106
Trevor stared
up at Ginger, not knowing how to answer.
Michael saved him.
“That’s
correct, luv,” Michael said. “Be easy
on him, though. He’s got one more day
of tryouts with us tomorrow.”
Ginger looked
at the handsome teen and smiled impressively.
“So, you’ve been asked to tryout for Manchester?”
Trevor found
his voice. “Um, yes…..goalie.”
“You must be
very good,” she cooed, feeling a bit nervous herself. She had done countless lap dances for countless men. Why was she nervous about this one? She gathered her wits then whispered in his
ear.
“Follow me.”
Trevor stood
up on shaky legs before taking one last look at the guys.
“Remember
laddie…..its just a dance,” Ethan reminded, trying to contain his mirth.
Trevor
followed Ginger to one of the booths and she closed the black curtain behind
them. There was a soft chair in there
which she pushed Trevor down into. The
house music was loud and grinding enough to provide the type of beat she
wanted. This was obviously his first
lap dance and she wanted him to remember it forever. However, his fresh, youthfulness, not to mention his sexy hazel
eyes and quaint shyness, was making her consider more than just a dance.
The rules of
the club were clear – the men were not allowed to touch the dancers, unless….of
course, the dancers allowed it in a private booth. She was barely 21 and had done this many times with men who were
used to it. Never did she allow them to
touch her. The sudden memory of how
many sleazy men she danced for made her yearn to capture some of Trevor’s fresh
innocence.
She began to
sway in front of him as her long, lean arms gracefully swirled about her body
in a seductive manner.
“So…..tell me
your name, sweetie.”
“Trevor.”
“How old are
you, Trevor?”
“Eighteen.”
Eighteen. He was only 3 years younger than her, yet
she felt as if she’d been around the block several times. It wasn’t that long ago that she was fresh
out of high school without any money to attend university. Dancing at the Kitten Klub provided that.
She continued
to move in ways that made every nerve in Trevor’s body come alive. He kept reminding himself that it was just a
dance, but…..this was no ordinary dancing.
His head was still buzzing a bit from the ale he drank earlier and he
actually felt a bit relaxed. He just
concentrated on Ginger’s exquisite body as she danced for him.
She then bent
over and put her hands on his knees and ran them up as she scooted forward and
straddled his lap. Trevor sucked his
breath in. He knew what lap dances consisted
of, but still the shock of it happening took him by surprise. And his damn body had a life of its own as
it responded to this gorgeous young woman writhing around on his lap.
Her hands
cupped the back of his neck as she threw her head back and ground her hips
foreward. She brought her head back
then took her hands to slide the spaghetti straps of her dress down her
shoulders and wriggle out of them. She
then pulled the top half of her dress down until it pooled around her waist,
exposing her perfect little breasts.
Trevor was
about to die. He was also filled with
guilt. Here he had a beautiful,
wonderful girfriend who supported his soccer career back in Sheffield while he
was here in Manchester having the lap dance of his life. However, the guilt would not overtake the
lust that overtook his body.
Ginger cupped
her bare breasts as she watched Trevor’s face react to what she was doing. She was amazed that someone so young was
able to restrain himself from touching her, as most of her clients usually
tried to sneak in a grope before she had to slap their hands away.
But, Ginger
wanted to feel his hands on her skin.
She wanted that freshness he exuded.
She took his hands and placed them on her waist, watching the reaction
to the feel of her skin.
“Are you doing
okay, Trevor?”
“Y…y…yeah…..fine,”
he stammered. His eyes went from her
breasts to her turquoise eyes. “Crikey,
you…….you are so beautiful.”
She leaned
closer to his face. “Thank you. So are you. So young…..so sweet,” she murmured near his lips. “So….so……..oh God.”
Ginger lightly
touched her lips to his, expecting him to lose all control and just give in to
it. But Trevor remained still, as if he
were afraid. It made her want more, but
she pulled back.
“I’m sorry,
I……I couldn’t help it.”
“Its…..its
okay,” Trevor stammered. “I’m sorry
too. I shouldn’t, I mean….I….I have a
gir……..”
Trevor was cut
off when Ginger kissed him again and this time, all was lost. It was no longer a dance, but a sweet,
tender kiss that was so erotic it made them both shake. The combination of the music, ale and lust
made Trevor mindless. He opened his
mouth and welcomed her tongue as his hands moved up her silky waist to
cautiously cup her breasts.
Ginger made a
purring sound in his mouth at the feel of his hands on her breasts, which
caused her to grind herself against the hardness between her legs. Their heads were spinning and neither were
thinking. Ginger reached down and
unfastened his trousers and helped him scoot them down. She then pushed her g-string to the side
and, in a mindless split second, impaled herself on him.
Trevor gasped
loudly into her mouth before tearing away and throwing his head back in
abandon. Ginger rested her hands on his
shoulders and rode him. Even though she
was on the pill, she knew she shouldn’t have sex with strange men without a
condom, but Trevor’s age led her to think that he hadn’t gotten around that
much.
Their mouths
met again in a kiss that culminated with Trevor’s fingers digging into her skin
before he climaxed inside of her just as she muffled a scream into his
neck. They then exchanged a wordless
look with each other that was a combination of desire and guilt together. They pulled themselves together and left the
booth. Ginger gave Trevor a sweet look,
smile and a wink before stroking his arm and walking off. Trevor’s wobbly legs then took him back to
the table where the guys were waiting for him.
“That must’ve
been some dance there, laddie,” Michael said.
Trevor’s
flushed face was partially hidden by the dim lighting as he tried to remain
non-chalant.
“Yeah, some
dance!”
Back in
London……..
Mark sat in in
the studio surrounded by his father, Kevin and the remaining members of Fusion,
stunned by the proposition being offered to him.
“What do ya
say, Mark?” Rob asked. “I mean, you’ve
got the talent, that’s a no brainer. We
need to finish this album so your father and Kevin don’t haul us into court! How about it?”
Mark couldn’t
believe it. He was being asked by a hot
new rock back to finish the drum tracks on their remaining unrecorded
songs. There really wasn’t any answer
other than yes.
“Of course
I’ll do it,” Mark said ecstatically.
“Now Mark,
playing the drums and recording drum parts are two different monsters,”
Tyler warned him. “Its not gonna be
like it is when you wail away in your sanctuary. Parts get recorded in sections, sometimes requiring multiple
takes. You’re going to need patience,
lad. A lot of it. And….you’ll need to listen to us.”
Mark shook his
head. “Dad, no problem. Whatever you want. Whatever it takes. If I
can help these blokes out, I’ll do it.”
Rob heard his
two bandmates sigh with what sounded like a bit of relief. Even though he hadn’t officially talked to
his brother yet to inform him of their decision to let him go, they all felt as
if some weight had been taken off their shoulders. Zak’s personality and behavior had taken its toll on them. Even though they proved themselves to the
world with their hot debut album, they wanted their career to be a long,
prosperous one without any strife or contention between members.
On several
occasion while they were an opening act to support their first album, Zak’s
attitude almost did them in with some fans and even the band they were opening
up for. They didn’t want to worry about
anything while touring except playing.
Which led to
their next decision – who to get to permanently replace Zak?
Tyler and
Kevin started working with Mark immediately since they lost so much time. The rest of the band hung around and watched
for a bit, if only to get a better feel for this outstanding, young, talented
drummer.
Fortunately,
Mark didn’t need much coaching. He knew
the cues and the terminology and followed his father’s and Kevin’s instructions
fairly easy. If things went this well,
they’d be able to finish the four songs before the two weeks were up.
During the
bridge of one song, Tyler was stuck on a certain kind of sound. Mark played what his father wanted over and
over again, but Tyler still wasn’t satisfied.
Mark didn’t know if he should speak up or not, but it didn’t hurt to
ask.
“Uh,
dad…..could you just play the bridge again…..with just the guitars?”
Tyler pressed
the button and the bridge of the second song played. Instead of playing the piece that Tyler had formulated, Mark came
in with something that his ear picked up on.
The results were raised eyebrows from everyone in the room.
When the
recording finished, Mark spoke to his father through the glass. “What did you think of that?”
Before he
could answer, Troy answered for him.
“That sounded wild! Man, that
sounds so wicked combined with the bass.
Guess its because I’m partial.”
Tyler looked
back at Mark. “Can you do that again,
Mark so we can tape it?”
“Sure. Whenever you’re ready.”
As Mark played
that piece again, Troy looked at his bandmates. “Man, that kid is good.
Sorry to say, Rob, but he blows Zak away.”
“Don’t be
sorry dude. You’re right,” Rob said.
“So……what are
we gonna do about finding a replacement?” Paul asked. “We need to do so as soon as possible so we can all rehearse
together before the album’s released and the tour starts.”
“Guys, what do
you think about asking Mark?” Rob asked.
“I mean, he’s got the talent.
He’s got the look. I know he’s
18, but he doesn’t look too much like a kid.
We’re only 22 anyway ourselves.
He’s personable and easy to get along with. He isn’t going to college or anything. Christ, rock stars run in his family. It’s perfect!”
“Plus, he
pummeled your brother, which gives him an A in my book!” Troy mused.
Rob had no
choice but to laugh. “Seriously,
guys. This has to be a group
thing. We need someone and we need
someone fast.”
“Dude, he’s
got my vote,” Troy said. “I’m really
impressed.”
“Gotta say, I
am too,” Paul chimed in.
“So………we ask
him?” Rob said, holding his fist out.
The other two
guys clicked their fists with Robs.
“Lets do it!”
Chapter
108
Back in
Manchester…….
Trevor made it
through his second day of tryouts with ease, despite his randy evening the
night before. He was very quiet after
the guys returned him to his hotel room.
Scott had stayed up waiting for him, but Trevor was careful not to let
any lingering emotions give away what happened.
After
practice, Coach Ridgeford took Trevor aside to talk to him. He informally told him that he wanted him to
become part of the team as Patrick Tierney’s backup. However, since this was the pros, Trevor would need to have legal
representation and possibly even an agent, for contract negotiations and
such.
With a grin of
satisfaction, he shook Coach Ridgeford’s hand, then pumped his fist in the air
when he locked eyes with Michael, Ethan and Andrew who caught on. Over to the other side, Patrick Tierney just
cautiously watched the new young hotshot who would, no doubt, buck to take his
place. He’d make damn sure that would
never happen.
Michael and
Ethan came over to Trevor. “Congrats,
laddie! Welcome to the team,” Michael
said.
“So, where ya
headed now?”
“Probably back
home to Sheffield to tie up some loose ends and find a solicitor, I
imagine. I should be back within the
week.”
“Well, take
care and we’ll see you then,” Michael said before looking in the distance
towards the side of the bleachers. He
focused his eyes on the petite, feminine figure standing there, then his jaw
dropped.”
“Bugger
me! Is…….is that Ginger?”
Trevor paled
and turned around. Sure enough, there
was Ginger, waving over to him. Ethan
slapped him on the back.
“Just what
did happen in that booth last night, laddie?
Did…….did you shag her?”
Trevor blushed
a bit. “Um….no,” he began, realizing
that he could no longer act like a shy boy.
He turned to walk towards Ginger, before looking over his shoulder at
the guys.
“More
like…..she shagged me!”
Michael and
Ethan shouted with deleriousness as Trevor made his way over to Ginger. He was a bit nervous as to what she
wanted. “Aye. What are you doing here?”
“Trevor, hi,”
she nervously said. “I…..I didn’t want
anyone to see me, but I had no other way of finding you. I came here to thank you.”
Trevor
narrowed his eyes. “Thank me? For what?”
Ginger was no
longer the sensuous dancer of numerous men’s fantasies, but a young, uncertain
woman. “Trevor, last night……..just so
you know……I have never done anything like that before. But, being with you, someone who’s so
totally different from all the sleazeballs that come in there, well, it made me
realize that I don’t want to degrade myself any longer by dancing. I’m in my last year of university and I think
I’ve lap danced enough. I quit last
night. I’m going home to spend the rest
of the summer with my family before I finish my last year. I’d rather break my back waitressing or
something than dance. I just wanted to
tell you that and…well, to say goodbye.
I’m certain you made the team and, chances are, you’ll make your way
back to the Kitten Klub at some point, but you won’t see me there.”
Trevor gave
her a warm smile. “Well, hopefully, I
won’t see myself there in the future. I
tried to tell you last night, but….I do have a girlfriend. And…I know what I did was wrong. I feel like such a wanker.”
“It was my
fault,” Ginger said. “Don’t
worry….we’ll take this to our graves.
I’ve kept a lot of secrets from a lot of people, my parents included. They have no idea how I”ve been spending my
nights. Not anymore, though.”
“Well, I’m
glad you quit. You’ll do just
fine. Take care now.”
“You too
Trevor,” she said as she put her arms around him and hugged him. All Trevor heard were the whoops and whistles
behind him. Ginger pulled away
immediately.
“I better
go. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Meanwhile,
Scott had made his way over to the sidelines and happened upon Michael.
“Who’s that
lass?” Scott asked.
“Only the
hottest dancer at the strip club we took Trevor to last night,” Michael
answered.
Trevor walked
back over and saw his father and Michael standing together. The look on Scott’s
face told Trevor that Michael said too much.
“Aw, shit!”
Chapter 109
Back in
London……..
Tyler and
Kevin were at the studio late as they began to finish things up. The progress they made with Mark cut their
time in half and the album was finally finished.
Tyler couldn’t
believe the good fortune that was just bestowed upon his son. As long as he lives, he’ll never forget the
look on his face when Fusion asked him to join the band.
Kevin then cut
into his thoughts. “What’ya say,
Brit? Want to grab some dinner?”
“Sure,” Tyler
replied. “Its just us since the band
took Mark out to celebrate.”
“Man, I can’t
believe it,” Kevin said, still astonished.
“What an opportunity to be afforded!”
Tyler suddenly
turned white as a sheet. “What…..what
did you say?”
Kevin looked
puzzled. “Nothing, I just said that
Mark was afforded a wonderful opportunity?
