Too Many Rock Stars (Access All Areas #1) (14 page)

I rang Violet’s doorbell, not sure what to expect. She didn’t exactly live in the classiest part of town and her apartment building was a worry. I wondered when the last time a maintenance man had been around the place.

“We’re running late,” I said when she opened the door. “We have to rush.”

“Sorry, I had to make sure I was wearing something decent and do my makeup.”

She did look hot, I had to give her that, and I’d love to think she was doing it for me but I knew it wasn’t.

“It’s a radio interview, you know. No one is going to see you.”

She put her hands on her hips.

“That may be so but it’ll come across in my voice. I don’t want to sound like I’m badly dressed, you know.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic.

“The car’s waiting.” I smiled. I’d love to take her hand but I wasn’t sure she’d let me. The way she treated me made me hesitate where I’d normally be confident.

“The car?”

“I figured hiring a car would be better than getting in a dirty, smelly taxi.”

“Hell, I’d have caught the dirty, smell bus.”

“Then you’d be way too late. The bus takes forever.”

We got in the back of the car and Violet made me run through practice questions with her. She couldn’t keep still and kept biting her nails.

“What if they ask me a trick question?” she asked. “I have to be prepared for everything.”

I pulled her hand away from her mouth before she chewed those nails down to the quick.

“They won’t ask trick questions. It’s a promo interview because I booked advertising with them. Their job is to make us look good. It’ll be just a reworking of the press release. I’ll talk about myself and then they’ll throw to you for a few quick questions about Trouble. Nothing you don’t know like the back of your hand.”

She held out her hands in front of her.

“Do I know the back of my hand? I might get nervous and forget it.”

I reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight.

“I’ll be there. If you struggle or have any problems, I’ll field it. But really, you’ll be great.”

She let me hold her hand but there was something not there. The way she responded was nice, like I didn’t thrill her any more. It was nice, just nice. I wasn’t the kind of guy who wanted nice though. I had to shake her out of that but not while she was so nervous.

The receptionist at the radio station told us to wait outside the studio until we were called in.

“Have you ever been to a radio station before?” Violet asked.

“Yeah, a few times.” I didn’t say any more than that. It wasn’t something I wanted to get into.

“Ah, good. At least one of use will know what we are doing.”

I shot her a reassuring smile. We sat down and Violet pulled a CD out of her bag.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Razer’s stuff. Since he’s not doing the interview, I brought it along.”

“Violet, this is my interview. You understand that? They are interviewing me because I paid for the ads. Me. Not Razer. We aren’t here to promote him.”

She screwed up her face and put the CDs back in her bag.

“I thought we were promoting the club. But I see what you mean… “

The host of the radio show called us in and indicated our seats. When we were settled, he asked us to wait while he went back on air. I reached out for Violet’s hand but she’d taken out a bottle of water and gulped it down.

Then we were on air.

As I’d said, he went through the stuff on our press releases, both mine and the one for the club. The questions were all directed at me until he went to the next song, one of mine.

“So, Violet,” he said when we went back on air, “what can we expect when we come down to Trouble? Is it going to be trouble?”

She gave a nervous laugh then nothing. I was about to jump in when she started talking.

“There’ll be trouble alright. Rock trouble. If you can’t handle two of the best nights of rock of your life, then stay away.”

The announcer laughed and that eased into the rest of the questions. She sounded a little nervous but nothing too bad.

“So, if you want to show your support for the best in local rock, get down there. What dates again?”

Before Violet could answer, I jumped in.

“Next Saturday, that’s the only date you need to know. This is a competition and I can’t support the other guy.”

The announcer laughed and wrapped up the session.

“Thanks for coming down,” he said. “I’ll definitely be coming along. But this competition thing, it’s just a gimmick right? It’s not like there is anything serious on the line?”

I stood up.

“There is more on the line than you could possibly imagine.”

The buzz of Alex's gig had built up nicely too. We'd had a shitload of advance ticket sales and people were lining up down the stairs for door sales. Sally was working the door because I had too much else on. I mean, I had to organise the bands and then I had to watch because I had a stake in all this. And Sally was reliable, not the type to call in sick at the last moment.

"Make sure you keep a proper count of who comes in," Alex had told her. "And no one gets in without paying unless their name is on the list."

Sally rolled her eyes at him. "I have done this before, you know."

