Forbidden Ballad - Rock My World (14 page)

I swallow hard and nod.

“I’ve done that. I don’t mean to be crass, but I have. You’re a challenge and I like it. I’m hoping you’re not going to make me hold out much longer, and you’re killing me in that little skirt today, but we’re doing things on your terms.”

I blush when he mentions my skirt. I worried it was too short, but then I didn’t care.

“But if things change, tell me.” I say quietly. “I’d rather you tell me, then I find out the hard way.”

“Carly,” he says, and his voice rings sincere. “I’m not going anywhere until you send me away.” He gives me a wry grin, “I’d say I’m pussy whipped but…”

I slap his forearm and he smirks.

We finish up lunch and just as we try to decide what to do next, Leo’s phone goes off.

“Shit. I need to take this. It’s Mark.”

He answers the phone and then I see his face change instantly.

“What?”

I look at him with alarm.

“Well, what the hell are we going to do?” he growls, “We go on in five hours!”

There’s silence as he listens to Mark.

“Fuck! Fuck! Who are we going to find with this short of notice?”

He looks at me. “Eden just had to leave and fly home for some family emergency.”

Crap. Eden is the opening act and comprised of three brothers. If there was a family emergency, the entire band disappeared.

Leo is still listening to Mark, but now he’s surveying me as if with new eyes. It makes me uncomfortable and I shift in my seat.

“I guess,” Leo says slowly, “I never thought of that.”

He’s quiet again and I can’t imagine what Mark is saying.

“Yeah, yeah, I trust you if you’ve listened to it. Let me run it past her.” He takes the phone away from his ear and looks at me. “Mark thinks that you’re our best bet for opening the show tonight. He says that he’s listened to your CD and you’ve got a great voice.”

I balk. “I can’t go on!” Panic consumes me.

I can hear Mark yelling through the line. Leo brings the phone back to his ear and then after a few seconds hands it to me.

“He wants to talk to you.”

With shaky hands, I take the phone.

“Hey Mark.”

“Hey sweetie. I hate to do this to you because I’m sure you feel unprepared, but we need you to go on tonight. You’re the only one we have who can pull this off.”

“What about Amber?” I ask lamely.

“Come on, Carly! This is a huge opportunity for you. And let’s be honest, Amber can’t sing like you. I listened to your latest CD and you sing the shit out of your songs.”

“You want me to sing my songs?”

“Well, not exactly. I was thinking that you could do a few rock covers, and then a few of your own songs, but with a rock twist.”

I gulp. “A twist? I’m so used to the way they are.”

“I know. That’s why I need you to come back right this second, so we can run your stuff. I’ve already brought in a band and they’ve been working on two of your songs.”

“Mark, I don’t know! Am I even allowed to sing my own music?”

He laughs. “It’s your music, honey. And there’s no law saying you can’t sing it.”

I think back to my last conversation with Stanley. Did he say I wasn’t allowed to sing my own music? I don’t think so.

I glance at Leo, and he nods at me encouragingly. I take a deep breath and steel myself.

“Okay, Mark. We’ll be there soon.”

I hand the phone back to Leo and they talk quickly before he hangs up. Leo leaves a wad of bills on the table and we hurry from the restaurant. We get into the car that we’ve been using all day and that’s when I start to freak out.

“I don’t know if I can do this! I’m not ready!”

“You’ll do great!”

His phone dings and he opens an email.

“Here look over this list of songs. Come up with three that you would be comfortable with singing.”

I freak out more when I see the list. They are all female rock songs. At first, I feel like I don’t know any of them, but once I calm down, I realize that I know a lot of the songs. I try to relax and decide on three songs that will work best. I finally choose songs by Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Alanis Morisette. They’re all songs that I know well, and I know I can sing them.

Leo calls Mark back to give him my choices and then we sit in silence for the rest of the ride. Leo reaches out and takes my hand.

“What if I suck?” I whisper, as we’re getting out of the car.

“You won’t. Do you want me to come out there while you rehearse?”

The thought turns my stomach. I don’t want Leo to hear me as I try to muddle through this music.

I pale and shake my head. “No thank you.”

He nods and gives me a tight squeeze.

“Knock ‘em dead, baby,” he teases, before leaving me at the arena door and heading back to his bus.

I hurry inside and find Mark.

“Good!” he calls out when he sees me. “Let’s get started!”

He introduces me to the band, and I forget their names almost instantly because I’m so nervous.

We start muddling through the music, and I’m surprised by how quickly I’m able to get the rock songs down.

My songs are a different story. It’s difficult because I’m so used to singing the songs with a bit of twang, but the rock vibe of the accompaniment helps me figure out how to change my style.

We run through everything a few times, before Mark stops us.

“I think we’ve got it,” he says, “I don’t want you to blow out your voice.”

I nod. Right. I have to open the show
and
sing back up.

I think I might vomit.

Mark gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Why don’t you head back to Wardrobe and let them pick you out something. You’ll have a few minutes to run backstage and change before you need to be out for Cobalt.”

I nod, still dazed, and make my way to wardrobe. I quickly pull out my phone and call Quinn.

“Hey!” she exclaims. “How are you?”

“Holy crap, Quinn, I’m freaking out. Our opening act left today and I have to fill in and open the entire show.”

“Oh my god! Are you serious? That’s unbelievable, Carly!”

“But I’m freaking out. Like, seriously freaking out!”

“I’m sure you are, but this is amazing. This is huge!”

I nod even though Quinn can’t see me. “What if I screw up though?”

“Carly, you’re not going to screw up,” she says sternly. “Really! You were in a band for almost five years. You’ve played tons of live shows. If there’s anything you know how to do, it’s sing. Just go out there and be yourself and sing the crap out of the songs.”

