Pure Torture (Oblivion on Tour #3)

by Tania Sparks

  I stomp off as I hear him mumble something about never having a problem with his pickup lines before, stuck up bitches and plenty more fish in the sea. As I storm towards the other side of the room I can’t stop myself from glancing over to where Cody is. He’s surrounded by three or four girls, all of them with their hands on him and both of his hands all over them.

  Shit! Fuck! Darn It! I had realized that Cody and I aren’t ‘in a relationship’ but I didn’t expect him to flaunt his groupies in my face by cavorting with those tramps right in front of me.

  I guess I always knew that we were simply a hook-up. I shouldn’t be surprised that as soon as we’re back on the road he’s gone back to his usual habits. I decide to make myself scarce. I may not be able to stop him, but I don’t have to watch it. I stomp over to the door, open it, walk out into the corridor and slam it behind me.

  Shit!

  Chapter 9

  I make my way through the corridors and towards the stage. I may as well enjoy the concert and try to get my mind off what’s happening back in the dressing room. As I start to watch the show I come to the conclusion that this opening act sounds pretty cool.

  As I get close to the front I’m tapped on my shoulder by a very buff, very large security guard. “Hey Miss, you’re Nikki’s little sister right?”

  I turn around and stare up at him. He’s huge and freakishly intimidating, “Yeah, that would be me,” I reply hesitantly, wondering how the hell this monster of a man knows who I am.

  “I’m part of the Oblivion security team, my name’s Dex. But shouldn’t you be back in the dressing room?” he says sternly without an ounce of emotion showing on his stone-like face.

  I snicker and reply, “Yeah well, I didn’t want to have to look at all those hoes and skanks. I figured I’d just come out here, listen to the music and watch the show.”

  He smiles knowingly, bringing some warmth to his features. He nods his head as if he understands exactly what I mean. He lifts his hand and points towards the stage, “I can lift you up into the front, over the barrier, if you like. You can watch the show from there and I’ll keep an eye on you and make sure you keep safe.”

  What an amazing opportunity. It would be so great to be in the very front without having to push my way in through the crowd like I normally would have to. I’m thankful for the offer. I reply enthusiastically, “That would be awesome.”

  We walk to the space between the front of the stage and the crowd where a number of other security guards and a couple of cameramen are standing. I look up to the stage and the opening band is literally right there! I’m so close I can see every strum of their guitar and every expression on their faces. This is such an awesome position. Dex easily lifts me over the barrier and I wriggle into the small space amongst the people dancing, jumping and enjoying the show. He stands right in front of me and leans in to yell in my ear. “If you want to get out, just signal to me and I’ll come over and lift you out okay?”

  I nod my head in agreement, the music’s too loud for him to hear me anyway.

  He nods, turns his back and vanishes into the back stage area. I look up to the stage and the music is thumping, the lights are flashing and the show is amazing. This band is really good. I jump and dance around to their heavy sound, completely lost in the music. The guitarist steps right in front of me. Our eyes meet and he gives me a sexy wink and blows me a kiss. He’s cute. I figure that if Cody’s allowed to flirt, then there’s nothing to stop me from doing the same, so I blow him a kiss back.

  These guys are really talented musicians and I can tell they’re going to go far. They’re definitely good enough to be headlining their own show and the crowd seems to agree, every single person knows the words to their songs and are eagerly chanting along. They’re very charismatic to watch, especially the sexy guitarist who keeps looking at me with a smile on his lips and a sexy twinkle in his eyes.

  I’m really enjoying the show but all too quickly it comes to an end. I wish I’d come out earlier so I could have watched the entire show. I make a note to myself to make sure I catch the whole thing at the next venue. Hopefully these guys are travelling with Oblivion for a while.

