Rock Me Slowly (18 page)

One of the roadies bursts into the dressing room to tell us that we are due on now. Sophie quickly scoots off of my lap and stands to wait for me to get off my seat. All the other guys are quickly downing their beers and depositing their bottles into the nearest trash can.

As Mickey and the others are heading towards the dressing room door I make a grab for Sophie and give her the most passionate kiss she has ever had, I make sure of that. I’m totally consumed by Sophie’s soft lips and the feel of her tongue against mine. I convey every little emotion that I feel for her and I leave her shell shocked with the intensity of my desire for her.

I give Sophie a wink and leave the dressing room and a breathless Sophie to pull herself together before she makes her way to the stage to watch in the shadows. Well, I guess there is absolutely no doubt to how I feel about her now. All the guys are going to be aware of that fact as well. I’m feeling pretty good about this whole blossoming relationship between Sophie and I.

As we are standing by the stage door Mickey decides to stand right beside me. How did I guess this was going to happen? Is someone feeling a little hard done by or jealous? I was simply letting Mickey know that I won’t let him chase Sophie without a fight. She is mine and I can’t have Mickey tainting anything we have.

“So I guess you thought you were pretty clever back there, right?” Mickey says sardonically. It’s so damn obvious he is annoyed but that makes me feel all the more smug.

“Nothing clever about it Mickey, all I was doing was giving my girl a kiss before we hit the stage. I’m allowed to do that seeing as she is my woman.” I can see Mickey clenching his jaw and pumping his fists at his side but, like me he doesn’t want to go at it just before we are due to hit the stage. Yes, there is plenty of time for that later.

“Let me tell you something Josh, she may be your woman for now but I will get my hands on her, mark my words. What makes you think that you are so damn special?

I don’t answer his question. He flashes me the most arrogant smile known to man. Before I can contemplate further we are called on to the stage. We make our way to rock out to the crazy crowd.

Once I pull myself together after another earth shattering kiss with Josh, I contemplate what exactly is going on with Josh and Mickey. I know for a fact that there is more going on between those two than just his disapproval of our relationship. I know that Josh had a one night stand with a girl that Mickey was apparently interested in but that alone wouldn’t be enough for the two guys to fall out over, would it?

I know Mickey isn’t really interested in me and the only reason he is flirting with me is to get back at Josh, but why? There has to be something deeper going on but with neither of the guys wanting to volunteer this information it’s going to be hard to get to the bottom of it without seeming like a nosy bitch.

I smooth out my clothes so that I can at least look like I’m composed but in reality I’m anything but. The intensity of our interactions never get any less than the time before. I’m totally and utterly consumed by Josh and that thought scares me, a lot.

I walk out of the dressing room door and make my way to the stage where I will sit in the wings and enjoy the show. We are heading out again afterwards.

I stand in the wings and really get lost in the music. I have grown to love rock music over the last few weeks by just stopping what I have been doing and listening to the guys practise. They have such dedication to their craft and I’m in total awe for each and every one of them.

About halfway through the show Josh turns his head to the side and starts playing to me, only to me, and I’m blown away at the love and the reverence in his expression. The loving look doesn’t last long when Mickey catches Josh watching me but he doesn’t look angry, he looks smug as if he is planning on putting our interaction to an end. The interference in our relationship from Mickey makes me angry but it isn’t my place to come between Mickey and Josh. Surely they will work it out in the end? Won’t they?

As the song ends Mickey picks up his microphone once again but silences the guys so that he can say something to the audience. Now, as far as I’m aware there isn’t a scheduled break to chat with the audience, so what exactly is Mickey playing at?

“I want to thank you all for coming out to see us tonight. We appreciate our huge fan base here in San Diego and we hope to come back real soon. I do have an announcement to make though and I want you all to sit up and take notice cause its fucking huge!” Mickey turns around to look at me and winks an acknowledgement at me, now I really am worried. He also turns and smiles at Josh and I just know exactly what he has planned. He is going to out us in front of the crowd, the bastard knew we wanted to keep this whole thing quiet.

