Chapter 25
Skizzy watched the shocked look wash over Keith's face. The shock turned to a look that would be all too familiar to Laurie, or even Dina since the flower shop; it was a haunted look. That look was quickly and forcefully replaced by a look of welcome. Skizzy quickly looked behind him to see who was the reason for this sudden change in facial expressions. Keith was usually much better at hiding his emotions – when he was prepared for the situation, that is.
Right now, he'd been blind-sided by another blast from the past.
"Mr. Landry." Keith pushed the sides of his mouth up in a smile and hoped it didn't look as fake as it felt.
"Keith, it's Ron not Mr. Landry. I thought we were well past the formalities." Ron Landry had noticed Keith's uneasiness, though it had been quickly masked.
"Right…..Ron." Keith pushed himself past the fog of memories that were trying to overtake him and instead forced himself to walk forward, his hand extended in welcome. "How are you?"
"I'm pretty darn good. Yourself? I mean, I've heard that your European tour has been selling out to huge crowds, but other than that, how are you?" Ron shook Keith's hand and held it a little longer than normal just to see if he could read Keith's eyes before he turned away.
Keith could feel his smile wanting to slip, but he held on with all his might and made sure his voice came out really upbeat. "I'm spectacular!"
"How's your family?" Ron finally let go of his hand realizing that Keith really had control of his emotions now and whatever he'd thought he'd seen wouldn't be allowed to make another appearance. He was talking to a seasoned performer, after all.
"Well, I'd say they're great, but I haven't had much time to talk to them. Laurie's on this tour with me – a last second replacement for my normal keyboardist who needed hand surgery, but that's a long story and we do have to be going, right Reuben?" Keith was only too happy to be pressed for time once.
"That's a fact." Reuben glanced at his watch and then at Ron. "You said we could leave ASAP."
"That I did. Why don't you all come with me. We won't be leaving from the commercial part of the airport, so we'll have to head over to another area. Follow me." Ron turned and started out the door. He wondered why Keith hadn't asked about Nic. It would have been common courtesy, especially as Ron had asked about Keith's family. And, if nothing else, he knew that Keith had been well versed in courtesy by his beautiful mother. Then again, maybe he was over-thinking things. It could be that Keith was just worried about being late for that night's performance.
Why should Ron think that something that happened almost 3 years ago would still be causing the young man problems? The guy had had a very successful career over those 3 years. He knew he'd taken almost no time off to deal with the emotional havoc that Olivia Braddock had caused when she'd tried to lay waste to his life – and that of Ron's own daughter too.
He'd watched that career through his daughter who had kept close tabs on him through magazines and even the occasional phone conversation with Laurie. Phone calls that they'd agreed to keep secret from Keith.
Nic had lost much of her self-confidence as she'd tried to deal with the trauma that had been Olivia Braddock. In fact, the loss of self-confidence had forced her to scrap her plans to join the Navy. She'd have never made it through basic training; not while she doubted her abilities.
Nic had had nightmares for almost a year after what had happened before finally seeking professional help and she'd not been nearly as terrorized by the mentally unbalanced girl as Keith had been. He could only guess that he'd lost himself in his work. However, that might mean that he'd never dealt with it and it was still festering just under the surface.
'That's enough Landry. You are not a psychiatrist. No more psychoanalyzing the poor guy after one brief handshake and conversation. Give him some space.' Ron gave himself that little pep talk as they approached the door that would take them to his plane.
He glanced back to see Keith and his bodyguards had fallen behind quite a ways. Keith had stopped to put on his jean jacket so that he could raise the collar to help obscure his face as much as possible. Since walking out of the lounge, Keith had kept his head down and tried to keep Tiny's mountain of a body between himself and the rest of the many travelers around the airport.
They were just over a hundred yards away from the door when someone finally recognized him. What happened next could only be described as pandemonium. As shouts of 'oh my god, it's Keith Partridge' echoed around the cavernous terminal, Skizzy and Tiny went into action. Ron was totally amazed at the speed with which such a large man could move.
Keith broke into a run with Skizzy right beside him and Tiny bringing up the rear, not because he was slow, but because he was most effective at keeping anyone who caught up with them from actually getting to Keith. However, the three of them were quite used to running a gauntlet of fans after every concert and they moved very quickly and very efficiently through the door.
