by K E Osborn
I jump, spinning so fast I almost slip over, as I turn toward the back of the stage. There I see a tiny framed woman sitting on the end of the stairs staring at me. If that wasn’t strange enough that she’s appeared out of nowhere, she’s wearing a giraffe onesie—in Phoenix, Arizona, in the middle of a scorching hot July. She continues clapping like she’s excited, and I turn around wondering what she’s clapping at. As I look around us, I don’t see anything particularly exciting. So I stare back in her direction as she smiles at me brightly.
“You did amazing,” she calls out.
“Umm… what?”
She looks over at the equipment I’ve been working hard on, for the last probably three hours, and she smiles again. Her smile is unnerving me. She’s far too pretty and far too old to be wearing a giraffe onesie.
What’s with that?
“All that heavy lifting, and not to mention the sorting… I never would have thought to do that. It’s so… organized. It’s much better than how we were doing it.”
I raise my brow, looking around to see if I’m being Punked or something, but again, no one else is here. So I look back to her. “When you say how we were doing it, you mean…”
She jumps from the stage and walks toward me, the giraffe onesie seems almost too big for her as she saunters forward, her cute button nose wrinkling as she continues to smile that dazzling smile at me. It’s so confusing, she looks like a kid, but the face beneath that childish outfit is all woman. She’s so strange. This woman is peculiar, whoever she is.
“Us… the band.” She waves her hands around. “We’re not a very organized bunch. But you seem to know what you’re doing, and that’s great. You can keep us in line, right?”
“You’re with the band?”
She giggles, the sound husky yet delicate at the same time. My cock twitches and I tense my muscles not liking the strange effect this woman is having on me.
“Sure am. I’m Effa, that’s short for Effervescent… you know like the bubbles that make people happy. I like to be the bright light in people’s lives and lift people up when they’re feeling down. I’m the sparkle, the pizazz if you will,” she chatters on while bringing her hands up to her face and twinkles her fingers like she’s doing those stupid spirit fingers from that movie.
A lump forms in my throat as I look at her not knowing if she’s being serious or not. I’m not sure how to take this little interaction we’re having. But the smile on her face and the calmness in her eyes tells me she’s dead serious.
“Wow! That’s ahh… great?” I reply more like a question, kind of unsure what else to say.
She nods, putting out her hand for me to shake. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard great things. I’m assuming you’re Kaden? Our new lighting tech?”
I place my hand out to shake. My fingers overlap hers. Taking in her tiny hand, I almost envelop it entirely while warmth shoots up my arm when I take hold of her. Then I shake it, once. My reaction shocks me slightly making my answer to her question delayed, so I look back up at her with a half-smile. “Mercs. Everyone calls me, Mercs.”
She giggles that fucking adorable giggle again, and I take a deep breath as she assesses me, looking at my obvious bare chest. “Mercs.” My name rolls off her tongue as she raises her brow. “Sounds expensive… like a fast car.”
I grin and tilt my head. “Na, nothing like that. My last name’s Mercury… nothing fancy.”
Her eyes light up, and she bounces on her toes. “Oh, my, are you related to Freddy? Please tell me you are. He’s a lyrical genius. A melodic mastermind. A gifted God. Oh praise Gaia, please tell me it’s true?” she asks, grabbing my other hand and gazing desperately into my eyes looking so full of hope.
I almost feel sorry that I’m going to have to disappoint her. Wincing, I shake my head with a grimace. “Sorry, no relation. But I do love Bohemian Rhapsody.”
She gasps. “Oh man, me too. That and A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton. Oh, Gaia, that song gets me every time.”
I let out a bemused laugh. Those songs couldn’t be more polar opposite if they tried. Shaking my head, I look down to see our hands are still joined, and she looks down too and chuckles rubbing her thumbs over my skin. It sends a tingle up my arms.
“Your skin is really smooth for a roadie. Do you moisturize?”
