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Post by celticthunder1510 on Apr 18, 2011 23:11:28 GMT -5
For Craic and Good Times
The men of Celtic Thunder were on the road again in the United States-where exactly became a source of debate among the band members.
“Keith, I know our next stop is Boston, Massachusetts,” Damian said, rolling over in his bunk. He was hunched over his Blackberry, typing away and was only half listening to the conversation going on from all the bunks around him.
Damian was typing away to his Twitter account about all the bickering going on on the bus. About how Emmet had done a Paul and burned the popcorn in the microwave despite the instructions for popcorn being attached to the door of the microwave in a bright orange envelope titled POPCORN FOR DUMMIES. About how Ryan was taking surfing lessons from Keith and doing OK but, that the lovely bruise he had on his right shoulder came from a huge wave he crashed on when they were in Texas the week before. About how Keith freaked when Ryan did not come up with his board when he fell and had to save him from drowning. About how George just got a care package from his wife and daughter and shared his scones with Damian because he knew Damian loved chocolate chip scones. Every time he sent a Tweet, his phone chirped.
He was typing so fast and furious that he did not notice that Emmet, Ryan, George and Keith had quietly gotten out of their bunks and lined up in from of Damian’s. Neil rolled out of his bunk and asked in a hushed whisper, “Why are we all standing in front of Damo’s bunk?”
Ryan replied in an equally hushed whisper, “Damo is beating the daylights out of his Blackberry and we want to know what he is up to!”
Damian was Tweeting away on his phone, clueless to what was going on just outside his bunk slider, did not hear the furious tapping on his bunk until it went from tapping to outright slapping on the slider and then a voice, “Damo! What the bloody heck are you doing in there, writing a Tweet novel? Get off that thing and come out here. We need to talk to you!”
As he hopped out of his bunk, he placed his Blackberry under his pillow and walked to the seating area on the bus, stopping by the refrigerator to grab a Coke Zero and a slice of cold Hawaiian pizza to munch on. Damian thought to himself, “This looks suspicious. Wonder what’s up.” as they gathered around and sat in the chairs all around him.
George started the conversation. “Damian, we have noticed since you have lifted your self-imposed ban on technology, you have been on your laptop, on Facebook, and on Twitter every waking moment we have been rolling in the bus. Are we that boring? Is something wrong with you? What’s the story?”
Ryan asked, “Yeah, Damo, what’s got you all quiet and alone for so long? We just got back on tour and you are not yourself out here. What’s going on?”
The rest of the group fired questions at him from all direction and his head began to spin with the amount and the multiple questioners. It got to the point where he said, “Alright, enough guys! Look, I know you all missed me when I was finishing my college classes and I know you are concerned with me and my “tech-obsession”-thanks, Keith!” Shocked Keith eyes met his. “But I’m OK. I am working on a project and I can’t talk about it right now. Trust me when the time comes, you will all know, I promise. Now, if you will excuse me, I am heading back to my bunk, OK?”
Leaving the remaining five guys in complete shock at what just happened; Damian got out of his chair, went back to his bunk, slid his slider door closed and went back to the random Tweet Tweet of his Blackberry. Emmet scratched his head and asked, “What was THAT? I am worried about him, lads. He is really pushing his own boat out on this tour, isn’t he?”
Keith said, “Tonight when we get to Boston, I will corner him someplace and get him to tell me what he is up to. Won’t take no for an answer, alright?” Four nodding heads agreed with him and watched out the windows as the scenery passed by at 60 miles per hour.
Chapter 2
Later that evening, just after the final dress rehearsal and right before they all hit Quincy Market for dinner, Keith asked to see Damian on the bus. “Damian, would you follow me for a second, please? I need to talk to you, alone.”
Damian followed Keith to the bus and Keith waited till Damian had gotten a Coke Zero from the fridge and was sitting in his chair when he asked him, “OK, Damo. We have all been very worried about you since the tour started three weeks ago. All you do is lay about in your bunk on traveling days and all we hear is Tweet Tweet from you in there. I am really worried about you. Are you OK? Really?”
“Yeah Keith I am fine. It is a thing I am working on. I promise when I have it almost finished I will tell you all about it first, OK? All I can say is when you see what I have been up to, you will like it. Now, I am hungry. Let’s go get some food before the show starts and get back before it does!” Damian rose and got off the bus before Keith could stop him. Keith shook his head and got off the bus. When he closed the door, the guys closed around him and asked, “Well? What’s the big secret?” to which Keith just shook his head, “I don’t know anything more than the rest of you. He is as closed off as a clam in the sand!”
This was a rare stretch on the tour for Celtic Thunder. They were in Boston for three shows at the South Shore Music Circus and that meant a week in the city. Damian scheduled himself a two practice sessions with the New England Revolution soccer team, he planned to go on a tour of the city with a Duck Boat Tour and, he planned to indulge his shopping genes and hit the shops in Copley Plaza where they were staying. He had filled up his week with things he wanted to do as the guys were usually out drinking at any number of pubs in the area and not able to be up and running about like he was to be a tourist with him. He felt if he did not keep active and do things he liked he would go mad with all the snoring from the band as he roomed with Ryan and Keith usually.
After the show, he went to his room and hopped online within five minutes of getting there. Keith and Ryan busied themselves with changing clothes and gearing up to go out for the night when Keith chanced a peek over Damian’s shoulder, only to have Damian shut his laptop tight and say, “When I am ready for you to know what I am up to, I WILL tell you, Keith. For now, leave me be and go have fun, K?”
Chapter 3
Keith walked out to the hallway and on the way to the elevator, said to Ryan, George, Emmet and Neil, ‘Lads, we have to find out what the heck our little Damian is up to because I can tell ya, if I don’t find out soon the curiosity will eat me alive!”
Ryan said, “How will we get into his accounts? He has all of his stuff password protected, the little bugger. And, he hides it all behind some strong firewalls, I should know. I asked him to help me with a slow laptop and he took my computer for six hours on the bus on the last tour and he fixed it so it runs perfectly now! He is so smart with the tech stuff.”
Emmet said, “Well, tomorrow, I know he has a practice session with The New England Revolution soccer team so he can practice his footy. Maybe tomorrow, we can try to find out what he is up to, OK? For now, let’s go get a pint or two and think on it.”
They all went out and had a grand time and got home by their 1 AM curfew. Damian was fast asleep when Ryan and Keith came into the room. They went to bed and were awakened by Damian’s 7 AM wake up call for his soccer session. They made a bit of moaning and groaning about the hour of the day and all but, the minute Damian went off to the practice, they were up and poking around his computer to see if he left anything in a notebook or a stray piece of paper in his computer bag to give them clues to what he was up to.
Bang! Bang!
Startled, they went to the door and opened it. In came Emmet, George and Neil. Neil said, “Well, what have you found out so far?”
“Nothing so far.” “No, Damo has all his good stuff buttoned up tight. Nothing is left out for any of us to see. Almost like he knew what we were going to do this morning.”
George said, “Alright, guys, you found nothing, right? Well, maybe that’s because there is nothing to find, eh? You should let the lad have his privacy and let him tell us when he is ready. He promised he would tell us so I think we should let him tell us when he is ready, alright? Now no more of this Sherlock and Watson act of yours! Leave him be!”
Damian’s practice was awesome! The team wanted to give him a one match contract to see if he had the legs to last a full game with them. He was excited and so were Phil and Sharon when he called to tell them he was going to be in the game they had that Thursday-a friendly with the English National team. They told him it was a go for him to play and he was over the moon!
See, this was what he was up to: He was lining up travel games and practices with as many of the professional soccer teams in the places they toured in so he could play and have a bit of fun while he was on tour. All the tweeting he was doing was mostly for his web site to talk about the band and what went on on the road but some of what he was doing was drafting letters to get him tryouts for the soccer teams around the tour and he was finally having success with getting tryouts. He was beyond happy with his plans and what he was doing. Since this was Monday, he had to go for more practices with the team over the next two days and then he played!
The next day, he was up before his wake up call and out the door with barely a word to any of the guys and off to the practice facility. Keith decided this time, he was going to follow him where ever he went and try to figure out what Damo was up to before anyone else could. He followed Damian’s Smart Car as he flew down the freeway to Foxborough. Keith thought he was alone but, he went over a series of bad bumps in the road and he heard “Oo! Keith, watch the bloody road will ya!” from Ryan in the backseat.
When they got to the Stadium, Damian put on his shin guards and cleats and ran out onto the pitch to start running drills with the team. Keith and Ryan slid into the stands on the far side of the field and hid in the foot wells to spy on him. Keith stuck his camera phone over the seat and took pictures of Damian in his shorts and muscle shirt as he ran down the field to take part in a scrimmage with the team. His side scored two goals including a massive bicycle kick Damian launched into the goal just as the final whistle sounded. The guys on the team may have been a bit older but, they respected him for his skills and talents.
He went into the locker room and showered and changed into his normal clothes which were a black snug tee shirt and blue jeans to go with his black Converse. He went to the offices of the team manager who said, “McGinty, you have real talent. I am impressed with someone who can sing as good as you do that can play the game the way you do. If the singing thing gets old, you have a spot on this team, if you want it!” Then, he got fitted for his jersey and shorts and left for his car singing the Queen song “Princes of the Universe”.
“Here we are, Born to be kings, We're the princes of the universe, Here we belong, Fighting to survive, In a world with the darkest powers, And here we are, We're the princes of the universe, Here we belong, Fighting for survival, We've come to be the rulers of your world, I am immortal, I have inside me blood of kings, (Yeah!) I have no rival, No man can be my equal, Take me to the future of your world,”
He was on cloud nine. As he drove home, he glanced in his rearview mirror and shook his head with a laugh when he spotted Keith and Ryan following him in Keith’s black Jaguar rental. He said to himself, “Let’s see what this little guy can do.” as he put the pedal down and sped up to 65 MPH and wove through traffic like a NASCAR driver to get away from them. He beat them back to the hotel and ran up to his room zipping straight past a confused George who managed “Hi Damo, what’s the craic?” before he ran up the five flights of stairs to his room to put the pics of him in his uniform online to update his resume.
Keith and Ryan pulled up to the door of the hotel and tossed the keys to the concierge of the hotel and ran up to George asking him, “Where did Damo go?”
“He is up in his room, I imagine. Why? Where were you two? Did you follow him when he went out today?” Then, he grabbed them by the collars and stopped them cold. “Alright, I told you not to play Sherlock and Watson with our Damo. Give it up!”
