Lily shifted in her seat but stared him down in a give-it-your-best-shot look. Rick let out a thunderous roar of laughter; his head was flung back, and his face looked up at the ceiling.
“Lily, sweetheart, I’m just fucking with y’all.”
I watched Lily, calculating her response and glanced at her in amusement. I knew she wasn’t going to let it go at that.
“You can mess with me, Rick, but Alfie and I aren’t into threesomes are we, honey? So you definitely won’t be fucking with us.”
Rick chuckled again and put his hands up, “Alright, Lily, jeez are you on the rag girl? Pity about the threesome, though, I could show you both a few tricks.”
I led the conversation to a safer subject to get the evening on track and spoke about a festival that Rick’s band was headlining. He wanted Lily and me to do an impromptu drop by on stage and play one of his covers with him. When he finally got us to agree, he swung the conversation back to the last place I wanted it to be.
“Mya rang me this afternoon.”
Rick’s eyes flicked to Lily then to me. “Interesting conversation I had with her, Alfie,” he said matter of factly with a serious expression.
I hated Rick when he did that…fucked with me, and he had for the second time that day.
“Oh yeah? How are Jack and Mya?” I replied trying to sound interested in a normal, everyday conversation kind of way.
Rick smirked and snickered a little. He was paying attention to his hand, watching himself patting his hand flat on the table before he began to smooth the crisp white table linen. He paused for a long moment, then picked up his water and slugged it down slowly while the ice clinked against the glass.
“Good. Real good. We’re going on a trip tomorrow.”
Lily was instantly interested. “Really? I spoke with him this morning, and there was no mention of Jack going on this trip. Where are you going?”
“Um, somewhere in the mountains. Colorado or somewhere mountainy… Finland that’s it— Ruka, Finland. Mya booked it, so she could tell you better than me. Staying in a genuine log cabin I hear, although I’m not sure why I agreed, we’ll freeze our asses off.”
Rage tore through me. I could have punched his lights out for fucking with my plans. I was worried Lily may text Jack. If she did, and he answered before our departure, the game would be up. All our planning would have been for nothing.
“Good for Jack. I’m gonna check out the menu, I’m starving,” I commented nonchalantly and tried to steer the conversation away from Jack in the hope that Rick would let the topic drop but he didn’t.
“So what plans do you two have for the next few days, now that Jack’s going out of town?”
Watching Lily, her disappointment was etched on her face at the thought of her being in London and Jack leaving to spend time with Mya. I sat still and said nothing, but my heart was almost torn from my chest by the depressed look she gave me. Somehow we got through dinner without Rick spilling any more about the trip, and thankfully, Henry had managed to resolve the bag-in–the-cistern issue. I felt that all the mischief had been managed, but by the time we left Rick and got into bed, my nerves were shattered.
Lily had brushed the hell out of her teeth while we got ready for bed. I knew it was because she was hurt about Jack, and I couldn’t wait to see her face when she realized we were sharing a cabin with him for three days. I wanted us to have individual accommodations, but Mya said it would be more fun if we had a few couples sharing each one. I let her convince me and hoped she’d called that correctly, or we’d all be miserable.
Curling up behind her, I felt her despondent sigh and instantly felt bad for having something to do with her current mood.
“I’m sure there’s a reason he’s going out of town, Lily. Jack wouldn’t do it on purpose while you are here unless he had good reason to, honey.”
My hand slid over her belly, and I pulled her closer to me. I kissed the nape of her neck and stroked her hair. I tried to sooth her and it worked. Lily fell asleep after about ten minutes, her breathing shallow and even. Only then did I finally relax enough to drop off to sleep.
Shattering glass woke me and I jumped up into a sitting position when I heard Lily swearing in the bathroom. “Are you okay?”
“Shit!” Lily cursed. “Um, yeah. Sorry, the glass slipped out of my hand.”