"Yeah? Well, tonight is much more important," Alex said.

I think he was nervous and his nerves made him arrogant. Well, more arrogant. But he wasn't helping his cause talking to her like that. God, he looked hot though. That was the only thing that stopped her from punching him, by the look on her face. He had on his trademark leather pants and a top in some thin fabric with a touch of spark to it. It'd have looked a bit effeminate on most men but the way the tightness emphasised his body left no doubt that he was all man.

I followed him backstage.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. We're going to blow this place away. This crowd is going to be leaving here stunned."

He pranced around the room. I decided to leave him alone and went to the bar. Carlie came to join me. She'd taken the night off so she could watch Zero.

"So, come on, who do you want to win?" she said. "You have to have a favourite."

I shrugged. The whole thought of the bet hinging on this was something I wanted to forget about. And that business about never dating the loser, I'd thought nothing of it at the time but now I had a bad feeling about that.

A guy knocked us aside to get to the bar, calling out for beers.

"Hey, watch it, mate," Carlie said. "Where's Mr Manners?"

He ignored her.

"Should I get him kicked out?" she said. "He's a jerk."

"Yeah, and have Alex bitching that we rigged things? No thanks."

Chuck approached us, smiling and rubbing his hands. It wasn't often he turned up to see the bands but the thought of all that money must've been more than he could handle. His beady little eyes gleamed.

"Do you think it's going to be a full house?" he asked. I could see him doing the calculations in his head.

"Maybe. It's getting pretty packed in here."

There were quite a few girls wearing "Team Alex" t-shirts. That had even become a thing.

When the support band stopped playing and the lights went down, a hush fell over the place. A lot of them would've seen Zero play in their warm up gigs but this was the main event. They knew that Alex would pull out all stops. This wasn't going to be just a gig, it was going to be a seduction. By rights, once he'd gotten them in the door, it didn't matter. He could put on a piss poor performance and it'd be all about the numbers but he wasn't that type.

From off stage, a screech of guitar rang out. The cheers started, like a wall of crazy anticipation. Then Alex appeared, flooded in red light like something preternatural. Cheers turned to screams, high pitched squeals, as every woman in the room imagined unwrapping the present in those skin-tight pants.

"I'd do him," Carlie said. "Well, if you don't want him."

As the full band burst into noise, I couldn't answer her. This was amazing. Chills ran down my spine just with the way he worked that guitar. Carlie gripped my arm, jumping up and down. I pulled ahead, pushing for the front. No point standing back being cool. I wanted to be part of this. Alex swelled and took up all the oxygen in the room. It was like we were breathing him in and he was becoming part of us.

For all his crazed perfectionism, he was a god up there. A leather-clad god with jet black hair, dominating the stage. Taking every single person into the palm of his hand and squeezing every drop of emotion from them.

"Holy shit," Carlie screamed.

We got buffeted by the crowd until we reached a spot near the stage, just as Alex went into that slow, tear-jerker song that got everyone right in their heart. His soulful eyes swept the crowd and I swear one girl at least fainted, then they settled on me. I held my breath wondering if he could actually see me in this crowd. For that moment, I wanted him to see me, for his eyes to be for me alone.

Something larger than life was happening up there on stage and down amongst the crowd. This was a band that was going places, much bigger places than our little club, that's for sure. Alex had star quality and he had the brains to back it up. At times, you could see that brain ticking over. The way he'd seek out someone in the crowd and let his gaze linger there a moment too long, or the way a song would build up and then he'd pull it back, keeping the crowd on edge. That edge of calculation was always going on, manipulating every thread of emotion.

Of course, most people didn't notice that, they were happy to be swept up in the game he played without thinking about it too much but, for me, the stakes were higher than most.

I spend the rest of the set in a daze, not knowing what he'd do next. He finished up, sweat drenched in a way that made every woman want to be his towel, and his eyes sparkling with a light to dazzle the world.

Carlie grabbed my hand for the last song. I knew without her saying, she didn't want this to be the last song. She didn't want it to end.

Then, finally, silence.

We walked to the bar, not saying a word. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea.

"We're never going to get a drink here, let's go downstairs."

"What the hell was that?" Carlie said. "That wasn't human."

"I know."

"I guess that settles things. You aren't even going to look at Razer after that."

