Page 32 of Lucky Star

Daisy closed the door, leaving the Garda outside, grabbed hold of Terry, her father, my nephews and brought them, with Paddy, back to the bar. When she opened the door again, the police had people queuing around the block. The line was disciplined and the fans stood patiently waiting to meet us in the narrow street.

Paddy and I drew up chairs behind the bar, using the bar counter as a barrier for us and a means of escape to the back if there was an issue, since we had no security of our own with us.

Daisy handed us a handful of promotional pens from a mug and told the security on the door to let no more than four fans in at a time.

Nick and Ryan went out on the street and spoke among the queue as Paddy and I spent the following two hours signing and smiling until we’d worked our way to the last diehard fans, who were cold as ice, by the time they’d gotten to meet us.

“So much for a private New Year’s Eve, in a backstreet pub,” he commented as he passed me the last mobile phone case to sign.

* * *

As Terry closed the door when the last of the fans had left, Paddy turned to me and looked almost sober as he chuckled, slapped his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. “I don’t know how you got away with that, but not one of them picked up on the fact that Daisy is your girlfriend.”

Daisy glanced nervously toward me as I wandered out from behind the bar, leaving Paddy pouring himself a well-earned drink. Beckoning her toward me, I pulled her close to my chest. I’d wanted to reassure her because she looked shaken by how familiar our fans acted with us.

“Baby, I think we had a close call tonight. I think Paddy is right. We need to talk about how we are going to manage this, because I know I can’t hide who I am anymore, and the last thing I want is for this to fuck up your life.”

“As much as it scares me, I know we’re on borrowed time after that. I think I’d rather we at least had a little control over how we do this.” Daisy’s comment surprised me, but when she glanced up at me, I could see she trusted my judgement.

Loosening my grip, I took her head in my hands and looked longingly into her serious gaze. My heart ached a little, knowing the anonymity I’d enjoyed as we’d gotten to know one another was quickly coming to a close. I didn’t feel ready for that to happen, and I knew if I wasn’t and I had some idea of what news of us could bring, I had to do whatever I could to cushion the attention Daisy being with me could bring.

My priorities in the coming months had to be to try to shield her from the scrutiny our relationship would bring, protect her from those that would do her some harm and give her the confidence to live with sharing her life with someone famous.

The family trip to Dublin hadn’t been drama free, what with the antics of my sister and my nephews, and especially when Paddy and I were caught by our fans, hanging out at Daisy’s bar. My bandmate had regarded me as one lucky star that despite them discovering us, our fans still hadn’t made the connection between their local landlady and me. At least that had given us some breathing space while I worked out how to manage going public before our fans connected the dots as to why Paddy and I had spent New Year’s Eve in a tiny Irish pub.

As my girl and I faced the new year, the pressures on our relationship were real, due to my fame, the distance between us and the limited time we’d had to spend together. However, knowing the clock was ticking on our band’s music contract and Poppy’s graduation. Those factors brought fresh hope that someday Daisy and I could possibly make solid plans for our future. Until then, all we could do was find every precious spare moment of time to keep our love alive, until we could finally be together.