“But we have proof that our boy was up to something….. Wanna see the pics, George?”
“You have pics, Ryan? Show and tell boys.” Emmet said, his curiosity peaked. When they showed him the pics of Damian doing the bicycle kick of the ball in the goal, Emmet said, “And?? This is your proof that our boy has done something rash? He is having fun from the looks of this and you two are stalkers.” He turned to George and Neil and said, “Wanna hit the pub for dinner and then Fenway for the game? I scored us Red Sox Tickets along the third base line….” They all laughed and left for their evening’s fun. Ryan and Keith went to the room and found Damian asleep on his bed with a note on his laptop saying DO NOT BOTHER ME I NEED A BIT OF A MAJOR KIP! Thanks, Damian. They shook their heads and went out to dinner and hit a few of the pubs in the area.
Wednesday was a short day of Practice for Damian because that night, he was singing on tour with the guys and he needed to be rested for the show. After the concert, he showered and went to his room for the night but, before he did, he left the guys a note on the mirror in the dressing room that said, “Come up to the room guys. I have something to tell you all and it is huge!”
About twenty minutes later when the guys knocked on the door to the room. Damian let them in and said, “OK, you guys-well some of you guys,” glaring at Keith and Ryan, “have been very good about respecting my privacy concerning what I have been up to. Well, I just want you all to know what that is right now.”
George said, “Oh, Damo. You don’t have to tell us what is going on just because of these two being nosy. We do not need to know what you are up to unless you want to tell us.”
Ryan and Keith said at the same time, “Tell us what you have been up to!” to which George Gibbs-slapped them in the back of their heads to shut them up.
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Post by celticthunder1510 on Apr 18, 2011 23:15:05 GMT -5
Chapter 4 Damian laughed at the shocked look on their faces and said, “I hope you lads are free tomorrow from 3 till about 8, then. You are going on a field trip. Just got the tickets and left ‘em with Sharon and Phil. Dress comfortably and all will be revealed tomorrow afternoon.” He turned on his heels and hopped into his bed. “Now, go off to the pubs and have a good bit of craic and let me get some sleep, OK?” as he turned over and settled in to get some sleep.
When he woke up the next morning, he wasn’t nervous at all. He ate a big breakfast and left for his day around 9 AM. They all thought he was going shopping and out for the day. At 3 that afternoon, Sharon and Phil had a limo waiting for the bunch of them to go to Damian’s outing. Phil had blindfolds for Ryan and Keith and said, “You two are the only ones that need to put these on because Damo does not trust you. Since we left you to your own devices while we promoted the tour, what the heck did you do to him to make him insist on these?”
The whole ride there Ryan and Keith asked about every five minutes, “Are we there yet?” figuring, if they got on everyone’s nerves, they would get the blindfolds ripped off their faces so they could get yelled at but, the rest of the people in the car ignored them and talked amongst themselves for the whole drive out to the Stadium.
When they got there an hour later, the blindfolds were taken off and all seven of them took the tickets Damian had give Sharon and Phil and walked in the stadium and found their seats on the mid-field line in the front row.
“Why are we here, Phil?” asked George, now finally getting a bit curious as to why Damian was not with them-soccer was HIS thing after all and he was no where to be seen.
The Announcer can on the system and announced the starters for the game and went through the players-a regular routing until he came to, “Starting today at midfield, a new recruit from Derry, Ireland, Number 92, Damian McGinty!” This brought all seven of them out of their seats with a mighty roar and cheering of their friend and band mate as Damian ran out onto the pitch for the opening kick off of the game.
Damian got a ton of touches on the ball and then, the break he wanted. He flew down the field with two other players and right before halftime, the ball sailed to Damian and-pop-he headed it right into the nets for a goal! The crowd went insane and then the announcer said, “Now scoring Number 92 Damian McGinty at 44:55 with an assist from Landon Donovan!” to more insanity and the loudest cheering came from the seven in the front row at midfleld.
When the final whistle sounded, the score was Revolution 1 English National Team 0. Damian was carried off the field on the shoulders of the Revolution team into the locker room. The manager of the team came in and said, :McGinty, that spot on my team is open for you as soon as you want it. I was looking at your tour schedule and I see that your tour finishes in a couple months. Want that spot then? It is yours!” to the cheers of the team. They wanted him and so, he said, “I need to think it over but, I think I can do this, let me get back to you tomorrow, sir!”
Chapter 5
Damian changed into his street clothes and drove his Smart car back to the hotel, where he found the whole crew from the game in his room with a cake and balloons and a banner that said: Congratulations Damian on it. He was so happy that he was bursting with pride at his friends and how happy they were for him.
Damian had to pull Phil and Sharon aside during the party to tell them about the manager’s contract offer and tell them he was thinking of taking it. They said he could do it as long as he was in the studio the minute the Revolution was done for the season. He wanted to be the one to tell the guys in the band though, to which they agreed, each thinking, “Now this ought to be good!” as to the reactions on the faces of the guys.
He walked back into the living room of the suite and said, “Thanks, off you for coming to my first professional soccer game! It was such a rush to be on the pitch in that kind of crowd I want to do it again. So, I’m gonna,” as he trailed off to let what he said sink in.
At the looks of shock on their faces he said, “What? No comments, lads? You all wanted to know so badly what I was up with all the Tweeting I have been doing and how secretive I have been on this tour. Well, I have been hitting the roads every place we stop running up to five miles with various soccer clubs across the country. I have been in training to do what I did tonight which was essentially try out for the New England Revolution. Guess what? The offered me a spot on their team. Can ya believe it? Me? I made it to a pro team.” He turned around to see the shocked and sad faces of his friends looking back at him.
Keith said softly, “Damo, are you leaving us? If it is because we were riding ya about all your sneaking about, we are sorry. Right, Ryan?” as he elbowed Ryan in the ribs to draw his agreement.
“Yeah, of course we’re sorry, Damo,” he said looking down at the floor, ashamed. “Please don’t leave the band because we were so-”
“Nosy? That is a what I would call it. Downright nosy.” George said with Neil and Emmet nodding their heads behind the tall, fatherly man. “If you want to leave, Damian. If this is your dream, then go and be happy.”
“What? You think I want to LEAVE?” Damian said with a huge grin on his face. “No! They offered me a spot on the team the minute this tour ends. We have three months off and their season only runs till the month we have to be in studio to record the new CD. Soccer is a passion but, it’s singing that is my love. Come on, lads! Ya think I’d leave because of the likes of what Keith and Ryan did to me these last few weeks? We are family.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us what the craic was with you?” Keith asked, smiling now. “I would have run with you and we all could have kicked a ball with you if you had asked.”
“I was having too much fun watching you two scramble around like Shaggy and Scooby on a mystery to let you know what I was doing.” He turned to the window and smiled. “Besides you all are old enough to go the pubs and I am still only 19 years old and not able to drink legally here in the States so, I had to come up with SOMETHING to do on my own so I did not blow my money shopping or on random girls in every town we stop in, right? This was a goal I wanted to work at and I did it. I am thrilled that I get to play on a pro team in two months. I made it. Me, a small town guy from Derry, Ireland. Imagine?”
“So now that that mystery is solved, can we get back to being Celtic Thunder and you two quit playing Spy Games on young Damian, eh?” said Neil with a smile.
“Yeah, now who wants some cake?” asked Emmet as he carved into the soccer ball sheet cake the got for his party. They all had cake and Champagne (since Damian was not going out of his room he could have one sip of bubbly) to celebrate his goal and his spot on the Revolution that fall.
Chapter 6
The show finished in Boston that Saturday night and when Damian took the stage for the first number, Heartland, he saw most of his teammates from the team in the front rows to see what he did. He smiled and sang his parts the best he could. When he came off the stage, the guys all looked at him as he looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“What’s the trouble, Damo?” Keith asked, wondering what was up with the glazed look in his eyes.
“Oh…Nothing…Just that the entire Football team from the Revolution is here right now in the front rows to see the show and I am a nervous wreck because, well, they are all jocks and I am well a singer who-”
“who can play footy with the best of em and score the winning goal for their team, is all,” said George. “If you can respect what they do, they can try to do the same for you, you know?”
Neil said, “Yeah, you are a hard worker and you showed em already, Damo. You are one tough footy player!”
Emmet said, “Quit your worrying, Damian. Just look out over the crowd and find a girl to connect with and sing all your songs to her. Forget the lads are there and focus on the girl and you will be fine, alright?”
Damian thought Emmet made some sense and, encouraged by what he said went out to sing his next song, A Bird Without Wings, and he scanned the crowd over the guys in the front. He did find a lovely honey brown haired girl he guessed was in her late teens, early twenties and made eye contact with her through the whole song. She never took her eyes off him as he sang the beautiful lyrics as if he was singing them just to her.
Mary looked into his eyes and felt a spark like she had never felt before. Her green eyes met his ocean blue eyes and-poof- a spark ignited. She and her friend, Olivia, and come to the show because, at the last minute, she had won the tickets on a radio program she rarely listened to but, it had a poem that she had a poster of in her dorm room at Boston College and she called in with the correct answer not knowing what the prize was. She was thrilled to win the tickets as she loved Celtic Thunder. “This must be my lucky week,” she thought to herself. “First I win tickets to a Revolution soccer game and then these tickets and this is just fate is all.”
Mary lived in Dublin, Ireland, but was here in the States in an exchange program with her college in Ireland so, she knew who the lads in the band were. She nudged her friend and said, “Olivia, he is looking at ME, right?” When she got the nod she was hoping for she said, “We have those backstage passes-we are SO using them!” Olivia nodded her head and said, “If he keeps looking at you that way, you are gonna need a crowbar to pry you two apart when you meet!”, making Mary blush.
Damian saw her color rise in her face and thought to himself, “She is a pretty one. I hope she likes me enough to find the bus so I can talk to her after the show.”
After the show the guys from his team waited in the front rows and gave Damian a sending off gift of a team jacket and the away team uniform so he would be able to meet up with the team in Los Angeles when they faced the Galaxy soccer team three days after the tour ended. He ran backstage to show the others what they gave him and they were happy for him yet, a wee bit scared that he may get hurt playing in such a rough league in America.
He said, “Let’s go do the meet and greet for the lucky backstage pass holders, OK, fellas? I want to see if that girl is out by the bus waiting to see me or not.”
Keith wrapped an arm around Damian and said, “Got a wee crush on the lass, now have ya? You’ve only seen her, never spoken to her and, you want to now. Aw, that is so cute! Our Damo has a Fantasy Girl.” as he whistled Nights In White Satin, the part where it goes ‘And I love you oh/ Yes I love you oh Lord how I love you!’
