A New Life Series - Finisher Set

by Samantha Jacobey

  This appearance is the first step; the first hurdle. We make it today, and it’s all downhill from here; Tori reassured herself. The photographer had been a real pro, putting the girl at ease and getting a wide range of shots that would be used by various magazines. They in turn would be providing coverage and publicity for the group.

  Using an authoritative voice, her brother explained the day’s agenda in detail, “The audience isn’t very big. And, according to plan, we don’t have to do anything but play. That’s easy. We go out, do our thing, and we’re done.” He gave her a small chuckle, happy that things had worked out, and she could be so close.

  “I know, Danny. I’m fine. Like yesterday, I got this covered.” She smiled at his concern, hoping it really turned out that simple.

  Arriving at the studio, the group made their way inside. Tori drew a deep breath, vaguely surprised by the number of people snapping more pictures of them as they exited the car and entered the building. “Wow, I guess I wasn’t expecting that kind of welcome.”

  “It’s a fact of life,” Collin pointed out in a clipped tone, “Famous people get in pictures. Don’t sweat it,” he commanded, “You look great.” He let the compliment land easily, and it gave Tori a few butterflies that he thought so, considering their past.

  The studio being a familiar stop for the band, they were accustomed to the hustle and bustle of the industry, and that afforded her a small amount of comfort. She may not have been acquainted with what would be going on, but the rest of the guys were. If anything wasn’t what it should be, they would let her know.

  Dropping his bride off at the green room with the others, Michael gave her a small kiss, “Break a leg, baby girl.” Leaning his forehead against hers, he rocked her side to side for a moment, “I’ll see you after the show.”

  “Yeah,” she exhaled a small puff of air, “No worries, love; I’m fine.”

  Leaving her, he made his way down the hall, following Pete as he lumbered along. All old hat for Michael, he knew he wanted to have a look at the crowd. Frowning, he stopped next to the man who stood five inches shorter and at least fifty pounds heavier, noticing he had begun preparing a cup of coffee. “You’re not gonna have a look around?” his voice dripped with disdain.

  Waving his stir stick, the other man replied curtly, “Why? The studio’s got security. What’s there to be afraid of?” His brow held deep lines, his displeasure at being told how to do his job obvious.

  Michael scowled but said nothing, leaving him to his refreshments. Reaching the stage area, he mentally walked through the conversation he had had with Pete the day before. He has a hands off approach; he recalled, putting technology and other people in charge of the group’s well- being. With any other band, he might get away with that.

  His eyes made a pass across the smiling faces, and he moved against the wall. Michael didn’t like the man’s attitude one bit; he’s fat and lazy, in my book. Some things you have to see and do for yourself. He wasn’t ready to ask for his old job back, but he was getting close, the reasons fresh on his mind.

  Michael knew that deep down, Tori feared being recognized, and he understood why. The possibility that it could happen exists, however slim it might be, and that’s only part of the danger. He knew the others didn’t fully appreciate those things, but that was ok, he had her back.

  Satisfied with what he had seen, he left the spot to make his way around, running into a few of the staffers that he knew. He stopped to shake hands and share passive conversation, and within a few minutes, he had caught up on the news and felt as if he had never left.

  Back in their room, Tori joined in the conversation, using the opportunity to mask her growing trepidation at the adventure. “You guys wear more makeup than I do,” she teased her brother openly as a young woman painted his features for him.

  “Yeah,” he agreed with a grin, “Gotta look good, don’t I?”

  Tori gave her makeup a dubious glare in the mirror and slid into a vacant chair. “So, they do it for me?”

  “You relax,” the girl smiled as she answered for him, “And I’ll have you fixed up in no time.”

  Tori grinned at the easy way the young woman handled herself. Leaning back into the seat, she maintained her outward appearance, reminding herself that this would be a whole new world for her. All she had to do was follow their lead.

  It only took a few minutes to complete the touch ups, and the group was ready to go. Brian sat thumbing through a magazine, and she tried to take her own advice by mimicking him.

