Too Many Rock Stars (Access All Areas #1)

by Candy J. Starr

  "Don't be chicken." He handed me a helmet.

  "I am a chicken. This helmet is all that would be coming between me and scrambled brains." I checked my outfit. Short skirt, bare legs, bare arms. I had far too much flesh exposed. Flesh that could be grazed, bones that could be broken.

  "Just a short ride. I'll take it slow."

  I screwed up my face, trying to decide if I trusted him. "You promise?"

  "Pinkie promise," he said.

  "Kinda convenient of you to have a spare helmet. Were you planning this?"

  "It pays to be prepared," he said and flashed me the kind of smile that hit me all the way down to my knickers. A smile that caressed my body and made my hairs stand on end. A dimply smile that won my trust.

  I put on the helmet.

  He started up the bike and within 30 seconds, the panic set in.

  "Razer, I'm going to kiiiiiiiiiiiiiillll you," I screamed. But he couldn't hear. He'd go slow, he'd said. Just a short ride, he'd said.

  I'd never trust that guy again. He drove through the streets like a maniac. We were going to die. I knew it. I'd end up as road kill, so mangled no one would be able to recognise my body.

  Actually, I didn't even want to think about my body. About the way my legs were wrapped around Razer and how I had to press myself tight against him to hold on. Bikes, they were just dirty and wrong. They filled your mind with thoughts of sex and death.

  We cut through traffic, narrowly missing a truck and running through a traffic light as it was about to change. My grip on Razer tightened. If I hugged him any tighter, he'd end up with broken ribs and that would serve him right. Except that it might make him crash.

  He headed out of the city, picking up speed as we hit the open road. Then he one of the roads going uphill. If I'd thought the city streets were bad, seeing that steep drop down to instant death so close had me white knuckled. I ground my teeth down to bare gums and my body ached from muscle tension.

  Killing was too good for him. I'd torture him first. I'd tie him in a room and make him listen to Justin Bieber on repeat. I'd feed him on my cooking. I'd get Carlie to serve him warm beer.

  Even though, intellectually, I knew I’d be okay with Razer driving, it felt like he was out of control. He pushed me to the edge of my fear but pulled back to let me know I was safe as soon it got too bad.

  When I thought I couldn't stand it any more, he pulled over, skidding and kicking up gravel.

  As soon as I could, I jumped off that bike and pulled off my helmet.

  "I'm calling a taxi," I yelled. "I am NOT going back down that road on that bike."

  He just grinned.

  "You said you'd go slowly. You said you wouldn't go far."

  "But it was fun, wasn't it?" That cheeky grin on his face just made me want to punch him.

  "No. No it wasn't fun. It was horrible. It was the worst." I stomped around, wondering how the hell I'd get out of this place without getting back on that bike. We were in the middle of nowhere, on top of a hill, with nothing but trees around us.

  "You just don't want to admit it."

  I was about to yell at him some more but, as I turned, I noticed the view below us, the coast line with the sun starting to set over the dazzlingly blue ocean. It took my breath away.

  "Amazing, isn't it?"

  I leaned against the bike, taking it all in. The helmet dangled in my hand until Razer took it from me and put it away. Nature could be okay sometimes. I spend far too many hours in that dingy club. Carlie had been right. I needed to get out in the sun. I'd forgotten things like that existed. The sun, the beach, the birds flying in the air. Life wasn't just about bands and planning rosters.

  Razer stood beside me with that annoying grin. I bet my hair was an absolute mess from the helmet and my clothes were all over the place. I pulled down my skirt because it had ridden up. God knows how much I'd been flashing while I was on that bike.

  "I didn't know you had a bike."

  "It's not mine. I couldn't afford something like that. It's my cousin's and he loaned it to me in return for teaching him guitar. You've been so looking so stressed lately, Violet. I wanted to get you out of the club for a while to have some fun."

  To be honest, if he wanted me to have some fun, he could've thought of something less dangerous. How was I supposed to be less stressed when he tried to kill me?

