The girl huffed, but did as she was told. Alik relinquished his grip and turned to Jonny.
“What the hell was that all about?” The promoter asked, dusting himself off. “You got designs on her yourself?”
“Where's Caro?”
“Probably working, that's all she does these days.”
“And you should be supporting her. Tomorrow's a big night for her.”
“Yeah, I know, but I’m in Barcelona. I'm promoting a new club there.”
Alik resisted the urge to punch him. How could he consider being somewhere else?
“Are you and Caro serious?” Alik asked.
Jonny shrugged. Very non committal. And the answer that Alik wanted.
“If you want to make it work with her, I wouldn't expect to see you here tonight with your tongue down some other girl's throat.”
Again, Jonny shrugged. His total indifference toward Caro made Alik furious. And made him think. The occasions when he and Caro had been together, her insistence on purely being friends and nothing more, was because he was with Edie. She was, technically, a free agent.
But he was with Edie.
The words reverberated in his head. Everything that had happened recently made him want Caro even more.
He knew what he had to do.
When The Indigo Lounge opening was over, he'd tell Edie the same thing.
Chapter Forty-Two
The Indigo Lounge was eerily quiet and empty. The aroma of new leather and freshly-laid carpet hung in the air.
It was hard to believe that in a few hours it would be packed with punters and musicians, enjoying the opening night bands, taking advantage of the special offers and, hopefully, spreading the word to others in order to continue the success.
Caro and Nic were carrying out last-minute checks on the bars and the VIP areas, making sure that all the drinks were stocked, glasses were clean, and surfaces were shining. Amy was running around with a clipboard, barking orders at anyone that would listen. The security team, bar crew, glass collectors and cleaners had all been briefed. Everyone was ready.
The only one who wasn't ready was Caro. She was still dressed in her jeans - her caramel hair pulled up into a topknot - having made a few last minute amendments to the layout, which meant she had ended up crawling about on her hands and knees as she rearranged some of the soft drinks behind the bar.
“Caro, what are you doing?” Olivia's voice cut through the air.
Caro picked herself up off the floor, brushing some dust off her jeans. “Just finishing off a few things,” she said, meekly.
“You have rafts of staff to help you do that. And you're not even dressed!” Olivia took her by the elbow and marched her upstairs to the office.
“I could hardly wear my opening night outfit to change barrels though, could I?” Caro protested.
Caro's dress was hanging up, a beautiful plunge v-neck mirrored dress, that had a heavily hand-embellished front and sleeves, with a plain Georgette black back. She planned to team it with a pair of Christian Louboutin metallic silver pumps. She had a pair of silver Converse stashed in the office for when her feet inevitably started to hurt too much later.
She stripped off her jeans and t-shirt, and was standing in front of Olivia in just her underwear - something black and lacy from La Perla - when Nic walked in.
“Jesus, Caro, I know we want to attract the punters, but we're not running that kind of club,” he said.
“I know, but Olivia reminded me I really should be ready by now.”
“You should.” Nic gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Olivia, the guys from Roccia magazine are downstairs and they're waiting for their exclusive. Alik's waiting backstage for you.” His phone buzzed. “And Amy's just found an issue with a spelling mistake on a poster...I'll see you later.” He was gone just as quickly as he'd appeared.
Caro swiftly sprayed on some deodorant and perfume and slipped on her dress. Twisting her hair back up into a tousled, sexy, ponytail, she applied some make-up, before presenting herself to Olivia.
“Will I do?” she asked, twirling around in front of her friend.
Olivia laughed. “Gorgeous. Jonny will be eating out of your hand.”
“Oh, he's not coming. He's promoting some club in Barcelona tonight. We sort of fell out over it and I'm not sure I'll be seeing a great deal of him any more.” Caro was very matter of fact in her explanation. Their relationship had always been one of friends with benefits, but since Caro had returned to the UK, there had been a possibility that it could have turned into something more. Jonny was, Caro reflected, one less complication she didn’t need right now.
Olivia slipped her arm through Caro's. “Let's go.”
* * *
Edie twirled around in front of the mirror, admiring her reflection; the way her freshly blown out blonde hair gleamed under the bedroom lights, the beautiful sheen from her gold sheath of a dress, cut high on her thigh and the sparkling new shoes - a gift from Alik - although he hadn't done much of the choosing.
She knew she looked good.
Her phone buzzed with a message. Expecting it to be from Minty, she opened it, realising too late that it was from Billy. And detailed exactly what he wanted to do to her that night. She shivered in anticipation.
“Who was that?” asked Alik, coming into the room. He looked gig-ready in tight dark grey jeans and a fitted t-shirt. As usual, he had a change of clothes for after the set stashed in a bag.
“Oh, just Olivia, saying she's already at The Indigo Lounge. Just wondering where we were.”
Alik nodded, checking his watch. Edie knew he wouldn't want to be late for sound checking - being that Blood Stone Riot were playing last, they would usually sound check first. “Sure, we should go.”
Edie pouted. “Oh, okay.” She said softly.
“You look amazing,” he said without really looking up.
