Here's My Heart

by Maxene Novak

  He seems to be enjoying himself now. Good. I also don't fail to notice that slight red hue to the tips of his ears. He's blushing. Can't say that I blame him. The man is kind of angelic.

  I kind of take the backseat on the conversation and just observe, adding to the conversation here and there. I can imagine they were sweet together. Even now Dorian seems to be attentive to Adam while also trying to be friendly and professional. I can tell that Adam has missed him.

  A strange feeling settles in the pit of my stomach as Adam excuses himself to the restroom. I guess slamming down water has finally caught up with him. Dorian's eyes follow Adam to the restroom until he disappears.

  “He looks great,” Dorian turns to me. “You've taken good care of him.”

  “I try,” I reply, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

  “You,” he continues giving me an appraising look, “are breath-taking. No wonder Adam spoke so much about you.”

  “I didn't know he did.”

  “Oh, yes,” he smiles. “I suppose he hasn't told you much about me, has he?”

  “A bit,” I admit honestly, “I know about the two of you if that's what you mean.”

  “I'm not surprised. I knew he'd tell someone eventually. With all this excitement, I'm sure he was pretty anxious about meeting me.”

  “You have no idea,” I laugh nervously.

  “I think I do,” he leans forward. “I know Adam Rose. He can be such a beautiful mess, can't he?” He rests his head on his knuckles and looks at me with a dreamy expression.

  “He's definitely something special,” I reply.

  “Special!” Dorian snaps his fingers. “Perfect word.”

  “I think beautiful mess sums it up. Without the mess. He's actually quite clean for a man. Just beautiful.”

  “Hm,” Dorian takes a sip of his tea, “I thought you had that look in your eye.”

  “What look?” I suddenly feel self-conscious.

  “The same look I had,” he glances back toward the restroom. “When you look at him it's pure adoration. I'm glad he's had someone to care for him all this time.”

  “I've always cared about Adam. He's been my best friend since…”

  “As long as you can remember?” he asks and I nod.

  “Pretty much,” I say quietly.

  “I know,” he sneers. “It's one of the reasons we didn't work out. He would just talk and talk about you. There was no way I could compete with that, I thought, but seeing the competition, I might still have a shot.”

  “Excuse me?” I'm completely taken aback.

  His smile curls into a look of contempt. “You're pretty,” Dorian's deep voice rasps quietly, “with a bit of a butch side to catch a man's attention. Though, I'll admit—you're talented enough for him.”

  “Thank you?” I reply not sure of what else to say.

  Has this just turned into a cat fight?

  “Don't thank me yet,” he says just as Adam walks out of the bathroom, “I'm just getting started.”

  He winks and smiles as Adam takes his seat. He takes a look at my face and I plaster on a smile.

  “Dorian? Nova?” Adam asks, giving us a suspicious look. “Is something the matter?”

  “Not at all!” Dorian acts innocently while giving me a nudge under the table. “Just getting acquainted.”

  “Yeah,” I reply, nodding my head. “Just a pause in conversation—waiting for you to join in.”

  “Sorry about that. You know how I get when I'm nervous. I drink way too much water.”

  “What's there to be nervous about?” Dorian grabs his shoulder. “It's just me. I'm not feeding you to the wolves, I promise. Sean is flying in next week, we'll meet up, you'll put on a show and we'll make an offer.”

  “Do you think we have a shot?” Adam asks seriously.

  Dorian takes his hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I wouldn't be here if I didn't. You're awesome, Adam, you've always been awesome. You brought together some amazing talent here. Why do you think I invited you to this event? You've got this.”

  “Have you listened to us?” I watch as Adam briefly panics, “You've listened to our tracks, right?”

  “Yes!” Dorian moves quietly to sit by Adam. “Nova Rose is fantastic. I love the energy. I've even watched your videos. You guys were going to make it with or without me. So, I snatched you up before someone else could. I'm claiming this. You guys are my project. No matter what happens next week, you've got my support.”

  “What are you saying?” Adam wipes anxious tears from his eyes.

