Beats of Life (Perception Book 5)

by Shandi Boyes

  “I’m the publicist for ‘Rise Up’ and ‘Big Halo’ at the moment but Cormack is wanting to add even more groups to my already full schedule. With you on board I would be able to look at taking on some more clientele,” she informs, triggering Melanie to squeal loudly that she startles me.

  “She accepts,” Melanie declares loudly, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and dragging me into the booth. Her excited squeals and giggles echo throughout the capacity filled club. I have been actively seeking a job for the past six months but had not yet successfully gained employment. I am that desperate for a job, I would accept anything. This opportunity also means I won’t have to go back to the ranch.

  When Melanie releases me from her excited grip, I notice Slater striding towards the booths we are sitting in. My pulse quickens even more watching him confidently stroll towards us. He finishes doing up his leather belt and then pulls up the fly on his jeans. It is only when I spot the waitress behind him tucking her shirt back in and trying to calm her fluffed hair does it suddenly dawn on me where he has been for the past thirty minutes. When his eyes lift, he looks directly at me. His face slightly pales before his head darts back to look at the waitress, confirming my suspicions. The happy expression gets wiped right off my face.

  “Thank you for the offer Emily, but I have to regretfully decline.”

  “What! Why?” Melanie interrupts confused, her concerned and upset eyes stare directly into mine. I grab her hand and squeeze it tightly, silently begging for her to let us finish this conversation later. Melanie’s eyes stare into mine before they flick over to Slater who has just sat down next to Marcus.

  “It’s okay, I understand, but my offer stands if you change your mind,” Emily replies graciously.

  “You need to think about this Kylie, this could be great for you,” Melanie pleads quickly, her eyes begging for me to reconsider my decision.

  My gaze turns to seek Slater. Maybe I should go and ask if he would mind if I accepted Emily’s offer? Perhaps if he knows how bad I need this job, he may be willing to look past his hurt and anger at me. I am considering approaching him until I notice the waitress sauntering her way over to him with a glass of whiskey on a silver tray. My heart drops into my stomach when he winks at her and then I feel physically ill when he turns and winks at me in the exact same manner, clearly indicating that I am no more important to him than a random hook up. I know right then and there that I will never be able survive working alongside of him, no matter how desperately I need the job.

  Melanie tries her hardest at the bar to convince me to accept Emily’s offer, but nothing she could say would make me change my mind. She huffs angrily before she storms off. I go and say goodbye to everyone and I try my hardest to put on a brave front when I approach Slater. When he refuses to say goodbye to me and I see the hurt and pain all over his face, I can’t stop the tear that falls down my face. I quickly brush it away, before making my way down the stairwell in search of Melanie.

  ****

  The instant I walk into the overpriced and small hotel room we are staying at, I flop dramatically onto the bed, causing Melanie to giggle softly. I’m glad she has gotten over her anger at me about our earlier fight. We are only in Seattle for her and we are supposed to be having the best weekend of our life, not arguing about old boyfriends. I know she thinks she was trying to help me tonight, but she doesn’t understand what happened between Slater and I. That isn’t her fault though, I haven’t told anyone what happened. They just assume he went on to bigger and better things and left the poor country girl moping at home without him. Where in reality, it was me that left him.

  ****

  The next morning, Melanie and I are beaming with excitement about the full day of tourist activities we have organised. The very first thing on our list is the Fifty Shades of Grey tour. Melanie and I had read the book during her latest hospital stay and we both became huge fans of the entire series. Because of our low budget, I have printed out our own maps and we are going to use public transport instead of hiring a tour company to take us around. Melanie’s smile is beaming out of her as we make our way to the elevator.

  “Oh god, imagine if they’re filming on location today, we might actually see Jamie Dornan,” she squeals excitedly, hitting the elevator button. “He can be my second baby daddy, if Marcus doesn’t work out,” she continues, triggering me to giggle softly.

  Seattle in May is absolutely beautiful, it was a glorious clear blue sky day and it was nice and warm with the temperature sitting at 80 degrees Fahrenheit. We visited all of the locations on our map, bar the Heathman hotel as it was a little too far off the radar. The cast were filming today too, but unfortunately for us they were filming in Vancouver and neither Melanie nor I have passports, so that adventure will have to remain on our list for another day. By the time we walk back into the hotel, we are both deliriously tired but incredible happy. Even seeing Slater standing in the elevator couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I shouldn’t have been surprised that he was staying at this hotel as it is the closest one to the stadium they’re playing at. That was one of the reasons I chose to stay at this hotel as well. Slater seems a little surprised when he first sees me, but he still holds the elevator open for us to enter. Melanie is too busy scrolling through the pictures on her phone to notice him standing in the corner of the elevator.

  “Thank you,” I whisper graciously. The instant I enter the elevator I smell his delicious manly scent. I also find it surprising that he still has the slight aroma of oil, considering we are in the middle of the city. When he does a little cough, my eyes lift to discover a suspicious smirk on his face. When his eyes dart down to my body, I realize that I am leaning towards him in an attempt to get a better sniff and he has noticed. Thankfully, when the elevator dings, it opens on the floor Melanie and I are staying on. I quickly usher her out of the elevator feeling embarrassed that he busted me sniffing him, while also grateful that Melanie remains completely oblivious about everything that just happened.

