by King, C. M
“You seem a little distant, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” I wasn’t but I’d have to just suck it up.
“What did you think of Chantel yesterday?”
Oh god.
“She seemed nice.” It was all I could bite out. I felt like I would choke on the rest.
“She is amazing,” Joel added.
Oh here we go, fucking superwoman speech again.
“Do you really need her now? I know she’s helped to get the band more attention, but surely now as your fan base is growing you won’t need her as much, you can cope on your own.”
“So you do have a problem with her?” he snapped.
“No, I just—”
“What, Iz, spit it out. Stop lying and just tell me the truth. Are you jealous?”
“No!” I shrieked.
“Because if you are, there’s nothing to be jealous about. I’m not interested in her that way and she isn’t interested in me.”
Yeah, not what she said.
“It’s just—”
“What, tell me?” he urged.
“The distance between us and—”
“Do you really think I would cheat on you because I’m lonely?” he growled, looking hurt by my reasoning.
“No.”
“Do you trust me?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.
“Yes.” I did trust him with all my heart. It was Chantel I didn’t trust.
“Then you have nothing to worry about, the only girl I’m interested is you, the only girl I sing about on the stage is you, the only girl I want to marry is you.”
I buried my head in the crook of his neck and sighed. “I love you so much that sometimes it scares me if I ever lost you.”
“Life is uncertain and we never know what lies ahead, but one thing I know is my love for you will never lessen, if anything it will grow deeper over time. You and me are forever unless you decide different.”
My eyes snapped up to meet his. “Well, that’s not going to happen.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about. Now how about you scrub my back and all the other hard to reach places.” He grinned as I rolled my eyes at his attempt to lighten the mood.
“Who am I, your slave?” I giggled.
“Yeah, sex slave.”
I snorted. “You wish.”
“Oh baby I do, right now I have something for you.”
“I can feel it.” It was hard to miss.
“How about helping me out.” He stroked his nose against mine and his eyes heated with lust. My fingers ran along the length of him and he groaned at my touch.
“My pleasure,” I breathed.
Oh, I was about to enjoy every minute of this.
* * *
Leaving Joel behind never got easier, each time it broke my heart, but I had to remind myself that four weeks would soon fly by. It was a double edge sword as I was doing the job I loved, but I missed Joel with all my heart. Joel helped to dispel the insecurities, but I was always on edge waiting for Chantel to make her move. Girls like that, who had an agenda, always made it their mission to get what they wanted. I just had to trust my intuition that Joel would come through.
Elijah was keeping tabs. He went along to all their gigs to keep an eye out on any kind of unusual behavior but he always reported back with the same thing—that everything appeared fine. Of course he had to stop himself tearing into Chantel every time he saw her. He had labeled her Vamp Tramp, which was always a name that made me smile. I kept my pretence up and concentrated on my performance that was my main priority, going out there and giving it my all. It was probably the only thing keeping me sane. Corinne and Micha could sense something was up but they never pursued it. I guess my immediate answer of fine each time they enquired meant they weren’t about to push the matter further, and for that I was grateful.
We were down to the final week. All was going well until a knock sounded at my door in the middle of the night. At first I thought I dreamt it but when a second rap at the door came I knew it was definitely real.
I squinted through the peephole, my poor eyes trying to regain some kind of focus, they soon widened when I saw Joel stood there.
Fuck.
I opened the door and he spun around, his eyes full of alarm as he tried to find the words to speak.
“Izzy,” he finally got out.
“Oh my god, what’s wrong? Is someone ill? Hurt? Is it my mother? Mike?”
“No, nothing like that.” He shook his head.
“Then what?” I whisper yelled, feeling my heart rate climb by the second.
I dragged him in the room before we made any more noise and woke up half the people on our floor.
“Joel—”
“Iz, I have something to tell you. I’m sorry, so damn sorry.”
“What, Joel? Just fucking tell me, my head is spinning here.”
“Chantel kissed me,” he finally got out.
Fuck.
“What do you mean she kissed you?”
“We’d just finished the set. I was getting changed when she came in the room with her friend. She was all flirty and I told her to stop, but she continued proposing I should have a threesome with her and her friend. She said she knew about my reputation and if I was going to be a rock star, I may as well live the rock and roll lifestyle. I told her to leave, that I was engaged to you, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She lunged at me and kissed me before I could do anything. I pushed her away, but it was too late. Her friend caught it all on camera. She said she was going to send it to you and that with your jealous ways you would think the worst and you wouldn’t forgive me.” The fear inside his eyes was growing by the minute. He was going into meltdown.
“Picture? I didn’t get a photo.” I clicked on my phone I had muted to find it there ready to open on screen. I frowned and my thumb hovered over it. Was I ready to see something like that, even though I knew it was staged?
“Please Iz, give me the phone. You don’t need to see it, but you need to believe me. I wouldn’t do that to you, to us. I want our future together you know that. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardise that.” Joel pulled at his hair, his eyes frantically searching mine, pleading with me to believe him.
