by Andrea Smith
The curtain rose, and the lighting flickered on, spotlighting Slade, Wayne, Coop, Ace and myself, starting the chords of the song, as the crowd stood, and cheered, many of them waving the LED Glow Sticks they’d brought along, or bought at the promo stand in the lobby.
On cue, from the side of the stage, coming out from a side entrance Olivia came out skipping across the stage, holding her wireless mic, and belting out the opening lyrics to the song. The crowd totally went nuts. That had to feel good to her, not to mention ramping up her adrenaline, so all her jitters dissipated in those few seconds.
“Baby you come knocking on my front door…”
She fucking had this as she made it to center stage, stopping next to the other mic stand, which was stationery for me since I was playing guitar along with my vocals. She did the first two verses and choruses alone, and then when the second verse was coming up, I walked up and stood next to her at the front of the stage, and prepared for my solo vocal which was the first refrain.
I know you want to tell me good-bye;
I know you want to be your own girl.
And then we sang the subsequent choruses together. Olivia finished up the next verses, and the closing one line refrain, as the instrumentals dropped to a softer and slower volume, while she stepped forward to make the intros.
“Hello Seattle!” she bellowed into the mic, “It’s so fucking great to be here!”
The audience screamed, whooped and hollered and we stood back and continued the softer instrumental of the chords.
“I’m Liv Harris,” she continued, “and let me introduce you to the other members of Wasted!”
The spotlight moved to Slade, who was lightly tapping his drums. “Let’s hear it for Slade Rutgers on drums!” she yelled, as Slade gave a nod and did a quick solo tap on his drums and cymbals.
“On rhythm guitar, welcome Wayne Ellis!” she shouted, as Wayne took a bow and gave a wave.
“Over here, we got Cooper Townsend on bass guitar! Show Coop the love ladies, he’s available!” Liv yelled, which resulted in a bevy of shouting, and screaming females to jump up on the seats of their stadium chairs. Coop took the moment to play a few chords on his bass, giving a salacious grin and nod to the crowd.
“And last, but not least Olivia announced, “We got the very talented and married, Ace Coulter on keyboards! Give it up for Ace!”
There was whooping and yelling, but she’d left me out, which was actually part of the intro.
Immediately after Ace’s intro, the females in the crowd started stomping their feel, shouting, “Emmett! Emmett! Emmett” in a loud, timed chant that continued to rise.
Liv stepped closer to the mic, looking around at the audience, with her one hand up behind her ear, as if she were trying to figure out what the hell they were chanting. “What’s this?” she said into the mic. “Did I miss somebody?” she asked, looking around behind her as I stood to her right.
“Oh hell!” she hollered. “What the hell is wrong with me? Lest I forget, yeah, we’ve got Emmett Jackson on Lead guitar and vocals! But bitches be warned! Emmett. Is. Mine!” she yelled, pumping her fist up in the air several times to bring home the point, as they jeered with the knowledge at this piece of information.
I took a step forward, and plucked some Hendrix- type chords on my guitar for emphasis.
And now the part of the intro that even Olivia didn’t know about was about to take place. I felt my heart pounding in my chest.
“Wait! Wait!” Coop yelled into his mic. “What’s this?” he asked. “I don’t see no fucking ring on your hand, Liv,” he said, gesturing to her.
“Hell yeah!” some chick in the front row screamed, “prove it!” Yeah, the chick in the front row was a plant that Gordy had approved for this special part of the intro.
Olivia had a look of panic on her face, realizing this had not been part of the intro script. She gazed around at the rest of us, who at this time, had stopped playing the chords, and stood there waiting for a reaction. She definitely had a panicked look on her face, and I knew I needed to rescue her.
I placed my guitar down on the floor of the stage, and walked over until I was standing in front of her. Just then, the rest of the guys started playing the tune to the wedding march.
I descended down onto one knee, looking up at her, as I pulled the engagement ring from the pocket of my jeans, and held it up in front of her so that she could see what I held out to her.
“Olivia Harris,” I started, feeling the emotion fill my heart, “I love you with all that I am. Would you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?” I asked so that only she could hear my words because I had no mic.
I mean, what the hell if she said ‘no’? I’d debated as to whether or not Olivia was the type of chick that thought proposals should be held privately, and not in front of an audience of thirty-five hundred fans, along with the concert staff and the rest of the band members.
My heart was pounding as I held the ring up to her as if it were an offering, which in many ways, it was. I was offering to be her husband for the rest of our lives. To love, cherish, and honor her forever. To give her babies that we’d raise together. To be faithful through sickness and health, until parted by death.
Her eyes were full of love and devotion, and brimming with tears. I hoped I didn’t catch hell if her make-up ran, but I was pretty sure all that shit was water-proof.
“Oh my God!” she yelled, forgetting she still held the mic. “Yes, Emmett Jackson, I will be honored to be your wife!”
