Inked Chaos

by Grace, M. J.

  Ah well, no one could say I didn’t celebrate in style. It’s a good job I’m only forty once, as I don’t think my head could cope with another.

  My eyes spring open, and I wince at the pain. Okay, is it a memory or a dream that I have a ticket to see Inked Chaos?

  I scramble out of my bed, my eyes searching for my bag; which I finally locate under my clothes, which are scattered over the bedroom floor, where I haphazardly threw them the night before. With shaking hands, due to excitement, nerves or the DT’s or all three, I’m not quite sure, I open my bag.

  There it is. The most wonderful piece of paper known to man. My ticket to see Inked Chaos. Boy, do I love my sister. I crawl back into bed hugging my ticket to my chest, with a silly smile on my face.

  “Thank you Davy.” I whisper as once again, my eyes close and I drift off to sleep.

  *****

  Four months later…

  I can’t believe the day has finally arrived. I’m speeding down the M42 towards the Arena in Birmingham for tonight’s concert. As always, I have the windows down, and an Inked Chaos CD pounding out at full blast. With a smile on my face, I’m singing along knowing every word. Just wonderful.

  Davy didn’t lie when she said it was a girl’s weekend. We have a room booked at a nearby hotel, where I’m meeting her and Jen.

  Before she had left for home, I had given Davy my precious ticket to look after. I hadn’t wanted to take the risk that something would happen to it over the last four months. It would have been just my luck. Besides, I have a habit of putting things somewhere safe, only for them to be too safe, because I forget where I have put them, and can’t find them again. I just wasn’t prepared to take that chance with my precious ticket.

  Pulling into the hotel car park, my eyes quickly scan for a parking space among the sea of cars. Perfect, I manage to locate one not too far from the hotel entrance, so I won’t have to drag my overnight case too far. I know I’m only here for one night, but we girls have to pack a variety of things, even for one night. Well I do anyway. A selection of clothes; because I still can’t make my mind up what to wear to the concert. Toiletries, make-up, and hair paraphernalia the list goes on. What can I say? It’s a girl thing.

  I park my car, and sit listening to the current track playing on the CD. Called Dangerous Love, it’s my favourite of all time. I have never been able to force myself to switch it off in mid play; always having to wait until the bitter end. The lyrics about a dangerous, forbidden love, getting to me every time.

  As the music fades away I take a deep breath.

  Yep! Moves my soul every time. I hope they play it at the concert tonight. That would be the cherry on top of my cake.

  I close the windows, grab my case, lock then double check I’ve locked the car.

  Whilst humming the tune of Dangerous Love to myself, I walk towards the hotel entrance, dragging my case behind me; at the same time, with my other hand, I ferret around in my handbag, looking for the hotel paperwork; ready for checking in.

  “Good tune.” a deep male voice remarks, as I reach the steps leading to the hotel entrance.

  “The best. My favourite.” I reply with a smile, briefly lifting my head, before commencing on my way. Only to stop sharply and mutter “Shit!”

  Now I have to say, I only use such words when warranted, and believe me, this time it was definitely warranted. For that deep voice had belonged to non-other than AJ Lewis. As in The AJ Lewis, who as I watch, is currently walking away from me, towards a huge Range Rover with blacked out windows. When he reaches the car, he turns, jerks his chin upwards and smiles at me, before climbing in and being driven away.

  Okay, so now I’m standing in the hotel entrance, with my mouth gaping open in shock, not able to breathe, never mind move; the last few moments whizzing around my head. I had been standing next to AJ Lewis, and to my humiliation, not only had he heard me say “Shit”, but he had also heard me humming, totally out of tune I have to add, Dangerous Love. Plus, to top it all, I never even got an autograph or a photo.

  Shit! Shit! Shit!

  Davy will never believe me, and if she does, she’ll probably kill me for wasting my opportunity.

  In a daze, I walk into the hotel, check in, and make my way up to the room I’m sharing with Davy and Jen.