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Post by celticthunder1510 on Apr 18, 2011 23:16:16 GMT -5
Chapter 7
Damian rolled his eyes, annoyed at Keith for teasing him so much and then he rounded the corner of the waiting area for the pass holders and saw her. He ignored his seat at the table and went to her taking her by the hand and pulling her and her best friend who she was not leaving out there, into the closed off space in the private area. He was cheered and then roundly booed by the girls who had waited so patiently for him to sign their programs, shirts and anything else they had on them.
He said, “You two wait here alright? Do not leave until you see me again, got me?” When they nodded, he smiled his quicksilver grin at them and went out to the now cheering girls and signed autographs and posed for pictures for the next half hour with the other members of the band and then Phil Coulter came up and said, “Now, now, ladies. That is all they have time for tonight. They need their rest as they are the road to New York City tomorrow for a show on Monday night in Radio City Music Hall.” as he ushered the six of them back to the private area.
Damian was the first one to round the door and he said, “Thank you for waiting for me. Hi, my name is Damian McGinty and I am sorry if I put you on the spot out there.” as he shook Mary’s hand and looked at his feet a bit. Emmet came in next and he said, “It’s his fault so if I gave you a fright, blame him, OK?”
Emmet said, “He needed to get past the 22 guys in the front row staring at him so, I told him to find a girl and connect with her in the audience.”
Olivia said, “Well, when he locked eyes with her, she was a goner for sure!” earning her a slight elbow in the ribs from Mary. “My name is Olivia and this is my friend, Mary. She is our resident Thunderhead at our college.”
“Oh, and where do you go to college, Mary?” Damian asked still looking into her eyes. He felt as if he was looking into the eyes of an angel and he was yet to hear her voice. “What, cat got your tongue, lass?”
She replied, “We go to Boston College and I am here on an exchange program from university in Dublin, Ireland, Mr. McGinty,” as she shook his hand and held on a bit too long for it to be anything but touching each other’s hands. I go home for the holidays in December and I am back for the rest of the school year.”
He was glued to the spot and holding her hand, running circles on it with his thumb, as if memorizing he for future reference. Her voice was beautiful to his ears and he wanted her to say more. He just stood there, holding her hand and then, he was elbowed by Keith, who said, “Laddie, if ya don’t let go of her hand, she cannot get your autograph.” To the girls he said, “He gets a bit struck when he sees a pair of pretty girls such as yourselves. Forgive him. He’s young. Hi, I’m Keith Harkin, pleased to meet you.” Olivia looked into his blue eyes and she felt the ground move. She took his hand and shook it. Funny thing was she was laughing about Damian not letting go of Mary and here she was not letting go of Keith either! She mentally shook herself and forced her hand to let go of his. Keith was looking into her soft hazel eyes and thinking, “Wow! Damian sure can pick the pretty ones, huh!”
Damian was already pulling out his Blackberry and getting contact information from Mary and her friend Olivia because Keith would not be able to ask her for that stuff-he was focused on asking her out to dinner and getting to know her.
Damian said, “Look, Keith, we really can’t go out to dinner because we are just famous enough that if one girl recognizes us, we would get mobbed in five seconds flat so, why don’t we order room service and have dinner with the girls at the hotel? I mean don’t you think it would be easier? I could go for easy right now. You?”
Keith could not argue with that logic so he agreed and went out to check on the bus only to see it was long gone and that there was a note on the stage door from Ryan saying, “Keith/Damo, we all have gone back to the hotel. When you finish with your ladies, come on back so we can get loaded up to leave for NYC tomorrow. Cheers, Ryan.”
Chapter 8
Keith came back in to the dressing room shaking his head with a smile and said, “They left us to our own devices. We have no way to the hotel now.” Then he looked at Olivia and smiled his million watt smile, “Unless you can give us a lift there?”
“What? Us? Sure we can give you a lift to your hotel? Where are you staying?”
“Copley Plaza.”
“Good. OK, well if you’re ready to leave, we can go when you want,” Mary said, never taking her eyes off Damian. ‘God! He is so gorgeous! How in the world can you have an instant connection with someone you just met?’ she wondered to herself.
Olivia and Keith walked out to the Parking Garage around the corner to get the car, leaving Damian and Mary alone for the first time. “Um, thanks for giving us a ride back to The Copley. I can’t believe they just left us high and dry like that. What were they thinking?”
Mary said, “They were thinking you need to live as normal a life as you can, even if it is only for one night.”
“Do you think I want this whatever ‘this’ is for only one night?”
“Well, you are out on the road for what, the next two months? How does a long distance relationship work?”
“I just know I want this to work out for me this time,” he said closing the gap between them. He pulled her into his embrace and sighed into her hair. “Please? It takes two to be in ‘this’. Don’t you believe in a bit of Celtic Magic?”
‘Boy, he really IS a charmer and then some!” she thought to herself, relaxing completely into his arms. She sighed and said, “OK, I am willing to try this if you are. But we need complete honesty. Nothing hinky or we are through, OK?” He nodded into her hair and sighed then, he pulled away from her just enough to kiss her and she smiled into the kiss and tightened her grip on his waist never wanting to let their ‘this’ go.
“Damian, if you’re done playing kissy-face with young Mary there, we have the car so, let’s get back to the hotel so we can eat!”
Mary and Damian came out blushing like mad and Olivia mouthed the question, “Well?” to which she smiled and arched an eyebrow at her. Olivia smiled and said, “You two in the back. I want Keith in front with me.”
They drove back to the hotel and ate dinner in their room, the four of them just chatting and getting to know each other as friends. Keith and Olivia went on the balcony and talked about maybe seeing each other again when he came back to Boston to drop Damian off with the Revolution. “Wait, why is he dropping you off with the Revolution? Are you going to sing for them? Record the National Anthem?” Mary asked, interested in what she had overheard.
Damian smiled and said, “No, not that. I have a spot on their team when the tour ends in L.A. They are playing the Galaxy and then they get to come home for a month to play their last three regular season games and then there are the playoffs. Hey, are you free over Columbus Day weekend? That is when the last show is and then that Monday I play with the team. Can you and Olivia come out for it?”
She smiled and said, “Yeah I would love to but, we have to ask Liv if she can make it. Oh, Damian that would be amazing!” as she impulsively went and kissed him soundly on the lips. She went to the balcony. “Liv, wanna go out to L.A. for Columbus Day weekend and spend it with these two handsome men?”
She smiled and said, “Um, I think I can free up my time, Mary.” Keith came up behind her and wound his arms around her waist. He smiled and said, “That’s great! I would love to see you again!” as he kissed her cheek. She smiled and said, “Just a kiss on the cheek?” She turned and kissed a slightly shocked Keith on the lips as Damian kissed Mary. After about five or ten minutes, they were all startled by an insistent knocking on the room’s door. Keith walked over and opened it to find Neil and Ryan walk right in saying, “It’s our last night in Boston, why are you in your room? Are you sick or…” Then they saw the girls and smiled Ryan said, “Oh, OK, guys. We’ll leave you to it, then.”
Mary said, “No, we can go if you want to have fun with the guys before you leave tomorrow. Sorry if we kept them from you. We are at the first hellos in our ‘this’, right Damo?” He nodded and smiled at the guys. “We are not ready yet to do the first goodbyes though yet, lads so, we are staying in for the evening. OK?” as he wound his arms around her waist and shrugged at them.
Neil said softly, “OK, Damo. We can take a hint. We are going out with George to the pub in Quincy Market for oysters and Guinness. We will be back at curfew. Ta.” as he half dragged Ryan out of the room. Olivia looked at the guys and said, “Keith, why don’t we join them. You know, give these two a chance to be alone and watch a movie or something? Who knows, we could ditch them and have some fun on our own later?” Keith grabbed his coat and said, “Be good! We’ll be back around 1-ish. Ta.” as they walked out the door, hand in hand. When all the excitement had died down and it was just Mary and Damian, she said, “Um, not for nothing but, how old are you?”
“I’ll be turning 19 next month on the 9th. Why? How old are you?”
“I’ll be turning 22 on Halloween. Does it bug you that I am older cuz, your age does not bother me at all?” she said, turning to face him and fix him with her green eyes to see his reaction. He walked over to her and, holding her gaze said, “Do you think I could do this,” as he kissed her neck, “if it DID bug me? Age is nothing to talk about. Doesn’t bother me in the least, love.”
She smiled at him, “Are we past the ‘hello’ point yet?” “I think we are at the ‘how are things’ part.” she leaned into his embrace. “So, how are things? What’s your major in College? How did you get into the exchange program? And, …”
“Things are very good for me right now.” she said smiling. “I am majoring in Computer Forensics with a minor in Digital Special Effects. I got into the exchange program because B.C. has a better Special Effects lab than I would have had in University in Dublin so, I came here for the last three semesters of school to expand my resume and feed my wanderlust a bit. She was getting hungry for travel and adventures so, I hopped on the chance to do this.”
Damian admired her sense of adventure and her love of travel. He asked her, “Where would you want to go if you could go anyplace in the world?”
“Well, I would say um, hey-IDEA! What are you doing over your birthday weekend? I noticed Celtic Thunder was not doing anything the second weekend in September. What are you going to be doing?”
“I didn’t have anything special planned, why?”
“Well, Olivia is dragging me up to the mountains in New Hampshire for a Highland Games Weekend and I was wondering if you could fly back from St. Louis and meet us in Boston for the trip up? It would only be for the weekend-Friday till Sunday and we would have you back for your next show on that Monday night, I promise. We rented a campsite and we are roughing it for the weekend. Wanna come, please?” as she batted her green eyes at him and smiled.
It took him all of two seconds to say, “Yeah, I’ll be there for you girls. I think I may be able to get Keith to come back with me if he and Liv hit it off. What do you think?” She squealed and hugged him ferociously around the neck and rained kisses on his face till they both fell on the couch, laughing so hard they both had tears brimming their eyes.
Damian and Mary talked for the rest of the time about the Highland Games and even looked up the activities online for them to do over the weekend. They saw the formal dinner on Saturday night with the dancing and the craft tents and the food vendors and the attractions of the event and made plans to do as much as they could in the four nights and three days they would be together. This was the last break he would have before he finished the tour with the group and he knew he had to clear his schedule for the whole weekend which meant a chat with Sharon and Phil to clear his schedule for the time he needed. He called them on the cell and asked for the time off. At first they were reluctant and then he told a small white lie and said he had to come back for team business for the Revolution and he wondered if Keith could come if he wanted to. When they gave their approval for the time off, he said thanks and rang off. Then, he hugged Mary and said, “I am sorry I told them a white lie but, I am not sorry I get to spend more time with you! So now, if will only be six weeks to see you and then another four after that and then I am here in Massachusetts till at least February if not March because of playoffs. I have to go back to Celtic Thunder in April and then we are on tour again in May till September again.”
