Dear Neighbor

by River Laurent

  A girl brings some boxes to the stage. The band members take the boxes and sit with their backs turned away from the audience. When they turn around they are all wearing red shoes that match Tinie’s red jacket. Together they sing Written in the Stars and I feel the song in my bones. Like the lyrics of the song seasons come and go, but I will never change. My love for Cash is written in the stars.

  Afterwards they all do Dizzee Rascal’s famous jump routine and the crowd becomes an enormous heaving mass of people jumping up and down while they scream, ‘Jump, jump, jump.’

  Panting, the band announces how much they love their audience and thanks them all. ‘Grazie a tutti. See you all next year,’ the guys say before the notes for their biggest hit ring out. The Girl Who Can’t Say No. For the chorus the band lets the audience sing the words.

  Two encores later, the crowd is clapping persistently, begging for more, but the guys say their final farewell. ‘Buona notte Milan.’ They bow in formation and run off the stage.

  Even as they disappear from view Sean is already there to fetch us back to the dressing room. The cool air along the dressing room corridor hits my face and I welcome it after the steamy atmosphere in the arena. Britney is still buzzing and smiling happily when a boy with red hair and freckles comes up to us.

  ‘Britney?’ he says with an English accent.

  ‘Yeah,’ she says cautiously.

  ‘Your brother has arranged for you to meet Tinie Tempah.’

  ‘What?’ Britney exclaims.

  ‘Yup, I’m supposed to take you to him. The man has a birthday gift for you.’

  ‘A birthday present, for me?’ Britney repeats in astonishment.

  ‘If you want to come with me I’ll take you to him and bring you back.’

  She turns to me. ‘Come with me?’

  I shake my head and smile at her excitement. ‘You go ahead. I’ll wait for you in Cash’s dressing room.’

  Smothering the squeal that threatens to escape the back of her throat, Britney clasps her hands to her face before planting a big kiss on my cheek.

  ‘This is the best birthday ever,’ she tells me and goes off with the man.

  I am still smiling as we walk down the corridor when I spot Cash walking towards us.

  ‘I’ll be off then,’ Sean says. Lifting his hand in a wave, he starts walking back to where we came from.

  I stand where I am, frozen, and watch Cash stride towards me. He seems so different. When he reaches me I look into his eyes and I can see that he is wired up. The performance has left him with an adrenaline high.

  I feel my body responding to his. I can almost hear his heart thudding hard in his chest. There is a sheen of sweat on his face and body. His T-shirt is drenched and clinging tightly to his torso and every muscle is prominently on display. His skin is tingling as if he is full of static electricity.

  His eyes drop from my face to my chest. Then he takes my wrist and pulls me along the corridor until we get to a door. He kicks it open and yanks me into a small toilet. He locks the door and turns to me, breathing hard.

  He grabs me by the waist and pulls me hard towards him so I slam up against his body. Then he swoops down on my mouth and fucking devours me. Eats me alive. It’s like the Fourth of July fireworks. My hands come to entwine in his dripping wet hair. I suck his tongue when he sticks it in my mouth.

  ‘Fuck me, Tori,’ he growls.

  ‘What, here?’

  He shakes his head slightly.

  ‘I thought fucking in the toilet lost its charm after a while,’ I say.

  ‘When you come to me looking like this, I’ll fuck you anywhere,’ he says roughly. He pulls my skirt up so it bunches around my waist, rips my panties right off my body, and chucks them to the ground.

  ‘Oh,’ I gasp, aroused by the violence and urgency in his action.

  He swivels me around so I am facing the cistern and my feet are planted on either side of the toilet.

  ‘Hands on the wall,’ he orders.

  I obey immediately and hear the sound of the metal teeth of his zip, and the rustle of his clothes being hurriedly yanked down. Seconds later he pulls my ass upwards and plunges his cock all the way into me, the entire length in one single movement.

  ‘Oh God, Cash,’ I grunt.

  Holding my hips tight he powers into me energetically. Thrusting deeper and more powerfully until it feels as if the whole bathroom stall is vibrating and shaking with his thrusts.

  ‘This feel good to you?’ he snarls, slamming even harder into me.

