Back-Up (12 page)

“Lor
i, its Leila. Did I wake you?”

She yawns loudly.
“What time is it?”

“It’s almost eleven,
I think. Call me back later.” I am about to hang up.

“No, I’m up, I’m up. N
o worries. What’s up?” Another yawn that follows doesn’t make her sound very convincing.

“I wanted to meet for lunch. I have some things I want to run by you. Can we meet at Riverside?” Lori loves Riverside Square Mall. She practically lives there.

“Sounds good. How’s one?”

“Perfect. I’ll meet you at Cheesecake Factory.” Lori loves the Factory as much as the mall. I’m pulling out all the stops.

“Will you call Lis?”

“No, it’s
just me and you.”

“Uh oh…what did I
do wrong?” Her tone causes me to laugh.

We hang up and I am buzzing with excitement. I will have a fant
astic future to look forward to and will be leaving my boys with a back-up plan if this works.

***

Waiting for Lori to show is nerve wracking. A small hole that is a seed of doubt slowly festers until it’s a huge crater. What if she hates my idea? I don’t have an alternate plan.  It’s Lori, or it’s leaving my boys without a strategy. That’ll mean months on the road worrying and stressing over their well-being. Selfishly, I would like to embark on the tour with the peace of mind knowing the guys will be ok. It may be a false sense of security, but I need it nonetheless.

It’s only one-fifteen
but I am fidgety and I keep staring at the door.  A few minutes later I see the redhead bounce through the doors. She spots me as she nears the hostess podium, and makes her way to my table.

She
slides into her side of the booth and smiles. “Hey babe, what’s going on? You have me freakin' a little.”

“Oh, tons. Don’t freak…its all good.” I want to fast forward to the part where she says, “YES! I’LL DO IT!”
I need to handle her the right way. First, I need make small talk. Next, compliment her. Then, throw her some gossip I heard about a girl we knew in high school. Once I can’t stand the waiting any longer, I begin.

I start
off slow by telling her about my new band. I then go into the rehearsals and the tour. She nods a lot, and asks a lot of really good questions, business questions, and “agent” kind of questions. She is perfect for this. 

I continue to tell her about my working with Cliffhangers until the tour starts. I tell her about cooking the boy’s dinner to fill them in on the contract details. Then I lay it on her. I tell her my idea, except
for the part where I want to set her up with Hunter.  She stays quiet, and takes it all in.

The waitress comes by and witho
ut breaking eye contact with me, Lori quickly comments, “We aren’t ready.” The woman leaves without a backwards glance.

Lori is staring at me, not moving, just staring.

“Lori?”

When she finally speaks she asks,
“Are you high?”

“Lori, you are perfect for this. You know that. You would make a great agent, especially with your personality. How hard can it be?”  I’m starting to worry
that she won’t agree to this.

“I have no experience. None! How can I possibly help those boys in any way? Then there is the small, tiny issue of Matt hating me!” She is getting more and more worked up. I have to reel her back in
and
fast
.

“
Lor, listen to me. First of all, Matt doesn’t hate you, he is a dickhead. Second, you need to get those boys signed on to band competitions and festivals in the New York area. This will get them exposure. You always go to those things anyway and know the best ones that are out there. Once you do that, the rest will fall into place. You know the guys are awesome. They just need to be noticed, and nobody can do that better than you.”

She looks at me long and hard. I don’t waver or break eye contact. I can tell she is running this through her brain. I can tell she is battling within her head. She knows she can do it, but yet she is afraid
that she can’t. I patiently sit and let her think it through. She goes to speak, then shuts her mouth. This happens three times in a row.

“You are certifiable.” She finally
proclaims.

Oh boy
.

“Lori, there isn’t a risk to you if you take this on. You will still be bartending and earning your paycheck. The upside is you will continue to see them perform every night on Sal’
s dime. During your spare time you can simply scout out bars and clubs to book them for gigs. This will replace their normal Sunday night bar mitzvahs or weddings. They have a CD recorded that you can use to promote them. You will also start researching band competitions that are happening over the summer. You will enter them in, list your name as their agent, and that’s it. You can see if this were something you would even enjoy once things start picking up for them. Then you can decide if you’d want to quit the bar. Win, win for all.” I sit back and wait.

