Inked Chaos (2 page)

Oh my God, the music’s
thumping so loud, and my feet are killing me, but hell I’m having fun.  We have
danced all night, and are now chilling out with our glasses of wine.

Davy leans over and hands me an envelope
shouting “Happy Birthday Boo.” Smiling, I take the envelope as she gives me a
big hug. “Ben and I couldn’t think of a more fitting present for you babe.  It’s
killed me keeping the secret; I kept thinking I was going to blurt it out.  So
at least I can relax now.” she grins.

I open the envelope and scream as a ticket
to see my favourite group ‘Inked Chaos’ falls into my lap.  Ignoring the
strange stares and smirks I receive from fellow clubbers, I stand and do a
little dance before hugging Davy.

“Okay! Okay! I get that your happy, just
leave my ribs intact.” she laughs. “Don’t worry, you’re not going on your own; Jen
and I are coming with you.   It’s going to be a girl’s weekend away, thanks to
Ma’s contribution.”

I can’t believe it.  Inked Chaos have been
my all-time favourite band for years.  Being American, they don’t come over to
England very often, and I always seemed to miss them or was unable to afford
the tickets.  The lead singer AJ Lewis, is just the most handsome, sexy rocker
of all time, with a body to die for.  With his dark, almost black, unruly wavy
hair, piercing azure blue eyes and powerful voice, he is just perfect.  Yep Mr
Alexander John Lewis it has to be said, has it all.  Then of course there are
the tattoos, hence their name.  All five members of the band being known for
them, AJ having the most.

I have to admit, I tend to feel a cougar
where AJ is concerned.  Especially now I am forty, as he is only thirty-four,
but I just don’t care.  I google him now and then to see what he’s been up to,
and who his latest girlfriend is.  He used to date tall stunning models or actresses,
but he’s been in an on-off relationship with the actress Melody Forrester for a
couple of years now, so it must be serious.  It’s not surprising really, she’s
beautiful; tall and slim, with long brunette hair and is a brilliant actress.  She
seems to have it all.

“I’ve had those tickets for months Boo, I
just couldn’t wait to see your face.  We are going to stay in a hotel that
night, and have a real girl’s party.  It’s all booked.”  

Davy and Jen are laughing hysterically at
me, as I can’t stop the huge grin on my face.

“I’m coming to see you Chaos.”  I shout,
throwing my arms in the air and jigging around in my seat.  I’m acting like a
teenager instead of a forty year old, but I don’t care.  I safely stow my
ticket in my bag, grab Jen and Davy, and head down to the dance floor,
determined to groove the night away, until my feet can’t take any more.

*****

Oh…My…God! I have the hangover from hell.  I
know it’s the morning; I can hear the birds singing.  It’s just unfortunate
that I can’t open my eyes to confirm the fact.  I lie there, trying not to move
my aching head too much, as I slowly raise one of my eyelids.  Only to shut it
pretty quickly again, when the brightness hits my eye like a laser.

Well! I’m not surprised at my
self-inflicted state.  I really went to town last night, luckily remembering most
of it.

We had danced until my feet were pounding
like in the cartoons.  I dread to think how many glasses of wine I consumed,
before hitting the Southern Comfort.  I’m not a big drinker, so usually only
three or four drinks are enough to make me a little more than tipsy.  Well! I
remember having a lot more than that.  I also remember the clock reading after
three, when we staggered home this morning.

Ah well, no one could say I didn’t celebrate
in style.  It’s a good job I’m only forty once, as I don’t think my head could
cope with another.

My eyes spring open, and I wince at the
pain.  Okay, is it a memory or a dream that I have a ticket to see Inked Chaos?

I scramble out of my bed, my eyes searching
for my bag; which I finally locate under my clothes, which are scattered over
the bedroom floor, where I haphazardly threw them the night before.  With
shaking hands, due to excitement, nerves or the DT’s or all three, I’m not
quite sure, I open my bag.

There it is.  The most wonderful piece of
paper known to man.  My ticket to see Inked Chaos.  Boy, do I love my sister.  I
crawl back into bed hugging my ticket to my chest, with a silly smile on my
face.