  ‘Yes,’ I gasp.

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I pant.

  ‘You’re going to let me fuck you in the toilet again?’

  ‘Yes,’ I cry.

  ‘After every concert?’

  ‘Yes. Every. Concert.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘No more groupies?’ I ask.

  He doesn’t pause or still. ‘No more groupies.’

  ‘Only me?’

  ‘Only you.’

  And then I find myself climaxing. It’s so powerful it stuns me. My body vibrates uncontrollably. Through the waves of ecstasy, I feel Cash’s cock grow inside me. I feel him explode and maybe I even feel his hot seed flood into me. Panting hard and with him still buried inside me, he places his hands over mine on the wall. I turn my head and he kisses me.

  ‘You’re a bad boy,’ I whisper.

  ‘You’re a dirty girl,’ he whispers back.

  I smile.

  Tori

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9_n8jakvWU

  We are all at Just Cavalli club. It is extravagant and opulent with purple neon lights and girls dressed in angel wings dancing next to metal pillars. The Alkaline party is spread over a large area, some of it flowing into an outdoor area with a huge dance floor and torches. I stand at a little cove and watch the crowd that surges around Cash everywhere he goes. Everybody wants a little piece of him. He looks at me and waves me over, but I shake my head.

  ‘Going to the toilet,’ I mouth, and point in the direction of the toilets.

  Someone calls and he turns away from me after mouthing the words, ‘I’ll be waiting here for you.’

  I turn towards the toilets and walk into Gavin.

  ‘Sorry,’ I apologize.

  ‘You’re cool,’ he says with a lazy smile.

  ‘That was a great performance today,’ I say.

  ‘Thanks. I’m very good at playing the second fiddle.’

  My eyebrows rise. ‘You don’t believe that. You have just as many fans as Cash.’

  He grins. ‘I suppose you’re right. I definitely have more than I can get through, anyway.’

  Not sure how to react, I smile politely.

  ‘How are you getting on with the others?’

  I scowl. ‘Not good. They seem to hate me even before I open my mouth.’

  He laughs. ‘It’s not you, babe. Come on, I’ll buy you a drink and tell you how it all works in this business.’

  I glance in the direction of Cash and see that he is occupied and will be for some time to come. Besides, I badly want to know what I am doing wrong and Gavin is the only one who seems to like me at all. I smile gratefully at him. ‘Thanks. I’ll really appreciate any pointers you can give me.’

  We go to the bar and Gavin taps the bar.

  ‘Tequila OK with you?’

  I nod and he orders two shots of tequila with lime and salt and two bottles of beer. We do the tequila, lime and salt thing quickly. I notice his eyes linger on my mouth when I put the lime between my lips and suck it. Then he picks up his bottle and so do I. He points to a sofa a couple have just vacated.

  ‘Let’s be comfortable,’ he says.

  I follow him and we sit at the table. A waitress brings two more tequilas and we down them immediately.

  ‘Hoo,’ I exhale. ‘That’s me done.’

  He grins. ‘Lightweight huh?’

  ‘I haven’t got hollow legs like you,’ I retort.

 
; He laughs.

  ‘So,’ I say leaning in. ‘Tell me, what am I doing wrong? Why does everyone hate me so passionately?’

  ‘You’re not doing anything wrong, love. Long, blonde hair, big lips, and seductive, secretive cornflower blue eyes. What’s not to like?’ he asks cheerfully.

  I frown at the sexual description, but I have noticed that this is the way all the band members talk. They always seem to be coming on to you even when they’re not.

  ‘If Cash had taken Ke$ha or Selina Gomez or any other celebrity as his girl, there would be no problem,’ he explains. ‘But because he took an ordinary girl, it turns everybody into green eyed monsters thinking that you have risen above your station and taken what you don’t deserve. As long as you are with Cash you will have to put up with it. It will never stop. They’ll always hate you.’

  I stare at him unhappily. ‘That doesn’t sound very hopeful. Isn’t there anything I can do to make the situation better?’

  ‘Nope. The nicer you are to them the worse they will be to you. Your best bet is to just ignore them and enjoy your time with Cash. Soon enough it will be all over.’