I wondered. Alex was amazing. More than amazing. He'd done things to me, to my body, that no one had ever done before with just his voice, but that was him there on stage and me in the audience. That wasn't flesh and blood him, everyday him, who you'd wake up to every morning. Alex was made to perform. He became another person on stage. Is that really what I wanted?

"How was he?" Drew asked when we got downstairs.

"There are no words," Carlie replied. "He was amazing. Hey, Mark, a couple of vodkas over here if you don't mind?"

Mark got our drinks and slapped them down in front of us. "I'm going on break," he said. "You cover me."

Carlie sipped her drink then slowly got up.

"Bastard," she said. "He could've let me finish my drink. What the hell would he do if I didn’t come in here on my night off?"

I sat alone thinking about the night and this stupid competition. Alex was dazzling and we had so much in common. He definitely had the numbers. Razer would have to work like hell to beat him. If I was going to date a rocker, then Alex was the rational choice. The two of us together, we'd work. While Razer, that was just chaos waiting to happen.

I just needed to convince my heart that common sense was best.

My office door swung open and I looked up expectantly. Even though I tried to look angry, I couldn't help but smile.

Then I realised it was Chuck.

"Nice going the other night. I've made one big payment on the debt. After this weekend, the pressure will off."

I twisted my pen in my fingers.

"That's great."

Then Chuck paused. I knew there had to be something more than him just popping by to say something nice. Pretty much every time I saw Chuck lately, my stomach churned. And he wasn't making eye contact. Not a good sign. His beady eyes were firmly looking at the manky floorboards of my office – and I bet he wasn't thinking that I deserved a nice carpet in here.

"Even so, I've had an offer on the place."

I dropped my pen.

"What? You're kidding? Why are we even bothering with anything then?"

"Hey, settle. They've just made an offer. I've not said anything yet but it's a good deal. And they want to keep the place running like it is, to carry on my legacy."

I was so pleased I wasn't drinking anything when he said that because I'd have likely choked to death. His legacy? What legacy did he have besides being a douche? If the new owner carried on the douche legacy, then I'd be out of the place so fast.

I was totally convinced that, no matter what he said, if he had half a chance to sell the place, he'd jump on the cash. And I didn't trust this offer one little bit. It wasn't like this was a labour of love for Chuck. It was a labour of making money and picking up chicks.

"They say that but then they get their claws into the place and next think you know we'll be selling craft beers and the staff will have to wear dinky little uniforms and they'll rip up the manky carpet. Things change."

"Yeah, Violet, things change."

"I don't want them to."

"It might be for the best."

"It might not be."

When he left, I tried to push those thoughts to the back of my head. Maybe I could make sure Chuck had a nasty accident and he had to give me power of attorney or something. Then the club would be mine. A really nasty accident that maybe left him in a coma. That'd be sweet. He wouldn't be able to talk. He wouldn't be able to barge into my office with his talk about selling the place.

Since I’d talked to Carlie, the hold Chuck had over me had diminished. Maybe she was right, maybe it wasn’t such a terrible thing.

Of course, since I had no practical knowledge of arranging accidents or that kind of thing, it was all just a crazy dream. I'd probably get caught and have to spend time in jail which would be even worse than working for Chuck.

After I finished all the paperwork, I headed up the stairs to the band room. All the extra lighting and stuff that Alex had put in had been carted away. The room had been returned to its original condition.

Razer wouldn’t be doing any of that. He'd not stand over people, making demands. He'd just let people get on with their jobs, trusting that they'd do well. While that was more comfortable, after seeing Alex's performance, I could see why he was so exacting. You couldn't create something so spectacular without putting in the work. Maybe what Razer needed was a manager who'd do all that for him. It'd never happen if it was up to him. He'd play in this club for the next however many years. It was a waste really.

Doing things for the love of it was a noble way, that's for sure, but a bit of ambition never hurt either.

I ran my finger over the sound board. Hamish hadn't been happy over being replaced but Alex had smoothed it over with him somehow. Neither of them said anything about it but I think some hard cash had changed hands. If you were getting paid to not come to work, I guess your pride can deal with that. Hamish would never tell anyone, of course, and neither would Alex.

In the aftermath of Alex's performance, he'd been contacted by various record companies with opportunities. Lots of talk of him taking it to the next level. I guess this club had just been a stepping stone for him, a place for him to prove himself. I'm not sure why he had moved here, leaving the career he'd built with his old band. He never spoke about it but it hadn't seemed to drag him down any.

