A Beautiful Melody (20 page)

“Shit, where is he?” Theo demands as he paces the dressing room before our final Melbourne show.

“I don’t know. He left with some chicks last night. I don’t know where he went,” explains Lachlan.

“He was trashed too. But I just thought he was blowing off some steam. He’s been
on the straight and narrow for most of the tour. I just thought that since Melbourne is a bit of a party city that he was trying to have some fun. We had no idea he’d take off and not come back,” Jack adds in, obviously feeling responsible.

“Fucking hell!” Theo yells, pegging his phone at the floor after yet another unsuccessful attempt to contact Marcus.

“Fifteen minutes guys,” the stage manager says, as he pokes his head in the door. Theo growls and runs his hand over his head, causing his hair to stick up all over the place. “Everything alright?” he asks, looking pointedly at each of us.

“It’s fine. We’re fine,” I say quickly, moving toward him and shutting the door before turning back to a freaked out Theo.

“What the hell are we going to do?” he gasps, completely at his wits end.

“I’
ll go and talk to Dan. Maybe they have someone who can drum and you can front?” I suggest.

Theo just looks at me, his eyes wide as beads of sweat break the surface of his skin. I grab his face on either side and look into his eyes, smoothing my thumbs over the creases above his brow.

“Calm down. We can fix this,” I tell him quietly, leaning toward him and kissing him softly, not caring right now what the others think. This is important.

His hands fly up to grip my face as well, as his kiss deepens and he inhales deeply, like he’s trying to breathe me in. I rest my forehead against his, breathing heavily.

Jack nudges Lachlan. “Pay up. She chose Theo. You owe me a hundred bucks.”

“Shit man,” Lachlan grumbles, pulling out his wallet. “I only have a fifty.”

As he holds it out, Jack snatches it from his hand and shoves it in his pocket. “Close enough,” he says.

Theo and I stand there, still holding onto each other as we watch our bassist and
keyboardist settle their bet.

“What?” Lachlan asks innocently
, as he notices our unimpressed expressions. “We knew she’d pick one of you.”

“And you bet against me?” Theo asks.

“Yeah. Sorry man. But well done and all that. What’s Marcus think of all this?” he responds.

“I’m guessing he’s pretty pissed o
ff mate, since he’s not here and all,” Jack suggests.

It wa
s at that moment Marcus decides to burst through the door. On each arm, laughing like some sort of gangster-pimp-wannabe, he drags in a couple of women who, from the way they’re dressed, would be more at home draped over the bonnet of a car than they would be backstage at a concert. I have never seen such large fake breasts on an actual person before, and it’s not until Theo lifts my chin to close my mouth that I realise that I had it hanging open.

“Dude,” Jack says, looking Marcus over and shaking his head. “This is a whole new level of crazy. Get your fucking act together. We’re on in like ten minutes.”

“No worries. I’m good to go. In fact, thanks to these ladies, I’m amazing,” he claims, kissing them both on the tops of their bleached heads as they giggle and cuddle up to him.

“What are their names?” I ask, unable to keep the disdain from my voice.

He simply looks at me and laughs.

“Listen, we don’t have time for this shit. Let’s just get our ar
ses into gear and get out there,” Theo grumbles.

I lean down and pick up my violin, my body buzzing with anger as I think about what Marcus is doing and how he could have very well ruined the show for us tonight. After all the work Theo h
as put in this band, and all the work we’ve done together, he very well almost hung us out to dry.

Marcus leaves his bitches at the side of the stage, right near where I used to st
and to watch Radio Silence. They wave and squeal while blowing kisses at him while he trots out on stage like the prized stallion. His cocky attitude just makes my blood boil more.

“Hello Melbourne!” he booms into the microphone. “For those of you who don’t know us, we are
Matiari. Thanks so much for coming out early to see us!”

He slips so easily into his on stage persona, and the crowd loves it. Especially tonight, he’s radiating energy, and I wonder if he’s actually taken something to make him like this. He seems like he’s a live wire.

After he introduces the first song, I start to calm down, he plays and sings as seamlessly as always, running through what now seems like a script. The same songs, the same words, night after night.

Every night, it seems that we make more fans, and despite repeating the same performance, the adulation is enough that it leaves you wanting more. Just knowing that people love the music you’re making is enough to make you want to live up here, listening to screaming fans forever.