  “Sorry,” I mumble, not missing the slight chuckle of Slater that sounds out of the now closed elevator doors.

  Melanie and I spend the remainder of the night drinking cheap margarita drinks that we mixed in the wine cooler bucket in our room. We didn’t have any fancy glasses so we used the paper cups the hotel supplied in the bathroom instead. Our lack of fancy accessories didn’t dampen our night or our mood. We danced, laughed and cried the night away. It was one of the most memorable days I have ever had with her.

  The next morning, I headed down to the lobby to finalise our bill. Today is our last day in Seattle and I’m trying my hardest to put on a brave front. I’ve only known Melanie for two years, but she is closer to me than even my own family and I’m going to miss her so much.

  “Put thirty dollars on the AmEx, forty dollars on the MasterCard and the remainder of the balance on the Visa please,” I inform the hotel clerk. From the way her eyes narrow and she huffs in annoyance, anyone would swear I am paying the entire hotel bill in pennies.

  “Oh no, put forty dollars on the AmEx,” I instruct once I double check my online balance. I only have thirty-one dollars left on my MasterCard and I don’t want to get an overdrawn fee.

  “Pay her entire bill with this,” instructs a deep voice to my left that I instantly recognize as a platinum credit card is handed to the hotel clerk.

  “It’s fine,” I reply, trying to snatch Slater’s credit card back out of the hotel clerks grasp. The stern middle aged clerk raises the card out of my reach and her pointed nose looks down at me as she runs his credit card through the machine, completely ignoring my request not to.

  “Thank you, Sir,” she replies almost robotic like, handing Slater back his credit card and my receipt.

  I don’t think I could be any more embarrassed, until I turn around and notice Emily, Noah and Marcus standing behind us. From the looks on their faces, I know that they had witnessed the whole embarrassing exchange. My eyes burn from the s
udden rush of moisture that has formed in them. I mumble an incoherent “thanks,” before I quickly make my way to the elevators, not wanting them to see my tears. Just as the elevator doors are about to close, a tattooed arm forces them back open and Slater steps inside. I keep my gaze firmly planted on the elevator dashboard while I try my hardest to keep my sniffling quiet.

  “Why didn’t you accept Emily’s job offer if you need the money so badly?” Slater questions, his voice sounding gravelly.

  “I have money…I…just… ummm,” I stumble out, trying to think of some excuse I could give him for why I needed to use three maxed out credit card to pay my hotel bill, but my mind comes up blank. I was never any good at lying. My budget was on track until I paid for us to take a taxi to the nightclub last night and then the excessive entry fee to enter pushed my budget to its absolute limit. But I would have sold my left lung on the black market if it was the only way I was going to be able to fund this weekend with Melanie. It was our final hoorah together and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything in the world.

  “Why come all the way to Seattle if you’re fucking poor?” he questions angrily, his loud voice echoing around the large interior of the elevator. His words sting my already damaged ego and I am grateful when the elevator finally arrives at my floor. I mumble a goodbye to Slater before I quickly make my way towards my hotel room, not bothering to answer his question. I have never felt the need to explain my reasoning’s to others before, so I am not going to start now.

  I don’t even need to turn around to know that he is following me. If the stomping of his black boots isn’t obvious enough, the look on the elderly ladies faces that are walking down the corridor is all the indication I need.

  Melanie’s eyes flick up from her suitcase when I slam the hotel room door shut and lean my back against it. My heart is racing so fast it feels like I’ve run the stairwell instead of taking the elevator. Within a mere matter of seconds, the loud sound of knocking echoes through our small hotel room. Kylie stands from packing her suitcase and walks towards me, her face marred with confusion.

  “Open the door, Kylie,” Slater requests, his loud voice vibrating through the white melamine door. Melanie’s eyebrows shoot up high into her hairline and she motions for me to open the door. I briskly shake my head, my gaze turning to look at anything bar her angry eyes.

  Without having time to protest, Melanie yanks me away from the door, surprising me with her strength considering she is at least ten pounds lighter than me and four inches shorter. Once she opens the door, Slater hesitantly steps into the room and his eyes dart around until he spots me hiding like a coward behind the door.

  “Do you need the job?” he questions sternly, his brown eyes staring directly into mine. I initially shake my head, until I see the concerned eyes of Melanie staring at me from behind his shoulder. Her genuine concern for me marked all over her face, her blue eyes rapidly filling with tears. When she nods her head, I change the shake of my head to a sluggish nod. My ego and pride take a severe beating in the process, but at the end of the day I am in desperate need of a job.

  “You start tomorrow morning,” he informs, his eyes leisurely roaming over my face. I stare into his eyes, unable to form words to express my gratitude that he is willing to give me this opportunity after everything I did to him. So instead of saying words, I offer him my thanks with a shaky smile.