“Thank you Davy.” I whisper as once again,
my eyes close and I drift off to sleep.

*****

I can’t believe the day has finally
arrived.  I’m speeding down the M42 towards the Arena in Birmingham for
tonight’s concert.  As always, I have the windows down, and an Inked Chaos CD
pounding out at full blast.  With a smile on my face, I’m singing along knowing
every word.  Just wonderful.

Davy didn’t lie when she said it was a
girl’s weekend.  We have a room booked at a nearby hotel, where I’m meeting her
and Jen.

Before she had left for home, I had given
Davy my precious ticket to look after.  I hadn’t wanted to take the risk that
something would happen to it over the last four months.  It would have been
just my luck.  Besides, I have a habit of putting things somewhere safe, only
for them to be too safe, because I forget where I have put them, and can’t find
them again.  I just wasn’t prepared to take that chance with my precious
ticket.

Pulling into the hotel car park, my eyes quickly
scan for a parking space among the sea of cars.  Perfect, I manage to locate
one not too far from the hotel entrance, so I won’t have to drag my overnight
case too far.  I know I’m only here for one night, but we girls have to pack a
variety of things, even for one night.  Well I do anyway.  A selection of
clothes; because I still can’t make my mind up what to wear to the concert.  Toiletries,
make-up, and hair paraphernalia the list goes on.  What can I say? It’s a girl
thing.

I park my car, and sit listening to the
current track playing on the CD.  Called Dangerous Love, it’s my favourite of
all time.  I have never been able to force myself to switch it off in mid play;
always having to wait until the bitter end.  The lyrics about a dangerous,
forbidden love, getting to me every time.

As the music fades away I take a deep
breath.

Yep! Moves my soul every time.  I hope they
play it at the concert tonight.  That would be the cherry on top of my cake
.

I close the windows, grab my case, lock
then double check I’ve locked the car.

Whilst humming the tune of Dangerous Love
to myself, I walk towards the hotel entrance, dragging my case behind me; at
the same time, with my other hand, I ferret around in my handbag, looking for
the hotel paperwork; ready for checking in.

“Good tune.” a deep male voice remarks, as
I reach the steps leading to the hotel entrance.

“The best.  My favourite.” I reply with a
smile, briefly lifting my head, before commencing on my way.  Only to stop
sharply and mutter “Shit!”

Now I have to say, I only use such words
when warranted, and believe me, this time it was definitely warranted.  For
that deep voice had belonged to non-other than AJ Lewis.  As in
The
AJ
Lewis, who as I watch, is currently walking away from me, towards a huge Range
Rover with blacked out windows.  When he reaches the car, he turns, jerks his
chin upwards and smiles at me, before climbing in and being driven away.

Okay, so now I’m standing in the hotel
entrance, with my mouth gaping open in shock, not able to breathe, never mind
move; the last few moments whizzing around my head.  I had been standing next
to AJ Lewis, and to my humiliation, not only had he heard me say “Shit”, but he
had also heard me humming, totally out of tune I have to add, Dangerous Love.  Plus,
to top it all, I never even got an autograph or a photo.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Davy will never believe me, and if she does,
she’ll probably kill me for wasting my opportunity.

In a daze, I walk into the hotel, check in,
and make my way up to the room I’m sharing with Davy and Jen.

“Stupid, that’s what I am, totally stupid.”
I mutter to myself.  I can’t believe what just happened.

The girls are already in the room when I
walk in, muttering to myself about being stupid, and never having that chance
again.  I stop dead and stare at them, my mouth opening and closing like the
proverbial goldfish, struggling to get my words out.  Eventually, I manage a
garbled version of events, to which the girls gawk at me, mouths agape.

“Shit!” whispers Davy.

“My words exactly.” I reply with a wry
smile.

I sit down on one of the beds, with a smirk
on my face.  The laughter now bubbling up inside of me.  Hell! God knows what
he thought.  This mad woman humming his song out of tune and not recognising
him straight away, and then saying “shit!”

“He probably thinks I’m barmy.” I laugh.

Before long, all three of us are laughing
hysterically.

“It could only happen to you Boo.” laughs
Davy.

