скачать книгу бесплатно
Little girls double-dutch on the concrete.
I feel a shiver from head to toe. The audience begins to applaud. The music carries on and suddenly I realize that the bar is in complete silence. I open my eyes and realize that most of those present are staring at me. They're not booing or throwing cans on to the stage. It's got to be a good sign, right?
I break into a half-dull smile, and close my eyes again, dipping into the verses of the song. When I utter the last words, the audience bursts into applause, taking me by surprise and making Alan and the boys proud.
We continue, mixing up slow songs and more lively ones, and the audience doesn’t stop dancing. After we play She will be loved, Alan announces a twenty-minute break, which is super welcome, as I'm dying of thirst and heat.
Away from the public eye, the three of them just embrace me, happily.
"Julie, it was amazing! Our show never had such energy!” Brian, the drummer, says as he hugs me.
"Congratulations." I thought you wouldn't handle it, but you caught me by surprise” Levi, the bassist, throws me a wink.
"You were amazing on stage... and your voice drove all the guys crazy at the bar. Even me”, Alan whispers in my ear and blows a kiss to my neck.
I feel a chill. It strikes a chord why women keep screaming when he shows up. If I wasn't in love with Danny and wasn't 100% sure that Alan would shred my heart after devouring me, I'd melt at his feet and take my place in the line - pretty long, by the way - of Alan Hunt's conquests.
"Thank you," I speak to everyone, moving away from Alan's seductive touch. “It was great.” I fail to speak out the words to demonstrate how thrilled and happy I am. I smile at them and ask permission to speak to Rafe, who is coming to meet us.
"Julie, what a show! People are crazy about you. Danny's going to kill me, but I'm sure it was the best decision I've ever made.” He laughs and gives me a very tight bear hug. Rafe's cute, even in his somewhat serious way.
"Thank you! Coming from you, that's a top-compliment. Thank you so much for letting me do this. I need a drink of water and I wanted to talk to George and Jo before I get back on stage.”
“Of course. They're there by the bar. I'm going to go talk to the boys.”
I give a kiss to Rafe and go straight to the bar. On the way, people smile at me and I give it back happily.
I look around and I see George waving like crazy at me. I start laughing. He is hilarious when he does that, he seems like a little girl who just got a new Barbie.
"Little girl! You were dazz-ling! Beautiful! Diva! Everything!” I can’t stop laughing as he hugs me very tightly.
"Thank you, George. Where's Jo? Tell me everything! Did you like it? Did I go out of tune? I was so nervous…”
“Jo went outside to answer her phone. She's a little mysterious with this phone, see? She said it was work.” “Work on a Saturday, almost at midnight?” “I know... but you were stun! You sang perfectly.” They were all thrilled, praising her voice. “Little girl, if I wasn't gay, I'd get you. I never thought you'd be so sexy.”
I smile, thinking about how good it is to realize one of my dreams, until a little dark cloud crosses my mind.
"I hope Danny won't forbid me to carry on singing here. I'd be devastated.”
"He may even try, but after tonight, if you don't sing here, you'll sing wherever you want. I'm sure your performance will be making waves for a long time.”
I nod my head. George is absolutely right. If Daniel doesn't want me to keep singing here, he’ll be the one losing out.
"By the way," he continues, “Alan couldn’t keep his eyes off you. If I were you, I'd take advantage of that hot, tattooed body to get rid of the backlog. I've heard quite a few stories about the way he “plays guitar”, if you know what I mean.”
Damn it! That comment almost makes me spit out the water I was drinking.
"George! Wait for me to finish drinking before you say those things”, I complain, though with a laugh, while trying to get myself together. It's very hard to be a lady around George.
"I shouldn't have even started drinking.” “I told you, drinking without toasting, twenty years without getting. You've been on a drought, who knows since when. Just hold on, I'm going to get some water to save you from this curse.”
He rolls his eyes and goes to the bartender, like he's doing me a huge favor.
