Pure Torture (Oblivion on Tour #3)

by Tania Sparks

  I turn to Trixie, “Aren’t you scared that Nikki will get hurt?”

  Trixie shrugs her shoulders, “Nah, he can take care of himself, besides they’re too important to each other for either of them to do any serious damage.”

  I take a few moments to consider her comments. Then I suddenly click as I shriek, “Do you think I’ll still be able to come on tour with you guys?”

  The rest of the band remain silent but Trixie steps in to try to reassure me, “I’m pretty sure it’ll be okay Kitty. It was just a massive shock for Nikki. In his heart he knows that Cody’s a real good guy, he thinks of him like a brother. He’ll get over it.”

  Trixie’s comments make me feel slightly better. And besides, if I’ve got Trixie on my side then I’m pretty sure that she’ll be able to convince Nikki that I should still be allowed on tour. I feel a bit happier but I still think that I need to justify myself to everyone. I stupidly blurt out, “Yeah, I hope so. I’ve had a crush on that guy like forever!” I cringe as soon as I say it, I sound like one of those stupid fan girls.

  Eve speaks up. She looks deadly serious. “Don’t let him fuck this up Kitty. Ash tells me that everyone’s known for years that you’ve had a crush on Cody. Don’t let him take advantage of you. Like all the Oblivion guys, he can be a bit of a man-whore.”

  The guys all protest noisily, but Eve just raises her eyebrows and they all quieten down and sit there grinning in resigned agreement. Eve continues, “Just don’t get too attached Kitty, let things run their course and see how it goes. He’s not known for sticking with one lady. Take it one day at a time.”

  I know she’s just looking out for me, but I suddenly feel deflated again. Her words echo what Cody has told me, Don’t over analyze, just see what happens, savor the moment, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!

  Eve talks again, “But Kitty, my Ash here had the same reputation before we reconnected. If it can happen for him, then maybe it can happen for Cody too. You never know, but just make sure you look after you. Don’t take any crap.” Trixie and Eve both lift their coffee cups, tapping them together in a toast as they chime, “To not taking any crap.” Then they giggle at the fact that they’ve both managed to tame two of the five man-whores that make up Oblivion.

  It gives me a smattering of hope and my self-confidence returns. I remember the fact that I know what I’m doing. I’ve gone into this with open eyes. I know what to expect and there’s no way I’m going to let Cody treat me badly. I grin and reply, “Yeah, I know, I’ve had to watch him pick up girl after girl for years, but it’s my turn now and there’s no way I’ll let him get away with any shit. I might have had a crush on him for years, but I’m not some stupid bimbo.”

  Eve seems impressed with my reaction. She nods her head, smiles warmly and replies, “Nice attitude Kitty. But remember, if the stupid prick fucks things up, he’ll have the other four band members lining up ready to bash some sense into him.”

  I smile and shrug my shoulders. I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse. I now realize what a terrible situation I’ve put Cody in. Maybe he was right in trying to avoid us hooking up. When things end between us, it makes it very awkward for him. I start to panic that maybe Cody will change his mind. I know how important the band is to him. And maybe now this altercation with Nikki will make him realize that he’s made a mistake. My heartbeat increases as I start to worry even more. I sit fretting and panicking while everyone else gets on with finishing their breakfast.

  After about fifteen minutes Nikki and Cody come ambling back in. Holy shit, they both look like hell! Cody has a black eye and a split lip and Nikki has a large purple bruise on his cheek. Both of them have ripped and bleeding knuckles. But then I realize that they’ve walked back in together and they’re not trying to kill each other. I hold my breath wondering what this all means.

  Cody smiles warmly at me but flinches and lifts his hand to his mouth when his smile makes his split lip sting. He saunters up to me and sits down right next to me. He places his arm around my shoulder and I let go of the breath I’d been holding. Nikki follows and walks up to Cody, patting him on the back but warns, “You fuck up and hurt her, I’m still gonna kill you.”

  Cody snickers jovially and whispers into my ear, “Thanks for that sweetheart. I thought Nikki might find out about us sometime, but I didn’t expect him to find out like that. You kissing me made me forget where I was for a moment. You’re very distracting.”