  The band all stroll up to the front of the stage and take an appreciative bow to the crowd. The singer grasps the mic and yells out, “Thanks for coming out guys, you’ve been awesome, we’re Jaded Souls, I hope you’ve enjoyed the show.” The crowd all whistle, cheer and holler, demonstrating their support. The band shows their appreciation my holding their hands up in a metal salute then they turn to each other, high fives are traded and massive smiles cover their faces. They’ve obviously enjoyed themselves as much as the audience. They start to leave the stage, but the guitarist stays where he is, he points straight at me with a big grin on his face, his eyes twinkling mischievously. He glances over to Dex, the security guy that had helped me earlier and nods his head in my direction. Dex folds his arms stubbornly across his chest and shakes his head indicating no. The guitarist looks a bit taken aback and points at me more forcefully. Dex shakes his head again, more blatantly this time. The guitarist glowers at Dex and raises his arms in the air he growls, “What the fuck man!” I guess the sexy guitarist is not used to being told no. The next thing I know sexy guitarist has jumped down from the stage and is pulling me up and over the barrier himself. His arms are strong and if I think he looked good up on the stage, he’s absolutely stunning up close and personal.

  He turns and smirks at Dex who is still standing to the side of the stage and then refocuses his attention back on me. He purrs, “Hey there beautiful.” He puts his arm around my waist and starts strolling towards the backstage area, pulling me along with him. “What’s your name princess?”

  “Kitty,” I reply confidently as I focus my eyes on his. I’ve come across guys like him before. I’m pretty used to these cocky rock star types, so his confident mannerisms don’t faze me in the slightest. It feels a bit weird to be so agreeable to such a cocky approach, but I’m here to have some fun right? Besides, what’s good for Cody, is good for me.

  “Well hello Kitty, my name’s Jared. You want to come to a party Kitty?”

  We’ve hardly left the stage area and I haven’t had a chance to answer Jared’s question yet when Dex stands in our way, blocking our exit. Jared angrily glares at the buff security guy and growls, “What’s your problem man?”

  Dex stands his ground and growls back, “This is Nikki’s little sister.”

  Jared growls back, “Who the fuck’s Nikki?”

  Dex shakes his head, not quite believing that Jared doesn’t realize who Nikki is, “Shit man, are you stupid or what? Nikki, the rhythm guitarist of Oblivion. The band you’re opening up for.”

  Jared raises his eyebrows in mock horror and looks at me, “That true?”

  I shrug my shoulders haphazardly as I huff, “Yeah, I guess.”

  Jared looks at me and then looks back to Dex. “I think the lady can make up her own mind who she wants to party with. It’s not like I’m forcing her to do anything she doesn’t want to do.” He looks back to me, “Hey sweetheart?”

  I look back to security guy. “I’m fine Dex.”

  “You sure?” he asks, looking slightly concerned.

  “Yep,” I reply as Jared pulls me in closer to his side.

  Dex shakes his head, “Okay, your call sweetheart.” He steps out of our way and sweeps his arm across his body dramatically encouraging us to pass.

  Jared pulls me in tight against his body and we stroll along the corridor. Once we get to their dressing room, it’s just as crowded as Oblivion’s and there are just as many scantily clad skanks hanging around in here too. I wonder why Jared has plucked me out of the crowd when he has such a selection of girls ready, willing and waiting back here. As I look around it pretty quickly becomes obvious that alcohol is not the only substance being consumed in here. Some people are clearly completely out of their heads. I see a few people popping pills and I’m pretty sure a couple of guys are
doing lines of blow in the back corner. It makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. I had sort of taken for granted the clean, drug-free environment that Oblivion insist on in their own dressing room now-a-days.

  Jared guides me through the crowd and over to the bar. He grabs a couple of drinks and then settles himself down on one of the chairs and pats his lap, inviting me to sit down. I sit down on his lap and take the drink from him. This doesn’t feel quite right, but what the hell, if Cody can do what he wants, then I can too, even though this whole situation is definitely making me feel a little uneasy. But thankfully Jared doesn’t seem to be interested in the drugs and after a few minutes he lifts me from his lap and gets to his feet. The music is blasting and everyone is dancing and partying. He pulls me in close and we start to move seductively to the music. He grins mischievously then grinds his hips against mine. There’s no mistaking what he’s looking for. I start to feel guilty that maybe I’ve taken this flirting a little too far. When all's said and done, I have no intention of sleeping with him, and that’s clearly what he expects.