I laugh so much that my eyes fill with tears. I need to shake myself to avoid crying and smudge my makeup.
Jo arrives at this moment, her face half red. Is she blushing? Seriously? I've never seen her look embarrassed like this before. Before I open my mouth to talk, she jumps on me.
"Bestieeee! You were beautiful! I even cried when you sang the first song!”, she says, and we happily embrace each other. George approaches and hugs us too. I'm sure we look like three needy freaks in front of the bar.
"Okay, one water for each one, because our pop diva can't drink alcohol so as not to affect her performance.”
We lift our bottles and toast.
I drink the water quickly, before George makes me laugh with some other insane commentary. When I look backstage, Alan makes a sign that it's time to come back.
“I have to go.”
"Little girl, can I order a song? George asks, pulling his really needy face. I can't say “no” when he does this to me.
“Of course. What do you want me to sing?”
"Fever, a classic.”
"Jeez, George. You're so predictable. You could only want me to sing something from Madonna.”
"I Adooooore her! My favorite diva.” He winks at me. "After you, of course.”
I leave them, laughing, and I go back on stage with my bandmates. Before the show resumes, I let Alan know about George's request.
"Perfect, Julie. Are we going to sing like a duet?”
“That’s fine.”
They begin to play Fever, with a more acoustic feel. I stand in front of the microphone and Alan begins to sing the first verses:
You give me
You give me fever
Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
Wow! That’s one sexy song! Automatically my thoughts wonder to Danny and his deep green eyes. Alan gives the cue for me to start. With my eyes closed, I imagine myself singing to Danny alone. My voice comes out somewhat huskier, and I’m in awe of my own sensuality.
As I end my section, I tag it out to Alan, and he carries the song looking at me as if he was having indecent thoughts. I look down, embarrassed as I feel my face turn red.
Romeo loved Juliet
Juliet, she felt the same
When he put his arms around her
He said Julie, baby, you’re my flame
He gave her fever
Oh, damn it! I’m going to kill George. I totally forgot that this song mentioned my name! When Alan sings “Julie, baby, you’re my flame”, he winks at me, as if I was his inspiring muse, and the audience goes into a frenzy.
I turn forward and follow the song, holding fingers it may end soon because, with Alan’s excitement as the seductive pop star which he seems to embody so well, he will end up pulling me into his arms and kiss me on stage, in front of this crowd. Then yes, Danny would forbid me to sing!
Just let him try, my rebellious side reacts within me.
We keep on with the song and sing the last lines together. As we finish, we receive a standing ovation. I hear shouts of “handsome” for Alan and “sexy” for me. That may have been George.
Bastard!
The show carries on with no further issues. I’m not used to having a handsome and tattooed man looking at me as if I was a large and appetizing dessert.
At the end of the night, after we close the show, I say goodbye to the band while they disassemble the equipment and I go down to the hall, where I find Rafe.
“Julie, you were perfect. I don’t think we ever had such a lively audience! I made a preliminary survey and we have already broken our billing record. Congratulations! I will close the bills before I go home and tomorrow you can take your fee, OK?
“Oh, do I get that?” The question comes out of my mouth before I could prevent it. “Come on Julie, of course you had to earn something for singing tonight. They always pay the musicians.”
Rafe’s reply just reinforces my naivety
“Of course. Did you think you were going to sing for free?”
I let out a laugh and hug him, thanking him once again for the opportunity.
I go to the bar to find my two best friends, who seem to be very “cheerful”.
“Have a prosecco whit us, Julie Fever”, George let’s out with a silly smile.
“No prosecco whatsoever! I’m finished. I need to go home, have a bath and put my feet up. By the way, you owe me one for picking that song! I thought Alan was going to jump on top of me!”
George and Jo laugh out loud, and he hugs the two of us.
“We all thought so, little girl. Time to go.”
We follow our way home, laughing and talking about the best moments of the evening.