“I believe you,” I whispered almost so low Joel didn’t hear me.
“What?” he exclaimed.
I sighed before speaking. “I know every word you’re saying is the truth. I know the real Chantel. I had to endure her telling her friends she was going to get you into bed. The cheeky bitch even said she would soon be wearing my ring.”
“What?” he growled.
“When I came to your last gig, I was in the toilet cubicle just about to come to see you during the interval, and she walked in with all her friends mouthing off how she was going to worm her way into your life and make you fall for her. Obviously her plan hasn’t worked if she’s chosen to go down the blackmail route.”
“I would never look at her that way. All I wanted was for her to promote the band. I don’t see anyone else but you.”
“Here.” I tossed the phone over to him. “I don’t want to see it, delete it off.”
He caught the phone and within seconds the offending picture was removed. The thought of it alone was hard to take, never mind actually witnessing it.
“Come here.” I opened my arms and he walked into them. He was physically shaking, and I couldn’t help but wonder how he managed to drive the four hours and still be in one piece. The thought of him hurting himself in anyway travelling this far in the middle of the night scared me, but he was here and he was safe, and for that, I was grateful.
“I love you, Iz, and I would never—”
“I know, shush, we don’t need to talk about it. She thinks that she’s done damage, that I’m out of the picture, but we know better,” I soothed. The bitch was about to get hers, I would make sure of it.
He pulled away to look at me. “She’s sacked, right now I don’t care about the band, bu
t I won’t continue to work with someone as conniving as she is.”
I cupped his face with my hands. “Good, I just wished I’d been there to give her a slap, ’cause trust me, I am more than ready to.”
“I would have liked to have seen that too.” He chuckled.
I kissed him long and hard before pulling away. He was panting lightly but there was still fear inside his eyes that unnerved me. “Come on, get into bed, I need to be near you, skin on skin.”
He smiled lifting his T-shirt over his head, his Converse and jeans soon followed. I peeled off my T-shirt and led him over as I pulled the sheets back and slipped inside. His body was warm as I nuzzled into his chest, his arms entwined around me, holding me close, like he was afraid to let me go. I kissed his neck and weaved my fingers into his hair, softly stroking it over and over. I knew that it soothed him and would hopefully lull him to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be hard, but tonight we would just hold each other.
Chapter Thirty
“Izzy, over here.” Micha waved. They were already eating breakfast. We made our way over to the table as they all looked on confused.
“Ooh, sneaky sleepover, looks like you’ve been at it all night. Did you even get any sleep?” she teased.
“I’ll just go get the coffee.” Joel wandered off looking embarrassed. I needed to get this over with before he came back.
“Long story short, over three weeks ago, I overheard Chantel telling her friends in the toilet that she was going all out to get Joel and push me out of the picture.”
“No fucking way,” Micha yelled, as all heads turned our way.
“Sheesh, could you say it any louder,” I whisper yelled.
“Sorry, but fucking hell.”
“I know and I’m not even at the worst part yet.”
“There’s more?” Corinne exclaimed.
“Yeah, she tried it on with Joel last night, tried to coerce him into a threesome with her and her friend, and when he declined, she forced herself onto him, with her friend on standby to take a picture. She sent it to me, but I didn’t see it because I was fast asleep. Joel drove fours to explain. He was almost frantic when he got here, that I wouldn’t believe him, but I explained about the conversation I’d overheard but I would have believed him anyway. I just had a bad feeling when I met her. She was so dismissive, speaking down to me. I could tell she had an agenda.”
“How long have you kept that quiet, Iz? That must have been hard keeping that to yourself,” Corinne asked, looking concerned.
“I ended up telling Elijah. He kept monitoring the situation. He called her Vamp Tramp. He’s been a good shoulder to lean on when I felt like tumbling down over and over. I couldn’t have got through these last few weeks without him.” I really couldn’t have, he was my rock.
“I wish you could have told us.” Corinne frowned.
“Hey,” I grabbed her hand and smiled. I didn’t want to burden you with my problems. You had just got things sorted with Josh. I didn’t want to tell you all because then it would be real, and I had to believe that something like that couldn’t happen no matter how much Chantel willed it. I never thought she’d force herself on him and try to blackmail though. I didn’t think she would sink that low.”
“You’ll be amazed how low people will go for what they want,” Micha added bitterly.
“Yeah.” I sighed. I knew that all too well now.
“Oh here’s Joel,” Corinne warned.
He walked back over with two coffees in his hand and smiled sitting down.
“Are you not getting anything else?” I asked, concerned by his lack of appetite.
“I don’t feel up to anything.”
“Now you have me worried.” He was always hungry, that was a fact.
“I just—”
“You know this is not your fault, Joel. You can’t help it that psycho bitch promoter had her eyes on you as being not only her meal ticket but boyfriend too.”
He frowned. “I know, but how could I be oblivious to it all?”
“Because some bitches are good at slowly spinning their web. You just thought she was doing her job. We all know you only have eyes for Izzy. No one would ever doubt that.” Corinne smiled reassuringly.
