Disclaimer:
The following story is the tenth installment in an on going series about Stephen Gately from Boyzone and what I imagine to be the story behind the beginning of his relationship with Eloy de Jong from Caught in the Act. I have no contact with either person, nor know any of the members of either group.
Stephen was woken in the morning by a rough tongue slobbering over his face. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by the grinning face of a Dalmation. Blinking blearily, he pushed the dog away from his face and tried to sit up. But she was sprawled all over him on the bed and he found it hard going.
"Soirise! Get off me!" He protested, trying to push her off him. She eventually backed down and sat by the side of the bed, panting and wacking the bedpost with her tail. He chuckled ruefully and struggled out from under the covers. "And a good morning to you, darlin'." He scratched her ears and she leaned against his knee, looking up at him with adoring eyes. "I'm assuming this means your mam is here? Let's get up and see, shall we?"
He grabbed some clothes from the dresser. Tony was up and gone for the day and Stephen remembered that it was now a weekday and that he was probably at school. He hadn't even heard Tony leave this morning. Lord, but he must have been tired! The last couple of days had flown by and he had lost track with all of the family coming in and out the door recently. And today also spelled the end of his break as they were headed back into the studio later on. He took a quick shower and dressed. Going back to the bedroom, he rummaged through his suitcase and pulled out a battered notebook that he had with him when he toured. Though he wasn't the type to write on the road, he did make an occasional note here or there for when he did sit down and write songs. He wanted this with him when they went to the studio later.
Soirise followed him down the stairs, whining softly. He absently patted her head and played with her ears as he walked into the kitchen. His sister was sitting at the table, hands wrapped around a cup of coffee.
"Why hello there. Up for breakfast?" She asked, sitting back in her chair and smiling at him. "Like your alarm clock?" Stephen chuckled as he leaned down to give her a kiss and walked over to the counter to put some bread in the toaster.
"Just the toast is fine with me. And coffee, of course! And Soirise makes a great alarm clock. I'm just happy she doesn't have bad breath in the morning!" He poured himself a cup of coffee and refilled Michelle's mug then sat down. He put down the notebook and took a long sip. "Ah, that hits the spot. I can't believe I have to get back to work already. I feel like I just got here."
Michelle made a face. "So do I, sweetie. Even when you're home, you don't spend enough time here with us all."
"I'm sorry, honey. It's just that this schedule we have from the record company is so mad. But I know why they want to do the push. Its good if we can get right in on the tail of the other one." The toast popped up and he got up to get it. "But Lord, do I wish for enough time off to just sit for a time. Thankfully we're just going into the studio, so it's not a lot of running around." He buttered his toast and sat down again with a sigh.
"Are you getting picked up, or do I need to bring you over?" his sister asked, watching him wolf down his somewhat meager breakfast.
"Shane is coming by on his way to the studio to pick me up." He said, taking a look at his watch. "Which should be anytime now. Where does the time go?" Michelle got up and took his cup and plate over to the sink to wash. "Hey, I can do that myself, you know!" He stood up and stretched, then went over to the counter to give her a hug. "Where's Jordan this morning?"
"Ah, that one is off with his cousin causing trouble," she said with a smile. Stephen rested his cheek against Michelle's head and kept his eyes closed. It was so nice just to stand there for a minute, with nothing else to do.
A moment later, the peace was shattered by the sound of a horn going off in the street. With a sigh, Stephen gave his sister one last hug. "That will be Shane, I'm sure. I got to run, hon. I'll give you a call later and let you know what the schedule is when I find it out."
"You do that, Stephen," she called as he grabbed his notebook and left the kitchen, Soirise chasing him down the hall. She heard him tell the dog that she had to stay inside and somehow he got himself out the door without her.
As he closed the door, he could hear the sounds of people working in and around the neighborhood. There were moms out with their strollers, chatting as they pushed them down the street. Smaller kids too young for school were out playing, and Stephen saw a couple of older ones who were obviously playing hooky. He could see Shane waiting patiently in front of the house, idly drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. Stephen waved to a neighbor across the street and walked down the to car, lightly tapping the glass before opening the door.
"Hey there," he said, slipping into the front seat next to his mate.
"Hey, brother." Shane flashed him a grin beneath his sunglasses and quickly shifted gears, moving out into the street. "How was your weekend?"
"Grand, Shanno. How about yours?" Stephen asked, sitting back and pulling the visor down to deflect a bit of the morning sun.
