“Yeah, I heard the trouble you started out with where the Fourth Down’s merchandise is concerned. Chelle has experience. She used to handle sales for her brother’s band. I think it would be a better fit, and you wouldn’t have to worry about tracking down missing money or merch.”
“I can’t believe someone has been ballsy enough to steal from the opening act anyway,” I muttered.
“Right?” Everly questioned. “Who does that? I mean, I love my brother and his band, but they’re the opening act. They aren’t selling much as is, but then to steal from them on top of it? Ugh!”
I smiled at Everly. “I know you don’t know me and have no reason to trust in anything I say, but I honestly just want to stick it out with this tour. My brother is also here, as a roadie, and I know better than to bite the hand that feeds us. You won’t have to worry about missing merch or money where I’m concerned, and I can sell sand to dehydrated man in a desert.”
Everly and Evan both laughed at that. “That’s quite an endorsement of yourself.”
“It’s also true,” I explained and she must have sensed that I meant what I was saying. Everly nodded her head and then grinned widely at me.
“I’ve got it from here,” she told Evan who seemed to reluctantly let go of my hand. “What happened to your arm?”
“Got in a fight with a drum kit,” I explained.
“Oh, so who won?” She asked as if it had been a real fight.
“Not me,” I answered on a laugh. Everly joined in as we moved away from Evan.
“Do you have an access badge already?” I showed her the one I had been issued that stated I was MJ Anderson.
“MJ? I thought Evan called you Chelle?”
“Long story, but the short of it is that I had to look like a boy in order to get the job as a roadie. Obviously, that went over about as well as me trying to respond to MJ. It’s my initials, but still, nothing I’ve ever really been called prior to joining the crew.”
Again Everly agreed with the nod of her head. “I’m still not getting Chelle from initials of MJ, though.”
“Sorry, I guess that helps if I actually tell you my full name, Michelle Jewel Anderson. I grew up being called Chelle though, short for Michelle.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Okay, well, Chelle here we are.” I glanced around and realized we’d walked all the way up to the front of the building while we’d been chatting about my name. The merchant table area wasn’t quite what I’d expected. Instead of just a table set up as the guys had in smaller venues, I was seeing that instead, they had their own vendor area set up where I would be behind a half wall that was just above waist high on me.
“I know, right?” Everly giggled out.
“I didn’t even say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s all in the eyes and it’s probably the same look I got when I first realized that some of these places had actual shop space for us to set up in. I used to help my brother’s band out once in a while when they were doing bars and stuff, so I was used to a fold-out table in the back with their crap all over it.”
I snickered then. “Sounds about right for when I used to do this for my brother’s band too.”
“Your brother’s band?”
“They were supposed to open up for this tour before his bandmates screwed that up for them.” I remembered that Everly worked for the band that took their place and back-peddled a little. “Not that it’s a bad thing for you guys, but you know, it sent my brother and me scrambling. We had already given up our apartment and everything. If it hadn’t been for Smithy taking us on as roadies we would have been homeless.”
“That’s horrible! Shame on your brother’s band members. Maybe your brother needs to look for a better band when you guys get back from tour though.”
I shook my head vehemently. “That’s exactly what I told him.”
“I’m so glad there’s another woman on this tour now,” Everly finally stated out of the blue as we took in the space I’d be working in tonight.
“There’s Mags,” I reminded her.
“I know, but it seems like she’s kind of out of my league, you know?” Everly whispered. “I like her, and we even hung out for a while before we went on tour, but she’s always so busy with all the guys. It’s just different to have someone in the trenches with you as opposed to the big star up on the stage.”
“Yeah, I guess it is different being them, even if they do like to think of themselves as normal people.” We both laughed at that.
“Have you met Micah yet? He’s not a normal person,” Everly huffed out amidst her laughter.
“I met him earlier.” I pointed at my bandaged arm. “This is his handiwork. If nothing else he might have a career as an EMT in another life if music fails him.”
