Danielle made some muffled grunting speech-like sounds in agreement as she stuffed her current slice in her face. I pointed at her, nodding and challenging Maddie, “What she said, runt.”
The cueball smirked. “You don't speak bacon. She was pointing out that you're smiling when you protest.” She took a sip of her cola to hid her own teasing grin.
I muttered as I contemplated my own pizza slice, “This right here is why I should never let anyone up here.”
She shrugged. “We could go, and take our pizza with us.”
I sighed, shaking my head. “By international law, I'd have to seize the cheesy import at the border.” I made an imperiously dismissive shooing motion with a hand. “Be gone with you.”
She huffed as Danielle grinned at us. “Fine, I'll behave.” Then she hastily added. “Right after this. Oooooooooo.”
We moved ourselves and the box with the last two slices to the sitting area and then played the 'Let's ask Nala a Million Questions' game. I don't like that game. It is much more fun when someone else is being grilled under the spotlight.
We got Danielle laughing so hard at what I was doing to poor Devon, that she got a bad case of the hiccups. That only made Mads grin and snuggle in with her on the couch. For moral support, I'm sure.
Then she said as she traced the six-pack under Dani's shirt, “Don't you need to get ready for your date?”
I sputtered, “It isn't a date. I figured she'd find it interesting how I go about doing my podcasts. A professional courtesy.”
Dani laid it all out as she grabbed another slice, dangling it at me as she spoke, “So... she isn't your assistant. And you asked her to come to a club with you...”
I sighed and muttered, “Fuck. She thinks it's a date doesn't she?”
The two devil spawn just nodded with cheesy grins plastered on their faces. Then Madelyn asked, “Why, is that a problem? I saw her through the window at the Pike the other day, she was terrifyingly cute.”
I grumped out petulantly, “I hate you both.” Then answered, “No that would actually be pretty cool...” I qualified as I said, “If I had meant it that way. Come on, she was one of the popular girls in school. And me? I hadn't bloomed into this awesome specimen of majestic womanhood yet.”
This got dubiously raised eyebrows from them. This is why I love them, they call me on Na Na's bullshit. They saw my insecurity. Dani regarded her slice for a moment, took a bite, then offered, “But she said yes?”
I thought on that and admitted, “She didn't say no.”
They both snorted, the wretches. I flipped them off, and we all shared a smile, then I realized in a panic that Karmin might actually think it was a date. Rabid turtle farts on a bun, I had to get ready... “Get out. I need to get ready for the podcast...”
“Date.”
I blushed. “Shut up Maddie. As I was saying, I need to get ready for the rave...”
“Date.”
I growled in embarrassment, “Who's side are you on, Dani?”
Officer Smartass stepped up to me and kissed my cheek goodbye as Madelyn put her wig back on, “Always yours, Nal.”
Mads brushed her green locks back over her shoulder and stood on her tiptoes up to kiss my cheek too. “What she said. Call us with the sordid details of your date.”
I floundered as I defended, “I'm going to work, you know, my job?”
Then I exhaled as Danielle retrieved her gun belt and I walked them to the elevator, “Love ya ladies. See you later, unless you want to come for moral support?”
They shook their heads, and Dani said as she deftly secured her belt to her waist, “Your idea of music and ours is worlds apart, Nal. Besides, didn't you just assert that you were going to work?”
We all exchanged smiles and then they were on their way down in the elevator as I turned and looked toward my sleeping area. What the hell was I going to wear?
Chapter 8 – The Spartan
She had more leather and chains on over her faded black Rippers concert tee than she had teeth in her head. She went with heavy and black makeup, including an ultra high gloss lipstick. Na Na was one hot bitch when she wanted to be. I looked into the mirror to check her hawk, it was tall and proud.
I was about to head out when I smiled slyly and headed back to my dressing area and grabbed the huge heeled black leather platform boots. They were like my favorites, just taller. I pulled them up to my thighs, just shy of the bottom of the black mini Na Na wore and buckled the myriad of silver clasps down their length. Yes, the finishing touch, I'd tower over the anime cutie.