Why?”
Tyler stood up
and paced the room, all the while holding his head.
“Ty, whats
wrong?”
“Kev, this is
something I haven’t told anyone. Not
Grace, not Mark….not even my dad. Don’t
laugh, but…….but do you believe in…you know….supernatural stuff?”
“What, like
ghosts, psychics…..little green men who live in your closet?”
“Kevin, I’m
serious. I mean…..have you ever had a
dream that seemed so real, you thought it was?
And then….you wind up having all these strange signs after the dream
that you had no choice to conclude it wasn’t a dream after all?”
“None that I
can say,” Kevin answered. “So….what did
you have….some close encounter or something?”
Tyler turned
towards him. “No. I….had a dream about Randy and Mark. Only….I don’t think it was a dream after
all.”
Kevin got
serious. “What are you saying? That they appeared to you as ghosts or
something?”
Tyler shook
his head. “I don’t know. I know I was sleeping, because I woke up
after it. But I’m wondering if they
used my dream to appear to me in. It
was the night Mark had his appendix out.
I stayed with him overnight in his room. I fell asleep in the chair, then woke when I heard the door
close. I got up to open it, but it was
locked – from the other side. That’s
when the room got all weird and hazy.
Then……it was like I was transported to the scene of the accident. I smelled smoke and fuel and……blood. I turned around and they were standing right
there – wearing the same thing they had on that night. All I could do was cry and apologize for not
being with them that night. They told
me that I had nothing to be sorry for.
Then…….they started talking about my Mark. They said……“There’s nothing to worry about. That he’s undecided now, but he’s gonna be
afforded an opportunity that he won’t be able to pass up and to make sure he
doesn’t.” Randy then said that
there was a box in my garage with something in it to give to Mark. I woke up after that shaking. After Mark went home, I went into the garage
and didn’t see any strange box. Then,
as if some……supernatural force took over, a soccer ball on a shelf just
rolled off. The box was hiding behind
it. It had a bunch of Crossfire stuff
in it. At the bottom were two of
Randy’s autographed drumsticks.”
Kevin sat
there dumbfounded. “Jesus Christ,
you’re creeping me out! Mark told me
you found a pair of his drumsticks, but I didn’t know the story behind it.”
“Now you do,”
Tyler said. “And now…..this opportunity
that Mark’s been afforded. Could….could
this be what they meant in the dream?”
“Well, the
realistic guy in me says ‘no’, but how could it not? Could it be a coincidence?”
“That’s some
coincidence,” Tyler mused.
“Well, either
way….Mark’s has the chance of a lifetime.
Those guys are good kids, especially since Zak’s out of the
picture. They’ve got the talent, the
appeal – the works. Hell, they remind
me of us all those years ago, only…I’m a much better looking lead guitarist
than Rob!”
Tyler
laughed. “Well, what do you say that,
after we wrap up here, we invite the guys back to my house in Sheffield for a
big dinner? I’m sure those boys are
dying for some real food.”
“Sounds
great,” Kevin said.
Tyler grinned
wide. “Mate, wait until my dad and
uncle Joe hear this!”
Chapter
110
Mark sat with
the other three members of Fusion in a London pub as he celebrated the
unbelievable turn of events in his life.
Not even a week ago, he hadn’t a clue as what to do with his life. Now, here he is, the new drummer of a hot,
young rock band. Someone was definitely
smiling down upon him.
He couldn’t
wait to tell Tara. He thought to call
her, but since they’re wrapping up and going home the next day, he decided to
wait to tell her in person. Even though
the demands upon his life were going to be greater than he ever imagined, he
knew that she’d be supportive of him.
He just wondered how, with her starting design school in London in the
fall and he having to begin rehearsing with the band as soon as possible, how
they were going to ever see each other.
The four of
them chowed down on burgers, chips and ale while they listened to the local
houseband. Troy was the first one to
speak up.
“Man, I can’t
tell you how good I feel about all this.
I can’t wait to start touring.”
“Me neither,”
Paul said. “I hope we’ll be able to
play some small venues on our own before having to open up for someone else at
the bigger places.”
“You blokes
opened up for Red Light last time, right?” Mark asked.
“Yeah, they
were pretty good guys,” Rob said. “Zak
had a run in with their guitarist which almost cost us the gig, but there were
cool about it.”
That was the
first mention of Zak of the night. Even
though Mark was ecstatic, he couldn’t help but wonder how Rob really felt about
having to replace his own brother, even though the main decision was his.
“Rob……I know
you probably don’t want to talk about this, but…..I know you haven’t officially
talked to Zak yet. I just don’t want my
presence to cause any problems, you know?”
Rob shook his
head. “Mark, trust me…it was his
presence that caused the problems.
Anyway, for now we called our manager to have him be the one to deliver
the news to Zak. I know it’s the
cowards way out, but I just don’t want to deal with him right now. I’m sure we’ll hear from him later,
though. I just don’t care. The decision’s been made and its final.”
Mark felt
better and the night went on as they finished their dinner and listened to the
band. At one point, a young female
about 19 years old came up behind Rob and tapped him on the shoulder. Rob turned around and looked her up and down
appreciately before flashing her a smile.
“Hello there.”
“Um, hi,” she
nervously said. “Excuse me, but…….are
you guys in a band? You look
familiar. I think I’ve seen you on
Kerrang and MTV2. I think you’re an
American band.”
Rob grinned at
her. “Yes we are. We’re Fusion.”
The girl’s
eyes then swept Troy, Paul and Mark, then back to Rob. “Oh God, I knew it! You guys are mega! I bought your debut album.
It was so awesome. When do you
have another album coming out?”
“Well, we just
finished recording it,” Rob answered. “Should be in stores in a month or
two….at least it will be in the States.”
The girl
frowned before she called a girlfriend of hers over. “I’m sorry, my friend wanted to know if you lads were a band or
not.”
“The more the
merrier, sweetheart!”
Troy and Paul
watched the girl’s friend come over, as did Mark who was just finding out how
easily rock stars attracted girls.
The girls
proceeded to get autographs and, when they came to Mark, he was unsure about
what to do. Yes, he was their drummer
now, but it was an official statement.
One of the girls looked at him warily.
“You are………?
“I’m Mark,” he
answered, taking her hand.
“He’s our
drummer,” Rob quickly said, giving Mark a wink.
“Oh……yeah….right,”
the other girl said. “I didn’t
recognize you. They usually don’t focus
on the drummer too much in the videos.
Never knew what you looked like.”
Mark knew that
his new status might go unnoticed here in England, but over in the States where
Fusion was more popular, he knew that Zak’s obvious absence would be more
noticable.
The girls went
back to their table, but not before passing the word around that a popular
American rock band was in the house.
The house band got wind of it and made the announcement, asking the guys
to come up and play a song. They didn’t
want to play anything from the unreleased album yet, but they also knew that
Mark didn’t know anything from their debut album. At least that’s what they thought.
“If you blokes
want to play something, I know most of the drums from the debut album,” Mark
said. “I programmed it into my tape
machine at home and took the drum tracks out so I could play them. I know most of the songs.”
Paul looked
impressed. “Yeah? Which one do you think you can play now?”
“I dig ‘Crushed
Love’. The drums are awesome in that
one.”
Troy smiled
and threw his hands up. “Maybe we won’t
have to rehearse that much after all.
C’mon, lets play it.”
Rob got up and
clapped Mark on the shoulder as they all made their way up on stage. Paul, being the lead singer as well as the
rhythem guitarist, took the mic and introduced themselves as the rest of the
guys took the houseband’s instruments.
Mark sat behind the drums, clearly aware that this was his first live
test. He closed his eyes and tried to
pretend he was in his sanctuary, but it was hard to drown out the sound of the
crowd.
He wouldn’t
let these guys down. He wouldn’t let
himself down. Playing the drums was the
only thing in his life that never waivered and now he had the opportunity to
make a living with it.
Paul announced
the song, then turned to Mark for a cue.
Mark nodded, clicked his drumsticks together, then segued into the
song. His playing left no doubt that
the rest of the band made the right choice with him.
Sheffield
Grace had
spent a good portion of the day getting the house in order. The cleaning people had just left and the
caterers were due at any moment.
When Tyler
called her two days ago to tell her that he was bringing Kevin and the band
back with him for dinner, she had no idea of the turn of events that took
place. All she thought was that it was
just going to be an impromptu dinner party.
But when Tyler insisted that both their father’s be there, Grace
wondered what was up.
When Grace
told Tyler that Scott and Trevor had returned from Manchester with some good
news, Tyler said to include them over as well.
May as well make it an evening of shocking announcements!
Abby had just
returned home from summer tryouts for a school play. Both sets of her grandparents were already there with Grace as
they waited for Tyler to arrive with Kevin and the band.
“Mum….mum,
you’ll never guess what?” Abby breathlessly said. “I got the lead! I got
the lead! We’re doing a modern version
of a Shakespere play called Romeo & Juliet. We’re doing it in a rock/rap style. Oh…and the best part…..Tommy Noonan is going to be Romeo. I get to kiss him!”
Grace watched
her ecstatic daughter disappear upstairs in a flurry. She shook her head then looked at Joe.
“She takes
after you, dad.”
“Is that a bad
thing?” Joe asked.
“Well, when
she’s only thirteen……..”
“Amost fourteen,” Abby called out from
upstairs, obviously overhearing.
Grace let out
a breath. “Sorry…..almost
fourteen, and she’s this excited about kissing boys, what do you think?”
Joe put his
hands up in surrender. “Grace, I
swear….I was never excited about kissing boys!”
“Thank God you
got over that affliction before you joined the band,” Sav said as he over
heard.
“Don’t start
with me!”
“You’re right,
I don’t want to get you too riled,” Sav smirked. “So Grace, when’s Ty getting here?”
Grace looked
up at the clock. “His tram arrived a
half hour ago, so he should be walking in any moment.”
“And bringing
an army with him,” Joe said. “So, who’s
this young band?”
“They’re
called Fusion. They’re American. Their debut album sold about 4 million
copies and Ty and Kevin just helped them finish recording their follow up which
should be out in a few months.”
“Hmm, wonder
why Ty’s bring them back here,” Sav wondered.
“Probably
because those boy’s haven’t had a home cooked meal in a long time, even though
I’m having this catered. Still, its
better than pub food every night. Anyway, I’m just glad they’re back. I miss my husband and my son.”
“Wait until
they hear the news about Trevor,” Sav gushed proudly. “I don’t think he’s called Mark in London to tell him.”
“Speaking of
Mark, I’m worried about him” Joe said.
“That lad’s been fretting over his future. I hope he used this time wisely to clear his mind and think about
what he wants to do.”
Chapter
112
Fifteen
minutes later, Tyler walked in the front door followed by Kevin, Mark and three
good looking young men that Grace had never seen before. She greeted her husband with a hug and kiss.
“This is the
only good part about going away,” Tyler whispered in her ear. “The ‘coming home hug and kiss’.”
“Wait,” Grace
whispered back. “The ‘coming home sex’
will be even better!”
“Break it up,
you two, I want a turn,” Kevin said, pushing past Tyler. He bent down and gave Grace a big hug. “How are ya, gorgeous?”
“Just
fine. Its so good to see you. I miss you and Tina so much.”
“Well, maybe
one day you and your husband will have enough of this funny talking country and
move to LA.”
Grace made a
face at him before locking eyes with her son.
The three young men behind him told her that he probably wouldn’t
appreciate his mum showering him with affection. Instead, she gave him a small peck.
“Well, how was
your stay in London?”
Mark’s
dazzling smile almost gave away his news.
“It was….eventful,” Mark mused.
“Mum, this is Rob, Paul and Troy of Fusion.”
“Nice to meet
you lads,” Grace said. “I hope you’re
hungry.”
All three lads
nodded furiously. “Mrs. Savage, thank
you so much for having us here,” Rob said.
“It’s a nice little end before we head back to LA tomorrow.”
“You’re very
welcome. Now, make yourselves
comfortable. Help yourselves to
something to drink. Everything’s set up
in the dining room. We’re just waiting
for Mark’s aunt, uncle and cousin to arrive.”
Mark took his
mum’s arm. “Mum, how’d Trev make out?”
“You’ll find
out when he gets here.”
Grace walked
away as Mark led the guys into the dining room to get something to drink at the
bar area. There, he found both his
grandfathers with shotglasses in their hands, a bottle of Jack Daniels in Joe’s
hand.
“Aye!” Mark
called out, catching them. “What are
you two doing?”
Joe looked up
and smirked at his grandson. “Playing
with myself,” Joe mused, holding up the shotglass. “What does it look like?
And….you say anything to your grandmother, I’ll smack ya.”
Behind Mark,
the other three guys snickered at the feisty old man. Mark turned around, then back.
“Guys, the one
with the mouth is my grandpa Joe. The
other one, not saying a word, as usual, is my grandpa Sav.”
“Yeah, he
saves all his hot air for when no ones around,” Joe fumed.
“Shut up,
Joe,” Sav said as he walked over to Mark.
“Welcome back lad. And, nice to
meet you young chaps. You must be the
members of Fusion, correct?”
The guys
smiled over this old man’s knowledge of current rock music. “That’s correct. I’m Rob Silver….I’m the lead guitarist. This here is Paul Visser, he’s our other guitarist and is also
lead vocals.”
Joe raised his
shotglass to Paul. “Here’s to lead
vocalists!”
Sav rolled his
eyes as Rob went on. “And this is Troy
Weston, our bassist.”
Sav grinned
wide. “Ah, man after my own heart. I played bass too. Washburn….Hammer?”
Troy
grinned. “Both! Nothing but. So…Mark said that both of you were in a rock band a long time
ago.”
Joe groaned as
he dropped more ice into his shotglass, followed by more Jack Daniels. “Long time ago! Don’t make me sound old!”
“When’s the
last time you looked in a mirror, Joe?,” Sav asked.
“Yeah, fuck
you too Savage,” Joe murmured as he drained the contents of his shotglass.