"Fantastic," Shane said, taking the corner onto the main street a little fast. Stephen closed his eyes and sent a silent prayer upwards. "Had ourselves a grand old time. My sisters were home, which was nice. Haven't seen them in ages." He took another corner and Stephen's stomach slid to the other side of the car. Or least it felt like it. Luckily the drive wasn't that long, and soon Shane was pulling in through the gates of the studio.
Ro was outside rolling about on a skateboard, waiting for the rest of the lads. Mikey was sitting on the steps guitar in hand, strumming out some chords. There was no sign of Keith when they stepped out of the car. Stephen was happy to be on somewhat solid ground after the short drive over. Ronan zipped past him as he walked over to where Mikey was sitting and gratefully sat down on a step.
"Hey Mick," he said softly smiling up at his band mate. "Keith not here yet?"
Mikey shook his head. "No, apparently Jordan was giving him and Lisa a hard time about leaving. He said he'd be right along, though."
"How's Hannah?" Stephen asked leaning back and watching Shane chase Ro around on the skateboard. Mikey broke into a big grin.
"Ah, she's getting big. It's one of the things I'm finding I hate about being on the road, though. I feel like I'm missing so much when I'm gone." Stephen nodded sympathetically. He felt like he missed out on so much, and that was without having kids of his own. He knew how much Mikey and Keith missed their little ones when they were on the road. The rest of the guys always encouraged them to bring them along, but even still, they didn't get to see them much with the hours they kept.
With a crunch of gravel, a Rolls entered the carpark and pulled in next to Shane's car. As he got out, Keith waved to the rest of the lads and had a good laugh at Shane chasing after Ro. "What's with them?" He asked as he went to go sit on the steps to watch them.
Stephen shrugged. "Beats me. But the minute Shanno got out of the car, he took off after him."
The door behind them opened and a man peered out. "All set whenever you boyz are," he said and then walked back inside. Keith whistled, calling the boys over as Mikey put the guitar over his shoulder and stood up. Ro angled the skateboard over to where they were and Shane leaped past him up to the top step. Opening the door, he looked back. "What are you all waiting for?" He asked and stepped through the door. Stephen shook his head with a wry grin and dusted off the back of his jeans, following the rest of the lads inside.
In the studio were the usual people, record officials milling about, a couple of groupies who were in good with the studio and hung around the halls, and other people who happened to be in working here and there. Stephen waved to the people from Polydor, going over to give some of his favorites hugs. He could see Steve Mac over at the table with some papers spread out and wandered over to see what he was up to.
"'lo Mac," he said. Mac looked up and waved as he walked over.
"Hullo, Stephen. Got some stuff here I think you might like," he said, nodding over to the papers in front of him. Stephen sat down opposite him and put his notebook to the side as he leafed through some of the sheet music in front of him. He was pretty good at sight-reading and liked what he saw of the melodies.
"Looking good, Mac. We'll have to have a listen to some of these." He got absorbed in the music, not paying attention to what the rest of the lads were up to. He could hear Ronan singing through something that he wasn't familiar with in the other room.
"And do you have anything for me, Stephen?" Mac asked, looking at the dog-eared notebook that was lying on the table.
"A few things. Nothing much," Stephen said diffidently. "But I've been kicking a few things around."
Mac watched him as he talked, seeing how he fingered the notebook. Stephen was way too modest. He always had a few gems that would spark Mac off on a song, and together, the two of them had come up with some great stuff for the last album. He was hoping that Stephen had some more, because he was itching to get his hands on it.
"Well, I'm always happy to take a look," he offered. Stephen nodded with a smile, and was quickly overrun by the rest of the lads piling into seats at the table. Everyone else sat down and they went over the plan for the album. Mac and Wayne had a few things sketched out, but wanted some input from the boys. Mikey had brought in some sheet music that he was interested in pushing. Ro had one or two that he had worked on in his spare time on the tour. Keith and Shane were happy to let the others go ahead. So they discussed a schedule of writing and working on the album. None of them really cared about how long it took, as long as they were home for a while.
After that they broke for lunch and discussed some of the songs that they had been hearing over the course of the morning. They were in the middle of finishing that up when Louis walked in.
"Hello boyz. All set to give me some number ones, right?" he said jovially. He slapped Keith on the back and walked around the table, sneaking bits of chips from different plates.
"Oh yeah, we're raring to go," Shane said sardonically. Louis shot him a look, but chose to ignore it.
"Well, lads, you have one less bit of competition to worry about," he chortled. Everyone looked at him with curiosity. It was obvious that he had a story to tell and he looked like the cat who had swallowed the canary. Once he had gotten everyone's attention, he stood, waiting to be coaxed.
Ronan finally gave in. "All right, Louis. You have something to say, spit it out. We haven't got all day now, do we?"