I checked my cell to see what time it was. It was 9:30 am. We had a little over an hour before we were due to leave and I hadn’t even told her about the trip yet. I muttered a string of profanities under my breath and threw the covers back. Lily was immaculately dressed in brown dress pants and a bronze-colored silk blouse. She was picking up the last of the glass by the time I reached the bathroom. She smelled delicious, and it was obvious from the state of the bathroom she’d already showered.
“Going somewhere?” My eyes appraised her from head to toe taking in how lovely she looked in the morning.
She glanced at my reflection in the bathroom mirror with a perplexed expression and dropped the glass she was holding into the small trash can by the toilet.
“I know, I know. Don’t be mad, Alfie. I just want to see Jack for an hour before he leaves. Mya said they were leaving about 1:30, so I thought…”
“So, you thought you’d leave me lying in bed and sneak out to see him?”
My voice sounded harsh and flat. I was annoyed that she’d just get up and leave like that.
“Guilty,” she said honestly. She at least had the grace to look guilty as well.
I expelled a deep sigh of exasperation and put my arm around her as she turned to face me.
“Come here.” I led her from the bedroom to a chair in the sitting area of the penthouse.
“Sit down, Lily. I know where they’re going.”
As soon as I said it, I knew I was going to be on the receiving end of some choice words.
“You know? How do you know? You knew last night, and you said nothing? What…”
“Stop, honey. Just sit down and listen. Jack probably only found out he was going himself this morning. The trip was my idea.”
I tried again to push her into the chair, but she resisted, her body was stiff, and her eyes narrowed in anger.
“Alfie! How could you do that to me? I’m not here that often, and you’ve arranged to have my friends sent out of town?”
I wasn’t handling things very well, so I just decided to tell her. I’d been hoping to get her to the airport first. “I did. It’s Christmas in two weeks, but we’re not going to be here. So I figured I’d arrange for us to have a short trip with our friends.”
“We’re going on the trip with Jack and Mya?”
“Indeed.”
“The four of us are going away on a mini-holiday?” Lily looked puzzled, but I could see the excitement building from the look in her eyes, at the thought.
“No, there are ten of us. We’re going to Finland like Rick said; I could have murdered that fucker last night by the way.”
I could see how the conversation between Rick and I began to make sense to Lily and she cut me off.
“Who else is coming?”
“Rick, Lenny, Cody, Dave, Emily and Emma.”
Without another word, Lily launched herself at me. Her legs wrapped around my naked waist. She clung to me like a little monkey. Her hands cupped both sides of my face.
“Alfie Black, did I ever tell you, you are my favorite rock star? I love you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” she gushed.
Her mood instantly changed, and she peppered my face with tiny kisses. When she did things like that I didn’t stand a chance.
“When do we leave?” she inquired, her voice rose an octave higher with excitement.
“A rough guestimate I’d say about forty-five minutes from now, but I have a small stop to make on the way for a PR thing, so we’re meeting everyone else at the airport.”
Lily’s brow bunched then relaxed, and I guessed she was probably figuring out why Mya had told he
r one thirty, and then she was digesting the last part of my sentence. She stiffened again in my arms. There was a fleeting look of panic because she didn’t have a bag ready for a trip. I could read her like a book.
She started babbling about warm clothing and what she thought she needed, but I cut her off by closing the inches between our mouths and swallowing her unnecessary anguish with a deep kiss. When I broke the kiss, her pupils were dilated, and she was breathless. I took that opportunity to get a word in.
“You have everything you need for the trip, honey. I had your mom hook you up, and it’s all in the trunk of Henry’s car. All you need is your passport, and we’re all set. You have that with you, right?”
Lily smiled and nodded, and for a moment she seemed to just stop and stare at me again.
“How did I get so lucky?” she queried.
Her eyes glanced at mine with pure adoration that made my heart squeeze with the love I had for her.
“Because I’m easy?” I questioned back in a teasing tone. She swiped my arm before pulling free of me.