The guys were
snickering over these two, cool old men as Sav looked puzzled. “So……..don’t you lads have a drummer?”
Mark shoved
his hands in his pockets.
“Um…..well……..”
Before he
could say anything, Abby came running down the stairs in an old t-shirt and
shorts. She stopped dead in her tracks
as soon as her eyes befell Rob Silver and her mouth dropped. Marked looked her up and down.
“Aye, little
wench,” he sassed.
Abby looked
down at her attire, then at the gorgeous guy in front of her and took off like
a shot back up the stairs. Joe picked
up on his grandaughters actions immediately.
“Hmm, I think
Abby may be smitten with you, lad,” Joe giggled at Rob. “Be careful there, Rob. Even though she’s thirteen…….well, almost
fourteen, she takes after me.”
“And that’s
enough to scare anyone,” Sav replied.
Joe gave him a
dirty look. “Didn’t I tell you to fuck
off?”
Mark rolled
his eyes to the rest of the guys. “I
think you can figure out what my grandpa Joe’s favorite word is.”
Joe answered
that by toasting his shotglass full of Jack.
“Fuckin’,A !”
“Unbelievable,”
Sav murmured.
“So, what’s
your favorite word, Sav?” Paul asked him.
Sav turned
narrowed eyes to Joe. “Where do I
start?”
Joe answered
Sav by giving him the finger. He then
grabbed the bottle of Jack. “C’mon
lads, you too Mark……lets do a shot!
Sav, you gonna have some, or are you gonna drink schnaaps like a fairy?”
Sav turned to
the guys in the band. “If you all stay
together for as long as we have, this is what you’ll turn into.”
Mark went over
and took Joe’s shotglass out of his hand.
“I think you’ve had enough, grandpa.
I know you’re vulgar all the
time, but you’re worse when you’re drunk.”
Joe snatched
the glass back. “Touch this glass
again, lad, and I’ll make sure you never use your pecker again!”
Mark gave in
as Joe poured everyone a shot. As the
men drank, Abby had made her way back downstairs, this time clad in a pair of
low rise jeans and a belly baring tank top that displayed the signs of her
newly budding breasts. With all the
maturity she could muster, she gave Rob a coy little stare before turning the
corner and heading into the kitchen.
Mark caught a
glimpse of his baby sister before she disappeared and was floored. “What the….?”
“Oh yeah,” Joe
slurred a bit. “Forgot to tell
you. Her boobs popped out while you
were gone!”
Chapter
113
As soon as
Scott, Chelsea and Trevor arrived, everybody began to dig in to eat. When everyone made a bee line for the
dining room, Mark took Trevor aside in the living room.
“Well? Tell me?” Mark prodded.
“You mean no
one told you?” Trevor said, astonished.
“I thought for sure your mum would’ve called you and your dad while you
were in London.”
“She obviously
didn’t,” Mark replied. “She probably
wanted you to tell us yourself. So…..?”
Trevor grinned
modestly. “I head back next week. I made the team as Patrick Tierney’s
backup.”
Mark arched
himself backwards a bit and let out a soft whoop. “Bloody hell, Trev! I
can’t believe it! No, wait…..I do
believe it. This is absolutely
incredible!”
Trevor knew
that Mark would be happy for him, but his ultra-enthusiasm caused him to
wonder. “Thanks, Mark. It means a lot that you’re happy for
me. You know, when you think about it,
we’ve been pretty much inseparable since we were five. Part of me still can’t believe that I’m
going to be a member of Manchester United, and another part of me feels sad for
leaving everyone behind – you…Emily.”
Mark’s green
eyes twinkled. “Well, cous…..I may be
in the same boat you are. I may not be
in Sheffield much longer.”
Trevor’s
eyebrows went up. “Oh, yeah? Did you decide on something while you were
gone? Are you going away to school or
something?”
Mark rolled
his eyes a bit. “More like…….’or
something’.”
Trevor gave
him a shot in the arm. “No fair! Tell me!”
From the
dining room, Tyler and Scott’s ears went up when they heard Trevor yell ‘get
the fuck out of here!’ from the other room. Tyler chuckled while Scott shook his head.
“What could
that be all about?” Scott asked his brother.
“You’ll see,”
Tyler answered, trying to hide his mirth.
“So……..how’d it go in Manchester?
The absence of a phone call in London led me to believe that you wanted
to tell me in person.”
Scott smiled
proudly. “Trevor will be wearing red
and black when the season starts. As
the back up goalie, or course, but hey…….even being a backup for Manchester is
a big deal.”
Tyler clapped
Scott on the back. “I knew he’d make
it. I just knew it. Fame continues to trickle out of this
family.”
Scott
laughed. “Yeah. Now all we have to do is wait for Mark to
become a rock star.”
Tyler couldn’t
help himself. “Won’t be long of a
wait,” he whispered before walking away from a startled Scott.
Rob went over
to a side table to grab a napkin and turned to find Abby in front of him. He smiled down at the pretty thirteen year
old who’s body was beginning to sweetly fill out. Remembering her age, he quickly sobered up.
“Hello
there……”
“My name is
Abigail,” Abby said with impressionable maturity. “However, everyone calls me Abby. Silly, I know.”
Rob smirked to
himself. “Not at all. I’m Rob.”
“Yes, I
know. I have your band’s CD. I’ve seen your video’s on Kerrang. I’m
a big fan. Most girls my age are
into those horrid boy bands. I guess my
father’s influence got me liking hard rock rather than that pansy rock.”
Abby made coy
eye contact as she obviously tried to make herself sound more mature than she
was. Rob noticed this and played
along. However, it didn’t go unnoticed
by Mark. He went over to Grace.
“Mum, will you
please do something about her?” he said, nodding to Abby. “Crikey, Rob’s 8 years older than her, not
to mention that she is seriously underage.
And….will you tell her to put something decent on!”
Grace rolled
her eyes to her son. “What’s wrong,
Mark? Its okay for your girlfriend to
dress like that, but not your sister.”
Mark looked at
Abby’s new little breasts outlined by her fitted tank, then back to his
mother. “Yes! Anyway, she’s making a fool of herself.”
“Mark calm
down. I’ll take her aside and tell her
to cool it.”
“Thank you.”
Grace got
Abby’s attention and crooked her finger at her. Abby began to sigh like a little girl, before stopping
herself. She turned to Rob. “Excuse me, will you please?”
“Absolutely.”
Mark came over
to him then. “I apologize for my little
sister. I guess she turned into a flirt
while I was gone.”
“No problem,
dude. So…….lets make the announcement.”
“Now?”
“Sure!”
Chapter
114
Mark looked
over to his father and nodded. Tyler
got the hint and got everyone’s attention.
“Uh, excuse me
everyone,” he announced. “I believe
that there’s some good news that needs to be shared – all around. First off, I’d like to formally congratulate
my nephew Trevor – the new backup goalie for Manchester United.”
Everyone in
the room clapped and whistled before Tyler continued. “And now…..the real reason for our company today.”
Tyler motioned
to Mark, who turned to Rob for him to start off. Rob cleared his throat.
“Well, first
off, my bandmates Paul and Troy want to first thank Tyler and Kevin for coming
to our rescue and helping us finish recording our second album. Um…I don’t know if any of you know what
happened, but our original producer walked out on us. You see, for a while, we’ve been having internal difficulties
with my brother, Zak, who was also our drummer. He was the reason our first producer walked. To make a long story short, some things came
to a head and the three of us decided to let Zak go. Being his brother, it was one of the hardest things I had to do,
but I’m not going to forsake the band either.
However, I’m happy to report that we found someone to fill in so we can
get the album finished. In fact, we
were so pleased with him, that we’ve asked him to be our new drummer.”
Rob finished
speaking and didn’t say another word, wanting to see if anyone would catch
on. Mark just folded his arms and
smirked. Joe saw and caught on immediately.
“Holy fucking
shit!” Joe sputtered out. “Mark? You’re their new drummer?”
“Congratulations,
grandpa,” Mark said. “You get the prize
for figuring it out the quickest.”
Sav shook his
head back and forth in amazement as a smile lit up his face. “Oh my God!
This is absolutely brilliant!”
Grace gasped
as she turned to her husband, who was proudly nodding. The rock star tradition would continue on in
the Savage/Elliott family.
Scott and
Chelsea couldn’t believe it as Scott went over to Tyler. “You and your clever hints! This is absolutely awesome! Mark, congratulations! This is such incredible news.”
Abby went over
to her brother. “Mark? You mean you……you’re a member of Fusion
now?”
“That’s
right…..I’m their drummer. What’ya
think?”
Abby turned
starry eyes to Rob for she could only think about how she would be connected to
him through her brother. “That’s
awesome Mark. Bloody awesome. Congratulations.”
Mark noticed
his sister’s growing maturity to her manner and smiled over it.
“Sav, who’s
better than us?” Joe asked. “A grandson
who’s going to play pro soccer, another who’s now in a rock band and you have
a granddaughter who’s a supermodel.”
Troy and
Paul’s face lit up. “Supermodel?”
“My oldest
daughter, Stephanie,” Scott said.
“Forget it, she’s married and pregnant.”
Troy and Paul
frowned.
Abby frowned a
bit, feeling a bit left out. “Don’t
forget me, grandpa,” she said to Joe, before turning to Rob. “I’m going to be an actress.”
Grace was
quick not to leave her daughter. “Yes
Abby just got the lead in her school’s production of Romeo and Juliet.”
“And who’s
that lad who’s going to play Romeo again?” Joe teased her with wiggling
eyebrows.
Abby looked
appalled. “Grandpa! His name is Thomas. He’s a nice enough lad, but much too
immature.”
Joe and Grace
shared a snicker over Abby’s change of tune.
Just earlier, she was swooning over the thought of kissing this ‘Tommy’
as she referred to him earlier.
After everyone
was stuffed, the men retreated down to the family room while the women cleaned
up. Mark showed the guys his
‘sanctuary’, marveling over the setup and his magnificent drum kit.
“Wow, this is
nice,” Troy said, running his hand over the Pearl kit.
“This is a
boss setup you got down here, Mark,” Paul said. “How many songs do you have programmed in that machine?”
“Too many to
count,” Mark replied. “But, I do have
about 90% of your debut album in there.
Hopefully, that’ll cut rehearsal time in half.”
Rob looked
around. “Ever bring any girls down
here?”
“Oh yeah,”
Mark drawled out. “However, just my
steady girl, Tara really. Man, I can’t
wait to see her.”
“Someone’s
getting some action soon,” Troy jested.
“What about
you guys?” Mark asked. “Any steady
girlfriends, or just playing the field?”
“Rob and I are
currently unattached,” Troy said.
“Paul’s the only one in a relationship.”
“How long
it’ll last, I don’t know,” Paul was quick to add. “Its hard when you’re away.
Unfortunately, Mark, you’re gonna find that out soon.”
Mark
shrugged. “Yeah, I know. But, Tara’s starting design school in London
in the fall anyway, so she’d be away.
Plus, I know she’ll support me.
I guess we’re gonna have to take it one day at a time.
Chapter
115
“God Tara,”
Mark panted as his hands found her bare breasts. “I missed you so fucking much!”
Tara, feeling
much the same, quickly unfastened his jeans and pulled them down.
Being in the
cargo portion of his Jeep was a bit cramped, but it was their only
seclusion. As soon as the rest of the
band went back to their hotel and their company left, Mark left like a shot to
go pick up Tara and reunite.
“Mmm, Mark,”
she purred as she grasped him. “I
couldn’t stop thinking about this.”
“Well then I
hope you can’t wait, cause I sure can’t,” he said as he hovered above her while
sliding a condom on. As soon as it was
on, Tara pulled him back down and wrapped her legs around him as he buried
himself inside of her.
“God damn!”
Mark choked out. “Ah, you feel so
good! I’m…….damn, I’m not gonna last!”
Tara grinned
as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him. She missed him so much that she wouldn’t
last either.
“I…..Mark…..I…..God,
yes!”
Mark answered
with an anguished groan which signaled his quick climax before he gently laid
on top of her.
“God, I’m
sorry Tar,” he said while catching his breath.
“I just couldn’t help it. Three
weeks away from you is like three years.”
“Mmm, well
you’ve got the rest of the summer to make it up to me before I leave for
school,” she replied.
Mark’s heart
sunk a bit as he hadn’t told Tara the good news. He’d only have a week with her before he headed out to LA to join
the rest of Fusion. There was so much
to do with management and making a press release regarding the change in the lineup
as well as getting in enough rehearsal to make sure that the four of them click
as a unit.
Mark rolled
off her, sat up and rolled the condom off.
Wrapping it up and tossing it outside, he pulled his jeans up as Tara
sat up and fastened her bra and closed her top. She sensed something was wrong.
“Mark…..you
okay?”
“I’m
fine. As a matter of fact, everything
is absolutely perfect.”
Tara cocked
her head to one side. “You’re not very
convincing. You haven’t even begun to
tell me about the recording in London.”
He turned to
her and held her arms gently. “Tara,
I’ve got fantastic news. It looks like
I’m gonna have a music career after all.”
Tara’s mouth
dropped and her eyes widened.
“What? What do you mean? What happened?”
Mark relayed
every single event that happened in London that led up to the remaining members
of Fusion offering him the drummer’s position.
Tara covered her mouth with her hands in her joy.
“Mark! Oh my God!
You’re serious? This is
incredible! I knew it! Baby, I knew it! You were born to play the drums.”
“Yeah, I guess
I was, since I’ve been playing almost since then,” he said with a grin. “But Tara, you know what this means? The album is finished. Its due to be released in less than two
months and a tour will start after that.
I’ll be leaving for the States in a week for rehearsal and miscellaneous
stuff. I….I don’t know if I’ll be back
before you leave for school. I……”
Tara hushed
him with her finger. “Mark, I
know. Its gonna be hard and I’m gonna
miss you terribly. You know, we’re not
in school anymore. Our real lives start
now and, well, this is it. But, this is
the chance of a lifetime. You do not
pass up on this for anything. And, you
make it work.”