“Oh my lord, can you imagine all the ‘medical emergencies’ women would be calling in if they new Micah Stone was going to come charging to their rescue?”
“Yeah, so that’s probably not a good idea then.” I found myself smiling and enjoying the time I was able to spend with Everly.
“So where do I go to pick up the merch for the space I’ll be using?”
“It’s already there,” Everly told me as she waved her hand towards the area beyond the half-wall. “The guys brought it up earlier.” She glanced around. “Someone was supposed to be around to keep an eye on things until later, but apparently the ball got dropped there too, and now I have to go track down that little shit, Robin.”
I grinned. “I can stay with the merch and get it set up while you take care of business if you like.”
“You are a lifesaver! Remind me to thank Evan later for dropping you in my lap in my time of need!” She leaned in and hugged me before running off with her phone glued to her ear.
I’d have to find a way to thank Evan as well because he literally just handed me the job I was supposed to have to begin with. This was where I felt the most comfortable. I loved interacting with the fans. It wasn’t for my brother’s band this time, but one day it might be again, and now I would have the experience of dealing with larger crowds under my belt as well as how to order and make sure we were stocked well enough. Most importantly, I wouldn’t have to dress this way ever again. I could even go back to wearing a bra that didn’t suffocate my lungs.
Chapter 3
~ Chelle ~
I loved working for Fourth Down, and apparently, they loved it that I worked for them as well. It was a match made in rock-n-roll bliss. Why, might you ask? I got to do the thing I love most- sell music. The band got to reap the rewards of an honest person selling their merch. In fact, after just a few days I had sold them out of most of their gear, which consisted of two concert t-shirts and one EP that the band had taken great pains to sign.
The first night I was working for the band they actually came and hung out with me as I sold their gear. They interacted with the fans, signed the merch in person, and took pictures with the fans - or soon-to-be fans - as well. It was uplifting and disheartening to see all at once. Disheartening only when I thought of Dave. That could have been him and his band. Still, knowing the guys Dave had been performing with I had to say I didn’t think this would be something they would have done anyway. They’d all be too busy getting their dicks wet and snorting blow on the bus to bother with actual fan interaction. Aside from my brother, they most certainly wouldn’t have stuck around after to help me clean up and take what was left back to the truck that held the merchandise and other equipment for the bands.
“Can I talk to you a moment?” Everly’s voice rang out behind me as I handed another plastic tote up to Travis. He tipped his chin up at his sister in acknowledgment and relieved me of my burden.
“Me?” I finally questioned when no one else spoke up.
“Yeah,” Everly grinned and pulled me aside by my elbow. “Listen, I just wanted you to know that you’ve done a great job already, and…”
I could smell a brush off from a mile away and my stomach started to curl in on itself a
s I watched her lean in, which was odd. Why was this chick getting so close? Then it hit me, or should I say, her full body hit me and engulfed my own in a high-energy hug the likes of which I’d never received before. What the…?
“Please, say you’ll stay on for the rest of the tour! We can’t live without you!” Everly was begging in my ear and I couldn’t help but laugh as she did.
“Oh my God, I thought you were here to let me go gently,” I stated on a huff of laughter. “Jesus, that was about to suck and then you were hug-tackling me.”
“Don’t mind my sister, she’s crazy. Just say you’ll work for us because you do an amazing job. It doesn’t hurt that our shit actually sells when you’re behind the counter either.”
When I glanced back up, the whole band - minus Clay - was standing there smiling at me. “Of course I’ll do it. Thank you, guys. You don’t know what this means to me.”
Chris patted Everly on the head and smiled at me. “I think we do. Alright, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I want to go catch up with Micah and Jer, they promised good times tonight.” With that Chris, Travis, and Drew took off.
“Boys!” Everly sighed out. “She shook her head and took a peek at her watch. “Crap, I have to go too. I promised Jay I’d commiserate with him tonight.” When I gave her a puzzled look she just shrugged. “Caught his girlfriend screwing Dylan Haverty before the show. I don’t know how he managed to get up on that stage afterward.”