  “I'm saying…” Dorian puts a gentle hand on Adam's thigh. “I want to sign on as your manager. If you don't want to accept Century's offer or even if you do, I want to personally represent you guys.”

  “Are you serious?” Adam asks in awe. “I won't have to do it anymore?”

  “Nope,” Dorian replies with a bright smile, “that will be my job and you can relax more. I want you at top performance. So, no more stress. You look exhausted.”

  “I am,” Adam quips, making us laugh. “I haven't slept since the night before the video went viral.”

  I didn't realize he wasn't sleeping. How have I not noticed? No wonder he didn't hear the phone ring earlier.

  “It's alright.” Dorian wraps an arm around Adam's shoulders. “Get some sleep, practice, and take care of yourself. Talk things over with each other and let me know what you think of my offer.”

  “What's the catch?” I ask, trying to figure him out. “What are your terms for this?”

  “I'm sure once the records start selling, we can discuss financial terms,” he replies with a shrug. “For now, consider it pro bono—be a good reason to stick around for a while.”

  Adam looks at him and nods. “That would be cool.” He holds out his hand in response.

  Dorian clasps his arm affectionately and pulls him to his feet. “Alright,” Dorian comments, pointing to me. “Numbers, I need everybody's that way we can all keep in touch. Adam, I assume you can just text those to me once you have their permission?”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “Alright then. Well, I look forward to working with you.”

  “Confidence,” I say as he extends his hand to me and I get up to take his offered hand. He brings my hand to his lips and plants a gentle kiss. A stray lock of hair brushes against my arm. His hair is soft and pretty. Too bad his personality is kind of ugly, but then again, he seems nice at times. A gentle nip on my hand pulls me out of my thoughts. Did he just bite me?!

  A smirk flashes across his angelic face, making me flinch when he lets go of my hand. Something about him makes my skin buzz and I'm not entirely convinced it's in a good way. He's a bit too charming to actually be a prince.

  “It's just about one-thirty now and I have to meet with the arena master at two,” Dorian remarks while checking his watch.

  “Oh, I'm sorry for holding you up!” Adam says apologetically.

  “Not at all!” Dorian gives him a hug. “Why did you think I set the time for eleven? I wanted us to chat a while! How about I walk you two out?”

  “If you can spare the time, sure,” Adam replies.

  “I always have time for an old friend,” As he says this, he throws me a predatory smile on his way out the door.

  I think I might actually have a rival. He takes us outside and walks us to Adam's truck, opening the door for me politely.

  “A pleasure, Nova,” But before I can even reply, he shuts the door and turns to Adam.

  I actually laugh out loud. It's almost cute. Almost. I already know that Adam wants to say yes to his offer, but Dorian's made it obvious that he doesn't like me. Colorfully and elaborately. He's got a knack for insulting someone and making it sound nice.

  I'm not sure what I want to do. Should I tell Adam what he said to me? That would just ruin our chances completely if he gets mad about it.

  No. He challenged me. There's no honor in running and crying to Adam about it. I just need to meet Dorian head on. I st
ill have the home advantage. I'm not about to let him win on my home turf! Challenge accepted, Dorian James. Adam is mine.

  Chapter Six

  The next day comes in a blur. We talked things over with the guys about Dorian's offer and it was pretty much majority rules. I was the only one that put up any kind of argument against it. Whatever, though. Take one for the team, Nova.

  We pour through our music and make a set list. I'm kind of pumped regardless of my off feelings about Dorian. I love music and performing more than I give a damn about what he thinks of me. I'll show him what I've got.

  “I want to do something no one will expect.” I try to think while sipping on hot tea.

  “I'm down with that,” Bryan replies while picking on his bass. “I've been listening to a lot of Michael Jackson lately…”

  “You want a heavy rock band to do a Michael Jackson cover?” Chad asks incredulously.

  “Hell yeah!” Bryan says, giving him an irritated look. “Give me a good reason why not?”

  Chad shakes his head and sighs. “Okay, I might know a few of his songs,” Chad mutters. “Nova, what do you think? You're the one that has to sing it.”