“Our very own lead guitarist, Josh has got himself involved with a lovely woman, so I’m afraid he is now off the market so please don’t be throwing yourselves at him anymore. You should see his lady she really is a stunner and what’s more she works with us too!” The female population of the crowd begins to boo loudly at Mickey’s announcement. They are obviously all terribly disappointed that they won’t be able to have a pop at Josh anymore. Mickey is making everyone think he is doing this out of the goodness of his heart, telling everyone to back off but in reality he is being a malicious prick.

Mickey knows exactly how the media can be when a high rising rock star is said to be dating. They hound you until they get those privacy invading photographs that will be displayed in every tabloid in the US. I won’t be able to walk down the street without them following me, it will make our relationship even harder than it already is. I wanted to keep it quiet for just a little longer. I wanted to be sure both Josh and I were going to be able make this work first. That idea has all gone to hell now that Mickey has decided to make everything ten times harder for us.

Josh is absolutely seething in the far corner of the stage. I can see he wants to knock Mickey’s teeth straight down his throat but is trying to hold it back so that he doesn’t cause an even bigger scene. We both know this little speech is going to be in tomorrow morning’s tabloids. This is huge news in the rock world especially seeing as it is Josh who is now dating. Crap!

“So without further ado let’s bring on the stunning lady to the stage so that you can all meet her. Now I will warn ya, I don’t want any booing of any sort because let me tell you she has a heart of gold. She’s gorgeous and I would totally have her myself if it wasn’t for the fact that Josh has laid claim to her.” He has got to be fucking kidding me? He wants me on the stage so that everyone is able to recognise me in the street.

Mickey is so dead!

I keep my feet planted firmly to the ground not wanting to move into the spotlight where Mickey is beckoning me. Why the hell is he doing this? What the hell have I ever done to him?

One of the roadies comes from behind me and gently takes my elbow to lead me to Mickey so that he can have his fun. Yeah some fun, I like working behind the scenes not slap bang in the middle of the action. I want to cry but I will not allow myself to. Okay, so I have just been publicly humiliated but I won’t cry, I won’t.

I walk over to Mickey with the help of the roadie and put enough distance between us as I can get away with. Just being near to Mickey right now is making my skin crawl, what a dick! It’s not as if he doesn’t know what the outcome of this is going to be, I’m going to be hounded by the press, and I know it. My life from now on isn’t going to be my own, so thanks Mickey, thanks a fucking lot!

“Well guys isn’t she something else? I have to give it to Josh he really has surpassed himself with this one. Anyway, this is Sophie and she is our new fashion stylist and I have to say she has done a pretty amazing job with our looks, don’t you think?” Mickey really doesn’t care about anyone but himself and if Josh doesn’t want to kill him then I will happily do the job myself. “Why don’t you say hi to all of our loyal fans Sophie? They take a very keen interest in the lives of the band so they will all want to get to know you too.” Mickey shoves the microphone into my hands and it’s obvious I’m not going to get out of this one.

I really don’t want to say anything to these people, fans or not. I want to keep a little bit of myself. I really don’t want these people thinking that I’m public property. Mickey bends down to my ear and whispers “come on Sophie this is what you wanted wasn’t it? You and Josh have an attraction so just give in. If You want Josh then you have to take what comes with that, don’t you?” I’m going to have to suck it up and get it over with. I swear I’m going to need a very stiff drink after this!

“Erm…Hi everyone. As Mickey says I’m Sophie and I’m the fashion stylist for the band.” Enough is enough, that is all they are getting out of me. I basically launch the microphone back at Mickey and run off towards the wings of the stage once more, where I belong and sit down on my chair. This little show that Mickey has put on doesn’t put me off Josh but it has set in stone exactly how I feel about Mickey. Mickey is an arrogant son of a bitch who thinks he can just willingly destroy lives as he sees fit. Josh was right about him from the start. I should of kept away from him and if he comes near me again I’m going to cut off his cock and shove it straight down his throat.

