Lucky Break (9 page)

Making her way to the bus, she stopped and watched Dylan talking to the red head. More hurt and annoyed with herself than angry at him, she tried to convince herself to go over and talk to him, but her feet felt heavy like they were cemented in place. Her heart hurt but she didn't have any tears, she knew if she lost him was all her fault.

Chapter Ten

During each show with Jude, Lucky couldn't believe how much better the band sounded. She loved playing with him and everything worked together. When they were on stage together she felt like Jude could read her mind. Off stage was a different matter.

Stepping out of her dressing room she saw the same scene as the night before. She always heard the tour cities would morph together and now she understood why. If it wasn't for looking out the window during the ride to the next city, all she would have seen was the hotel and backstage.

Kat sat on a picnic table once again holding court. She could hear her laughter echoing down the long hall. Backstage was much different than the rest of the theater. While every venue seemed to have some sort of fanciness and opulence, backstage was as bare bones as it could get.

Lucky spotted Ross and Mike hanging around Kat again. She hadn't spoken to her much since that first night. She was curious about Kat and thought she could help educate her about life on the road, but Jordan was right, Lucky needed to be careful. She was too naive to really protect herself.

"Hey Lucky! Another great show! We're going bar hopping again. You should come along," Ross said.
 

"I really don't know. That's really not my kind of thing."

"Geez girlie, come on," Kat said. "You've got to learn to enjoy yourself. Come out with us."

Lucky scanned the area looking for Jude again. Finally she spotted him talking to a woman as she leaned against the wall. She could tell the woman was into him, who wouldn't be? Lucky could hear her giggle as she flipped her light brown hair over her shoulder, then touched Jude's arm.

Jealousy fueled her. She headed towards them, unsure what she would do or say, but was stopped when Ross grabbed her arm.
 

"Say you'll come out tonight. I came all this way from Philly for you."

"Alright. I'll go," she said as she watched Jude slip his arm around the woman's waist and lead her towards the exit.

"Were you going to talk to Jude?" Ross asked. "I can get him for you."

"No it's ok. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Did I ever tell you my sister has a friend who knows someone who–"

"Please just shut up."

Thankfully he didn't go on. Lucky didn't know how much more she could take. She wanted to hate Jude for bedding the acquaintances of the world, but she had no reason to. He was only her drummer.

"I'm so glad you came along, girlie. Last night was such a sausage fest, I could've used another girl around," Kat said.

Lucky nodded. She really didn't want to go out. Part of her thought that if Jude could spend time with a groupie then maybe she could too. It made no sense to her at all since he didn't know and probably didn't care.

As she left, she noticed Jordan by the bus. Surprised that Dylan wasn't with her, she decided to check on her.
 

"I thought you'd be with Dylan."

"He met some old friends. She doesn't look that old to me, what do you think?"

Lucky turned to follow Jordan's gaze and saw what was bothering her. It looked like the same exact scene she just saw with Jude. She felt her anger rise again.

"I hate him!"

"Who? Dylan?"

"No. Never mind me. I'm losing my mind. Go talk to Dylan. You two have something. Don't let whatever that is happen."

"I need to remember that sometimes things aren't always what they seem," Jordan said before getting on the bus.
 

Lucky stomped off towards Dylan. She had so many things she wanted to say to Jude that she couldn't say, and believed Jordan felt the same way about Dylan, maybe even more. Tapping him on the shoulder, the girl he spoke with shot her a dirty look as he turned around.
 

"What do you think you're doing? What about Jordan?"

"She didn't tell you? She told me to do whatever I want. She doesn't care, so why should I?"

"Are you really that stupid? You know what? If you are that stupid then she's right, go do whatever you want. But if anything in you cares at all about my friend, then you'll get on that bus with her."

She stormed off to a darkened corner and covered her face with her hands. Why was she so emotional? What was this guy doing to her? They'd barely spoken yet she was falling apart. She was officially ridiculous.

Once she composed herself she rejoined Kat, Ross, Mark, and the other people in their caravan. Looking over her shoulder she noticed Dylan getting on the bus. She smiled to herself, proud that she stepped up for her friend.

 
Lucky really didn't want to go bar hopping, but it was something the group seemed to want to do so she was willing to give it a chance. Spending most of her life as sheltered as she was, she looked at everything differently than other people her age.

They split into two cabs and headed to a rowdy karaoke bar Kat heard was a lot of fun. Ross kept trying to put his arm around Lucky, but she wasn't interested. After being near a man like Jude, a cute boy like Ross simply couldn't compete.

"Hey Luck, I wanted to talk to you," Kat whispered as the cab pulled in front of an old brownstone that was turned into a bar. "You gotta let Ross and Mike on the bus. There's plenty of room and they've been hitchhiking to our shows."

"Seriously? That's dangerous."

"I knew you'd feel that way. So what do you think?"

"I guess it's alright."

Lucky didn't think she had a choice. She would never forgive herself if something happened to them because they were trying to get to her show.

