I was already panting just from the walk from the car to the venue a block from the parking garage. You could see the heat rippling in the air and on the asphalt ahead. The sun hung high in the sky, signifying that this was probably as hot as it was going to get today, for which I was eternally grateful.
The venue was small. Just a bar set into the corner of a city block chock full of shops and businesses. Nothing to write home about. We'd seen countless bands played here before. The Roaring Rooster. That was what the owner had decided a good name for his establishment would be. Why? I couldn't tell you. I'd snickered every time I'd seen the overhead sign of the bright red rooster with his head thrown back, roaring like a lion. And I snickered to myself as we passed it on the way around the building to the back entrance this time, too.
There was already a small line forming near the entrance as we passed. Girls, girls, girls. Teenagers, mostly. I looked over to Saige, perking my brow. "I thought you said they weren't a very well-known band," I said.
"They aren't. But one of their members is," she said nonchalantly. To which I only blinked. Waiting for her to elucidate. Which she might have done, eventually, had her phone not buzzed. She pulled it out, and the most stupid grin I'd ever seen her wear split her face before her thumbs flew across the keyboard on her phone, replying to the person I could only assume was Sam. I rolled my eyes, content to play the role of third wheel and lackey for the day.
Sam couldn't come out to meet us. He and the band were on the stage, performing the essential sound check. So we went in through the side door. The bodyguards already knew us by name and face and he gave us each a smile. "Don't be causing trouble tonight," he said, his comment directed at Saige. I smirked. Saige had so often become so intoxicated at shows here that I had to drag her out, or asked Derek for assistance to drag her out. She always made a scene. Drunk or not. It was who she was.
The halls were narrow and flooded with employees of the Roaring Rooster and crew members of the band alike. Making it difficult for Saige and me to make our way through to the show room. I could hear the music blaring from the moment we walked it, and I cocked my head to the side. Listening. It got louder the closer we got, and once we were inside, I crossed my arms over my chest. Blinking as I watched them rehearse their performance.
It was like a mad mix of thirty different sub-genres of rock and roll. All thrown together into an ear-splitting loud medley. At least their speakers were good enough for me to be able to discern the words over the roar of the drums and the two guitars. I had to give it to them, they didn't come to play around. They all seemed wholly absorbed in both their individual jobs and sounds as well as the overall product of their combined efforts that the sounds seemed to blend seamlessly. Most bands that were just starting out didn't have a sound like that.
Once the soundcheck and rehearsal was done, Sam looked down from the stage. Sweat sticking his long hair to his face. But his face split into a grin as he saw Saige and I was surprised to find a matching grin adorning my best friend's face as a response to his before she rushed over to throw her arms around him and splatter his face with kisses. Leaving red lipsticks stains on his pale skin. He didn't seem to mind, though.
I remained pressed against the wall as the rest of the members broke apart to either nap or to re-hydrate. Their vocalist pulled his guitar from around himself, took a sharpie, and signed it before handing it off to one of the crew members who took it and put it with a group of similarly signed guitars.
"Do you personally sign all of the guitars in your collection?" I inquired aloud.
He turned towards me at that, chest rising and falling quickly from the exertion used on stage. Blonde hair falling all around his head, sweat dripping from the ends. But despite how tired he looked, his lips twitched up into a broad smirk. "Definitely. It's like when your mum writes your name on all your undies as a kid, so if someone steals them, you can say without a doubt that those are your poo stains and not theirs," he said. Tone light and teasing.
British. The thickness of his accent was very definitely british, very definitely London. But his analogy made me smirk in response, snorting at the absurdity of it. I glanced up to the stage, where Saige and Sam were now quite passionately making out. My entire face puckered in disgust. "I think they're trying to swallow each other," I said.
The singer followed my gaze and snorted, coming over to stand by me as he drank from his water bottle. "If he gets swallowed alive, he'll just have to play the show tonight from inside her stomach. We don't have enough money right now to hire a backup for him."
Both of my brows rose as I looked to him.
He was still smirking as he leaned back against the wall. Still watching the near porn-shoot on the stage a few yards from us. "I told him getting involved with girls on tour was a bad idea," he finally said, shaking his head.
"Oh, don't worry. She'll follow you all around the country if she's attached enough," I snorted. But then I frowned, glancing from the singer to Sam. "He's your brother, isn't he?" I asked, just now realizing that Saige had never mentioned that Sam had a brother. And she usually would have in some vain scheme to try and hook me up with him so our kids would be oddly somehow related.
The singer nodded. "Five years my junior, he is," he said, then looked to me. "I'm Jamie, by the way," he said, extending his hand.
"Eli," I said as I shook his hand.
He smiled. He was always smiling, I noticed. "It's nice to make your acquaintance. So, you know her?" he asked with a perked brow, glancing up to Saige.
I opened my mouth to say no, because she was embarrassing me, but I nodded, if not a bit grimly. "Best friends since elementary school," I said.
Jamie nodded. "Most of the band have been my mates since grade school, too."
"So you guys started a band in high school and just figured you'd tour the world so you could see it? See which country you're most popular in?"
He laughed. "Not exactly," he said, eyes twinkling. "This is my second band. Well, it's more of a reinvention of my first, honestly."
"Oh?" I said.
"Yeah, myself, Tristan and Rolland were in a band for a while, just for fun, really. Music has always been a passion of all of ours. But we all had other jobs, see, so it was just something we did on the side. A while ago, we figured it was something we were actually good at... that we could make money through it. And here we are," he said. The smile on his face spoke volumes of how proud he was that so many people enjoyed his music. I found myself watching the way his face moved to form that smile, the sparkle in his eye...
Then someone called his name, beckoning to him from a side door on the other side of the room. Jamie pushed himself off the wall. "Well, break over," he said. "You're staying for the show?" he asked, walking backwards towards the open door, his eyes still on me.
I nodded.
"Then maybe I'll see you after the show," he said, grinning, just before he disappeared through the door, the rest of the band following after him.