“Alright, Mr. Black, rock star. I hope you’re going to show me a good time.”
“Of course I am, honey. I’m Alfie Black, when have you ever known me to give a bad performance?”
Watching her dirty mind kick in was funny. Lily tried not to react, but her lips twitched before they curved into a smirk as she fought for control by raising one eyebrow. I knew she’d struggle to find much wrong with me in bed, so I waited confidently to see what she could come up with. Eventually, she sighed and shook her head as if bringing herself out of some kinky flashback. She slid down my body past my erection, until her feet touched the floor. Taking a step back, she flung her arms out to the side.
“All I’m saying is if there has to be one it can’t be this weekend,” she giggled.
I grabbed her wrist and tugged her back to my chest in a quick hug. While Lily collected some things from the bedroom, I headed for a quick shower. Ten minutes later I was clean, dressed and ready to leave. I swiped my wallet from the side of the dressing table and headed out the door with her.
Chapter 6 Adulation Versus True Heroes
Henry was waiting in the back alleyway of the hotel with the car to avoid the various band fans who had gathered out in front as soon as they knew Lily, Rick and I were staying there. All in all, our getaway was fairly uneventful with just a handful of fans clocking the car as we pulled out into the traffic. The blacked out windows were a godsend. Lily always felt skittish when they cupped their hands to the window trying to catch a glimpse of who was in there.
Fifteen minutes after we started our journey, Henry pulled up at the drop off zone of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. During the journey, Lily learned about the amazing young guy who had requested to meet me. My PR team received the call, and I was glad I was in London to be able to meet his request.
The young man I was visiting was Archie Simmons, a sixteen-year-old guitar player who had dropped out of school and was currently trying to organize gigs for his band from his hospital bed. I’d been told I was his hero. Me. Alfie Black. All I had ever done was play in a band and got insanely lucky. With what Archie had been through with his chemotherapy treatment, he qualified for the hero tag much better than I did.
We prepared our disguises in the back of the car; mine a beanie, black puffer jacket and dark prescription glasses I used for reading by the pool. Lily wore a dark green puffer jacket, big faux fur hat, and oversized sunglasses. Lily’s disguise was very effective, especially with her hair tucked into the jacket. I was always surprised when this stuff worked. One of the wardrobe guys said it was because no one expected to see us in their local vicinity.
The number of visits I’d done to teenage cancer wards must be close to a hundred, and it choked me up every time, but it was near Christmas and Archie, a young survivor, was on his way home the next day. He knew he was being released from the hospital, but not that I was coming his way. A children’s charity had requested the visit two weeks ago, but my PR team only told me the day before. There was no way I was leaving London until I’d made good on our pledge that I’d do my best to grant his wish.
Seeing kids in oncology wards always uplifted me. They were normal kids experiencing an abnormal life event. It didn’t stop them from following their favorite bands, studying for tests or having girlfriends, nor thinking about future aspirations.
We made it to the floor without challenge or recognition, and the ecstatic look the nurse had given me before she opened the coded door when I took my glasses off, told me I was expected. When we entered Archie’s bed was straight ahead, I looked around and saw there were four beds. At least he had company, and the fact there were other beds meant those kids weren’t a high risk for infection.
The bed nearest the door was empty, and it made my heart happy that one was free, which meant no one with cancer to fill it. A brief flashback took me to the times when I visited my mom in her oncology suite before she died. I continued to take in the room, and its inhabitants. In the bed on the same side next to the window, a teenager was lying on his side with his back to us reading from a Kindle. Glancing across, the kid in the bed opposite was on a laptop typing rapidly then laughing, so I figured he was in some kind of chat conversation.
I finally spotted the kid I had come to see. Archie was lying with his eyes closed; his ear buds in and his tablet displaying our Crakt Soundzz album cover while I could only guess he was listening. His hand was strumming as he fingered his imaginary fret on his air guitar from where he lay. Maryse, as the nurse’s name badge read, wandered over to him. Lily and I held back by the entrance to give her time to explain to him what was happening.