“What about
us?”
Tara bit her
lip as her eyes glazed with tears.
“There’s the telephone. That
is…I mean……unless you…..you want to breakup before you….”
“No! No, I don’t want to do that. Tara, I love you. You’ve been a big support to me.
This is the chance of a lifetime and I want you to be a part of it, even
though we’ll be on opposite sides of the ocean.”
“Mark, lets
not worry about what may happen and lets take it one day at a time, okay? I’m……I’m so proud of you. I knew something would come to you. You know, in a way, knowing that you’re going
to be a drummer in a rock band kinda makes me feel a bit closer to my
brother. After seeing pictures of him
and watching videos of live performances, you…..you remind me of him. Mark, I love you too. And..I guess….that’s all that matters,
right?”
“Right.”
Mark was
comforted by her words and confident of his support. As long as they loved and supported each other, they could to
make their long distance relationship work.
However, Mark
would soon find out that it was easier said than done.
Chapter
116
Trevor flopped
on his bed after getting undressed and clicked the television on. However, his mind was on his impending
departure next week.
Both his and
Mark’s lives changed dramatically, practically overnight. Even though he’d been home from Manchester
for a few days and had reunited with Emily, his heart still ached to leave
her. He knew that Mark would have the
same dilemma tonight when he told Tara of his good fortune.
He muted his
television and called Emily.
“’Ello?”
“Aye luv. What’cha doing?”
Emily grinned
on the other end as she made splashing sounds in the water. “Guess?”
Trevor’s eyes
widened. “Are you in the bathtub?”
“Mmm, hmm,”
she said. “Naked and wet.”
“Blimey,
Em…..don’t do that,” Trevor said, suddenly getting horny.
“Well, my
parents are home so its not like I’m alone too.”
“Yeah, I guess
Tara’s with Mark right now.”
“Probably
bonking, I suppose,” Emily giggled.
“Hey, we had
our time when I came back from Manchester, now its his turn,” Trevor chuckled.
“Doesn’t mean
that I still don’t want it,” Emily drawled out.
Trevor shifted
his newly sprung erection. “God,
Em…..stop!”
“Aw, c’mon
Trev,” she teased. “Lets practice some
phone sex. May as well, since we’re
gonna be apart.”
Trevor
instantly felt sadness sink in. “Em,
its killing me to leave you. Its so
bittersweet, you know. I made the team,
but I have to leave everyone, you especially.”
“I know. The summer is going to suck,” Emily
said. “I guess once school starts, I’ll
have something to keep my mind off missing you.”
“You’ll miss
me?”
“Of course,
you rotter! But…..Trevor?”
“Yeah?”
“Um….you
know….Manchester has….well….it has a lot of women who follow the team
around. I guess you can call them
‘soccer groupies’.”
“That’s
exactly what they’re called,” Trevor replied.
“But Em….I’m a bloody backup.
Even if I were available, who’d be swooning over an 18 year old second
string goalie?”
A now former
lap dancer, that’s who!
Trevor
answered his own question in his mind with a gulp. He had tried to put that drunken dalliance out of his mind. He loved Emily. Even though he was young and his life was about to start, he knew
his own heart and it couldn’t afford to lose her. He would do whatever he could to try to make their relationship
work.
As with his
cousin Mark, Trevor, too, would find out that it would be easier said than
done.
Chapter
117
July 5th
Grace opened
her eyes on a quiet Saturday morning and glanced at the clock. It was only seven am. She slipped out of bed, careful not to wake
her husband, smiling wickedly as she stared at his sleeping form.
She crept into
the masterbath, and stripped pajamas off.
She then brushed her teeth, tousled her hair then went to crawl back
into bed naked. As she did, Tyler
stirred and turned on his back.
“Mmm, what are
you doing up so early?” Tyler growled in a raspy voice.
Grace looked
down her husband’s body until she saw the morning evidence poking through the
comforter. She carefully pulled the
covers down as she watched his eyes open.
“What are you
doing?”
Grace met his
eyes as her hand encircled him. “Happy
birthday, hot stuff,” she said before her head dipped below.
******************************
Scott was
sleeping peacefully until tiny little sobs caused his eyes to flutter
open. Next to him, Chelsea’s body shook
a bit as she tried to stifle her crying.
“Chels? Chels, whats the matter?”
Chelsea turned
over to face her husband. “Oh Scott, I
didn’t mean to wake you. I’m
sorry. I guess….I don’t know, just
emotional, I suppose. It just occurred
to me that you and I are not even 43 years old and we’re already ‘empty
nesters’.”
“And, we’re
going to be grandparents any moment,” Scott added.
That seemed to
open the floodgates for Chelsea. “Oh my
God! Scott, I mean, I’m so delighted
that our daughter’s having a baby, but……I’m too young to be a grandmother!”
Scott let his
head fall back and shook it back and forth.
“Luv, its not that big of a deal.
Remember, you weren’t even 17 when you had Stephanie. I’ll tell you this, you’ll be the sexiest
grandmother in Sheffield.”
Chelsea smiled
through her tears. She hardly felt her
age, let alone a grandmother! She
leaned her head onto Scott’s chest.
“And you’ll be one hot grandpapa,” she replied.
She turned her
head to nuzzle his bare chest, then began to kiss it. “Oooooh, yeah….hot grandpa indeed!”
“Somehow,
Chels……the word ‘hot’ and ‘grandpa’ just don’t go together, but……don’t stop
what you’re doing.”
As Chelsea
began to playfully kiss and bite him, the phone rang. Both looked incredulous.
“I don’t
bloody believe it,” Scott huffed as he answered. “’ello?”
Scott
immediately held the receiver away from his ear as a barrage of Italian
expletives came pouring through.
“What
the? Frank? Frank, is that you?”
Chelsea sat up
like a shot. “Is it Stephanie?”
“Ah,
dad,” came Frank’s broken English. “I’m a so sorry. This has been a crazy night.
I’ve got my entire family here at the hospital and I can’t here a
thing.”
“Hospital? Frank, did…….”
“Yes, papa,”
Frank sang out. “A little bambina. Ma bella, she is! Just like my Steffi. She
did so wonderful. You and mama must fly
here to see her.”
“Absolutely
Frank. We’ll get the first flight
out.” Scott turned to Chelsea. “We’ve got a granddaughter. Born on my brother’s birthday, too!”
Chelsea
squealed and jumped out of bed. “Lets
call them! And then call the
airlines. We’ve got to go see them
right away. Oh God, I’ve got to make a list and pack!”
Chelsea jumped
out of bed and began pulling clothes out of her dresser as Scott dialed his
brother.
******************************
“Mmmmmmm, oh yeah Grace. Yeah! Take it deep. That’s right. Faster! Yeah, suck it harder. Yeah, what a sweet mouth you’ve got. Faster Grace….faster…..faster! I………ahhhhh!”
Rrrrrrriiiiinnnngg.
“What
the……..?” Tyler panted as the phone rang.
He completely ignored it until his wife sucked the last of his orgasm
out of him. Grace looked up and wiped
her mouth.
“You better
get that. It could be Mark.”
Tyler answered
the phone in a huff. “Yeah?”
“Which did I
disturb, your beauty sleep or a birthday shag?”
“Neither, but
I was getting a birthday present from my wife.”
Grace was
appalled. “Tyler!”
“Its my
brother.”
“Oh God,
that’s even worse!” she groaned, disappearing into the bathroom.
“Are you
calling me this early to wish me a happy birthday?”
“No, but you
now share your birthday with your great-niece!”
Tyler let out
a yell. “Stephanie had a baby girl?”
“Yep! We’re heading to Italy. Wanna come with us? I’m thinking of taking mom and dad since its
their great-grandchild. Hell, lets take
Joe and Abby too. And your Abby, of
course.”
“Sounds
great! Kevin and I don’t have anything
going for another 10 days. I think we
can swing it.”
“Great. I’ll make the reservations and call you
back.”
Tyler hung up
the phone just as Grace came out of the bathroom.
“Get dressed,
luv. We’re going to Italy!”
Chapter 118
Los
Angeles, CA
Being in a
rock band was no piece of cake!
Mark did more
running around in the last month and a half than he probably did in the last
year and a half. First and foremost,
there were meetings with Fusion’s management to discuss media matters for
informing the fans about Mark replacing Zak Silver as Fusion’s drummer.
A plan of
attack was mapped out to coincide with the album’s release as a possible
distraction, even though announcements of Fusion’s new drummer had already been
made on MTV, VH-1 and Kerrang. Since
drummers aren’t the most focal member of the group, management didn’t see this
as a detriment to the band’s popularity, even though Zak was one of the
founders.
However, Rob
was having his own personal problems.
Once Zak left London, he headed home to LA to his parents house and tore
into them Rob kicking him out of the band.
After one very heated and obscene call with his brother, Rob called his
parents and, with a heavy heart, told them he was sorry, but he had to do what
was best for the band. Zak’s attitude
and behavior was destroying them and pulling them apart and Mark was a breath
of fresh air – not to mention and incredible drummer.
As crazy as it
was, Mark was thoroughly enjoying himself.
This was the first time that he was far away from home by himself and
the feeling of independence and having a career had him charged up. He finally found out where he fit and he
felt like he had it all.
Everything,
except Tara.
On the other
side of the Atlantic, she was getting ready to head to London to design
school. After a tearful and passionate
goodbye almost two months ago, they burned up the phone lines as much as their
financial situations allowed. Even
though Tara was supportive of his fledgling career, Mark was now beginning the
understand the price he would have to pay for it. And this was only the beginning.
Once the album was released and the tour began, it was only going to get
crazier. He knew he wouldn’t see home
nor Tara for quite some time.
The band was
getting ready for a pre-album release photo session, a new and crazy experience
for Mark. The hair and makeup lady took
one look at the 18 year old green eyed drummer and knew that she didn’t have to
do much to bring out his natural sex appeal.
All she did was give Mark more of a mature, edgy haircut and put some
temporary blonde streaks in it to offset his light brown hair. It made his seductive eyes and youthful
chistled features stand out even more.
Wardrobe dressed Mark in black jeans and a green and black army fatigue
t-shirt – simple, acceptable attire for today’s young rock bands.
The
photographer took standard shots of them indoors, then took them outdoors to a
nearby railroad tracks to take some shots.
What the guys didn’t know was that a group of fans, who found out about
their photo shoot, were waiting for them to finish.
As the band
walked back to a waiting limo, they noticed about 20 fans, mostly young
females, waiting behind a fenced in area.
Troy was the first to comment.
“Ohhhhhh,
yeahhhhh,” he wickedly drawled.
Rob grinned as
well and looked back at their manager who accompanied them. “We’re going over,” he stated, before
grabbing Mark’s arm. “C’mon, dude. This is where the real fun
begins! And…don’t feel guilty because
you have a girlfriend. Paul does too,
and she bust his balls constantly, but this is part of the business. Get used to it, and enjoy it!”
Mark raked his
fingers through his newly coifed hair as he got closer to the fence. What he saw made his mouth practically
salivate. Women. Young women between the ages of 18-25
dressed in various manners that left little to the imagination.
Their manager
unlocked the gate from the inside and the women, and a few guys, stumbled
through – thrusting pens, paper and CD’s at them. Even though Mark was officially part of the band, he still felt
like he was overstepping his bounds by signing autographs. No one really knew who he was yet. That is….until one very pretty nineteen year
old tapped him on the arm with her pen.
“You must be
the new drummer,” she said with flirting eyes and very full lips. “Mark Savage, right?”
Mark
remembered what Rob said and, knowing that image and sex appeal plays a big
part in a band’s success and album sales – especially to the female fans, Mark
flashed her a brilliant smile, displaying a small dimple on his right cheek.
“That’s right,
luv,” Mark purred in his best seductive tone.
The girl’s
mouth dropped a bit and her eyes lit up when she heard Mark speak. “Oooh, I…I didn’t know you were
British. I just love that accent.”
The girl
absentmindedly handed Mark a Sharpie Marker and turned around. Right above her very low rise jeans was an
intriguing tattoo. Bending over in a
provocative pose, she looked at him over her shoulder. “Sign over my tattoo?”
Mark had to
tear his eyes away from her tight little backside before he put his left on on
her left hip to steady himself before signing his name over her tattoo. She straightened up when he was done as he
handed her the marker back.
“You’ll be
happy to know that you’re my first – autograph, that is,” Mark said.
The girl ran
her eyes over his face and t-shirt clad chest.
“Well, I’m honored to have popped your autograph cherry,” she
whispered. “However, I’d love the honor
to do something else to you.”
Mark’s young
body responded to her offer, but he did his best to rein himself in
–remembering who and where he was.
“Well, I appreciate the offer, luv, but I’m afraid I’ll have to
decline.”
The girl
frowned as Mark reached over her to grab another marker to sign a girl’s
torso. Before all was said and done,
Mark had the pleasure of signing about 6 different female body parts. The other guys wasted no time in commenting
as the walked back to the car.
“Now that
was certainly a welcome,” Troy said to Mark, putting his arm around him.
“Yeah,
autographing nothing but tits and ass is pretty stressful,” Rob joked.
“It was the
accent, man,” Paul chimed in. “Girls
love the accent, I guess.”
Mark
shrugged. “I guess.”
They all got
in the car and Rob leaned into Mark.
“That was nothing, dude. Wait
till the tour starts. Like I said
earlier, get used to it…..and enjoy it!”
Mark was
already enjoying it. Too much.
Chapter
119
Two Months
Later
Manchester
Trevor stood
on the sidelines, decked out in his pristine black and red uniform as the team
took on Leeds. It was only the third
game of the season and already Trevor was getting antsy. He was not used to not playing. Even the backups in highschool got to play,
but this wasn’t high school. Trevor was
the new guy – the rookie, and he quickly learned to keep his eyes and ears open
and his mouth shut. Although it was a
honor beyond his wildest dreams to be a member of Manchester, standing on the
sidelines every single game either waiting for Patrick Tierney to get hurt or
have a bad game was a test of his patience.
