Cocktails, Rock Tales & Betrayals

by Archer, Julie

  “I like what you've got to offer,” he said, breathing hard. “I never knew you'd be so filthy; the Chelsea girl coming with a finger up her arse after being fucked butt naked except for kinky boots in a portacabin. I like your style, sweetheart. Bet you never did that with Thorne, did you?”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Where the hell have you been?” said Alik, as Billy joined the rest of the band in the wings of the stage mere seconds before they were due on.

  Billy gave a knowing smile. “Gotta love a pre-gig shag,” he said. “And she was filth, mate, pure filth.” His eyes strayed to Edie, who was standing next to Olivia at the side of the stage, fiddling with her phone, studiously trying to ignore him.

  Alik glared at him. “I don't care how amazing she was in the sack, disappearing five minutes before we do a gig this big isn't acceptable.”

  Alik stalked onto the stage and made his way to the mic stand, front and centre, surveying the audience in the small tent. This was the first time he'd been on the other side at a festival, having spent many years of his youth attending the event and hoping against hope that one day he would be able to play there. A headlining slot would be nice, but he knew that they had to start somewhere.

  And a mid-afternoon slot on Saturday was about the best there was for a band such as Blood Stone Riot right now.

  He looked to the side of the stage, where Edie was, and smiled at her. She waved back half-heartedly, looking less than interested. He thought back to the support she had given him at the warm up gig at The Vegas and was grateful that she was there with him. In the pit in front of him, he caught sight of Caro and Poppy, who had chosen to get the full experience from in the audience, rather than the VIP treatment. It was one of the things that attracted him to Caro. Although for someone who was opening a rock club, he wouldn't have expected anything less.

  “Good afternoon!” he yelled, catching the attention of the crowd. “Let's do this!” And he whirled across the stage as the opening bars of ‘Bleed Like Cyanide’ kicked in.

  * * *

  Despite having not really paid much attention to anyone other than Alik when she had seen the band play before, Edie was transfixed by Billy. She had been focused on Alik and how he commanded the audience and captured them in the palm of his hand. But now, after being with Billy, she couldn't stop staring at him. The concentration he had as he played the intense basslines, the way he moved as he cradled the guitar in his hands, the way he flung his head back in total abandon as the music played. There was an intensity about him, the same as when they’d had sex, total focus on what he wanted right at that moment. And she had been what he wanted. Her gaze wandered to Alik and she realised that he didn't have the same effect on her anymore.

  “Are you okay?” Olivia asked. “You seem distracted.”

  Edie shook her head. “Sorry, no...um, I'm not feeling all that well to be honest, I think I should just head back to the hotel for a bit. I can feel a migraine coming on.” She put a hand to her forehead for effect.

  Olivia gave her a hug. “Probably too much beer in this heat and not enough water, easily done. Feel better, hon.”

  Having escaped from the cloying atmosphere of the tent, Edie practically skipped towards the exit. She needed some time to think about what had happened that afternoon and what that meant for her and Alik.

  * * *

  Out of the corner of his eye, Alik could see Caro and Poppy near the front of the mosh pit, a couple of beered-up lads dancing around them. He carried on singing, trying to focus anywhere other than where they were standing. As the set progressed, he saw the men link hands, trapping Caro between their bodies. Poppy was trying to pull them off her, but wasn't having any success.

  Alik tried to signal to security to intervene. But as far as they were concerned, as long as no-one had passed out or was being crushed, then they were probably just having a good time. As the band started playing their final song, one of the men had his arms around Caro and was grabbing her arse, which was the final straw for Alik. He threw the microphone into the wings and launched off the stage in the direction of the man. Nate, Billy, and Dev frantically looked at each other, but carried on playing, Nate half-heartedly carrying on the vocals. The rest of the audience in the tent had already turned their attention to the fight that was now going on just in front of the stage. Alik wrestled the guy off of Caro and threw him on the ground. He was just about to wade in with a few punches when the security guards finally acted.