“Right, right, I can do this.” I know that I’m trying to convince myself.

“You
can
do this. Oh my god,” she gushes again, “I want to hear all about it when you’re finished!”

I’m just outside the door for wardrobe. “Okay, okay. I’ve got to go now though. Thanks for the quick pep talk.”

“Anytime! Love you!”

I hang up and head into wardrobe. Fifteen minutes later, I’m leaving with a dress that is both sexy but not as slutty as my Cobalt dress. In fact, I’m really happy with the choice. It’s a deep plum shade, with a sexy sheer panel on the waist, but isn’t so short that my ass practically hangs out.

My call is earlier now, so I head back for hair and makeup. I sip at water, feeling like I’m going to get sick the entire time. I know that Leo will be listening and probably watching from the wings and the butterflies in my stomach are almost more than I can handle. I just need to get out on the stage and focus on nothing but the music.

I’m tempted to tell my parents, but they probably won’t be that excited for me, and I don’t want to deal with them right now. I’m anxiously pacing in my dressing room, with Amber looking on sourly, when one of the production assistants comes for me.

“Ms. Michaels? You’re needed now.”

I nod and follow him out, my legs shaking like crazy. I see the opening band getting into place on the stage, and the curtain is still up. I can hear the crowd yelling like crazy. I start to make my way out to the band when I hear the loudvoice come over the speakers.

I try not to listen as the voice tells the crowd that Eden had a family emergency and had to leave. There is booing and I look around, wild-eyed. Oh my god, what if they hate me?

I catch sight of Leo, who I hadn’t notice before, and I feel a calmness come over me. He’s nodding and smiling and I look at him and take a deep breath. I pray that I don’t get booed off the stage. I take my place, and suddenly the curtain is coming up and I’m staring at the bright lights amid the thousands of people.

I’ve seen this all before – the lights, the crowds, but never as I stood center stage. I always saw it from my safe spot in the far back of Stage Right.

I take a deep breath, and forget about all my insecurities. It’s time to give these people a show.

“Hi Chicago!” I yell into the mic. I’m met with some cheers and catcalls. I’m glad I wore this dress. “I’m really sorry that Eden isn’t here to open for you, but I hope you enjoy the show anyway!”

“Where’s Walker Stevens?” some asshole calls out.

I flash the crowd a grin.

“I’m afraid I left him and my cowgirl boots in Nashville,” I explain. I give a little twirl to show off my dress and figure. “Let’s call it artistic differences.” The crowd laughs and I’m glad.

I look back at the band and nod.

My music starts and then I’m having an out-of-body experience. I’m singing my heart out and I’ve forgotten about everybody in the audience and everybody watching from the wings. I love the way the Sideroad songs sound with their rock twist, and I realize that they work just fine without Walker. In fact, they sound even
better
without Walker.

And just like that, it’s over. The crowd is going nuts, cheering and clapping, and I grin like a fool because I can’t believe that I just did that. I smile and wave and thank the audience and then I’m walking off stage.

“Holy fuck!” Leo cries, grabbing me and kissing me hard. I giggle like crazy. “You sounded amazing! Fucking amazing! I had no idea you could sing like that! Holy shit!”

Maddox, Kyle and Jacie are congratulating me too, but Leo is still going on. “Carly, you’re unreal. What are you doing singing back up for us? You should be putting out your own rock album – that was incredible!”

I laugh again. “Thanks.”

“Great job, honey,” Mark says, “I hate to break up the celebration, but you gotta change.”

“Right! Crap!” I wave to Leo and hurry off to change my dress and twist my hair up before I go back on to sing.

The rest of the show goes well, and when I come off stage again, I’m still being congratulated. Leo has to attend to fans who have Backstage passes and I take my time in my dressing room. Amber has been sullen all night and I can only guess that she is jealous. I feel badly, but I’m too excited to worry about it too much.

I pull on my pair of distressed jeans, and the royal blue scoop neck tee that I wore around the city with Leo earlier in the day. That feels like a lifetime ago. I slowly make my way down the hall, and I’m happily surprised to see Leo coming around the bend.

“Hey baby,” he smiles pulling me towards him. “So the whole band is going out for drinks afterwards,” he starts.

“Oh? Did you want to go?” I’m not sure if he wants to go by himself or maybe with me.

“No. I don’t. I was thinking you and I could have some alone time in my bus since it will be empty.”

He winks at me, and I give him a sly smile. I’m not ready to sleep with him yet, but some alone time sounds wonderful.

“Sounds great.”

He gives me his trademark sexy grin, the one that has helped make him the huge rock star that he is.  He slips his arm around my waist and leads me out of the arena.

Leo

I guide Carly towards my tour bus, and I’m still amazed by how badass she sounded when she sang tonight. I can’t get over her voice. I knew she could sing, but I had no idea she could sing like
that.

It’s quiet as we walk towards the bus, and I let Carly get on first so I can admire her ass in her tight jeans.

I can’t help myself.

“Damn,” she breathes, looking around. “And I thought our bus was nice.”

“Let me get you a drink.” I move towards one of the cabinets and pull it open. All I see is vodka. Shit. I don’t think we have anything else.

Carly laughs. “Straight vodka?”

“Let me see what we can mix it with.” There’s lemonade in the fridge. I pull it out and show it to her. “Does this work?”

“Sure. Why not?”

I pour us each a small glass before adding the vodka. I’m more free with the vodka in my own glass. We sit down on the long leather couch that runs the length of one side of the bus.

“I have to tell you. I’m still shocked that you can sing like that.”