  Our bodies almost touched. I waited for him to try to kiss me again. I prepared to fight. I didn't want to kiss him. I didn't want him to make those kinds of moves. I didn’t want him to make me feel those kinds of feelings.

  Our breathing fell into time with each other. My heart still beat so hard. I wanted to move away from him but my legs had turned to jelly. From that ride, of course. I'd been clenching my muscles so hard they no longer worked.

  A bird squawked in the distance somewhere. The wind blew through the trees. The smell of eucalyptus filled the summer air. I stayed perfectly still.

  The moment drew out and he didn't move. He just stood beside me until my anticipation turned to disappointment.

  I didn't want him to kiss me but he could at least try. Maybe he'd lost interest in me and only saw me as a friend. That's what I wanted. That's the only thing I wanted. So why did my heart feel like a big, heavy stone weighing me down. I couldn't handle this tension and walked away from the bike, my footsteps crunching on the gravel.

  "It sure is pretty here," I said. Anything to break the silence.

  "Yeah, I came up here the other day when I needed to sort some stuff out in my head. It really helps to just sit and watch the sea."

  I nodded. I'd thought he had all kinds of ulterior motives but he was just being kind. He'd not even mentioned that bloody competition, thankfully.

  "I guess we should get back," he said. "If you want to be back at work on time. Of course, we could linger and I could actually drive fast on the way back."

  He winked at me. I gulped.

  "Let's go."

  Chapter 14 VIOLET

  "Have you seen today's paper?"

  "Jeez, Chuck, let me finish my coffee before you start pestering me. What the hell?" I'd just gotten in to work with a coffee in one hand and a bag containing my breakfast muffin in the other. If I didn't get something to eat on the way to work, I'd starve to death. And I didn't want my appetite ruined by a paper being waved in my face.

  I grabbed it off him and headed to my office.

  Luckily, Chuck had opened it to the right page because it wasn't front page news. It wasn't even in the front half of the paper but buried right at the back. A tiny story saying “local rock club is doomed”.

  "Did you read it?"

  "I'm reading it now but what does it matter? No one reads the papers nowadays. Definitely not the kind of people who come here. If it's not in the music papers, they don't even know it exists."

  Chuck sat on the arm of my office sofa.

  "That's the thing, kiddo. We just need one of those kids who write that crap for the music press to pick this up. Then what's going to happen? No one wants to hang around a rotting carcass. Well, except for some maggoty flies. But everyone else stays the hell away."

  "Can you stop with the rotting meat metaphors until after I've eaten? This is the only chance I'll get to have solid food and I don't want it ruined. Anyway, the chances of it getting any further than the local news are pretty slim."

  I tore open the bag and picked a nice big chunk off my muffin.

  "I'm never going to get a decent price for this place if they think I'm desperate," Chuck mumbled.

  "Whoa, dude, hold it right there. Did you just say what I thought you said? You’re selling this place? I thought the whole point of this was that you didn't have to sell. If you are selling, let me know so I can get my life in focus."

  "I didn't mean I am selling, I mean if I have to sell. There is no guarantee this is going to work, Violet. We need to make money and something like this story in the paper is going to cost us. It makes it sound like we have prett
y much closed anyway. It's not like you're helping."

  I gave him the stink eye. The way he pressured me about this competition almost amounted to sexual harassment. He couldn't command me to date people even if he'd once ordered me not to.

  "Seriously, Violet, it's a few hours of your time. It's not like you're a blushing virgin with some treasure between your legs you need to guard."

  "What. The. Fuck. You don't get to say shit like that to me. Even if agreed to this stupid mess, no one is getting between my legs. I wouldn't be pimped out. You’re crossing the line, Chuck. You are so crossing the line that you can't even see the line behind you."

  "No need to get upset. I'll leave you to get on with your work."

