A Thousand Words
Chapter 3

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As she always did, her eyes and ears remained open to anything to was relatively savage. That is, everything to related to Darren Hayes and Daniel Jones of Savage Garden. She’d heard that Savage Garden were in Sydney, and had managed to convince her mother that the family should go in for a day trip - minus her father, of course. He socialised more with his cars than with his own children.
After making regular stops in every music store along the Pitt Street Mall, they continued up the street to be under The Hilton - a plush hotel in the city’s center. Strolling in-between the car park driveways and the escalators up to the hotel, Julie spied a man walking just ahead of them who looked strangely like Darren Hayes. She began to walk quicker to catch up to him. Not only did she want to meet him, but she wanted to find out if the rumor about the big fight was true. As she gained some distance, she turned around to see that her mother and brother had stopped some way behind her.
Angrily she half-screamed “What do you think you’re doing?!”
She immediately felt embarrassed. She had only meant to say it, not scream it. She contemplated her reason for doing so. Perhaps it was a ploy to catch Darren’s attention. She saw her brother pretending to tie his shoelace. Turning back she saw the man turn around the corner. By the time she got there, he had disappeared. She sighed, now she’d never catch him.
They made their way across the road and into Brashs. Her brother wanted to go upstairs and check out the guitars - he’d been begging her mother for ages to buy one for him. They usually went up the stairs anyway just to check out what new musical scores they could purchase.
They trudged up the stairs, down the aisle of various pianos and keyboards. As usual someone was playing a tune on the grand piano, and Julie always was jealous of how well they could play. Passing the music sheets, they entered the guitar section. There was a counter on the left, a wall full of guitars on the right, and a pile of amps stacked up on the raised floor behind them. Julie stared at the range of guitars hanging on the wall and spotted one that was identical to the black & white guitar one of her former classmates owned. Her mother called the shop assistant over and Julie was not sure whether to stay and listen or not - being the smartest in the family she knew a great deal and usually she and her brother would have to put technical jargon into lamens terms for their mother. She listened for a while then, deciding she’d had enough, turned to head over to the musical sheets. As she walked in that direction, not particularly watching where she was going as she was thinking about the situation outside, she tripped over a small amplifier that sat on the ground.
“Are you okay?” a voice asked with a chuckle.
She glanced up. Seeing an extended hand, she grasped it and pulled herself up. “Yeah.” she replied dusting carpet flecks off her jeans. “Who would put a stupid speaker in the middle of the floor anyway?”
“Sorry about that. I needed an amplifier to plug the guitar into, so I can hear how it sounds.”
She looked up to see the man before her, his arms rested on the black & white guitar. She glimpsed at his face and he smiled.
“Oh my god!” she gasped. “You’re not… you’re Daniel Jones aren’t you?”
He nodded. Julie felt strangely calm. She didn’t give a second thought as to how excited she should be.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked.
“Picking up girls.” he replied with a smirk.
She laughed. “C’mon, no, seriously.”
“Actually I was thinking of getting a new guitar.”
“Really?” she asked.
He nodded, fiddling with the pegs and playing a few chords.
“You are so great!” she blurted out.
He looked back up at her, she felt immediately embarrassed.
He chuckled. “You think so, huh?”
She laughed. “Yeah, I do.”
“Do you know how to play?” he asked.
“Guitar?” she shrieked. He nodded. “No way, no how! I’m hopeless! My brother can play though.”
“You should try.” he said with a smile.
“I did! Couldn’t even get past a C chord!” she laughed.
Daniel played a few more chords. Julie wasn’t sure what to say to him next, so she stood there in silence. Then Daniel began to play a little tune on the guitar.
“To the moon and back!” she cried.
He laughed. “That’s right!”
She smiled. “I can pretty much figure out all your songs from the first note!”
He stared into her eyes. “Do you want me to test you?”
They both laughed, Daniel moving his hand up and down the guitar in a short medley of the 5 singles released.
“Nah, it’s okay.” she paused. “So what’s with you and Darren anyway?”
A puzzled look came over his face. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, um, I heard on the Internet that you two had some big fight over something. Are you really considering leaving the band? I mean, think of all the things you’ve been through!”
He stared down at his guitar and shrugged. Julie felt that somehow she had overstepped a boundary.
“Julie, c’mon let’s go!” her mum called.
“Hang on!” she called in reply.
She looked back at Daniel’s solemn face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything…”
“That’s okay.” he interrupted, showing a sign that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
“Could you just… um, could you sign my shirt?”
“Sure.” he said looking back up.
He pulled the guitar off his shoulder and grabbed a black texta from a shop assistant and signed the back of her Savage Garden t-shirt.
“Thanks.” she said. “Cheer up, okay?”
She hugged him. He smiled.
“I’ll see you tonight okay? I’m in front row at the concert, I should be right in front of you.”
“Yep.” he replied.
“See ya!” she cheerfully called, waving as she left. He raised his hand and waved back.

