Page 37 of Doc Rock
Mai stepped away from the love of her life and gave him one last grin before she walked out the door.
She made sure shewasaway from prying eyes and ears when she dialled her mum.“Hi, mum.”
“Hi, sweetie. How are you feeling?”Yvonne’s voicewasfull of concern.
“Better now I’m talking to you.”Her breathing calmed, and her heart rate slowed.
“You’ll be amazing. You always are,”Yvonne reassured her.
Mai chatted for longer, letting the calming energy of her mum wash over her. And when she ended the phone call, she felt ready to go on stage with the rest of the band.
“Hey, Sie!”a man called to her from along the corridor.
She turned slowly to the stranger, taking in the unfashionably white trainers, the light blue jeans and the leather jacket over a T-shirt. He looked like someone’s dad in the body of a twenty-something-year-old.
“Yeah.”She automatically took a step away, glancing over her shoulder nervously at the dressing room door.
“My name’s Donnie.”He thrust his hand out to her, which she politely took, gave a single shake, then stepped back again.
The man's shrewd eyes assessed that hewasmaking her uncomfortable, so he took a step back as well, giving her more space.
“It’s great to meet you. I’m a band manager,”he blurted.
Mai stared back at him and didn’t say anything.She'dfoundthat the less she spoke, the more other people would fill the silence, and the more things she found out.
“I’ve been watching your career for the last year. I think you guys could really go places. I’ve got a degree in business management, and I’m starting my own management firm. I want Midnight Thunder to be my first client.”
Mai blinked a couple of times.They'dchattedto a few people about managing them, buthadn’tyet met anyone whowasthe right fit.
“Okay. Follow me.”Shewasn’tsure what possessed her to take Donnie to meet the band right before a show, but therewassomething about him that she liked, and the others agreed.
A week later, they signed a contract with Donnie to manage Midnight Thunder.
Itwasthe best thing the band ever did, and in the next year, their fame exploded.Summer Daysbecame a breakout hit, storming the Australian charts, then heading out to the rest of the world.
They wiped the boards at the ARIA awards, winning Album of the Year, Group of the Year, and Best Rock Album.
Fordwasnow recognised wherever he went, with whole articles dedicated to his soulful good looks and his stage presence.
The magazine articlesweren’tso kind to her as theywereto the boys. They admitted shewastalented but called her stuck-up and aloof, while also criticising her body, her hair, and her clothes. Each digwaslike a needle under her skin that she tried to ignore, but would keep on jabbing her.
The only things in the chaos surrounding Midnight Thunder that grounded herwereher parents and Ford. As the shows got bigger, so did her nerves, and now, as well as speaking to her parents before a show, the only way she made it through a setwasto fix her eyes solely on Ford, and remind herself that hewasthe only one that mattered, not the thousands of eyes staring at her.
Screaming at her.
Wanting a piece of her.
Chapter 15
Mai (22)
Sixteen years ago
Walking off the stage at their Sydney concert, Ford flung his sweaty arm around her shoulder.
Mai shoved him, saying,“Ewwwwww. You’re gross.”Then snuggled into his side; shewasas sweaty as him.
Ford laughed and leaned down, stealing a kiss from her as they walked.“I love you.”He tugged her tighter to his side.