“Have you discussed this with the guys yet?”

I nod. “They all voted yes.”

“All?”
She crosses her arms and challenges me to admit my lie. I’m not lying. I simply won’t tell her that we bullied Matt into saying yes.

“All
, including Matt. They think it’s a great idea. Take Alisa with you. I’m sure she would be thrilled to help you scout out places for them to play. This will give her more time with Logan and help him fulfill his dream too.”

There is a very long, very torturous silence between us.

Finally Lori speaks. “I’ll think about it.” 

Score
.

Chapter 10
-Jack

“
Please, please…oh yes…yes, Jack…yes…”

She is naked
on my bed and arching her back while I make love to her with my fingers, lips, and tongue. Her long wavy hair is fanned out around her on the pillow. She has the most perfect body. Her chest rises with every breath while her lower half writhes in ecstasy. The skin on the inside of her thighs is as smooth as silk as I grip her to keep her still.

“Please, Jack,
don’t stop.”

I bend back down to taste her again
and it causes her to moan deeply. Her moans are driving me crazy.

There’s a ringing. What the hell is ringing?

I spring up in bed and the hard-on I am blessed with causes me to slump sideways to relieve the pressure. I reach for my phone with one hand when I realize it’s ringing and grip my dick with the other. It’s only six am.

F
uck it’s early…too early.

Damn it, I’m gonna kill that fucker
.

“Hunter, w
hy are you calling me?”

“Is Rachel with you? Amanda is still here. She is trying to reach her, but she isn’t answering her phone.”

Oh crap… Rachel.

“Um, no, I got her a cab last night. I’m sorry
I was supposed to let Amanda know.” Damn it, I totally forgot.

“Oh, ok.
I’ll tell her.”

“Hey Hunt, can you call me once Amanda leaves?”

I don’t want to run into her and I need coffee I need to make a gallon of coffee the minute she is out of here.

I lay down and
close my eyes so I can replay the dream I just had. So Miss Leila Marino paid me another visit last night. I’ve had plenty of erotic dreams over the years, but this one seemed so real.

I would have had a very happy ending, instead of sporting uncomfortable morning wood
if I wasn’t so rudely interrupted.

There is a knock at my door, and Hunter strolls in.

“Fuck! What the hell dude? I could have been jerking off or something. I said to call me, not barge in.” I have no fucking privacy.

He
shrugs and ignores me. “Mandi is gone.”

“Mandi? Already on a nick- name basis? I guess things went well?”

“Yeah, real well.” He grins. “I like her. We talked and talked.”

“Talked and talked?  And?”

“Talked and talked. We made out, felt each other up, but mostly talked.”

I gawk at him like he grew another head. “You’re shitting me? You finally get a girl up to the roof, and you talk? I endured Rachel
and stopped her from interrupting you two last night for nothing?” I can’t believe this guy. I know he isn’t gay. He is either a hopeless romantic, or a total schmuck.

“We had a real nice time together. She didn’t push it further and neither did I. It’s kind of a test. No way should you marry a girl who fucks you on the first date.” He says this like he has just revealed a trade secret.

“So now you are marrying her?” Throwing up my hands I give him an exasperated look. “Well I hope you are very happy together.”  Hunter rolls his eyes and leaves my room. The only good thing about our conversation is that it has effectively killed my hard-on.

By the time I get to the kitchen, Hunter is banging cabinets noisily looking for a bowl for his fucking Fruit Loops.

“Jeez, dude. Could you be any louder?”

“What crawled up your ass?”

For some reason watching him standing at the sink, eating his juvenile cereal annoys the shit out of me.

“Nothing crawled up my ass. I’m just annoyed
that you woke me up.” He gives me a look that says he clearly isn’t buying my excuse.

He’s right. I’ve been in a crappy mood lately.
I forget Hunter and embrace memories of my dream that provokes a desperate desire to see Leila. Maybe I can convince Hunter to go to Hoboken and see them play? We need to invite her to the party so it would be like killing two birds with one stone.  I have wanted to see her band in action, anyway. This would solve that, too.