He scanned the
stands and spotted his parents who took the tram to just about every game. As much as Trevor felt good about the show
of support, he felt as if his parents were wasting their time by watching their
son stand on the sidelines. It was also
the reason why he was glad that Emily hadn’t gotten a break from school to come
see him play yet. Their relationship
was hanging on by phone and it was extremely difficult with him traveling all
over with the team and her at school in London. But, as they agreed, they took it day by day.
By halftime,
Manchester had blown a 3-0 lead by allowing Leeds three unanswered goals to tie
it up. Coach Walter Ridgeford was a ver
proper looking English gentleman who always displayed a calmness in public. However, when he got the team alone at
halftime, his proper exterior evaporated.
“What in
bloody, fucking hell was that?” Walter screamed at his team. “We’re ahead 3-0, and you let them tie it up
in one quarter? That was the shoddiest,
sloppiest defense I’ve ever seen from you and Patrick….I better not see one
more goal get by you in the second half……you got me?”
Patrick’s head
was bowed as he took a verbal thrashing he deserved. “Aye, coach. I
understand.”
Trevor stood
in the backround as he studied his teammates as the coach tore into them. This was his watch and listen time. He learned so much from moments like
these. By not being part of the action,
it allowed him the leisure to pick up the ways to act and the mistakes to
avoid. He knew it would be valuable to
him someday.
The game
resumed and, halfway through the third quarter, Leeds scored another goal that
put them up 4-3. Patrick was one on one
with the Leeds player, which should’ve been an easy save, but the Leeds player
got the ball past him and into the net anyway.
On the
sidelines, Walter Ridgeford’s face contorted as his nostrils flared like a bull
sharing down a red flag. He promptly
called a time out. All the players came
off the field. When Patrick trotted
over, he kept his head bowed as not to look at the coach’s face. But he couldn’t avoid hearing his voice.
“Patrick?”
“Aye, coach?”
“Sit down!”
Patrick looked
up at Walter and briefly met his eyes before Walter turned around and called
out.
“Trevor! You’re in!”
Trevor felt
every nerve come to life in his body as his heart slammed in his chest. He couldn’t believe it. He was finally going to get to play.
He had never
been more scared in his life.
Not allowing
himself to show his fear, he got up with confidence as Patrick gave him a long
stare before sitting down. Trevor went
over to the coach and stood before him.
Walter looked at him.
“Well, don’t
look at me, lad. You’re the
goalie. You know what you have to
do. Get in there and do it!”
When the time
out ended, Trevor trotted on the field to stand in front of the goal as his
name was announced to replace Patrick Tierney.
In the stands, Chelsea gripped Scott’s arm.
“Scott! They put Trevor in!”
“I’m not
surprised,” Scott said proudly.
“Tierney’s been letting them get by him all afternoon.”
Scott silently
mumbled to himself. “C’mon, lad…..I
know you can do it!”
For the rest
of the third quarter, Manchester’s offense kept the ball in Leed’s territory
until they managed a goal to tie it up at 4-4. However, the 4th
quarter put Trevor to the test. The
roar of the crowd and the significance of his surroundings made it hard for
Trevor to pretend that he was on the high school field. Now he had to show why he was asked to
tryout for Manchester.
Throughout the
4th quarter, Leed’s kept the ball in Manchester territory and made
it to the goal line several times.
Trevor always got to the ball first and threw it out into the open. Those were easy, but it allowed him the time
he needed to build his confidence and study the defense from where he was
standing. He noticed two Leed’s players
that had a knack for connecting with one another on goals. Trevor kept his eye on both of them whenever
they approached the goal line.
Several long
attempts were made at Trevor, and he easily grabbed each one of them, building
his confidence more and allowing him to feed off the cheers from the
crowd. The very next time that Leeds
had the ball, the two players that Trevor was watching closely volleyed the
ball back and forth, obviously setting up a goal. Trevor had seen this razzle dazzle many times in high school and
prepared himself. Both Leeds players
were only yards away from him as Trevor watched the ball, not knowing which way
it was going to come from. He took his
stance and bit his lip as the corner of his eye caught a spin move from the
player on his right as he kicked the ball in.
Trevor was on
the left and, doing a spin move of his own, lunged over to the right side in
time and stretched his body out to grab the ball just before it entered the
net. It was a move that always caused a
gasp from the Westfield stands and it caused a near commotion from the
Manchester crowd as they went wild over the incredible save.
In the stands,
Chelsea and Scott flew out of their seats in a euphorical state over Trevor’s
save. They would do so again when the
same two Leeds players tried to outsmart Trevor from the other side, but Trevor
saved the ball from hitting the net, preserving the tie and giving Manchester
what time they had left to score the winning goal. When Trevor threw the ball out, the Leeds player to tried to
score on him jogged past him.
“Next time,
pup,” the player taunted Trevor.
Leeds had
attempted close to twelve goals in the 4th quarter, and Trevor
prevented every one of them. He felt
like he was high and the cheering and applause each time he made a save made
him surge. There was less than two
minutes in the game and Manchester had the ball in Leeds territory, but failed
to score the go ahead goal. A Leeds player
intercepted one possible game winner, and took off with the ball towards
Trevor.
The Leeds
player was joined by two teammates as they knew they had to triple team Trevor
in order to try to score. The crowd was
on its feet as their cheers were deafening.
Trevor’s eyes looked three ways simultaneously, not knowing from which
way the ball would come. The Manchester
players made their way down to help defend, but the Leeds threesome volleyed
the ball between them until they knew Trevor was confused.
When Trevor’s
eyes were fixed on the player to his right, the Leeds player in the center
kicked the ball to Trevor’s left.
Trevor’s eyes caught the ball and he spun around to dart to his left. He practically went airborn and stretched
himself out as his fingertips grazed the ball.
It was an acrobatic attempt, but it wasn’t enough.
Trevor’s body
fell to the ground in the process of trying to make the save just as the ball
hit the net, giving Leeds the 5-4 victory.
Chapter
120
The team filed
into the locker room, too stunned and depressed to even speak. Trevor waited till the last, possible moment
and walked in last, keeping his head held up the best he could as he focused on
his locker. Surely, he felt as if
everyone hated him right now. He let
the opponent’s game winning goal get by him.
But, he had to realize that he wasn’t always going to be on top of his
game. This wasn’t high school. Even though he was officially a pro player,
he was still what that Leeds player called him – a pup.
As he opened
his locker, he sat down and pulled his jersey off to prepare to shower. As he did, he felt a hand on his
shoulder. He looked up and saw Andrew.
“Don’t let it
get you down. That was a hell of a
performance you gave.”
Trevor gave
him a modest smile before continuing to undress. After he showered, he pulled on jeans and a t-shirt and ran some
gel through his wet, dark blonde hair.
The silence had long given way to some small talk, that is….until
Patrick Tierney opened his mouth.
“Guess you
found out today that you’re not in high school anymore,” Patrick taunted. “Life isn’t that perfect in the pros.”
“Aw, bugger
off, will ya Patrick,” Michael groaned.
“I think the lad knows where he is.”
“Not with you
doing the speaking for him, he won’t,” Patrick sneered.
Trevor turned
to Patrick with determined hazel eyes.
“I don’t need anyone speaking for me, Patrick. And, you’re right. I’m
not in high school anymore – I’m well aware of that – which is why I shouldn’t
have let that goal get by me.”
Patrick just
smugly looked at Trevor, gloating over his admission. Trevor knew there were times to keep his mouth shut, but now he
didn’t feel like it.
“Then again,”
Trevor continued, “it was still 3 less than what you allowed today.”
Some of the
players behind Trevor snickered as Patrick had fire in his eyes. He was a bit larger than Trevor, though not
as tall, but that didn’t stop him from pushing Trevor into the lockers. Trevor bounced back and gave him a
complimentary shove in return.
Before anything
serious broke out, the door to Walter’s door opened and he stuck his head out.
“Patrick? Get in here now. And Trevor, don’t you go anywhere. You’re next.”
“Yes sir,”
Trevor replied.
Patrick leaned
into Trevor. “Better get used to having
your balls chewed off,” he sneered before walking in the coaches office.
Trevor leaned
against his locker and rubbed his face before looking at Andrew. “Guess I deserve it.”
Andrew clapped
him on the shoulder. “Aw, don’t worry
there, laddie. We’re heading on over to
the pub. We’ll save you a tall pitcher
of lager to drown in!”
“Thanks, I’ll
need it,” Trevor sighed, before pulling his cell phone out and calling his
father’s.
“Aye dad.”
“Trevor,”
Scott replied on the other end. “You on
your way out?”
“No, not for a
while dad. Maybe you and mum should
just head back. The coach wants to see
me. I’m sure its about that goal.”
“Keep you head
up, Trevor,” Scott replied. “You take
it like a man, you learn from it and you move on. Don’t you worry. Mum and
I will head back to the tram station.
We’ll talk to you later in the week.”
“Thanks
dad. Bye.”
Trevor clicked
off his phone as the coach’s office door opened. Patrick stormed out, none too happy. He glared at Trevor, then left the locker room. Trevor walked up the the office and knocked
on the door.
“I believe I’m
next,” Trevor tried to jest.
“Sit down
Trevor,” Walter said, not once looking up at him.
Trevor
sat. And waited.
Walter
continued with making notes as he spoke.
“You want to tell me what happened out there?”
Trevor took a
deep breath. “I let the other team
win,” Trevor admitted. “I shouldn’t
have let that goal get by me. I caused
us to lose.”
Walter kept
his head still as his eyes looked up. “You
caused us to lose? I think not, lad.”
Trevor knitted
his brows. “Excuse me, sir?”
“You didn’t allow the first four
goals. You weren’t responsible
for not scoring more. When we win, it’s
a team effort, and when we lose….it’s a team fault. Maybe under different circumstances, you wouldn’t have let that
goal get past you. But, the fact that
Leeds had to triple team you in order to score showed me the respect
they had for you, not to mention that you didn’t crack in your first pro
appearance with the stress of the game on your shoulders. No, I know that if the circumstances were
different, we would’ve won today. Which
is why I’m starting you next week.”
Trevor was
stunned. “I….I beg your pardon?”
“Don’t beg,
lad. You don’t have to,” Walter
chided. “I said you’re starting next week. I wasn’t happy with Patrick’s performance
today and I don’t want that happening next week. You showed me some moves today that made me grin – and I rarely
do that – not to mention that the crowd seemed to come alive whenever you made
one of those spectacular saves. I want
to see what you can do for an entire game.
So, plan on a grueling practice with Stuart next week. That’ll be all.”
Trevor stood
up, trying his best not to gush. “Thank
you, sir.”
“Don’t thank
me……you earned it lad.”
Trevor left
Walter’s office, trying to let sink in what he was just told. He wished his parents had hung around so he
could share this with them. He made a
point to call them later, but now he needed to call someone else first. He punched the number into his cell and let
it ring.
“’ello?”
“Aye, luv.”
“Trevor!”
Emily gasped out in delight. “Oh
Trevor, I saw the game today. Oh, God,
I wish I was there to see you play in person.
I was so proud of you.”
“Even though
we lost?”
“It wasn’t
your fault,” Emily said. “Patrick
Tierney let 4 goals get past him. He
deserved to be benched.”
“Well, it
seems he’s gonna be benched a lot longer.
Coach is starting me next week.”
“Oh my God!”
Emily squealed. “Trevor,
that’s…..that’s awesome! Oh, baby I’m
so happy for you. Who are you playing?”
“Newcastle,”
Trevor replied. “Em, I’d love for you
to be there.”
“I’ll be
there, Trevor,” she said. “I
promise. I can’t wait to see you. I miss you so much.”
“I miss you
too, luv. I love you.”
“I love you
too. I’ll call you with my
arrangements.”
“Great. I’ll get you tickets and a pass. Bye luv.”
“Bye.”
Trevor clicked
off the phone and went to meet some of the other players at the pub. He was on a high that he felt like he’d
never come down from.
If only he
knew how ironic those words were going to be in a few months.
Chapter
121
One Week
Later
If Trevor had
to choose one day in his life where everything went absolutely perfect, today
was the day.
Not only were
his parents in attendance for Manchester’s game against Newcastle, Tyler,
Grace, Joe and Sav showed up as well.
Even Stephanie and Frank were there!
Stephanie was a typical new mother about leaving 3 month old Isabella
with a nanny for the day at her parents house in Sheffield, but with Paige and Abby
remaining behind to spend time with their great-granddaughter/niece, she eased
up on her fretting.
But what
Trevor was most happy about was having Emily there. He hadn’t seen her in months and couldn’t wait to spend some time
with her afterwards. However, what he
wanted to do now was to put on a performance today that would make them proud
and also show that the coach made the right decision in starting him today.
He didn’t let
anyone down.
Even though
Newcastle wasn’t a strong team, it was a tremendous boost of confidence to
Trevor as not one goal got by him all day.
Manchester easily shut out Newcastle 3-0 and the home crowd was easily
embracing the young, rookie goalie from Sheffield.
After the
game, Trevor was dumbfounded to be duluged by a sea of microphones being shoved
in his face from area reporters, wanting to know a little bit more about the 18
year old overnight sensation. As usual,
Trevor blushed in the face of praise and kept his answers as honest and humble
as possible.
When he was
finished, he parted with his teammates and headed out to the front gate to meet
his family and….Emily.
Scott was the
first to see his son and broke from the circle to meet him halfway. The pride that surged through him was twice
as strong as the day he was born.
Trevor met his father’s open arms and accepted a hug that made him weak
in the knees.
“You have no
idea how proud I am of you,” Scott whispered in Trevor’s ear with a cracked
voice.
“Thanks,
dad. I’m just glad I didn’t screw up
today with everyone watching.”
Chelsea gave
her son a kiss of congratulations, followed by Tyler and Grace.
