Private Message (13 page)

We walk over to my little red baby. I stop and lean my back against the door. Ben reaches forward and tucks my hair behind my ears and sighs. "I don't want to leave you."

"I don't want you to leave me either." I reply, maybe with a little hidden meaning in the backdrop. He leans in and plants a soft lush kiss on my mouth and begins to grow in intensity, opening my mouth to let him in he growls.

"If you keep this up, we will be doing it in your car."

I put my hands on his chest and he takes a small step back. "I'll talk to you later. Get home safe."

I sigh and open my car door. I roll down my window and watch his fine ass climb back onto his Ducati. Just the way his jeans tighten around his ass in the right way, makes me want to jump back on behind him. He throws his helmet on, winks at me, flicks the visor down and speeds off.

When I get home, I have about two hours before I am due at work. Oh I don't think so! So I decide to call in a favor owed to me by Dave. I have covered his shifts for the past two years now, and I have not once asked him to cover for me. It's time, Davey boy.

I pull out my cell when I get home.

"What do you mean, you're calling me in?" He sounds stunned.

"You know all those times you called me up at the wee hours of the morning begging me to cover your shift?" I rub it in deep.

He yawns. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am serious, boy! Get your butt up, because you're working this morning." I sound like a drill sergeant.

He groans unhappily. "This better be for a good reason. You never ask me to cover you. So what's up? Spill it, girl."

"I was out a little late last night and there is no way I am going to work a full shift today… Not while I have a hot date tonight…" I can't help but tell someone.

He gasps. "No! You have a
date
date? With whom, may I ask?"

"Oh, you don't know him, so don't worry about it. It's new so I don't want to share any details with anyone right now." I try to sound sincere, but it's hard when I want to yell from the rooftops, "I'M SEEING BEN MITCHELL!"

I can hear him rustling in the background and I am pretty sure I heard something break. He mumbles a "fucking shit" under his breath, which catches me off guard, because Dave doesn't typically swear. What's his deal? Oh, right probably rushing to get ready for his new shift, suck it up. "All right girl. Take care of yourself I hear he has a reputation… and you better tell me all the juicy details on our next shift together." He sounds borderline protective, curious and pissed off.
Whatever
.

"I will. Now get to work and I am off to bed." I announce and hang up.

I strip off my clothes and climb into bed. I fall asleep pretty fast. I wake up in in the late afternoon, to find a text from Ben:

Ben:
I hope the reason you're not answering your phone, is because you're asleep. And dreaming of me
;)

There's that damn winky face again. He's playful. This is good.

Tess:
I was asleep and had very pleasant dreams, almost didn't want to wake up.

Ben:
Well baby soon it won't be a dream.

Tess:
So sure of yourself aren't ya?

I have to tease him a little bit, keep him on his toes. Make him work for it a little bit, even though I can't resist him and I won't resist for much longer.

Ben:
Yes I am. Anyways, I will come pick you up for the show at seven.

Tess:
Seven sounds great, gives me time to shower and get ready.

I decide make him suffer a little.

Ben:
You're killing me. Slowly.

Tess:
Isn't the anticipation, what makes it that much better?

Ben:
I wouldn't know.

Tess:
Oh that's right, you've always had women more than willing to sleep with you. No challenge.

Ben:
I'm not going to lie, because that is true. The anticipation is only going to make the inevitable that much better.

Oh, thank god he isn't here, because that anticipation would have been out the window by now!

Tess:
Alright Casanova, I am off to get ready, and make sure my camera's battery is charged and SD card is empty.

Ben:
See you at seven Tess.

I am all weak-kneed. Just from a few texts back and forth. Could I be any more juvenile?

I decide to throw hot pink streaks into my hair, put on plum eye shadow, and add black liner, mascara and a light pink glossy lip. For my outfit, I go with my black leather shorts and black tights underneath, a deep royal blue low neck tank top and a thin black scarf. For my shoes, I am bustin' out the big guns: my black patent leather Mary-Jane stiletto pumps.

At exactly seven, there's a knock on my door.

I creak open the door and give him a shy smile.

"You're killing me, Tess, look at you," he says. "You're stunning. I'll be fighting guys off of you all night."

I feel my face flush and my stomach turn as Ben holds a single red rose. "This is for you. It's not much, but a woman on the corner was selling them and I couldn't pass it up."

I smile and take the rose, and add it to the bouquet of peonies that he had given me.

"Shall we?" he asks, holding out his elbow to escort me out of the apartment. On the way through, I grab my bag and my little black faux leather coat with silver studs on the shoulders. Here goes everything.

Here goes my heart.

To my surprise, Ben has left his beloved bike at home and has picked me up in a car.

"Nice car," I tell him.

Obviously proud of his blacked-out vintage car, he begins, "It's a…"

I cut him off. "… nineteen-sixty-nine Pontiac GTO." I step away from Ben to take a walk around the machine and continue. "Top option, three hundred and seventy horsepower. Ram Air IV. Impressive."

Stunned, Ben takes a moment. "Uh, yeah. You…know cars?"

I make a slow walk back around the car to his side, trying not to fall in these heels. Right now, I am looking pretty badass in his eyes. "Yep."

"How?" He opens the passenger side door for me.