I slipped the engagement ring onto her finger, stood up, and wrapped my arms around her. She lifted her face, and I kissed her long and hard as the thunderous sound of applause echoed throughout the concert hall.
She pulled away, and lifted the mic back up. “See there ladies,” she said, raising her left hand up, and turning it around to show off the huge diamond. “It’s official. This boy is mine!”
Epilogue 1
Two years later…
Stacie Coulter dumped the basket of freshly dried clothes onto the only free table at the laundromat just around the corner from the one bedroom apartment she shared with Buck.
She went back to the other dryer, and pulled out the contents of that one and dumped it on top of the first one. She had a shit load of clothes to fold, and why the hell she’d waited until a Saturday morning to do them when the laundromat was packed, was beyond her.
There were snot-nosed kids running around screeching; shoving empty wire-basket laundry carts into her ass whenever she went down the row of dryers to check on her loads. Finally, she’d lost it and yelled for them to get the fuck out of her way. That had earned her some scathing glares from their respective mothers, but Stacie didn’t give a shit. Parents should teach their children better in her opinion, so that they knew how to behave properly in public.
She blew a bubble from the wad of gum she was chewing as she started folding the towels. Raggedy towels that had seen better days. She wished like hell Buck would get a decent job. They’d moved to South Bend over a year ago, after the protracted court battle to get Emmie had ended.
Of course, she’d lost. Even though Buck had married her to increase the chances of being granted permanent custody, and even prior to that, it had seemed like a no-brainer to Stacie. Emmie was her blood! Not Emmett’s and certainly not Olivia’s! All that bullshit about desertion was just a smokescreen for the truth: money, power and fame could buy any fucking judge. At least, that’s what Stacie believed.
But when Emmett petitioned the court to allow Olivia to adopt Emmie once they had gotten married, Stacie was not going to accept that lying down. But, the timing had been unfortunate on that one. Buck had lost his job at the car wash, and they’d had to sell his Harley just to make ends meet.
And then, right before the hearing her brother Ace had shown up. Stacie hadn’t spoken to him or Katie since she�
�d lost the custody battle, primarily because Ace and Katie had been witnesses supporting Emmett. Her own fucking brother! She almost hadn’t let him in, but when he told her he had some financial help, she’d caved.
“Here,” he said, holding up a thick wad of cash once he’d stepped inside the door of their tiny apartment back in Fort Wayne, “this should help you and Buck out until you get on your feet. It’s ten thousand bucks.”
That had gotten Buck’s attention where he’d been sitting in the kitchen. He appeared in the doorway, a half empty bottle of beer dangling from his index finger. “What’s the catch, Ace?” Buck had asked.
“Sign the release papers to allow Olivia to adopt Emmie. It’s the right thing to do.”
“The hell I will!” Stacie had screamed loudly in her brother’s face. “I won’t sell my daughter!”
“The hell you won’t!” Buck had hollered back, grabbing her by the shoulder and twirling her around to face him. “We need that fucking money. Take it or I’m gone.”
“Fine!” Stacie had hissed, “But I think we could’ve held out for a lot more than that!”
Ace had looked at her with a disgusted glare, as she reached for the wad of bills. “Sign first,” he said, pulling the folded packet of documents from his back pocket. “There’s a notary waiting outside. Let’s do this.”
After that, Stacie and Buck had relocated to South Bend where he had a job as a night watchman at the college. Stacie worked part-time as a cashier at a grocery store. Buck had used almost all of the ten grand to buy another bike he was restoring.
She started folding his boxers, lost in those unpleasant memories, when the lady who managed the laundromat stopped wiping down the washers and pulled the remote from her apron pocket to turn the volume up on the wall mounted television.
“Shhh!” she shushed everyone around her. Even the kids stopped their horseplay. “I wanna hear this y’all!”
Stacie looked up from her folding and nearly swallowed her wad of gum. It was Saturday Morning Celebrity, a weekly show where the host interviewed current high profile entertainers. The host’s name was Bryan Walters, and there sitting on the sofa opposite him were none other than Emmett, Olivia and Emmie.
Stacie’s heart thudded when she saw the happy family. Emmie was going on three, and she was a doll baby with blonde pigtails, and bright blue eyes. Stacie had figured correctly. That had to be Rocky Dinnen’s kid. She wondered whatever happened to him. The last time she’d seen him was when she told him her period was late. He was only sixteen. She’d heard he quit school and was traveling with a traveling carnival down south somewhere.
“So, Emmett,” Bryan Walters was saying, “Sources say that Wasted won’t be on tour again until early 2022, is that correct?”
Stacie watched as Emmett, looking as hot and sexy as ever, with one arm extended on the back of the sofa smiled and nodded. “Right Bryan,” he said. “We just finished up and are taking a break. We’ll be doing some recordings for our third album, but as far as touring, yeah, taking a year or so off.”
