Get Rocked? (The Next Generation #2)

by K E Osborn

  Gross Caleb!

  I chuckle to myself and walk out of the bathroom all freshened up and make my way to the after-party. I try to call Indi, but again no answer. Right now, I’m starting to feel like something is really wrong. I text her that I’m heading to the after-party and that I would love to see her as would Mum and Dad. I know they would like to see her too, but still nothing.

  I exhale as I walk into the room and up to the bar. Sitting down on a stool, I rest my elbows on the dark mahogany wood placing my head in my hands.

  How can tonight go from such an outstanding high to such a depressing low in such a small amount of time? Indi isn’t answering me and in my gut I know something isn’t right.

  “Can I get you a drink?” the barman asks.

  “Yeah, just a beer thanks.”

  I bring my phone out and place it on the bar in front of me and press the screen to activate it. Still nothing from her. My heart is pounding and I feel a little sick. What if she didn’t like my music? What if she thought this was all too hard and doesn’t want to see me again? I swipe the phone and open the text message app.

  Me: Indi, are you okay? I’m really concerned now. Please just let me know you’re okay…

  I hit send hoping that will get her to talk to me. I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong, but I have this ache in my chest and I feel like a part of me is missing. I just hope she’s okay. The bartender comes back with my drink, but I don’t even acknowledge him. I’m too busy staring at my phone waiting and willing her to talk to me. My phone beeps and my whole body sags in relief as I swipe the screen to open the message.

  Indi: Sorry, I had to leave. I’m not feeling very well. I did see some of your show. Sorry, I didn’t get to stay and chat.

  I swallow hard and furrow my brows. I hit reply.

  Me: Are you okay? What’s wrong? Do you need me to come and look after you? Bring you some painkillers or something?

  I hit send and wait for her to reply. Which she does soon after.

  Indi: No, I’m okay. You have fun at your after-party and I’ll talk to you another time.

  Is it just me or is she being really short with me? I rub the back of my neck and chew on my bottom lip.

  Me: Indi if you’re sick and need some help I really don’t mind. What’s your address? I’ll come over right now and make you some tea and something to eat.

  I hit send. I would much rather be looking after her if she’s feeling unwell than be here at an after-party without her. My phone beeps.

  Indi: Honestly Caleb, I’m fine. I’m just heading to bed and I want you to experience and have fun at your first after-party. I promise we can talk tomorrow, but for now I need my bed. Have fun, okay?

  I scoff and shake my head.

  Have fun? Yeah right!

  How am I supposed to enjoy myself knowing she’s sick and won’t let me help her? Tonight sucks!

  Me: Okay, but I am here if you need me. Just call or message and I’ll come right over. I promise. xo

  I hit send and finally look up from my phone and take a much-needed sip of my beer. My phone beeps again.

  Indi: Thank you. You sang well tonight. Have fun :)

  I huff and then smile, even though I’m majorly bummed that she isn’t here with me, I’m still extremely chuffed that she complimented me. I’m glad she liked my singing. I just hope she was here for ‘Saving Grace.’

  Then it hits me.

  Maybe she heard ‘Saving Grace’ and it was too much for her? That’s what made her leave. The song basically states how much I still love her and it probably scared her half to death.

  I’m such a fucking idiot!

  I slap my forehead and shake my head. I should’ve known this would happen. Indi is flighty and she does tend to take off when things get serious. The song just reminded her of why she didn’t want to be around me. I’m going to need to point out to her why she does need to be around me. I need to show her all the good things that could come of us, or our friendship at least. I can’t lose her again!

  Feeling someone sit beside me, I look up and notice a brunette. I fake a smile and she smiles right back.

  I’m so not in the mood for this!

  “Hey, I’m Sasha. Great performance,” she says.

  “Thanks, Sasha,” I reply, then turn my head away and take another sip of my beer.

  “So, you like drinking alone, do you?”