I laugh again. What the hell is with this chick? She’s something else. “Umm… no. Just my natural umm… softness?” The last word comes out in a higher tone, and I’m not even sure it’s what I meant to say.
She tilts her stature and brings my hand up to her cheek, placing my open palm on her face. Her cheek is warm and velvety soft to the touch. Her cheeks are flushed slightly pink against her pale face, which I’m pretty sure has little to no makeup on. Even though, she still looks stunning. I tense up wondering what the hell she’s doing. I look around to see if anyone’s watching, but there’s definitely no one around. I look back and notice her eyes are closed, but she’s smiling wide while holding my hand with hers.
“Umm…” I murmur as she sways from side to side like she’s in some kind of trance.
“Shhh… I’m feeling your energy.”
My muscles tense completely and I swallow hard wondering what the hell kind of world I’ve stepped into.
I’m pretty sure I am being Punked.
Ashton, you can come out now.
“My energy…” I ask and trail off in a hushed tone like somehow I’m going to interrupt her flow.
What the fuck?
“Yes, you have a calm energy. But for some reason, you’re very tense right now. You also have a nervousness about you, like you have a big problem weighing you down.”
I furrow my brows at her detailed, and somehow completely accurate reading of me, and I pull back in shock. My hand dropping from her face as our fingers finally disconnect.
She opens her eyes and looks at me with a weak smile. “It’s okay, I know I’m eerily accurate at these things.”
I step back and take a deep breath. “How can you tell all that from me touching your face?”
She half-smiles, her bright, happy demeanor changing slightly. “I can sense things. I’m in tune with the world and its energy. Some say it’s hippy shit. Some say I have psychic abilities. I don’t really know. I call it my gift. Gaia gave it to me. It helps me sing. Helps me give my gift to the world so I can connect with people… you know?”
I furrow my brows. “Can you read minds and shit?”
She bursts out laughing, so hard she bends over grabbing at her stomach, her giraffe hoodie falling forward over her face, looking actually a little bit cute as she rambles on in a fit of hysteria.
I tilt my stature in annoyance, and as if to sense my annoyance she stands up straight and looks at me, still giggling, but shaking her head and sighing with a long puff of air.
“Oh Mercs, you kill me. No. No one can read minds. That’s parlor tricks. I don’t have ESPN or whatever it’s called.” I bite my lips and try to hide my smile. “I’m just me. Effa. Lead singer of Luminous, and you are our savior. Thank you for fixing us. I can’t wait for you to make our stage shows far more like betterer or… something like that.”
I laugh and nod my head. “Betterer… that I can do.”
“Great. So Luke has sent through all the details of our show to you I’m assuming?”
I nod. “Sure has. Including the set list. I downloaded all the songs and choreographed a lighting show for it based on the live stream of the Cali performance. So it’s similar, just with a few improvements and tweaks. You’ll still have all your lighting cues, they’ll just be better… and, more importantly, on time.”
She smiles wide then lets out a heavy sigh. “I think I’m going to like having you around, Mercs. I like people who are organized, seeing as the roadies are so unorganized. We need people on our team to keep us in line. You might be just the man we need.”
“I’ll do my best, Effa,” I reply and she nods.
Her face takes
on a more serious tone than before. “That’s all I ask.”
Glancing around, I see there’s still no one else here but us, and it has me wondering where the rest of Luminous are. And why Effa’s here eight hours before a show is about to start.
“Hey, Effa…”
“Mmm…”
“Why are you here so early? Are the rest of the girls here, too?”
She grins, shaking her head. “Nah. They’re still at the hotel… sleeping probably. Tonight’s our first show here, so when we start at a new venue I like to come in and check it out… just to get a feel for the place. I don’t know why, it’s just something I always do. I guess I like to see the stadium before it fills with the crowd and the atmosphere. I like to see it raw and untamed. I dunno why.”
Nodding, I half-smile thinking she’s more than just a singer. She’s about stage presence, too. She likes to see the before and the after like I do. I get what she’s saying. This is why I’m here early too. Not just to set up and scope everything out, but to fully take in everything around me, and get a real feel for the environment and the ambiance of the place.