  “We can always try it out,” I reply. “What time is it?”

  “Ten,” Kyle answers. “I think if we were going to do a new cover we should have practiced it last night. Not right before a performance.”

  “Noted,” Adam says. “Wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Could be an encore number if they want one. Or it could show Dorian how flexible we are.”

  “Show us what you've got in mind, Bryan,” I encourage and he gives me a grin.

  “Yes!” he cheers adjusting his controls. “I've been itching to play this bass line all morning.”

  His fingers start plucking and I know the song immediately. “Billie Jean.” I don't think I've ever heard a good rock cover of this yet. Adam jumps in when he hears the bass line and gives me a look. Kyle and Chad are kind of at a loss, so I just start singing when I hear my cue.

  They eventually join in at the bridge and I have to say that I'm surprised. This might be good enough to do live. It keeps the sexy dance rhythm with enough rock and roll to bang your head to.

  We practice with it for a few hours and manage to pull it together. I'm kind of excited about it. We haven't done a song like this before and everyone knows the song. Hopefully, it's well received. I don't like messing with legendary songs like this, but the fans might love it—or they'll rake us over the coals for it.

  It's always a toss-up when you do a cover song. So far we have two in the set list. “Billie Jean” included. The rest is all us. A cover is a great way to get the crowd paying attention, and if you're doing it well it gets them motivated. They don't even have to know your songs, they're just into it.

  “I'm kind of surprised we didn't go with 'Beat It',” I note when we start packing up. “Eddie Van Halen's solo is kind of epic.”

  “Damn!” Chad replies, locking his guitar case. “That would have been bad ass.”

  “Yeah, but I kind of feel like we should have worked on our new song a bit more,” Adam sighs.

  “It's fine,” I tell him. “We'll get more time to practice it after this gig.”

  “I know,” he says, packing up his drum kit. “I just really want to hit Century with our best.”

  “We will, dude!” Chad reassures him, gathering up the cords strewn across the floor. “You're way too worried about this. Your guy pretty much said we've got the deal.”

  “But that doesn't mean they can't change their minds,” Adam clarifies, while I prepare to pack the mic stand.

  “No,” Chad replies, “We're just going to make sure they don't.”

  “I just wonder how this benefits Dorian,” I add into the conversation. “He's offered himself up pro bono to what end?”

  “He wants to see us succeed.” Adam shrugs. “He's not the kind of guy to throw us under the bus for his own self gain.”

  “Yeah, but his intentions may be less than pure,” I mumble.

  I don't know why I'm arguing. I'm not jealous of him in the least. If anything I feel threatened. Not in an I'm going to die kind of way, but he's made it obvious that he still wants Adam.

  It's okay though. So far, everything with me and Adam seems fine. He's stressed, but still being attentive and sweet to me. Eat your heart out, Dorian.

  We pack up our gear and leave. Adam had to check the pool house twice before he was certain we'd grabbed everything we need. He was going to check a third time, but Chad hauls him over his shoulder and throws him into the van.

  “Go!” Chad urges, slamming the door while Adam struggles.

  I crank up the van and throw it in gear, the tires squealing when we take off.

  “Where exactly are we heading?” I ask.

  Adam struggles to get to the front seat and sits down with a huff.

  “That's the surprise,” he says, putting on his seat belt. “You know how Kyle's been talking about doing a video at Millennium Park?”

  “No, way!” Kyle exclaims, jumping in between us.

  “Yes! Did we hit social media? Tell our fans that we'd be there?”

  “Dude, we spent hours blasting this event yesterday,” Bryan pipes in from the back. “We sent out invites, posted all over the place. We should have a huge turnout. Hopefully.”

  “Awesome,” Adam replies, rubbing his hands together.

  We get to Millennium Park and I'm floored when I see the crowd that's already there.

  “Um… Adam?” I ask, smacking his leg as he looks at his phone. “What do we do?”

  Some of our fans are waving at us excitedly as a familiar man in a security uniform approaches us. He stops and taps on our window. I quickly roll it down.