There are a few minutes of silence as he stares
into his bowl and noisily eats his stupid Fruit Loops while I’m drinking my coffee and scheme a plan to see Leila.

Ok, here goes.

“So, I wanted to go out to Hoboken and check out Leila’s band. I want to see her perform on stage and all. Want to come?” I try to sound very nonchalant.

He stops eating and looks at me. “When?”

“Tonight. I thought we could also tell her about the party when we are there. We have nothing else to do. Consider it research.”

This sounds pathetic.

“I guess. Do you think her band would be upset with us showing up like that?”

“Who gives a crap? We are there to see our new back-up singer working. Screw her band.” T
he truth is that I am more worried about Leila’s reaction to us just showing up.

Hunter shrugs and says, “Fine. You’re driving though. If I have to go to
Jersey, I plan on getting shit-faced.”

I can handle that.
Feeling optimistic for the first time in days, I decide to try and fall back into dream I was enjoying so much earlier. “I’m going back to bed, stay out of my room.”

“Sweet dreams.” He responds, smirking annoyingly.

The dickhead is onto me.

Chapter 11
-Leila

“She said she wants to talk to us.” I look around the back room of The Zone with an exasperated expression. Three times they have separately asked me if Lori was going to say “yes or no” in the past ten minutes. Each time I’ve told them that I had no idea.

“I’m sure if it was a no, she would
’ve just let you know and not make such a production about it, right?”

I love these guys, but boy are they
dense.

I give
Logan an exasperated look that screams, “I don’t know” and shrug for the fourth time. It’s been a few days since I broke the news of my master plan to the guys and Lori. Lori has been absolutely silent on the entire subject. She hasn’t said a word and has acted like I never mentioned it. Alisa, who knows all the details because Logan filled her in, thinks it’s a great idea and loves the notion of being Lori’s sidekick. She is busting at the seams and wants to shake some sense into Lori, even though I promised myself that I would be patient and not try to influence her. Alisa agreed to the same, albeit reluctantly.

The boys promised not to say a word to Lori or to harass her regarding her decision. Unfortunately that gave them Carte Blanche to harass and bother me.

The more the guys mulled over my idea, the more they felt it was perfect. I’m not convinced of Matt’s sentiment, but Logan promised me that he was on board. Evan said Logan did admit that he
helped
Matt see the benefits of my plan. I don’t want to think about how he went about
helping
Matt. Logan must have ripped him a new one.

Joseph stands and starts pacing the room.
He turns towards me and barks, “Where the hell is she?”

Jeez
.

Finally, the door opens and Lori breezes int
o the room looking very calm, relaxed, and stunning.  Her hair is loose and shiny and her emerald eyes sparkle. Her curvaceous body leaves nothing to the imagination in skin tight jeans, obscenely high-heeled sandals, and her black t-shirt with “The Zone” spread across her ample chest like a Hooters waitress wanna-be.

“Hi guys. How’s it goin
’?” She takes the chair Joseph just left and makes herself comfortable. They all stare at her like she is an alien and say nothing. I need to take control of this situation, before I hurt someone.

“They are driving me nuts! Lori, please cut to the chase.” I
pleadingly grasp her arm.

I think I can hear Logan’s heart beating from where I am standing.
She stands, lays her hands on the table, and looks at each of their faces while smiling smugly. This is an Emmy award worthy performance and basically I’m going to kill her.

“Well
” she remarks in her cocky kind of way. “I have been chewing over Leila’s plan.  Although I think it needs a lot of work, I feel she is a very smart girl. There isn’t a person on the planet that can do this job better than I can.”  She and Matt really are perfect for each other.

Logan jumps up and hugs her. “Lori
, you are absolutely right. I agree that you have exactly what we need in an agent. You are tenacious, smart, ruthless, and you have the biggest set of balls a girl could possibly have.”

Lori is beaming and looks over at me for reassurance. I nod encouragingly while smiling myself. Joseph and Evan both move around the table to hug Lori as well, and she enthusiastically
returns the gesture.

