Sing To Me: A Glory Days Production

by Hissong, Theresa

  He pulled back and wiped a stray tear that had fallen down my cheek. Liana was last and she launched her tiny self, up and onto my bed. She kissed my cheek and told me how much she loved me.

  "So," Reed began. "When do we get to hear that new voice of yours?" I shrugged because I wasn't sure as to when they'd let me talk again.

  As if on cue, Dr. Starlington walked in the door and paused when he took in all of the people in the room. He didn't look the least bit star struck. "I see you have a big fan club, Ms. Montclair." I smiled and nodded. "Well, the surgery went very well. There will be some swelling for the first day or two and I'd like to keep you during that time. If all goes well, we will try your voice out tomorrow afternoon. I'm hoping you can go home Monday."

  Ash hugged me and I could only smile. The doctor turned to Ash, "Look, I'm too old to be a fan of your music, but my granddaughter is head over heels for your screaming. She'd disown me if I didn't ask for an autograph."

  "Doc, you tell your granddaughter to present herself at the back entrance to the arena tonight. She can have backstage passes and I'll have security park her center stage. It would be my pleasure to have her as our guest." I looked up at Ash with wide eyes. "It's the least I can do for what you've done for my girl."

  After a round of handshakes, the doctor left us alone. The guys cut up and laughed for about an hour. I was honestly a little bored. When I reached for the remote, Ash grabbed my hand halting me, "Angel, I wouldn't."

  I raised my brows in question. Gabe stepped forward blocking my view of the television. "Your kind of first page news," he paused. "The paparazzi have been camped out here at the hospital. Speculation behind your visit is on every news media outlet in the country."

  I reached for the pad, "What are they saying?"

  "Does it really matter?" Ash asked. I squeezed his hand and shook my head.

  After that Ash had to leave for the concert. He'd be back in about four hours. I used that time to get some much needed sleep. I wanted to be healed and out of this place as soon as possible.

  Chapter 11

  Mary

  One week later...

  Things were pretty awesome. After the concert, Glory Days decided to stay at my house for their two week vacation and knuckle down to write songs. I've been feeling at two hundred percent. Ash was also doing double duty as my vocal coach. As intimidating as I thought it would be, it didn't take long to get use to his teachings. Just like how I got use to how he rewarded me for doing a good job.

  I strived every day to do really, really well.

  We'd just worked on reading aloud, no singing this time. I was tired of singing Do, Re, Me over and over again. So, Ash picked up one of my romance books and told me to just open to a page and read it aloud. Of course it was during a sex scene. So out of spite, I read it with my sultry voice. Now and hour later, we were naked, in my bed all twisted up together.

  The band was out doing various activities elsewhere. They'd become my family over the past few weeks and I couldn't be happier. Liana was always considered my sister, but now I'd gained three big brothers and one really hot boyfriend. Many times over the past few weeks I wanted to tell him how much I loved him, but I didn't know how.

  "How's the throat?" he asked as he rubbed circles on my back. He was so distracting.

  "Peachy," I laughed. You have no idea how good it is to laugh, when you went without doing it for so long.

  "Mmmm," he hummed. "You taste like peaches, my angel." He followed that up with kisses to my back and I purred in response.

  My voice was different from before. The rasp was gone, but the sultry stayed, an aspect that Ash loved to remind me about by kissing my neck multiple times a day.

  The media circus that surrounded us had died down a little. There were still paparazzi parked out in front of my house at all hours of the day and night. Eventually, I found out why they wouldn't let me watch TV all those times in the hospital. TMZ and Entertainment Tonight had us as breaking news. They had speculated what had happened that day when Ash had found me. They said that I'd either 1) had a drug overdose, 2) tried to commit suicide, or the worst of all, 3) Ash had beaten me.

  Ash immediately called his lawyer and got some type of statement out about my health and that I was on the mend. It was all done in good taste and the media seemed to loosen up, but only by a little.

