Too Many Rock Stars (Access All Areas #1) (6 page)

I'd never been into a flower shop before. Never bought a woman flowers. Well, except for my mum and then my sister organised it and I just chipped in. I must've looked like a real fool in there, my body filling the entire shop. I felt like I was going to knock something over or smash things to bits. The place had all kinds of little knick-knack things on shelves waiting for a guy to make a false move and knock them to the ground. It's not easy buying flowers.

That flowery smell overwhelmed me. It reminded me of my nanna's perfume when she grabbed me for a cuddle but so strong that it was like a hundred nannas. I loved my Nan but a hundred of them would scare the bejesus out of me. They'd crochet me to death or something.

"Excuse me." A woman pushed past me.

I stumbled backwards almost knocking a bucket of some spiky green things.

I got to the counter then realised I had no idea what I wanted to buy. The shop girl stared at me, not being helpful at all. In the end, I just mumbled that I wanted a bunch of roses. I had no idea what to order but chicks like roses, I guess.

The girl pursed her lips then grabbed a bunch and wrapped them up for me.

I felt like even more of a dick carrying them into the bar but that was the only way I could think of to give them to Violet. I didn't know her home address. I knew where she lived but I had no idea what the street address was. She’d just been calling out right or left. I could've got them delivered to the bar, I guess, but then I'd not get to see her face when I gave them to her.

I hoped she wouldn't be angry. It was hard to tell with Violet. In movies, women are always really happy to get flowers but I wasn't sure if Violet was like those movie women. She was a tough nut, that was for sure. Still, I had to up my game. I'd thought about it and come to the conclusion that Violet spent too much time around ratbag musos. The kind of guys who'd shag anything that moved. It was no wonder she didn't want to date them. Those kinds of guys would never appreciate her.

The words that Alex had hissed at me, rang in my ears.

“I’m going to sweep her off her feet,” he’d said. “You don’t stand a chance.”

She’d been so cold to me since I kissed her that I didn’t need more doubts creeping into my mind. Maybe Alex was right. Maybe I had no chance. But I wouldn’t give up that easily.

I’d poured my heart out to my sister over the phone. After all, I needed some womanly advice about sweeping Violet off her feet. Most women I met didn’t need sweeping. Cassie told me the way to go was to separate myself from the pack. If Violet didn’t date rockers, I had to prove I was something more than that.

“Flowers take it to another level,” Cassie had said. “Trust me on this. You need to show that you are doing this for reals, not just to win a bet or best some other guy. If you want her to know you cherish her, you need to put your thoughts into action.”

Cassie could be a bit naff but she was right about cherishing Violet. If Violet knew my intentions were serious, I could sweep her off her feet. That seemed like a smart plan.

And it really wasn't just about that competition or wanting to win her from Alex. I'd just been cruising along, thinking I'd had all the time in the world to build our relationship but the clock had started ticking.

When I walked into the bar, Carlie gave me a funny look. I cringed a little but I had to be brave. I wouldn't win Violet by being a wimp, that's for sure. That Alex had declared war.

In my entire life, I'd never backed down from anything. In the third grade, when Tommy Blacksworth challenged me to a fight and knocked two of my teeth out, I just got up and kept punching. When my dad said I was a worthless piece of shit that wouldn't amount to anything, not even a high school certificate, I buckled down and studied and, the day I graduated, I walked out of there forever.

When I wanted to learn guitar, I’d practised until I thought the strings would sever my fingertips. Every day, every night. I kept going until I got good enough to play in a band. Even when I had to work 12 hour shifts and came home wanting nothing more than to crash into bed, I’d pick up that guitar and practice.

Everything I had in life, I'd gotten by pigheaded stubbornness. I wasn't sure if Violet could be won over so easily though.

"Are they for Violet?" Carlie asked. "She's in her office."

"Is it okay to go back there?"

Carlie didn't answer. I was a bit worried. Last time I'd gone into Violet’s office, she'd thrown a boot at me. That was when Alex had appeared.

I went behind the bar and into the store room. I figured it'd be better to knock on the office door than just barge in. I didn't want to walk in if she was sleeping.

"Come in," Violet called in a weary voice. She worked far too hard. She put her heart and soul into her job, that's for sure. When I saw her like that, I just wanted to wrap her in my arms.

I walked in, ready to give her the roses and leave her to it.

"What's up?" she asked.

That's when I noticed the bunch of flowers. A huge bunch of flowers. Massive. And not just roses but all kinds, done in some fancy arrangement. She'd put them in the corner behind the sofa but they stood out, and the smell filled the dingy office worse than that flower shop had been even. No prizes for guessing where those fancy flowers came from. I looked down at the bunch in my arms, already wilting from the heat. I had no idea how to deal with flowers.

"Not much," I gulped. "Just wanting to check the roster."

She sighed. "Hell, Razer. Remember, I told you about the Internet? Learn to use it."