  “Stupid, that’s what I am, totally stupid.” I mutter to myself. I can’t believe what just happened.

  The girls are already in the room when I walk in, muttering to myself about being stupid, and never having that chance again. I stop dead and stare at them, my mouth opening and closing like the proverbial goldfish, struggling to get my words out. Eventually, I manage a garbled version of events, to which the girls gawk at me, mouths agape.

  “Shit!” whispers Davy.

  “My words exactly.” I reply with a wry smile.

  I sit down on one of the beds, with a smirk on my face. The laughter now bubbling up inside of me. Hell! God knows what he thought. This mad woman humming his song out of tune and not recognising him straight away, and then saying “shit!”

  “He probably thinks I’m barmy.” I laugh.

  Before long, all three of us are laughing hysterically.

  “It could only happen to you Boo.” laughs Davy.

  Jen passes me a glass of wine, and we all raise a toast to AJ Lewis and Dangerous Love, before preparing to dress for the concert.

  *****

  Its five hours later, and the three of us are dancing madly to the music. Our voices are husky from singing along, our feet are killing us from the dancing, but we are having the best time of our lives. Inked Chaos are awesome live, and are putting on a fantastic show, with AJ moving all over the stage, doing his thing.

  Having really good seats close to the stage, we don’t need to watch the big screens. We can clearly see Jason on the drums at the back, Travis on keyboards, Zack on lead guitar and Razor (real name Jake) on bass.

  They are playing a song called Skin on Skin; making the audience go wild, jumping and dancing all over the place.

  As the song ends, the stage suddenly plunges into darkness, making the crowd scream in a frenzy. With the three of us, cheering and screaming along with the rest of them.

  When the stage lights turn back on, revealing AJ front and centre at the microphone, he has his arms in the air, clapping his hands at the crowd.

  “Okay,” he shouts, “we’re going to play a song now, that today someone told me was her favourite. She knows who she is, so this is for the ‘Humming Bird’, let’s go guys, this is Dangerous Love.”

  Oh...My...God! I look at Davy and Jen, to see they are looking at me, jumping up and down, cheering and screaming, and laughing all at the same time. I cannot believe he just did that. Okay, so maybe he’s not talking about me, but then how many women did he meet today humming that tune, and telling him it’s her favourite? I start screaming and jumping up and down with the girls. It has to be said, this is the best birthday present I could have wished for.

  *****

  The concert has finished, so we walk around to the stage door, in the hope we can catch a glimpse of the band; but there is such a large crowd, that we give up and head back towards the hotel.

  My feet are killing me, so I’ve taken off my boots and I’m walking barefoot. This is no surprise to the girls, as it’s a habit I’ve always had. A habit that used to drive James mad; he always thought it unseemly.

  Thinking about it, there are quite a few things James didn’t like or thought unseemly. My wearing of jeans for one. He always preferred me wearing skirts and high heels. He also didn’t like me wearing too much make-up either, and he always said I was being pathetic about attempting to write a novel. Why I never acknowledged these facts before, I’ll never know. Maybe it’s because I’m starting to be the real me; instead of being who he wanted me to be.

  It doesn’t take long to reach the hotel, and we decide to have a drink in the bar before heading up to our room. We find a table just inside the entrance t
o the bar, and are discussing the concert, when we hear a commotion coming from the reception. Cameras are flashing, and reporters are shouting questions, and we realise Inked Chaos have arrived, and are heading up to their rooms. We all stand up, balancing on tiptoe, striving to gain a better view, just as the band and AJ are entering the lift; with AJs eyes appearing to meet my own, just as the lift doors begin to close.

  “Hell!” sulks Davy. “Another photo opportunity lost. It’s just not our night, is it?” While Jen groans with disappointment. They sound so despondent it makes me giggle.

  “I thought I was the mad fan, not you two.” I say smirking.

  “We sound like love struck teenagers, not grown women.” admits Jen and with that, we all fall about laughing, and reach for our wine.