I get home, take a bath and dress a Garfield t-shirt. Then I get into bed and realize that tonight I’ll have a peaceful and happy sleep, as the house next door is in absolute silence.
Chapter five
Daniel
I cannot believe it. After spending long hours visiting properties, having meetings with owners, brokers and investors, and still a business dinner too long for my liking, I finally get to the hotel bedroom to take a bath and rest.
I had to be really focused, as Zach was in and out all the time taking calls or sending text messages. I roll my eyes as I remember the number of times this went on. The guy comes to help me but his mind is elsewhere. I should have brought Rafe along as he is a better planner.
I open into a big yawn, while I stretch, feeling tired. I always worked better at night. That’s why waking up early to travel and go through the day taking care of all those bureaucratic activities knocks me down harder than spending the night at the bar.
I must confess that being far away from After Dark really hurts me. The bar is my life. I don’t have kids and I’m not married (thank God!). My daily focus is my business, which has been growing steadily, and a serious relationship is certainly not in my plans.
Not at all.
Hey, don’t point your finger or roll your eyes to me. My mother’s roasting this morning was sufficient:
“Mother? I’m coming in”, I spoke after knocking on the kitchen door and turning the door knob. As always, it was open.
“Hi, my son! Up so early?” My mother hugged me in the middle of the kitchen and pushed me down a chair, ready to fill me up with morning coffee.
“I only came by to give you a kiss. I’m going on a trip with Zach to see a property. I think we might have found what we were looking for to expand After Dark.
“That’s excellent, love. Drink your coffee and eat that warm sandwich combo.” She pushed the dish with the sandwich and placed the cup full of black coffee right in front of me. “You don’t eat properly and stay awake all night long...My son, you need to look after yourself. To look after yourself, grow up, start a family...”
“Mother...”
“Don’t “mother” me. You’re almost twenty eight years old. Don’t you think you are running late to find a good girl? Marry and give me grandchildren? You’re not getting any younger.”
“Mother, I already told you that I don’t want to get marri...”
“Daniel, it’s time you think your life over.” “Oh, damn it.” “That’s my full name. Sit down and listen. Those girls that hang on to you at the bar will not be around when you turn fifty. Listen carefully to what your mother is telling you. Now, you better eat as I know you are going to spend the day running around and you’re not going to feed yourself.”
Even with all her allegations that I'm getting old —at twenty-seven, for God's sake—I’m still not looking for a serious relationship. After Dark is my life and I'm not willing to share my time with anyone in pursuit of success.
I'd rather leave this grandchildren and wedding chat to my sisters, Jo and Julie.
Yes, I know, Ju's not really my sister, but she grew up with me and was raised by my parents since hers passed away. Ever since, she became as much my responsibility as my own sister. I must confess that when we were younger, I had a special feeling for her, until John, my best friend from high school, caught me looking at her like a dog that looks at a roasted chicken, and told me it was disgusting what I was doing, that I should protect her from guys like me, and stop drooling over her. After all, she was my sister. He was very persuasive. In the end, I felt like a pervert as I was attracted to the girl who lived under the protection of my parents. I had to choke my wish and did what any older brother would do: I protected Julie as much as I could.
So far, it's been working.
I turn on the computer while I take off my shirt and shoe. I really need a good bath. I go through the suitcase looking for underwear when I hear the e-mail sound letting me know I have unread messages. I get a fright when I see the amount of notifications from the bar's Facebook page. Oh, boy! Did some sort of a bomb go off in there?
I open Facebook, already anticipating a headache. I'm rolling the screen as I go into a state of shock. The amount of check-ins made at the bar is infinitely higher than any other night.
I keep scrolling the screen and read the comments:
Lucy Smith:Wonderful night with the gals! After Dark rocked with the handsome Alan.
Michael Lewis: Today's show was excellent! Congratulations, AD gang!
Anne McCarty: Best night ever!
Luc Robs:What's with the voice of this hot chick who's singing in AD?
