Dan finally emerged from his room, but with a sorrow filled look on his face. He screwed up royally and all he wanted to do was fix his mistake. He passed everyone sitting on the living room couches talking and headed straight for the front door.
“Where are you going?” Leonie asked.
“I have to find Nadia,” Dan said in a serious tone.
“Good luck trying to catch her. She just called from the airport. She hopping a flight back to the states,” Jack replied. “She’s going home to her parents. Hell, I don’t think any girl in her right mind would want to stay with you after what you put her through.”
Dan stopped dead in his tracks. “Fuck off, Jack!” he angrily yelled. “I really don’t need your bullshit right now. I know I made a mistake by not saying anything and having her think that it was a bad thing. I wanna apologize, so you either tell me where she is so it’ll make my life easier, or let me take my precious time trying to find her and miss her all together.”
“International gate B17,” Jack answered. Dan began running for the door. “Better move your ass because she leaves in half an hour!” Looking out the open glass door, he realized that he had taken his car. Frantically looking around the foyer, he found Darren’s car keys and took them.
“Daz,” I’m borrowing the Jag!” Dan yelled as he ran out the door.
Darren jumped off the couch and ran after him shouting, “No chance in hell!”
Once they were both outside, Dan tossed him the keys and said, “Fine, you’re driving.” They hopped into the vintage midnight blue XJ13 and sped down the road for the highway that led to the airport.
“Do you know what you’re going to say to her?” Darren yelled over the boom of the engine.
“No,” Dan replied. “Did you know what to say to Jack?”
“No, for us it came natural. For you, though, you’d better have a good speech ready to get her back,” Darren said as he dodged most of the cars in front of him. Dan clung to his seat frightened by the way his friend was driving. He had never seen his friend so reckless before. They pulled off the highway onto a ramp at nearly 100 mph.
“Slow the fuck down!” Dan shrieked when he felt almost weightless. Darren eased his foot onto the break pedal as he shifted into a lower gear. “The last thing I need is for you to get us killed.”
“Don’t worry,” Darren said as he stopped at a red light. “I’ve learned some pretty cool tricks on this car in the last few months. The only thing we have to worry about is the cops.”
“You had to go and fucking jinx it, didn’t you?” Dan angrily retorted as the light turned green and Darren’s foot bore down on the accelerator. Dan could feel his body become plastered to the black leather seats as the car accelerated from zero to 60 mph in less than seven seconds.
‘God please get me out of this alive,’ Dan silently prayed. His heart slowed to a more regular pace as Darren pulled up to the curb at the airport. Dan jumped out of the car and ran into the terminal. He knew he had little time to spare, but how little was the main question. He ran up to security only to end up being held up for a little less than ten minutes because of the long lines. After passing that obstacle, he ran towards the gates at the end of the long corridor to see if Nadia’s plane had left yet.
Dan reached the gate only to find it empty and see the plane making its way down the runway. He collapsed onto the floor and watched as it took off. For nearly half an hour, he stayed there sobbing as he pondered if he’d ever see Nadia again. Darren slowly walked up to him and patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said as he handed Dan a pair of dark sunglasses and an old baseball cap. “Come on, my car is illegally parked and I think people are beginning to notice our presence.”
Dan put on the glasses and hat and slowly began to stand up. He didn’t really want to go, but knew the grim consequences of being caught by fans at his most vulnerable of times. Darren walked beside him as they made their way back down the long corridor and back to the car. As they passed a security checkpoint, a young girl managed to spot them and turned to tell her friend. The low hum of the airport crowd soon filled with screams as many more people found out about them.
Darren heard the noise level rise and turned to Dan. “You up for another thousand-meter dash?” he asked.
“Why?” Dan replied, oblivious to the commotion.
“Take a look behind you,” Darren said as he quickened his pace.
Dan looked behind his shoulder to see a horde of girls following them. “OH SHIT!” he yelled, sprinting to a run. They made it to the curb only to find an officer standing next to the car writing a ticket. ‘Can things get any worse?’ Dan thought as they slowed.
“Help us!” Darren begged the cop as he ran up to him, breathless.
“Do you know you’re parked in a no parking zone?” the officer asked oblivious to the screaming girls that were barreling towards him.
“Yes, just give me the ticket and let us get out of here,” Darren told him.
“Don’t give me that tone, young man. You’re already in enough trouble already,” the officer sternly replied.
“No shit! There must be 500 screaming girls coming after us,” Darren frantically said.
“What?” The officer looked up just in time to see the girls burst through the terminal doors. “Get in the car and follow me,” the officer instructed as he jumped into his patrol car and sped off. Dan and Darren barely missed the flock of girls as they sped away from the horrifying scene.
Dan could still feel his heart racing as Darren pulled to a stop behind the officer. They were far away from the airport and on the highway. Darren got out of the car and sat down on the hood as his own heart slowing began to stop pounding.
“What the hell was all that about?” the officer asked as he walked up to him.
“The price of stardom,” Darren mumbled as he took off his hat and sunglasses. “Darren Hayes of Savage Garden,” he added, sticking out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Officer…”
“Martin O’Neil,” the officer quickly answered as he shook Darren’s hand. “Wow, what an honor.”
“Sorry about giving you attitude back there. It was just that we really needed to get away from those girls and…”
“Oh, I completely understand.”
“Great, then, if you’ll give me my ticket, we’ll be on our way.”
“Consider it wiped off your record, Mr. Hayes.”
“Oh, wow! Thank you,” Darren replied.
“Could you do me a favor?” Officer O’Neil asked before Darren got back into his car. “Could you sign this?” He handed him his book of tickets. Darren happily signed it got in the car.
“I just weaseled my way out of a ticket. That is so cool,” he said as he began driving down the road.
“Shut up, Daz,” Dan retorted as he sat back in his seat and looked out the window.
“Oh, that’s right. I’m so sorry,” Darren replied. “So, what are you gonna do now?”
“I don’t know,” Dan sighed. “I just don’t know.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll get her back,” Darren tried to comfort as he began to speed down the road towards the house.