Archie pulled a bud out of his ear to listen to the nurse as he opened his eyes to look up at her. When I saw her mouth move, Archie sat bolt upright, his eyes seeking us out. His hand flew to cover his mouth, then he placed them on his knees with a stunned look that quickly turned to one of disbelief.
Sporting a wide beaming smile he shook his head as we approached and I stretched out my hand to greet him.
“Hey there, Archie. I heard you wanted to see me. Is that so?”
Lily broke his incredulous stare when he didn’t say anything by reaching her hand out to him as well.
“Guess you get a two for one with us, Archie. Do you mind me staying?”
Shaking his head, Archie reached into his small locker on the right side of the bed and pulled out his iPhone, held it up and snapped me first, then Lily. Only then did he break his silence.
“Sweet man. You’re actually here? I mean actually here. You came to see me? Who asked you to do that?”
I was about to speak when Lily interjected.
“Well, you didn’t come to us, so we figured we’d better come on over and see this awesome guitar player, Archie Simmons, for ourselves. I hear your band is looking for a gig? Alfie, we should see if we can arrange for Archie’s band to play something at Rick’s festival event.”
That was the one thing I loved about Lily. Nothing was beyond her thinking. It didn’t matter if Rick didn’t want that to happen. Lily had a way of making Rick agree to anything. The fact that she was gorgeous, and Rick had a thing for her, it was almost a given that he’d say yes.
Lily wouldn’t normally go offering something that big to just anyone but as part of our briefing we’d watched a few YouTube videos of his band, and we thought they were pretty fucking awesome for a bunch of sixteen-year-olds.
We spent two hours with Archie and his roommates, who joined in our conversations after they got over their initial shock. They had a brilliant relationship with the nursing staff, and the care they received was second to none. The only thing they complained about was the hospital food. Nothing else. I took that to heart and asked my team to set up accounts at the Chinese, Indian and Pizza restaurants under the hospital wards name, but to send the bills to me. That small thing made them so excited. They could have whatever they felt like eating,
rather than what was available on the limited hospital menu. Henry brought a box in from the car with all of our albums, and Lily had some XrAid stuff she passed around as well.
As the kids drifted off with various items, Archie quizzed me on just about every aspect of playing in a band for a living. When he’d exhausted the question and answer session, we listened to him play an acoustic version of, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who. His talent and the unique raspy tone to his voice blew Lily and me away.
When he was finished, I had Henry bring in a personal gift for him. Rather than offer him a new guitar, I figured he’d appreciate something of mine. My Fender Custom Stop 59’ Closet Classic Strat. It was the Vintage White six-string guitar that I used for rehearsals since before Crakt Soundzz was famous. Archie knew of the guitar as soon as he saw it. I’d mentioned it in a few interviews in the past because it was the first guitar I earned a living from.
Lily left him her business card with her PR team contact information when it was time to leave and just as we headed for the door, Archie called out to me.
“Mr. Black, I knew you were different from all the rest. Coming here today proved that to me. Three months ago I didn’t want to live anymore. Today, I’m so glad God ignored me. Thanks for being the inspiration for my music, man. You saw me through some pretty dark days.”
Devoid of speech due to the swollen lump that had grown in my throat, I just stood there holding his gaze. Nothing clever or appropriate came in response. A few seconds passed, and I just bowed my head in respect to the young man with the balls of steel who was able to articulate what he felt when I couldn’t find the words to respond.
Duty done, although I hadn’t viewed it as such, Lily and I held hands just a little bit tighter and left the hospital in a reflective mood. Once we were in the car I slung my arm over her shoulder and pulled her tightly against me. Lily shed a few silent tears, and I pretended not to notice for her sake. Being famous had its upsides, and it’s downsides, and sometimes it had a side that was bittersweet, today was one of the latter.
Everything Is Yours (An Everything Novella) Page 4