  I cringe and whisper back, “I’m so sorry Cody, I don’t know what got into me. I just got so excited.”

  Cody kisses me softly on my cheek and whispers back, “Don’t worry about it Kit. At least everyone knows now, we don’t have to keep it secret. Now I can touch and kiss you wherever and whenever I want.”

  And to prove his point his mouth moves to mine and he kisses me softly. I literally feel my concerns and tensions melt away. When our lips finally part, Cody says, “Besides, I’m pretty thrilled that you still get to come on tour with us. I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet.”

  “I still get to come!” I shriek excitedly.

  “Oh yes, sweetheart, you get to come, multiple times actually!”

  I turn bright red as I realize what Cody’s implying and I quickly look around the table to see if anyone else overheard Cody’s crude remark. Luckily they’ve all got on with finishing their breakfast and nobody overheard him.

  Once everyone has finally finished their breakfast we go back up to the suite and after I’ve cleaned up Cody’s bloody knuckles, we pack our bags. It’s just as well I packed for more than a couple of days, otherwise I would have never had enough clothes and stuff to continue travelling. I had sort of hoped that I would be allowed to spend a couple of weeks on tour, so all has worked out as planned.

  We fly out in a couple of hours. The guys have sound check this afternoon at a sold out show tonight. The tour is back on the road – Oblivion’s heading north and I’m going too!

  Chapter 8

  The last time I saw the guys do a sound check it was over a year ago, but it’s always fascinating. They’re all such perfectionists and boy do they know what they’re doing, their professionalism and raw talent’s mesmerizing. They’re testing every single instrument one by one and making sure that all the sound equipment is working properly. There must be at least a dozen people on stage, each of them testing various guitars then handing them off to the band who test them themselves and then pass them back to the crew. I manage to pick up little snippets of songs, but they constantly stop, perfect and move on. At the moment it doesn’t sound like anything, but I know from experience that they’ll get this part right first and then they’ll go on to do a few full songs.

  There are people testing the lighting and various bursts of color flash on and off. The large screens on either side of the stage are tested with various images flickering across them. Sound guys are checking microphones as they test each piece of equipment by talking into them, “check, one, two, check, check, one, two, check.”

  I’m sitting cross-legged on the floor, right in the place where the mosh pit would be. I’m about five yards away from the front of the stage, just observing them in transfixed amazement. I take out my camera and take a few snap shots. I want to be able to capture this moment, seeing Oblivion in action is definitely hypnotic.

  Cody’s sitting behind his drum set looking as hot as always. He yells out to the others, “Okay boys, that’s all sounding good so let’s test this drum thingamajig. How ’bout we start with ‘X-rated’, from the top.” The rest of the crew all shuffle off the stage and the Oblivion guys all take their usual places. The roadies swap out the instruments so that the right ones are being used for the song. Oblivion is truly a well-oiled machine and the band and their crew work together seamlessly. Everyone has a job to do, everyone knows their job really well and they are all the best in their field of expertise and are passionate about making the show the best it can possibly be.

  Cody pulls off his T-shi
rt and throws it to the ground. He smirks and winks at me knowingly as I slowly run my eyes unashamedly over his inked torso. I give him a pathetic thumbs-up. I instantly realize how tragic that gesture is so I blow him a sexy kiss to make up for my geeky first reaction. Cody grins and shakes his head with a smirk. He knows how flustered he makes me and he loves every second!

  The crew go silent and their constant chatter quietens. The Oblivion guys are all muttering a few words to each other and are simply standing around looking very relaxed. It doesn’t look like they’re going to start any time soon. Then I notice Cody holding his sticks over his head. He bangs them rhythmically while at the same time he yells at the top of his voice, “One, two, one, two, three, four.” The sound of drums and guitars explode around the stadium as they all burst into a hard and heavy beat. I can literally feel the sound vibrate through my body as the music completely encapsulates me. Scott screeches into his microphone and starts to wail about sexy as hell X-rated strippers.