  “Tonight I do!” I don’t mean to sound as rude as it came out.

  “Right, well, I think you should have had a great time on stage tonight, so there’s no reason for you to be such a ‘Moping Mandy’.”

  I smirk at her. “A Moping Mandy, hey?”

  “Yes, that’s what you are right now. And Caleb, a talent like yours should never be wasted sitting at a bar alone and drinking terrible beer,” she says inching closer to me.

  Usually, I would start to play my little games. Normally, I’d have her in my bed within the next hour and be fucking her senseless. But tonight, I’m just not in the mood.

  “A talent like mine, eh?” I ask and she nods and winks.

  “If you know what I mean.”

  I suppress a laugh. This chick isn’t backward in coming forward that for sure.

  “I know what you mean, Sasha, but honestly I don’t think you could handle me right now.”

  “Why Caleb, I don’t know what you mean?”

  “Well, how ‘bout I make it simple then. If I were to take you home, I’d give you the best fuck of your life, then I would kick you out before you even had your clothes back on. I’d make you feel worthless and used, and then I’d feel sorry for treating you like a slut when you’re probably a really lovely woman. So let’s save the disappointment for both of us and just let me sit here at the bar drinking my terrible beer alone.”

  “Well, at least you’re honest,” she says.

  I tilt my head and raise my beer. “Honesty is the best policy."

  “I like honesty in a man, and I can see you’re obviously having a bad night. What about, I don’t know, because from the performance you just gave you should be high on life instead of this. But anyway, hopefully, one day I can cheer you up. Here’s my number, if you ever want to play the honesty game again. And in the theme of honesty, I’d also give you the best fuck of your life. Just saying.” She tilts her head and leans in so close I can feel her breath on my face. I don’t move. She’s playing a game that I can play equally as well. She brings her hand up and slides a piece of paper into my shirt pocket. I look down and then back up to her. She smirks, leans in and kisses my cheek.

  “Until I hear from you. I hope your night gets better,” she says and backs away from me. I toss down the last of my beer and stand up. She raises an eyebrow and smiles, obviously thinking I might have changed my mind.

  “It will get better now,” I say and then walk off leaving her behind at the bar. I hear her scoff, so I chuckle to myself. I know I can be a prick, but I’m in a bad mood and she came along right at the wrong time. Although messing with her did make me feel a little better. I pull out Sasha’s number and put it in my wallet. Who knows, if things stay bad with Indi then maybe Sasha will give me some relief. I walk across the room and notice Chad standing, looking, and smirking at the wall so I move across to him and chuckle scruffing his hair.

  “Got a hard on for the wall, do you?” I ask and he chuckles.

  “No, but Aston has a hard on for Annie,” he replies.

  “Ain’t that the truth? But why are you staring at the wall?”

  “Cause Annie and Aston are back there…together…alone,” he says and I smirk.

  Aston the cheeky devil!

  “I can just imagine what they’re up to,” I say and Chad laughs and then raises his eyebrows.

  “We so should go and bust them.”

  “As much as I would love to tease the fuck out of Aston and watch him squirm, I think my little cuz would be highly embarrassed. We don’t want her having one of her hissy fits, now do we?”


  “No way. Guess we just have to stare at the wall and wait for them to come up for some air.”

  “Or wait and watch them get caught,” I joke.

  Chad nods just as Aston and Annie come out from around the corner. They both look dishevelled and Chad and I both smirk at them. They look as guilty as sin and I can just imagine with all the advice I’ve given Aston over the years what they’ve been doing back there. It’s nice to have a bit of entertainment tonight seeing as it turned out so shit for me after Indi left. Aston is going to cop it big time from me when I can get him alone. Annie looks terrified and I wink at her as Aston drags her away. She knows I won’t tell Colt, but I know she can’t help wondering if I might. If anyone is rooting for Annie and Aston, it’s me because those two together are an unstoppable force, but apart, everything collapses around them.