Thankfully Ron and Reuben had been at the door before they'd realized that something had slowed the rest of them down. They held the door open and the three pursued men slid through just as Ron slammed it and locked it behind him. Their momentum had them down the stairs and onto the tarmac before they turned back to see the terminal windows plastered with the faces of very disappointed fans all pounding and still screaming for their idol.
"That was close." Skizzy breathed a sigh of relief as he watched some of the girls begin to weep in sadness at their close but thwarted opportunity.
"Thanks guys." Keith didn't always remember to thank them for getting him out of hairy situations, but this time he felt like he'd just missed something that could have been more catastrophic than most. Normally there was plenty of security no matter where he was. Today it had just been Skizzy and Tiny. And, with a large group of fans like the crowd that was forming by the windows, Keith could have easily been injured.
"Well, here she is. Let's get you on board and I'll finish my pre-flight check. I was almost done when you caught me. I just have to change my flight plan and we can be in the air in 15 minutes or so." Ron waved them toward a familiar looking jet.
"This is the same one from…..well, three years ago. I always wondered if you'd kept it." Reuben mentioned as he headed toward the steps.
"We did some upgrades, but yeah, it's the same one." Ron mentioned.
He'd actually decided to trade this one in recently for a newer model. Nic had been very good at hiding her insecurities for quite some time. Insecurities that she didn't want to admit she had. That's why it had only been recently that Ron had learned that Nic hated flying this one. She'd finally broken down and told him, at the behest of her psychiatrist, that every time she set foot on the plane, she'd been reminded of what had happened. Every time she set foot on the plane, she remembered what happened to her and Keith. She admitted that she could still see him sitting in the cabin of the plane all drugged up and helpless. She could still see Olivia standing right behind the captain's seat and pointing a gun at her head and then at Keith. She could still feel her helplessness at the situation. It was shortly after that revelation that Ron had surprised her with the news that they were getting a newer, better jet to continue the family business. Nic had tearfully thanked him and given him a tight hug. They were now waiting for the new one to be delivered. Until then, they still had a business to run.
Reuben watched Keith approach the plane quickly before pausing and giving it a once over. He watched Keith process the fact that he would be boarding the plane that had been used to kidnap him. Keith glanced back at the terminal wistfully but realized that he most definitely could not go back in that direction – not without risk to life and limb.
Ron and Reuben watched Keith wage a silent battle with himself as his feet continued to bring him closer and closer to the plane's steps, though his steps were getting slower and slower without Keith really realizing it. It was brought to his attention when Tiny, also glancing over his shoulder to make sure that none of Keith's fans had found a different way onto the tarmac, almost ran him over.
"What?" Tiny said as he pulled up and gracefully moved to the side so that he wouldn't flatten Keith. "What's the hold up?" He glanced up to see Skizzy, Reuben and Ron all watching them from the steps that were still a good 50 yards away.
He saw Skizzy shrug, but he saw frowns of concern on Reuben's and Ron's faces. He frowned too when Keith's slow progress finally came to a stop. He saw Keith's lips moving, but it was too noisy on the tarmac to hear what he was saying.
"What's the matter?" Tiny asked again and moved closer to Keith hoping to catch what he was saying.
"It's just an inanimate object. No big deal. She's not on there." Keith was saying to himself trying to talk himself into moving forward again.
"Who's she?" Tiny instinctively moved his body between Keith and the gawking fans at the windows. If he was about to do something weird, Tiny had no desire to have it show up in the tabloids.
"Who's who?" Keith asked vaguely as if coming out of a trance.
"I don't know, you tell me." Tiny frowned at him. "You were saying 'she's' not going to be on there."
"No I didn't." Keith said quickly and forced himself to walk again. He glanced around to see if there were cameras. This just had to be an episode of This is Your Life; or maybe not. Maybe it was more like the Twilight Zone.
Keith shoved all of his concerns aside and ended up being the first one on the plane. He should have expected the interior to make him pause again and he was once again a logjam that Tiny almost ran over him for the second time.
"You know, Partridge, you need to stop doing that or I'm going to flatten you like a pancake one of these times." Tiny huffed.