The pout instantly changed to a beam. “Thank you, honey.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Several hours later, The Indigo Lounge was flooded with people. There was a mix of university students, local townies, and a variety of ages from teenagers on one of their first nights out to punters in their fifties who had been clubbing for decades. That was the beauty of the rock scene; it attracted both ends of the spectrum and everything in between, all coexisting in total harmony. Both Nic and Caro were secretly pleased, and surprised, that so many people had turned up, despite Olivia's insistence that it was never in doubt.
Firstly, she’d pointed out, punters always loved a new bar, and secondly, when you had a shit hot band line-up that was topped by Blood Stone Riot, you were always likely to get the crowds. The band's set had been phenomenal; short, tight, and appropriately dark. They'd thrown in a few old favourites - cover songs they used to do in the early days of the band - to really whip the crowd into a frenzy. Alik had been outstanding, and also managed to get through a set without taking out someone in the mosh pit, something that Poppy had reminded him of the minute he'd come off stage. It had been Olivia's idea to run teasers of the ‘Bleed Like Cyanide’ video throughout the set and the screens that were showing music channels were also being interspersed with a few shots as well. Already people were beginning to talk about the video, way before it had even been released.
* * *
With the live music over, Caro and Nic were working the floor, making sure that everyone was having a good time. Everything was running smoothly. There were queues at the bar and queues for the toilets, but manageable ones in both cases, and no-one seemed to be complaining. Their head of security had reported a bit of a ruckus when he had turned a small group of men away because the club was actually full, but they had finally seen sense and moved on somewhere else.
“You should be proud.”
Standing on the balcony of the VIP area surveying the throngs of people below and lost in her own thoughts, Caro jumped. Turning towards the owner of the voice that had just whispered in her ear, she saw Alik, holding
two glasses of champagne. He'd changed after the band's set, now dressed in black jeans and fitted dark blue shirt that clung to his torso, unbuttoned enough to reveal his tattoos.
“I mean it,” he continued. “You and Nic should be really proud of what you've made happen here.” His eyes swept over her. “And you look incredible.” He passed her one of the glasses and gently touched her forearm.
A bolt of electricity shot up towards her neck, making her shiver, despite the heat of the club. She had almost forgotten how much of an effect he could have. “Thank you,” she said, softly. “You were pretty amazing too.”
They stood there for a moment and the rest of the people in the club melted away. Caro remembered all the times she and Alik had almost been together, recent memories of The Pit coming to the forefront of her mind.
“Is that for me?” Edie swooped in and grabbed the glass that Alik was holding. “I'm so thirsty! I didn't realise you could work up so much of a sweat in a rock club. Things seems to have gone okay tonight, haven't they, Caro?”
Caro mentally compared their outfits.
Edie in gold, Caro in silver; the winner had been decided.
* * *
Some time later, Alik broke away from the group of women in the VIP lounge to take a breather. Edie had been there to start with, entertaining them with tales from Pretty Rich Things and persuading them to check out The Magpie. But she had disappeared what felt like eons ago and Alik was starting to struggle for conversation.
He sought out Caro, gesturing to her that he wanted a drink after he'd been to the VIP facilities and she nodded.
He pushed to door of the gents open, seeing it was empty except for one of the cubicles. As he glanced towards the door, he noticed a pair of gold, glittery heels just poking out from beneath it. A pair of heels he was very familiar with. Particularly as he had bought them.
“Edie?” he called.
Wondering what the hell she was doing in the gents, he gently pushed the door open and was met with the sight of Edie in front of Billy, sucking him off. He met the eyes of his bassist, a mixture of anger, disbelief and disgust clouding them.
“What the fuck?”
Edie collapsed on the floor, coughing. “It's not what it looks like.” She scrambled to her feet and rearranged her dress.
“What's up, mate? She never do that to you?” said Billy, zipping up his jeans. “I reckon there's a lot of things she didn't do with you, she's fucking filth.”
Alik looked between the pair, unsure as to who he was more appalled with. Edie, for apparently cheating on him with one of his best friends - a band mate, for Christ's sake - or Billy, for moving in on his girlfriend.
“Alik, it hasn't been going on long...” Edie went to grab his arm, but he pulled away.
“It shouldn't have been going on at all,” he replied.
Billy smirked. “I'm going to get some drinks, anyone joining me?” When neither Alik or Edie moved, he shrugged and headed out of the room.
“Alik, I'm sorry.” Edie said.
As he looked at Edie standing in front of him, Alik knew that the decision he had made the previous evening had been vindicated. Even though the circumstances in which it had come about hadn't been what he had anticipated.
Edie batted her eyelashes at him, eyes that glistened with unshed tears. Crocodile tears as far as Alik was concerned.
“We're done, Edie,” he said, flatly.
She clutched at his arm. “It was a mistake, it only happened a couple of times...”
“A couple of times too many! Edie, you were supposed to be my girlfriend.”
“Ha! For all the time you've been pining over Caro bloody Flynn and you say I'm meant to be your girlfriend?” Edie said. “You took her to Greece, protected her at the festival, and don't think I missed the way you were looking at her all the time we were at Newcomen Farm. It's difficult to compete with that.”
In his mind, Alik knew there was no competition. He should always have been with Caro, and regretted not making it happen sooner.