  “Hey, Nova,” the security officer greets me as I pull up beside him.

  “Hey, Dan! How have you been?!”

  “Great! Lisa gave me a call and told me about the event. I figured you guys would get here eventually.”

  “I definitely feel better knowing you're around,” I admit, making him grin. “Where exactly am I going and how do I get there?”

  “Well, it's going to be a bit tricky,” he says, looking over at the pavilion. “Go around to the back. My buddy, Jeff, will tell you where to go.”

  “Alright.”

  “Give ‘em hell,” he grins and then taps the back glass as we pull away.

  I carefully make my way to the back and sure enough, Jeff is waiting for us. He waves us over to park behind an RV. When we're settled, I shut off the van and take a deep breath.

  “You alright?” Adam asks as the boys file out.

  “Yeah,” I reply, letting go of the steering wheel. “Just performance anxiety I'm sure.”

  “Nova, you've got this,” he reassures me, taking my hand. “You've got the talent and you've got the band to back you up. You're not alone. I can't imagine doing this with anyone else.”

  “Me neither,” I reply, squeezing his hand. “Kiss for good luck?”

  He grins and holds my head in his hands. He kisses me so sweetly the butterflies take off again, but all too quickly it's over.

  “Come on,” he presses a quick kiss to my cheek. “Let's go meet up with Dorian.”

  He gets out of the van and shuts the door with a clang.

  “Yay, Dorian!” I say sarcastically.

  He opens my door and offers me his hand to help me out. I know I'm being childish. I'm just not too thrilled with this guy. I mean, our first meeting went so well. I lock the van up and allow Adam to lead me toward the stage where Dorian is on the phone. He holds up his finger for us to give him a minute and we do.

  He speaks in hushed tones, but the look on his face is one of irritation. God, even when he's annoyed he looks sexy.

  “Whatever it takes—make it work,” he says and hangs up the phone. “Hey, guys!”

  “Hey, Dorian,” Adam responds as Dorian closes in on him for a hug. “This is the rest of us. We have our lead guitarist,
Chad.”

  “Great to meet you, Chad,” Dorian replies, shaking his hand.

  “Our bassist, Bryan,” Adam continues, pointing him out. “And Kyle on rhythm. You've already met, Nova.”

  “Awesome to meet you all,” Dorian says politely, shaking everyone's hand and stopping to kiss mine again. “Nova, a pleasure seeing you again.”

  I give him a small, reluctant smile, which he returns. Does everything about him have to be sexy?!

  “So, is everyone ready?” Dorian asks. “You guys won't go on until later. I want the crowd to be as large as possible.”

  “Any estimate on how many are going to be here?” I inquire and he grins.

  “Well, after you guys started sharing the event more, people decided to come,” he scratches his chin in thought. “I'm thinking upward of a few hundred.”

  “Wow,” Adam says in awe, taking a look at the already massing crowd.

  “We're going to do something a little different tonight,” Dorian comments. “I want you guys to get the party started in about an hour. One of the guitarists from a local cover band came down sick—kind of screwed the rest of them.”

  “What kind of cover band?” Adam asks.

  “Mostly Pearl Jam. They did a really good cover of 'Jeremy' that won me over. You know I love Pearl Jam.”

  “I remember,” Adam utters. “Nova could fill in for their guitarist. She knows most of their greatest hits.”

  “That would be cool,” Dorian looks at me with an inquisitive expression. “You'd have to talk to them though. The lead is also their vocalist.”

  “They shouldn't miss out. I'd love to do it.”

  Dorian looks at me in surprise. “Do you think you can pull it off vocally?” he asks, giving me a skeptical look.

  Chad laughs.

  “Prepare to be amazed. Nova can sing with any guy.”

  “Well, they're backstage helping to set things up,” Dorian gestures. “You should go talk to them so they'll know to get ready.”

  The boys march off to speak with the group, but Dorian steps in front of me before I can follow.

  “Eddie Vedder,” he says, eyeing me up and down. “Pretty big shoes to fill.”

  “I'll do my best,” I reply moving to step around him.