Jen passes me a glass of wine, and we all
raise a toast to AJ Lewis and Dangerous Love, before preparing to dress for the
concert.

*****

Its five hours later,
and the
three of us are dancing madly to the music.  Our voices are husky from singing
along, our feet are killing us from the dancing, but we are having the best
time of our lives.  Inked Chaos are awesome live, and are putting on a
fantastic show, with AJ moving all over the stage, doing his thing.

Having really good seats close to the
stage, we don’t need to watch the big screens.  We can clearly see Jason on the
drums at the back, Travis on keyboards, Zack on lead guitar and Razor (real
name Jake) on bass.

They are playing a song called Skin on Skin;
making the audience go wild, jumping and dancing all over the place.

As the song ends, the stage suddenly
plunges into darkness, making the crowd scream in a frenzy.  With the three of
us, cheering and screaming along with the rest of them.  

When the stage lights turn back on, revealing
AJ front and centre at the microphone, he has his arms in the air, clapping his
hands at the crowd.

“Okay,” he shouts, “we’re going to play a
song now, that today someone told me was her favourite.  She knows who she is,
so this is for the ‘Humming Bird’, let’s go guys, this is Dangerous Love.”

Oh...My...God! I look at Davy and Jen, to
see they are looking at me, jumping up and down, cheering and screaming, and
laughing all at the same time.  I cannot believe he just did that.  Okay, so
maybe he’s not talking about me, but then how many women did he meet today
humming that tune, and telling him it’s her favourite? I start screaming and
jumping up and down with the girls.  It has to be said, this is the best birthday
present I could have wished for.

*****

The concert has finished, so we walk around
to the stage door, in the hope we can catch a glimpse of the band; but there is
such a large crowd, that we give up and head back towards the hotel.

My feet are killing me, so I’ve taken off
my boots and I’m walking barefoot.  This is no surprise to the girls, as it’s a
habit I’ve always had.  A habit that used to drive James mad; he always thought
it unseemly.

Thinking about it, there are quite a few
things James didn’t like or thought unseemly.  My wearing of jeans for one.  He
always preferred me wearing skirts and high heels.  He also didn’t like me wearing
too much make-up either, and he always said I was being pathetic about
attempting to write a novel.  Why I never acknowledged these facts before, I’ll
never know.  Maybe it’s because I’m starting to be the real me; instead of
being who he wanted me to be.  

It doesn’t take long to reach the hotel,
and we decide to have a drink in the bar before heading up to our room.  We find
a table just inside the entrance to the bar, and are discussing the concert,
when we hear a commotion coming from the reception.  Cameras are flashing, and
reporters are shouting questions, and we realise Inked Chaos have arrived, and
are heading up to their rooms.  We all stand up, balancing on tiptoe, striving to
gain a better view, just as the band and AJ are entering the lift; with AJs
eyes appearing to meet my own, just as the lift doors begin to close.

“Hell!” sulks Davy. “Another photo
opportunity lost.  It’s just not our night, is it?” While Jen groans with
disappointment.  They sound so despondent it makes me giggle.

“I thought I was the mad
fan, not you two.” I say smirking.

“We sound like love struck teenagers, not
grown women.” admits Jen and with that, we all fall about laughing, and reach
for our wine.

A couple of glasses of wine later, we decide
to call it a night and make our way over towards the lifts, where Davy presses
the call button.

Just as the bell pings, signalling the
lifts arrival, a guy strolls up to us, smiling.

“Excuse me Miss, but I’ve been asked to
pass you a message.” He says handing me a folded piece of paper, then walks
away without another word.

Walking into the lift, I look from Davy to
Jen, to find matching expressions of puzzlement etched upon their faces.  Nervously,
I open the note and nearly faint when I see who it’s from.

There’s an after
show party on the 5th floor, suite 518. Hope you all come.”

“Oh My God!” I whisper, and pass Davy and
Jen the note, observing as their mouths fall open stupefied.  We all know, only
one person would call me ‘Humming Bird.’

AJ Lewis.

My heart starts pounding, and I don’t know
what to do.  For God’s sake, I’m a forty year old woman, not some young groupie
to go up to a rock stars hotel room.  Then again, I would be stupid to let this
chance to meet him pass me by.