“You and me, Effa, we might be more alike than I first thought. Yeah, I get it. Sometimes there’s more life in the peace and quiet than in the mad rush of the hurricane of the music…” I pause and take a deep breath. “Sounds weird, but true.”
She tilts her head and her eyes glimmer, almost sparkling like she’s taking in everything I’m saying with such awe that she might be a little inspired by my words. Effa leans forward, pressing her open palm to my still slightly sweaty chest. The warmth of her hand ignites something inside of me, and my breath catches in my throat as I stare down into her eyes. She looks at me and swallows hard then she steps closer, an intensity building as her touch continues to pulse between us.
“That’s why I’m here… the peace and quiet. The calm before the storm. You’re right. It’s here I truly live, this is where I can be… me. Once the crew comes, the crowds invade, and the music overruns, everything changes and I have to be one hundred percent on all the time. Here, in the quiet, I can just be… me. I like the peace…” she says drifting off as her eyes fall from mine like she’s deep in thought, and it makes me think that she’s opening up to me about something that maybe she hasn’t said to too many other people, especially not her crew or bandmates.
I’m not sure why she’s telling me though, we’ve only known each other for five minutes. But, maybe it’s because we like the peace equally, and we seem to be the only ones who do. I get it. I understand why she’s here. Maybe that’s why. I feel for her. Perhaps this hippy vibe she has going on is not necessarily an act, but more like an embellishment of her personality… I don’t know.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and she looks back up at me, and her frown turns into the brightest of fake smiles. She nods her head. Her hand is still pressed on my chest and begins to run up along my pec. I tense as it glides up around my neck pulling me to her. I think for a brief moment she’s drawing me in to kiss her, but she merely touches my forehead to hers, in some kind of weird embrace thing. My eyes look down, but her eyes are closed like she’s reveling in being close to me, and then suddenly she pulls back and smiles wide.
“Thanks for the chat, Mercs. I look forward to the show tonight. You’re coming to the after party, right?” she asks while taking off quickly away from me as she runs faster than I thought possible for someone so tiny.
Shaking my head at her strange behavior, I swallow hard and shrug. “Ahh… I guess?” I call back, and she waves as she fades out of sight down the hall.
What. The. Eff?
Chapter Three
EFFA
A surge rushes through me, the high, the endorphins kicking in strong, pulsing through my veins like an electrical charge igniting the fire inside me.
I live for this.
The air I breathe is filled with the passion of the crowd roaring and chanting my name. The lights blast in hues of pinks and greens, in a neon celebration, dancing back and forth across the crowd, illuminating them as they bounce up and down to the beat of our music.
I love this, the thrill, the excitement, the energy. I feel at home here. The buzz filling the stage as we rock out our final song of the night. The cannons erupt, and the crowd screams in appreciation. The beach balls fall from the roof while the confetti bursts through the air littering the stadium in a rainbow of colors.
I smile wide at Casey, and she grins madly, as she sings backing vocals for our encore song, Malibu Intoxication—hence the beach and rainbow theme at the end.
We like to end on a high. The beach balls are being punched through the air by the crowd. I love watching the fans go nuts for our props, and as I belt out the final lyrics of our song, the waterfall cascade streams down onto the stage making it look like it’s falling on us. It isn’t, it’s just in front of us, but it looks fucking awesome. Especially, now with Mercs’ lighting effects running through the water—he has the word Luminous brightly lit through the water.
He’s a fucking genius.
“Goodnight Luminati’s, you’ve been Phoenix and we’ve been Luminous.” I call out strumming the last chord on my guitar before the rush of the waterfall intensifies giving us the signal to get off the stage unseen by the crowd.
The eruption of the fans is so loud I can barely hear myself think. It vibrates through my body, sending a shockwave of elation right through my very soul. I smile widely as the other girls file around me backstage, and we all stare at each other while the crowd continues to roar, stomping their feet and chanting our band’s name.
