THE BIGGEST STAGE (A Brothers of Rock - WILLOW SON - novel) (6 page)

“
I
know.
”

“
If
she can
’
t pay, she gets
kicked out. That
’
s life,
right?
”

Tessa shut her eyes.
“
If she goes out on the street,
she
’
ll get in more trouble.
There was a time I really worried about her.
”
When Tessa opened her eyes, she felt that boulder of emotion rolling up through
her chest. Only this time there wasn
’
t
a rockstar coming to her rescue.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Christie said.
“
I
should just keep my fat mouth shut sometimes. I know that
’
s a lot for you to carry on your
own. Can I do anything?
”

“
Find
a decent guy for Wendy,
”
Tessa said.

“
I
can
’
t find a decent guy for
myself.
”

“
You
’
re not even looking. Just
playing.
”

“
Well,
I can
’
t even try to look
from this hotel room, can I?
”

Tessa snorted and laughed.
“
You
’
re a hell of a saleswoman, Christie.
”

Christie grinned, showing off her
perfect white teeth. They were only complemented by her bleach blonde hair and
really nice (and expensive) chest. And as she leaned down a little, those
paid-for-tits
(as Christie called them) pressed against her bikini top, ready to spill out.

“
Yes,
I am,
”
Christie said.
“
And now I want to go sell myself
to the sun. On the beach. With you. We have about three hours of sun time
before we have to shower and get ready for the dinner thing.
”

The dinner thing
was a
company sponsored gathering between clients and salespeople. It was a huge
buffet of too expensive food with some cheesy music and an open bar. It was a
way of getting some high profile customers and potential customers all in the
same room. Tessa and Christie
’
s
job was to slowly work through the crowd, dropping hints at new medications,
approvals, and what
’
s
coming soon. That meant tomorrow would be a crazy busy day of answering emails
again with lots of questions, answers, and follow ups.

“
Three
hours,
”
Christie whispered.

“
I
know.
”

“
Is
the rent paid?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
Then
Wendy is fine.
”

Tessa gave up. She put her hands up
and the laptop was closed. She went to her bag and found her bathing suit. It was
a one piece with an open back. Not that Tessa worried about her body image (
too
much
), but she didn
’
t
feel like walking around the beach half naked.

Once dressed, Tessa found Christie
out on the balcony, texting on her phone. She looked down to the beach and the
water. The horizon looked endless. Nothing but water. Waves that crested,
reflecting the sunlight. It was like a postcard or something.

Wish you were here for this
sunny weather!

Tessa grinned.

Then something caught her eye. She
looked, blinked, stared, blinked, and put her hands to the balcony railing. She
leaned forward and squinted.

The sun had to be playing a game on
her eyes.

Because if she was right, Colby was
on the beach right now. Colby and Willow Son. The five of them walking in
shorts and no shirts on. Yeah, forget the rest of the band,  her eyes couldn
’
t look away from Colby
’
s chest, stomach, arms.

She shook her head.

“
Hey,
”
she said.
“
Christie. Look at the beach.
”

“
What?
”

“
Is
that
…
Willow Son?
”

“
The
band?
”
Christie looked.
“
Holy shit. Look, it is. Oh
…
my
…
those are five really good looking men. I wouldn
’
t mind getting the rockstar
treatment from one of them. Or all five.
”

“
Ew,
stop,
”
Tessa said.

“
Ew?
Hello muscle
…
tattoos
…
rockstars
…”

Tessa felt herself blushing and
warming up. Not for the same reasons as Christie though. While Christie was
fantasizing, Tessa had a little more than that. She had Colby
’
s kiss somewhere on her lips.

“
Come
on,
”
Christie said.
“
We should go get their
autographs. And numbers.
”

Tessa wanted to say something but
held back. She just went for the ride.

In the back of her mind, she couldn
’
t care about an autograph. She
wanted to make up for lost time between her and Colby.

If he remembered her.

(6)

Colby needed a drink. Bad. The room
was too dark and at times it got too damn loud. There was a mix between a band
and a DJ. The banquet room wasn
’
t
exactly all that big either. What it was though, was a bunch of music people
hanging around, getting drunk, trying to figure out what band was the greatest
band in the world.

Portis Millersen had already
introduced himself twice to the guys, and promised Harry some time to talk
three times. It was almost sad and feeble watching Harry chase the guy around.
And it was all for show. Portis knew he had something Harry wanted and liked
the attention. That alone pissed Colby off to the point where he wanted to just
say
fuck this
and walk out.

An idea struck him though and he
went to round up the guys.

Ryker and Jett were sitting at a
table, talking to women.
Big shock there.
Not that Colby could blame
them. The women at the place were simply gorgeous. All wearing glittering
dresses that were low-cut in the back, the front, sometimes both. A few of the
black dresses were pulled up so high, it was impossible not to stare and wonder
if you were going to see the bare curve of a woman
’
s ass.