This time Keith never heard him. He was fighting a panic attack that had taken over unexpectedly. He could almost feel himself hyperventilating. He could see Olivia standing in the aisle with a gun. He could see that very same gun pointed at Nic's head in the pilot seat. But, unlike then, this time he could feel the panic. He could feel – everything. And, it almost overwhelmed him.
"Keith?" Reuben had silently motioned Tiny to move toward the back of the plane and had taken up the spot right next to Keith. "Keith? It's alright, you know. She's not here. She's locked up." He said quietly so no one else would hear him.
"What?" Keith once again came out of the fog that had rolled over him. He blinked several times as he looked at Reuben and tried to process the words that had been spoken to him just moments before. "Yeah, sure. I know that."
"We can wait for another plane to become available, you know." Reuben was kicking himself into next week for not realizing that this might happen. He hadn't really thought too much about it because it had happened so long ago and Keith had never seemed to even think about it…..well…..ever…..at least not to Reuben's knowledge.
"No, no." The first no had come out soft and uncertain. The second was a little stronger but still weak. "We'll never make the show if we don't leave now."
"We could cancel." Reuben suggested not really expecting it to go over well.
"No!" That one came out with all the vehemence that Keith had expected the first two to come out. "I will not disappoint my fans."
"Alright, then take a seat so that Ron can taxi us away from the terminal. We wouldn't want these fans here trying anything crazy trying to get to you. And, the longer we stay within their sight, the more afraid I am that they'll try something drastic." Reuben reminded him.
"Fine. Sure." Keith sat in the seat closest to where he was standing. All of a sudden, he wasn't sure if his legs would hold him any more.
Reuben picked up Keith's every present duffle bag that he had dropped without realizing it and stowed it under the seat next to him right across the aisle from Keith. He wanted to be close in case Keith needed him. He glanced behind him to see that Tiny and Skizzy both took seats in the exit aisle right behind Keith. They both still had frowns of concern on their face, but wouldn't push the subject with Keith. They were both too loyal to him.
Ron pulled up the steps, shared a concerned look with Reuben and silently walked to the front of the plane. He immediately got on the radio, explained his situation and was given clearance to taxi to a deserted area of the tarmac to await his new flight plan's approval.
xoxo
"Where could they be?" Laurie was pacing nervously in the dressing room.
Steve's eyes had been watching her for the last half an hour. As cool as he normally was, her nervousness was beginning to rub off on him. "They'll be here."
"Yes, but when?" Dave said while drumming his fingers on the table he was hunched over.
"Will you knock it off? You're driving me crazy." Rob smacked Dave's hands causing the drummer to jerk back in surprise.
"Oh yeah? Well, Laurie's driving me crazy." Dave rubbed his stinging fingers, glared at Rob and defended his nervous tick by blaming someone else.
"Laurie's driving us all crazy, but not all of us are adding to it by causing a racket." Rob glared back.
"I'm sorry." Laurie immediately plopped down into a chair and began to gnaw on her thumb nail instead. "I'll stop pacing if you guys will stop arguing."
"We're not arguing." They said in unison.
"Whatever." Laurie refused to sink to their level and argue that point. "Where could they be?"
"You just asked that." Steve pointed out helpfully.
"Yes, well, if you remember, no one answered me." Laurie huffed.
It was five minutes before they were to go on. They could hear the crowd chanting for Keith. They knew they could get away with stalling for a good 15 minutes or so, but after that, all bets were off. The crowd would likely only stand for so much waiting.
They all sat silently lost in their own thoughts as the minutes ticked by. Without even realizing it, Dave started to drum his fingers on the table once again and shortly after that, Laurie was back on her feet pacing.
"They're here!" Gordy came charging in the door seconds before Skizzy, then a frazzled looking Keith and finally Tiny.
"Where have you been?" Laurie asked as she walked toward her brother checking him for injuries the whole time.
"Don't ask." Keith frowned and grabbed Skizzy's wrist to check his watch.
"What? You didn't believe me when I told you we were gonna make it?" Skizzy tried to infuse some lightness into the situation.
"Sorry to ruin your day, but you're a horrible liar. So, no, I didn't believe you." Keith threw his wrist away from him after having seen the time.
"But, I didn't lie. We're here. And, you don't have to go on for another……two minutes." Skizzy finished lamely.
