Mr Black

8. Danny Clyde

Tuesday Morning

"So did Cassidy agree?" Danny asked Mikey as soon as his bandmate finished his phone conversation with her.

Mikey's faced pulled back into a deep grin, and he nodded. "Yeah, she agreed to drive Guy back down to London. God knows what he's doing in Birmingham."

Danny sighed, relieved that Cassidy was once again back in the picture and would hopefully stay around this time. It was about time someone knocked some sense into Guy, and who better than the woman he loved? Guy wouldn't listen to the rest of the band when it came to his addiction problem, but they all knew he would listen to Cassidy. All it would take was one look, and he would turn his life back around. 

Nonetheless, Danny couldn't believe Guy had been caught driving under the influence. It wasn't his style. He didn't drive often, and whenever he did go out to the pub, he would always make sure to book a taxi back in advance. Unless something else was going on. He did, after all, used to be a secret agent. Guy loved the thrill of causing trouble or finding trouble to compensate for his days as a spy. It was how he'd ended up taking drugs. He'd gotten fixated on the high. To this day, Danny was still the only one who knew the truth about Guy. Even his own little brother had no idea about his past life working for the secret service. 

Nightmares from that night five years ago when Kingsley almost killed him still invaded his dreams to this day. Danny wished he'd never followed Guy that night, and who knew, maybe his life would be different right now. It had turned out Guy was investigating the CEO of Kingsley Consolidates, Charles Kingsley, who at the time had created a bioweapon, which it turned out was a life threatening virus, and was auctioning it off via the dark web.

During the events of that night, Danny had been captured, and Kingsley had used him against Guy. His life for the virus. He'd almost had his throat slit open, and as a result, Danny had a small scar on his neck where the blade had cut through his skin. At the end of the day, Guy had managed to take Kingsley down and had asked Danny to keep ahold of the last remaining vial containing the virus. If there was one lesson he'd learnt from that experience, it was to not mind other people's business and not to follow Guy.

Guy quit shortly after and joined his brother's band as the lead singer of Cherry Bomb, but Danny could tell he missed his days as a spy.

Danny leaned back against the sofa and relaxed his arms behind his head, allowing the contents of his memory with Kingsley to fade away. Instead, he concentrated on the present and what he would wear to the Darlington Ball and who his date was going to be. He couldn't be seen as a loner at the event, not when his recently divorced wife, Charlotte Rose, was attending with her new boy toy. Every a-list celebrity was attending the event, so the paparazzi would be there to document his life. At least he wouldn't be entirely by himself. He would still have the rest of the band with him. 

Cherry Bomb consisted of four members: Guy Black, the leader singer; Mikey Black, the bassist and backing vocals; himself, Danny Clyde, the lead guitarist and backing vocals; and Aidan Harris, the drummer. Except for Guy, they were all at Mikey's house, having stayed the night after knocking back too many pints at the local pub. Danny turned to Aidan, who was sat on the corner sofa. He was built like a bouncer, with broad shoulders, but he was below average height for a man. He had brown curly hair and peppered freckles across his face. He was the odd one out of all of them. Everyone else knew each other from school, but Aidan didn't. He joined the band a couple of years ago, after the original drummer quit. He usually kept to himself, being the quietest one out of the lot of them, reading his comic books in the corner of the room. Danny couldn't complain. The fans loved him, especially when he picked up a smile, which was rare. That smile had the girls swooning.

Aidan gazed up from his comic book and frowned. "Shouldn't you be going to that meeting, now that Guy can't make it?"

"s**t!" Danny jumped to his feet, startling Mikey, and grabbed his wallet from the counter. 

With no time to spare, Danny made it to the front desk of the talent agency. Mary's Media, it was called. It was a newly-formed company, but already it had a lot of reputation from other artists. It was Mikey's fling, Noah Armstrong, who had mentioned them and had hooked them up with a meeting with the boss. Cherry Bomb had lost their manager when he quit and walked out on them two months ago with no explanation. 

Behind the front desk sat a receptionist with short blonde pixie hair and an expensive designer trouser suit. The second she saw Danny she greeted him with a warm, chaste smile and gleaming brown eyes. 