  I hear an announcement come over the speakers that Oblivion will be starting their show in just a few minutes. I listen attentively; I had really been looking forward to seeing them perform. Jared notices my interest and nods his head towards the door, “You want to go and watch your brother’s show?”

  “Yeah, that would be great,” I reply eagerly as I sigh a breath of relief that we get to move out of this dressing room. Not only that, but I’ve really been looking forward to seeing Oblivion perform, especially after getting a small taste of what it would be like at sound check earlier today.

  I’m not sure whether Jared realizes my relief for the distraction, but he graciously tells me, “We can go in from the side and get right up front if you like. We’ll wait until the lights all go out and then push our way in.”

  “That would be fantastic!”

  He grabs me by the hand and pulls me out of the door towards the side of the stage. He coyly apologizes for the drugs in Jaded Souls’ dressing room. He tells me that he’s not personally into them, that he prefers to stick to whisky and beer. He also knows that Oblivion are drug-free and respects their stand against drugs in their dressing room.

  We get to the side of the stage and we’re standing around waiting for the lights to be turned off. Jared stands behind me and pulls me in tight to his body, wrapping his arms around me. He nuzzles his face into my neck and places a soft kiss just below my ear then moves his lips to my collarbone and nips gently. I relax my body into his. I have to admit this feels nice, but there is nowhere near the same level of chemistry that Cody and I have together.

  It seems to be taking quite a while for Oblivion to make an appearance and the crowd is starting to get impatient. They’re stamping their feet and are loudly chanting, O-bliv-ion, O-bliv-ion, O-bliv-ion.

  Jared gently spins me around so I’m facing him and he pulls me close so I’m pressed up against him as he mumbles, “Hmm, it’s not like the Oblivion guys to be late. Perhaps we can waste a little time while we’re waiting. How ’bout a kiss princess?” He bites his lip seductively as his penetrative gaze holds me motionless. It’s rather nice that he’s asked, it’s out of character for these rockers who normally just take what they want.

  He’s rather charismatic, what the hell, it’s only a kiss, I lean up onto my tippy toes and purr, “Seeing as you asked so nicely…” Our eyes are locked on each other and our lips are just about touching. I can smell the whisky and beer on his breath.

  I vaguely hear in the background the familiar voice of Dex, the security guy. He’s calling out from further backstage where there seems to be a bit of a kafuffle going on.

  An angry sounding voice ricochets in my ears, “There she is!”

  The next thing I know I’m being ripped out of Jared’s arms as both him and I curse in unison, “What the fuck!”

  I turn around to see a very angry looking Cody scowling at me. Jared leans in and whispers in my ear, “I thought your brother was Nikki not Cody.”

  “Nikki is my brother!” I bark in Cody’s direction, “What do you want Cody?”

  Cody just stands there, not saying anything as he stumbles over his words, “I thought…I, I…what the hell Kit, you can’t just up and disappear like that!”

  “Cody, I can do what the hell I like! Besides you seemed rather pre-occupied. What do you care where I go or what I do?”

  Cody’s face turns into one of confusion as he frowns and answers, “Of course I fuckin’ care Kit. What the hell?”

  I take a step closer to him and spit, “You have a damn funny way of showing it!”

  Cody is still frowning as he sincerely asks, “What do you mean? Are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong? I don’t understand.”

  He’s completely clueless, un-fucking-believable. “You had your hands all over those skanks. What the hell was I supposed to do, sit around and watch?” I raise my voice so I’m practically yelling, “I’m not really into that Cody!”

  Cody looks even more confused as he frowns as if genuinely trying to figure out what he did wrong, “But, but…”

  Jared steps away and candidly says to me, “It was nice to spend some time with you Kitty, but I think I might just let you have some privacy to sort this out.”

  “You don’t have to go Jared,” I plead as I scowl at Cody who’s standing there, hands fisted at his sides glaring an angry hole right through Jared.