"Violet?"

I spun around and Alex stood in the middle of the room as thought I'd conjured him up with my thoughts.

He walked over to me, the strike of his boots on the wooden floor clicking loudly and echoing around the empty room.

"You don't look happy," he said. "You should be riding high on this wave of success."

He lifted my chin and smiled at me.

"I guess. It's just I'm worried. Chuck is talking about selling again."

"Would that be so bad?" he asked. "He's got no idea about the potential of this place. A new owner might be the best thing for it."

Strangely, Alex didn't assume that the buyer would want to tear the place down and redevelop it.

I shrugged. "It'd be weird. Even though Chuck's a jerk, he lets me do what I want. I've built this place into something worthwhile. I don't want things to change."

Alex leaned on the side of the sound desk and gave me a strange look.

"You might enjoy it."

I didn't want to get into his with him. "I should get back to work," I said and walked toward the door.

"Hey," he called after me. "How are ticket sales going for Saturday night?"

"Can't tell you," I called over my shoulder. "It's top secret."

Actually, the ticket sales worried me. Despite Razer being so popular, the ticket sales had been lagging way behind what they'd been for Alex. That could be because of a number of things. Alex's fans were more likely to buy tickets ahead of time than Razer's crowd. Alex did seem to have a very organised fan club, while Razer's fans were more the leave it to the last minute type. It might still mean a huge crowd for him on the night.

After the excitement of Alex’s performance, the regular band line-up was an anti-climax. There was nothing spectacular, nothing at stake. Just guys on stage thumping out some tunes. They were solid but that was all.

I sat at the bar, twirling my empty glass in my hand.

“Another drink?” asked Babs.

“Just a Coke,” I said. “Another drink and I’ll fall asleep.”

Chuck had mentioned that he might drop back in at some point in the night so I couldn't even go off for a nap.

I propped my head up on my hand and tried to watch the band but my thoughts kept going back to what Chuck had said. Should I be talking to people? Putting out feelers? I sure as hell didn’t want to start building things up somewhere else.

The band had finished their set before I even realised. I couldn’t even tell you want kind of music they’d played. It left no impression on me. I had to focus, they’d want some kind of feedback at the end of the night.

I might be able to fill the emptiness inside me with cupcakes or a burger but I didn’t think it was that kind of emptiness. Still, as soon as I could get out of the club, I’d go for a burger run.

I didn't want to think it, but I was bored. The music was boring. The bands had no presence on stage and I might not have any investment in this place any longer. Something was missing.

Across the room, I glimpsed someone who looked like Razer. I turned around to pretend I hadn’t seen him because that was the easiest thing to do but I twitched to turn back around.

Something bubbled up inside me. I could go over to him. He’d only been in a couple of times since that day in my office and when he had, we barely talked. Only polite business talk. I hadn’t thrown shoes at anyone in forever. I hadn’t yelled at anyone either. No wonder I felt so weird.

When I turned back, it wasn’t him at all. Just a trick of the lighting making someone with a similar haircut look like him.

The emptiness flooded back.

I mean, it wasn't like he had to come in every single night. Maybe he was out seeing other bands, trying to drum up more interest in his gig. Maybe he was having a quiet night at home watching a movie. Maybe he was with another girl. That struck me in the belly. I wouldn't blame him.

This competition seemed like a whole lot of bother just to get a date with me. I knew I was quite a catch but I'd not bother making that much effort to date me. Carlie, for example, she'd be a much better catch than me. She stomped around in her platform ankle boots that emphasised her long, muscular legs, but Razer and Alex didn't seem to give her a second look. She really did have a "fuck off" attitude that she used on guys but I tried to cultivate that myself and surely that would make her more of a challenge than me.

Even Gina, although her shyness was hard for me to deal with sometimes, guys loved that kind of thing. It gave them more space to talk about themselves. She sat at the bar with Jackson, the two of them barely talking but with a friendly atmosphere between them. He never got angry with her like he did with other people. They said they were just friends but I wondered if there was more going on than that. He was a lot older than her and obviously had more life experience. He had more life experience than anyone. World-weary and angry, that was Jackson. But she seemed to calm him.

I sighed and finished my drink. I had no idea why I lingered when I could be at home sleeping. It wasn't like there was anything for me to stick around for.