  My future was up in the air, now that I was as big a celebrity as Ash and the guys. Charles called repeatedly to get a statement or something to put in the local paper. My calls were intercepted and my texts were ignored. Eric and his security team were also living with us. Ash informed me that they all finished the laundry I'd left and he had groceries delivered. When I asked how he found someone to deliver groceries he just shrugged and said he had Liana do it. Which surprised me, because that woman did not cook, nor did she ever grocery shop. She always ordered out. The picture of her, in my mind, walking the store put me into a round of laughter.

  The garage door opened and someone was here. My three car garage was taken over by two rentals. One was a Cadillac Escalade and the other was an Audi R8. I didn't even know you could rent an Audi. Kane liked it and used the excuse that it was just easier to rent them then own them sense he was never home to enjoy it. The Escalade was for them to go back and forth to the local studio they were using to do some recording.

  The songs were coming along well and I enjoyed watching them brainstorm over how the words would be turned into music. My formal living room, that was there more for show and never used, was turned into a miniature stage. My neighbors never complained. At least if they did, I never knew, because Eric and David kept people away from the house.

  We heard the guys coming in raising hell, but soon quieted down once they realized we were not in the front room. A knock sounded on the door, Kane beat on the door, "Quit fuckin'! We gotta make some damn music!"

  I pushed him out of the bed and watched his very muscular and very sexy body as he pulled on his pants and t-shirt. Ash padded out of my room barefoot and damn, he even did barefoot sexy.

  I left them to it and made my way into the shower. Once the spray was hot, I stepped inside and let the water cascade over my head. The heat from the water felt amazing. After lathering up my hair and doing the whole wash, rinse, and repeat thing, I washed my body. I smiled when I touched my sex and it was pleasingly sore. Ash was a manic and had gotten to where he was irritable if he hadn't been inside me for more than six hours.

  Turning the water off and stepping outside, my phone rang from its place on the sink. The only thing I recognized about the phone number was that it was from a 901 area code.

  That was the area code from my home town. I knew no one from there. Who would want to talk to me from Memphis? My foster father was in jail and my foster mother had a standing restraining order against her, not that it would help, she supposedly went crazy after the attack and has been in a mental home since the night I was found.

  I let it go to voicemail, if it was that important they'd leave a message.

  I left my hair wet and ran a comb through it. It was getting late and that was the time these guys got going. They're rock stars after all. I heard Kane tapping out a rhythm on the drum set he'd insisted he needed to put in my house. I didn't care, the feel of the beat could be felt anywhere in the house and I loved it.

  Making my way out of the bedroom, I stopped in the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. These guys ate a lot and I thought maybe I could cook them something. They were, after all, guest in my home.

  Music started in the living room and I tapped out the beat to this new music they had created. In my living room! I was having a moment. Glory Days was making a record in my living room! I think I just died a little.

  My phone started ringing again and it was from the same number. I was hesitant to answer it, and just left it on the counter while I dug through cabinet for my huge spaghetti pot.

  "Aren't you going to get that," David asked me from the kitchen door
.

  Still bent down with my head deep under the counter I said, "Not a number I know, so it can go to voicemail. They've called twice in the last twenty minutes."

  David picked up the phone and went through my missed call list and pulled a pen and paper out of his coat pocket. He wrote the number down and said he'd "look into it" and left the room.

  It took an hour for the baked chicken spaghetti to be done and when I pulled out the two huge trays from the oven, it was like ringing the dinner bell.

  Kane met me by the sink and put his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side. Kissing my head he said, "Damn, girl. I didn't know you could cook. If you get tired of Ash, please come see me. I bet I could make you happier that he can." With a wink he reached over me and grabbed a piece of bread from the basket I was filling.

  "Don't bet on it," Ash said from somewhere behind me. "Go get your own girl." I frowned and walked over to him after setting down the trays on my kitchen table.

  He was still standing in the doorway, pouting. "What's wrong baby?"