  Jared places his hand gently on my shoulder, “Yeah, yeah I do Kitty. Sorry, you’re a real nice girl and all, but the last thing I should be doing is upsetting the Oblivion guys. And this looks…umm, this looks complicated.” Jared shrugs his shoulders and gives me a chaste kiss on my cheek. He looks at Cody, nods his head and rumbles, “Cody.”

  Cody scowls and growls back, “Jared.”

  Jared then turns and walks away.

  I turn back to Cody and spit, “What’s the deal Cody?”

  “Kitty, I thought, I, I…Shit! I’m no fuckin’ good at this shit. I’ve never had to think about anyone apart from myself. I didn’t even think. It’s just a habit. I mean…those skanks mean nothing to me, the girls are nothing but…”

  He frowns in puzzlement as he realizes what he’s just said. Then he continues, this time a little bit more ashamedly, “Shit, that sounds really bad. What I meant to say is…”

  He shrugs his shoulders and searches for the right words. After a few seconds of silence he looks me straight in the eyes, shrugs his shoulders and admits, “I fucked up Kit.”

  He looks genuinely apologetic. Maybe he really was just ignorant of his actions. Then his concerned look turns into a cheeky grin. He drops down to his knees right in front of me. He flutters his eyes dramatically as he pleads, “Forgive me?”

  He’s such a jackass, I can’t help but smile. I grab his hand and unsuccessfully try to yank him up off the floor, “Get up Cody. Aren’t you supposed to be on stage?”

  “Not until you forgive me,” he smirks.

  I can hear the crowd who are still impatiently chanting in the background. I think there might be a riot if Oblivion doesn’t take to the stage soon. They’re already running late and that’s not normal for them. They really value their fans and they shouldn’t be making them wait.

  “Cody, you need to go and do your show!”

  “Forgive me.” he states stubbornly, still on his knees.

  I look over Cody’s shoulder and see the rest of the Oblivion guys striding angrily towards us. They all look very irate, especially Nikki. Scott roars at Cody, “Cody, come on man, get the fuck up, we have twenty thousand people waiting for us. Get your ass on the stage – right fucking now!”

  Cody just grins at them then looks back up to me again and shrugs his shoulders expectantly. Shit, the stubborn bastard isn’t going to move until I forgive him.

  “Okay.” I blurt. “I forgive you. Now go and do your thing Sticks.”

  Cody jumps to his feet and gives me a quick kiss on
my cheek then wraps his arm around my shoulder. He pulls me along with him as we all rush hurriedly towards the part of the stage where they’ll make their entrance. As we get closer he asks me, “Can you come and watch me from the side of the stage so I know where you are and I don’t worry about you again?”

  I roll my eyes and nod my head in agreement. It’s not that much of a sacrifice, I had wanted to watch their show anyhow. We continue walking and then he solemnly whispers, “You weren’t really gonna kiss Jared were you?”

  “I might of,” I confess.

  He sighs and mumbles a few curses under his breath.

  I continue, “You really pissed me off Cody. You were surrounded by those skanks. I know you can’t control what they do but you had your hands all over them. I’m sure you did a lot more than just kiss before you even noticed I was gone.”

  Cody abruptly pulls us to a halt and flicks me around so I’m facing him. “No Kitty, I promise I didn’t. I didn’t even kiss any of them, we just talked. Admittedly there were a few misplaced hands, but nothing intimate, I promise. In fact I’ve spent the last half hour frantically looking everywhere for you.” He sounds genuine and I don’t think he’d lie to me.

  The crowd are chanting loudly and the rest of the band are all waiting irritably for Cody so they can take to the stage. I roll my eyes again and slap him on the ass as I push him towards the stage, “Yeah, whatever. Now go on stage and do your drum thing.”

  “You’ll wait here and watch me?” He asks again.

  I nod my head, humph dramatically and roll my eyes. “Yes, I’ll wait here and watch you!”

  “And no going off with random guitarists?”

  “And no going off with random guitarists!” I reply with a chuckle.

  Cody nods his head, clearly satisfied with my response.