"Alright, are you all ready?" Keith looked at his band and then back down at himself. Damn, there was no way he had time to change. Street clothes it was. He slid out of his jean jacket and glanced at a mirror. He looked frazzled to say the least.
"We're ready. Have been for an hour. What about you?" Laurie put what she hoped was a calming hand on his arm. She could feel the tension rolling off of him.
"Ready." Keith pulled up his lips in a smile. He had to be, didn't he?
"You look great!" Laurie threw that one at him in the hope that it would help him to get psyched up for the show. She knew he normally liked to spend some quiet time before he went on. He'd apparently had no time for his normal ritual.
"I look travel worn and you know it. But, there's no time, so come on gang, let's go!" Keith shooed them out the door before him. "Hey, wait a second!"
Everyone stopped dead in the tracks at Keith's words.
"Did you tune and sound check my guitars?" Keith had had an awful thought flash across his mind of hitting a sour note as soon as he stepped on stage.
"Done!" Steve assured him.
"He did it to your exacting standards." Laurie assured him with a smile.
"Ok, then, what are you waiting for? An engraved invitation?" Keith shooed them toward the door again as they could only roll their eyes at his contradictory words.
xoxo
The show did not go as well as it normally did. Keith was frazzled and it showed. He forgot the words a time or two, he sang the wrong lyrics once and he even mixed up the sequence of the songs.
Laurie frowned from her spot behind the piano as she quickly had to switch from the piano to the synthesizer when Keith began to play a song she wasn't expecting. Good thing he'd put her through such a rough audition. She was prepared for anything. Thankfully the rest of the band was so well rehearsed too. They all shared looks, but quickly caught back up to Keith each time.
"You alright, Partridge?" Steve asked as they walked off just before the encore.
"Fine, why do you ask?" Keith frowned as he wiped a towel down his sweating face.
"Nothin'." Steve wasn't about to point out all the unusual changes to the set if Keith wasn't presently aware of them. He didn't want to knock Keith any further off his game than he already apparently was.
"Let's skip the new songs tonight, what do you say?" Keith suggested. He wasn't currently aware of the fact that everyone thought he was bordering on crazy at the moment.
"That sounds like a plan." Laurie agreed while the rest of the guys nodded quickly in agreement.
"Alright, let's get back out there before they tear the place down." Keith suggested as the place was actually vibrating with the stomping from the crowd.
xoxo
Dina had only seen Keith run by her on the way in to the show and again on the way out. She had seen how rattled he seemed on stage, but knew that if she tried getting near him at the show, she'd only cause him to worry about her safety.
Early on they'd agreed that once they were at a venue, she was to stay away from him in order to protect her. Not only from the fans who would happily go through her to get to him, but from the reporters who were everywhere.
Oh, they'd known for a while that several pictures of the two of them together had been published and that some reporters were starting to recognize the fact that she was in all of the same places as Keith almost definitely earmarking them as a couple, but so far they'd mostly left her alone. Some had talked to her casually, but never bothered her with personal questions and never had asked her to take her picture. She wasn't sure why, but she was still grateful.
Dina had beaten everyone back to the house that Reuben had rented outside the city. She had headed back early with Angie to set up the snacks that the hungry band would scarf down in record time once they got back. No one ate much before a show, but after? Angie had learned early on to have it set up and then stay back or risk losing a finger or two to the ravenous group. All of the guys were not shy about consuming the extra calories so late at night. They knew darn well they'd worked it off and then some during the show. Keith most of all, though he rarely got back in time to eat with the band and then was often times more tired than hungry by the time he got back. Especially if he had an interview or a meet and greet after a show.
Dina, with Angie's help, tried their best to get Keith to ingest as many calories as possible when he was around because he worked off way more than he took in. Add to that the fact that he often missed regular meal times due to his overloaded schedule, and keeping his weight up was a constant battle. He was often teased that he might just blow off the stage if they were doing an outdoor concert on a windy night. To date, it hadn't happened - to their great relief and much teasing.
"Did you notice anything funny tonight?" Angie asked as she set out a tray of meats to go with the bread she'd previously set out.
"You noticed it too, hmmm?" Dina frowned as she took off the cap on the mustard and set it on the table.