  I was pulled into his side and he kissed my throat. "Mine," he growled before taking me by the back of my head and pulling my lips to his. Our tongues met and only the throat clearing behind us broke the trance we were in.

  "Yours Ash, always yours." I reassured him and slapped his ass, telling him to go eat. David and Eric came in and I told them to grab a plate. They thanked me politely. Those two had become just as much of family as the band. David was the father figure I needed in my life. I'd been alone for long enough. Only my photography to keep me somewhat grounded.

  Mark, the third security guard from the hotel, did not come with us to Phoenix. He was only part time and Gabe had him come in to help with the extra security since Liana and I were there.

  Now, this dysfunctional rock band was my family and I felt more whole, more alive.

  "Angel," Ash said, looking up at me, a frown on his face.

  Shaking my head, I went for the cabinet and pulled down a coffee cup to make some broth. I was on solid foods, but I still had times where the textures were too rough for me to swallow. Tonight was one of those nights. I grabbed some crackers and walked over to the counter leaning my hip against it while watching the six of them banter back and forth.

  Banter soon changed to work and they were trying to work out the sound for a new song Reed had written called "Hell's Gate". I liked it. It was mean and grungy, like their older stuff was. The song was a throwback to the old days when they were playing gigs all over Los Angeles.

  "I don't know if I like the intro," Gabe admitted. "Maybe make it shorter?" Kane tapped out a shorter version with his hands on my table and then shook his head.

  "Maybe start the drum beat when I sing the first word?" Ash questioned. But he turned his nose up and said, "Fuck, that won't work either."

  "If you sang the first line a cappella then had Gabe come in hard and fast," I paused when all of them turned to me and looked like damn deer in the headlights. "What?" I asked around a cracker.

  "Ash," Kane said.

  "Yeah," he replied.

  "Have I told you lately that I love her?"

  "Yeah," he smiled. "You're not the only one." They all jumped up, abandoning their plates and headed for their instruments. I finished my broth and walked over to the kitchen table. Gabe was practicing his part and Ash was telling him to try something else while I started putting away food.

  "Get your talented ass in here and hear this," Kane said from the door. I set the bowls on the counter to finish cooling and walked into my living room.

  My phone rang in my back pocket and I pulled it out to find the same phone number as before. "Fuck," I mumbled and started to put it away when I found David snatching the phone out of my hand.

  He headed for the back bedrooms where he and Eric were bunking together. I threw my hands in the air and figured he'd figure out who it was. I took a seat on the ottoman and listened.

  Ash began to sing, "Everybody stand...when the walls come down." And Gabe came in with his high pitched squeal. Kane and Reed about eight beats later.

  They played the whole song, twice. I liked it and they did too. We did this for hours. The song writing was coming along fine and because they were using a studio in Phoenix that was approved by the record label, it looked like they were here for the long haul.

  And I couldn't be happier.

  Ash

  Recording an album can be stressful and very tiring. We'd been at it for a few days now. At night, when we got back to Mary's I'd usually fall right into bed. She would be asleep, but whenever I needed to work off the stress she'd be there with open arms.

  It was well after midnight when Mary's phone rang. She rolled off my chest and reached for it. After looking at the screen she groaned and hit the button to silence it, placing it back on the night stand.

  "Who's that," I rasped.

  "Wrong number," she sighed. "Go back to sleep." I laughed and pulled her warm body back on mine. She twisted a leg around my calf and her arm flopped across my chest. Her naked breast pressed against my side. I sighed and closed my eyes. Tomorrow was a day off of song writing and practicing.

  I wanted to spend it in bed with my angel.

  .

  The sun was bright in the sky by the time I opened my eyes. Rolling over, I felt the sheets and found them cold and empty. Mary must be up already. She was an early riser and I usually found myself alone when I woke in her spacious king sized bed.