Just then, the door to the room opened and Keith and Olivia walked in, hand in hand and smiling. Damian and Mary, smiled back. “Liv, what do you think of Keith and Damo coming with us to Highland Games in six weeks?”
“How did you fix that, Damo? I thought we were on tour and could not get the time off.”
Mary said, “Liv? What do you think? Is it OK?”
Liv hugged her friend and said, “If Keith wants to and Damian is ok with it then yeah, I would love to have them come along with us!” She turned to Keith, “What do you think? Want to come with us for an adventure?”
Keith asked again, “Damo? How did you pull this one off? I thought our time was booked solid?”
“Now, don’t get mad, Keith. I sort of told a small white lie and got us the time off so you could be with me when I went to take care of Revolution business. The ‘business’ is with the girls but, we do not need to tell the lads on the bus now, do we?”
Chapter 9 So now, he had three faces looking at him, expectantly. He thought about all the danger involved if they got caught and then of the girls and then of the adventure of it all and said, “OK, I am in but, if anything happens and we get caught in this lie, I know nothing, you got me?”
Mary called out, “Group hug!” as they all came together in a warm embrace.
Just then, Phil came to the door and said, “I am sorry ladies but, the lads need their sleep. Time for you to go. Good night to you all.” as he went back to his suite for the night.
Damian kissed Mary deeply and said as she stood there breathlessly, “I will call you every night and write you tons of postcards and letters. We will see each other in six weeks, I promise. And I do not run out on my promises to pretty girls I fancy.”
Keith kissed Olivia on the cheek and said, “I will call you and write you too. You are one lass I do not want to forget any time soon, that’s for sure!”
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Post by celticthunder1510 on Apr 18, 2011 23:19:40 GMT -5
Chapter 10
Six weeks flew by so fast. The guys were true to their word and sent them packages to their dorm room every week crammed with postcards and letters they wrote over the week to them. The girls marked where they were every Friday and sent them care packages to their hotels with cards and letters and cookies and brownies for the bus by Thursday so it would arrive on every Friday. They did share the food with the guys on the bus which bought them a ton of special treatment and favors. Neil and Ryan always fought over who got the last cookie or brownie or muffin from the care package boxes and that kept the guys thinking of their girls in Boston.
Keith called Olivia every night and they would talk on the bus till Phil came by, usually at 1 in the morning and said, “Say goodnight to the darling dear and get some sleep, Keith.” shaking his head with a smile as he went to his bunk.
Damian was even more addicted to his Blackberry than he was before as he and Mary were constantly Tweeting each other on Twitter and Instant messaging each other every chance they had to chat about their day and slowly they were falling in love for real. Damian had never felt this way before about anyone and he was so happy, he could barely contain his enthusiasm for anything he had to do on tour. Phil and Sharon were happy he was performing and running every errand they asked him to do-he became the go to guy for every little thing. Keith, was just as happy but, he was content writing songs for another CD. His last one was a huge hit so, this one had to be just as good and, since he was in love with Olivia, he was writing a bunch of songs for her.
The Thursday before they were set to leave , they were in Miami, Florida, strolling around the Mall they were in looking for gifts to bring back for the girls and found themselves wandering into a jewelry store that sold charm bracelets and they bought a couple of bracelets and filled them with charms that meant something to themselves and each of the girls special things and had them gift wrapped for each of them. They also went to a book store and bought them books and book readers since they would be camping and lights would not be readily there for them. Then, they realized they WOULD be camping and bought a couple of sleeping bags and a tent at the camping store and had them shipped overnight express to the girls dorm room so they would not be sleeping outside or in the car.
The next day, they received their care package at their hotel and the other guys, who knew the package would be coming that day before Keith and Damian left, hovered around them till they opened it and took out the notes the girls had sent them. Each one took a cookie and brownie from the box and went up to their room to pack for their weekend.
When they came back down to the lobby they heard-
“Ryan, I wanted the last brownie!”
“Neil, relax! We can share it. Here you can have the crunchy bit!”
Emmet and George were laughing so hard at the two of them that they almost missed Keith and Damian walking past them, bags in hand.
“And, just where are you two going?”
“George, just let us go. We have to take care of something for Damian and let’s just leave it at that.” Keith said as they loaded their bags into the taxicab.
“You two are sneaking off and not telling anyone where you are or when you’ll get back, eh? Sounds like they are going to see ladies huh, George?” said Emmet, now stopping Damian from getting into the cab.
Chapter 11
“Aw, come on now. You have to let us go. You two are the only ones who can know this secret. Tell anyone else and I swear, when the girls send us their care package next week, you get nothing and you like it, got me?” Damian said, looking them dead in the eyes, leveling them in his gaze. “I am sorry if this sets you four up for way more than your usual public appearances this weekend but, we were invited to do something with our girls and I DO have one public appearance scheduled with the Revolution on Monday before I come back to St. Louis. I am covering my bases, is all. I will be back on Monday night with Keith, I promise. Just keep our secret, will you lads? Please? If Ryan catches wind of this, we’ll never hear the end of his teasing and I cannot manage that on top of singing and playing footy and my lovely lady….”he trailed off looking every bit desperately into their eyes for agreement. When they nodded, he smiled and jumped in the cab and left with Keith for the airport.
When the plane landed in Boston, they were met at the gate by Mary and Olivia who hugged the stuffing out of them and took them back to their dorm to get ready for the trip north. Since they had never been to see the girls dorm room before they were curious about where they lived and what it looked like. “The room is not the cleanest it has been but, that is because we are packing to head out to the camper. So, don’t pass a judgment on the mess factor.”
Closets were wide open and there was a sock hanging out of one drawer but, the floor was spotless and the beds were perfectly made. The suitcases were set up next to the door and all Damian could think was, ‘THIS-this she calls messy? Wonder what she would think of my room at my mum’s house when I was getting ready to leave?’ Aloud, he said, “Um, you have nothing to worry about. It is not that bad at all, is it Keith?” He shook his head expecting a REAL mess in the room.
“Nah this is not as bad the bus can be sometimes!” he smiled and closed the closet doors to both closets and said, “A thousand times better!” with a laugh that lit up his whole face. Olivia sighed thinking, ‘Man, he is even more beautiful than I remember him being. Dang! Have I missed him!’
Mary walked over to Damian and said, “Sit down on the beds, both of you and get some rest, OK? We have one more class to do this afternoon for two hours and then we are free to leave. Catch a bit of a kip and we will be back as soon as we can.” She kissed him hard on the lips and said, “Liv, we have to go NOW or we will be late. You know I hate being late for Fletcher’s Computer Animation class!” as they grabbed their books and ran out the door!”
They guys were just settling on the bed and Liv came running in full tilt, grabbed Keith, kissed him soundly on the mouth and ran out saying, “Man, I SO missed you!” as she ran full tilt down the hall to the waiting elevator. Keith laughed and shook his head saying, “That was the first time she kissed me. She is one good kisser!”
“That was the first kiss? Wow! Took you guys long enough to get that out of the way!”
“We can’t all be kissy-face first night with our lady now can we? She wanted our first kiss to be spontaneous and fun and she did it!” as they both settled into the beds and fell asleep.
When the girls got back to their room, they saw Damian sprawled out on the bed and Keith curled up with the body pillow on the other bed and they both had the most relaxed expression on their faces. Mary said in a hushed whisper, “Let’s get the gear out to the camper quick and quiet and then come get them. Bless them, they look so peaceful and gorgeous in our beds. They needed their rest, poor babies!”
Once the car was loaded, they came back in the room and gently nudged the guys until they woke up. After they were up and around for a few minutes they piled in the car for the two and a half hour ride to Loon Mountain for the Highland Games Weekend. Damian turned on the radio and the first thing on the CD player was a CD of Scottish bagpipers doing the pipers version of Heartland. Damian could help but sing along with the pipers and he smiled as the road flew by. Keith heard the music and relaxed in the back seat in the arms of Olivia and sighed, finally allowing himself to be happy for the first time in six weeks since he left Liv the last time.
He said, “You know, I missed you so much. I could not wait to get back to see you again and I am so glad Damian included me in this little adventure of his.” He leaned forward and patted Damian on the head saying, “Thanks, Damo. You are a good guy, ya know?”
“It’s what I do, Keith,” he said as Mary reached down and took his hand in hers. He pulled it to his lips and kissed it, “You are the most beautiful thing in my life right now. I missed you so much!”
Mary just smiled and said, “You’ll be happier to see me when you open the glove box and take out the surprise I have in it for you and Keith.”
He opened the box in front of him and saw the tin box inside. He opened it and smiled. “Hey Keith, she baked us treats! He held up a white iced cookie-looking thing and asked, “What is this one?”
“Eat it and, I’ll tell you,” she said innocently as she watched him take a nibble of it, then pop the whole thing in his mouth. “It is an anisette/rum cookie with icing and jimmies on it and I thought you might like them instead of the usual chocolate chip cookies and brownies.”
“Give me one of those, then, Damo. Let me try em, too!” as Keith took one and popped it in his mouth, savoring the taste of the slightly bitter and the over the top sweet as he chewed. “Alright, who made those lovely gems? They are amazing! Glad you made these for us and not for the rest of the lads-we never get any of these lovelies if they were around!” He laughed.
“It’s Olivia’s Nana Rose’s recipe-she’s Italian. I am so lucky to have her as a roommate!”
Liv said, “Half Italian the rest is Scottish. I go to these Games every year and I had to bring Mary with me. I am beyond happy you two are with us, too. This is going to be so much fun!”
As they drove onto the campground, they paid for the passes and backed the camper up to the assigned pole and hooked up all of the camper’s hoses and plugs and settled into the lawn chairs outside the trailer with the firelight in front of them and the soft sound of bagpipers wafting around the crisp fall air. They roasted hot dogs and sausages and had potato salad for dinner and anisette cookies for dessert and relaxed to watch the fire in the arms of those they loved. Damian was beyond happy with his lot in life right at that moment. He smiled and said, “Mary O’Connor, I am so in love with you it scares me. You are smart, funny, and beautiful and I want you to spend Christmas with me and my family when we go back in the third week of December. I want my family to meet you.”
