Back To The Viper (2 page)

“Baby, I told you a week ago that tonight I’m seeing my friends from the band I used to play in.”

“I thought it wouldn’t take so long…”

“I’ll try to come back by eleven, but I can’t promise anything.” Craig Bloomingdale was already putting his coat on, taking a pleased look at himself in the mirror. He was ready to conquer the high-tech world.

“Eleven! So late! So I’m receiving the guests alone, then?”

“I’ll call you around ten.” He kissed his wife. At that moment, his little daughter rushed to him.

“How are you, beauty?” He picked her up, and she giggled. “Daddy’s going to work so that he can buy you more toys.” He pinched her nose and then put her down on the floor. He kissed his wife again and went out.

A few minutes later, he was driving to Cisco Systems’ office. As he was going through downtown San Jose, he looked at his schedule; at eleven he had a meeting with the manager of their Beijing branch, at one he had to discuss the budget with Al, and at five there was that super important meeting with Oracle’s executive manager. As usual, the day promised to be awfully tense. For nearly eight years, Craig had been working in the corporate world. He couldn’t complain because his salary paid the bills and fed his three-member family. He smiled at the thought of becoming a father for a second time in six months. What worried him was that he couldn’t spend enough time with his family. Sometimes he worked thirteen- or fourteen-hour days, and he was almost never at home before eight in the evening. For the last few years, Craig had been dreaming more and more about The Four Hour Workweek: he would do only the essential work with a couple of virtual assistants taking on part of his duties and, most importantly, he’d be an angel investor in the new Buffer or Uber. But now, he had to provide for his family and he couldn’t invest even the minimum amount of capital in risky endeavors. That was why he was putting up with his current lifestyle and workload.

He parked his car next to the other managers’ cars in front of Cisco’s office and got out. He was just about to lock it when a small photograph fell on the ground. He picked it up and recognized his old friends from The Jackal: Ashley, Wayne, Chad, and himself. It had been taken several years before. They had already given up on their dream to become the “new rock stars.” Craig examined the photograph more closely – all of them seemed to be smiling and looked more positive than he remembered from their last meeting. When the photograph had been taken, Ashley hadn’t yet given birth, Craig looked younger – he’d just got engaged, and Wayne hadn’t had the anchor beard he was wearing these days. The only one who seemed unchanged was Chad. Craig wondered what Chad was doing now, and then lifted his eyes and headed for the office. Well, he’d find out in a few hours, anyway.

Chapter 4

“Okay, good, now turn a bit to the right… good. And look at me seductively… Excellent! I want you to express innocence. Narrow your eyes and…” The sound of shots taken one after another echoed around the studio. “Perfect! Don’t move! You look so sexy that you turn
me
on; imagine what you’ll do to the straighties out there.” Chad managed to snap one more photograph before his cell phone started vibrating in his back pocket.

“I’m sorry, Sidney, would you excuse me?” He took the phone out. “Yes?”

“Mr. Keeney, I’m calling to remind you about your meeting with the guys from The Jackal. I can see ‘27
th
June, eight o’clock, Gordon Biersch’ marked in your calendar. You’ve marked it as ‘high priority.’”

“Oh, yes, thanks, Claire. I appreciate it. I was completely engrossed, and if you hadn’t reminded me, I’d surely have forgotten.” Chad ended the call and hurried to finish the photo shoot. During the conversation, the girl had been standing and waiting with a bored expression, wearing only panties.

After an hour, Chad had some free time, so he called his boyfriend.

“Hello?”

Chad immediately recognized Martin’s voice.

“Baby, how are you?”

“Well, I’m having a row with your cat. He won’t let go of my cashmere wool sweater.”

“I’m glad you two are having fun. Listen, tonight I won’t be able to attend your rehearsal…”

“I knew it! I’m always uncrowned by some anorexic model! I’m starting to get really jealous. What makes me less important than them?”

“Martin, this has nothing to do with my work. I’m seeing my old buddies from my former band.”

“Yes, of course you’d rather see
them
than come and watch
me
at the theater! I’ve been talking you into this for weeks and when you finally agree, you come up with this thing about your schoolmates.”

“Friends, not schoolmates,” Chad corrected him.

“Whatever! Tell me, is it too much to ask for my boyfriend to come and watch me during my dress rehearsal?”

“Baby, tomorrow I’ll do my best…”

“‘Baby, I’ll do my best.’ I’ve heard this a zillion times… No! Garfield, let go of my sweater! It’s not a toy for you to play with, come here!”

Chad waited a while and then added: “I’ll make sure I come home before midnight. If you go somewhere with your colleagues after the performance, call me.” He ended the call, leaving his boyfriend to chase the cat. He tried to picture them – they must have looked ridiculously funny. Despite Martin’s reaction, Chad had to go; he owed it to his old friends. Besides, this year marked ten years since the unlucky showcase that had changed the fates of all four of them. He’d always thought that if the producer had approved them during that showcase, everything would have developed in a completely different way. Most probably he wouldn’t have been working as a freelance photographer in San Francisco… Who knew? But then again, which song had they been supposed to perform in order for the audience to have liked them and for them to have signed a contract? Chad shook his head. These thoughts were pointless – one had to live here and now.

Chapter 5

“Good evening, ladies. Do you have a reservation?”

Ashley gave the waiter a piece of paper with a number written on it. He took it and, after a second, he showed them to the table that Craig had reserved a week before.

“Would you like anything to drink?”

“I’d like a soda with lemon.” Ashley left her bag on the table and opened the menu.

“I’d like a scotch,” Peggy added without thinking.

The waiter started to the bar. During this time, Peggy was nervously looking at the door of the restaurant. The table they were sitting at overlooked the whole place. Ashley picked a margherita pizza and while waiting for the waiter to come back saw Chad, who was just coming in.

