Falling Stars (3 page)

Una
was finishing things with us when someone knocked and entered the room. It was
Richard and another man. Una stood up quickly.

"Father,"
she nodded. "Nicholas," She nodded again.

Ah,
this is Nicholas Shaw.
I’d never seen him in person. He’s an
extremely handsome older man.

"Una,
dear, how are things going?" Richard hugged her. Una looked irritated at his
open affection.

"Things
are going well, we were just finishing up." She smiled proudly.

"Absolutely
wonderful," he exclaimed. "I thought that since Nicholas was here we
could make some introductions." He gestured to Nicholas as he spoke.

"Ladies,
this is Nicholas Shaw, manager of
The Forgotten
." Una motioned
toward him.

We
greeted him in unison.

"Good
afternoon, Ladies. It's a pleasure to meet you." Nicholas spoke very
professionally and dignified. Well spoken, handsome, and manager of the current
hottest rock band, I was ready to swoon.

"Let
me see if the guys are still here in the building, perhaps you all could meet
before you begin your tour?" He turned and walked from the room.

"Excellent
idea Nicholas," Richard proclaimed. I watched him exit too.

"God
that man has the ass of a twenty year old." Kat whispered into my ear.

I
nudged her with my elbow and shushed her, but I couldn't disagree. Danger,
swoon coming, danger, swoon.

Una
turned back to finish the remaining items on our agenda, until we heard the
door open again. Nicholas entered with
The Forgotten
. I, of course, had known
the band just as everyone else in the country, so identifying who they were
wasn't a problem.

One
by one, they entered the room. Jimmy with the skinny build and long shaggy
black streaked blond hair. Elliott the large muscle man type with the shaved
head; Jackson the extremely tall with super short bleached out hair and goatee.
Then there was Christopher. Christopher was tall and lean, but still had
muscular definition and broad shoulders. His hair was midnight black with a
blue cast his unruly spikes. Their posters and pictures really didn't do their
appearance justice. They were ridiculously attractive. They definitely had all
the bad boy hotness you could ever want.

All
of them had some form of tattooing. Jimmy's arms covered in a multitude of
tattoos and both ears had large diamond studs. Elliott had a large tattoo on
his left bicep. A bicep that looked like it would rip his t-shirt sleeve at any
moment. The under part of his forearms had words I couldn't read. Large gauges
fitted into both his left and right lobes. Jackson had a double bar piercing
above his left eye and a lip ring. His tattoos were on his arms and I could see
part of one along the left side of his neck. Christopher tattooed similar to
Jackson, had a viper pierced lower lip. When he licked his bottom lip, I caught
a glimpse of a small silver ball in his tongue. Everyone sat across from us,
except for Christopher who chose to stand next Nicholas with a scowl on his
face.

There
was an uncomfortable silence and the glare on Christopher's face was insulting.
How could he hate us already? He didn't even know us. Una cleared her throat
and started making introductions.

Pointing
out each person as she spoke, "Jimmy, Jackson, Elliott, Christopher, this
is Kat, Laney, Serena, and Mia also known as
Hushed Mentality
. Ladies
this is
The Forgotten
."

"Welcome
to the tour" Elliott spoke first with a mischievous grin and the more I
saw of him the more I realized just how huge he was. He looked like he could
win Mr. Universe.

"Thanks,"
we all replied.

"It's
nice to meet you all." I spoke up looking at each one of them quickly.

Christopher
snorted and I shot a look to him immediately. What an asshole. I guess waiting
to make judgment wasn't going to take as long as I thought it would.

"Oh-Kay,"
Nicholas spoke up before the tension got any worse. "We are going to head
out to handle some promotional photos." Christopher quickly turned and
walked out of the room.

"It
was a pleasure to meet y’all," Jackson said as he was leaving.

Jackson
was even taller in person, though I shouldn't have been surprised. In all of
his interviews, reporters, or whoever, always brought up the fact he was almost
seven foot tall. I smiled at him. He nodded and exited.

"Bye,"
Jimmy spoke with a nod. For a moment, I noticed he was shorter in person.

"Later,"
Elliott smiled brightly and waved. They both followed Jackson out.

"Ladies,"
Nicholas bowed his head and left the room with Richard following. Richard didn't
look happy, but I couldn't be sure.

"Well,
that was interesting." Una said. "I apologize for the discomfort of
the situation. They are all really nice gentlemen…"

"Yeah
and when you say gentlemen you aren't talking about Christopher right?" I
blurted out with a smirk. Serena couldn't hold in her laugh. Kat and Laney
joined in.

Una
blushed.

"Well…"
she closed the conference room door "I'll be honest and up front with you.
Christopher is difficult, brilliant but difficult. I am hoping that he will
warm up to this, but those chances are minimal. Can you handle that?" Una
looked each one of us in the face.

"Fuck
him!" Kat slammed her hand to the table with a chuckle.

"Kat,"
I tried to sound serious and not laugh. That's not exactly what happened.

"Look,
Una, he can do what he wants. We'll do our performances and let him be. If we
have to interact with him, it will probably only be on a professional basis and
I think we can all handle that."

She
smiled at us all. "Good to hear." We all stood, ready to leave. "Oh
and ladies, just so you know, I don't doubt you being able to handle those guys,"
Una's words full of satisfaction.

We
headed out to the van discussing all the information and everything we needed
to wrap up over the next week and half before we left on the tour. Based on the
information, the first thing we were obligated to was a photo shoot in two
days.

*
* * * *

When
Nicholas called us up to the conference room to meet with the girlie group I
was reluctant to show up; however, Nicholas played the father card on me.

