, they could call him personally and he would then transfer the call. The front desk staff now knew if anyone called them, it wasn't Bruce's family.

Griffin dialed the number and put the phone to his ear. He sat down on the couch, his leg nervously bouncing up and down as he tapped his free hand on his knee.

"Griffin!" Manuel, the hotel manager, had all the Dickinson's numbers programmed on his phone, he had become close to the family over the years, "Como estas?"

"Hey Manuel, I'm good." Griffin wasn't in the mood to chat, he went straight to the point, "Listen, I know Dad isn't there. But I need you to give me some information regarding a...." Griffin paused, what exactly was Alice? A friend? A girlfriend? A groupie? A home wrecker? "....a friend of my Dad's." The word friend tasted bitter in his mouth. She wasn't a friend. She was a groupie. A dirty, mindless groupie that had no qualms ruining a marriage.

Manuel had heard rumors from his staff about a young lady that was seen with Bruce while he was staying at the hotel. He usually didn't pay any mind to rumors, but this one peaked his interest since Bruce usually kept to himself. If he wasn't with Paddy, he usually stayed in his room, not wanting to be bothered.

"I have heard of him having a friend while he stayed here. I am not sure who she is, or even if she is still here. I'm sorry Griffin, unless you have any other information I can't help you." Manuel sighed, he considered himself a good friend of the Dickinson's, not being able to help was disappointing, "And anyway, even if I did have information, I can't give it to you due to privacy laws."

Griffin had thought of that, he knew that the hotel couldn't divulge any information on any of their guests. But he also knew that he had a way of getting what he wanted. He was Bruce's son. He had inherited his charm. He was able to talk his way into getting what he wanted, and did it in a way that wasn't forceful.

"I'm sorry Manuel. I know you can't. But listen, this girl...." Griffin cringed at what he was going to say next, "....she's my Dad's friend, but I want her to be my friend....if you understand what I'm saying. I want her to be my....novia...." Griffin knew a few words in Spanish and decided to use them to his advantage.

Manuel chuckled, "Your girlfriend? Your Dad has a friend young enough to be your girlfriend?"

"Yes, you know how Dad is. He liked hanging out with people younger than him. Old people bore him." that wasn't a lie. People Bruce's age bored him to tears, "Her name is Alice. Could you please look her up and transfer me to her room?"

Against his better judgement, Manuel decided to help Griffin. He looked up the current guests on his computer and saw that there were two Alice's. One was a 53 year old woman, the other one was 30. He figured the younger of the two was the one Griffin wanted to speak to.

"I believe I have found her, let me transfer you to her. Good luck Griffin. Invite me to the wedding if things work out between you two."

Griffin chuckled, "Don't worry Manuel. I will. Thanks mate."
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Alice groaned when she heard her phone ring. She had 2 more days left in Ibiza and decided to spend them by herself, in her room. She wasn't expecting any calls, but thought maybe Graeme was checking up on her. He seemed concerned when he had left her room the night before.

"Hello?"

"Is this Alice?" the voice on the other end didn't sound like Graeme. He didn't have an Australian accent. He had an English accent, but she didn't recognize his voice.

"Uhhmmm....yes, this is she...." Alice didn't know who could be calling her.

"Well, it's nice to put a voice to the name. It's Griffin. I want to see how you were doing. And ask you about your feelings towards my Dad. Seeing that you guys got really close and you ruined his marriage, I want to know if it was worth it on your end."

Alice felt her stomach drop. How did Griffin get her room number? Fuck. He wanted to talk about Bruce. She hadn't expected this. She thought after Paddy and Bruce had left, that would be the end of things. She would never see them again.

"I....I don't know what to say...." Alice's voice came out in a shaky whisper.

"Well, you can start by telling me your side of the story." Griffin grabbed a beer and made himself comfortable. He had no plans to go anywhere any time soon.
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Paddy had promised Griffin that she would wait to speak to a lawyer. He wanted her to give it sometime before she decided if she wanted to legally separate from Bruce. Once everything had settled down, and she still felt the same, he would support her. He didn't want her to make any rash decisions while she was still upset.

Bruce was her first true love. She had dated in High School back in Missouri. But it was never anything serious. She worked behind the scenes for MTV for a while and had to set up an interview with a relatively new band from England. She knew nothing of them, just that they had hired a new singer and MTV wanted to interview the new guy. Her first impression of Iron Maiden were that they were all really nice guys, especially Steve. The new lead singer, a short, hairy, cocky young man named Bruce Dickinson didn't impress her much. He was obnoxious to the point that he wouldn't leave her alone until she agreed to go out with him for a few drinks. That was over 30 years ago.

They had a beautiful life together. Their marriage was one full of love, laughs, tears...they had 3 wonderful children together, it was a fairytale life. Now that fairytale had a sad ending. It seemed like they would not live happily ever after.

She hoped there was a way for them to work things out. Bruce was still her one true love. He would always be. She wasn't ready to give up on the marriage yet, but she was done with him lying to her.