Louis gave one look around the room and pulled up a chair. Straddling it, he leaned on the back. "Well, I just found out from a very reliable source within the biz that Caught in the Act are on their way out the door."
Stephen frowned at the news. "I thought they were working on a new album."
"Oh they are, but word on the street is that if the releases from this one don't fly, they're history." Louis looked quite pleased by the information.
Keith turned and looked at Stephen. "Don't you have a friend in that group?"
Stephen nodded, still frowning. "I do. I sure hope you're wrong, Louis. I'd rather see everyone do well than only a few stay at the forefront. And I like a lot of their stuff."
Louis waved him off. "Its rubbish, Stephen. If it were good, they'd get a #1 occasionally, and they haven't gotten anything. All those boys know is how to strip on stage. Which, actually, isn't a bad thing to do. You lads would do well to take that bit of their act. Makes the ladies go nuts, let me tell you. And I still wish you'd wear tighter pants. That's the kind of thing that sells on stage. Nothing like giving them a bit of eye candy."
Mikey rolled his eyes and shook his head, then turned back to the magazine he had by his plate. Stephen had a little rock in the middle of his stomach at the news. He knew how much Eloy loved performing, and how much it would hurt him to get dropped by his record company. He sent a fervent prayer upwards that it wouldn't happen and resolved to him a call that night to see how he was doing. He hadn't had a chance to write anything for a while, so it was certainly okay to call.
The rest of the afternoon rolled on, but Stephen was a bit lost in his own thoughts. He did share with Mac some of the lyrics he had been working on, and they talked about possible tunes. Stephen had the makings for one or two singles that he had worked out a lot of the lyrics while staring up at the hotel ceilings at night and thought that some of them weren't half bad. Mac liked what he saw and was going to get together with Wayne and see what they could come up with. Phil and Ian were also chipping in to help with some tracks, so they had plenty of people working on the music. The plan was to brainstorm over the next week or so, try some of the already written tracks to see who would sing what, and then when they had their own stuff ready, record that to see how it mixed in with the other stuff. Louis also wanted to try to get them in with other producers, so the plan was once they had the material, to shop it around to different places to see what the sound ! would be like.
By the end of the day, they were all pretty tired and eager to go home. They kicked around the idea of going out for a drink, but everyone wanted to just call it a day. When they walked out of the studio, Stephen saw his brother Mark sitting on the back of his truck waiting at the gate. He walked over, waving to the guard to let him out into the street.
"Hey there. What are you doing here?" He asked curiously. Mark was still in his work clothes, wood dust clinging to his pants.
"Well, I was in the neighbourhood and realized it was close to quitting time and thought you might want to get a drink if you were ready to leave. They told me it was breaking up, so I figured I'd just sit out here and wait. If not, I can just take you home," he offered.
"I think a drink would be a good idea. Where do you have in mind?" Stephen asked as they got into the truck. He waved goodbye to the lads as they all went their separate ways.
"I was thinking Gilly's," Mark said absently as he pulled away from the curb. "Nice quiet place where no one bothers you when you have a drink."
"Fine with me," Stephen said, moving tools that Mark had left on the seat around so he could sit back without getting stabbed by one of them. They made it across town to Gilly's Pub and Mark found a side street to park on. Getting out, they made their way down the street and into the bar. It was crowded with the usual after work crowd. But unlike the trendy places down off Grafton, this was a workman's pub. They weren't the type to wear suits to work. And that was just fine with Stephen. He preferred the small dark places where people didn't have an attitude. As they made their way down past the crowded bar over to where there was a bit of space near the fireplace, a few of the men greeted Mark and nodded amiably at Stephen. They sat down and a barman walked on over to take their order. A few minutes later he came back with a couple of pints and they were able to sit back and enjoy their drinks.
"This hits the spot," Mark said with a sigh. Stephen nodded, taking a long pull from his glass. "How was your day? Not too hard, I guess?"
"Not really," Stephen said. "But sometimes just sitting in meetings all day can be more tiring than running around." Mark nodded in agreement. They started talking about what was going on in town, and people they both knew. Stephen's mobile went off, and he answered.
"Stephen?" He could hear his sister's voice over the general noise in the room and mouthed Michelle's name to his brother. Mark grinned and finished off the last of his drink. "Tell her we're on our way right now. She'll skin us alive if she knows we're sitting in a pub drinking the night away."
"Yes, hon," he answered. "Can't talk right now, but I'm on my way home. See you there?"
"Yes, dinner's ready. But Mam didn't know whether to hold it or not," he could hear a lot of chatter in the background and knew the kids were over, too.