All she could do was smile and say, “I love you too and I want you to meet my mum and dad when we are back in Ireland for Christmas, too. I reckon it could be a good holiday for us this year, you think?” as he kissed her temple and smiled in her hair.
“Keith, I would love it if you could meet my family for the holidays. What do you think? Would you spend the last half of the holidays here in Boston with me and come to First Night with me?” Olivia asked him batting her green eyes at his softly.
“I will be back to you by the 27th and then we can stay the rest of the holidays with your family, I promise,” he said kissing her on the lips and sighing as she smiled in his kiss.
They went in the camper and the guys had the bottom bunk (Full sized bed) and the girls had the upper bunk (Full sized bed) and they went to sleep. The guys practically fell into bed and went right to sleep or, so the girls thought. Liv said, “I can’t help it, Mare. I think I am in love with Keith. I have never felt to cared for by any one in my life. Should I be this happy about a man I have only seen twice in my life?” Keith was smiling to himself thinking the same things in silence.
Mary smiled and leaned against the pillows. “Damian told me he loved me right before he left last time. He signs every one of his letters ‘With love always in all ways, Damian’ when he finishes them. I know he loves me. I am so in love with him. He is the most amazing man I have ever known!”
“So what are you planning for tomorrow? Does he know you signed up to do the rolling pin throw? I hope you do well. Second place won’t be bad for you.” Liv said, smiling. “I have won for the last two years in a row.”
“I think I can beat you, Liv. Wanna bet? A fiver says I beat you.”
“Agreed. We will see tomorrow, won’t we?”
Underneath their bed, the boys made the same bet and smiled in silence. Tomorrow was going to be one heck of a day!
When the sun rose, the bagpipes began tuning up all over the campground. The smell of bacon wafted through the sir and wok the boys from their sleep. They got showered and dressed and came out of the camper in hats and sunglasses to a full breakfast waiting for them on the table outside. Pancakes and bacon with maple syrup and orange juice.
“Good morning, Damian! Good morning, Keith! How was your first night? Have some breakfast and we can get going with today.” Mary said, barely keeping her enthusiasm down. She was ready to go and throw the rolling pin and she had a secret-she had been practicing with a marble pin so she had her throwing muscles all ready for a nice lighter, wooden one.
They dug into the pancakes and while Keith opted for only butter, Damian put butter on each of the three pancakes and drowned them all in maple syrup and ate everything on his plate and then, tried to mooch the last piece of bacon off the platter, only to be stopped by Mary who said, “There is a fee for the last piece of bacon, you know.” He grabbed her by the front of her jacket and pulled her in for a kiss on the mouth and said, “Is that enough of a finder’s fee for you, love?” and then he took the slice and split it with her, eating his half before she could recover from his maple sugar kiss.
They went to the Games. They wandered around the stalls and looked at all of the Celtic jewelry and the kilts and Mary found a stall that made Irish kilts. She was drawn to it because it had the Celtic Thunder kilt models proudly displayed on dummies in front of its entrance. She smiled and nodded her head while Damian was shaking his-he was not a fan of the kilts so much but, he indulged her to see what she was thinking. She went into the dressing room with a kilt and a really pretty dress and came out in the kilt first which made him laugh since she had pared it with a Guinness tee shirt of her own and she looked so pretty he said, “If you want it, get it, love.” But then she popped back in the changing room and came out a few minutes later in the cobalt blue number she went in with and took his breath away. It was a corset bodice and a flowey dress to the floor and she said, “Well, what do you think?” He nodded since he was speechless and, she said, “I’ll take the pair of em, Sir.”
They went and watched the pipers file in the field for review and then the announcement for the Rolling Pin Toss came across the Public Address. She said, “I have to go and check in with the official. Wish me luck?” She smiled at him softly and he kissed her shoulder and said, “You will do great. Now, go check in and bring me your Blue Ribbon!”
Mary and Olivia competed with 23 other women in the toss and after three rounds for distance, Mary won by five inches-50 feet to 49 feet seven inches. It was amazing and both were shocked when Mary won the contest! After Mary took the Blue Ribbon and Olivia took the Red second place ribbon, they went back to the campsite with all of their purchases and ribbons to their campsite and put their things away.
Liv gave Mary the five dollars she won in their bet and Keith gave Damian the tenner they had bet on the contest. Then they went out to the stalls again and looked at the stuff there. Mary was looking at a Celtic love knot pendant and smiled saying, “Oh it’s pretty but, it is so not me.”
Damian smiled, “Why is it ‘not for you’? I think it would be very pretty on your neck.”
“Yeah, but have I reason to wear such a thing? It is a Celtic Lover’s Knot. I know I love you and you love me but….” she trailed off looking at him in a sidelong glance.
He kissed her on the cheek. “Hey why don’t you go over to the Celtic food tent while I buy this pin for me mum and I will be along in a moment.” When she had left his sight, he motioned for the clerk to put the necklace up on his bill as well and once he had purchased it, pocketed it and took the bag the clerk gave him with the pin in it. He planned on doing something romantic on Sunday night before they left the girls for the trip to Foxborough to meet up with the Revolution management for his program photograph and interview.
They were getting some Irish Breakfast Tea and some Irish pasties for the camper when Keith and Liv came up. “What’s the craic, Damo?” Keith asked as he stole a strawberry from the mountainous strawberry shortcake Mary and Damian had gotten to share before heading off to get ready for the formal dinner in the main tent. “Oh boy that is so good! I think I have to have some more of that!” He tried to take another strawberry but Mary said, “Now, unless you want me to blow your cover and call your whole name out for all the world to hear, you best be going and getting your own! Damian and I are heading back to camp to get ready for the banquet thing at the main tent. Hurry along now and you can walk up with us!”
Mary and Damian headed back to the camp site leaving a shocked Keith and Olivia who said, “Well, I guess she told you now, didn’t she?” as she went and got them their own shortcake to share on the walk back to camp. He was still in a bit of shock at her spurt of temper at his attempt at being playful. “Well, are you coming, sweetheart? She has a point, you know. We have to get back and get dressed for tonight and dinner. Let’s go!” as she tugged on his arm and pulled him along back to the campsite.
“Is she really mad at me or, was she trying to wind me up?”
“Oh I think it was a bit of both, Keith. She really wanted to have some fun with Damian and you horned in on her fun. She is not that mad at you, love. Just don’t bug her too much tonight and I bet she forgives you before bedtime!”
They got back to the campsite and found Damian sitting out on the lawn chair with a quarter of his shortcake left and smiling. “She wants you in the camper, Liv. Something about her hair needing a French braid in it. Tell her it won’t matter she’s beautiful no matter what it looks like.” To Keith he said, “We get to finish the plates off and then we get to go in and get ready for this big ol’ party. I hope we don’t get swarmed by a lot of fans tonight. No hats or sunglasses allowed at this party, I’m afraid.”
“Mate, I think we are lucky, then. A Scottish bagpipe/rock band Prydein is playing tonight so, we are not the focus of anyone’s radar.” The girls came out of the camper, Olivia was in a purple knee length dress with a plaid sash of the Armstrong clan over her shoulder with the clan pin glinting off the setting sun and Mary in her floor length cobalt blue dress with her auburn tresses half up half down from an intricate French braid. The guys were standing there in awe until Mary cleared her throat and said, “When you pick your jaws up from the ground, go inside and get changed into your suits and let’s get to dinner, alright?”
Keith came up and kissed Liv on the cheek and said, “You look so beautiful tonight, love.” as he went to get changed.
Damian walked by Mary and said in her ear, “You are gonna be the belle of the ball, love.” as he kissed her neck and popped in the camper.
‘Whoo-boy’ she thought to herself. “To think, six weeks ago I was wondering if I was going to ever find someone to love me for me and-presto-in walks Damian McGinty and now, I am beyond happy. How ‘bout you, Liv? What do you think of Keith? Is he as sweet as Damo is to me to you?”
“Well, now he knows exactly how you feel since the camper windows are open.” Olivia said, making Mary blush crimson red. “To answer your question, I know I feel the happiest I have ever felt when I am with Keith Harkin. He is just amazing to me and I want to be in his life for as ling as he will let me be.”
Hearing these two women saying all these things about them made them happy as well. Damian whispered, “I am in love with Mary. I know this in my heart, Keith. How do you feel about Liv? Do you love her?” When Keith nodded, Damian said, “There we are, then. Can you come back with me at the end of May to be in Boston for the girls’ graduations? I promised Mary I would be here for hers. Aw, now, you have to come with me and see your Olivia get her degree, too.”
“OK, I’m with you, mate!”
They walked out of the camper and walked hand in hand to the tent with their ladies. At dinner, conversation was light and happy and about when Damian was coming back for his games and what would happen when he went back to Ireland for the appearances for Celtic Thunder. He promised he would be back by the 19th to spend the last two days of her semester with her before she flew back to Ireland with him for the Christmas holidays. She could come with him on a few public appearances he had to make for the band and see what he did for a living. They held hands almost the whole dinner and then, after dinner, they danced all around the floor, their arms wrapped around each other the whole night.
Keith talked to Olivia the whole evening about what her major was (Computer Graphics) and whether she would like to come to Ireland to visit him at some point in his own home town. They danced around all night long and talked about his family and friends and childhood memories. It was a very romantic night all the way around for all four of them.
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Post by GalwayGirl on Apr 18, 2011 23:45:41 GMT -5
This story is great!!!!!! I can't wait to read more!!! Update soon!!!!!!!
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Post by celticbear on Apr 19, 2011 23:56:05 GMT -5
I agree with GG7! This Story is GREAT! Keith/Olivia,Damo/Mary are perfect for each other! I just hope if they do get caught that Sharon and Phil are not to hard on Damo! Love at the start how secretive Damo was about the whole soccer thing and Keith and Ryan playing Sherlock Holmes/Dr.Watson/Scooby/Shaggy to figure out what he was doing! UPDATE SOON! PLEASE!
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Post by angelenia100 on Apr 20, 2011 13:16:41 GMT -5
Keep going!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by celticthunder1510 on Apr 20, 2011 22:41:41 GMT -5
Chapter 12
The next day, the four of them went back to the Games for one last go round to the shops and exhibits before packing up the campsite and getting ready to leave for the trip back to Boston so the guys could go to Damian’s Photo and Interview session in Foxborough for the soccer team.