I sneak a few glances at Theo, who winks at me, grinning and obviously feeling the magic up here just like I am.

I get my violin ready for the last song, expecting Marcus to go through his usual
spiel, but he doesn’t. He goes off on a tangent.

“
I’ll bet you guys are loving Naomi, right?” he calls out, heading over to my side of the stage. The crowd cheers, and I smile and wave at them before turning my head toward Theo as I frown, concerned about where this is going. Theo’s expression darkens as his jaw clenches and he glares at his brother. I can practically feel the rage radiating off him from here. “Yeah. I love her too,” he tells them, his expression calm and serious as he looks me in the eye.

I feel a slight stabbing in my chest as dread fills my stomach. What the hell is he going to do?

He takes a couple of steps away from me before addressing the audience again. “Now, Naomi is a fan of Aiden Price.” The crowd screams at the mention of his name. “No, he won’t be here tonight, but I get that a lot of you are probably fans as well. Actually, I am too. A while back, as a bit of a treat we did his song
I Recall
, but tonight, I’d like to do something a little different. I have a special song, just for Naomi. This one is called
Weighted
.”

Immediately, his fingers start moving over his guitar
, playing the intro to the song. My mouth drops open and I look at Theo, who seems furious, but to save face he picks up the beat when he’s supposed to, shaking his head from side to side the entire time.

All I want, is for you, to let me in

To be true
, to me, and not to him

You can’t choose me, i
t’s far too late

And it presses on me
, like a heavy weight

All I want, is for you, to share your mind

If we shared
, our thoughts, who knows what we’d find

We weren’t looking, there was
too much on our plate

And it presses on me
, like a heavy…

My stomach sours when Theo hits out the beat that means the chorus is coming, because I’m living my own personal, but very public nightmare. This song can mean only one thing - Marcus knows I’ve chosen Theo.

Fuck you, Fuck you

You were never true

Go, just go

I can’t
even look at you

You can blame me, blame me

Blame me all you want

Just let me go, let me go

‘Cause you’re a bitch to be around

As he lowers his voice and repeats the last two lines, he looks over at me and commands “Sing Naomi!”

I jump slightly, swallowing a large lump in my throat
as with a shaky voice, I attempt to sing the backing vocals.

I can’t believe this is happening, he’s trying to hum
iliate me publicly. But I don’t let him win, I sing along with him. I sing the next chorus along with him, and tell him to go and fuck himself because he’s a dick to be around.

The song becomes more intense and he starts
screaming ‘Let me go’ until the song reaches its climax and we start whispering to each other to ‘let me go, ‘cause you’re a bitch/dick to be around’.

The crowd erupts. They go fucking hysterical over it
, and Marcus swings his guitar onto his back, unplugs it and walks over to me.

“I guess everyone loves you,” he says
, his eyes hard and unfeeling as he grabs the back of my head and slams his mouth against mine, forcing his tongue past my lips. It’s hard and it hurts. I hear the crash of the top hat toppling as Theo is obviously jumping up from his drum kit.

I push against Marcus’s chest with all my strength
, just as Theo reaches us and grabs him by the front of his shirt, ready to punch him on stage.

“Fuck you Marcus,” I growl, placing my hand on Theo’s arm, effectively calming him enough so he just pushes Marcus back.

Marcus looks between us and laughs through his nose. “Yeah. Fuck Marcus. I’m done with this shit,” he spits out, taking his guitar off his back, flinging it off the stage and into the audience as he storms off.

The audience roars and there
’s this huge scramble of bodies as they all try to get their hands on it. But it’s all just noise to me. Tears steam down my face as I stand there in open mouthed horror – what the hell just happened?

I feel Theo’s strong arms come around my body as he pulls me to his ch
est, kisses my head and speaks into my ear, promising me that everything is going to be okay.

With his arm around my waist he walks me off the stage, only to be confronted with a commotion backstage.

“You’re off the fucking tour. How dare you behave like that! I gave you the chance of a lifetime kid and you just blew it.”

It’s Dan Stolle,
with the other band members of Radio Silence standing behind him, nodding in agreement as he unleashes a verbal tirade upon Marcus, whose two female companions are now nowhere to be seen. I guess sleeping with a disgraced rock star wasn’t on tonight’s agenda.