"On my way then. Also, I ran into Mark on my way out and he's offering me a ride home, so we should see you in a bit." With a grin, he rang off, not allowing her to ask questions as to where he was. Mark shook his head.
"I don't know how you manage to do that with her. Within 30 seconds, she's usually gotten all the information she wants out of me. Where I am, what I did all day and why I stopped off at the pub for a pint." Mark complained with a grin. They got up, leaving money on the table for the tab. Mark waved to the barman as they went out. It was dark and Stephen pulled his thin jacket up against the cool night air. It had been a lot warmer during the day. They walked briskly to Mark's truck and got in. He quickly drove home, not talking much in his concentration to watch his driving in the dusk.
Soon they were home and Mark was parking in front of the house. It was just at dinnertime and not many people were out on the street. They quickly made their way into the house to find everyone in the kitchen. It was a bit of a madhouse, with 3 conversations going on, children underfoot and the dog trying to get her nose into the food on the counter. Their Mam was talking to Michelle while pushing the dog away from the counter. Tony was sitting arguing soccer with Alan. Brandon was sitting on their father's lap, chattering away. Jordan was trying to climb on top of Soirise and giggling. Stephen caught him around the waist and lifted him out of the way. When Jordan saw who it was, he squealed with excitement.
That brought everyone's attention to him and Mark. Michelle scolded the two of them for taking so long and ordered Mark to go upstairs and wash up. He obeyed, grumbling as he went. They finally got everyone organized for dinner and around the table. Things settled down shortly and they were all able to eat in relative peace. Their father put a moratorium on any more soccer talk between Tony and Alan until after dinner and Tony sulked, pushing his food around his dish.
Stephen basked in the warm silence. He reveled in these moments. He so seldom got a chance to experience it that he felt himself truly blessed when he could be a part of it. It didn't last long, though, as Mark and their father got into a conversation about some of the different construction sites and that lead to some of the politics going on around town with the building permits. Stephen was happy to let the conversation wash around him. He wasn't a talker at the best of times and had always been one to sit back in a group and let everyone else chatter around him. Michelle smiled at him as he sipped his coffee and he gave her a wink. Jordan had fallen asleep in her lap. She jerked her head to the door and he nodded. Getting up, she carried Jordan and he refilled their mugs and made their way to the hall. They made their way upstairs where she was able to put Jordan down on Tony's bed. Stephen sat down opposite from her and placed her mug on the nightst! and. Take a sip from his own mug, he leaned back against the wall and watched her tuck Jordan in. She then took her mug back and leaned against the posters on Tony's wall.
"It's a bit much sometimes, isn't it?" She asked smiling.
He nodded. "Its grand, Shel. You have no idea how much I miss all this. I really do." He leaned on one elbow and looked down at his coffee. "Sometimes I almost wished we hadn't made it. Then I wouldn't have to be away so much."
"Ah, no you don't, Stephen. We'll have none of that. Telling you to stop singing would be like telling you to stop breathing, Stephen Gately. Don't you even consider it!" She admonished softly.
"I know," he said, still looking down. "It's just that sometimes...." What he had been about to say got interrupted by the sound of his mobile ringing. With a frown, he dug it out of his pocket. "Hello?"
"Hey Stephen," a warm voice came out of the earpiece. "How are you?"
"Eloy!" Stephen said with surprise, a huge grin on his face. "Are you psychic? I was just thinking today about ringing you. I'm well. How are you doing?" His sister sat back, legs crossed under her skirt and sipped her coffee.
"Well enough, Stephen. I figured that enough time had gone by that Nokia should have replaced the phone and took a chance that it was back working again. Glad to see I was right." Stephen felt a slight shiver at the sound of Eloy's voice in his ear. It brought back other memories and he prayed he didn't blush in front of his sister. "Hope I'm not catching you at a bad time."
"Not at all. I'm just sitting having some coffee with my sister. Not to worry," Stephen reassured him.
"Why didn't you say so? I forgot you were probably home by now. I won't keep you, but just wanted to say hi and see how things are going." Eloy said.
"They're great, E. The end of the tour went off well and we're now gearing up for the next album. How are things with you?"
"It's going along. We've done some recording in the studio, got some good material. Record company is still dawdling over what they want to do, but other than that, things are going smoothly. Hey, I wanted to thank you for the notes. I enjoyed reading them a lot," Eloy said.
"You did?" Stephen was surprised. "You actually bothered to read them?"
"Ja, of course I did. It was great getting them. Felt like I was on tour with you. I liked them." Eloy chuckled and this time Stephen had to move. The sound reverberated through him and he found himself responding unconsciously. "But don't let me keep you from your family. At some point, when you get a chance, give me a ring and we can chat."