  My eyes widen. He sure didn’t pull his punches. I pick up my beer and take a small sip. It’s one thing for me to tell myself that obviously my relationship won’t last. How can it possibly? We are from different worlds. But it is quite another thing to hear it spelt out so succinctly by someone else. I swallow the beer and the lump in my throat and to my horror my eyes unexpectedly fill with tears. Why I am crying I do not know.

  ‘Hey,’ he says, his face creasing up, and puts a hand on my shoulder.

  ‘Oh, God, I feel like such a fool,’ I say, gently pressing my knuckles into the corners of my eyes so I don’t spoil my make-up.

  ‘Come here,’ he says, and suddenly drags me to him. Before I know it he has pulled me to him and is kissing me. On the mouth! It takes a second for me to get over the shock of the fact that I am in his lap, his hands are around my waist, and his hot mouth is on mine. I turn my face away and placing both my hands on his chest I push away from him. I push away so hard I feel myself falling backwards. I land on the floor humiliated and furious. From my prone position on the floor I see Britney is standing over Gavin. Her face is twisted with anger, or perhaps even hate.

  ‘Get up,’ she snarls.

  ‘What the fuck?’ he says.

  ‘Get up you little worm.’

  ‘Calm down, Britney,’ he says, looking around him worriedly.

  ‘If you don’t get up I’m going to tell my brother what you did.’

  He flies up from his seat and looks at her with shifty eyes. ‘Listen,’ he starts to explain, but he gets no further.

  ‘That’s for what you did to me,’ she says, and delivers a vicious karate chop to the side of his neck. He goes white, his body arches, and his mouth opens and closes like a goldfish.

  ‘This is for Tori,’ she cries ferociously and aims two blows in quick succession into his midriff. He clutches his stomach and bends double. His face is contorted and a hoarse rasp struggles out of his mouth.

  ‘And this one is for messing with my brother’s girlfriend,’ she says, and executes a sideways kick into Gavin’s nuts just like Rita Ora does to the bad guy’s belly in her Black Widow video.

  His eyes bulge with the agony and shock, then he blinks and crashes to the right, knocking down a stool. He curls up on the ground, odd choking sounds crawling out of his open mouth.

  ‘Oh, and just in case it’s not perfectly clear yet, you are uninvited to my party, tomorrow,’ Britney spits. She turns to me. ‘Come, Tori. Let’s go.’

  I am too stunned to do anything so Britney holds her hand out and helps me up from the floor. I take one more look at Gavin writhing on the floor before I turn away. All around us people are staring. As we take our first step we come face to face with Octavia. Her mouth is open in astonishment. She snaps it shut, and throwing a furious glare at us, she dashes forward to help Gavin.

  We walk to the toilets without saying a word. I turn to face Britney. ‘What did he do to you?’

  She takes a shuddering breath. ‘You know that night at the party in Cash’s house.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I say.

  ‘He pushed me up against a wall and forced his fingers inside me. I didn’t expect it so I was too shocked to do anything, but luckily someone else came into the room and he let go of me. I ran away and came to find you.’

  ‘Oh! My God, no.’ I stare at her in horror. Suddenly it all makes sense. That is why she had been crying and in such a state. What a sick bastard. I wish I had kicked his face in too.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell anyone?’ I ask her gently.

  ‘I didn’t want to get him in trouble. I always fancied him and I was afraid that maybe I had encouraged him. I liked it when he first started kissing me, but then he started to get rough.’

  ‘Oh, Britney. It’s not your fault. I’m so much older than you and he managed to take me by surprise. I thought he was a nice guy trying to help me. It was all just a pretense.’

  ‘I think he must be very jealous of Cash. That is why he did that to me and you.’

  ‘Hell, Brit, when did you find out about me and Cash?’

  ‘I’ve known for ages. The two of you are like two elephants roaming about the house at night.’

  ‘We didn’t really make that much noise, did we?’ I protest, red faced.

  ‘You woke dad up,’ she says flatly.

  ‘What?’ I blurt out in horror.

  ‘Exactly.’

  My jaw drops open. ‘Mr. Hunter knows?’