I nodded. This was not going nearly as well as I'd imagined it. She barely looked up at me. If she'd have looked at me, it would've been a whole lot easier.

I glanced at the flowers in the corner again, then at the bunch in my hand.

"Are those for me?" she snapped.

I shook my head. "They're for my mum. It's her birthday," I said.

"If that's all, you can leave."

I tried to think of a reason to stay, some way of making her feel better. Instead, I just felt clumsy and in the way.

On the way down the street, I saw a homeless woman sitting on the street. I handed her the flowers and a few screwed up notes from my pocket. Poor old love, she looked like she was having a hard time. At least someone would appreciate them.

I started with the flowers then I moved onto candy. Not just any candy but exquisite chocolates, imported from Switzerland in the most beautiful presentation box. Handmade.

You can't go wrong with chocolates. I knew Violet had a sweet tooth because she always had candy in her pocket. I'd had the flowers delivered but I wanted to give her the chocolate in person. I couldn't just give her any chocolate though. I'd gone to a fancy chocolatier and spent ages trying to pick the absolutely most fitting gift for her, that way I could try to convince her to take part in the competition at the same time. I needed to prove I could beat Razer and I'd do it even without her taking part but, since he'd insisted on it, I couldn't back down. Anyway, a date with Violet would make my victory all the sweeter. I don't know why she was being so stubborn about it.

She said she didn't want to be a "prize" but, whether she agreed or not, she'd still be the glittering prize in this contest. We were both competing for her, whether it was on stage or off.

I made my way to her office and peered in the door.

"Hey, Violet¸" I said, leaning against the door frame.

"What's with this? Since when has this gone from being a private office to a public place? You can't just barge in here."

But she smiled so I knew she wasn't totally angry. Well, it was more a half-smile, half-grimace, but I walked in.

I hadn't been in her office before and had no idea what to expect. It had a certain rustic charm. The kind of charm that made you wonder if the rats had moved on to better things. Her desk overflowed with papers and CDs – do bands actually send in demo CDs nowadays? That seemed a little old fashioned.

I squeezed my way in, trying not to take in too much of that smell – stale beer mixed with something dank. How did she stand working in that environment all day?

She didn't look like she was going to offer me a seat so I made my way to the sofa. When I sat down, I sank into a big hole. It was hard to be charming when you were falling down a sofa hole but I crossed my legs and smiled at her.

"I just thought I'd stop by. See how things were going with the club."

She screwed her face up into an angry frown.

"Things are going absolute shit if I'm going to be honest. Chucklehead has absolutely no idea. He wants to make money but he keeps coming up with ideas that are going to do damage in the long run."

She didn't look at me but kept on with some paperwork. That was my opening. No point being subtle, I had to dive right in.

"You know what would help things? A competition. Something like that would create a buzz, get interest up." I flashed my most dazzling grin at her but she still didn't look up.

She snorted. "You guys can have your competition. I'm just not getting involved."

She moved a pile of folders to block me from view, as if to stress her determination but I was sure I could sway her. People are easy to persuade. Everyone had that button you need to push, you just have to find it.

I glanced around, trying to spot something personal in the room that I could use to make a connection with her, but everything in her office was work-related. Except my flowers, which had been shoved into a corner to wilt and go brown. Did she not know to put them in a vase of water? I wanted to rescue them but thought that might just draw attention to their abandonment. Instead, I'd go with my best shot.

What did Violet care about? The club was the only thing but, even then, it wasn't enough to get her to agree to the competition.

"Oh, I have something for you," I said, trying to keep it casual. I leant forward, handing her the chocolates.

I turned on the dazzle again and waited for her to thank me. I thought she'd at least smile but, instead, she wrinkled her nose.

"Chocolates, aww, no thanks. I'm allergic to chocolate. Candy is fine, like this bumper bucket of butterscotches Razer gave me, but if I go anywhere near chocolate, I break out in hives. Maybe give them to Carlie and the other bar staff, they might like them."

So much of that made me wince. Razer and his common butterscotches. Giving my exquisite chocolates to the bar staff. I mean, I liked them well enough but they weren't exactly the ones I wanted to win over.

Then she ignored me while she turned her attention back to her work. I got myself out of the sofa hole with some of my dignity intact. This wasn't a defeat, it was just a setback. I just had to try harder. The challenge was on and I'd find the way to Violet's heart. Her heart wasn't made of stone and there had to be something I could do to win her over.

As I left the bar, I threw the box of rejected chocolates in a trash. Then I thought better of it and went to retrieve them.

I was too late though. Some toothless old crone had fished them out.

"Give them back. They're imported chocolates. From Switzerland."

The old lady just laughed and hugged the box to her chest. I would not lower myself to fight with an old biddy like that.

I walked away with my head held high but my heart felt heavy.