“That was an
incredible game, lad,” Tyler gushed. “I
called Mark over in the States so he could be sure to get it on satellite.”
“How’s he
doing Uncle Ty?”
“Good. Tired.
Stressed. Typical symptoms of
rockstardom! The album gets released
the end of this month and the band’s gonna start off solo with some small club
dates before they join Fractured Soul in February as their opening act.”
“That’s
great. I gotta call him before his head
gets too big to remember us!”
“Look who’s
talking,” Joe said, interrupting their conversation. “With the way you played today, you’re gonna be just as
famous. There’s a lot of ego that runs
in the family.”
“Ain’t that the
pot calling the kettle black,” Sav interjected, joining them. “If these lads become famous, its because
they’ve worked hard for it. Even though
Mark was in the right place at the right time,
he wouldn’t be Fusion’s new drummer if he wasn’t superb.”
“Well, I’m not
gonna be famous after one game,” Trevor said shyly, before reconsidering. “Although….it did feel good to shut out
Newcastle.”
Sav proudly
hugged his grandson as Trevor looked over his shoulder to see his sister and
Frank. “Aye, there’s the new mum!”
Stephanie and
Frank came over. As she did, she
reached into her purse and proudly pulled out a recent picture of
Isabella. “Is she absolutely gorgeous
or what?” Stephanie asked.
Trevor took
the picture of his new little nice and smiled.
“Wow! Frank, mate, you’re gonna
have to beat the lads off with a stick when she gets older.”
“Especially if
she grows up to look like my Steffi,” Frank said in broken English. “Already her eyes are as blue as Steffi’s
and she’s got my dark hair and olive skin.
She’s absolutely bella!”
Trevor then
eyed his sister up and down. “You
didn’t waste any time getting in shape.
You’re as thin as you ever were.”
“Yeah, well,
as much as I hated it, I nursed Isabella for a while. My frigging boobs were huge.”
“Ah, yes they
were!” Frank drawled out in sultry Italian, earning him an elbow from his wife.
“Then of
course, after six weeks, I was able to have sex again and Frank was all over me
in no time.”
Trevor blushed
furiously over his sister’s brazen remark that Joe overheard.
“I’ve said it
before, and I’ll say it again, Steph,” Joe said. “You should’ve been my granddaughter!”
“I think we’ve
taken up enough of Trevor’s time,” Frank said, before leaning into him. “Trevor, there is someone very special
waiting for you.”
Frank turned
his head and Trevor looked in his direction.
His eyes fell on Emily. Trevor
felt elation and lust flow through him at once. All he wanted to do was hold her right this moment.
“Excuse me,”
he said, walking in Emily’s direction.
“Okay
everyone,” Stephanie said. “I believe
this is the part where we all….how do they say in American pig latin?…….am-scray!”
Chapter
122
Emily’s breath
caught in her throat at the sight of her handsome, soccer star boyfriend, who
seemed to have matured greatly since she last saw him.
Trevor’s eyes
swept Emily as he got close enough for his arms to take over. Wrapping them around her waist, he savored
the feel of her that he never forgot.
“Oh God
Em…..it feels so good to hold you,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you so bloody much.”
Emily inhaled
his freshly, showered scent and smiled against the warm of his neck. “I’ve missed you too, baby. We’ve got till tomorrow morning to make up
for it.”
Trevor pulled
away and stared down at her with a surprised grin. “Yeah? You’re staying in
Manchester overnight?”
Emily nodded
with a blush. “I’m staying at a nearby
hotel. I have to take the tram out
tomorrow by 11:00 to make it back to London by a decent hour.”
Trevor leaned
down and sweetly kissed her on the lips.
“Then lets not waste another minute,” he said with leer, before leaning
back down to give her a more promising kiss.
Before he could, he heard his name called out from behind.
“Trevor
Savage?”
Trevor turned
around to see a few people standing behind him and, from the way they were
swathed in black and red, he assumed they were Manchester fans.
“That’s me!”
he replied, good-naturedly.
A young lad,
around 10 yeard old, went up to him with a pen and Manchester program in his
hand. “Can I have your autograph Mr.
Savage?”
Trevor grinned
widely at the lad and took the pen and program. “Absolutely, little mate.
But….call me Trevor, okay?”
The lad was
wide eyed and nodded as Trevor handed him back the program. He then turned back to eye Emily, secretly
asking her to wait a few moments while he signed autographs. Emily winked and walked to the exit gate to
wait for him.
Trevor signed
autographs for about 15 people, the last one being a very lovely young woman in
her early 20’s. He handed her pen and
program back as she looked him deep in his eyes.
“Thank you,
Trevor,” she said with a seducing voice and inviting eyes.
“You’re
welcome, luv,” he replied a little flustered.
The young
woman looked past Trevor to Emily waiting for him, then back.
“Is that your girlfriend?”
Trevor
gulped. “Yes, it is.”
The young
woman made sure that Emily wasn’t looking when she ran a silky fingertip down
Trevor’s arm, before thrusting a folded piece of paper in his hand and closing
it.
“Call me when
you’re ready for a woman,” she purred, before licking her lips and
turning to leave.
Trevor’s warm
and tingly feeling was quickly washed away by guilt as he looked at the piece
of paper in his hand. The name ‘Sharon’
with a phone number was on it.
He rolled his
eyes, shoved it in his pocket then went over to Emily. “C’mon luv, lets get something to eat first
then go back to my flat.”
An hour later
they were just about finishing up a lite fare at a small corner pub. Trevor wanted someplace quiet so he and
Emily could talk and catch up, but there were obviously some patrons in there
that had watched the game on the telly and noticed Trevor. Only two people asked him for autograph’s
and he happily signed them.
As they waited
for the check, Trevor excused himself to use the loo. On his way there, he heard a female voice call out his name.
“Trevor? Is…..is that you?”
Trevor turned
to see the honey-blonde, aqua-marined eyed former stripper that he had shared a
very careless moment with.
“G..G..Ginger?”
he stammered. “Aye, what are you doing
here?”
“Actually, I’m
on my way out,” she said, holding up a bag.
“Just getting an order to go.
This place may be small, but they have the best banger’s and mash I’ve
ever had. I saw the game today……you
were mega! I knew you would be.”
Ginger gave
him a congratulatory hug, to which Trevor politely hugged her back. “Thanks, luv. It was an awesome feeling.”
Ginger pulled
back and stared up at him. “So….you
here alone?”
“No, actually
my girlfriend came in from London to see me play. We’re gonna spend some quality time together before she leaves
tomorrow.”
Ginger looked
a bit disappointed, but she understood.
“Oh, well….you two enjoy yourselves.”
Ginger winked
at him as Trevor entered the loo.
From her table,
Emily witnessed the entire exchange between Trevor and Ginger. As Ginger passed Emily’s table on her way
out, a few male patrons, who obviously recognized her from The Kitten Klub,
acknowledged her before she left..
When the
waitress brought the check over, Emily stopped her. “Excuse me, who’s that young woman who just walked out? Is she famous or something?”
The waitress
snickered. “You could say that! She was the most infamous stripper at
The Kitten Klub. If you notice, it’s
the chaps in here that acknowledge her and not the women. Its easy to tell where they frequent their
nights. I’ll be back to take your
check.”
Just as Emily
began to wonder how Trevor knew a stripper, he came back to the table. “Ready, luv?”
Chapter
123
Music played
softly from a portable CD player on a makeshift shelf against the wall of
Trevor’s sparsely-decorated flat.
In the center
of his bed, Emily leaned her cheek against his lean, bare chest, as her
breathing began to subside from a very passionate lovemaking session.
In the car
ride over to his flat, Emily decided against asking Trevor about hugging that
young woman – ‘Ginger’ as some of the men in the pub acknowledged her. For all she knew, she could’ve been a soccer
fan who took the liberty to hug him.
Now that
Trevor was a member of England’s best soccer team, she had to realize that
there were going to be fans who’d recognize him – fans who were mostly going to
be female. She needed to support him
and she couldn’t do that by starting to get jealous over every little thing.
She lightly
trailed her finger down the center line of his abdomen and stopped dangerously
close to where the sheet barely covered him.
“Don’t stop on
my account,” Trevor said.
She propped
her chin on his chest and stared into his gorgeous hazel eyes. Her hand continued to wander down. “Very well then,” she purred, enjoying the
look on his face as she grasped him.
Trevor’s mouth
parted a bit as he closed his eyes and involuntarily arched his pelvis up, as
Emily stroked him to ready hardness.
“Ready so
soon?”
Trevor
chuckled. “Well, at 18, it doesn’t take
much. Which is good, because I want as
much of you as I can get until you leave tomorrow.”
Emily squeezed
her eyes shut. “Please, no talk about
leaving.”
“You’re
right,” Trevor growled, pulling her on top of him. “I’d rather be ‘loving’!”
“Trev, do you
have another condom? Hopefully I’ll be
on the pill the next time I see you.”
“Shit, let me
see,” he said, fumbling around inside his nightstand drawer.
Emily
giggled. “Maybe you’ve got the trusty
spare that all lads keep in their wallets or something!”
“I hope so,
because I can’t seem to find another one.
Damn!”
Emily leaned
over the side of the bed and found his trousers. She shook them upside down to let his wallet fall out and,
instead, a piece of paper with a phone number and the name ‘Sharon’ fell
out. Emily stilled a moment before
picking it up.
“Did you find
one, luv?”
Emily sat up
and tucked her hair behind her ear as she gazed at the paper. “No, but I found this.”
Trevor turned
to see Emily hand him the piece of paper, a hurt look upon her face.
“Who’s
Sharon?”
Even though it
was perfectly innocent, it didn’t look that way to Emily. “Em, its not what you think. Honestly.
She was someone I sighed an autograph for earlier at the stadium – right
before she left. She shoved that in my
hand. I can’t believe how forward some
young women are.”
“Why did you
keep it?”
“I didn’t keep
it, Em! I didn’t want to toss it on the
ground, so I just put it in my pocket.
That’s all!”
Emily crumbled
the paper and threw it on the floor. “I knew this would happen,” she muttered.
Trevor took
her by the shoulders. “Em, you have
nothing to worry about. I love you.”
“I know you
do, Trev, but crikey…….Manchester is supposed to have the biggest bunch of
soccer groupies in the league. This is
just the beginning.”
“It doesn’t
mean that I have to accept the proposals,” Trevor replied. “Besides, Em, I’m only a rookie. I’ve only started one game. Sure I got asked for a few autographs, but
its not like I’ve got people clamoring for me wherever I go.”
“Except for
strippers,” Emily cautiously said, taking a chance.
Trevor’s face
turned chalk white. “W..w..what?”
Emily noticed
a look of guilt on face that didn’t sit well with her. “Strippers, Trevor. Particularly one named Ginger. She hugged you by the loo at the pub.”
Trevor
swallowed hard, not knowing how to handle this. “H…how do you know about Ginger?”
“Why are you
stuttering, Trevor? Something I should
know about?”
“N..n..no,
Em. I mean, okay, after my first day of
practice, a few of the players took me out to dinner and, well, since I was
basically at their mercy, they took me to a strip club. Ginger was one of the dancers there. But she doesn’t work there anymore.”
“How do you
know?”
“Because, she
came to practice the next day and…….told……me,” Trevor spoke, way too soon.
Emily scooted
away from him. “She……she came to
practice – just to see you? Hell,
Trevor, what went on between you two that night that made you best mates with
her?”
“Emily,
I…I…please, you…..you gotta believe……”
“It’s a little
hard for me to believe a lad who has to stutter through an explanation. I’m not a fool, Trevor, so don’t treat me
like one. If something happened, at
least do me the courtesy of not lying about it.”
Trevor was
screwed! Even though the truth would
hurt Emily, and possibly destroy their relationship, he couldn’t lie. She didn’t deserve to be lied to. And, there was no way he could deny it.
“Fine, Em,”
Trevor said dejected and defeated.
“Something did happen between Ginger and I that night, but……honest to
God, I was drunk. I didn’t…..”
Emily bounded
off the bed and began to look for her clothes.
“Good Lord, Trevor,” she scolded.
“Don’t blame your indescretion on alcohol! I…I can’t believe this!
But then again, I should’ve expected it. We’ve been apart for months, you’re young, good looking and a
member of Manchester. Who am I
kidding? There’s no way we can make
this relationship work.”
Trevor rolled
off the bed and pulled his trousers on, advancing on her. “Emily, please! Don’t do this! It was a
mistake. And awful, terrible
mistake! I could’ve lied and said
nothing happened, but I owned up to it.
At least give me that much.”
Emily pulled
her jumper over her head and looked at him.
“Trevor, first I find a piece of paper with a woman’s name and phone
number in your pocket and now I found out that you and a…a…stripper….! How the fuck am I supposed to trust you –
especially when we’re going to be apart?”
Trevor shook
his head as tears began to form in his eyes.
“You just have to Em. Please.”
“Trevor, if
you found out that I was with another lad and also had a different lad’s name
and phone number in my purse, what would you think of me?”
Trevor
couldn’t answer that question. Of
course, he’d think her unfaithful.
And….he was, with Ginger. He
deserved what he was getting. All he
could hope for was that, after waiting for Emily to cool down a bit, he’d call
her to try to talk to her about it.
“Em, what are
you going to do? Where are you going?”
“I’m going
back to my hotel and leaving first thing in the morning. I….I can’t stay here with you. I….I need to think.”
“Emily, please
forgive me!”
“I’ll let you
know if I can,” she said, grabbing her purse.
“Goodbye Trevor.”
The sound of
the door closing was all Trevor needed to let his tears fall. He sat on the bed and allowed himself to
cry. He quite possibly lost the
loveliest lass he ever had in his life and it was all his fault.
After a few
minutes of heavy sobbing, he went in search of something to ease the ache in
his head, since there was probably nothing he could do for his heart.
He opened a
bottle of Motrin and poured two tablets into his hand. His head pounded harder, so he changed it to
three.