  I immediately jump to my feet and start jumping around excitedly. They’re absolutely incredible! I forgot how really, really good they are. The music is energizing and the adrenaline is rushing through me. Holy crap, and this is just the sound check! If Oblivion can generate this much energy and excitement and we don’t even have the lights out, the pyrotechnics blasting, the stage lighting flashing and the crowd screaming, tonight’s show is going to be absolutely epic. I can’t wait.

  As they progress through the song I notice that Cody’s drum set is slowly rising up on some sort of hydraulics. It’s being elevated until it’s a couple of yards in the air, then the whole drum contraption starts to move towards the front of the stage. Cody’s smile is from ear to ear and he’s thrashing about wildly. His muscled arms are whipping around and his legs are moving animatedly as he stamps rhythmically on his foot pedals and his whole body is bouncing enthusiastically.

  With the drums being thrust to the front of the stage, it’ll bring him right up to the crowd and he’ll be the center of attention of twenty-thousand screaming fans. He’ll be in his absolute element and it suits him perfectly! He thrives on the attention and he deserves every second of it.

  The guitars all quieten down, Scott’s vocals pause and Cody explodes into a wicked drum solo. He is talent personified and although I’m trying really hard not to be a total fan-girl, and I probably look pathetic standing here dancing all by myself, I simply can’t help myself. I scream my support and I’m almost tempted to lift my top and flash him to show my enthusiasm!

  At the end of the solo he stands up and takes a series of bows to the imaginary twenty-thousand crowd. He holds his drumsticks above his head and yells, “Yeah, that’s how you fuckin’ do it!” The guitars all instantly burst back into action and Scott’s raspy vocals resume. Cody sits back down, grinning elatedly as he continues to pound out the beat as the drum set slowly retreats to its original position.

  When the song ends Oblivion quickly transition into the next song. After a couple more trials and tests they call an end to the sound check, agreeing that everything is set up and ready for tonight’s show. As they walk off the stage, they all high five each other, happy that it went well.

  I meet them around the back of the stage. I stroll up to Cody and nudge him in the ribs playfully, “That was awesome drummer boy!”

  Cody places his arm over my shoulder and sexily rumbles, “Why thanks honey.”