“It’s true, I only have eyes for you.” He brushed his lips up against my forehead and sighed.
“Do you know what would really make me happy?”
“What, tell me?” he urged.
“You going over there and plating up a huge breakfast for yourself. You have a four hour journey home and then all the shit to deal with when you get there. I don’t want to be worried about you. Oh and plate me one up too, I think I deserve it. She isn’t going to ruin our short time together and right now I need stodgy food.”
He grinned at my words. “Well, when you put it like that I can feel my appetite coming back already.”
“It’s business as usual then, she no longer exists. But get me scrambled instead of fried egg, please.”
“I am on it.” He jumped up from his seat and headed over to the breakfast area.
“Are you really okay, Iz?” Corinne asked again.
“Not really, I’m worried about the lies she’ll spread. The first thing he needs to do is change the password on the Facebook page so she doesn’t upload anything. As of right now, I don’t even know the depths she will go.” I dreaded to think what she would do next.
“Yeah, you don’t want that blowing up over Facebook.” Corinne pulled a face, mirroring my exact sentiments.
I quickly texted Lee. He’d been the one managing the Facebook page before Chantel took over. I asked if he still had the logins, he replied with a confused yes. I told him to change the password so Chantel had no more access. Within minutes, he texted back saying he’d done so. That’s what I loved about Lee, he didn’t question things, just did it. Joel would fill him in later. I hated to let him have to go back and handle it on his own, but I still had a week to go and I couldn’t penalise myself by leaving, even though I knew Joel wouldn’t let me.
Joel came back with two heaped plates, and we chatted and laughed as we tried in the best way to act normal. He seemed a little brighter and left me a couple of hours later with a plan after we discussed what would happen with the band. He was going to call a band meeting and discuss the impact of what Chantel’s actions had on the band. I knew all the guys would have his back and would go along with him no matter what the decision. One of the possible outcomes was that Joel said he would leave and they would then bring in a new singer as a replacement, but I knew not for one second would any of the guys even consider that option. The main issue was to try to do as much damage control incase Chantel became vindictive and started slandering Joel’s name. He was the innocent party, but Chantel was that vindictive. We had to be prepared for the worst, one being her leaking the photo and pretending that there was actually something between her and Joel. The wait was killing me, but all the worrying in the world would not help.
I had just finished my performance and taken a shower. Corinne and Micha asked me out to drinks, but I was not in the mood. I just wanted to sleep. Joel had kept me updated on what was happening. They had taken the Facebook page offline and Lee had changed the password and removed Chantel as an admin so she no longer had access. They had cancelled the two gigs they had over the next coming weeks and everyone agreed that Joel was not leaving the band. They would start over again with a new name if they had to and that made me smile. They were so fearlessly protective of him. So for now they were on a well-deserved break until the dust settled and then they would work out what to do next.
It had been a hard day and was just about ready to curl up with my Kindle when a unknown number flashed on my screen. I was in two minds not to answer it, but I clicked the answer button anyway.
“Hello.”
“Oh I’m surprised you answered. I was looking forward to leaving you a nice little voice message,” Chantel’s evil little voice replied.
“Whateve
r you have to say, Chantel, I’m not interested.” I was just about ready to hang up.
“So you saw the picture then,” she asked tauntingly.
“No.”
“What?” she shrieked. “Oh don’t worry, I’ll resend it. Wouldn’t want you to miss this.”
“Seriously, don’t bother. I won’t believe your lies anyway.”
“So do you know Joel kissed me? It was inevitable really, we’ve had great chemistry from the start. These long distance relationships never last, if the guy isn’t entertained, he loses interest and looks elsewhere. Which is true in Joel’s case. I was only too happy to fill your spot.” I could almost see her smirking in delight.
“Listen here, you deluded bitch. I heard it all, the conversation in the bathroom of how you were going to make a play for Joel. I recorded it all. I have it on my phone. I knew what your plan was all along. I guess desperate times call for desperate measures when Joel still didn’t fall for your charm despite your best efforts. So you had to take it to the next level and lunge at him and then have your friend take a picture to then blackmail him. See what you don’t know is what we went through to get here. Joel loves me with all his heart and some little vindictive tramp is not going to make me think differently. So don’t even think about posting that photo anywhere because I will upload the voice recording file showing you to be a complete pathetic bitch who tries to steal other people’s fiancés. So are we clear? And don’t ever think of ringing me again or I will file a harassment case with the police. Now do me a favour and fuck off.” I hit the end call button, shaking so hard, but I was glad I held my nerve so it didn’t show in my voice. I was raging and I needed to vent, but I didn’t want to worry Joel. He’d enough to contend with. I was just going to have to hope my actions didn’t bring on any more consequences.
Chapter Thirty-One
The final performance was over. My eyes filled up as we took our final bow on stage before the curtain closed leaving us hugging each other in tears that our time had come to an end. The hotel was hosting an after party, which we were all to dress up. We all headed back to our changing rooms as we didn’t have long to get ready.