It was only a matter of hours before they had to go to the soundcheck, 2 in fact. Daniel bought his guitar and headed back to the hotel. Opening the door to his room, he could see the broken guitar body sitting on a chair, strings loosely spread in all directions. He was thankful that he actually had the money to buy a new guitar, this was the most he’d ever seen Darren get violent although Darren had claimed it was purely an accident. He didn’t think so, after all they were fighting - badly.
Daniel placed the guitar case near the door and sat on the bed. His legs felt rather sore, so he’d need to rest them up before the gig tonight. He reminisced over what had happened the night before. There was a big crowd at the Brisbane concert, the vibe was high, he’d gotten a little cheeky and decided to slide on his knees across the stage. It was a bad move. He had gotten too close to Darren and Darren had pushed him along to slide right off the stage into where the security guards were placed. He’d felt his knees slam against the hard ground, the bottom of the guitar smashing into it with the same force, almost jabbing him in the ribs. They’d gotten into a big argument over it afterwards in the hotel room. Darren said he didn’t do anything, but Daniel knew he had. An enraged Darren then picked up the guitar and threw it across the room. It hit the table against the wall which was enough to break it in half after the treatment it had received at the concert.
He turned the television on, creating enough noise to block out his thoughts. He didn’t want to go over the fight again, he didn’t want to think about what that girl had said to him in the music shop, he just wanted to relax. He slumped down on the pillows and stared at the television screen, his eyes getting heavy.
Daniel woke up to a pounding noise at the door. He could just barely hear it over the blaring television. He turned the set off and opened the door.
“What?” he said.
“Aren’t you ready yet?” Darren shouted facing him. “The soundcheck’s in 15 minutes!”
Daniel glanced at the clock behind him and cursed himself. He hadn’t realised he’d fallen asleep.
“I’ll be there in a minute!” he said, closing the door on Darren and looking around his room for the concert costume and for something to change into for now.
He picked up a blue shirt that he’d gotten over in Japan and put it on. Little Japanese characters on the bottom lining made it look stylish enough to wear when he greeted the fans. He ran out of the hotel room, locking the door up quickly, and raced down to the van where Darren was already seated inside.
“Jeez Daniel! You’ve made us late now!” Darren said to him as he climbed into the van.
“Hey, if it wasn’t me being late, it would have been you!” Daniel replied.
Darren pulled a childish face at Daniel as Daniel shut the van door. The engine started up and they drove down to the Entertainment Centre, driving right up to the wire fence where Darren grinned at all the screaming girls on the other side. The van reversed and Daniel, seeing the Brashs girl there in a different outfit, waved.
Once parked, they climbed out of the van, Darren as usual running up to greet the fans while Daniel stayed behind and talked business. He saw Darren chatting away to the fans and, suspecting he’d never get a chance to do the same, he took his gear inside. Soon after, Darren appeared inside.
“Some of them are complaining cause you went inside.” Darren told him as he passed by.
“Thanks.” Daniel replied. He quickly went outside to the fence and grinned at the fans. “Hey, did Darren tell you we both fell off the stage in Brisbane last night?”
They laughed with him. Obviously Darren hadn’t said anything. Daniel knew that they had to appear normal to the fans, which is why he didn’t say Darren pushed him. They were supposed to keep their fighting down to when they weren’t near the fans or it would look bad. He didn’t stop to talk to Julie in case she said something, but he did sign her CD cover for her and she smiled as he passed. In this time, Julie had become extremely happy at seeing the guys again, and she had found out the guy that she was earlier chasing down the street had not been Darren at all because Darren had cut his hair even shorter this time.