  After about ten minutes, when it seemed to be taking too long, she demanded in an irritated tone, “How much longer, do you think?”

  “It doesn’t matter; we wait. Have patience, young one,” Brian waved his hand at her, as if he were plying her with some mystical force. The group laughed, continuing to joke with one another and keeping the mood light. Finally, a young man knocked on the door, ready to guide them to the stage.

  Feeling her gut tighten, Tori followed behind Collin, keeping herself in check. They walked out to the area that had been set up for them, and for an instant nausea washed over her. She wished she hadn’t sworn off vodka as she took her place and strapped on her guitar.

  Breathing deeply, she tried to ease herself into the part, but could feel the tension of her muscles while her heart pounded in her chest. Then, moments before they were announced, she caught sight of Michael across the stage, watching from the far side.

  He stared at her, smiling broadly. Seeing his quick thumbs up signal and wave, she felt more at ease. Grinning back at her mate, she blew him a small kiss, butterflies briefly fluttering in her chest at the intimate response she had given him.

  Closing her eyes, she mentally pushed her fears aside. Hearing the band’s name, she opened them to discover that Kyle, the host, had left his seat and trotted across the shiny wood floor, moving towards them. Seeing the camera swing around, Tori frowned, aware that things were about to go not according to plan.

  Reaching the group, he grinned ear to ear as he accepted a hand-held mic, which he promptly shoved into her brother’s face, “So, Brian, tell us about this newest band member. You brought her in pretty quick, don’t you think?”

  Brian only stared at the man, dazed by the unexpected confrontation.

  Trying again, “Do I need to rephrase the question?”

  “Uh, no,” he managed, “We aren’t prepared for an interview. We’re here to show off a bit, let you see what she can do.” He tilted his head slightly, flashing his famous smile.

  “Umm, yeah. We’ll only take a minute here, you know, to get some particulars. Maybe you could give us a quick idea of why your sister was chosen.”

  “Why?” Brian played it cool, “Because she’s good; that’s why.”

  Kyle only grunted, displeased that he wasn’t getting anywhere with the new bass player. Pushing ahead, he added a bit of accusation to his voice, “Yeah, I’m sure she is. However, it’s come to our attention that your sister died in a car accident some twenty years ago. Makes it kinda hard for her to play in your band, don’t ya think?”

  The color drained from Brian’s face, and Tori froze for half a second before commanding her brother in French, “Don’t answer that.” Caught in the middle, he flicked his gaze nervously between the man who grilled him and his sister’s clear blue eyes.

  With a simple shrug, he tried to bow out of the conversation, “I’m really not prepared to talk about any of this.”

  Trying to be helpful, Cody cut in, “Look man, we’re here to play.”

  A sullen expression crossed the host’s face, and his glare darted to the girl, who gave him an icy stare. He poked the mic towards her, “Would you like to tell us who you really are?”

  Without blinking, she produced an evil grin, taken with an urge to grab the device and stomp it for him. Shaking her long dark waves instead, Tori shifted her position and gave the count, the rest of the band joining her on cue. As soon as the instruments started to play
, the man backed away from her, but she didn’t take her eyes off of him as she ran through the riffs and poured her heart onto the stage.

  The band played on in true form, and by the end of the set, they had made it clear that the accident had taken someone they loved, but not their will to go on. Finishing the piece, they rallied up and marched quickly to the side, making their way down the hallway to the back. On the surface, Tori appeared calm, but on the inside she was fuming.

  Bursting into their dressing room, she blurted out, “Danny, we can’t do this. People already know too much, and it’s only going to get worse.”

  “Come on sis, calm down,” shaking his head, he waved her off with both hands, “We don’t really have a choice. Either way, the story comes out, whether you stay in the band or not. So you might as well suck it up and get ready for the spotlight.”