“You have to go.” states Davy as the lift
ascends. “You’d be daft if you don’t; and personally, I will never forgive you
if you don’t go.”  

“I’m not going up there! Are you mad? It’s
not like I’m some young girl who wouldn’t think twice.  For God’s sake, I’m
forty.  Nope, I think I’d rather have my dreams and imagination, than
humiliation, thank you very much.”

“Oh no you don’t Boo.” Davy says, getting
right in my face. “I have watched you fall apart over the last few years.  You
haven’t been the same since James.  In fact, you were never the real you with
James.”  

At my shocked expression, she continues on
a no holds barred tirade.

“Sorry babe, but it’s true.  He changed you
into something you weren’t.  If you think about it you’ll agree.  The old Boo
wouldn’t think twice about going up to the fifth floor, even at forty.  Stop
putting yourself down, and stop letting that pig James ruin your life, even
after all this time.  I’m not going to let you.” She looks me in the eye and
bargains with me, “Okay, I’ll tell you what we’ll do.  We’ll go back to our
room, sort ourselves out, and we will all go to the fifth floor.  Deal?”

Okay, so I have to admit, I’m now standing
staring at Davy like I’ve never seen her before.  She has never spoken to me
like this.

The doors open, and automatically I walk
out, heading towards our room.

“Davy….”  I start only to
be interrupted.

“
No Boo.  I’m sorry, but it had to
be said.  This is the chance of a lifetime.  I’m not saying go and jump into
bed with him, for crying out loud.  We’re just going to a party where he
happens to be.”

I stare at Davy, my mind in a whirl at what
she’s just revealed.  She’s right.  I know she’s right.  I think she could have
maybe told me at a better time and place, but then again it was needed now.

I make a decision.  One that I hope will
not leave me feeling stupid, heartbroken, and humiliated.  I decide to go to
the fifth floor.

I glance between Davy and
Jen, and with a smile on my face say. “Okay party, here we come.”

*****

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, as
we travel higher and higher.

In the whirlwind of the last fifteen
minutes, with help from Davy and Jen, I’ve freshened up, tidied my make-up and
hair, and sprayed on a little perfume.  I’m still wearing the skin tight blue
jeans, with a black leather belt, black T-shirt and black boots that I wore to
the concert.  Not only did I not have time to change, but I didn’t want it to
seem like I’d put in too much effort to see them either.

At the last minute, Davy dropped the
bombshell that she wasn’t going to come to the party.  She has the long drive
travelling back to Eva in the morning, so she couldn’t risk sleeping in after a
very late night partying away.  I tried to make her change her mind, boy did I,
but she wouldn’t budge.  Even when I threatened that I wouldn’t go either, she
just put the guilt trip on me that “poor Jen would miss out if I didn’t go.”

So here I am, with Jen.  The lift
travelling higher and higher, as my heart pounds harder and harder with every
second; my nerves gaining the better of me, causing me to shake like a leaf.

This is a mistake!  What the hell do I
think I’m doing?

“I think I’ve changed my mind.  Let’s go
down to the bar.” I say in a rush panicking.  

“Oh no you’re not.” says Jen, and grabs my
arm in a vice like grip, just as the automated voice of the lift, announces our
arrival at the fifth floor.

The doors open, and standing opposite, is what
can only be described, as the largest human being of the male variety, on the
planet.  Whom I instantly nickname ‘Tiny’ in my head.

Crap!  No going back now.

“Can I help you ladies?”
Tiny rumbles.

“Umm, we’re expected in suite 518.” I
stammer, stepping out of the lift and showing him the note.

Why did I say that? Don’t do it!  Get back
in the lift, press the ground button and go to the bar.

After a brief whispered conversation into
his mouthpiece, the giant of a man turns to us and smiles.

“Yes ladies, if you’ll both follow me.” He
rumbles with a gravelly voice, and leads us half way down the corridor, to
where another large human being is standing guard outside a door.  I stare
first at him, then at the door, my heart hammering.

Suite 518.

Oh Jorgi what are you doing?

The two human brick walls whisper to each
other, and before I know it, we are being escorted into the suite.