The drive back to Boston College was full of laughter and of song. The undertone of the whole ride back was one of bittersweet though as the feelings had intensified between Mary and Damian and between Olivia and Keith to the point that they did not want to part when they had to. Olivia found this really sweet song by this 80s Australian band called Icehouse titled Heartbreak Kid and she put it on Keith’s Ipod so he could have something to listen to remind him of her and how she loved him.
Mary pulled the camper into the rental place and left it there and then drove the four miles back to the Boston College campus in a daze. Damian was sitting right next to her and she was silently crying her eyes out because she was going to miss him terribly when he left this time. Damian was very sad about having to leave because he wanted to spend every minute with her-he had fallen deeply in love and found it hard not to think of her in every song he sang onstage with or without his bandmates. Damian looked over to her and, on seeing her crying in silence, he took her hand in his and said, “You know I love you, right?” When she nodded, he continued, “I have something for you and, before you say ‘no’ or anything like that, know I would not have gotten this for you if I did not love you very much and wanted you to have something to touch to remember me by until I see you again at Christmas.” He gave her the box with the Celtic Love Knot in it and kissed her hands as she took it from him and cried bittersweet tears into his shirt.
“I will wear this every day until I see you again!” she sobbed into his shoulder. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I love you so much!” He tenderly kissed her tears away and said, “I will be counting down the days till I see you in L.A. again in six weeks. I will be thinking of you every day.”
He got into the rental car driver’s side and gently beeped the horn for Keith who climbed into the passenger side and said, “Are you OK to drive?” as he watched the girls walk into their dorm, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, heads bowed. Damian nodded and forced himself to drive off campus and headed down the highway to the Revolution’s team offices in Foxborough.
When they got there, Damian went to the media room and changed into his uniform for the individual player photographs in both the home and Away team uniforms and then answered all questions asked of him for the team program. By the end of the afternoon, he had team pictures to autograph and an early copy of the mock up for the program to take with him back to the guys in the band. Keith said, “Now, we have proof you got what you said you were doing done and no one will know the truth except George and Emmet and they won’t tell, they promised.”
They flew out to St. Louis the next morning and rejoined the band. Sharon and Phil were very proud of Damian and his article in the program which discussed his singing and his love of soccer. The guys all patted him on the back for the article and ribbed him for the shots of him with the soccer ball in his home and away uniforms. It was all in good fun, though so, he let it slide. Mary’s birthday was on Halloween so, he sent her a dozen long stemmed roses and a card which said: ‘All my love is for you. Damian’ on it. She wrote him back a long letter telling him all about where she was when the flowers arrived and how happy she was to get them. She hung them upside down and dried them in her dorm room so she took a picture and sent that to him as well. The care packages also kept coming but there was always a separate package in there for Keith and Damo to share with their own cookies and letters and little things like doodles, bookmarks, and pictures of their life in Boston. The guys never showed the others this stuff because they got enough ribbing from them on tour so, give them more to pick at them for by gushing about the girls?
The six weeks flew by so fast. Mary and Olivia finished their finals and immediately jumped online to look for airline tickets to head out to L.A. Damian gave them open ended tickets to head out so they were looking for availability and times and found two seats on the last flight out on December 20th. They were rushing around so fast that they forgot to call the guys and let them know they were coming. They made the flight with only minutes to spare and then took off. Mary, finally allowing herself to relax, suddenly sat bolt upright and said, “Oh, my gosh! Damian!”
“What about him?” Olivia said, sleepily stretching and cracking an eye open.
“Well, unless you called the guys to let them know we were coming tonight, they sort of um, don’t know we are.”
“Simple solution. Call him and tell him we are in the air, silly.”
“Yeah, I can call him.” She dialed his number and it went to voicemail. She looked at her watch-8:30 pm in L.A. They had a show that night so, of course, voicemail. “Hey, Damian, Liv and I are on the plane heading to L.A.X. If there is a way for you to come get us, we will be there in about three hours. Can’t wait to see you. I love you very much.”
At 11:00 pm the guys got back to their hotel. Damian went to his cell phone and saw it had two messages on it. Damian heard the message from Mary and, while he was waiting for the next message to come up, grabbed his car keys and Keith and ran for the door. Keith asked, “What the-? Oh, the girls are coming, right?” quick nod, “Tonight? Holy cow! Are they here now?” another quick nod. “What are you waiting for?” Keith took the car keys and jumped in the driver’s side while Damian dove in the other door. “Let’s go!”
They got to the airport and were waiting there for the girls to get off the plane. Liv and Mary got to the Baggage Claim and grabbed their bags. They made their way to the gates and wondered if the guys had gotten their messages to come and get them. Damian’s second message from his cell was from Liv who said, “Damo, if you can come and get us, could you bring Keith with you? I miss him so much. Miss you too but, come on. Please bring him with you. Please? Kthanksbye!”
Liv and Mary went to the gates and saw the guys looking at the arrivals listings for flights from Boston. Mary snuck up on Damian and slid her hands over his eyes and said, “Did you miss me?” softly in his ear.
He turned around and hugged her tight, kissing her face and saying, “Gosh, it’s great to see you again. And, yeah, you’ve been missed lots!”
Keith and Liv stored the luggage in the trunk of their rental hopped in the car, Damian and Mary in the back and Keith and Liv in the front. They drove back to the hotel and got the girls settled in their suite and then went back to their room and crashed for the night.
The next morning, the four met up in the hotel lobby and got caught up on their lives from September. They had to still be careful because no one knew that Keith and Damian had really snuck away to see them for the Highland Games. They met up with the rest of the band and went to breakfast happily chatting away. George and Emmet pulled the girls aside and George said, “Hey, there. We were the only ones who were in on where Keith and Damo went off to in September. The rest of the crew has no clue so, watch it around Ryan and Neil, OK? They will take the Mickey out of your guys if they ever found out about it.”
“You think Damian can Tweet? Ryan has become a champion in Twitter-land, so watch what you say round him.” Emmet said in a soft voice.
Ryan came up behind them and, looping his arms around their waists asked, “So, how is college going for you two lovely ladies?”
Neil said, “Bet you had some good craic getting through finals, huh?”
Mary sat next to Damian and said, “Well, I had four finals and heck Week was full of nothing but coffee and cramming for the exams. I think I barely got any sleep the last four days. How was it for you, Liv?”
“Well, I know the last two days, I did not get any sleep and I lived on coffee and chocolates to keep the energy high enough to make it.” Olivia said as she sat next to Keith.
They ordered pancakes and bacon and laughed as the guys did the same things to their pancakes as they did when they were with them the last time. Damian said, “So, when do you get your grades from those exams, Mary. How long till you know what you got?”
“Have to wait till Saturday and then we will have our grades. They will get posted online so we will know pretty soon.”
Keith said, “So, Liv, did you go anywhere fun while you were in college? Have any adventures?”
Damian kicked Keith under the table and shook his head. Liv smiled and said, “Yeah. We competed in a graphic arts contest with 25 other classmates and we won! We earned $10,000 each toward our education so it was awesome. We have been entered into a contest to win $100,000 each toward our college and we are only one of 10 teams in the contest, now. We also entered a couple of other things on our own against each other and she won some and I won some and we had a good time but, we missed you not being there to share in our craic.” Liv hugged Keith’s shoulders and said in his ear, “Missing you there was hard but, now, we are here and can have new craic, right? Leave it alone, please.”
Ryan asked, “What kind of things do you do to compete? Neil and I throw darts for beer once a week and so far he owes me a couple of pints of Guinness for his losing.”
“Tonight, I will pay up Ryan, I promise! We’ll go out, the lot of us and we will settle up.”
Keith said, “OK, we’ll go out for a late dinner after the show tonight and we can play darts with the girls. Who knows, maybe they are better at them than you are.” with a sly wink and a smile at the girls.
George said, “Um, OK, then. Why don’t you lads take the girls and go sightseeing or something and we can head to the venue and do the sound checks. We can meet up for lunch, what do you think?”
Damian and Mary sighed in relief. ‘Thank goodness for George!’ “Um, Damian, can we go to the Chinese Theater and look at the footprints? It’s something I kind of want to do while I am here in California. Come on, now.” She took his hand and lead him out of the dining room with Keith and Olivia following behind.
Once they were in the lobby, Keith went out to hail a taxi for them and Damian said, “Holy goodness! That was close. Keith almost let the cat out of the bag.” He Gibbs-slapped Keith. “What are you playing at? You were so close to getting us in trouble deep, man!”
“I just wanted to see you sweat a bit, Damo. You were playing so cool-just having a bit of fun with ya, is all.”
“Let’s just go and have a great day and then you guys can have a great concert tonight, OK? And, Keith-no more giving us all heart attacks for fun, alright? Honestly!” Olivia said with a small smile on her face to which Mary and Damian looked hard at her and then smiled small smiles to match hers.
They went out to the Chinese Theater and tried to fit the foot and hand prints of the celebrities and went to a lot of the touristy places to get tee shirts and post cards and be well, tourists for a change and had a great time. They made it back to the hotel for lunch at 2:00 pm and took a table all to themselves so they could look at the loot they got that day and catch up on the six weeks they were apart so they could-ahem-get their stories straight for the rest of the band and not mess up-especially in front of Ryan and Neil. The girls got a look at Damian’s Revolution program and saw his interview where he mentioned he had a girlfriend named Mary which made her blush and hug him. Olivia said, “Nice, Damian. You are so sweet.” which made Damian blush, too. Keith mussed up his hair and said, “Aw, Damo, you are a sweet guy, huh?”
After lunch, they went back to the rooms to rest up for the show that night and watch some TV in Damian and Keith’s room. They all piled on Damian’s bed and turned on the TV to watch the Revolution’s match against the Denver team and Damian was paying particular attention to the way they passed the ball and the position of the defense. The first game on the Revolution’s field was going to be against Denver and he was taking notes so he could learn their plays. Mary was just watching the way he wrote and thinking about how much he tried to learn and know about something he was passionate about.
When the game was over, they went down to the restaurant for dinner with the rest of the band. She pulled Damian into a cozy corner of the room and said, “Let’s play a game. Pick a letter and say something-the first thing you think of. The last letter of what you say is the letter I will use to make the first word I can think of and so on, OK?”
Damian picked the letter, “H-for honest.”
Mary, “T, right? Ok, how about True.”
Damian, “E? Um, Excellent.”
Mary, taking his hand said, “T? Talented.”
Damian, “Darling.”
Mary, “Grin.”
“Neck.” “Kiss.” and she kissed him on the lips. He forgot what letter they were on and settled his face in her hands and kissed her again.
