Stripped (7 page)

“The current story,” Emily whispered as she turned her attention back to the keyboard.  Again, the cursor blinked, like an evil reminder that nothing was being typed.  Emily finally had to face the fact that
the current story
wasn’t appealing to her at all.  She knew what she had to type and she knew how to do it.  The motivation, however, had been drained from her body.  Something else had crept its way into her, making the tips of her fingers tingle with a sudden need for change.

Emily slowly moved the cursor to the top of the screen and opened a new document.  She looked over her shoulder and around the room as though she were about to do something very illegal. 

The cursor blinked again, but this time it had a much more upbeat look to it.

Emily was ready.

She licked her lips.

She looked at her wrists.

She thought about Bryce.

Her fingers worked...

He was electric, his blue eyes like steel, freezing my body in place, only on the outside.  On the inside, I’m on fire.  I’m alive in a way he couldn’t understand because he’d have to be dead first, like me.  Everything I’ve desired radiates from him, wrapping me tight enough to realize that my desires and needs were one in the same.

It all began for Emily with ease and it wouldn’t stop.  She vaguely remembered Ann waving to her as she left for the gym and didn’t remember hearing Ann come home and take a shower.  It wasn’t until Ann found Emily still at the computer, wearing pajamas, partially shaking from not eating all damn day did Emily finally realize just how lost she had become in this new, exciting story.

“You need a break,” Ann said.

Emily looked away from the computer screen for the first time in hours.  “What?  What’s wrong?”

“Em, it’s almost four.”

“Four...?”

“Four in the afternoon.  We need to leave in two hours.  And somehow eat in between there.”

“Eat,” Emily said.  Her stomach rumbled.  “Yeah.  I could eat.”

“I’m sure you could,” Ann said.

Emily touched her stomach and cringed.  Why did Ann have to make comments like that?  She couldn’t tell if it was an honest comment or a shot at Emily because of her weight. 

Bryce didn’t seem to mind Emily’s curves...

Bryce.

Emily looked at her freshly typed manuscript and realized she had typed not only what happened the night before but what she wanted to have happen.  From the deepest romance to the wildest submission, this already felt like the best thing she had ever written.

It came as no surprise when Emily fell back to reality knowing that her agent would probably tell her it wouldn’t sell.  She had names and a reputation with each name, not to mention a deadline schedule for her books that she couldn’t miss.  That meant she would have no choice but to force herself back to the romance novel before continuing this one.  Whatever this was.

For all Emily knew, this could be some kind of journal.  A personal journal that teetered on fantasy and reality all in the same breath. 

Now that’s hot.

Emily saved the document and closed her laptop.  She stood up, feeling alive before a wave of terror struck her.

Did Ann say two hours?

Two hours to get ready.  To leave.  To wait for Bryce.

“Oh shit,” Emily whispered. 

This was real.  Everything around her now was real.  It wasn’t just words on paper, words to be sent to an editor, then to be sold to collect royalties on.  This was real life, the existence of happening. 

“Shit,” she repeated.

The next two hours were the fastest of Emily’s life.  Getting ready, thinking about Bryce, ordering food for she and Ann, thinking about Bryce, eating, fantasizing about Bryce.  The cycle was intense and wouldn’t stop. 

Even Ann noticed it.

“I’ve never seen you act this way,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” Emily replied.  “But last night was just so... different.”

“That’s good.  That’s hot.  That’s why I do what I do, you know?”

“Just please be careful tonight,” Emily said.  “I know you always are but I care about you too much.”

“This is for the cover fucking story,” Ann said.  “Nothing is going to stop me.  I know what I have to do.  I’m a huge fan of Down Silent too, so it’s like meeting your idols and then interviewing them.  And getting paid for it.”

“Sounds unreal.”

“It feels it.”

Emily nodded.

Yes, the coming night did feel a little unreal.

It was Emily who suggested they get to club D early, hoping to find Bryce waiting or lurking in the gathering crowd.  Even getting there early didn’t do justice for the line of people waiting at the show.  Ann told Emily that Down Silent would have fans line up for blocks around town, hoping to just hear the music.

The sight was amazing.

For a club that held a couple thousand people, it had the crowd of a stadium show.  Police were called in from two different cities to assist with the parking, the traffic, and anything else that could pop up. 

People were trying to sell t-shirts, scalpers walked casually between the crowd, announcing what they had, hoping to score money.  The crowd seemed to split down the middle between men and women. 