  Mark, the overly perky barman, had said that Chuck wanted to sell. I'd wanted to believe that he was better than that but banking on Chuck not being a jerk was not a safe bet. It made my stomach knot up. Even though Chuck sucked donkey's balls as a boss, he was better than nothing. And, if this place sold, it'd be to some developer who'd turn it into hipster apartments. It'd be all white and glossy. The windows that were currently painted over black would be replaced with glass that let in the sun. The walls that were pretty much held up with the layers of band stickers on them would be pulled down. That smelly carpet would be gone.

  I mean, this was prime inner city real estate. We were lucky to have survived this long.

  I couldn't worry about that though. I had actual, real stress to worry about like getting everything organised for the actual bands who played here.

  "What's happening?"

  I looked up to Razer standing in the doorway.

  "I hope this is important. That whole not interrupting me at work thing sure didn’t last long," I said. I tried to make my voice sound angry but it betrayed me. Ever since our ride on the bike, I found it hard to be angry with Razer but I didn't want him to think I was softening towards him. That'd be fatal.

  "Just wanted to check in. We're rehearsing for most of the day and I won't have the phone on. Is there anything I need to do before the gig?"

  "You don't need to check in with me." What a crook. He’d played here so many times, he knew the drill better than I did. It was just an excuse to bug me.

  "I know but I like to."

  "Okay, so now you've told me, you can run along to rehearsal." I waved him away but he kept leaning on the door frame.

  "Your mouth is saying 'go', Violet, but your eyes are saying stay."

  "My eyes are saying get out of here so I can finish eating my muffin."

  "I'd stay to watch you eat your muffin." And then he winked.

  "Get the hell out of my office, Razer and never say anything like that again." I looked around for something handy to throw at him. There was nothing that I didn't need though. Maybe I should start stocking something in my office. Like bricks or something. That wink hit me hard though.

  He let and suddenly my office seemed a lot emptier. I couldn't focus on work. I got up and threw those stupid dead flowers in the bin. They'd been stinking up my office for too long. Then I tidied up. It was just a need to do something, anything, and had nothing to do with the way my stomach had fluttered when Razer winked at me.

  With everything else tidied away, I noticed the floral umbrella down the side of my desk. I sighed as I picked it up. I'd returned it to the bar and had meant to put it back in the lost-and-found box but had never gotten around to it. So much had started with that umbrella and I couldn’t get rid of it that easily.

  Stupid umbrella. I wanted to get that night out of my head, not cling on to reminders of it. I put it back in the corner, out of sight. I’d deal with it later.

  Chapter 15 VIOLET

  Another Friday night working on the door for the bands. Although it was not exactly busy. Definitely not the usual Friday night crowd, that's for sure. I wished I'd grabbed a book to read so I had something to occupy myself with. Instead, I was stuck at the door with nothing to do while only a few people trickled in.

  "Is there something else on tonight?" I asked a couple of girls coming in the door.

  I usually keep track of those kinds of things. A big band touring or a festival could explain why the people were staying away.

  "People think you're closed," one of the girls said. "We thought so then the guys said they were playing here tonight."

  Shit, Chuck would have a heart attack if he found out about that. That was his worst nightmare and it'd do nothing to discourage him from selling the place. I thought he'd just been being a big baby about that newspaper article but maybe he'd been right. He'd have a hissy fit when I told him how crap the night's takings were.

  I stamped their wrists and waved them through.

  Those poor bands, playing to an almost empty room. And poor me. We'd had dead nights before but this was something else altogether. If it was a Monday night, this would be bad. For a Friday it was a disaster of epic proportions. These were good bands that normally drew decent crowds.

  We had to dispel any image of the club sinking into the shit. I’d been working on making sure we had the best line-ups possible. I’d done all the promo I could for free, working the hell out of our social media.

  If people saw us spending a lot of money on promotion, they'd know it was just a stupid rumour. But how to get Chuck to spend money? I buried my head in my hands, my brain strained from trying to sort the whole mess out. It was becoming too much for me. Maybe I should agree to the stupid competition and be done with it. Maybe everyone was right and it was just a few hours of my time. It's not like I didn't have both of them hanging around bugging me anyway. Maybe, at least with this competition, I'd get rid of one of them. But which one did I want to win?