With that finishing touch, I grabbed my bag and headed down, opting for the stairs to give myself a moment to psyche myself up. When I reached the lobby doors, I looked at the reflection in the glass and the people massing outside.
I stood taller, seeing my reflection change from a girl playing dress-up, to a confident woman who owned her own life and was in total control of her situation. My resigned look morphed into a sneering smile as I let Na Na take over, her confidence filling me with her fire.
That's right world, I'm Na Na fuckin' Evermore. I shoved the doors open in a grandiose manner and strode out into the mass of my traveling posse which was exponentially larger than my daily crew. No less than twenty-five badass and pretty men and women in a similar state of dress as me. They roared in appreciation as I struck a pose for them, then pap cameras flashed.
I said loudly, “Let's get this fuckin' show on the road, shall we?”
They crowded around me as I headed for the Brandon-mobile. Giving the paparazzi a show I grabbed Keith's face with one hand and shoved him away, then draped my arms over Spike and Kat's shoulders to drag them along with me.
Spike held the door open for us and I swatted Kat's butt as she slid in before me and then I hopped in. Spike stepping up onto the door threshold and waved a hand in hand horns as he flicked out his multi-pierced tongue for the pap.
Then he slid into the seat, leaving me sandwiched snugly between the two of them. I wrapped my arms around their necks and pulled them into me in a rough hug as he shut the door. Then I let them go and exhaled as I relaxed back into the leather seats knowing the people outside couldn't see through the heavily tinted rear windows.
The others relaxed too now that the show was over, knowing we'd have to perform again when we reached the Spartan. Because someone had given the pap an anonymous tip as to where I'd be podcasting tonight. I made sure to give them plenty of time to get extra photographers at my place and the Spartan before we left when I sent in that tip. Hey, marketing is my thing, ok?
I asked, “So how's everyone tonight?”
Brandon held up a thumb as he drove. Bethany gave me a silly wave from the passenger seat. Kat did the same as she buried her face in her cell as she posted to social media sites about our 'wild' ride in. Likely alluding to drinking and making out with me like normal, without really coming out and saying it. Spike just gave me a grin. I swear one day the dam is going to burst, and all the words are going to fall out of the man, and we won't be able to shut him up. Not with all the duct tape in the world.
I smiled as I realized that maybe my core crew here was more than just business acquaintances for me. Were they actually becoming my friends? Well, we were already friends to an extent, they've seen me unguarded, but not completely, at my office and in the car. The question was, would I trust them to see the real me, devoid of Na Na at my home? Would I ever let them in that close to me?
The answer was a resounding and indecisive, 'I don't know.' Maybe one day. They were, after all, only around me to ride on the coattails of my local fame. Right?
Beth and Kat called out the mentions and pics already surfacing from the start of our outing. Good, it sounded like a good sampling. I had to make sure the saturation level of coverage was moderate, not heavy.
There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Oversaturation has a tendency to desensitize your target market. Like when a popular song is played on the radio eve
ry five seconds, and you eventually get sick of it and move on. So it was a real balancing act.
God, I'm a product. I lifted a finger to chew on as I thought about that. I had maybe another five good years before Na Na would have to move from the spotlight as my youth faded. I know thirty isn’t old in any way, but people want their idols to be these pretty, young people. Not someone holding on to their glory days.
I may retire Na Na sooner, when she is at the top of her game, if I can get the Empire renovated and turned into a destination. The Evermore brand is a powerhouse, and between the eCommerce, property investments, and the Empire, I'd be set for life. Then maybe I could just be Nala Dupree again?
As we arrived at our destination, Brandon said, “Shield's up.”
There was the usual line of people at the doors of the Spartan with the added bonus of a few paparazzi and even an E-Nation van. I'm sure Chuck, the owner of the Spartan appreciated the free notoriety his club got when I worked him into the rotation of both underground and legit music venues in the city.