“Dylan Haverty? As in Seduction and Sacrifice front man? My brother’s old lead singer?”
“Oh, I forgot you knew him,” Everly stated in a small voice waiting for me to react.
“I wondered how the band got noticed by The Infinite Everything. Should have known that whore was sleeping his way to the top.”
“He claimed to love her,” Everly stated.
“Yeah? I honestly don’t doubt that. He’s been on about some girl he was getting serious with for the past nine months or so only he’d never bring her around much. I honestly thought he was just gay and trying to hide behind a fake girlfriend for the longest. How did he think that touring with his girlfriend’s actual boyfriend’s band wasn’t going to get messy? It’s probably a good thing Ryan and Web crashed and burned when they did.”
“I’m sorry to drop that bomb on you and run, but seriously, I need to go be there for him. He was there for me when I needed a shoulder not long ago.”
I waved her off. “Go on ahead. Give him a hug for me too, even though he doesn’t know me. I feel like he needs it after that.”
“Thanks,” she called out as she took off at a light jog. I turned and remembered that the guys had already left as well. I was standing there wondering what I was going to do to celebrate getting the job permanently when Clay wandered over to where I was standing.
“You’re our new girl, right?”
“Yes, I am the new merch girl for Fourth Down.”
He gave me a once over and apparently found me lacking. I had already heard the rumors by this point. He had been with Everly before and managed to screw that up since he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. That was why he had been riding the bus with the roadies.
“You were the one pretending to be a dude?”
I just shrugged my shoulders. He chuckled. “Yeah, I thought there was something off about you. Look, I wanted to apologize if you saw things or whatever on the bus. I didn’t realize someone’s little sister was on the bus too. I thought it was all guys, you know?” He ran his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture, and for the first time, I saw the human being beneath all the bluster. Then he blew out a breath. “I’m not the animal they all think I am. I fucked up with Everly. I should have never started that, because I’m not in the right place for someone like her, but you know…” He grinned at me then. “Sometimes temptation gets the best of us.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” I agreed, politely. He wasn’t wrong. He just forgot the part about the ability to control yourself being your responsibility and not becoming someone else’s problem. I didn’t think I’d ever actually like the guy, but I was glad to be seeing a version of him that had a personality outside of all the drugs and sluts he doesn’t intend to remember.
“Okay, well, I was headed to the bus to get an early start. You heading that way?”
“Actually, I need to go find Evan and thank him since he is the one who set me up with the job helping your band. Everly just officially offered me the position for the rest of the tour.” I grinned at him, happy to be delivering my good news to someone, even if it was Clay.
“Alright!” He held his hand up and I high-fived it. “Good for you.” He grimaced as he glanced back toward the stadium. “I’m pretty sure the guys were partying inside, but they may have gone back to the busses already.”
“It’s okay, I’ll find them.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
“This advice coming from the guy who boned some chick in my brother’s bunk while I was only a couple feet away the other day?”
Clay cringed. “Sorry about that. I didn’t think anyone was there, especially not a girl.”
I waved him off. “It’s fine. Just don’t bang anyone in my bunk and we’ll call it good.”
“You’re okay, shit, sorry I don’t know your name still.”
“I’ve already seen you naked and you’re just now asking my name?” I elbowed him jokingly when he cringed again, not being able to resist taking the joke a little too far. I mean, I was going to have that PTSD for life; I might as well share some of that shame. “Seriously though, it’s Chelle.”
“Chelle,” he repeated, nodding his head before moving toward our bus. I watched as a tiny brunette that barely looked legal approached him. He still slung an arm around her shoulders and tugged her toward the bus with him. I shook my head. One moment of clarity on his part did not mean the tiger would be changing his stripes anytime soon.