We all laugh and grab each other reveling in the enormity of this moment. This is the most significant reaction we’ve gotten from a crowd ever, and to be honest, it’s a little awe-inspiring. I’m pretty sure it’s not only because we fucking rocked it, but also because our stage show tonight was pretty damn on point. Thanks hugely to Mercs. The man I met earlier this morning. The man I haven’t been able to remove from my mind since seeing him do all that heavy lifting, then lifting his shirt to reveal his incredibly fit body with those amazing abs. And, not to mention, that delicious trail of ink down his right arm. He was so mesmerizing to stare at, I had to keep myself in check, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t notice me looking at him. Hell, he didn’t even know I was there until I started clapping.
I wonder what he thought tonight.
Was he up on those rafters looking down on me, watching me, thinking about me, like I was thinking of him?
“Effa? Earth to Effa?” Kristy snaps her fingers in front of my face gaining my attention.
I look at her to see all the girls staring at me as the chanting from the crowd continues. “Huh, sorry, what?”
“You were amazing out there tonight…” her smile is larger than life, “… and the lighting? Fuck! This new guy is brilliant. Has anyone actually met him, yet?” Kristy, my best friend, and next best thing to another stepsister asks.
I tilt my head and nod. “Yeah, I did, when I came in earlier.”
Casey presses up on her toes and claps her hands. “Oh… what’s he like? Is he hot? Should I fuck him? Keep him in line?”
I screw up my nose as Andi rolls her eyes and Alana and Kristy both cross their arms over their chests. “No. Don’t screw him,” I suggest.
Her face falls, and she curls her lip up. “Oh, so he’s fugly like Dennis then? Damn it. Why can’t we get some good looking roadies around here?” Casey calls out loudly, making some of the roadies who are backstage with us turn around and furrow their brows.
“Casey… shh. And no, quite the opposite. He’s actually really… really good look—”
“Yes—” she interrupts.
“But I don’t think any of us should be screwing him. He’s far too good at what he does for us to be fucking up the chance of him staying here on tour with us—”
“Nooo, Effa. I love you, but our groupies are only good for so long. I need some fresh meat,” Casey demands wi
ggling her eyebrows up and down.
“God damn it, Casey. You sound like a fucking nympho. Calm your tits, girl,” Andi berates.
“But I am a nympho. I can’t help it if I love the D,” Casey screams, not caring who hears. Roadies turn around again, this time all smiling wide as she winks at Benny our guitar tech who blushes and quickly rushes off, probably to continue working, rather than think about his wild, passionate night ahead with Casey.
“Okay, you love the D. We all love the D. But Mercs is off limits, okay?” I state, and they all raise their brows at me.
“Mercs?” Alana asks.
“Yeah, that’s his name. Well, nickname I suppose. But that’s what he wants to be called.”
“Sounds like an expensive car,” Alana adds, and I smile at her. Even though she’s my step-sister, we’re so alike.
“That’s what I said.” I giggle, and the others shrug.
Luke comes over with a cooler bag.
“It’s short for Mercury. It’s his last name. And no… no relation to Freddy. I asked that, too.”
They all slump their shoulders. “Bummer.” Kristy slumps and pats my shoulder in a comforting way.
Luke opens the cooler bag and hands us each a bottle of flavored water. “You girls were on fire tonight. That mixed with Mercs’ lighting… this was your best show, ever. Especially coming off the disaster of the Staples Center. Good job, girls,” Luke relays, grabbing a drink for himself as I guzzle down half my berry water. I love the refreshing hit of tangy and sweet.
“So, the new guy is good. We all agree. Tonight was a fucking success. But I need some weed, some booze, and time to let my hair down,” Andi instructs.
“You don’t have any hair,” Casey teases and we all chuckle. Andi rolls her eyes punching Casey’s arm, hard.
Casey takes a step to the side and lets out an “oomph” as she rubs her arm smiling wide. “Ouch, you bitch, is that any way to treat your favorite cousin?”