An awkward silence falls over the room like a wet blanket. Matt still hasn’t moved or said a word. A few torturous seconds pass when Lori poignantly looks over at Matt. “Let’s address the one issue I’m sure you are all concerned with.
I want to say it out loud so there isn’t any confusion.” She says while pinning him with her emerald green eyes and crossing her arms defiantly. Everyone remains silent, as we are all stare at Lori in shock that she is going to go there. 

“Matt,
in the past, I know you and I have had some…” She pauses to look up at the ceiling and then looks at him. “Let’s call them differences? I’m done. Now that I’ve made the decision to be your agent, nothing will stop me from the end result. I’ve decided it’s not worth jeopardizing my success or the band’s. I’ve decided you simply aren’t worth it.” Her apologetic shrug belies the true feelings in her eyes.

Matt and Lori stare each other down.
The awkwardness earlier was nothing compared to the tense aura hanging in the room now. We shift our eyes from Lori to Matt and back again like we are watching a tennis match.

Matt stands and folds his arms across his chest
to mimic Lori’s posture. Something is off. He doesn’t look relieved or even accepting of Lori’s announcement. In my opinion, he looks stunned. Watching him closely, I can see confusion swirling around in his mind like a tornado. I probably know this man better than anyone else in this room, including his own brother.

It suddenly hits me. I think Matt liked Lori chasing him these past few years. It’s a revelation that makes so much sense. His cocky attitude, his better than the rest act, his god’s gift to women performa
nce…all of it makes sense. Lori’s pursuit was the perfect circumstance for him.

Matt was acting out the role of rock-star.

I am so on to the bastard.

I switch
my focus to Lori, who is transfixed on Matt.  Either she finally sees him for who he is, or this is a master plan she has hatched up. Either way, they both are holding their cards, and bluffing. Neither of them can fool me.

Finally Matt narrows his eyes and concedes. “Welcome to Cliffhangers, boss.” Lori extends her hand and Matt shakes it slowly. Their eyes lock and silently challenge, “Game on.”

Of course
, the guys are oblivious to this entire exchange. Men.

The chatter in the room becomes deafening with the guys throwing ideas at Lori of different festivals and competitions they want to enter. Lori is bouncing off her own ideas of band image and exposure. It takes all of three minutes for me to see this was a match made in heaven.

Watching my former band and their new agent interacting is such a defining moment for me. I know that she will take real good care of my boys. When faced with a challenge Logan is right…Lori is ruthless.

They are all ignorant to the fact that we were due on stage five minutes ago. Sal will be appearing any minute to find out what the delay is.

“Um…guys. I hate to break this love-fest up, but we’re late.”

“Let’s blow our show and celebrate.” Joe says, looking around the room nodding and grinning like a kid in a candy store.

Lori points to the door and says, “Get to work.”

Saluting his new drill sergeant, Joe laughs and hugs Lori. “Yes
, boss.”

The Cliffhangers all file out of the room like good little soldiers. Matt throws Lori one last look before leaving the room.

Lori smirks prompting me to ask, “What are you up to?”

She shrugs innocently.
“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”  A few seconds later, she winks confirming my suspicions.

I watch her closely as she puts on her best poker face. I don’t have time to get into it this with her right now.

“I’ve got to get out there
. Thank you.”

“What for? I should be
thanking you. You were right. Those boys need me.”

“Yes
, they do. One more thing, I haven’t had a chance to tell you some of the details since our chat. I wanted to let you know that I told the guys I feel they need to replace me. They gave me a hard time, and think it’s unnecessary. It is now your job to convince them.”

“Absolutely.” She says without a pause. “I love you Leila, and it will be hard for them to find someone as
perfect of a fit as you were, but you’re right. This will be item number one on my “to do” list. No worries.” She leans in and hugs me tight.

“I know you will take care of my boys and get them where they need to be. I love you.” I mumble into her shoulder as my voice cracks from emotions. 

Lori chuckles into my hair and hugs me tighter.  “You aren’t going off to war, Lei.”

As we make our way into the bar arm and arm, Alisa spots us and immediately
and grins from ear to ear. Lori does not miss a beat and accuses, “She knows?” 