It was pure chaos backstage as the support band wrapped up their half-hour show. Darren ran from one area to another organising costumes, getting the back-up singers prepared, helping Ben find the guitars needed on stage.
“Don’t just stand there!” Darren yelled to Daniel as he headed back to Anna-Maria and Nicole. “Help Ben find his guitar or whatever it is he’s looking for!”
Daniel nodded and went with Ben while Darren walked off with the two girls.
“Here it is.” Daniel said lifting the guitar out from the corner. It was barely visible because of the things that had been piled up in front of it.
Ben took the guitar and handed it to one of the stage crew who had rushed backstage to them. He left just as quickly as he’d arrived to place the additional guitar on stage. Meanwhile, Darren stood just off stage singing in tune with the girls.
“Good, that’s great.” he said. “Just as long as no-one forgets the words!”
The girls smiled at him and he chuckled. It made him feel a whole lot more relaxed about going out on stage.
The lights dimmed and the audience screamed. Karl went onto the stage followed by Ben and Lee. The girls then walked on and placed themselves behind their microphones. Now it was time for Daniel’s entrance. He walked slowly down the stairs, listening to the sound of his guitar and watching his step so he wouldn’t trip and embarrass himself.
Darren anxiously waited at the top of the stairs and a spotlight was cast upon him as Daniel reached the keyboard. Darren flew down the stairs belting out the lyrics to ‘Tears Of Pearls’ through his microphone. It was time to be a star. He imagined he was Bono from U2 - his hero - and raced around the stage with the aim of making this concert the biggest show he could ever pull off.
Darren knew the audience expected him and Daniel to be the best of buddies, not fighting as they had been. He headed over towards Daniel to put his arm around Daniel’s shoulder to show what good mates they were. Daniel, meanwhile, was staring up into the stands on his right. Some people in the audience had draped banners over the edge and he was enjoying reading the various messages that basically stated ‘Savage Garden Forever’.
Daniel didn’t see Darren come up behind him and he turned to head towards the center of the stage. Darren raised his arm to protect his face as the guitar neck spun towards him, slamming into his arm as he ducked. Darren stepped back and gave Daniel a dirty look before heading over to the other side of the stage.
He decided that if Daniel was going to try and hurt him, he’d just have to do the same thing back. He saw his chance as Daniel was walking backwards next to him. Darren grabbed the microphone stand and threw it to the ground. Daniel stopped just in front of it and one of the stage hands ran on to pick it up again. Darren rolled his eyes, the plan to make Daniel trip hadn’t worked.
As Darren headed up the catwalk, he yelled back down to the stage “Daniel Jones, get up here!”
Daniel grinned as he made his way from the center of the stage up the catwalk and took a seat next to Darren. Darren then began to talk to the audience in a little speech he had planned to lead into the next song with. Daniel jokingly nodded his head as if he was beginning to fall asleep. Some of the audience laughed at this action, cutting short Darren’s speech. Darren began to untangle himself from the microphone lead, subtly kicking Daniel’s stool as he corrected himself. Daniel looked up at Darren with an ambiguous look on his face, but Darren’s attention was focused on the audience now so he did not notice.
Darren completely forgot about their fight as he got caught up in the moment. He climbed off the stage and ran past the security guards who vainly tried to catch him. This sent all the girls in the front row crazy as they stretched out to touch him.
They all left the stage for a short break, Darren and Daniel giving each other the cold shoulder until they crashed into each other just before they had to go out again.
“Move it.” Darren said.
“What’s your problem?” asked Daniel.
“You’re getting too cheeky out there! Just stop it, okay?” shouted Darren.
“Daniel, get over here! That’s your cue!” someone called.
Daniel glanced at Darren and then hurried around to the side of the stage. Just as he got on, Darren was being pushed out the other side entrance with Nicole and Anna-Maria in tow.
After a few songs the various lights switched off to leave two spotlights. One was placed on Daniel as he introduced the guys in the band, the second spotlight being placed on each person as he called their name. The first spotlight was then cast onto Darren as he introduced the two backup singers. Nicole and Anna-Maria then began to sing a song. Darren, having nothing to do, walked down the stairs and over to Daniel and patted him on the back with every beat.
“Wrap it up.” he whispered to Daniel.
Daniel shook his head and laughed, continuing to play the song. Darren slapped Daniel’s back harder making Daniel jolt forward. Daniel repositioned his feet so that he wouldn’t move if Darren tried the same trick again.
They quickly started another song, Darren again running around the stage, pulling girls out of the audience up unto the stage to dance with him. In one of the planned moves during ‘Break Me Shake Me’, Daniel and Darren ended up on the catwalk with Daniel stalking Darren like the ‘silent assassin’ he’d been nicknamed in the newspaper. An evil thought crossed Daniel’s mind - maybe he could get Darren to ‘accidentally’ fall off the stage as he had in Brisbane the night before. Daniel made Darren walk backwards up the catwalk, almost treading on his toes. As Darren reached the edge of the catwalk, he managed to swing around so that Daniel now had his back to the crowd. Darren had practiced the routine so many times that he knew how many steps to take before switching sides, and before he would fall off the stage.
Daniel repositioned himself at the keyboard when they got back to the stage. A few angry glances from Darren and a song or two later, Daniel made his way over to the backup singers and stood next to Anna-Maria. She tapped his face as if to tell him that he was a naughty boy and shouldn’t be up there.
He had a devilish grin on his face and whispered to her “I’m trying to avoid Darren!”
Eventually he went back to his position at the front of the stage. Darren took a running jump off the catwalk into the security area. He then walked along touching hands and eventually came back to the stage where Daniel stood. The security guards lifted Darren back onto the stage. He sat there singing and then decided to lie on the stage instead. He positioned his body so that he lay just behind Daniel, leaving Daniel to balance himself on the very edge of the stage. Darren didn’t move until the song ended and the concert finished soon after that. Darren collapsed onto a chair out the back, and Daniel wandered off somewhere else to avoid him. The fight was getting even more brutal, and Daniel knew that if they didn’t take a break away from each other, the public would be finding out about it all very soon.

Julie left the concert with her friends, some she had only met for the first time in person but had known off the Internet for a while. All of them were extremely excited about the concert and all had loved the show. This included Julie, but she sensed there was something extremely wrong. Something bad had happened, the fight must be getting worse. She decided that as soon as she got home she would have to email Kirri - they needed a plan to stop the guys from breaking up the band and they needed one fast!

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Chapter Four
Home

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