I'd seen the looks Violet gave slime ball Alex. I wasn't blind. But that didn't kill the hope in me. The hope in me was strong. She might be distracted by his pretty face and his tight leather pants but those things were temporary. That guy had something wrong going on with him, anyone could tell that. Well, anyone who wasn't distracted by his sexual charms, that's for sure.

He had the sex appeal, even I couldn't deny that, but I was playing the long game. I'd set my sights on Violet when I first met her but she was a feisty one with a whole heap of issues, and that took time. I'm not a man who likes being patient but she was worth waiting for. And, if that sleaze screwed with her, I'd be the first in line to kick his head in.

Meanwhile, we had a ton of rehearsing to do. I meant to win this competition and prove my mettle. If I waited for Violet to wear down and agree to it, we’d not have enough rehearsal time. We had to start now so we could spring into action as soon as she said yes. This would be one sweet victory. But there was no victory without the music.

I'd already started planning my date with Violet. I'd have one shot and it had to hit the target. No mucking around with the small stuff. I'd give her the best of everything, if I had to break the bank to do it. Sure, she hadn't actually agreed to the date part of the competition yet but that was only a matter of time. It wasn't like I assumed it meant sex or even fooling around. It meant that I'd have a few hours of uninterrupted Violet time. Time where she'd just focussed on me. Give me that and I'd try my damnedest to make it the best time she'd ever have.

Still, I needed to clear my mind of that while we warmed up.

Bill, our bass player had come in late. Domestic problems again. It gave me a chance to talk to Dazza about drumming for Alex.

It might seem stupid to some, that I'd offered my drummer to him. After all, he was my rival, but good drummers are hard to find. If we had this competition, I wanted to win it fair and square, I didn't want anyone saying it was because Alex was new in town and had trouble putting a band together. I could be the bigger man.

The other side to it was that Dazza had no work outside the band. He was struggling, that's for sure. He didn't have it in him to hold down a regular job. All he could do was drum. If he played with Alex as well, that'd help him out.

Dazza seemed keen when I asked him, which was a relief because I'd thought he might get his back up over it. Drummers can be temperamental bitches sometimes even when you're trying to help them.

"Hell no, it's fantastic. It's not like I've got anything else to do with my time. A few extra gigs a month and I might be able to afford something fancy to eat. Like that cup ramen with the three different flavour sachets instead of just one."

"Dream big, my man, dream big."

Dazza grinned and went back to setting up his drum kit. We were ready to start when Bill rocked in.

"So," he asked, "what's with this? You get a date with Violet but what's in it for me and Dazza? Do we get to date her too or do we just watch?"

I'd have killed him for that "just watch" comment and all it implied but I'd been mates with Bill long enough to know that he'd squeal like a little bitch before he'd actually watch anything going on between Violet and me. Even holding hands would make him squirm.

"You get the glory, mate. The wonderful, glowing rock glory."

"I can't eat glory," said Dazza.

"Well, there'll probably be a wad of cash from the door takings too. Double for you even."

Dazza rubbed his hands together. "I'm going to buy me a meat pie. A chunky beef meat pie. Oh, that will be a great day in the life of Dazza. Protein and carbs in one tasty package."

"Mate, I'll buy you a meat pie after rehearsal if it means that much to you."

Dazza's eyes lit up. "Really? You are the best, Razer. Totally the best."

"It'll take more than a meat pie to buy me off," said Bill. "I mean, he gets meat pies, you get the girl and I get nothing."

"Groupies is what you'll get. Free flowing pussy. You'll be screwing until your dick drops off."

"Yeah, I can get behind that," Bill replied.

"Behind it, on top of it, under it..." Dazza laughed like a schoolboy.

"But no one will be getting nothing unless we start rehearsing, so less talk, more music."

I had plans, big plans. I'd pull out all the stops and get every fan – not just fans but anyone with a passing interest in our music – along to that gig. I wasn't a man that backed down from a challenge, that's for sure. I didn’t know much about all this fancy Internet stuff but who needed social media when you could just hang out with people and ask them to come to the gig. People were always happy to help out a mate.

I'd make Violet see that there was only one choice for her and that choice would be me.

"I've written a new song and we need to get working on it," I said.

"Yeah? What's it called?" Dazza asked. "We need something with hit song potential."

"Violet Eyes," I said.

Both Bill and Dazza groaned. I saw the look pass between them.

"Fuck you, idiots. This song is killer. Just listen to it."

I started playing and the two of them shut their cakeholes. When I'd been writing this song, I'd thought I'd hit on something special but you can never tell when you are working on your own. Maybe I'd just been deluding myself. I played it all the way through, and when I finished, they both stared at me, dumbstruck. Then Bill punched me on the arm.

"You big lug, I think you've done it. That is killer."

"Yeah, it's pretty darn good, Razer. That song could make us a million."

Bill picked up his bass. "Go again," he said.

Dazza nodded and got behind the drum kit. Soon, the three of us played it together and the song was every bit as good as I'd imagined.

My world glowed with potential. I just had to make it happen.