“Gunnar is fucking gorgeous,” Ann said as she and Emily walked beyond the crowd, heading towards the backdoor to the club.  “Wait until you see him.  It’ll make you forget about your little boyfriend last night.”

“Doubt it,” Emily said.  “I’ll never forget his eyes.”

“I bet you will when you see Gunnar’s eyes.  He wears aviators all the time because he knows how powerful his eyes are.”

Aviators... just like Bryce...

Ann stopped and turned to Emily.  “I bet your boyfriend is a big fan.  You said he wore shades, right?”

“Yeah,” Emily said.  “And he wouldn’t show me his eyes at first.  But when he did...”

“That’s so cool,” Ann said.  “I bet when you tell him your best friend is interviewing Gunnar, he’ll fuck you twice as hard as last night.”

“We didn’t...
fuck
...,” Emily said.

“You will,” Ann said, giggling.  “Gosh, isn’t music amazing?  It opens so many worlds...”

Ann talked to the security guard, flirting when she didn’t have to, and for the second time in two days, they were ushered in through a door that any paying person couldn’t get through.  Before walking through the open door, held by the burly security guard, Emily paused to look back at the tour bus sitting next to a small parking lot.  It was huge.  Long, sleek, and black, with chrome wheels, looking like nothing Emily had ever seen before.

She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be on a bus like that.  Or just to see the inside of it.  What kind of secrets it held.  The stories.  The songs.  The aura...

“Em, let’s go.”

Emily turned, ready to read Ann her last rights for calling her
Em
but Ann was on the move.  When Emily caught up, she saw her best friend had the nervous jitters. 

“Relax, it’ll be fine.”

“What’s fine?” Ann asked.  “Am I not fine?”

“You’re fine.  You look nervous.”

“Shit.  Do I?”  Ann stopped and leaned against a wall.  “Fuck, I hate this feeling.”

“What feeling?”

“I usually walk into interviews knowing that I’m the one in control.  I’m the one there to dig out a story.”

“What’s different about tonight?”

“I sort of want... them to dig into me.”  Ann smiled and bit her lip.  “I feel like I’m going in there as a fan, not a professional.”

“So go in as a fan.”

“But it’s Down Silent... and Gunnar.”

“I understand that.”

“I’ve been around so many musicians and enjoyed them, but this one... the opportunity...”

“That’s what it is,” Emily said.  “It’s an opportunity.  Look what you did last night.  You got your editor to accept a story before you fully wrote it
and
got him to give you the cover story.  This is your dream.”

“My dream.”

“Ann, look at me.”  Emily touched her friend’s shoulders.  “You’re amazing at what you do.  Now go get the interview.  Soon you’ll be on tour with all the biggest bands, sending me postcards and naughty pictures.”

Ann nodded.  Her face became serious, her cheekbones looking high and beautiful.  A seductive look came over her face.  “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” Emily said.

She backed away and Ann called her name.

“Don’t call me Ann.  It’s Annie Crossfire.”

Ann led the way to the room they were in last night but tonight it was empty.  She then started to walk along the back halls of the club, seeking out Down Silent.  Their break finally came at a set of double doors.  It looked more of an entrance to a janitorial closet rather than a dressing room. 

Standing out front were two men, not security for D.

They were bigger,
badder
, and when they looked down at Ann, they had the look and temperament of a pissed off rattlesnake.

“No fans, no autographs,” the first big guy said. 

The other one stood silent, refusing to even look at either Ann or Emily.

“That’s fine,” Ann said.  “I’m Annie Crossfire, here for an interview.”

“No interviews.”

“No, no, it’s okay if it’s with the band.  I understand Gunnar doesn’t like to speak alone.”

“Keep walking.”

“Sir, please,” Ann said.  “I’m from a local magazine - The Monthly Sound - and we’re featuring Gunnar and Down Silent for the cover story.  We want to talk about their request to tour at smaller venues...”

“Save it,” the security guard said.

He looked at the other and nodded. 

Both men stepped towards Emily and Ann.  Emily hesitated and backed up.

“Ann...”

“No, it’s okay,” Ann said.  “I’m media.  This is okay.”

“Gunnar doesn’t want to be bothered,” the guard said.  “Now move along or else we’ll move you.”

“You want try to, big boy?” Ann asked.

“Stop it,” Emily said.

“Just get the fuck out of here,” the security guard said.

“Who the fuck are you to talk to me like that?” Ann yelled.

“Gunnar is alone in there, okay?  The rest of the band...”  The security guard paused.

Ann saw her small opportunity and moved closer to him.  “Come on.  You have to know what it’s like.  I’m just trying to do my job here.”