"Yes, it was almost as if Keith was distracted. I've never seen him make a noticeable mistake at any show, yet tonight he made several. He's just lucky his band has been with him so long. They seemed to roll with it pretty easily. Especially Laurie, given she's the newest member." Angie grinned and high fived Dina in shared female pride.
"She was something, wasn't she? Did you see the momentary look of panic on her face when Keith started a different song than she was expecting? I thought at first she was just going to stop everything by yelling 'Keith, you moron, that's the wrong song!' You could see she wanted to." Dina laughed at the look of vex on Laurie's face that was quickly wiped away by concentration.
"I'll bet it was a close call. You know how those two go after each other. She was sure thinking it." Angie grinned.
"So, do you think it was just the fact that he barely got there in time?" Dina wondered out loud.
"I should think so. Why? Do you know something I don't?" Angie paused in her food preparation to concentrate on Dina's response.
"Not really." Dina hedged and then knowing they were alone and needing some advice, she started out tentatively. "Well, maybe…"
"I promise not to say anything. Even to Gordy if that's what you want." Angie put a sympathetic hand on Dina's shoulder.
"I'm just not sure. It's nothing really concrete, you know?" Dina waffled.
"Maybe I can help, maybe not. But, Dina, sometimes it just helps to say it out loud." Angie saw her bite her lip in indecision. "Dina, it's ok. You don't have to tell me. I understand. It's personal. Between you and Keith."
"No, Angie, that's not it. Besides, I know you love Keith too and you'd never betray me or him." Dina quickly reassured her. "It's just that, well, I'm not even sure how he feels about me and….that song….at the last show in England. I'm just so confused."
"Dina, that song may not have anything to do with you." Angie saw the doubt on Dina's face. "Even if it did, you're still here. If he wanted you gone, he'd have bought you a plane ticket home and made Skizzy put you on it – kicking and screaming if need be." The part about Skizzy was said to make Dina laugh.
It succeeded in bringing a smile. "I guess. Ange?" Dina stumbled again, but decided to mention it when she saw Angie's look of patience and understanding. "He's been having nightmares."
"Bad dreams?" Angie frowned, trying to make the connection.
"Oh, I don't think it has a whole lot to do with tonight. At least, I don't think so. He had his first one after finding out that Mr. Burnhardt would be driving for his college tour. I'd been watching him sleep. I can't help myself sometimes; he's so cute when he sleeps. Anyway, he woke up suddenly but refused to talk about it then too. We never talked about it – ever. He had another one after Skizzy ran into Trish, the woman from Reuben's apartment building." Dina left it at that to find out how much Angie really knew.
She realized she'd made the right decision when Angie quickly followed her train of thought. "You think this has to do with that stalker he had three years ago?"
"Yeah." Dina sighed. "He wakes up totally freaked out. I mean, this last time I thought he might take a swing at me before he realized who I was."
"Well, two in several months isn't a whole lot, right?" Angie pointed out.
"True. You know, I'm probably just making more out of this than it deserves." Dina smiled hopefully. "Keith would say I'm overreacting and this time he'd probably be right."
"That'd be a first, hmmm?" Angie joked. "Besides, if this keeps up, you can start wearing boxing gloves to bed and give as good as you get."
The two of them were laughing at the ridiculous picture when the band came piling in from the venue.
"Where's Keith?" Dina asked as soon as she noticed his conspicuous absence.
"He had to stay late. He was in trouble with the teacher." Steve joked as he made a beeline for the food.
Dina raised an eyebrow at him that only caused him to grin and pop a stack of ham in his mouth before building a sandwich that would put Dagwood to shame.
"He's at a meet and greet." Laurie supplied while staying back from the ravenous males that devoured the food in record time. "It was supposed to be before the concert, but they got there too late. When Reuben reminded Keith about it, they decided to hold the meet at the record studio. They planned to take the winners over once the venue cleared out. They'll be pleasantly surprised to see him. They thought for sure we were their consolation prize. You should have seen the disappointed looks."
"I guess not every bird is the same." Steve joked. At Laurie's questioning look he continued. "One Partridge is not the same as another – they were not pleased to have you replace your brother."
Laurie threw a glob of mustard covered turkey that hit him square in the face. She smiled in satisfaction that all those years of throwing things at her brothers had paid off. She couldn't stifle her laughter as Steve's look of total surprise caused the room to break out in laughter.