  “Now you react,” he said, as they held him back. The man cowered on the floor in front of him. “I guess the set's finished, guys,” he yelled out to the audience as he was frog-marched backstage, leaving the melee behind.

  Caro followed them, Poppy and Olivia hot on her heels.

  “Where's Griffen?” Caro asked. “He'll go ballistic when he finds out.”

  “I don't know,” replied Olivia. “He was watching the set, then disappeared when he got a call. He's been waiting to hear something from Parker about the EP release date. I'll try and get hold of him. Poppy can you let the rest of the band know what's going on? Caro, stay with Alik.” The two of them hurried off, leaving Caro trailing behind the heavies.

  Alik had been taken to a holding area in the VIP backstage area, where a couple of security guards stood watch over him. Normally they didn't get much trouble from the bands, usually they dealt with dealers or over amorous groupies, so the security guards weren't quite sure how to react.

  “This is ridiculous,” Alik said. “He was the one in the wrong.”

  The two meathead guards were clearly waiting for someone more senior to come along. Caro had tried talking to them to explain what had happened and that Alik had only been trying to protect her. But they weren't listening to any of it.

  Finally, a burly, shaven-headed man appeared. His bright orange armband told them that he was the Head of Security. He drew himself up to his full height. “Right, what's going on here then? We've had a report of assault.”

  Alik was about to launch into what had happened, but Caro stopped him.

  “It was hardly assault, sir,” she began, trying to charm the man. “Alik didn't even touch him, well, apart from getting him to let go of me.”

  “That's not what the gentleman says, miss.”

  “Gentleman?” Caro snorted. “I suppose he didn't tell you about groping me either?”

  “Er, no...”

  “Then perhaps you should reconsider the report.”

  The man turned his back and contacted someone on his radio. There was a crackly exchange, which neither Alik nor Caro could hear. “Wait here,” he said. “I'll be back.” He gestured for one of the two guards to follow him and they could hear them talking outside.

  Caro went to Alik, gently pulling his shirt around him. The garment had been torn during the altercation and despite the earlier sunshine, the afternoon was chilling down somewhat.

  “I'm sorry,” he said, resting his head on her shoulder.

  “Hey, you were only trying to protect me, don’t be sorry about that.”

  “God, I hate this,” he said. His emotions were all over the place; pride and happiness in playing at the festival mixed with jealousy at seeing some random guy being all over Caro, and confusion over how he felt about Edie. He needed to get out of there. He closed his eyes, imagining that he and Caro were anywhere else but there, in any other situation but this.

  The moment was broken by the return of the security head

  “You can go,” he said. “We’ve spoken to the gentleman concerned and he’s decided not to take it any further. But you're banned from the festival site for the rest of the weekend. All of the security personnel have been briefed and have your details, so any attempt to enter the site will be stopped. You're extremely lucky.”

  Alik felt anything but lucky. He just wanted to get out of there.

  * * *

  Edie was sprawled on the bed, wrapped in one of the hotel bathrobes, a champagne flute in her han
d, with an accompanying bottle on ice on the bedside table. She was still pink and flushed from her earlier liaison with Billy. Okay, and a sneaky session of self love in the shower remembering it.

  “Where the hell were you?” said Caro as she and Alik burst into the room.

  “I, er, came back a bit early...” She stumbled over her words, trying to avoid eye contact with both of them. “I wasn't feeling too well.”

  Caro's eyes swept over her “Well, I hope you're feeling better,” she said, before turning to Alik. “Job done, you're back safely without beating anyone else up, so you're her problem now. Although I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when Griffen and Parker find out. You might want to figure out what you're going to say to them.” She headed towards the door. “I'm going to find Olivia and Poppy.”

  She slammed the door behind her. Alik sank down on the edge of the bed, pushing the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. Edie knelt behind him, gently massaging his shoulders.

  “I'm sorry I left,” she said. “What happened?”