What Trevor
wasn’t aware of, was that this was only the beginning. In the coming year, he’ll find himself
seeking something much stronger to ease the pain.
Chapter
124
London
2 Weeks
Later
Tara bit her
lip as she scanned the crowd of people in the audience at the Odeon for
Fusion’s pre-album release show. The
band decided to start off doing a few European club dates, if only to get Mark
familiar to playing for large audiences, before they start their bigger shows
in the States where they are more popular.
Tonight, they’d be sharing the stage with a few other acts as well.
When she got a
call from Mark saying that the band would be playing in London and that he’d
send her tickets and a backstage pass, she was so excited that she couldn’t
contain herself. This would be the
first time that she’d seen him in months, not to mention playing in the
band. She had to admit – it was kind of
exciting having a rock star for a boyfriend!
Generously, Mark had sent her tickets for her and Emily to come to the
show, since Emily was attending school in London as well.
Tara didn’t
know if anything would cheer Emily up since she returned from Manchester two
weeks ago after learning that Trevor had been unfaithful.
As much as
Emily’s heart was hurting, especially after shunning Trevor’s attempted calls,
she didn’t want to dissuade her cousin.
“Excited?”
Emily asked.
“You have no
idea, Em,” Tara exclaimed. “I’m just so
happy for Mark. You don’t know how many
talks we had about him not knowing what he’s going to do for the rest of his
life.”
“Yeah, I’m
happy for him too,” Emily said, trying to sound encouraging.
“Em,” Tara
said, taking her hand. “I won’t
elaborate on this, but…..I know what Trevor did was wrong. Very, very wrong. But, I also know that he’s made several attempts to call you and
you’ve ditched every one of them.
And….on top of that….you’re miserable.
At least talk to him, Em?”
“I know…..I
will,” Emily replied. “Its……it just
shocked me. What started out as what
was to be a wonderful night together, turned into a nightmare. I still love him, Tara, its just…….how can I
trust him?”
“Because
you love him, that’s how!”
“Is that how
you’re gonna trust Mark?”
Tara was taken
aback. “What…..what do you mean?”
Emily looked
around the audience. “Take a look
around, Tara. Look at the girls in the
audience here. And this is just in
London. Fusion is mega popular in the
States. Mark and the rest of the band
are young and gorgeous. If you think
Manchester has notorious soccer groupies, what do you think rock stars have?”
Tara’s
countenance changed, which Emily caught on to. “Tara, I’m….I’m sorry. I
should’nt have said that. I mean, not
that you don’t know that rock stars have groupies who follow them, but you didn’t
need to be reminded of it. I….I just
don’t want you going through what I just did, that’s all. Hopefully, Mark’ll be smarter than his
cousin.”
“Hopefully,”
Tara thought to herself as Fusion was announced and took the stage.
The show was
absolutely unbelievable and Mark played the drums as if he’d been doing it all
his life. Well, actually he has! But, he looked as if he were born performing
on a stage in front of people. The
crowd gave them a great welcome and, after they did about 5 songs, Mark came
from behind to take his bow with the band, but not before Paul formally
introduced him as their new drummer.
The crowd
cheered as Mark pumped his drumsticks in the air before spontaneously tossing
them out into the crowd. A small crowd
of girls and a few guys fought for them.
Mark’s eyes then scanned down the front and caught Tara’s. She looked so beautiful and couldn’t wait to
see her backstage.
Tara saw Mark
notice her and her heart stopped. His
hair was damp and his skin was slick with sweat, which caused his t-shirt to
cling to his lean, hard mid-section.
She missed him so much and couldn’t wait to finally hold him.
Emily caught
the exchange too and turned to her cousin.
“Tar, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna catch a taxi back to my room. You go on ahead and enjoy your time with
Mark.”
Tara wouldn’t
hear of it. “Are you crazy? Don’t you want to go backstage and meet the
band? I mean….maybe one of them can
cheer you up!”
Emily offered
her a shy smile before shaking her head no.
“No, that’s okay. I’ll just be a
third wheel. I really just want to go
home and go to sleep.”
“Em, please
call Trevor. Tonight.”
“I……will, but
not tonight. Give me the night to think
on what I want to say.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
The two
cousins hugged before Tara took her backstage pass out of her pocket and hooked
it around her neck. She exited the
audience section and waited by the side of the stage, as Mark had instructed
her on the phone.
What she
didn’t count on was about a dozen other girls, with similar backstage passes,
looking just as eager to get backstage as wellTara continued to wait until the
guests could be called back. While she
waited, she overheard a couple of the girls talking.
“I sure hope
Paul’s girlfriend isn’t with him tonight,” one of the girls said.
“Like that’s
stopped him in the past,” the other replied.
“I read on the internet at one of those groupie sites that his
girlfriend knows he fucks around, but she just turns a blind eye.”
“I think I
would too, if he were my boyfriend,” the first girl said. “Then again, they’re all lookers. And….did you see that new drummer? Was he hot or what?”
Tara felt her
ears burn with rage. How she wanted to
go up to these girls let them know that Mark was ‘hands off’. But, these weren’t high school girls. She just kept her mouth while she waited for
Mark.
After another
ten minute wait, the guests were finally let backstage to the hospitality
room. Once inside, Tara’s eyes
frantically sought out Mark.
Over by the
table, stuffing half a sandwich in his face, Troy’s eyes popped as he nudged
Paul.
“Oh, are you
seeing what I’m seeing?”
Paul turned to
look in Troy’s direction – which was at Tara.
He whistled low. “Wow, look at
those eyes.”
“Forget her
eyes, look at her ass!”
“Forget everything
about her mates,” Mark interjected.
“That’s Tara.”
Mark walked
away with a smile of triumph, only to be interrupted by a young girl who sidled
up to him. “How’s about a formal
welcome to the band, Mark?”
Mark gently
discouraged her away. “Sorry, luv. I think my girlfriend has the same thing in
mind.”
Mark winked at
her and headed over to Tara. The two of them embraced, much to the jovial
envy of his bandmates and the jealousy of the rest of the girls in the room.
One of the
girls nudged her friend. “I’m following
this band to their next gig. If that
little drummer boy is alone, I’m gonna make him forget about his girlfriend!”
Chapter
125
Back in Mark’s
hotel room, he frantically thrusted months and months of frustration in and out
of Tara’s body. She clung to him like a
lifeboat as her hands ran down the slickness of his skin then back up to his
hair.
After they
both achieved satisfaction, Mark lightly laid on top of her as he felt Tara’s
lips continue to kiss his face. A grin
broke out on his face as he lifted his head to look at her.
“Missed me
that much, eh?”
“I could say
the same for you,” Tara replied. “And,
yes….I did. Too much.”
“Even though
my father and grandfather’s warned me that it wasn’t going to be all fun and
games, I still wasn’t prepared for how crazy this profession is. I mean, you think that all you’re supposed
to do is write songs, record them and play them in concert. I wish!
Everytime I just wanted to sit down and relax or even sleep, we we’re being
hauled off to some kind of photo session, interview, rehearsal, autograph
signing, etc. But, I’m loving every
minute of it. I’m doing what I do
best.”
“Mark, you
were absolutely awesome tonight. You
fit in so well. You were born to be in
a band. Its in your blood.”
Mark looked at
her wickedly and ground his body against hers.
“Yeah, well in a few minutes….I want to be in you again!”
They were
beginning to kiss when they heard loud giggling and laughter out in the
hallway. Mark got out of bed and threw
on his boxers before opening the door.
There were
about 7 half naked girls, scurrying from one room to the other with various
alcoholic beverages in their hands. He
then saw Paul come out of his room, dressed in unbuttoned, unzipped jeans, and
pull one of the girls back inside with him.
Before he closed the door, he caught Mark looking at him and winked his
approval.
Mark looked
inside one of the other rooms and saw Troy laying on the bed. One girl was giving him a blow job while
another hovered her bare breasts over him to suck on. He rubbed his face with his hands, for he only heard stories of
scenes such as this. Through another
one of the open doors, Rob sat on the couch inside as a gorgeous blonde,
wearing nothing but a thong, straddled him and kissed him seductively, their
tongues visibly intertwining with each other.
The absolutely
hedonistic sight was putting Mark’s almost 19 year old body into overdrive and
his boxers did nothing to hide his reaction.
Suddenly, one
of the half naked girls in the hallway turned to see Mark standing there
outside his room. She shrieked and ran
over to him, throwing herself around him.
“Oh my God,
you’re Mark,” she panted. “How’s about
letting me come inside?”
Mark was so
overwhelmed by her boldness, not to mention the feel of her bare flesh pressed
against his, that he almost forgot about Tara inside. He took her arms and pulled them down.
“Well luv, I
already have someone inside with me.”
The girl
peeked inside Mark’s room to see Tara sitting up in bed, holding the sheet up
to her neck. The girl grinned then
looked back at Mark.
“That’s okay,
I don’t mind,” she said. “I’ve done
threesome’s before. And besides……” she
leaned into him and whispered, “I like girls too. Especially brunettes like that one.”
Mark couldn’t
believe what she was suggesting.
Moreso, he couldn’t believe that the thought of being in bed with two
women, one of them being his girlfriend, turned him on, as well as the thought
of this girl and Tara…..
“Mark?”
Tara’s voice
calling out to him from behind snapped his thoughts. With every ounce of willpower, he pushed the girl away. “Sorry, luv. Not tonight.”
The girl
pouted and moved back. “You guys are
playing at Brixton in three nights, right?”
“Right.”
The girl swept
Mark’s body up and down slowly. “I’ll
be there!” she said before walking away.
Mark went back
inside the room and shut the door and locked it. He got back into bed with Tara who looked at him warily.
“What?”
“What did she
want, Mark?”
“To join us. Threesome.
She even had her eye on you.”
Tara was
aghast. “What?”
“Don’t worry,
luv, I sent her away. I’m not into
anything that freaky!”
No way could
Mark admit that it turned him on to the max!
“Mark, does
this go on all the time?”
“I really
don’t know, luv. This is our first
show. Plus, most nights were gonna be
sleeping on the tour bus, so I guess the guys like to let off a little steam
when they have an actual bed to sleep in.”
“Especially,
Paul?” Tara asked. “Doesn’t he have a
girlfriend?”
Mark
sighed. “Yes, he does. Tara, listen. I’m their drummer, not their nursemaid. They have to answer for their actions, not me. I’m here with you now, aren’t I?”
“Yeah….now,”
Tara replied. “Mark, Emily and Trevor
already broke up because he cheated on her.
Its just…..I mean……how long are you going to be able to resist all
this?”
Mark kissed
her forehead, not wanting to discuss this now.
“Luv, please, lets not talk about this.
I’ve been without you for months and have to leave you again
tomorrow. Lets just go to sleep in each
other’s arms and enjoy it.”
Mark’s arms
went around her as he snuggled her against him. It was hard for Tara to block out the noise outside. Instead, she just concentrated on being in
Mark’s arms.
And wondered how
long before someone else would be in them.
Chapter
126
Tara and Emily
took the tram into Sheffield to visit for the weekend. Tara was also excited because Mark had
finished his club dates with the band and was going to break for two weeks
before he had to fly out to LA to kick off the album’s release.
Emily, on the
other hand, would be alone. Even though
she had promised her cousin that she would call Trevor to hear him out, she
couldn’t. Perhaps if she ran into him
she would, but with her at school in London and Trevor playing in Manchester,
she didn’t think that was possible.
The girls
arrived at Mr. & Mrs. Prescott’s house and had something to eat before
planning their afternoon. Tara called
Mark’s cell to let him know that she arrived in town. He had taken his parents, grandparents and sister out to lunch
and told her that he’d be by later and would take her to dinner.
With a thump
in her heart, Tara hung up and regarded a very somber looking Emily.
“Em, I know
you never called Trevor. Why?”
Emily
shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just don’t want to hear the sorry
excuses that a man gives for cheating.
You know…..’its not what you think’, or ‘I was drunk’, or ‘she means
nothing to me’. I’m not an idiot,
Tara. I may be crapping out in school,
but I’m not an idiot.
Tara’s eyes
widened. “What’s this about school?”
“Paralegal
just isn’t my thing. Come to think of
it, I just don’t see myself as an ‘office’ lass. While you’re out with Mark tonight, I’m going to talk to my
parents about switching schools. After
spending all those afternoons with………Trevor’s mum at the daycare, I’m really
leaning towards child education.”
“Em, that’s
wonderful. At least you have a
backup. But Em…..please…..you must call
Trevor. I’m not sticking up for him or
anything, but at least give him a chance to talk.”
“Sorry Tara,
but, unless you’re walking in my shoes, you just don’t understand. I mean, you told me about that heinous scene
at the hotel with Mark. How can you be
so sure that Mark won’t give in the next time you’re not there?”
“I know…I’ve
been thinking about that a lot and……hey!
Wait a minute!”
Tara went over
to the computer, booted up and signed online.
“What are you
doing?”
As Tara waited
for her homepage to come up she explained.
“When I was waiting to get backstage to see Mark at the Odeon, I heard
these two girls talking about these groupie websites. I guess these girls post all of their conquests with bandmembers
there. Lets see if we can find anything
interesting.”
Tara got her
search engine and typed in ‘groupie sites’.
Her search results came up and one that particularly stuck out was one
called GroupieCentral.com
“Hmmm, lets
see whats here,” she said, clicking over to that site.
Both girls sat
their open-mouthed as they read the very detailed and very dirty encounters
that groupies have had with members of various bands. They went down the band list alphabetically until they came to
Fusion. Since Mark wasn’t a member of
the band when Fusion did their debut tour, nothing was said about him, but oh
what was said about the other guys!
There were very interesting stories about Paul, the lead singer, despite
the well-known fact that he was in a semi-steady relationship with a girl named
Bekka for the last two years.
“Oh my God!”
Emily exclaimed. “I didn’t know stuff
like this went on. I can’t believe
these guys! What if their girlfriends
read this stuff?”