Oo
ps…

Alisa storms over to where we are standing with both hands on her hips. “Yes I know
! Logan told me. I’ve been dying to talk to you about it for days. Jesus, Lori, what the
hell
? At least a hundred times I was going to bring it up, but this one over here made me swear on a stack of bibles not to say a word. Do you know how hard it was for me to act normal for the last few days? It’s been complete and utter torture. Logan was so stressed and every time I would bring it up he would make me zip it. Evan avoided me at all costs so he wouldn’t have to listen to me bitching on how unfair it was to keep this in. I could have gotten an ulcer from the stress. Both of you owe me so big for this. I want a spa day with the works, not to mention a percentage of the profits once those yahoo’s make it big.”

She finally stops only to take a breath and is about to start another rant when I interrupt. “I love you Lis, and yes we owe you one. I know this was very hard on you. I wish I could stay and chat about it, but I have to go do my job now.” Kissing her cheek, I bolt towards the stage. Tentatively I look back to see Lori shooting daggers at me. I’ve just left my one friend alone to get reamed for the next four hours from my other friend with no escape. She is going to kill me for sure. 

Evan meets me at my keyboard. “Such a great idea you had. You are so awesome Lei.”

“I know.”

“Humble as shit too.” He kisses my cheek and saunters over to his side of the stage to grab his bass guitar.

I catch
a glimpse of Sal standing across the bar and pointing to his watch as Matt hastily addresses the crowd. “Hey, Hoboken. So sorry we’re late. I promise we’ll make it up to you!” A few girls call out crude, suggestive offers as Matt laughs jovially. He really should laugh more often. It’s so sexy.  I swear he’s like Sybil with his multiple personalities. He ranges from dickhead to dreamboat.

Matt turns to give us his cue and we finally start our first song.

Sal tries hard to look annoyed, but he can’t quite pull it off. There is a decent crowd tonight, so naturally the girls are super busy at the bar. I’m hoping this is making it difficult for Alisa to continue her rant on Lori. When I glance over, though, Alisa is still yapping away and Lori is still rolling her eyes dramatically. I probably owe them both a spa day after this.

Melancholy hits with a violent force.  This has been my life for the past few years. Spending many nights a week on this very stage
and singing with this awesome group of men with my two dear friends in the same room tending bar makes me realize how much I’m really going to miss this. A lump forms in my throat from the bittersweet events simultaneously occurring in my life. It’s bitter because these chapters of my life will all end very soon and sadness doesn’t begin to describe my emotions yet sweet because I have landed a job as a back-up singer with a very talented rock band and I’m about to live my dream in just a few weeks.

From my position on stage, I slowly scan the room to commit every single detail to memory.
I want to recall where the boys stand at their respective places on stage, the girls at the bar working hard, the back of Matt’s body as he suggestively seduces the crowd with his voice, the worn wooden floors and well weathered walls, the view from the stage of the dimly lit corners, and even the faces of the patrons as we perform. I
need
to remember every single detail.

The bar doors suddenly open throwing a temporarily glow into the room from the streetlamps outside. This happens so many times during the course of any given night that it can become distracting. Casually glancing up at the doors just as I do every time they open, I suddenly freeze from panic. I recognize that posture.

OMG…it’s Jack
.

Guardedly I watch as he looks around the bar while taking a f
ew steps deeper into the room. I still can’t see his face, but I don’t have a doubt in my mind that it’s him.

My body starts to tremble from ner
ves or from being so damn horny. Perhaps it’s both?

Jack leans in to talk to his friend. I can’t
see the other man’s face either but spiky hair tells me its Hunter. They move towards an empty table to the right of the stage adjacent to my position. Jack takes the seat directly facing me while Hunter sits next to him. Their table is under one of the recessed lights and affords every female in the bar an unfettered view of his gorgeous face.

Case in point…

Kelly, one of our waitresses, is chatting at another table and turns to tell them she’ll be right with them. One look at Mr. Sex God and her mouth hangs open in the most unflattering way.

Lori and Alisa are working opposite ends of the bar. Lori notices him first, quickly followed by Alisa. They both stop in their track
s, completely stunned into silence. It’s a definite first.