  She listened intently as Alik explained.

  “That's awful!” she said. “It sounds like they're blaming you when it was clearly the other man's fault.”

  He laughed hollowly. “Yeah, but it's a bigger story if they lay the blame at my door.” He stood up, stripping off his shirt, jeans and boxers. “I need a shower. Can you order up some room service? And maybe several beers?”

  Edie did as he asked. As she put the phone down on reception, her mobile vibrated with a message from a number she didn't recognise. It read: Had fun today, very unexpected. Fancy round two? xB

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  "Blood Stone Riot's debut appearance at the Wilde Park Festival ended in disgrace last night as lead singer Alik Thorne was banned from the final day of the event. Thorne had an altercation with a fan towards the end of the band's set and had to be restrained by security..."

  Alik buried his head under the pillow to drown out the sound of the music channel’s TV presenter. What was supposed to be a landmark for the band was being remembered for all the wrong reasons.

  He turned the TV off and emerged from his cocoon. Edie appeared to be engrossed in a marathon texting session with someone, judging by the amount of pinging and typing going on.

  Alik reached out and ran his fingers down her arm. “Do you want to help me forget about yesterday?”

  “And how could I do that?” she said.

  He took the phone from her grasp and discarded it on the bedside table. He pulled her on top of him, his hands roaming over her, caressing her buttocks as she knelt over him, reaching for one of her small breasts and taking it into his mouth. A brief reminder of Caro's full, voluptuous figure entered his thoughts, but he tried to banish it. He had to stay focused for the upcoming time in the studio and he couldn't have any distractions. And Edie was being distracting enough as she writhed against him, contracting around him and making him come a lot quicker than he had wanted to. He shouldn't complain about a quickie, even if he had wanted a more leisurely start to the day. She slid out of the bed and headed towards the bathroom.

  “Hey,” Alik called after her. “You're in a rush, got a hot date or something?”

  “I'm meeting Poppy and the girls for breakfast and then we're going to head over to the festival site to see a few of the bands,” she replied over her shoulder.

  “And you didn't think I might want to come along?”

  “I thought you weren't allowed?”

  Alik groaned in defeat. He didn't want to risk going anywhere near the site in case it jeopardised them playing there in future. He had to be a good boy and stay at the hotel.

  * * *

  A couple of hours later, Alik found himself in the hotel gym. After Edie had gone, he ordered up a room service breakfast and feasted on a full English, with black pudding and hash browns and several mugs of excessively strong, sugary tea. Then instantly regretted it. Working out wasn't top of his list of things to do, but to keep in shape for gigging, he needed to get some kind of exercise. Particularly after some of his recent excesses.

  As he pounded the treadmill, his head whirled with a myriad of thoughts culminating in the euphoria of playing their first major festival and the crushing disappointment at how it ended. Parker often told him off for being way too passionate.

  He almost didn't notice that Nate had entered the gym until the guitarist tried to turn up the machine.

  “Jesus!” He stumbled before landing in a heap on the floor.

  Nate laughed. “Sorry, mate, you looked so engrossed in whatever is on your mind that your legs just seemed to be on auto pilot.”

  Alik picked himself up and sank down on the seat of one of the other torture machines. Nate followed suit.

  “I’m sorry about yesterday, Nate. I just saw that guy all over Caro and…” said Alik, towelling his face.

  “It wasn’t how I envisaged our first festival gig would pan out, but I do understand why you did it. If they’d have been trying it on with Poppy, I’d have done the same. Next time, try and ignore it, mate.”

  “How come you're not with Poppy this morning?” Alik asked, changing the subject.

  Nate made a face. “Why on earth would I want to go shopping with the girls? She's gone into Derby with them, apparently to join civilisation for a few hours. I think after yesterday they were looking for some normality.”

  “I thought they were going to see some bands. Edie was going with them.”

  “I can definitely see her going shopping, but back to the festival?”

