Page 97 of The Story of Us
He smiles down at me. “I know you do, but I still love you more.”
“Never.” I smile and shake my head.
“Right people, time please.” Len claps his hands.
Sean kisses me. “Stand where Milo tells ya, I want to be able to see ya, don’t leave his side.”
I smile and shake my head. “Go, I’ll be fine.”
There’s about two thousand people at the event and many of them are now crowded around the stage waiting to watch Carnage perform. Len has gone with the boys and Jimmie and Ash grab each of my hands and lead us out of the marquee to where Milo is waiting for us with two more security staff from the event, they lead us through the crowd to the front of the stage, where there is a small sectioned off area, there are a couple of people already there but I don’t know them.
“Right there George.” Milo points to a spot that’s been sprayed on the grass in bright yellow.
“What?” I’m confused.
“You need to stand right there divvy,” Ash says and moves me towards the spot by my shoulders.
“‘Scuse us love,” she says to the lady in pearls standing next to the yellow marking. “But this spots taken.”
The three of us burst into laughter, even Milo laughs at Ashley’s joke, he then proceeds to make everyone other than us three girls move out of the sectioned off area.
“Why do I have to stand here, I don’t understand?” I ask anyone that wants to listen.
“Sean’s orders, he’s worked out where he can see you best from the stage so he insisted the organisers let him have this area marked and sectioned off with extra security so that he knows your safe.”
“You’re fucking kidding me?” I ask in disbelief. Milo shakes his big head.
“Nope, boys got it bad George, he was worried that you would get pushed about and he wanted you to be able to watch from out here and not the wings, your safety is his priority at all times right now, you have precious cargo on board remember?” My hands instantly find their way to my belly; my son has stopped doing acrobatics for now and is resting quietly. I turn back toward the stage as I hear a guitar twang a few times, the boys are having their guitars adjusted by the roadies and sound crew in the wings, then suddenly they’re on stage and the crowd goes wild, well as wild as posh people get over a band.
Sean looks right at me and winks and despite the years, my knickers still melt at the sight of him on stage. “Good afternoon Surrey, thank you for joining us on this beautiful day and donating to a very worthy cause, now let’s get you all loosened up.”
The band crashes out ‘Wrong’ and ‘Come for me’ two of their earlier hits, they then play stuff from their latest album, then take a few minutes to grab a drink, as they come back to the stage, I notice Sean has swapped to his acoustic guitar and a stool has been set up for him to sit on. He sort of sits and sort of stands against it, one foot resting behind him, he doesn’t say a word as he looks out over the crowd and they begin to quiet.
“I nearly turned this gig down today people.” There are boo’s from the crowd and people calling various things out. “Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to donate, contribute in some way to this very worthy cause.” The charity was to help young drug addicts start a new life once they had been through rehabilitation and gotten themselves clean and one that the band had played benefits for on a number of occasions. “The problem was you see, the date, today is a very special day for me, today is the day that the woman I love, the woman that owns me, mind, body, heart and soul was born. Today is my Wife’s birthday.”
Oh God, I swear, I will kill him later. There are cheers and whoops from the crowd and I just know that everyone is looking. I don’t take my eyes from Sean; he winks at me and shrugs. I look around and smile and wave, my cheeks feeling like that are about to ignite, I tilt my head slightly so that the wide brim of my big floppy hat covers my face. “So you see people, you all need to thank my Wife because when I told her about today, she told me that I couldn’t turn the offer down, she said, ‘There will be other birthdays, we can celebrate later, the charity is more important’.” He looks across the crowd as they cheer some more and then he looks back at me. “So, what you lot need to do is wish my Wife a Happy Birthday as a show of thanks for letting me be here today.”
Sean then proceeds to lead the band and the crowd in a rendition of Happy Birthday Dear Georgia. I inwardly groaned but smiled and said thank you continuously, when it was finally over, Sean said “Happy Birthday Georgia, this is for you”.
Marley started playing softly, then Billy joined in as Tommy came in quietly on his drums, then Sean began to sing, in that beautiful soft raspy voice of his.
“Our eyes they met and we were done; no one else felt the effect,
No one else knew from that moment, we would always be one.
Now after loving you for all of these years,
Sharing some heartbreak and some tears.
I no longer know where I begin or where you end.
You’re my lover, my life, my Wife and best friend
And I don’t know where you begin or where I end.
Our life, our love, the bond that we share.
It means nothing; it’s pointless if you’re not there.