  "What's the problem?"

  I put my head up as Razer walked through the door.

  "Hey, it's 15 bucks!"

  "You aren't making me pay, are you? I just turned up to see you, not the bands."

  "Those guys need to eat, you know. You wouldn't want some bum freeloading on one of your gigs."

  He pulled out his wallet and handed me a tenner then fumbled through his change, counting out the coins. Damn rockers never had any money. I did feel a little sorry for Razer but it wasn't like he had to come out and spend his last $15. I threw the coins in the tray.

  "Since you're so broke, go to the bar and get me a drink. Tell them to give you one too."

  Chuck's ban on free drinks had so never stuck. This was a bar. Why would people come if not for free drinks? Why would we work here? Chuck paid us peanuts. Barely enough to survive on. Even my rat hole apartment was hard to afford on my wages. And I had to dress right for work. I couldn't turn up looking like shit. If I didn't love my job, I'd have quit long ago.

  Razer came back with beers for us.

  "Thanks," I said, raising my glass to him.

  "It's dead tonight. What's up?"

  "People are hearing all kinds of rumours. Rats deserting the sinking ship, you know."

  He drummed his fingers on the table as though deep in thought.

  "We're going to have to do something about that," he said.

  He got out his phone then wandered out to the stairwell to make a call. I could just hear him over the music.

  "Yeah, mate, the band is killer. Get your arse down here or you'll be sorry you missed out."

  He hung up and made another call. I wasn't sure if it was going to work. How many people did he know, anyway? He might get a few people to come along but a situation like this needed more than a few phone calls. It needed serious publicity and stuff like that. I really appreciated him trying but it would just be a drop in the ocean.

  "...no way are they closing. The place is going off. And man, there are some top shelf babes here too..."

  A few calls later and he came back in to sit down.

  "Thanks for trying," I said. I was still dubious. I mean, people loved Razer but it was a Friday night and they'd already have plans. It's not like they would drop everything and head here on Razer's
say so.

  I had to run to the bathroom so I got Razer to keep watch on the door for me. It wasn’t like he’d have to do much.

  When the opening band finished, Sally came over to relieve me while I went back stage to check on everything. It wasn't even like I had to push my way through a crowd. The situation was dire. All up, I'd say there were maybe 20 people in the room and some of those had been on the guest list.

  "Sorry," the leader singer said. He gave me a weak grin. "We had a bunch of friends who promised they'd turn up but those bastards let me down."

  I rubbed his arm and got the next band out there. I almost told them to back up their stuff and go home. Surely not playing at all would be better than playing to an empty room. That guy from the first band looked so defeated. I bet Chuck would think I should be going hard on him for not drawing more people there is only so much you can expect.

  Before I could say anything, one of the guys from the next band interrupted to say he had lost his lucky guitar pick and wanted me to find it. I rolled my eyes at him but that wasn't hint enough for him. Seriously, it would take more than a lucky pick to save them.

  "If it's here, I can't see it," I said. "And anyway, I have to get back to the door. I have better things to do than look for your pick." That was actually a lie but not really. Even filing my nails was more important than looking for that dude's pick. If he couldn't look after his own crap, what did he expect? I wasn't his mother. Then I saw a flash of colour.

  "Hey, what's that red thing under the table?"

  "Sweet. You found it."

  He picked it up and kissed it, which kinda grossed me out considering how many germs would've been walked over that floor.

  I returned to the desk with the weight of the world on my shoulders.

  "Bitch, leave me here for the rush of the night," Sally said when I got back.

  "Yeah, right." I laughed, thinking she was joking.

  Then I looked around and noticed the room had filled up. There were people. Lots of people. I'd been so far in my own head, worrying about things, I hadn't even realised I'd had to push through them to get back.