  I spend the rest of the night sitting at a table with the band and I can’t help but notice Amber from the other backing band making eyes at Aston. She better not try and mess things up for my cousin, ‘cause she’ll have me to deal with.

  I made my way home not long after and alone I might add. I didn’t feel like fucking anyone tonight unless it was Indi, and I wouldn’t fuck her anyway. She’s a woman you make slow, gentle, love to. I’m lying in bed wishing like hell she was here with me, or even just that I was able to talk to her tonight after the concert. I hope that I’m given another shot at seeing her. I make my mind up that in the morning I will call her and see if she wants to meet up. I need to see her. We have things we have to sort out, and she can’t keep running forever…

  Can she?

  I stayed awake for most of the night, but I couldn’t get my head around the idea that Indi left because of ‘Saving Grace.’ I hope she didn’t hate it because all my emotion was immersed into that song and I wanted to show her how much she means to me. I roll over in bed and look at the clock, it shows ten-twenty a.m. and I figure it’s not too early to call Indi to see what last night was really about.

  I pick up my phone and dial her number. My heart races as always waiting for her to answer and just when I think she isn’t going to, she does.

  “Hello,” she says in her soft, angelic voice.

  “Hey, how are you feeling?”

  “I feel better, thanks. Think it was just a bad headache. How was your party?” she asks, but her voice is restrained and quiet.

  “It was okay, nothing to rave about.”

  “Oh well, at least you finally got to perform on a stage.”

  “Yeah, that was awesome. The best feeling ever.”

  She’s quiet for a moment and then she breaks the awkward silence. “Anyway I better go, I’m running late for work,” she tells me and panic sets in. I need to see her.

  “Indi, wait! Can I see you? Maybe take you out on a date?” I ask trying not to sound as desperate as I am.

  She pauses and my heart is galloping so fast that if I were in a race, I’d win. Perhaps I’m taking this too quickly?

  “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Caleb,” she says and my heart stops, then thuds heavily back to life again beating harder than it was before.

  “Why not?”

  She exhales. “Because after seeing you perform last night, maybe you’re better off being single? Being a rock star will bring heaps of women—”

  “I don’t want heaps of women, Indi. There’s only one woman I want and that’s you.”

  She pauses again.

  “Okay, how ‘bout this? If you don’t feel comfortable calling it a date, we can just catch up as friends. I feel like there’s so much that needs to be said and even more for us to catch up on. I just want to know how you’ve been and see if we can build a friendship like we once had…well, before everything went so drastically wrong for us. Give us another chance, Indi? Please?”

  She pauses again, and I can hear the blood racing through my veins, it’s pumping so loudly in my ears that it’s all I can hear.

  “Okay,” she whispers finally and my heart jumps right into my throat.

  “Okay?” I question making sure I heard her right.

  “Yes Caleb, I’ll meet up with you,” she finally says.

  I smile brightly and throw my fist into the air. I would scream out ‘yes’ but I think that might be a little inappropriate and will probably scare Indi off. So I keep my cool.

  “Okay great. When are you free?”

  “You can pick me up after work if you want? I have an early finish tonight, so you could come and get me at seven?”

  “Seven it is. Do I just come into the emergency ward?” I ask and she chuckles.

  “No, I’ll meet you in the carpark,” she replies, but she seems less quiet now. Maybe she’s as excited about this as I am?

  “Thank you.”

  “It’s just two old friends catching up, Caleb. That’s all,” she says and I purse my lips.

  “Okay, two friends, nothing more.”

  She goes quiet again. I wish I knew what she was thinking.

  “I really have to go, but I’ll see you tonight.”

  I nod even though she can’t see me. “I’m looking forward to it. And Indi?”

  “Yeah?”

  I pause wondering whether I should say this or not. “I’m glad you’re back in my life, it’s felt empty with you gone.” I hear her sniff and I can’t help but think she might be crying. “Indi? Are you okay?” I hear her sniff again.