The show finally comes to an end and to be honest I’m glad, it seemed to last forever. I can finally relax and have a drink with the man that treats me with respect, not the way Mickey seems to think women should be treated.

I’m joined by Josh almost immediately and he starts to massage my shoulders easing all the tension away, god he is great.

“Come on babe lets go and get a drink, I think we both deserve it.” Yes let’s get the hell out of here and away from Mickey, pronto.

Josh

I’m so fucking mad right now, I can almost feel the blood wanting to burst right out of my veins. I always knew that Mickey was a fucking dickhead but he has taken it to a whole new level. He really has developed a huge dislike to what Sophie and I have together and I have to find a way to stop it for good.

I can’t believe that Mickey did that in front of a sell-out crowd. My relationship with Sophie is brand new and neither of us knows exactly how things are going to go between us. Now it’s going to be even harder with us being in the public eye. The press are going to be watching us closely to see if they can get the dirt on both our private lives and that was part of the life that I wanted to protect Sophie from.

“Babe please doesn’t keep going over Mickey’s motives in your mind. It’s not going to change anything now.” Sophie says contemplatively.

“I know Soph, but you have to realise the shit storm that could blow our way if they start to interfere in our lives. There was a reason we wanted to keep it quiet. Oh no, Mickey just broadcasts it to the whole world two weeks into the tour. I could kill him.” I sigh, is this the kind of life that I want. Any relationship that I have being torn to shreds by the hungry rats of the press. No doubt by now the news will have reached the press and they will be hounding the airport when we land in New York.

“Look we have one last night in San Diego before we fly back to New York for the next leg of the tour. Why don’t we make it a memorable night, what do you say?” Sophie has that devilish smirk back on her face and I know exactly what she is thinking.

“Why, Sophie are you planning on seducing me again? You know that is my favourite way of passing the time.”

“Well the guys are all going out tonight to the club so why don’t we head back and get the use of the bed for a change. I’m just dying to feel you inside of me again. I have a little surprise planned for you.” Sophie winks at me as she heads towards the back door of the arena. She can’t leave me hanging like that; the woman is a damn tease.

Sophie waits for me by the door with Trev, head of security. There’s no way we can even head back to the bus without the presence of Trev. There is going to be a huge crowd of fans and reporters outside and we need the protection from the resulting onslaught of the shouting. They all want their damn pound of flesh!

Trev radios to his colleagues, who are gathered outside the arena. Their job is to keep the over enthused fans behind the security gate so that they don’t get near any of the band, that now includes Sophie.

“Okay, guys Korey says that the crowd is under control out there but as you can imagine there is a larger gathering than usual. Mickey’s news has angered some of the girls so you have to stay close by me, especially you Sophie. As from now you are going to be a target and if you need to go anywhere during the rest periods of the tour you have to have one of the security team with you.” Sophie looks shocked at the reality of the situation but I completely agree with Trev. I can’t have Sophie’s safety being put at risk; her safety is of paramount importance.

“Okay.” It’s all that Sophie can say but at least she understands how important this is. Trev is here for a reason and I would rather he protected Sophie rather than me. I can handle the fame game but this is completely new to Sophie and it can be overwhelming at first.

“Right, let’s get you two back to the bus then.” Trev talks into his radio once more to make sure all is safe before we walk into the throngs of people waiting outside.

Once more the all clear is given to Trev and he throws open the double doors and we are now faced with a huge amount of screaming fans, they are also surrounded by hundreds of reporters. Trev leads the way but also stays very close to both Sophie and I. The crowds of women have gotten very malicious with the majority of them shouting bitch and whore at the top of their voices. Hearing those two very hateful words has the rage pumping throughout my body once more but Sophie links her hand with mine and I feel more at ease.

The reporter try and get in our faces. The camera flashes become more apparent as they try to get the winning shot of the new couple of rock. News travels fast; I wonder just what the price is for a clear photo of the two of us together? Sometimes I really hate the fame game, this isn’t normal.