"James."

"Any other secret talents I should know about?"

"I'll let you know."

As we approach the backstage entrance at the arena, Ben places my dream "Press" laminate around my neck. It's funny how amazing you can feel while holding a piece of plastic tethered to a string, but for me it's a dream come true. "Ready?" he asks.

"More than you know." I reply, and in my head I add:
On more levels than one…

People rush all around us. Some people are arguing, and others are running with sound equipment. I also see a lot of scantily clothed girls in here. Huh, so they are back here too? I am used to seeing them in the crowd flashing the bands, but I guess back here they have a better chance of scoring. One big-breasted brunette is actually wearing a bandanna as a top, and she approaches us.

"Beennnn," she drags out. "It's been too long, hunny, why haven't you called me?" She doesn't even acknowledge me on his arm.
Skank
.

"Uh, yeah…hi." Ben says, sounding a little shaken and grabbing for the back of his neck. I know he's been with other women—hell, a lot of other women—but I don't want to see it flaunted in my face. And this, this is what he went for? Wow, I feel a little more out of his league now.

Bandanna Skank traces her index finger down the center of his chest. "Come find me after the show." She smacks her lips, turns and leaves.

Ben looks down at me. "I am so sorry. I didn't think about running into any of my pasts here."

"It's fine, Ben. I know you've slept with other women." I am
not
that childish.

He leans down and kisses the top on my head. "Thank you for understanding. Most other women would have snapped and took off. I knew there was something different about you. You seem more mature than your actual age. By the way, how old are you? I never thought to ask."

"Twenty-two." I answer. "And yourself, Mr. Bond?"

"Mr. Bond? That's a new one. Twenty-five."

We approach a middle-aged man with headphones and mic holding a clipboard. Ben introduces himself, "Ben Mitchell, with
Tones
magazine. I am here to interview the band."

My jaw drops. Oh. My. God. I am going to meet Maroon 5?
Somebody pinch me, this can't be real.
And as if he can read my mind, Ben pinches my ass.

"Watch it, Bond." I snip, with a smile.

Mr. Clipboard breaks our stare. "Mr. Mitchell, the band will see you now. You have fifteen minutes." Ben nods and walks through the door, holding my hand.

The members of the band are sitting on leather sofas. A couple of them have a beer in their hands; they just look like they are relaxing before the big show. Their manager greets us as we walk in, and introduces us to the guys. Yeah, I feel like a schoolgirl...

Ben greets them with the traditional man hug, obviously having met and hung out before with them, and then he introduces me.

The lead singer approaches me. "Hey, I'm Adam." And he extends his hand. Trembling, I take it, and instead of shaking it, he kisses it.

"All right. Enough, dude," Ben says.

Adam laughs. "Sorry, I didn't mean to overstep a line. I was just being polite."

"It's OK. It's nice to meet you." I find my voice.

The guys look at one another and shake their heads, "Tess, it's OK, we get that a lot. But really we are just normal guys." Adam tries to make me feel more comfortable. But, really, have you seen the man? There is nothing normal about him.

"All right, wankers, I am here to do my job, so let me ask you a few questions, and we will be out of your hair. Then you can get out on stage," Ben says. "But first do you guys mind if Tess takes a few photos while we interview?"

"Oh, yeah, that's cool," Adam says.

Ben nods at me.

As Ben sets up a recorder and asks his questions, I move about the circle of guys and take as many shots as I can, from single band members to the whole group. And I do a few close-ups too. Wow, this feels amazing.

I can't help but take a few shots of Ben when he's not paying attention. This isn't easy, because he keeps looking at me whenever I move. I zoom in for a sharp side profile.
Man, I love some good jaw porn…
I snap one of his hands taking down notes. I capture this look in his eye of pure contentment and passion; he must really love this job. Who wouldn't? There is nothing sexier than a man with passion for life. He catches me staring and winks. Then nods toward the band, indicating that I should be taking their photos and not his.

"All right, thanks, guys, have a great show," Ben says, finishing up with the band.

I feel a little more relaxed now so I feel like I can actually speak up, "Thank you so much, guys. Oh! Would you mind signing my CD?"

"Yeah, of course." Adam answers, and the disc and a Sharpie are passed around the room.

We exit the room, walk through the crowded backstage area, and make our way to the side of the stage.

I continue taking photos of the opening bands, all while dancing with Ben. For all the fast songs we would mold our bodies together and move to the beat. For the slow ones he just held me, kissed me softly, and swayed. It was amazing. When Maroon 5 took the stage the crowd went absolutely nuts, I was able to stick my camera out just far enough to see the crowd, but not be seen. This is freaking awesome!

After the show, as the band came off of the stage, Ben grabbed one of the crew members and asked him to take a photo of us with the band.
I can now die a happy woman.
Ben wraps his arm around my waist on my right side while Adam takes the left and drapes his arm over my shoulder. Ben glares over at him and gives him a get your arm off of her or I will break it the fuck off look. Adam sneers and lets out a loud laugh, and pulls his arm away.

Adam speaks as he walks away. "Have your boyfriend e-mail me the pics. I wanna see." He stalks off into the crowd of girls and fans. Seriously? I look up at Ben and he nods, letting me know that he'll do it.