“Billy made me feel special, he wanted to be with me, Hell, he wanted me.” Edie's tirade against him continued. “I don't have to play second-best to another woman or even a guitar with him, he's totally into me.”
“Of course he is,” Alik said.
“I suppose you'll go running to her now,” she said, crossing her arms.
Alik sighed. “Even if I was, it would have nothing to do with you. It's over.”
He made his way back to the bar where Caro was quietly chatting with Poppy, trying to comprehend what he'd just seen. He downed the drink that Caro had waiting for him and gestured to the barman for another, before sinking that in one as well. As he asked for a third, Poppy grabbed his wrist.
“Hey, slow down, I know we're all celebrating tonight, but we want to remember it in the morning.”
“You might want to remember it, Poppy, but right now I'm trying to erase the memory of seeing my ex-girlfriend with my bandmate's dick in her mouth.”
Poppy almost spat out her drink. “What?”
“You heard. I just found Edie and Billy in the VIP gents and she was sucking his cock.”
“It might not have been the first time...” said Poppy.
“Oh no, I've found out it wasn't. Edie told me so herself. Happened a couple of times apparently.”
“We, um, maybe thought something happened at Newcomen Farm when you guys were recording. She was acting really oddly.” Poppy glanced at Caro.
Alik finally got his third drink, savouring the taste of the whisky more on this occasion. He looked Caro directly in the eye, wanting her more than anything, but knowing that now wasn't the right time. He wasn't in the right place, in the right frame of mind to be anything but angry. And she didn't deserve that. He didn't want it to represent just a revenge shag, which is what it would amount to if he did anything with her tonight. He slammed the empty glass down on the bar and stared blindly into the main body of the club.
“I need to get laid.”
Chapter Forty-Four
In the days that followed his discovery of Edie and Billy together, Alik had pretty much turned into a hermit. After getting horrendously drunk and hooking up with some random groupie the night of The Indigo Lounge opening, he had retreated to his flat and spent the next week ordering in take-away, drinking anything he could get his hands on, and writing songs.
All the anger he harboured was being channelled into new work, some for Blood Stone Riot and some to add to 'Girl From The Blue.' There were pieces of paper scattered all over the living room; covering the table, sofa, and floor, as lyrics just came flowing out of him. The best thing he'd written was called 'Poisoned Rationality', which tried to detail his balanced emotions about his relationship, or former relationship, with Edie. He had moments of crashing rationality, when he was able to compartmentalise the fact that they were from two different worlds and had been drifting apart for a while, to poisonous thoughts about how long it had been going on for, how many times they had been together and how much he wanted to hurt them.
And then interspersed with that were thoughts of Caro and what he should do with his feelings for her, now there could be an opportunity for them. But would she see it as being second best? Taking a sip from a beer can on the table, and coughing when he realised that he'd managed to put a cigarette out in it, he heard someone hammering on the door.
He dragged himself up from the sofa and headed to the front door.
“Oh, and you look like shit.” Nate barged past Alik into the flat, surveying the detritus of discarded pizza boxes, noodle cartons and plastic boxes that once contained curry - and probably accounted for some of the t-shirt stains. “Where the hell have you been, mate, we've been worried about you. You're not answering your phone.”
Alik shrugged, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. “Where do you think?”
Nate cleared a place on the sofa and sat down, picking up one of the leaves of paper. He scanned over the lyrics, some wor
ds angrily crossed through, lines arrowing where words and phrases should go. “Poppy told me what happened,” he said. “Have you spoken to Billy?”
Alik gave a harsh laugh. “He's last on my list right now.” The bassist had tried to call on several occasions, but Alik had rejected him each time. It had been the same with Edie.
“You guys need to sort it out though. We’re due to start the promotion around the EP soon.”
“What do you want me to say? 'Thanks for shagging my girlfriend, Billy, I hope you and Edie are really happy together?'” Alik started shaking beer cans, trying to find one that had some left and also wasn't contaminated. “Not going to happen.”
“What went wrong with you and Edie anyway? She was starting to become more involved in band stuff.”
“Yeah, and I wonder why that was.”
“What are you going to do about Caro?”
Alik met his friend's eye. “What do you think I should do about Caro?”
“I know that the two of you have been circling each other for ages. And that you're happier talking about her than you've ever been talking about Edie. And that you seem very comfortable in each other's company. I suggest you stop wasting time and get on with it.” Nate cast his eye over Alik's appearance. “Although I also suggest you take a shower first and clean up. You stink, mate.”
* * *
Alik was ridiculously nervous. More than when he had performed on a stage in front of the crowd of hundreds at the Wilde Park Festival. More nervous than when he and Nate played their first ever gig at some tiny pub in the back end of nowhere to about nine people.
He had been pacing up and down his living room for the last ten minutes, picking his phone up, putting it down again. And repeat.
Now that the dust had settled and things had become calmer for everyone, it was time to make a move.
He needed to go for what he had always wanted over the last few months.
It was just one call. One invitation. But it was an invitation that could be thrown back in his face and rejected out of hand without a second thought.
Cocktails, Rock Tales & Betrayals Page 18