  “I’m fine. I’ve missed you too, but I really have to go. I’ll see you later.”

  I go to speak, but she hangs up the phone. I exhale and roll on my back and smile. Indi is going to meet up with me tonight and I couldn’t be more excited if I tried!

  I race out of bed and start to plan my night with her. There’s a park and a river by her work. We could go for a walk and see where we go from there. I don’t want to plan too much in case she thinks it’s over the top. What I would love to do is something romantic, but I really don’t want to scare her away before we’ve had a chance to talk. I guess my plan is to just take her for a walk and maybe sit by on the river bank and chat. I think that’s definitely what’s needed.

  I take myself to the shower to make sure I’m all fresh and clean. I know it’s still hours away, but I’m excited. I can imagine all I’m going to be doing all day is thinking about what needs to be said and how exactly I should say it.

  I spent all day fussing about deciding what clothes to wear and how to do my hair. After changing outfits for the seventh time, I decided to keep it casual. Jeans, a black vest and my leather jacket. My hair has minimal product in it so it looks nice and clean. I don’t want to look filthy and have her thinking I need to shampoo my hair like she thought the boys from Peripheral needed. My look is simple but still hot. I know I’m sexy ‘cause I have the looks. I know Indi thinks I’m sexy. Let’s face it, what rock star doesn’t ooze sex appeal, right?

  I get in my car and make my way over to the hospital. My hands are sweating against the leather steering wheel and I feel like I’m shaking, but I know I’m not. It’s just nerves. Indi turns me into a love sick puppy and no one else has ever had the power that she has over me. That scares me because she holds all the cards and I have absolutely none to play. She will always be the one who controls our relationship in whatever direction it goes whether it be friendship or something more. She’s the one who basically rules our destiny and that scares the shit out of me. I like to be in control. I like to be the one making the big decisions. But with Indi, I don’t tend to have a choice in the matter. My heart is hers for either the taking or the breaking. It’s just up to her which one of those choices she favours.

  I pull up in the car park of the hospital and step out making my way to the back of the building. I can’t see her anywhere, so I lean up against a brick pillar and wait patiently. My nerves are unsettled and I’m even breathing quickly, so quickly it’s almost hard to get any breath in. I bring my hand up and notice that this time I am shaking a little.


  “Get a grip!” I whisper to myself and then look down at my watch. Five past seven. I nod and glance toward the sliding doors to see if she’s coming, but I don’t see her. I guess five minutes late is not that bad. I chew on my bottom lip as I watch people walking in and out of the hospital, but none of them are Indi.

  It’s now quarter past and I’m starting to wonder if something is wrong. My lip is starting to hurt a little from all the attention I’ve have been giving it with my teeth. I look over at my car and think maybe she has decided not to meet me after all. Maybe I should just walk back to my car and go home instead of looking like the lovesick fool that I am. This is ridiculous, I could have my pick of women, and here I am yearning for the attention of this one woman, the only woman I will ever care about.

  I hear running, so I turn to see Indi rushing toward me carrying her bag. She’s changed out of her nurses uniform into some tight-as-fuck black pants, that hug her in all the right places. She also has on a red jumper that’s a bit too long for my liking. I’d rather be able to see her hips, but it clings to them and drapes just below her mid-thighs. She looks smoking hot, and I feel my cock twitch in my pants while I watch her running with her head down. She’s beautiful even when frazzled. As she comes rushing out of the door, she still has her head down looking at her phone, so I step in front of her and she rams right into me without looking up.

  “Shit,” Indi says as I chuckle and grab hold of her arms before she falls over. “I’m so sorry,” she apologises looking up at me and then relaxes in my grip. “Oh phew! I thought you were some stranger that I just catapulted myself into.” The tingle shooting from her arm into my hands is making me want to giggle like a fucking school girl. She makes me feel things I never have with anyone else.