  Glaring at him, the line of her jaw grew tight. I can’t believe I actually agreed to this; she chastised herself. Her voice choppy with disgust she blustered, “And you don’t see this as a problem? I mean, all we were supposed to do was play.” She waved her hands, using them to punctuate her words, “You saw the way he came after us. We’re the scoop. People are going to be poking around, trying to find out everything they can. They don’t care about the music; they want the story.”

  Stopping short, a dark thought sprang into her mind, “You can’t tell people what I shared with you the other night.”

  Brian and the others only stared at her, not ready to interrupt her tirade.

  Tori’s expression changed into one of bewilderment, considering what she had actually told them. “Some of that stuff’s classified,” she faltered. “I could get in trouble for saying anything about it.”

  Shaking his head, Collin cut in, “How can your story be classified? It’s like, your personal life.” He shrugged, palms up, “They can’t tell you not to talk about it.”

  She pursed her lips, considering his words, and then elaborated, “But there are other people involved; other lives that could be put at risk.” Seeing he wanted to protest further, she put her hand up to cut him off.

  “Please,” her voice became submissive, almost begging, “Keep everything I shared with you in confidence. I feel like I shouldn’t have done it, and repeating it out in public is going to make things worse.”

  Clenching his jaw as he glared at her, Collin said nothing more.

  Glowering into his eyes, she demanded, “Who’d you tell?”

  Wide-eyed with surprise at her deduction, he almost denied the action altogether. Glancing at the floor, he shoved his hands in his pockets. Running his tongue over his upper lip, his gaze slowly rose to meet hers, “I might have given a few details to Mark. I didn’t realize it was a secret.”

  “Holy shit!” Her hands flew to her hips in disgust, “I told you that I had been given a deal by the Feds and gotten away with murder, and you didn’t realize it was a secret?” Her voice grew loud, and she practically shouted, “What kind of fucking moron are you?”

  Reaching up to lay a hand on her shoulder, Brian tried to calm her, “Let’s take it down a notch, shall we?”

  Flicking his hand off with an angry twist of her wrist, Tori didn’t want to hear it. Using the other hand, she pointed her index finger in Collin’s face, “If anything happens to my brother because of this, you’ll regret it.”

  Collin burst into a loud laugh. “Don’t threaten me; I’m not buying your ‘I’m a badass bitch’ story, ok? So do your fucking job, play the fucking guitar, and don’t sweat it. Nothing’s gonna happen. It’s called publicity.” His tone mocked her ignorance, “It’s what makes people wanna know more about us.”

  Tori shook her head as he spoke, aware they were in a tough spot due to her poor judgment, and his.

  Lowering her hand, she clenched her teeth and stormed out of the room, stomping down the hall. Turning a corner, flashing lights bombarded her, as she had come face to face with a large group of reporters gathered to take photos and try for interviews. Backpedaling, she re-entered the room, and stepped up to the man who had put things in motion, striking him in the face and knocking him back onto the leather couch behind him.

  While he dabbed at the blood that streamed from his nose, she leaned over him, returning her finger to its previous position, so close it practically scraped the tip. “Let’s make one correction. I am now a pissed off, badass bitch,” she hissed loudly, “And you don’t tell anyone another God damned thing without my say, you got that, you dumb son of a bitch?”

  Piles of Money

  Collin stared into her fiery blue eyes, wishing he could knock the shit out of her. Unfortunately, she was Brian’s sister, and what’s worse, he would have Michael to contend with. “Get the fuck outta my face,” he replied as he continued to stem the flow from his left nostril.

  Straightening, she informed the group bitterly, “There’s a large congregation of press outside. We need to get moving, so we’re going to walk through them without saying a word.” Giving Collin a cold glare, she instructed, “Don’t smile, don’t wave…walk. We get in the car, and we get the hell out of here. When we get back to the house, we can assess the damage and plan our next move.”

  Collin didn’t argue, but she could tell by his pout he wasn’t keen on taking orders from her. Glowering down at him, her lips curled into a snarl, “When we get back to the house, we’re gonna have it out.” Pointing her hand back and forth between them, “You and me,” she snapped. “I can tell you think this’s a game. I’m gonna give you the chance to find out the hard way.” Twirling around to put her back to him, she made sure everyone would be ready to leave when her husband returned.