Van walked to the table with a
fresh beer and Brantley stood with his arms folded.

This was definitely not the scene
meant for Willow Son.

“
This
almost makes me want to scream,
”
Brantley said as Colby approached.

“
You
and me both,
”
Colby said.
“
We need to stir things up a
little.
”

“
How
so?
”
Brantley asked.

Colby pointed to the stage and
nodded.
“
Right there. We
gotta get up on that stage and play.
”

“
In
the middle of the DJ
’
s set?
”

Colby laughed. He looked back and
nodded to the rest of the guys.

They were quickly huddled up, all
agreeing on storming the stage. Welcomed or not, it didn
’
t freaking matter, now did it?

The house band was good, playing
some solid covers and keeping the guests entertained. But this was Willow Son.
Another surprise performance. The one at the hotel had come close to the band
ending up in jail, but what it did on the positive side was get the band
plastered online. Fans uploaded pictures. Bloggers devoured the few videos
available and shared it across the
‘
net,
making it known that Willow Son was still alive, well, and still playing music.

Now they needed Portis Millersen to
sign them so they could get into a studio and out on the road.

A long time ago Colby learned a
valuable lesson in life. If you want it, take it. If you fail, try again. Be
crazy. Be insane. Dream. So if Portis wasn
’
t
going to take five minutes to talk to Harry or the band, then Colby would make
it happen. He would take Portis
’
time right now.

There was a minute lag between the
house band getting off stage and the DJ taking over for his set. That was all
the time Willow Son needed to make their voices - and music - heard.

Colby led the way, and the band
took the stage. They were set up in a few seconds,  Ryker and Jett with guitars
that did not fit their usual rockstar style. These were big jazz-like guitars,
with semi-hollow bodies. One was a cherry color and the other a yellow-burst
kind of color. But they were guitars and Rkyer and Jett were guitarists. Van
wore the bass way too high up his body, looking foolish, but he smiled. The
drum kit was half the size Brantley normally used.

But this wasn
’
t a rock show at an arena.

“
Hey!
”
Colby said into the mic.

That got everyone to look at them.

“
Do
you know who we are?
”

That
’
s
when Colby saw Harry. He was waving his hands and shaking his head. Colby also
saw Portis standing with a drink in his hand, looking surprised.

“
We
decided to play a couple songs for you,
”
Colby said.
“
I hope that
’
s okay.
”

Everyone started to cheer.

Colby nodded.

“
We
know that Portis is a busy man. But we
’
re
a busy band. We need to get on the road. We need to be rockstars. Sound good
…
Portis?
”

Colby was calling the guy out right
in the middle of the party.

Harry looked ready to have a heart
attack. Portis was stout, eyeing the room. He then lifted his glass and gave a
nod.

Colby looked back and nodded to
Brantley.

“
What
are we playing?
”
Jett
asked.

“
Whatever
you want,
”
Colby said.

Ryker hit a chord and the crowd
started to cheer again. He then started playing a riff and Jett came in a few
seconds later. Van and Brantley were right there next, the song in full swing.

Colby faced the small crowd and
started to clap. He was used to commanding twenty to forty thousand people a
night. There were maybe two hundred people in the room. Better than nothing.
And they were all getting the phones out ready for more pictures and videos. It
worked for the balcony show at the hotel. It would work now. Willow Son would
keep themselves alive this way.

It was actually kind of fun.

When Colby started to sing, he
scanned the room. There wasn
’
t
a single person sitting or looking away. They were all looking at Willow Son.
At the chorus, Colby sang hard and heard the crowd singing back to him. He sang
the second verse and chorus, then backed up, and pointed to Ryker. Ryker
balanced the wide bodied guitar on his left leg and started to rip a solo. It
didn
’
t quite have that
classic Willow Son screaming sound, but it was smooth and had plenty of gain to
give it a good crunch sound. Ryker then stood, hit an open chord, and threw his
hands up. The guitar rang out and started to slowly screech from feedback.

Jett and Van followed Ryker
’
s lead. Brantley stood up from
the drums but kept his foot slamming against the bass drum.

Colby went to the mic. He then
plopped down on the edge of the small stage and waved for everyone to get
close.

“
We
’
re going to sing together,
”
Colby said.

The people actually listened to
him. Most of the people were all dressed up for the party. Men in suits. Men in
nice clothing. Women in dresses. Some elegant. Some just plain sexy, borderline
slutty. But they all came close to the stage, wanting to be near Colby and the
band.

Brantley carried the beat with the
bass drum.

Colby started to sing the chorus,
looking at all the people around him.