“Honey, how are you?” They kissed and he took a seat next to Ashley.

Peggy was looking at him, beaming. Chad gave her a questioning look and she offered her hand hastily.

“Peggy Brazwick, nice to meet you. I’m a friend… uhh… colleague of Ashley’s.”

“Chad Keeney, nice to meet you.” He shook her hand. “That’s interesting. This is the first time in ten years there’s been an outside person on our meeting.”

“That’s the way it is! Traditions change. Tell me how you’re doing? How’s Martin?” Ashley asked him.

“I’m fine, and so is Martin. He got mad that I didn’t go to watch him during his dress rehearsal, but I had no choice. My friends are above all else. And how are you doing? How’s Briana?”

“How do you think? Plaguing her mother all the time.” Ashley sighed and took a sip from the drink that had just been served.

For a while, there was silence, but soon Peggy broke it.

“Chad, do you like the theater? I’m dying for Broadway.”

“What a coincidence! So am I. What’s your favorite musical?”

“The last one I watched was
Cinderella
, but
Legally Blonde
remains my favorite.”

“Martin and I last watched
Kinky Boots
– Billy Porter performs remarkably…” Chad had to interrupt himself to answer a phone call. “Hello, I’m listening! Will you excuse me, ladies? I need to make a personal call,” he said, moving a bit farther from his cell phone. He stood up and Peggy’s gaze followed him. She was starry-eyed.

“He’s so cute! Is he single?”

Ashley laughed.

“Chad? He’s gay! Didn’t you get he was referring to his boyfriend when we were talking?”

“Really?” Peggy was disappointed. “Too bad. He didn’t mention Martin was his boyfriend.”

“What else could he be?” Ashley thought, but didn’t say anything. After a while Craig, who was coming straight from Cisco’s office, joined them. Once again, Peggy was disappointed to learn Craig was married. Only Wayne remained. Around nine o’clock, he finally arrived.

“What’s up, bro?” Craig greeted him warmly.

“The flight was delayed; the plane took off at around seven instead of at six.”

“You should take earlier flights. Look what time it is!” Craig said, displeased.

“Now, look at him! It takes you no more than fifteen minutes to get here, and I’m coming all the way from Los Angelеs. I wonder why we always only take Craig into account and meet in San Jose. It’s inconvenient for the others, too. Chad, Ashley, it takes you at least an hour to get here, doesn’t it?”

“Wayne, get something to drink before you eat us alive,” Chad suggested.

“You came here by plane?” asked Peggy, who until now had been only sitting and staring at Wayne, the way cats stare at their prey.

“Wayne’s come from LA,” Ashley explained.

“And who are you?” Wayne asked. Although he had seen her already, no one had introduced her to him.

“Peggy
Brazwick
, a friend of Ashley.”

“The friends of my friends are my friends.” Wayne shook her hand.

The meeting of The Jackal’s members wasn’t any different from their previous meetings. Everyone was talking about their everyday lives. Craig said that he was responsible for Cisco’s investment business, which was worth millions of dollars, and that he was under great pressure. However, he boasted about becoming a father for a second time very soon. Wayne, for his part, told the others about the most extreme stunts he’d performed that year, about the famous actors he knew personally, as well as about some popular actresses he’d flirted with. Chad complained about how boring it was to photograph models all day long, but also proudly announced that photographs of his had been published in
National Geographic
. He and Martin had been to Barcelona, where Chad had taken the photographs he’d later sent to the magazine. Ashley was the only one who wasn’t involved in the conversation and who was saying nothing. Wayne, who found her behavior odd, asked her: “Ash, how about you? How’s the little girl?”

“She’s very well; already rides a bike and draws… I… can’t complain; I’m alive and kicking.”

“Is your daughter four years old?” Craig asked her. “Mine is turning three next October. Let’s get together some day with the kids!”

“It’s a great idea, but I work a 2/2 job. I guess the weekends are the only time when you don’t work?”

“Sometimes I work Saturdays, too,” Craig laughed.

“Okay, we’ll figure it out…”

“All right, but why do I find you more serious than usual?” Wayne interrupted her. “Has anything happened?”

“No, nothing. It’s just…” Ashley continued with bitterness in her voice. “Today I remembered it’s been ten years since our live showcase at The Viper Room and…” She sighed. “I realized that my life is so different from the dreams I once had for myself.”

“You know, I was thinking the same earlier today. I found an old photo of ours and we all look so young, happy and smiling in it,” Craig added. “Life has changed us so much!”

“I, too, often ask myself what would have been today if the producer had liked us…” Chad began, but was angrily interrupted by Wayne.

“Please, just don’t bring up that subject, not today!”

“It’s exactly because today marks ten years since our live showcase that we need to talk about it! What else could we talk about, our various affairs?”

“Now, now, boys, let’s not ruin the evening! There are ladies present,” Craig interfered.

“What producer are you talking about?” Peggy asked whispering. Ashley only waved her hand, meaning it was a long story. She didn’t feel like giving explanations now.

“Chad,” Ashley began, “you know, I’m asking myself the same.”

“Back then the audience just didn’t like our song. That’s all,” Wayne replied curtly.

Ashley ignored him and went on: “Fate is generous to those who are stubborn and persistent in their efforts. If we had swallowed our egos and kept looking for our road to fame, perhaps we wouldn’t be having this conversation now.”

An awkward silence settled in, though it was apparent that the rest of the band shared her opinion. Wayne was the only one sitting sulky and displeased – his ego was hurt.

“As a matter of fact,” Ashley resumed, “have you noticed that the song “Burn” by The Dragon’s Circle that’s been all over the charts now is quite similar to our “Where is Your Lover?””