“Well, how
much of it is true and how much is fabricated?” Tara said. “I mean, c’mon, we don’t know if this stuff
really happened. But, its certainly a
hoot to read.”
“Hey, there’s
a message board,” Emily said. “Lets see
what’s being said there.”
Tara clicked
the icon that took her to the GroupieCentral message board. She scrolled to see if there was anything
interesting worth reading. She stopped
scrolling when she saw a ‘Fusion’ thread.
Most of the questions were about the guys’ status’ and if anyone met
them. A sub-thread of the main thread
caught her eye. It was titled “The New Drummer!” Tara clicked it on and she and Emily read it together.
Hey, everyone. Well, I’m back from following Fusion to 3 of their 4 appearances over here in England. And, I gotta tell you gals, their new drummer is HOT, HOT, HOT! He isn’t even 19, but you’d never know. He’s absolutely fucking gorgeous up close. Light brown hair, hair, deep green eyes and……I had him! I think I was the first one to ‘offficially’ welcome him, GroupieCentral style! I first saw him at the hotel after the Odeon show. He was in a room by himself with his ::cough:: girlfriend. I offered a threesome, but he turned me down. Told him I was following the band to Brixton. Well, I did and he was sans the girlfriend, fellow groupies! It didn’t take much convincing and, man, can that boy fuck! Guess it’s the age. A friend of mine hooked up with Troy. That guy is a total sex maniac. Paul’s dick has been just about everywhere (except in his own girlfriend LOL) and Rob seems to be the least kinkiest of them all. All I know is that if you ladies get a chance to see them in the States, you’re in for a big surprise. In more ways than one!……………Shayna.
Tara’s hand
shook on the mouse the entire time she read it. She read it again, then again, then again……tears beginning to
threaten her eyes.
Emily put a
hand on her shoulder. “Em, don’t
freak. Remember, like you said, it
could be fabricated.”
“I don’t think
it is,” Tara said with a raw whisper.
“This girl was at the hotel in London.
She was the one who propositioned Mark to join us in bed.”
“That doesn’t
mean that she slept with him,” Emily tried to convince her. “Maybe she wrote that because she’s smarting
over Mark turning her down and hoped that you’d read this.”
Tara got out
of the site, signed off the internet and turned the computer off. “Well,
I did. I’ll ask Mark about it
tonight.”
It was now
time for Tara to eat her own words.
Chapter
127
Mark went over
to the Prescott’s to get Tara around 6:30pm and rang the doorbell. The door opened and he wasn’t met with a
girlfriend who hadn’t seen him in weeks, but rather one who regarded him with
skeptcism and red-rimmed eyes.
“Tara, what’s
wrong? You crying?”
Tara turned
her face away and walked into the living room.
“Mark, sit down. I think we need
to talk.”
Mark followed
her and cautiously sat down. “Are we
alone?”
“Yes. Emily went to dinner with her parents. So…..how were the rest of the club dates?”
“Great! I’m looking forward to hitting the States,
but not being without you.”
Tara took a
deep breath. “Yeah, I know. Its been tough being apart. I…..wish I could’ve gone to the Brixton
show. As a matter of fact, I almost
showed up to surprise you.”
Mark looked a
little flustered. “You…..you did? I mean…..why didn’t you? If you called I would’ve…..”
“Well, if I
called it wouldn’t have been a surprise now, would it? Your tour manager knows me from last
time. He would’ve gotten me to you at
the hotel afterwards.”
“Y…y..yeah, I
suppose.”
Tara was
becoming alarmed by Mark’s uneasiness and was fearing that what she read was
true.
“Tara, what
did you want to talk about?”
“Oh, just
about how your club dates were,” she replied.
Mark got up
and sat next to her. “Luv, we can talk
about those another time. I haven’t
seen you in weeks, so …..since we’re alone….”
Tara pushed
him away. “What’s the matter, Brixton
didn’t tie you over?”
Mark pulled
back. “W..w..what?”
“Who’s Shayna,
Mark?”
Mark’s face
paled upon hearing that name. “Oh
shit,” he murmured.
Tara stood up
and backed away. “Oh my God! It……its true?”
Mark stood up
and went over to her. “No, wait
Tara…..what…..what do you know? Fuck, how
did you know?”
“So, you’re
not denying it?”
Mark rubbed
his face hard with both hands. “Tara,
listen….please. Its not what you
think. It…it was nothing, I swear.”
Tara laughed
mockingly to herself. “You know, not
even three hours earlier Emily was telling me how she didn’t want to give
Trevor a chance to explain himself for cheating on her because she didn’t want
to hear all those pathetic excuses. Now
I know what she meant. I knew it,
Mark! After that hotel scene in London,
I knew it would only be a matter of time before you gave into a groupie. I thought I’d give you the benefit of the
doubt, but I was wrong. You Savage
cousins are certainly carved from the same tree!”
Tara stalked
into the kitchen and Mark followed.
“Tara, how do you know all this?
You don’t know what happened.”
“Oh yes I do!”
she said, turning on him. “It was
plastered all over GroupieCentral, a nice little website where sluts like
Shayna brag about all the rock stars they fuck. I overheard two girls talking about that site after the Odeon
show and thought I’d check it out. Good
thing I did else I’d probably wind up like Bekka!”
Mark
gulped. “How do you know about her?”
“Oh, that’s
all over the site too. However, if she
wants to turn a blind eye to Paul shagging his female fans, then that’s her
business. I’m not a doormat, Mark!”
Mark rubbed
his face again. “I can’t believe
this! I can’t believe this is happening. Tara, please, it was a mistake. I’m sorry.
I’m so, so, sorry. I just…..”
“…..couldn’t
help yourself?” Tara finished for him.
“Mark, I have a feeling that this won’t be the last time. You’re a drummer in a popular rock band. All you lads are extremely good
looking. The temptation is too great
and I……I don’t have the strength to worry if I can trust you again.”
“Tara,
please!” Mark pleased.
Tara turned
her head and shook it. “No, I
can’t. I just can’t. I’m sorry, Mark. I think you better leave.
Good luck on your tour.”
“Tara……”
“Goodbye,” she
choked out before running up the stairs and slamming the door.
Mark was
fighting his own tears that were a result of his own foolishness. He couldn’t blame Tara, but how was he going
to go on without knowing she’s there for him?
Without her support? Her love
and her beauty? How could he ever
forgive himself?
Perhaps it
wasn’t so wise to be in a relationship now, but he didn’t want their
relationship to end this way – on an infidelity. But, Mark had no choice.
He made a mistake, was found out, and was paying for it.
Welcome to the
wonderful world of rock ‘n roll!
Chapter
128
Mark entered
his parents house to find them and both sets of grandparents still there. The last thing he wanted to do was see or
talk to anyone. All he wanted to do was
get out of Sheffield as fast as he could.
But, some things couldn’t be avoided.
“Mark?” Grace
called out. “What are you doing
back? I thought you were going to see
Tara.”
Mark’s eyes
swept the dining room table where everyone sat and knew he had to say something
that they weren’t going to like.
“Listen, I can’t get into it, but I have to leave. I’m going upstairs to pack then taking the
tram to Heathrow to catch the first available flight to LA. I just called Rob and he said I can crash at
his flat until our promo appearances start next week. I….I just have to go.”
Mark turned to
go upstairs, knowing he wouldn’t even get close to the first step.
“Mark,” Tyler
called out. “You just can’t give a
speech like that then walk out without an explanation. What’s wrong?”
Mark let out a
long, slow breath and decided to give very little information. “Look, its like this. Tara and I broke up. Actually, she broke up with me and it was
all my fault. Now please, I’m sorry but
I just want to get out of here.”
Before Mark
hit the second step another voice called out.
“Hold it,” Joe
said, slowly getting up from his chair and leaning down to Sav. “Come with me,” he whispered.
He then walked
over to Mark and looked his grandson in the eye. “We’d like to talk to you.”
Mark couldn’t
refuse his grandfathers and followed them into the living room for
privacy. As they all sat down, Joe
leaned forward and looked straight at Mark.
“How was she?”
“How was who?”
Mark responded.
“Your first
groupie. How was she?”
Mark was
flabberghasted. “How…..how……?”
Joe gave him a
slow, wicked smile. “I did the same
thing you did for a living, lad, only longer.
I know the signs.”
“So do I,” Sav
injected. “You were just with Tara in
London two weeks ago, then apart for another two, then your first night back
together she breaks up with you for something that was your fault. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure
it out.”
“Lucky for
you,” Joe said to Sav, trying to lighten the mood.
“Crikey, I
didn’t know I was such an open book,” Mark said. “I thought maybe you two were surfing Groupie Central too.”
Joe and Sav
each let out raucious laughs. “Groupie
Central? Good God, don’t tell me that
piece of trash site is still around,” Joe sputtered. “Some woman once wrote how I have an 8 inch dick. Everyone know’s its longer than that!”
Sav
coughed. “Not anymore! Aye, you think that’s bad, someone wrote
that they saw me go off with about 14 girls at once. Wait……I think that one may be true.”
“Yeah, well,
unfortunately what was written about me was true,” Mark said. “It was written by the girl I was with. Tara found the site and read it. That’s how she found out. I am so fucked, grandpas……and not in the
good way. What am I gonna do now?”
Sav got up and
sat next to Mark. “Lad, listen to
me. Tara was your highschool sweetheart
and I know the two of you still love each other very much. But, to carry that love and fidelity over
into a career as a rock star – especially a 19 year old rock star – is a bit of
a tall order.”
“Yeah, but my
dad did it,” Mark tried to justify
“No Mark,” Sav
said. “Your father broke up with your
mother before he went off to university.
And…they didn’t get back together until after the band was formed and
the debut album came out.”
“Yeah,
but……dad said that they broke up again after that and didn’t get back together
for good until after the accident.”
“True, they
did break up again,” Sav said, remembering that awful afternoon so long ago
when Tyler found out about Scott getting Grace pregnant. “But, it had nothing to do with him cheating
on her with a groupie. Mark, you’re
still young. And…so is Tara. You’ve got a promising career in music and
she wants to be a designer. Perhaps a
break is what you need.”
“But grandpa,
she would never consider getting back together with me. Not after what I did. She’ll never be able to trust me.”
Sav then
remembered how hard it was for Tyler to forgive Grace after the incident with
Scott, even though they were officially broken up at the time. Still, it hurt him. But, he eventually got past it and realized
that his heart belonged with Grace.
Unfortunately, it took a tragedy to make him realize this and forgive
his brother Scott, but it happened.
And..it was possible.”
Joe leaned
forward and put his hand on Mark’s knee.
“Mark, we can’t make you any promises.
All we can do is give you life’s experiences. I know you’re filled with regret and guilt right now and Tara is
feeling hurt and betrayed. I know that
your cousin and Emily are going through the same thing. But please…..you were granted an amazing
opportunity with Fusion. Don’t do
anything to jeopardize it. You’re a
young, promising band and you can go a long way. Establish yourself first, Mark.
Then, who knows. Maybe you and
Tara will find your ways back to each other.”
“But whatever
you do,” Sav continued, “don’t run away.
Don’t leave tonight. Your
parents won’t see you for a long time.
Its not fair to them.”
Mark sighed,
knowing his grandfathers were right.
“Sorry, grandpas. You’re
right. I guess I’m overracting. But, I’m still not in the mood for crowds
tonight. I’m going down to my
sanctuary.”
Mark gave each
of his grandfathers a hug before leaving.
When he was gone, Joe and Sav looked at each other.
“Bigger
than 8 inches?” Sav questioned.
“Fourteen
women?” Joe sneered back.
“Yeah,
right!” they both said to each other.
Chapter 129
Down in his
sanctuary, Mark felt the sudden emptiness of the room without his Pearl
drumkit, which was packed up with the rest of the band’s equipment. He turned on his CD player and flopped on
the couch. Not knowing what to think first,
he lowered the CD player and pulled his cell phone out and placed a call.
“Trevor?”
“Aye
cous…..long time, no hear from.”
“Mark? Aye, where are you?”
“In Sheffield
for a week then out to LA for the album’s release. So…….how’s the new star goalie doing?”
“I’m doing
okay. All this sudden fame is a little
too much to handle at times. I never
expected things to happen to quick, but I got a shot and I took advantage of
it.”
“Yeah, pretty
much what happened to me too,” Mark replied.
“I’ve been catching the games on the telly whever I could. I don’t know when I’ll ever get a chance to
come see you play.”
“No
problem. I understand. I’ll knock ‘em dead on this side of the pond
and you do the same on the other.”
Mark chuckled
over Trevor’s comment. “Aye Trev……have
you ever heard back from Emily?”
“No, I never
did,” Trevor said after a brief silence.
“I think its really over between us.
I just wish I had a chance to talk to her again. Mark, please ask Tara to ask her to call
me.”
Now it was
Mark’s turn to be silent a while. “I
wish I could cous, but…..Tara and I are through too. Made the same stupid mistake you did. Only my conquest was plastered all over the internet for Tara to
read. She just broke up with me
tonight.”
“God, Mark I’m
sorry. Man, how……how did this all
happen so fast? A little over a year
ago we hooked up with the girls of our dreams who we thought we’d be with
forever. How did it all fall apart like
this?”
“Spoils of
fame Trev,” Mark replied. “But it
wasn’t worth hurting Tara like that. I
can’t say I blame her for not wanting to be with me.”
“I can’t blame
Emily either,” Trevor said. “I guess
we’re both gonna be married to our careers for a while.”
“Guess
so. But who knows……we all may hook up
again. I mean, look at our dads. They were separated from their high school
sweethearts for a long time then found their way back to each other. Maybe it’ll happen for us.”
“Maybe.”
Mark and
Trevor were hopeful. Perhaps in the
future, Tara and Emily would find their ways back to them, just like Grace and
Chelsea found their ways back to Tyler and Scott.
But like
Mark’s grandpa Sav said, unfortunately
it took a tragedy to bring Mark’s parents back together.
History was
about to repeat itself – not just for Mark, but for Trevor as well.