Ryker hit the open chord again.
Jett started to softly play the guitar riff for the chorus. Van came in with
the bass a few times.

After singing the chorus twice,
Colby then turned the mic around and let the people sing it to the band. Colby
sang with them, but his voice didn
’
t
carry into the mic. They sang it over and over, five times, before Colby took
the mic back. He kicked back on the stage and stood up.

The band then exploded as loud and
as hard as they could with the equipment they had to sing the final chorus
three more times. They hit the last chord and let it ring out. Then as fast as
they took the stage, they were finished.

Willow Son jumped from the front of
the stage to a cheering crowd. Everyone tried to grab at them, pat their backs,
take pictures. It wasn
’
t
exactly the swarm they were used to on the road, but it was a great feeling. It
left Colby
’
s heart racing,
proving that the passion for music still existed in his body. The last time he
felt this good was flirting with Tessa in the elevator.

Ahh
…
Tessa
…
pretty eyes
…

Colby knew there were plenty of
pretty eyes around him, but one stuck in his mind for some dumb reason. Maybe
it was because he wasn
’
t
used to not having everything when he wanted it. He should have just kept at
Tessa that night and slept with her. Gotten it out of his system and moved on.

That was all the past though. It
didn
’
t matter.

Colby had a one track mind right
now. Nothing more. He went right to the bar, even breezing by Portis. He did it
to be a complete dick to the guy who could possibly help save Willow Son
’
s career. But Willow Son was a
band built on bad attitudes and good music. They weren
’
t going to just be pushed around by anyone.

Colby ordered a drink, and the band
was right there with him. They ordered drinks too. They all just stood there,
casually looking at each other, waiting for Portis to make his move.

When Portis did finally stand next
to Colby, they exchanged head nods.

“
That
’
s quite the move,
”
Portis said.

“
That
’
s what we do,
”
Colby said.
“
We play music. The business talk
is left for Harry. But we
’
re
ready to record and hit the road.
”

“
Nobody
said I was ready to sign,
”
Portis replied.

“
Nobody
said we were either,
”
Colby
said.
“
If you don
’
t mind, I
’
m going to finish my drink and get back on that
stage.
”

“
Not
without my approval.
”

“
I
don
’
t give a shit about
your approval.
”

Portis raised an eyebrow.
“
You don
’
t give a shit
…”

“
Never
have and never will,
”
Colby
said. He downed his drink and faced Portis.
“
Look,
I
’
m not going to sell you
the band. Or myself. I
’
m
not a whore. I
’
m a
rockstar. I
’
m going to
write music and play music. You want to be part of it, that would be amazing.
But I
’
m not going to grovel
for anything. I never have and I never will.
”

“
Pretty
ballsy thing to say,
”
Portis said.
“
From a guy
who killed one of his best friends.
”

Before Colby knew what he was
doing, he threw a right fist.

Portis was then on his ass, looking
even more surprised.

Ryker grabbed Colby.
“
Fuck, bro!
”

Colby shook Ryker away and walked
away.

From a guy who killed one of his
best friends
…

How long was the past going to
haunt him?

**

Tessa did her best to carry
Christie out of the room to get her some fresh air. The three hours on the
beach turned into four, along with a couple fruity drinks to match. That meant
once Christie got to the party, it only took a few drinks to send her over the
edge. There was a fine line for Christie between being buzzed and stumbling
drunk. That line was long since crossed and Christie was now stupid drunk.
Beyond stumbling now. She was barely able to walk, and Tessa feared she was
going to throw up in the middle of the business party or end up in bed with
someone she would regret.

Worst part? By the time they got to
the beach, Willow Son was gone. Disappeared somewhere else. Which made Tessa
think that maybe she and Christie were just imagining things. Rockstars walking
the beach?
Yeah, right.

“
Come
on, we need to sit you down,
”
Tessa said.

“
I
’
m
…
happy
…”

“
I
know you are,
”
Tessa said.

She sat Christie down and let out a
sigh. Tessa grabbed the end of Christie
’
s
dress and pulled it down. She had no idea how drunk she was, and the last thing
Tessa wanted was for Christie to show parts of her body off.

“
You
need some water and air,
”
Tessa said.

“
I
’
m good,
”
Christie said. She looked at Tessa, her eyes
almost rolling in circles.
“
I
need
…
there
’
s talking
…”

“
We
’
ve done enough talking.
”

“
Never
enough.
”

“
Just
relax,
”
Tessa said. She
looked around the hallway.
“
Stay
here, Christie. I
’
m going
to get you some water.
”

“
Yeah.
”

Tessa went back into the party. She
was basically done with it all right now. They had met people, talked,
exchanged ideas and business cards. The usual stuff. Tessa would follow up
tomorrow or throughout the week.