  A couple of glasses of wine later, we decide to call it a night and make our way over towards the lifts, where Davy presses the call button.

  Just as the bell pings, signalling the lifts arrival, a guy strolls up to us, smiling.

  “Excuse me Miss, but I’ve been asked to pass you a message.” He says handing me a folded piece of paper, then walks away without another word.

  Walking into the lift, I look from Davy to Jen, to find matching expressions of puzzlement etched upon their faces. Nervously, I open the note and nearly faint when I see who it’s from.

  “Humming Bird,

  There’s an after show party on the 5th floor, suite 518. Hope you all come.”

  “Oh My God!” I whisper, and pass Davy and Jen the note, observing as their mouths fall open stupefied. We all know, only one person would call me ‘Humming Bird.’

  AJ Lewis.

  My heart starts pounding, and I don’t know what to do. For God’s sake, I’m a forty year old woman, not some young groupie to go up to a rock stars hotel room. Then again, I would be stupid to let this chance to meet him pass me by.

  “You have to go.” states Davy as the lift ascends. “You’d be daft if you don’t; and personally, I will never forgive you if you don’t go.”

  “I’m not going up there! Are you mad? It’s not like I’m some young girl who wouldn’t think twice. For God’s sake, I’m forty. Nope, I think I’d rather have my dreams and imagination, than humiliation, thank you very much.”

  “Oh no you don’t Boo.” Davy says, getting right in my face. “I have watched you fall apart over the last few years. You haven’t been the same since James. In fact, you were never the real you with James.”

  At my shocked expression, she continues on a no holds barred tirade.

  “Sorry babe, but it’s true. He changed you into something you weren’t. If you think about it you’ll agree. The old Boo wouldn’t think twice about going up to the fifth floor, even at forty. Stop putting yourself down, and stop letting that pig James ruin your life, even after all this time. I’m not going to let you.” She looks me in the eye and bargains with me, “Okay, I’ll tell you what we’ll do. We’ll go back to our room, sort ourselves out, and we will all go to the fifth floor. Deal?”

  Okay, so I have to admit, I’m now standing staring at Davy like I’ve never seen her before. She has never spoken to me like this.

  The doors open, and automatically I walk out, heading towards our room.

  “Davy….” I start only to be interrupted.

  “No Boo. I’m sorry, but it had to be said. This is the chance of a lifetime. I’m not saying go and jump into bed with him, for crying out loud. We’re just going to a party where he happens to be.”

  I stare at Davy, my mind in a whirl at what she’s just revealed. She’s right. I know she’s right. I think she could have maybe told me at a better time and place, but then again it was needed now.

  I make a decision. One that I hope will not leave me feeling stupid, heartbroken, and humiliated. I decide to go to the fifth floor.

  I glance between Davy and Jen, and with a smile on my face say. “Okay party, here we come.”

  *****

  I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, as we travel higher and higher.

  In the whirlwind of the last fifteen minutes, with help from Davy and Jen, I’ve freshened up, tidied my make-up and hair, and sprayed on a little perfume. I’m still wearing the skin tight blue jeans, with a black leather belt, black T-shirt and black boots that I wore to the concert. Not only did I not have time to change, but I didn’t want it to seem like I’d put in too much effort to see them either.

  At the last minute, Davy dropped the bombshell that she wasn’t going to come to the party. She has the long drive travelling back to Eva in the morning, so she couldn’t risk sleeping in after a very late night partying away. I tried to make her change her mind, boy did I, but she wouldn’t budge. Even when I threatened that I wouldn’t go either, she just put the guilt trip on me that “poor Jen would miss out if I didn’t go.”

  So here I am, with Jen. The lift travelling higher and higher, as my heart pounds harder and harder with every second; my nerves gaining the better of me, causing me to shake like a leaf.

  This is a mistake! What the hell do I think I’m doing?

  “I think I’ve changed my mind. Let’s go down to the bar.” I say in a rush panicking.