  I tuck myself into his side and we make our way outside to the waiting limo that takes us back to the hotel. We’ll be back to the stadium in a few hours for tonight’s show.

  ~~~

  Once we get back to the hotel suite we all sit around and chat. The television gets turned on and a basketball game plays in the background. Everyone grabs themselves a beer and we relax and rest, making the most of the downtime before what’s going to be an epic show to a sold out stadium tonight.

  After a couple of hours we make our way to our own rooms to get ready for the evening. After half an hour we accumulate back into the lounge area and decide to order in some room service for dinner. We’re sitting around discussing what we’d like to order, most of the guys want the usual assortment of burgers, fries or other greasy offerings. Cody’s still in his room getting ready and everyone knows that Cody likes to eat healthily so Scott yells out, “Hey Sticks, what d’ya want us to order for you?”

  Cody yells back from his bedroom, “Hold on a sec, I’m just about ready, I’ll have a look at the menu.”

  Suddenly Scott bursts into hysterics. He’s laughing so much he can barely contain himself. We follow his line of sight to see what’s amused him so much. Cody is confidently strolling into the room. He’s wearing a crazy as hell outfit. He has black ripped jeans, which admittedly are fairly standard attire, but he has matched it with a T-shirt that looks like it’s been shredded to pieces. It’s completely disintegrated and it’s hanging in threads. He’s also wearing what looks like his whole collection of jewelry – three eyebrow rings, a lip ring, chains with pendants around his neck, a series of wrist bands and some rings on his fingers. He has black stripes painted on his cheeks and although his mohawk is still bright red, the rest of his hair is bright blue.

  Scott screeches, “What the fuck man? Why the hell are you wearing that?”

  Cody shrugs his shoulders, not caring what others think. With a cheeky smirk on his face he confidently and loudly states, “Why am I wearing this?…”

  The guys all reply in unison, barely able to control their laughter as they exasperatedly ask, “Yeah why?”

  Cody grins and raises his arms out to his side, “Because I’m a fucking rock star that’s why!”

  Everyone collapses into fits of laughter. But Cody doesn’t give a damn, he loves the attention and always strives to be different. I’m guessing everyone’s reaction was just what he was looking for. After a couple of slide-splitting minutes we all gradually stop laughing and resign to the fact that Cody will wear what the hell he pleases. Besides his crazy outfit sort of suits his personality – wild, spontaneous and definitely not ordinary!

  Cody places his order for grilled salmon. Pretty soon our food is delivered and we all cheerfully chat while we eat our food. Once we’ve finished eating, we make our way down in the elevator and jump into the limo that’s waiting to take us to the stadium.

  The guys are pumped. Everyone’s excited about tonight’s show. After having a few days off they’re all keen to get back on stage and do what they love. The talk is loud and excited, the music on the stereo is blasting. Cody’s tapping away with his drumsticks as usual, hitting both his legs and occasionally Ash’s head, which pisses Ash off, but makes everyone else laugh.

  As we pull into the venue it’s already packed. There are people waiting around everywhere. They see the limo pull up and erupt into cheers. The limo darts around the side of the building as we drive to the secured back area. We jump out of the limo and quickly make our way inside through the back entrance passing by a burly security guard. We’re escorted through the corridors until we reach a room with the name ‘Oblivion Dressing Room’ taped to the door. The opening act is already well underway and we can hear the thumping of their music and the enthusiastic crowd enjoying the show. They sound really good, I wonder who they are?

  We walk into the dressing room and I’m surprised by how many people are already in here partying. All eyes snap to Oblivion as they make their grand entrance. Cheers erupt and excited chatter ricochets around the room. The guys obviously love the response and they thrive on being in the spotlight. Instantly we’re surrounded by people vying for their attention. Me, Eve and Trixie sneak away from the crowd and make our way to the other side of the room where it’s a little less chaotic. I recognize a few of the people as being the roadies that were at this afternoon’s sound check, but the majority of the people I’ve never seen before. Most of them are very scantily clad groupies that are draping themselves all over the guys. Although I knew what to expect, seeing these skanks
schmoozing all over Cody is making me feel sick to my stomach. I don’t know where to look. I want to see what Cody’s getting up to, but at the same time I don’t want to see. Of course I’ve seen this all before, and I know the attention is something that they can’t avoid, but I had sort of hoped that I’d be the one draping myself all over him tonight. Anyhow, I knew what the guys all get up to when they’re on tour. In fact this is nothing new, it’s not a surprise to me by any means. It’s just that I didn’t think it would bother me as much as it does.

  After only a few minutes Ash comes over and whisks Eve away to a secluded corner and Trixie wanders off and starts talking to some rocker looking guy that I don’t recognize. So I just stand at the drinks table, all by myself feeling very awkward and out of place. One of the roadies I recognize comes sauntering over to me. He looks like he’s already had one or two too many. I hope he’s not responsible for any of the sound or lighting at tonight’s show because he looks way too wasted to work. He picks up another drink from the table and mumbles drunkenly, “You just here with your brother or do you and Cody have somethin’ going on?”

  I scowl and reply, “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

  He shrugs his shoulders and nods over to where there’s a crowd of people and he mumbles, “It’s just that at sound check I got the impression that you and Cody were an item, and now he has his hands all over those blondes and that redhead. I sort of figured maybe you were up for grabs, you know, a road-whore, here for any of us.” A creepy smirk tugs at his lips, “So d’ya want to party or do you only hook up with the actual rock stars? I’d settle for a blowjob you know.”

  “What the fuck!” I screech.

  This guy is even more of a dickhead than I first thought. I straighten my back, put one hand on my hips, raise my other hand and stab my finger angrily into his chest. “Firstly, Cody can put his hands on who the damn well he pleases. Secondly, no, I’m not ‘up for grabs’ you dickhead. And thirdly, no I don’t just go for the actual rock stars. And finally, I definitely don’t go for assholes like you! You need to work on your pickup lines you moron.”