Voices fly up and down as the yelling con
tinues and threats are made. In the end, Marcus simply takes off, leaving us to deal with the aftermath.

“Dan please,” I beg, as he paces the small hallway, letting out a long list of obscenities. “We can sort this out. Don’t throw us off.”

The tour manager steps into the hallway and calls Theo into his office. We exchange worried glances as he gives my hand a reassuring squeeze before walking off to meet what seems to be our end.

“You want in on this?” the manager asks Dan.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Dan says, taking me by the arm and leading me into their dressing room. “What just fucking happened?” he asks the moment the door is shut.

“
I… I’m sorry ok. I never meant for this to get so messed up.”

“Did nothing I spoke to you about sink in? You went and fucked one of them didn’t you?” he accuses. Although I don’t need to answer him, my refusal to meet his eyes is enough of an admittance. “Jesus Naomi. I like you sweetheart, I really do. But how can we keep you on tour with no front man? Because I refuse
to have someone as reckless as that come back.”

“Theo can do it,” I blurt out.

“Can what? Front?”

“Yes. They’re all his songs anyway, and honestly, he’s just as talented – maybe more.”

He crosses his arms over his chest and studies me for a moment, thinking on what to do. A knock sounds at the door, and another member of his band tells him they have five minutes to get on stage.

“They can wait,” Dan tells him. “I won’t be more than ten.”

He stands up without saying anything more to me, and leaves the dressing room. I follow him out, but stop when I realise he’s heading for the manager’s office.

“What’s going to happen to us?” Jack asks.

“I’m not sure,” I respond, staring at the now closed door. Praying that Dan listened to me, and that he isn’t going to kick us off.

“What a fucking night,” I say, grabbing either side of my face as I ride up in the elevator with Naomi by my side. She leans into me and rests her head against my arm.

“At least we got everything sorted out,” she says.

“I never thought I’d actually be glad you spent all that time with Dan Stolle.”

“Yeah, I think it definitely helped that we’re friends. Now we just need to find a drummer in the next few days,” she sighs.

“I’ll have to do an open call out or something. Maybe I can put a notice on our website and even one on Facebook. I don’
t know,” I tell her, dropping my hands down to my sides.

“What about taking Dan up on his offer to find us a manager? Is that something you want?” she asks as the elevator pings, signalling our arrival on our floor.

“I thought it’s what I wanted. I’m not sure now though. Although really, what choice do I have? I don’t think I can do everything I’m doing now as well as front. Hell, I’m still freaking out about fronting the band. I’ve never done that before. What if the fans we have flip out and leave us. Marcus could very well have ruined everything.”

She
slides her hand down my arm, and takes my hand, curling herself into me as we walk the hall. “They’ll love you. You’re amazing,” she tells me. I stop where I am and pull her into my arms, kissing her softly, her body and her mouth against mine is the only reason I’m keeping calm.

After Marcus caused such
a scene and stormed out, I was pulled into the manager’s office where I was subjected to a verbal ear bashing by both the manager of Radio Silence, the tour manager and the venue manager. They were going to pull the band from the last stage of the tour, meaning that we wouldn’t get to play the entertainment centre in Sydney – our home town. It’s a big deal for us, and I was willing to beg, borrow, and steal just so we could still go on.

I to
ld them that I’d talk to Marcus. That I’d smooth things over. But they weren’t willing to risk that. It wasn’t until Dan Stolle intervened, and reported that Naomi had mentioned that I could front, that they started to see reason and calm down.

After Radio Silence had finished their show, t
hey made me play for them. And being brothers, Marcus and I have a very similar singing voice. It was a night filled with debate and threats, and I will be forever grateful to Dan Stolle for standing up for us.

“So, I guess you’re the winning brother
?” he asked me, after everyone else had left the room, satisfied with the agreed upon outcome.

“Yeah. I guess I am
. I’m so sorry this happened Dan. I really am,” I replied, feeling like someone just pulled me out of the path of an oncoming train, but deeply regretting getting myself in the situation where I needed rescuing.