They said their goodbyes, with Stephen promising to call him soon, and hung up.
"Is that your friend in that German band?" Michelle asked after he had pocketed the phone.
"They're not German, they're Dutch." Stephen explained, and Michelle waved him on at the detail. "And yes, that was Eloy. Things seem well enough with him, but today Louis mentioned that they might be losing their record contract due to poor sales. I think that once again, he got his facts wrong."
"Like that would be the first time with Louis Walsh," his sister said with disgust. "But enough of that idjit. Tell me about this friend of yours." She abruptly changed the subject and Stephen had a sinking feeling that she hadn't missed a thing in his conversation with his friend.
"Haven't I told you about Eloy before?" He asked vaguely, idly swirling the coffee in his mug as he stared down so he wouldn't have to look at his sister.
"Tell me again," she said with a smile. There was a glint in her eye and he knew he was going to have to step around this whole subject lightly or end up telling her everything. Which he had no intention of doing.
"Let's see.... He's tall. Brown hair, brown eyes, speaks an incredible number of languages. We got together on the last break for a side trip to Disney, which is how you got all the goodies while I was on tour. Great guy, wonderful sense of humor." Stephen shrugged. "And that's about it. He's a good friend."
She nodded. "I don't think I've met him. Have I?"
"I don't think so," he replied. "Not unless you were there on some of the European stuff the tour before last when we did some combo promotional stuff with his group." She shook her head. "Ah, then you wouldn't have met him. They don't come over to England that much, being more of a European group."
"Sounds nice. What made you two get together to go to Disney?" She asked, eyes half closed as she looked at him.
He shrugged. "Well, he was feeling a little down and I suggested getting together to cheer him up. He was the one who chose Disney." He grinned. "It was a great idea. He's a big animation fan, too, so we had a blast going through all the exhibits there."
"Is he gay?" She asked. Stephen tried to stop himself from wincing at her directness.
"Erm, well, I don't like to make judgements about people, Shel. You know that...." He trailed off and she stared at him more intently. A small smile played around her lips.
"Forget I said anything, Stephen. I shouldn't be prying in your life, anyhow. I'm sure that if and when you want to, you'll let me know when something is happening. I am, after all, your sister." He was thrown completely off kilter by her abrupt change in mood and stared at her in a bit of confusion. "We'd best be getting back downstairs before someone comes looking for us and wakes up Jordan, right?" She got up, brushing off the wrinkles from her skirt and picked up her coffee mug. "Besides, I can use another cup, couldn't you?"
Stephen stood up and Michelle wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug. "I'm so mean to you, hon. Just ignore your older sister when she starts meddling in your life, all right?" He hugged her back, still at a loss for words. He knew that if he did say something right now, it probably would be to tell her things he didn't really want to share just yet.
She turned off the light as they went out, but left the door open in case Jordan woke up. Stephen took her coffee mug and carried both back down to the kitchen while she went to the parlor to sit down with the rest of the family. He took the opportunity to get his thoughts together by helping Tony wash the dishes. Tony was grateful and gave him a grin as he picked up the tea towel hanging over the end of the counter. They worked in silence, listening to the chatter from the other room. Sue and Mark had left for the evening, taking a sleepy Brandon back home for the night. That left only Alan, Michelle and her husband, and their parents in the front room.
"Hey, you think Mam would be ticked if I nicked out for a bit to hang with the lads?" Tony asked softly as they finished up.
"Nah, its okay. I'll cover for you," Stephen said, indicating the door with his head. "Just don't be too late or she will have something to complain about."
"Right, then. I'll see you later," He said with a smile as he grabbed his jacket and headed out the back door. Stephen could see him leave by the back gate and cut through the back neighbor's yard past the side of the house to the next street over. He closed the curtains by the window and turned off the overhead light, leaving the light over the sink on for anyone who decided to come in for a drink later on. With a final swipe of the towel, he went to the front parlor to join the rest of the family.
When he got to the parlor, he took a seat on the floor next to his mother, turning to watch Parkinson on the television. His mother absently stroked his hair as he leaned against her chair and he leaned back, enjoying the feeling. He didn't pay attention to the conversation, but sooner than he thought, his father was bidding his other children goodnight. It had gotten late without him even noticing it and he was half-asleep with his head propped up by his mother's armchair. Michelle was standing next to Alan, who had Jordan asleep in his arms. He bade everyone a good night and headed up to bed, yawning. Tomorrow was another busy day planned when they were planning on doing some test records, so he knew he better turn in if he was going to be able to function in the morning.