  Usually she'd be in the kitchen drinking coffee or in the sitting room off her kitchen working on her photographs. The guys and I had talked about it and decided to ask Mary to do our photo for our album cover. We wanted a picture of just us with a black background, maybe a kick ass Celtic design somewhere in the picture. I didn't really matter, because I'd seen her work and she'd do right by us.

  I pulled on a pair of jogging shorts and made my way into the kitchen, to find hot coffee in the maker. I poured mine and took a satisfying sip, then turned for the sitting area. It was empty. Frowning, I walked into the living room, then the dining room. I crept quietly toward the other rooms, peeking in just in case she was back there. I checked Kane's room first and found him alone; same with all the others.

  By the time I realized David and Mary were gone, I was in a panic. Eric was asleep as I barged into the room. "Eric! Wake the fuck up!"

  "Huh," he jumped, ready to defend himself. "What the hell, Ash?"

  "Mary?" I asked, well more like yelled. "She's gone!" I was out the door and heading back to her/our room to find my phone; Eric right behind me with his to his ear calling what I hoped to be David.

  I had her number ringing, by the time Eric had David on the phone. He held up a hand to halt me and said, "David has her. She's fine Ash, calm down."

  "Hello," Mary said into my ear. My heart sank as I heard her voice.

  "Where are you," I demanded. She left with no note, no text message. Mary didn't even wake me up to let me know anything.

  "I just left a meeting with the Diamondbacks. I've signed a contract to do their photos this season." She sounded so happy, but I needed her to be more careful. What if those vultures had gotten to her? What if they'd run her off the road? Or swarmed her when they got out of the car? David was good, but he wasn't that good alone.

  "Home," I growled. "Now!" I needed her here.

  "Ash Martin," she growled back into the phone. "I have work to do, no matter where you are in the world. I can't be there every time you wake up."

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and then pushed my hand through my hair, tugging hard on my way through the strands.

  "Just...Come...Home!"

  Mary sighed, "I'm on the way now."

  .

  It was twenty two minutes before the garage door opened and in walked Mary and David. He held up his hand in defense at my advance, "She was fine, Ash."

  "I know," was all I could say at the moment.

  Pulling her into my arms, my face buried
into her long blonde locks, I growled, "I was worried when you weren't there when I woke up." She pushed me back and I know I looked offended.

  But what surprised me was the tone and the demand in her voice when she leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "Bedroom now! Remove your clothes, on your knees and clasp your hands at the small of your back." I stood there dumbfounded for all of ten seconds.

  So, my little angel thought she was going to take control away from me. She had no clue what she was getting herself into.

  I did as I was told and went into her bedroom, removed my clothes and dropped to my knees. With my back to the door, I pulled my hands behind my back and looked at the floor.

  And waited.

  For a whole five minutes.

  Finally the door opened and she came in quietly. The lock on the door signaled that we were going to be here for a while. The lightest touch of her delicate fingers across the expanse of my shoulders caused my whole body to quake. My erection was straining, looking for its home, inside Mary, where it belonged.

  The sound of fabric hit the floor and I knew that the hot pink sundress she'd had on earlier was now off her luscious body. Her matching high heels clicked slowly on the hardwood floors as she walked around. I glanced up quickly and noticed she was wearing a matching black lace bra and thong. My heart may have just exploded. I had to squeeze my thighs to keep from coming all over myself before she even touched me.

  "You may stand, but you are not to touch me," she said in that sultry voice. I rose slowly and watched her as I did, my hands never leaving my back. She tilted her head and looked to be studying me, "Do you feel not quite in control right now Ash?"

  "Yes," I growled. "I'm hanging on by a thread." I sighed and dropped my head.

  "Eyes on me, baby. Always, eyes on me." She repeated my words back to me and my head snapped to attention.

  She turned her back and slowly (oh so damn slowly) unclasped her bra and slid it down her arms, dropping it to the floor. When she hooked her thumbs into the sides of that thong and bent at the waist only feet from me to remove them, I automatically shot forward, but she stopped me in my tracks. "Freeze!"