“Happy?” When he nodded, she said, “I love you.” She reached into her pocket and brought out a box. She gave it to him and said, “I would love it if you would wear this for me and know that I love you very much.”
He opened the box and saw a necklace with her college ring on a chain inside it. She took it out and put it on his neck and he said, “I love it. I’ll wear it tonight when I sing.”
Keith and Olivia noticed this exchange and Keith said, “They are serious, huh?”
Liv said, “They text each other for at least an hour every night and several times each day. They talk all the time. Know a lot about each other. Yeah, I would say they are very much in love.”
Keith took Liv’s hand and said, “I want that kind of love, don’t you?” as he kissed her, taking her breath away. “I don’t want anyone else but you in my life. He took his Claddaugh ring off and gave it to her. “Will you wear my ring and know that, when we are apart, I am with you in your heart always. I love you.”
She put it on her index finger on her right hand and hugged him tightly saying, “I am so in love with you, Keith Harkin!”
Before anything else could be said, George came in the room and clapped his hands saying, “Alright, everyone, let’s gear up and head to the venue. Last show people! After this, we can all go home or, in Damo’s case, to play footy! Let’s move!”
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2011 9:59:51 GMT -5
loving this please update
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Post by celticthunder1510 on Apr 22, 2011 10:44:44 GMT -5
Chapter 13
The last show was the best they had done. At least, according to Phil it was. Damian was relieved it was over for the year and he was looking forward to playing soccer but, since this was the last night of the tour, he was going to the party with the rest of the band and crew to say good bye for the year and made plans to meet up again the following March to set the tour schedule for the next year and to plan meetings for it up till it started.
Damian was dancing with Mary in his arms to a Journey song and he was singing it in her ear when he was tapped on the shoulder by Ryan, who cut in on the dance. As he wound Mary around on the floor, he spoke to her in his low Irish accent, “Damian really is in love with you. Just don’t go breaking his heart now, OK, love? He is the happiest I have ever seen him.”
Mary smiled and said, “Oh, I plan on making him happier if I can, Ryan. Don’t you worry bout that.” When the dance was over, she went to Damian and took his hand, leading him out of the room to the balcony overlooking the city. Damian asked, “Now, what was that all about?”
“Oh, he was worried about your happiness, is all. I told him I want you happy, too. Oh and I told him I loved you.”
Damian kissed her temple and smiled, “That’s good because I want to be with you for always.” He got down on one knee. “Would you do me the honor of marrying me?” He had a ring in his hand and he was looking up at her face, waiting for an answer.
She sighed and said, softly, “Can I tell you something?” He nodded slowly. “When I first heard your voice, I fell in love with how soft and sweet it was. When we went to the Highland Games, I fell deeper in love with you because you are the most amazing man. Now, you want to marry me. My dreams have come true, do you know that?” Again, he nodded, slowly. “Of course, I will marry you.”
Damian was waiting for her to say yes and when she didn’t say it, he was on that knee of his and wondering if he had blown it. His breath caught in his throat and it got all dry like he couldn’t swallow. He was in a bit of shock so, when she tapped him on the shoulder, he looked up at her, startled. “Wh- what?”
She laughed and said, “I told you yes, my love. Now, where’s the ring, Damian? I want to put it on and be your fiancee.” He was still on that knee as she took the box and put the cushion-cut diamond on her ring finger. She walked over to the lantern on the balcony to see it catch the light and looked over to see if he had moved at all. When he hadn’t, she walked back over to him and got down on her knees with him and looked him in the eye. “Um, Damian. Come on. I am right in front of you and I am your fiancee. Are you in there?”
She shook him gently and sort of snapped him out of it. “You-you said yes, did you? Did you say yes?” When she nodded and showed him her finger with his ring on it, he got up off the ground and help Mary up to her feet. He shouted and picked her up, spinning her around in a circle, kissing her lips and holding her tight.
When the guys heard him shout, “She said yes!”, they came running out to the balcony and saw him whirling her around in a circle in the light and kissing her. Ryan asked, “Damo? What are you on about? You OK, lad?”
Neil, “Damian? What’s the story?”
George, “Damo? Come on, lad. What happened?”
Mary laughed and said, “He asked me to marry him and I said Yes!” as he finally put her down and was laughing with her. The looks on the seven faces in the room when she said that made him laugh harder.
Complete shock played on all their faces. All except Keith and Olivia’s because they went with Damian that morning and helped him pick out the ring Mary was now wearing. Of course, Damian had promised he was going to ask her in Ireland before Christmas but, the best laid plans… Keith said, “Nice job, Lad! Way to shut everyone up at one time. Thought you were gonna wait for the ‘perfect’ time to do this, though. Although, I don’t think you could find anyone better for you than Mary.” as he came up and patted him on the shoulder and kissed Mary on the cheek. Olivia smiled and hugged Mary around the shoulders and kissed Damian on the cheek, smiling.
Neil said, “Um, Damian? One question? When’s the wedding?” to which, all heads swung to him and eight hands Gibbs-slapped him in the back of the head.
“I just got engaged, Neil! Damian and I are not ready to throw a date out there, yet! And, no, I am not ready to have kids yet so, get that thought out of your heads right now!” As the room visibly relaxed, she said, “We are only engaged tonight. We just want to be happy for tonight. We’ll set a date and then, we will let you ALL know, OK?”
Sharon said, “Well, that’s more than enough excitement for the end of the tour, now. Do you think we can have dinner with no more bombshells dropped, huh?” She called room service and ordered dinner for the group of them and sat on the bed and waited for the food to come in silence with the rest of the guys. Damian could not wipe the smile off his face and neither could Mary. Liv finally could not take the silence any more and grabbed Keith, heading for the door. They were in the elevator when she turned to him and asked, “Did you know he was planning to do this tonight?”
He shook his head. “Then what made him think THIS was the perfect time to ask her to marry him.” The elevator opened and they headed for the hotel news stand. She scanned the magazine rack and finally came up with about five bridal magazines and brought them to the register. The clerk took one look at her customer and then looked at Keith and screamed, “Keith? Keith Harkin? YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED?!” as Olivia threw down the 30 bucks to pay for the magazines and ran for the elevator dragging a shocked Keith in her wake. She was laughing so hard, she was shaking as she pushed the button for the 10th floor and her room. The elevator door opened and she pulled Keith into her room and, after placing the bag on the table, turned to Keith and said, “Imagine her thinking you and me were getting married! Us?! I mean, can you imagine?” as the tears from her laughter slid down her face.
Keith smiled and said with a shaky breath, “Yeah, I can imagine it. Damian was supposed to wait till he had gotten back to Ireland with her but, the best laid plans, eh? I was hoping I was gonna beat him to the proposal part but….”
“Yeah, well, he is sort of young, huh? Well,” and then it hit her, “Do you want to get married? To me?” with a dry throat she looked at him with wide eyes. He nodded and smiled sleepily holding a box that looked like the ring box Damian had given Mary. She sighed as she went to Keith and held him in her arms while he kissed her and put the ring on her finger. She said, “OK, we can be engaged but, no wedding yet, alright? We have to plan Mary and Damo’s first.”
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Post by GalwayGirl on Apr 22, 2011 11:27:29 GMT -5
That was a great update! I loved how the guys proposed! I see two great CT weddings in the future! Update soon!!!!!!
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Post by celticthunder1510 on Apr 22, 2011 13:12:33 GMT -5
Well stay tuned. This is getting good! I finished it already but, there are some moments in this that are the serious CRAIC if you get my drift!
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Post by celticbear on Apr 22, 2011 19:31:46 GMT -5
These last two Updates where Wonderful! SO HAPPY BOTH KEITH AND DAMO PROPOSED TO THIER GIRLS! LOVED THE NEWS STANDS CLERK REACTION TO LIV PICKING OUT THE BRIDAL MAGAZINES! PRICELESS! UPDATE SOON! PLEASE!
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Post by celticthunder1510 on Apr 22, 2011 19:44:39 GMT -5
Well, here is the next update....
Chapter 14
That night passed, thankfully by but, the next morning, the entire lobby was filled to the brim with news crews and cameras every where. Neil went down to the lobby to get a copy of the L.A. Times for the plane trip home and saw all the commotion. The clerk from the night before was talking to a reporter and saying, “…his girlfriend was buying bridal books. It is kind of hard NOT to put two and two together and come up with Keith Harkin is getting married.”
He ran to the elevator and jammed the 10th floor button. The doors has barely opened and he was running for Olivia and Mary’s room door. BANG! BANG! BANG! “Mary, Liv? Open up, please? It’s Neil! Hurry up!”
Mary and Olivia appeared at the door in robes and slippers. He sailed through their door and said, “This is bad, ladies. Very bad!” He was searching the room for their remote. When he found it he said, “Look what’s going on downstairs!”
They heard the whole juicy bit of gossip and just stared at the TV in shock. The door was being banged on again. Liv went to the door and saw Ryan, George and Emmet standing there with the same nervous look on their faces that Neil had.
George, “You just saw it then? What was that boy thinking? Liv, you aren’t marrying him, are you?”
“Not yet, George. Not yet.”
“What does that mean?’
“Well-”
Mary, “Did he?’
Olivia, “Yeah.”
“And?”
“He did and I will.”
Both of them screamed and drew puzzled looks from the guys in their room. They hugged each other tight and giggled.
Ryan sat there on the couch and looked like he was in deep thought. Then, as the rest of them were still puzzled he reached out and grabbed both of the girls’ hands and gasped as he knew what they were talking about. “You are both engaged, aren’t you?”
The rest of the guys turned and looked at the girls who looked pretty sheepish in their fuzzy robes. Just then, there was a frantic knocking at the door. Mary opened it and Keith and Damian practically fell into the room. “What happened to the people out there? They swarmed me asking me weird questions about my wedding day? What’s going on?”
“Do you remember that clerk at the news stand last night? She went to the press and told them WE were getting married.”
“Oh?” then it hit him. “OH! Why? Oh, yeah. You bought bridal magazines…. She thought they were for US, huh?”
Ryan was laughing so hard, his sides hurt. “Imagine the scoop of the century if they only knew who those magazines were REALLY for!”
Damian smiled at Olivia and said, “Look, I know you were only trying to help Mary and me out but, now we have the gossip story of the year and it happens to be US. Wait till Sharon and Phil catch wind of this one….”
Neil nodded. “Whoo-boy. When that happens, we are all gonna get it.” George said, “We have to go to them and tell them this was all one huge misunderstanding and make them believe us over the gossip and the papparazzi. Better call their room and ask them to come here so we can tell em in person.”