It made me wonder if all rock stars were like that to an extent though. I had, after all, just seen Micah getting a blowjob in the hallway the other day. I knew the crap my brother’s old bandmates got up to as well. Granted, they weren’t all into the drug scene, but they all seemed to have an unquenchable sex drive that sometimes bordered on the cringe-worthy episodes I’d born witness to. I shook off the thought and went to go hunt down Evan.
I needed to thank him. He was the person who made sure I was safe, who managed to have me on tour without the need to hide, and put me in the position I was meant to have all along. I felt this tremendous weight lifted from my shoulders. He might never understand the importance of what he’d done for me, but I couldn’t forget it.
I had almost reached the door when I slipped in a puddle of mud and landed on my ass in the parking lot. “Damn it!” I yelped out, not that anyone heard me. A loud raucous caught my attention and I sat there with my ass to asphalt and watched as Jay, Micah, and Evan emerged from the back door with groupies draped all over them. They were loud, laughter uproarious, and stumbling about everywhere, clearly drunk out of their minds. Hell, for all I knew it wasn’t just alcohol affecting their balance. I continued to watch as they all boarded the band’s bus. Evan’s arm was around one of the women, hand slung so low on her back I had to admit to myself that he was groping her dress-covered ass. Even that assessment was a bit of stretch considering the fact that the woman was barely wearing what would account for a dress on most people. Even from my position - still on my ass in the parking lot - I could tell you that she had on purple panties and she didn’t even have to bend over for me to see that. I shivered with the knowledge that this was the type of woman a man like Evan went for. It wasn’t me in my baggy jeans, black boots, and oversized concert tees. It was the latest flunky from whores anonymous that got the attention. I sighed, realizing that for some reason I cared about whether or not I was Evan’s type. I suddenly found myself wishing I’d just found my brother to celebrate with instead.
“Hey! Are you all right?”
I turned my head to see someone coming my way. “Ma’am, are you okay?”
The very large man who came to a stop in front of me offered extended his hand to help me to my feet. “Yes, I’m fine,” I finally answered. “The parking lot attacked me though. I think we should be able to beat it up or at the very least sue for the horrible treatment I just received.”
The man chuckled as he helped me upright and noticeably checked me over. Note - I didn’t say checked me out. He literally gave me the physical once over to make sure nothing more than my pride had been harmed. “You’re the new girl working for Everly, correct?”
“I’m Chelle, the new merch girl for Fourth Down,” I corrected.
The man smiled widely at me. “Good that they found a reliable person to man their table. That lot has had enough trouble already. I’m Aaron, if you need anything, you let me know.” He glanced at his watch and then back over toward the buses. “Might want to get to the busses. It’s not safe for you to be out here all alone at night. Come on, I’ll escort you there.”
“I’m not sure the bus will be any safer. I saw Clay taking his latest pick-up to the bus a bit ago.” Aaron eyed me strangely then.
“You’re on the roadie bus?”
“Where else would I be?”
He cocked his head to the side if thinking about that question. “Fair pint, I suppose. Figured they’d put you on the bus with one of the bands though since there’s at least a girl on each of them.”
“It’s fine,” I stated, and I meant it. “I grew up with just my big brother looking out for me and his own bandmates whenever he had them. I’m used to being the odd girl in the mix.”
“Still, I’ll head over with you and see you safely inside. I’ll escort Clay and his date out too. There are other places he can go. There’s no need to have you witness all of that.”
I scoffed. “It’s a little late for that, sadly, but I’ll be fine just the same.”
It took me a moment to realize I’d almost forgotten about the scene I’d witnessed before. I didn’t harbor any allusions that Evan had somehow become enamored with me in the brief time we’d spent together, but that didn’t stop me from forming opinions about his character that had now been dashed. I wanted him to be the good guy. I wanted him to be the man who was above all the petty bullshit. Don’t get me wrong, I never want to grow up, but I also never want to be seen as a skank or whore or whatever either.
The Infinite Beat (T.I.E. Book 2) Page 4