  Melanie’s loud squeal even makes Slater jump in surprise. She runs towards me and engulfs me in a tight hug that she sends us both toppling over onto the floor. By the time my eyes lift to seek Slater again, he is nowhere to be found.

  “Promise me that you will keep the skanks away from my future husband,” Melanie requests, triggering me to giggle softly.

  Chapter 7

  Slater

  “Did you see the new chick?” questions Sonny, motioning his head towards Emily and Kylie in the corner of the room. I had noticed her the moment she stepped into the wings of the stage, but I’m never going to admit that to Sonny.

  Sonny is one of the leading roadies that sets up all the band’s equipment at each concert. He is a year older than me and is currently the highest ranking groupie fucker out of the entire group of roadies. And yes they keep a tally, it is proudly on display in the roadie’s tour bus. The band has their own dedicated road crew that follows us to each location. The roadies have their own bus that they travel on, but unlike the band they sleep in their bus every night.

  “She is fucking hot,” Sonny informs, his eyes roaming appreciatively over Kylie.

  I keep my gaze firmly planted on my drum kit. We are in the process of trying to work out the complete mess another road crew left my kit in. They dismantled my kit for another concert during the week and when they assembled it back together they got the whole angle wrong and the entire set up is out of whack. People assume I just turn up and play any drum kit, but in reality that isn’t true. The setup of a drum kit is just as important as tuning a guitar. Nick wouldn’t walk out on a stage and perform with a guitar that wasn’t tuned any more than I would play on a drum kit that is set up incorrectly.

  “She looks sexy and innocent at the same time,” he continues. My eyes flick up from my drums to notice Sonny eye fucking Kylie from across the room, his hands rubbing together excitedly as he rocks from heel to toe.

  “I haven’t really noticed her,” I lie. Although Kylie looks like a different person than the girl I use to date, my dick still stands to attention when she enters the room. When she walked into the elevator the other day, her smile on her face was so bright I nearly did fall to my knees in front of her. When she lent in to smell me, I wanted to pretend that she was that nice country girl I met at the bar two and a half years ago.

  “How could you not notice her, she is fine!” emphasizes Mark, moving the middle tom-tom drum to the angle I am requesting. “No ring either,” he adds, his eyebrows waggling with excitement.

  Half of the road crew use to follow Emily around like a bunch of dogs on heat until Noah caught on. It took him firing two and knocking one of them out for them to eventually get the hint to leave his wife alone. Now, the roadies only chase the girls without rings on their fingers. That doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy the visual stimulation of Emily and Jenni, but they have learnt to keep their dirty thoughts inside of their heads, instead of sharing them out loud. I guess they figure Kylie is a prime target since she doesn’t have a ring on her finger, not even the one I gave her on her birthday.

  “Those lips wrapped around my cock…”

  “Shut the fuck up,” I interrupt angrily, standing from the stool that is located behind my drum kit. Mark’s confused eyes turn to look at Sonny, causing an amused Sonny to shrug his shoulders. Both of them turn to stare at me like I’ve suddenly grown a second head.

  Normally, I am more than happy to hear stories from the roadies about the groupies they have hooked up with, I have even shared a few stories myself. But if he doesn’t shut his mouth about Kylie, I will be more than happy to help him fucking shut it.

  “No dibs Slater, you know the rules,” Sonny informs sarcastically, like he is talking about a piece of meat and not an actual girl. I don’t think the rules for groupie fucks should apply when they are talking about a girl I use to be in love with.

  I angrily clench my fists and my gaze turns to look at Kylie. She must notice my intense stare as she lifts her head and her pretty eyes stare directly into mine. She smiles shyly and gives me a hesitant wave. Sonny, always being a pompous prick, waves back and winks seductively at her. She smirks at him before her eyes quickly dart away, causing Sonny to chuckle softly. Kylie appears to be shy but not many people know she has a wild side hidden underneath her country girl appearance. Once she leaves the room, I turn my furious gaze back to Sonny and Mark.

  “If either of you touch her, I will cut your fucking balls off and feed them to you,” I inform sternly. Sonny smirks, finding it amusing that he has sparked a reaction out of me, but Mark swallows harshly
before he nods his head.

  “Now, do you fucking job and fix my drums,” I instruct angrily before storming towards my dressing room.

  I tried to convince myself that I only agreed to Kylie working with Emily to help Emily, but I’m full of fucking shit. I agreed to help Kylie solely to help her. I had thought she was the girl of my dreams and we appeared to have started a good solid relationship. The six months I had with her were some of the best months of my life. Then the day after we left the cabin it was all over. No explanation, no reason, she just vanished. The first week I was fucking panicked out of mind when she didn’t return any of my calls or messages. When we returned from doing the radio tour on the West Coast, I rode five hours straight to her family ranch and even went back to the Bar N Barrel. But everyone was just as clueless as I was about Kylie’s whereabouts. She appeared to have vanished off the face of the earth.

  I was that desperate, I lodged a missing person’s report at the local police station. My panic only resided a few days after that when I finally received a text message from her. The instant I read the message my panic turned into anger.