  “Oh no you’re not.” says Jen, and grabs my arm in a vice like grip, just as the automated voice of the lift, announces our arrival at the fifth floor.

  The doors open, and standing opposite, is what can only be described, as the largest human being of the male variety, on the planet. Whom I instantly nickname ‘Tiny’ in my head.

  Crap! No going back now.

  “Can I help you ladies?” Tiny rumbles.

  “Umm, we’re expected in suite 518.” I stammer, stepping out of the lift and showing him the note.

  Why did I say that? Don’t do it! Get back in the lift, press the ground button and go to the bar.

  After a brief whispered conversation into his mouthpiece, the giant of a man turns to us and smiles.

  “Yes ladies, if you’ll both follow me.” He rumbles with a gravelly voice, and leads us half way down the corridor, to where another large human being is standing guard outside a door. I stare first at him, then at the door, my heart hammering.

  Suite 518.

  Oh Jorgi what are you doing?

  The two human brick walls whisper to each other, and before I know it, we are being escorted into the suite.

  CHAPTER 3

  People, lots of them are milling around. All have drinks in their hands, and a few seem like they’ve had more than their fair share already.

  Nobody looks at us as we walk in, everyone having too much fun to notice the newbie’s arriving. Slowly my eyes scan the room; noticing a couple of leather sofas, and a dining table with eight chairs, all occupied, and a bar to one side laden with bottles.

  I turn to Jen, lean in and whisper in her ear.

  “Babe this is a mistake. Let’s go before we’re noticed.” I plead, and turn towards the door, hoping to make a quick getaway; only to have Jen step in front of me, halting my progress.

  “Oh no you don’t.” she hisses under her breath. “You know as well as I do, that if you leave now you’ll kick yourself in the morning. Not to mention, Davy will kill me for letting you leave. Relax, let’s have a drink and see what happens. I can’t even see any of the band, so stop panicking.”

  It’s okay for Jen. She has always been so laid back, she’s almost horizontal. She lives her life to the max’, and never worries about the consequences. She dates when she wants to, but not bothered if she’s on her own. Although I have to say, it’s not very often she’s without a date; because she’s gorgeous. She’s a small petite brunette, with what I call a pixie face. A little lady, with a very big personality. She’d cope with meeting the queen if she walked in. While I’d be the one standing next to her, a blithering mess.

  She grabs my hand, and drags me over to the bar, where we help ourselves to a glass of wine. Turning around, we spy a gap in the crowd over by the window, and head in that direction
so we won’t clog up the bar area.

  “I can’t see any of them, can you?” asks Jen.

  Silently I shake my head, just as a tall lanky guy walks over, and introduces himself as Joe. He seems a nice guy, and asks if we went to the concert.

  We tell him that we’ve rocked the night away at the concert, after receiving the tickets for my birthday. I really want to ask him where the band are, but that would not only make me appear rude, but also desperate.

  Informing us that he’s one of the roadies, he enlightens us on how the tour works. How the timing is so crucial, to ensure the instruments and equipment are dismantled, transported, and set up again at each new venue, in time for the next performance. It sounds like they work really hard and don’t have much down time; but he says he loves the life, and wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.

  “I see the world and listen to great sounds, whilst being paid for the privilege.” he grins making Jen and I laugh.

  He has a cheeky smile to go with his cheeky character, and you can’t help but like him.

  Asking us if we want a refill of our drinks, he heads over to the bar promising he’ll be right back.

  We watch as he starts talking to a man at the bar.

  “Isn’t that the chappie who gave us the note?” I ask Jen. She glances over at them and confirms my suspicions.

  “Yep, looks like it to me. I wonder where the band are. I don’t think I can stay awake much longer. If they don’t show soon I’m off. What do you reckon?”

  I glance at my watch and see that it’s nearly one am. I know what she means, we’ve been here over an hour already. We decide to give it another half an hour. We’ll have the drink that Joe is getting for us, so we don’t appear rude, and then head back to our room.