"Hi, I'm Danny Clyde, filling in for Guy Black, here to see Mary." Danny shrugged and gazed down at his half bitten nails. He didn't look smart for this meeting in his scruffy jeans and red vans. He breathed into his hand and smelt his own breath and cringed when he smelt alcohol from the previous night. He grabbed one of the mints on offer and popped it into his mouth. 

The receptionist smirked at his behaviour and typed into her computer. 

"Mary is running late at the moment, but if you would like to take a seat in her office, you're more than welcome to. She's on the top floor." She gestured towards the lift. "She's been looking forward to meeting you, Mr Clyde."

Danny nodded in thanks and hopped into the lift, which zoomed up to the top floor. He peeked his head out of the doors and found that the lift entered directly into her office. He nosed around the room, playing with a few trinkets and trying to get a feel of the woman he would be meeting shortly. Five minutes passed and still no sign of Mary. Danny leaned back against the leather chair and tapped his fingers against the arm, whistling away to one of Cherry Bomb's singles. 

The office was neat and tidy and didn't strike him as an office occupied by a woman. It felt harsh, no colour or warmth. He felt intimidated. Mary's desk was crafted from steel, a black leather chair sitting behind it. Her pens were in one pot, her pencils in another. The clocks on the wall were lined up with the different time zones, her diploma strung up on the wall, and the light streaming through the large glass wall blinded him, like a spotlight on the stage. 

Danny felt like he had walked into Agent's Miller's office, and any second now, his hoard of briefcase lawyers would walk in. He shivered at the past memory. He had been the key witness against Charles Kingsley during his secret trial. He could still remember the death glare from hell Kingsley had sent his way when he was found guilty. The memory faded when he picked up a picture frame that sat on Mary's desk. It showed a young child with long, dark blonde hair, playful green eyes, and a big grin on her face like it was the best day of her life.

Someone Danny presumed was the girl's mother stood behind her with the same blonde hair, green eyes, and cute looks. It was a shame the right edge was torn, discarding the rest of a beautiful picture.

"That's me and my mother when I was twelve years old."

Danny jumped and dropped the picture, and it bounced off the grey carpet. His heart raced as he was unable to take his eyes off the woman who'd entered the office. He found her beautiful, nothing compared to what he'd expected her to look like, considering how dull the office appeared. She was tall and slim and had a smile so dazzling it made his heart throb with ecstasy. Unlike the picture of her as a child, she had short hair that bobbed just shy of her chin and was dyed a bright, cherry-red colour, illuminating the sharpness of her green eyes. She was dressed in a tight fitted pencil skirt, showing off her slim frame with a small curve along the hip line, and wore a white blouse buttoned to reveal a small amount of her cleavage. She had him drooling like a dog waiting for his dinner. Aware of his vulgar behaviour, he cleared his throat and directed his eyes back to her graceful smile. 

He felt mesmerised by her but intimidated at the same time. Her aura expressed that she was a strong and powerful woman who didn't take s**t from anybody and certainly not from him. Next to her dominating presence he felt like a mouse cowering against a cat.

"Hi," she greeted and shook his hand. "You must be Danny Clyde. I'm Mary."

She had a firm grip with a iron clasp that could have broken his hand. 

"I... er..." Danny couldn't get his mouth to form coherent words.

Mary bent down and picked up the picture and placed it back on her desk. She sat down opposite him, with her posture straight like a ruler and making herself appear like a powerful authority figure sat on a thrown.

"I'm sorry, have I done something wrong?" she pondered.

Danny couldn't stop admiring her. She had to be aware of how beautiful she was, and had to expect people to gawk at her when she entered the room.

"N-nothing's wrong," Danny cleared his throat. Preventing himself from stammering like a blathering i***t was harder then it looked when distracted by her beauty. "Hi, so... umm... you know Noah Armstrong?"

Danny cringed, his behaviour was making him look pathetic being unable to control his own voice. The woman had him weak at the knees. Mary laughed at his odd behaviour and covered her mouth, giggling away. His face burned, and his insides melted like ice. She had an adorable laugh. One moment she's frightening, and the next she's as cute as a rabbit. It messed with his head. 