  Michael opened the door a few minutes later to discover the faint blood smear on the new drummer’s face. “Oh, shit,” he mumbled, turning his palms to the ceiling and raising his eyebrows as a silent demand for an explanation.

  Ignoring the request, Tori filled him in on her plan to get them out without giving anything else away. He glanced back and forth between her and Collin for a brief moment before he shrugged, “Fine with me.”

  “Wait, where’s Pete?” Cody commented, aware that the other man had not wanted to make the trip with them to begin with. “Isn’t he riding back with us?”

  “Only if he’s in the car when we get there,” Michael answered in disgust, “Send him a text if you want and tell him to get moving.”

  Nodding, with fingers bouncing across the face of the device, Cody quickly complied. As soon as the message had been sent, he gave the command, “Alright, let’s go.”

  Moving as a group, the four band members followed while Michael led the way, ploughing through the line of reporters. Glancing back, Tori could see that Collin Graham wasn’t following her directions. He wasn’t talking, but he smiled and gave little waves to people, leaving him looking like Mr. Nice guy. Blood boiling, Tori kept her features sedate, storing the rage for their confrontation.

  Arriving at the limo, the group climbed in to make the trip to their house in New Jersey, their official security personnel nowhere to be seen. Still angry with Collin, Tori stared at him through squinted lids as they rode, the silence of the chamber stifling.

  Eventually, Michael asked what had happened, and she broke into a torrent of German, her favorite language when pissed. Her mate listened as she explained that her story had been leaked to Mark, and passed on to God knows who else.

  Hearing this, Michael looked stricken. “How could you?” he demanded, his eyes cut over at the guilty party; all he said, but more than enough.

  The man under fire drew in a deep breath, his features shifting at the idea he had, in fact, made a bad choice. “Look,” Collin blurted, his voice tense, “The media and the public eat this shit up. Crazy stories sell, and we could use a lot of free publicity here; we could make piles of money on this.”

  Tori cut in, “Money don’t mean shit when you’re dead.”

  The remaining band members listened to the debate. Drama had neve
r been a problem for them before, and it seemed hard to decide which side to take at the moment.

  The car rolled into the long drive and arrived at the front steps. Collin shoved the door open, eager to get into the house and avoid the confrontation if he could. Scrambling out behind him, Tori didn’t wait to make good on her word, giving the slender man a violent shove.

  Swinging around, he taunted her, “Oh no, you bitch! No way’re we gonna give you any more fodder for your bullshit stories.” He rubbed at his nose; the inside caked with dry blood.

  Dropping her cumbersome jacket to the ground, she called back in semi-southern, “Wha’s th’ matta’… you ‘fraid you gonna get yo’ ass kicked by a girl?” Holding her hands palms up, she made a beckoning motion by curling the tips of her fingers at him. “Come on buddy, now’s your chance. You think I’m lyin’, come an’ prove it.” Tori shifted her weight from one leg to the other, calmly waiting for him to make the first move.

  Collin danced in a hopping motion, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Looking over at Michael, he pressed for input, “Is she serious? Or is this a game you two play; she picks the fights, and you finish them.”

  Michael spit out a short laugh, “Man, you take a swing at her, I’m not bailing you out. You’re on your own.”

  The other two members of the group stepped back, observing that Michael, clearly under the belief that Tori would win if Collin gave in to her challenge, had crossed his arms in disgust. It would be a long shot, they were certain, and the risk of having either of them injured would be too great.

  “Hey, why don’t you two knock it off,” Cody tried to intervene, only egging his friend on.

  “What’s the matter, you think she can take me?” Collin tossed angrily, slapping his chest with his fist.

  Cody raised both hands in surrender, “No, man; I don’t wanna see you guys fight, that’s all.” He tried to smooth things, but Tori stood gaping at her nemesis, and he still hopped about, considering his options.