Emmet said, “Look, I can just go and get them now. The press really isn’t looking for me and, I think I can fake a bit of an American accent if I have to, OK?” as he went for the door.
He opened the door and Sharon and Phil were just about to knock on it to get someone to open it. They walked in and Sharon asked, “OK, ladies and gentlemen, what is the big thing downstairs? Tried to get breakfast and the whole place is buzzing with Keith and a mystery woman getting married?!” Keith looked at the two of them and grew red in the face, radiating from his ears to his cheeks in two seconds. “Well, it started out like this…” By the time he finished the whole story, he said, “So you see, this is all a bit of a misunderstanding and we are really sorry, Sharon, Phil. It was so not supposed to happen this way, we swear it!”
Damian said, “The gossipers got it half right, though. Mary and I are engaged and, so are Keith and Olivia but, we are not ready to get married quite yet. That isn’t happening for a little while yet.”
“At least until after our graduation from Boston College, we promise you.” Mary said, looking at Damian who nodded. “We couldn’t run off if that’s what you were thinking. My mum would kill me if I did that to her!”
“Mine would flip out if I ran off and eloped. I am her only child and she wants to give me a wedding. No, we are waiting till at least after graduation, Sharon. I promise you and Phil that much.” Olivia said looking at Keith who nodded asking, “Any ideas on how to get out of this?”
Damian laughed. “Well, you and Liv did this to yourself. But, now we are all in the soup with you so, we all have to get you out of here. Liv, you were going back to Boston to see your family till Christmas, right?” When she nodded, he continued, “Keith, you should go with her to see her family and let them know you are only engaged and not married. But, I want you to come to my match tonight against the Galaxy. Um, disguises to get you two to the Friends Box at the Coliseum and then you have to get on the plane tomorrow and head out with the rest of the guys. Mary is staying here and traveling with the team so we will head out to Chicago to the match with the Fire and then home in three days. We have the last flight to Dublin on Christmas Eve out of Boston.”
Sharon said, “Disguises, check. Anyone got a hat and sunglasses here?” Mary nodded and said, “We can do one better, Sharon.” She took Keith to the bathroom and shut the door.
“Sit still. Don’t move.”
“Aw, Mary, do I have to do THIS?”
“Do you want to go to the game today or not?”
“But, this looks silly! Isn’t there another way?”
Mary said, “All set. Keith, come on out and show them what I did to you?” As she came out, she was proud of her efforts. “Keith come on out or, should I send Liv in there to drag you out?”
“I’ll come out but, if I hear one laugh, this all comes off, you got me?”
Keith came out wearing a pink tee shirt and a pair of sweatpants with his hair French braided and sunglasses on. The laughter was so loud he said, “That’s IT! I am not doing this, Mary. You can’t make me. What happens if I am recognized in THIS?”
Damian said, “Just one question, Mary, love. Will his hair be as curly as mine when it comes out of that braid thing?” as his laughter filled the room, earning him a glare from Keith.
Mary said, “I so did not hear any of you with an idea and I think this will work brilliantly.” She looked Keith up and down. “Liv? You think this’ll work, right?”
Liv looked at her boyfriend and said, “I am NOT holding your hand on the way to the car, Keith.”
He lost his patience. “Take this out of my hair now! I can’t smile-it hurts my eyes.”
Ryan said, “Honey, do you need me to fetch your bags?” as he wiped the tears of laughter out of his eyes.
George gallantly said, “Well, he needs someone to hold his hand as he walks out to the bus. Guess I am man enough to do this.” He grabbed Keith’s hand and said, “Ready when you are, crew. Let’s get this over with so Keith can be a man again-he makes an ugly woman!”
Sharon went and got the elevator. The guys all went up to the 12th floor to get their stuff from the room. Mary went with Damian to get Keith’s bags and bring them to the bus. Once all of the bags were on the tour bus, Neil, George and Emmet went down to the bus in a triangle formation with Olivia in their midst. Neil said, “Keith, keep yer head down and they can’t take yer picture or talk to ya!” creating a supernova of pictures in their direction.
After five minutes or so, Emmet came off the bus, heading back into the hotel and the elevator. He went to the 10th floor and knocked on the door of Mary and Liv’s room. Mary said, “Phase One complete. Now for the real interesting part. Getting you out ‘Livvie’. This ought to be good.”
George grabbed Keith’s hand and headed for the elevator with Liv’s purse and her scarf around his face to hide his chin from the glare of the cameras as the supernova flared again as George helped him on the bus gently. Liv grabbed him as soon as he was out of the glare of the cameras and hugged him saying, “We made it!”
Damian and Mary climbed on the bus after George and Emmet and said, “I think we got away clean with that one. Way to go, love!” as he hugged Mary. “You are a mistress of disguise! Keith, you are just a hot mess-to use Liv’s speak.” drawing a smile from Liv and a glare from Keith.
“Can I take this off now?” asked Keith in a small voice. “I have a headache. I don’t know how women want to wear their hair like this-it hurts my scalp.”
Mary stood behind him and took out the elastic from his hair and loosened up his hair from the braid as he sighed happily releasing the tension from his head. Once the braid was out, he went to the back of the bus and changed into a loose blue tee shirt and came back out, tossing the pink one at Mary saying, “Thanks for the disguise. I hope I don’t need you to do that again-EVER!” as the bus erupted in nervous laughter, finally releasing the anxiety they all felt since that morning.
Damian ruffled his hair and said, “His hair isn’t all that curly. Good for him-there is only enough room for one curly haired guy in this band!”
As they drove to the Galaxy’s home field, Damian went to the back of the bus and changed into his away team uniform, shin guards and cleats. He came back out to the seating area on the bus and as they pulled into the Visitor’s Area of the parking lot, he got a bit nervous and said, “Mary can you stay with me for a bit, please? Just till I know where I have to go and stuff.”
The rest of the band was escorted to Damian’s Friend Box where they were treated to a gourmet spread of food and drinks and seating with a big screen to watch the game up close and personal. Mary stayed with Damian as he made his way through the maze of tunnels and corridors to the Visitor’s locker room and the pre-game team meeting. Mary waited outside for a half hour till the meeting was over and Damian came out with a huge grin on his face. He said, “Mary, the coach said you can stay on the sidelines with the team for this game to ‘keep my nerves down’ he said.” He took her by the hand to the field and then he ran out onto the field for his team drills. When they were finished, they went back into the locker room where they had food and drinks waiting.
An hour later, the announcer came on the system and brought out the teams. He announced the starters and Damian was one of them! She kissed him luck in the tunnel right before he ran out on the field and then when the coaches came out on the field, she ran out to the sidelines with them and took a seat on the bench to watch the game. The band cheered as Damian hit the pitch and then watched as Mary ran out with the coaches and sat on the sideline bench.
Ryan said, “Sure. SHE gets to sit in the best seat in the house!” as he laughed and settled in to watch the game.
Damian ran up and down the field as fast as his legs would carry him chasing the ball until it got passed to him. He sailed down the field and fired on the goal, bouncing his shot off the goal post, back to his waiting flip kick and scored. The Revolution bench went completely nuts and Mary was screaming, “Goal!” Mary’s cell buzzed and she answered it, “Hello?”
Liv, “Holy cow! You saw that shot!”
Ryan, “That was amazing!”
George, “Tell him we are proud of him!”
Keith, “What a goal!”
Neil said, “Wicked shot!”
Emmet, “Can’t wait to celebrate when it’s over!”
Mary said, “I can’t wait till halftime, either. In case you can’t see it, his smile is a million watts right now and he is flying all over the field!”
For the rest of the game, she texted all of the plays Damian did to the Friends box for the band and cheered as the Revolution scored two more goals and won 3-0. Damian went to the locker room, showered and changed into his street clothes before heading out to his tour bus for the last time to get his things and head for the team bus with Mary. The band all hugged him and had one last toast (ginger ale) before heading to the airport for Ireland. Mary hugged and kissed everyone in her new extended family and took Damian’s hand as they went to the Revolution’s team bus headed for the team plane and the last game in Chicago versus the Fire.
The flight was quiet as the team slept most of the way to Chicago. They got to their rooms and sacked out for the night. The next day, Damian and Mary went to the team’s practice field and ran through the team drills of passing and running the field with the ball to get into a quick routine. After practice, Damian went back to the hotel with Mary and hopped online to talk to Keith and Olivia, who were staying at her parent’s house waiting for them to stop by before they went on to Ireland.
Mary, “How was the flight to Boston? Was Keith mobbed by press?”
Damian, “Did you need another disguise, Keith?”
Keith, “Well, the press was not as nasty as it was at the hotel but it was still bad enough. Thank goodness Liv is from Boston-she hailed a cab and we escaped barely!”
Mary, “Liv knows Boston so well, she can go anywhere! Her parents live in Natick. Are you settled in OK?”
Olivia, “Yeah, Keith is in the guest room. He loves my mum’s cooking and she enjoys feeding people again-it’s nice. You know the holidays and all. My favorite time of the year! My mum is sending a huge care package to your mum’s house, Mare. All kinds of cookies and candies.”
Keith, “We’ll be watching the game on the 23rd, Damian. Can’t wait to see you play again! You were awesome yesterday. Great game.”
Damian, “Thanks, Keith. Glad to hear you are having some good craic. Seriously, I cannot wait to get to Derry and have the holidays with my family. I still need to hit the shops for Christmas shopping for them all.”
Liv, “Well, aren’t you in luck, Damian. Mary’s a power shopper and can help you get that done in record time! She plans to hit all the shops and get hers done in one day-she can help you, too. Right, Mare?”
Mary and Liv chatted for a few more minutes and then rang off. Damian ordered dinner and they settled in for a night of dinner and a movie before he went to his room and they went to sleep. The next day, the game went to a scoreless tie and the team broke up for the holiday break. Damian had a home game in Foxborough two days before Mary had to be back in college for her last semester so, they would be heading back from Ireland a bit early. They booked their flights and boarded the plane for Boston. They met Keith and Liv in Logan Airport and took some of their luggage with them to Ireland to make it easier for them to come over that next week after the holiday was past. Keith’s family was holding off on Christmas till he could get there with Olivia to meet his family.
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Post by celticbear on Apr 22, 2011 20:03:54 GMT -5
LOVED KEITH DISGUISE TO GET OUT OF THE HOTEL! GLAD SHARON AND PHIL BELIEVED THEM OVER THE PRESS! THIS STORY KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER WITH EACH POST! LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!
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