A Thousand Words
A Thousand Words--Chapter One
"QUIET ON THE SET!!!"
Immediately, everyone fell silent. A tall, skinny man, who appeared to be in his late 20's, stepped forward.
"People, if we don't hurry this up, i'll have Channel [V] pouncing on me and tearing me to shreds. Where's Molly?" he asked.
"I'm right here," Molly said, stepping forward from behind the man. "I've been here for two bloody hours." Molly was dressed as he usually was-a black suit and his trademark "Crocodile Dundee" hat. The man, Rick Marshall, sighed.
"Good. Where's Savage Garden?...Is anyone going to answer me, or are we gonna stay here all day and-"
"Sorry we're late!" Darren said, rushing into the studio with Daniel on his heels. "Our car stalled. Stupid thing."
"About time you guys got here! Get on the set!"
"Touchy touchy," Daniel mumbled under his breath as he and Daz sat down on the 'set', which was a huge orange room with a hideous blue couch in the middle of it. The pair sat in nervous silence, wondering if either of them should say anything to the other.
"Have you looked over the questions?" Daniel finally asked Darren.
"Yeah. Have you?"
"Yep." An uncomfortable silence followed.
"...How's Michelle?" Darren asked.
"OK, I guess. She's becoming really quiet these days."
"I hope nothing happens between you two. It'll be shame to see your relationship go wrong. You are perfect for each-other."
"I don't know..." was all Daniel said.
"Uh-oh. You're not perfect for each-other?"
"Darren, don't start with me, alright?"
"What? What am I doing?"
"You know perfectly well what you're doing."
"No, I don't. Would you mind filling me in?"
"It'll be my pleasure." Daniel began to make a 'list', but was interrupted by Molly sitting down across from them.
"Is everything alright, boys?" he asked.
"Just fine and dandy," Darren said through his teeth. Molly gave them a Look and looked down at his interview sheets. Daniel sighed, glanced at Darren one more time and then shuffled over in the couch, looking frustrated. Why was Darren so hard to deal with? He didn't want to start any fights, but he didn't want Darren to keep pushing him out of the way. More than anything, he wanted to be appreciated and loved. Darren used to appreciate him, but he didn't know about that anymore. And love...he'd rely on Michelle and his family for that. But Michelle was being so secretive these days...what was going on with her? Was she seeing someone else?
"Now that everyone's here-finally-let's get this over and done with, shall we?" Rick shouted, sitting back in his chair beside Camera One. "OK, wait for it...Molly...and...NOW."
Molly turned to Camera One and smiled. "Welcome back to the Drum. I have here two of the fastest rising young stars in Australia-Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones of Savage Garden. Good to have you with us, guys."
"Great to be here," Darren responded.
"Of course...it's always Darren and Daniel...not Daniel and Darren...Yes, Darren always comes first...the huge star...while I have to stand back and watch him take over what was a band that we shared. He's claimed it to be his own," Daniel thought bitterly.
"Now tonight you're gonna be doing your first concert of your tour. What is the tour called?"
Daniel opened his mouth to speak, but Darren beat him to it.
"It's called the Future Of Earthly Delites Tour. We're really looking forward to doing this concert tonight. It's gonna be great."
"I hear that this tour is going to be much bigger than your tour last year. What's this tour going to be like?" Molly asked.
This time Daniel spoke first. "Yeah, it's going to be much bigger than the last one. Much bigger. We're gonna have-"
Darren interrupted again. "-sorta like a Blade Runner-style background, big lights, an 8-foot catwalk going out into the audience, cool costumes-"
"Excuse me, Darren, I was talking," Daniel said.
"Sorry," Darren responded, not sounding like he meant it. Daniel sniffed.
"Yeah, right," he mumbled. Darren rolled his eyes.
"Jeez, what is your problem, Daniel?! I'm just answering questions like i'm supposed to, and here you are getting all stressed out over it!"
"Well, i'm sick of you interrupting me all the time! Like you're the only bloody person here! That's why i'm getting stressed out!"
"Then just calm down! There's nothing to chuck a wobbly about! Man, the weather must've gotten to you already!" Outside, thunder clapped in the black skies as if to say, 'I told you so!'
That's it. Daniel's bubble was burst. He took one look at Darren and lunged at him. He tackled Daz to the floor, crawled on top of him and wrapped his hands around Daz's neck, cutting off his air supply.
"Daniel..." Daz managed to say, coughing and gasping for breath. "What are you...(cough)...doing to me?!"
"Uh, guys, what are you doing?" Molly asked, concerned and edging away from the set.
Rick's secretary rushed over to him.
"Aren't you going to do anything?!" she whispered.
"Are you kidding? This is great! It'll be the biggest Drum episode we've had in yonks!"
"Yeah, sure, it'll be the biggest, but you'll be the one stuck with the lawsuit you're going to get from Village-Roadshow for killing one of their clients! Think about your reputation!"
"...You're absolutely right. OK, break it up, you two!"
Did Daniel listen? Forget it. Darren, now feeling very weak, had managed to get his hands around Daniel's and was trying to rip them off his neck. He was still coughing chronically and gasping loudly. Daniel's face was crimson with fury. His grip tightened around Daz's neck.