“W
e didn’t think he knew, and we were going to tell him when we got home. But somehow he found out. Somehow he…” Naomi added, her voice cracked as tears sprang to her eyes again. I slid my arm around her and pulled her close to my side, feeling my heart break for her – she suffered a massive humiliation tonight at the hands of my brother. I’m not sure that I’m ever going to be able to forgive him for it.

“Don’t sweat it guys. It’s all sorted now, just don’t let it happen again,” he said
, giving me a friendly slap on the shoulder and kissing Naomi lightly on the head, before he took off for the night. In our dressing room, we found two very worried men.

Jack and Lachlan were white as sheets as they sat and fret
ted over what our fate would be. But upon hearing that we’d be carrying on, their energy returned and they happily ran off to spend the night in the arms of some random women.

“Do you think he’s here?” Naomi asks as we get closer to our rooms.

“He wouldn’t want to be,” I state, my anger towards him bubbling just below the surface of my skin.

“Stay with me?” she asks when we reach her door.

“Where else would I possibly go?” I mu
rmur, scooping her up and carrying her over to the bed, laying down with her and holding her in my arms.

She leans in closer to me, brushing her soft lips along the stubble of my chin. “I can’t even see where you
r piercings used to be. The holes aren’t there,” she whispers, kissing where my lip ring used to sit at the corner of my mouth.

“They’
re healed now,” I whisper, moving my mouth to capture hers. As my tongue slides into her mouth, she lets out this gorgeous little whimper that causes my body to forget how fucking tired I am.

“They were hot,” she whispers back, wrapping her arms around my neck as I position myself above her.

“How about I just get the one put back in my tongue,” I murmur, kissing my way down her neck, as I lift her singlet up over her stomach and run my tongue around the edge of her belly button. “I’ll bet we can find a good use for that one.”

She moans and squirms in anticipation beneath me as I drag her skirt and panties down her legs. “You might have to show me first,” she pants, opening her legs and exposing her beautiful
juicy pink lips to me. I feel myself go rock hard as I see her wetness glistening between her legs.

“I’ll do more than that,” I growl, dipping my head between her thighs and taking that first delicious lick.

She reaches down and slides her fingers in my hair – I fucking love how she does that; rocking her hips in time with my lapping. Before long, I’ve got her calling out my name, bucking against my face, her thighs tightening around my head.

I sit back
, needing to be inside her, and circle my tip at her entrance, pushing into her tight wetness. “Oh, Naomi,” I moan, sliding myself back and forth as she clasps her walls around me. I’m so close to exploding. I never thought being connected with someone could feel so perfect… so right. It’s been so meaningless - until now…

“Oh god Theo, keep going. Oh!” she calls, gripping me tightly,
pushing me over the edge. I thrust myself inside her, letting the pulsing subside as I bow my head, resting my forehead on her chest.

Her fingers slide
, once again, into my hair, caressing my scalp as we both catch our breath. I think about all the years we wasted – that I wasted being angry at her. God, having her out of my life was like being locked out of heaven. She’s fucking perfect – she’s my paradise. If only I’d answered the phone when she’d called after that party. If only I hadn’t been such a jackass about finding her with Marcus. We could have been together all this time.

“I’m sorry for not answering,” I say
abruptly, lifting my head so I meet her eyes.

“Not answering what?” she asks
, confusion evident in her features.

“After that stupid party – when you called. I listened to the voicemails,
I read your texts. I knew you were upset and you didn’t remember, but I was so angry at Marcus that I took it out on you as well. I’m sorry.”

Tears well in her eyes
as she runs her fingertips lightly over my face. She touches every part of me, my eyes, my nose, my mouth, before kissing me gently, tenderly. “None of that’s important now,” she whispers. “We’ve got our whole lives ahead of us.”

“Marry me,” I whisper suddenly.
It just pops out, and I know it’s impulsive, but it feels right. I want to spend the rest of my life with her.

She studies my features for an unnatural amount of time, and I start to worry that I’ve just scared her off. “Ok,” she answers finally. Nodding her head
and smiling. “Yes,” she reaffirms.

“Really?”

“Yes Theo. I’ll marry you.”

Grinning, I take
her mouth in mine again, and despite the exhaustion of the night we’ve had, and the fact that it’s now four o’clock in the morning, we both still find the energy to celebrate our engagement.