  ‘Um … I might have told him,’ she confesses with a sly grin.

  My eyes pop open. ‘You did not,’ I cry.

  ‘I did,’ she admits calmly.

  ‘He’s not upset, is he?’

  ‘Why should he be?’

  ‘Oh my God! I’m freaking out right now. Tell me exactly what he said,’ I demand urgently.

  ‘Actually he just laughed and said, “Looks like I killed two birds with one stone.”’

  I look at her worriedly. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

  She shrugs. ‘You know how dad is. He’s always talking in riddles. I asked, but he refused to explain further.’

  I chew at my bottom lip. ‘And you don’t mind?’

  ‘Mind?’ she asks in a surprised voice. ‘I think it’s wonderful. I wish he would marry you.’

  I stare at Britney, all kinds of thoughts and sensations slam into me at her innocent words. Marry? Cash and me? I was thirteen when I bought a little fake gold ring and pretended to be Mrs. Cash Hunter.

  ‘It’s not that kind of relationship,’ I croak.

  ‘But wouldn’t you like to marry my brother though? It’ll be such fun. We’ll be real sisters then.’

  ‘It’s way too early to tell, Brit. We barely know each other.’ I pause for a second and quickly steer the conversation away from this topic. ‘Are you going to tell Cash about what Gavin did to you?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she says thoughtfully. ‘It could break Alkaline up.’

  ‘But you have to tell someone. What he did was wrong. He’ll do it to someone else if there are no consequences. Maybe you should at least tell your dad.’

  ‘You’re right. I’ll tell dad. He’ll know what to do. He always does.’

  I smile at her. ‘You were badass out there. Those self-defense classes sure came in handy.’

  ‘Look at my hands,’ she says showing her hands.

  They are still trembling with reaction and I grab them in mine. ‘I know your dad will be super proud of what you did today. It was very courageous,’ I tell her.

  She grins at me. ‘I’m not the same person I was before. Thanks to you.’

  ‘I’m so proud of you, Brit. You’ve come a long way in a very short time. Thank you for sticking up for me.’

  She looks at her fake nails nonchalantly. ‘No problem. I can always fit a little drama into my life.’

  I lau
gh.

  ‘Cash will be looking for you. You should repair your lipstick quickly,’ she says.

  I look at the mirror and see that my lipstick is smudged and smeared on my left cheek. I pull out some toilet paper and wipe my mouth and cheek clean before I apply a new layer of lipstick. Then I turn around and hug her. ‘You do know that I didn’t kiss him willingly, right?’

  ‘I know you and I know Gavin,’ she says simply.

  I smile at her.

  ‘Come on, let’s go find Cash,’ she says.

  We go out. Enrique Iglesias is singing I Like It, and Cash is outside looking for us. ‘Where have the two of you been? I’ve been looking all over for you girls.’

  We go back to the party and neither Gavin nor Octavia are anywhere to be seen.

  Tori

  ‘Wake up, you morsel of sexiness.’

  I groan, turning away from the voice I curl up into a tight ball.

  ‘Come on. I’ve got something really special to show you,’ Cash says in my ear.

  I open one eye. ‘What?’

  ‘Want to see The Last Supper?’ He licks along the shell of my ear.

  My aunt told me she came to Milan and though she desperately wanted to see The Last Supper, she couldn’t. She joked tickets to see it were harder to come by than front seat invitations to a Gucci fashion show. I open both eyes. ‘You have tickets?’

  ‘Three if I’m keeping it real.’

  I stretch luxuriously and yawn. How could this guy have so much energy? He lights up a stage for more than an hour, he parties until late at night, has sex until the early morning hours, and wakes up at first light.

  He nibbles my lobe. He’s starting something here. ‘Unless you just want to stay in bed and we can have sex all morning.’

  I pull back slightly. ‘As delicious as that sounds, I do want to see The Last Supper.’

  He grins. Cocky and confident. ‘That’s what I thought.’

  ‘What’s the time?’ I ask.

  ‘Nine.’

  ‘Already?’

  ‘Get in the shower and I’ll go wake Brit up,’ he says slipping out of the room.