  Alik's expression wavered momentarily. Why had Edie lied about what she was doing? Surely his behaviour hadn't freaked her out that much. He wouldn't have minded if she had said she was going back to North Ridge, he would almost have expected that. Maybe she was heading home and just didn't want to tell him. He'd check their room later. Putting his suspicions to one side, he changed the subject.

  He and Nate began discussing the plans for their upcoming studio break and what they needed to achieve. Parker had given them some specific targets, which was something they weren't used to. If they wanted the EP to come out on schedule, then they definitely need a plan, and one they had to stick to. Release dates and deadlines were important.

  People came in to use the equipment, but the pair were oblivious as they sketched out a few ideas for new tracks, Nate putting the thoughts into his phone. It wasn't until Alik's calf muscles started to cramp up that they stopped.

  “I need to warm down properly, mate,” he said. “I think I'm going to get a swim.”

  “I'm going to find Billy and head over for a couple of bands,” Nate said. “I'll get some video for you if you want?”

  Alik shook his head. “Don't make me even more depressed about this than I already am. I'll catch you later for a couple of beers.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Caro enter the pool, but dismissed it. She was probably with the girls, too.

  * * *

  Caro had turned down Poppy's suggestion of a shopping trip to get a massage at the hotel spa. As the masseuse worked her magic on the knots in Caro's back, she started to relax. Until she hit the cluster in the centre of her shoulder blades and Caro almost hit the ceiling. Damn, this woman was good. After about an hour, during which she alternated between blissful relaxation and uncomfortable tension, she started to feel better. And a lot looser. She hadn't quite realised just how stressed and tight she was. Although most people around her probably would have done. Giving the woman a hefty tip, she headed towards the swimming pool to further unwind. Pulling her caramel hair up into a messy ponytail, she slipped into a pair of houndstooth checked bikini bottoms and a simple black tankini top. After all, it wasn't as if there was much sunshine to get a tan with.

  Sliding effortlessly into the water, she started to swim, a slow, lazy breast stroke. The peace was shattered by someone diving straight over her head, cleanly into the water, and surfacing almost immediately in front of
her.

  “What the...” she began, aggrieved at being disturbed. “What are you doing here?”

  Alik faced her. “I thought you were out with Poppy.”

  Caro shook her head. “Couldn't face it. Needed some time to myself this morning after yesterday.”

  “I hear you. I've been working out.”

  They circled each other, treading water. Their bodies were getting closer, drawn together by the gentle swell of the pool. Caro was acutely aware of their lack of clothing and their proximity to each other. Alik reached past her to steady himself against the wall, his fingertips brushing her shoulder. The gentle fluttering of his skin on hers brought a shiver to her spine, despite the humidity of the pool room. He moved toward her, placing his arm the other side of her, effectively trapping her between the side of the pool and his body. She couldn't breathe, the effort of treading water, trying to ignore the feelings that were dancing around her head, plus the way her treacherous body was responding. She closed her eyes and when she opened them seconds later, Alik's face was directly in front of her, their noses almost touching, a mixture of lust and longing reflected in those beautiful blue-grey eyes of his.

  It wouldn't take much...

  Suddenly Alik sprang away from her. She focused and saw Edie sashaying towards them.

  “Funny how you two are together again,” said Edie. “One would almost wonder who Alik's girlfriend actually was.”

  Alik hauled himself out of the water and Caro watched the water cascading off his muscular, tattooed arms. Arms that had, until moments ago, almost encircled her. Taking a steadying breath, she addressed Edie. “One would, considering that you were nowhere to be seen yesterday when Alik needed you.”

  “And you just happened to be there to step in.” Edie peered down at her in the water. “Conveniently.”

  Caro shook her head, ignoring what her heart was telling her. “I'm not having this conversation with you Edie. Given that the festival isn't your scene and Alik can't go back there today, maybe your time would be better spent together as a couple. I can highly recommend the masseuse.” And she swam away from them.