The one thing I actually loved about my job was the chance to shine a spotlight on deserving artists as I gave them the Evermore stamp of approval. He stopped the SUV with our caravan of over ten vehicles strung out behind us, at the main doors of the utilitarian warehouse the Spartan had moved into, across the way from the Ballyhoo Club.
I glanced across the street to the twice as crowded, neon wonderland, that was Seattle's elite lesbian nightclub. Damn, the lines get longer and longer there every time I saw it. I keep meaning to talk with the owner, Bonnie, about the possibility of opening a second location on the opposite side of town. Maybe co-branding or something.
Brandon went to get out, and I asked the car, looking around, “We're friends right?”
They all paused, and the car was silent for a moment as I saw them all understanding what I was really asking. I was asking if we were more than just acquaintances who had similar goals.
Brandon spoke first. “If you asked that when we first met, I'd probably had said no. I mean, I know I was just latching onto your celebrity for something to do. We were friendly, sure. But now? I like to think we've moved past that superficial symbiosis. So yeah.”
The girls were nodding their agreement with his assessment. Then I was floored when Spike actually spoke up, “I was under the impression that as a collective, we were all friends here, carrying the weight of the implications and proprieties carried along with such an unspoken social contract. Invariably when a group of individuals occupies the same space for a prolonged period of time, connections are formed which carry with them, implicit communal ramifications and emotional attachments.”
I blurted out through a huge smile, “Holy fuck! Spike's a friggin' brainiac!”
We all shared a chuckle, and the pierced, tattooed, and spiky haired man blushed and offered, “Orville.”
I shook his hand enthusiastically. “Pleased to meet you, Orville. Nala.”
He grinned and went back to his silent but reassuring presence. I drew on Na Na and sat tall, pulling her armor around me. I looked around at my... friends, and said, “Let's get to it then, mahy bitches! Let's take these suckers down!”
They put on their game faces, with the hints of smiles showing, and we disembarked from the SS Brandon.
There were flashes blinding us, and microphones being shoved in our faces as the bouncers pushed people away. Lord, you would have thought a real celebrity had arrived. I snorted when I saw a news camera from KVRL next to the E-Nation camera crew. I shoved my face in the camera, hung my tongue out and shook my head side to side when I passed them.
One girl in line, who had one-half her head shaved bald, and as many face piercings as Spike, actually squeed when I walked past. I bit back a huge smile as I took a step backward and pointed at her with a nodding grin, then headed inside as she grabbed two guys in line with her and virtually vibrated with excitement while pointing at me and squealing.
My mother would be rolling over in her grave... if she were dead. I had groupies. That fact still struck me as so surreal. They all saw what I wanted them to see, when really I'd rather be curled up at home under a blanket with hot chocolate as I read some Jules Verne.
The boys had their own cameras going as we progressed. Brandon walking as he pointed suggestively at various girls as we moved through the crowd. I cocked an eyebrow when he also nodded at a guy that had a hairstyle similar to Spike's, giving the man the same suggestive smile. Interesting, am I learning something new about Brandon here?
He saw my attention on him, and he rolled his eyes and slugged my shoulder. I slugged him back, causing him to almost fall over. Oops. I gave him a toothy grin as he mouthed with a grin of his own, “Bitch.”
I chuckled as I made my way to the fringes of the mosh pit by the stage, as the opening act finished a cover of Hammish Stone's, Freaked. I started to angle a bit so that the boys would get the stage in the background as the headliner band, Steel Kissed, started to take the stage.
They were the reason I was there that night, well actually for their lead singer and guitarist Pria Steadson. Not only did she have great pitch control even when she was virtually screaming, but the woman could shred on her axe. Which was doubly awesome because just like her self-proclaimed hero, Mei Hammond from the Purple Horseshoes in London, Pria only had one arm.
She lost her left arm in a car wreck years back and thought her chances of a music career were gone. But after seeing Mei playing, she learned fingerstyle like Mei, and is now one of my favorite thrash acts. I pushed Chuck, to let her headline here tonight. It will be her first venture out of the underground scene and into a legit gig.