Looking around the old neighborhood, Lucky felt disappointed. She was hoping that if they were going out, she'd see some sights. The only sight she saw was a bum passed out against an old worn building.

Ross put his arm around her shoulders again but she quickly shrugged it off. The bar was dark and smelled like stale, old beer. At the far end was a small stage with a video screen and a DJ in the corner. They sat in a black corner booth.

"What do you want to drink Lucky?" Ross asked.

"I don't know. What is there?"

"It's a bar girlie! They can make whatever you want," Kat replied.

"I've never had much alcohol except for the other night. What should I get? Pick something sweet for me that doesn't taste gross."

"No problem, I know exactly the drink," Ross said.

When he came back he set down a brownish drink in front of Lucky that was garnished with cherries and an orange slice. Leaning towards it she sniffed the drink before stirring it with a thin straw.

"Was is it? I smell juice but can't figure it out. Orange or pineapple?"

"Both. And some other stuff. It's called Sex on the Beach," said Ross.

Lucky took a sip. "Mmm that's pretty good." She took another, longer sip.

"You should get up and sing a song. These people don't know they're in the presence of a rock goddess!"

"I'm far from that. You want rock god go look at Jude."

"Again? You sure mention him a lot."

Lucky took another sip of her drink hoping the topic would change. Jude consumed her thoughts. It wasn't something she was even aware of until that moment.

"Why don't you sing something?" She yelled trying to hear herself over the noise.
 

"Nah, I just thought people should hear you. Get to know you." He stood up in the booth and yelled, "this is Lucky Saldano! Right here!"

Lucky hunched down in her seat and hoped no one heard him. Embarrassed by how Ross was acting, she finished her drink without realizing it. When he got up to get another round of drinks, she stopped him.

"No, nothing for me. I need to get going. Stan likes to leave by 8 so he's not driving in the dark. We have a long drive tomorrow and I need some sleep before that."

Lucky didn't know why she was talking so much. Guessing it was just the tour catching up to her, she suddenly needed to get back to the hotel and sleep.

The drive back to the hotel seemed to fly by. Kat, Ross, and
 
Mike weren't ready for their night to end so they headed to the bar. She thought she saw Jude sitting in the lobby but it was someone else. Then she thought one of the bell hops looked like him.
 

Figuring she lost her mind, the only way to get it back was by seeing the real Jude. She thought of him in bed with that bitch he left the theater with. Served him right if she interrupted.

She went up to the front desk and waited for the young woman behind the counter to get off her call.
 

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Lucky Morrison. I need the room number for Jude Saldano. He's in my band. Can you believe that?"

"I'm sorry, we don't have a Jude Saldano."

"What? No! Morrison. Jude Morrison. How stupid am I? I mixed our names."

"Yes here he is. He's actually registered under a different name, but I know he's in your band so here it is." She slipped Lucky a small piece of white paper with 486 on it.

Riding the elevator to the fourth floor she wondered how Jordan was doing and if she and Dylan made up. That thought slipped her mind as she found room 486 just a few doors down from hers.

She put her ear up to the door and thought she heard music but wasn't sure. Listening for a woman's voice, or a banging headboard, whatever sex might sound like, she eventually gave up and pounded on the door three times. Feeling impatient she was about to knock again when Jude opened the door wearing only a pair of jeans. Her heart lurched in her chest.

"What the hell, Olivia? Why are you–"

"Where's that slut? I need to talk to her." Lucky pushed the door open and stepped inside his empty hotel room. "She already left? I thought you were the all night long man."

Focusing on Jude, with his bare chest, jeans slung low around his hips, she was glad she got those sentences out because now she was speechless. Her eyes immediately followed the artwork of his koi sleeve tattoo across his chest to where he had a tattoo of a small heart with a thirty-second note inside. Unable to control her eyes, they traveled down to a small tuft of hair below his belly button that disappeared into his jeans.

"That's none of your business." He closed the door and walked over to the couch where a notebook laid opened. "You've been drinking. If you're going to be a big rock star when you grow up, you'll have to learn how to handle that better."

"I am all grown up!"

"Then why would an adult woman come to a man's hotel room in the middle of the night? Were you hoping to get–"

She waited for him to say the word, but he didn't.
 

"You should get some sleep."

"Don't tell me what to do."

He sat down and picked up his notebook, slipped a pen into the open page and closed it. Lucky couldn't help but be curious. She never pictured Jude as a writer.

"Working on a song?"

"Didn't I ask you to leave?"

"Actually no, you didn't," she said.

She sat beside him and reached for the notebook, but then stopped when she thought about how she would feel if roles were reversed.

"I'm sorry," Lucky said.

"For?"

"For barging in. For reaching for your notebook. For being here. Feel free to stop me at any time."

"No, keep going. I'm enjoying this."

"I hate you," she said although she couldn't stop smiling.
 

"I can tell. I'd hate to see what would happen if you liked me."

He gave her a crooked smile and she felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Suddenly she felt a little dizzy and warm.