I
walked in and took in the appearance of four girls at the table. Una introduced
them.

Kat,
a platinum blonde with purple streaked haired, who looked like she should be
model bathing suits. However, the large sleeve tattoo and lip ring probably
made that career path impossible.

Laney
a small girl with spiked pink hair, a toothy smile, and an apparent case of
over activeness bounced in her seat. I was sure if I looked under the table,
she would be bouncing her leg excessively or something.

Full-breasted
Serena had curly, neon red hair. The Marilyn Piercing in her lip was hot.

Then
Mia in an oversized long sleeved T-Shirt, from what I could see, she was a thin
girl with long black hair, a small diamond in her nose, and haunting dark eyes.
The way her eyes drew you in was all-consuming. The attraction sparked my
irritation to a higher level of anger.

They
all sat there staring us until Elliott spoke.
The damned idiot couldn't just
keep his mouth shut so we could get out of here.

Mia
spoke and I couldn't help but snort.
She isn't going to last. I'll have this
wanna be rocker begging to leave the tour in no time. Hell, if she only knew
what I had planned and I've already picked out a much more worthy band.
She
shot me a look filled with irritation and hate.
Bring it on little girl. You
have no idea who you are messing with.

Nicholas
excused us from the room and directed us toward our scheduled photo shoot for
our cover. We had to take care of it today, even though we'd to be back in two
days for another one round of tour promotional photos.

"Christopher?"
Nicholas didn't bother hiding his annoyance.

Shit,
here we go. 'Chris you need to be a professional…'

"Nicholas?"
Richard stopped Nic before he could scold me.
Ha, looks like you're going to
get it first.

Standing
there, I watched my father's face fill with shame and irritation. Richard's
looked stern. Their voices were too low for me to hear anything. With a nod,
Nicholas shook Richard's hand, and headed toward me.

"Son,
could you please attempt to be civil?"

I
began to walk away but he kept pace with me.

"Please
Christopher. You're going to be on tour for almost ten months. You can make
this easier or harder on everyone." He exhaled harshly.

"Hey,
I already told you I'm not happy about this. I think there are many better
options than this chick group. I'm not going to pretend to be happy or even
okay with it."

I
wanted him to shut the hell up, even though he wasn't finished with me, yet.

"You
don't have to like them Christopher, but you do have to work with them. So I
suggest you get off your fucking high horse, man up, and do your job."

Shock
slowed my pace.
Nicholas doesn't swear, at all
.
He believes it
undignified and unintelligent.

He
quickly out stepped me and took the lead to the studio downstairs. I caught up
with him, but before I could argue, he began again.

"You
don't have to be friends with them or anything else, but you do have to be
professional. That's all I'm asking. No, that's all I'm requiring from you."

"Fine,"
I growled.

We
didn't say anything else. We didn't have to. It didn't matter anyhow after
seeing how easily I could irritate Mia. My plan would work and would work quickly.

Reaching
the studio, a couple of floors down, I entered the dressing room. My band mates
assaulted me with their opinions about those damn girls.

"Did
you see how fucking hot they are?" Jimmy boasted and slouched into a
chair. "Damn," he purred out.

"Dude
that red head almost did me in with the Marilyn piercing. Then the long black
haired chick, fuck me, she bit her bottom lip and I almost burst in my pants!"
Elliott fist bumped Jimmy from the seat next to him.

I
rolled my eyes.

"What
about you man?"

I
looked up at Jimmy's question, but he was talking to Jackson.

He
shrugged. "They're attractive."

"Bullshit,
douche bag, which one?" Elliott pursed up his lips and eyed Jackson from
the corner of his eyes.

Jackson
smirked. "The tiny little spiked hair girl was too damn cute, man."
He shook his head and lightly laughed. "You know I'm a sucker for tiny
girls."

Elliott
burst into a chortle and Jimmy laughed with him.

"Jesus,
leave it to the giant to want to get with the dwarf," Jimmy snorted.

"Hey,
I can't help it if I prefer my women eye level with my zipper." Jackson
retorted with a cocky smile.

"Hell
yeah, you sick bastard!" Elliott excitedly agreed.

"How
‘bout you Chris? I bet it's the blonde one, huh? She looks your type."
Jackson shot the question with a nod.

I
glowered at him, but refused to respond.

"Oh
Christ, super emo boy is in effect today." Elliott groaned out. "Where's
your cape?" He mocked.

Without
lifting my head from the couch I'd sprawled across, I lifted my hand and gave
him my middle finger.

"Don't
get too comfortable with them." Eyes now closed I let a happy grin form.

"What
are you up to now?" Jackson asked suspiciously.

I
remained quiet and returned my attention to my plan.

Two
days later, we were back for more photos. Entering Nobil Records in the late morning,
I saw Tonya at her usual post in the receptionist seat.

She
fluttered her eyes and tried waving seductively. I turned my head without
acknowledging her.
Why couldn't she get the fucking hint that I would not be
messing with her again. Jackson tainted her.
I shuddered and we groggily
climbed onto the elevator, heading down to the photo studio for the promo
shots.

"Don't
ever let me drink that much again." Elliott groaned, his temple pressed to
the wall of the elevator. The elevator dinged and Elliott shushed it. We busted
up laughing and walked off.

"That's
what you get for doing body shots all night." Jackson lectured.

"Dude,
you saw how hot the dancer was," Elliott defended his activities from the
night before. "You're just jealous." He smiled crooked at Jackson.

"Jealous
of what?" Jackson chuckled. "You passed out drunk and Chris fucked
her in the men's room."

Elliott's
face dropped. "What?" He whined.