I saw her gearing up, so I did a couple test lines, yelling over the crowd as the guys gave me a thumbs up as I pushed a couple people away who were crowding me as people started crowding around us. My posse was moving around, giving me a buffer zone. In these boots, I towered over most of the guys here too, so I got a good view of the work my crew was doing.
I started headbanging when the drums started and thrashing side to side, feeling my braided hair under my shirt sliding around, wanting release. I yelled to the cameras. “Welcome to another Evermore Plain Truth! Where I offer no bullshit, just...”
The people closest to us and my posse all yelled out, “...the plain truth!”
I nudged a thumb back and said, “Tonight I wanted to showcase the... musical... stylings...” I trailed off, my mouth hanging open as a small figure made her way through the crowd toward me. My crew moved in front of her to keep my space clear. I made a cutting motion across my neck to the cameras then told my people, “Let her through.”
They separated, giving me a clear view of the overly cute and sexy woman dressed in black leathers head to toe, over a shirt with a plunging neckline, showing a tantalizing teasing amount of cleavage. My heart was racing as I blinked dumbly at the leather goddess in front of me, with her dark makeup and mirrored glasses.
I realized Karmin was dressed as Major, from Ghost In the Shell, and it was doing all kinds of interesting things to me as I felt a fire burning deep inside my core, radiating out to warm other interesting parts of me. Holy fuck on toast with jam, she was...
Shit... I realized how I must have looked just gawking there, stunned and drooling, and stood straighter, pulling on Na Na. I wrapped myself in her cloak of cocky self-assurance as I gave the shy looking girl, who was so out of place in a club like this, what I hoped was a winning smile. She looked down at her hands which she had clasped at her waist.
I took two long strides up to her and reached out to take both of her hands, pulling her back to my filming spot. I grinned down at her, she looked so much smaller when I had these boots on. She gave a sheepish smile, her face toward me. I couldn't see her eyes, which I so very much wanted to see just then. So I reached out and slid her glasses carefully off to reveal those glittering hazel eyes which looked to have stars twinkling in their depths.
She was breathtaking,
I wonder if she knew that?
I lowered my lips to her ear and whispered with a crooked smile, “Major? Really?”
She blushed profusely as she nodded. “It was the only thing I had that would even remotely work here. To blend in.”
I purred out, almost lustily, before I could stop Na Na, “And you certainly work it well.” What the turtle stacking hell, Nala?! But she did look good.
I recovered. “Why blend in when you were born to stand out?”
We stood there looking at each other as Pria went into a thrashing guitar solo. Oh. Umm... “Want to see how we do a podcast? It isn't as glamorous as your news crews, but...”
The heat between us was threatening to melt the heels of my boots.
She swallowed, nodded enthusiastically, and I straightened. She gave a thumbs up and said, “Do your best!”
With a cheering squad like that, I would, and I did. Though I was a little distracted by a certain walking anime queen, who was nothing but beaming smiles as I shared with the music world why Steel Kissed was worthy of notice by the music world.
When I was done and made sure the guys got a good shot of Pria on stage, I dropped my catch phrase for this particular podcast. “Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna watch the rest of this performance, so this is Na Na Evermore signing off, I offer no bullshit, just...” Everyone around me roared out, with a certain adorable short one adding her voice, “The plain truth!”
Then I only had eyes for Major.
Chapter 9 – What Just Happened?
I was so nervous getting ready to go watch Nala do her podcast at the Spartan. Was this a business thing or was it... something else? I blushed at the possibility. The punk scene wasn't really my thing, so I didn't have anything remotely suitable to wear to it. Kuso! I could either do just jeans and a tee, or something black.
I had looked at the only two possibilities in my closet. There was no way I would wear the Kira dress from Maid Assassin. I'd be eaten alive. My hand hesitated as I reached forward to the only other outfit. The jeans and t-shirt were looking better by the second as my hand closed on the cool black leather. Major it was.
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