"Yes, I know Noah. He's one of my favourite models at the agency. He's booked out constantly, but he's always down on his game when Mikey screws around with his emotions, which is why I was reluctant to organise this meeting. In fact, I was going to cancel until I heard that you would be taking Guy's place."

Danny frowned. Why would she care so much about him going instead of Guy? Before he could ask any further questions, her green eyes sharpened like a knife. He decided against asking her, fearing she would cut his tongue out.

"Let's get down to business. Noah has told me that your band manager recently quit. I don't need to know the details of why or how it happened, because honestly, I don't care..."

She spoke incredibly fast, and everything about her seemed eccentric. He liked it compared to his dull ex-wife who only ever cared about her phone and occasionally hummed a "yeah" at him. 

"Cherry Bomb is a very famous band, and I would be stupid not to have one of my employees as your manager. In fact, I'd be more than happy to be your manager."

"Wait... what? Really?" Danny beamed. It all seemed so sudden.

"Why not? It will be fun. A few things first. I want to learn more about the members of Cherry Bomb. I hear you're best friends with the lead singer, Guy Black?"

Danny acknowledged her statement with a blunt nod. "Yeah, Guy and I are best friends. We've known each other since school. He can be troublesome at times, but Mikey's good at keeping him under control. He's the goody-two-shoes in the group. Then there's Aidan..."

Mary arched a brow. "Go on."

"Aidan only joined us a few years ago. He's quiet, sometimes too quiet, which I find ironic, because he's plays such a loud instrument. He's shy and hardly speaks a word. Most of the time you find him reading his comic books in the corner, but when the party starts, he's the last to leave." Danny smiled from the fond memories he shared with the band over the years. "We all get along really well. We always have each other's backs, and I can say we're like family."

"You sound like one big happy family." Mary leaned forward, and steepled her fingers against her lips. "Tell me more about yourself."

Mary fluttered her long eyelashes towards him, and Danny felt like he was under her spell, compelled to tell her every little dark secret. 

"Er... okay."

Danny told her all about himself, his likes and dislikes, where he grew up in London, his family and life at school. He even rambled on about his recent divorce to supermodel Charlotte Rose and their four year old son, Ben. 

"So Guy and Mikey were a part of the foster system?" She exhaled a sharp gasp sounding surprised. "I never knew that."

Danny covered his mouth. That was a secret the brothers liked to keep out of the limelight. Why had he told her? Mary seemed intrigued by this news, and her face scrunched up as she thought to herself. It was a cute expression. 

"Er... yeah, but you weren't supposed to know that. They haven't told me much about their early childhood, other than they had a bad upbringing in the foster system. It wasn't until Guy left school and gained custody over Mikey that things started to brighten for them."

"Don't worry, their secret is safe with me." She zipped her mouth shut and majestically smiled.

"I should go." Danny stood up. "I have to plan what I'm wearing to the Darlington Ball on Friday." 

"Then I'll see you at the Darlington Ball. I too was invited. I'll sort out all the paperwork and everything as your new band manager. I have a lot planned for your band. There's this battle of the bands festival held at Weston Park that I think you would like to go to, but it won't be until next year. You've missed this summer, but it should be fun and something to think about in the future."

"Sounds great." Danny shook her hand and turned to leave the office, entering the lift. 

As the doors closed, her hand shot through, and they dinged open. "One last thing." She stepped back.

Danny's heart stopped as he stared into her curious eyes. 

"How did you get that scar on your neck?"

He froze, and his hand touched the small white scar on his neck, just above his Adam's apple. He swallowed as his mind flashed back to the moment the incident happened. The knife cutting against his skin; the sharp, stingy sensation, and the feeling of his warm blood dripping down his neck.

"Oh this... I..."

The doors, thankfully, closed before he could answer her, and he took in a large breath, gripping the handle. If the doors hadn't closed he would have told her the entire truth behind that scar. There was something about Mary that made him want to pour out his darkest secrets.