"Somebody help him!" someone shouted, referring to Darren. Five staff members rushed onto the set and tried to pull Daniel and Darren apart, but Daniel had wrapped his legs around Darren's waist and was holding on tightly with no intention of letting go. Finally, Darren let go of Daniel's hands and punched him in the face, sending Daniel to the floor beside him. The staff held Daniel back as Darren slowly got his breath back. He felt sick and was sure he was going to black out at any moment. Rick whispered something to the man at Camera One, then walked over to Daz and helped him sit up.
"Are you okay, mate?" he asked. Darren nodded, still catching his breath. He looked over at Daniel, who was calming down rapidly.
"What did you think you were doing, you idiot?!" he asked. "You could've killed me!"
Daniel looked at Darren for a few seconds, then got up and walked out of the studio. Darren watched him go, then laid back down and promptly passed out.
That night, the Cairns concert venue was absolutely PACKED with screaming, excited fans. Two of them, Eva and Karen, stood in the front row, trying not to be flattened by the swelling crowd. Beside them, a male fan was talking about the incident at the studio. Eva and Karen strained their ears and listened in.
"...I swear, Daniel almost killed the poor guy! I bet you any amount of money that they'll be really poopy at each-other tonight!" he was saying.
"What's all this?" Eva asked. The guy turned to her and told her and Karen about the studio incident. When he was finished, both Eva and Karen were in awe.
"Where did you hear about this?" Karen asked.
"My dad is Rick Marshall. He's the producer of The Drum. He told me about it on the way here. He even gave me a copy of the tape. I think he's distributing them to the press, too."
"Why would be want to do that?" Eva asked.
"Publicity, I guess. I don't know. Let's hope they've sorted things out by now...or else that's the end of Savage Garden." They all nodded in agreement.
Just then, the lights dimmed. The audience roared as the show began, and Darren and Daniel appeared onstage. Throughout the show, Eva and Karen noticed that Darren was doing everything he could to avoid Daniel, who appeared to be doing the same thing. At one stage during the concert, Darren came out onto the stage not realising that his fly was open. The audience burst into laughter. Daniel realised what was going on and also started laughing. It was only when Darren saw Daniel laughing that he looked down and quickly did up his fly. At the end of the song, Daniel copped a filthy Look from Darren.
"Do a little dance...make a little love...get down tonight..."
After the concert, at the after-show party, Darren searched the large room for Daniel, but he was nowhere in sight. Finally, Colby walked up next to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Not here, hey?" she asked. Darren shook his head.
"I don't understand what's gotten into him these days. It was just a small edit in an interview. It's nothing to go ballistic over."
"Well, I've noticed that Daniel and Michelle aren't getting along all that well these days. Maybe he's getting worried that there will be a breakup, and that's why he's getting stressed. He's always been a sensitive guy, Daz. He's a human--he has feelings, in case you didn't realise. I'd be quite upset, too."
"Are you saying that this is all my fault?!" Darren exclaimed.
"No, of course not, Darren. But let me tell you something...i'll be honest here..if you don't want the future of Savage Garden to crumble at your feet, you'd better find Daniel, march him to a quiet place and sort things out. You guys have been best friends for yonks...I don't want to see your friendship collapse just because of a stupid little magazine article."
Darren nodded. Why were women always RIGHT? He thanked Colby, kissed her on the cheek and went off in yet another attempt to find Daniel. He finally gave up and went to his hotel room (leaving a message for Colby at the party). When he got to the door, he found a note tacked to it. Ripping it off, he realised it was from Daniel.
"Darren," the note began. "When you get the chance, make your way over to my room. We need to talk. From Daniel."
Darren sighed, walked over to Daniel's room and let himself in. He found Daniel sitting in front of the TV, watching a video of the Drum taping. When he got to the part where he almost killed Darren, he would pause on certain parts and stare at the screen for several seconds. Darren cleared his throat loudly.
"Daniel?" he said softly, leaning over Daniel's seat.
"How was the party?" Daniel asked. Darren sat down beside him.
"Everyone was looking for you. How come you didn't stick around?"
"I didn't feel like it. Is there something wrong with that?"
"No." Darren definitely wasn't in the mood for yet another argument.
"Darren?"
"What?"
"I didn't really want to kill you earlier on. I was just really stressed out and...well...I was angry."
"At me?"
"You too, but not just you. I was angry at MYSELF. I shouldn't over-react like that. I just want to say that i'm sorry."
"It's okay. Me too. It's been happening heaps recently...us fighting..."
"I know. That's why..well, I wanted to tell you...God, I don't know how to say this...um..."
"Daniel, just say it. I'm listening."
"...I think we should break up..."
At first the words bounced off Darren, but they rebounded and hit him where it hurt. He felt as if Daniel had slapped him in the face. He stared at him in complete shock.
"OK...I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that..."
"Darren, there's no avoiding it. We have to talk about it."
"Daniel, how could you possibly think about splitting the band?! We've just started a tour with a handful of concerts sold out, we've won heaps of awards, we've met so many wonderful people, we've broken heaps of world records...and we're SUCCESSFUL, Daniel. Isn't that what we always wanted? And now that we've finally gotten where we want to be, and things are going so well...can you honestly look me right in the eyes and say that you want to leave this all behind? Hey? Tell me!"
"Listen-" Darren held up his hand to tell Daniel to shut up.
"Daniel, look me in the eyes and tell me. Right now..."
Chapter Two
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