“I see,” Bryan replied. “Any other reason for the break, Olivia,” the host continued, giving a smile and tossing a wink to Olivia.
Stacie watched as her former friend rubbed a hand over what looked to be a baby bump, and beamed proudly. “We’re expecting a baby brother for Emmie in about four months, Bryan. We’re going to be doing some family time.”
“Bull-fucking-shit!” Stacie screamed, drawing the attention of everyone inside the laundromat. They all turned to stare at her.
Stacie’s eyes were ablaze with anger. She saw the stares, but she didn’t give a damn. They didn’t know what Stacie had gone through. “What?” she screamed looking around bug-eyed at those who were watching her. “You don’t understand! You see… you see that little girl on the couch there? That’s Emmie! I’m her mother–that little girl is mine and those fucking people stole her from me!”
Stacie immediately saw the looks of disbelief and doubt on their faces, and that served to infuriate her further. “I’m telling you the damn truth!” she hollered. “Emmett Jackson is not even her real father! But I am her real mother! What the hell is wrong with you people?”
Stacie was out of breath from her outburst; her heart was pounding, as her eyes scanned the now quiet room. People looked away, or cast their eyes downward. Some of the women whispered amongst themselves, shaking their heads in pity. The manager had switched off the television, and in the hushed silence of the busy laundromat, Stacie knew not one of them believed the truth. Not one of them understood that she had been the victim in all of this.
She studied each one until they all turned away and went about their business.
“Fine!” she yelled, “I don’t give a flying fuck if y’all believe me or not, but it is the truth, I swear! I don’t care what you think. I’ll save my breath, because I can see with y’all here that it’s simply wasted.”
And with that, Stacie Coulter grabbed her basket of folded laundry and left the laundromat, determined that in the future she’d take her business elsewhere!
Epilogue 2
Two years, four months later…
Emmett & Olivia
Emmett carried his three-year-old daughter into the private hospital room where his wife and newborn son were bonding over some breast milk.
“See Emmie,” Emmett said to his daughter, who was staring at the scene in front of them, her brows knitted in confusion, “there’s your baby brother, Oliver,” he explained.
“Mommy’s tummy?” she asked, obviously putting two and two together as a three-year-old would.
“Yep,” Emmett replied, kissing her soft cheek. “Oliver was inside Mommy’s tummy, and now he’s here with us.”
Emmie giggled, and wriggled in his arms, wanting to get closer. “Hold him,” she said.
“Hi sweetie,” Olivia greeted her, “How about if Daddy puts you down on the bed next to us while Mommy feeds Oliver, okay? Then you can help me hold him, would you like that?”
“Yess!” she said enthusiastically, clapping her chubby little hands together. “My brother!”
Emmett placed her down beside Olivia, and drank in the picture of the three most important people in his life: His wife, more beautiful than ever, with his son nursing calmly at her breast, and his little girl who he adored.
He recalled how Stacie had re-coiled the one and only time she’d attempted to breast feed Emmie. He looked lovingly at Emmie who was totally enraptured by this brand new little human being who’d just come into their lives. Her eyes wide with curiosity.
“How you feeling, babe?” he asked, bending down to place a soft kiss on his wife’s lips. The love they shared was bigger than life, more precious than anything he’d ever imagined.
Olivia looked up at him adoringly, “I’m a little sore, but other than that, I’m so blessed, Emmett. I love you, I love our daughter and son. I feel like my life is perfect.”
“Our life is perfect,” Emmett murmured, his eyes gazing lovingly over his family. “And you are the one who made it that way.”
Olivia smiled. “As much as I’d love to take the credit, I think we both made all of this happen. I hate to think what might’ve been had our paths never crossed.”
Emmett nodded, taking a seat at the foot of her hospital bed, considering her words for a moment. “Now that,” he said, “would’ve been a horrible waste.”
“We’ve been through a lot, but now I have total faith that everything was well worth it. It only gets better from here, babe.”
THE END
About Andrea Smith
Andrea Smith is a USA Today and Amazon Best-Selling Author of the G-Man Series! She has a wicked sense of humor, and no matter the genre, she is able to infuse laughter throughout.
She self-publishes Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Romantic Comedy, New Adult Romance, MFF Romance,
True Crime Fiction and Sensual Romance with a paranormal twist. She has collaborated with Author Eva LeNoir on three M/M Romances! Many of her books are also available on audio!
Here is a listing of her published fiction to date, an asterisks (*) indicates the book is available on audio!
Maybe Baby (New Adult Romance/Suspense)
These Books should be read in order:
Maybe Baby (Book 1)
Baby Love (Book 2)
Be My Baby (Book 3)
Baby Come Back (Novella)(Book 4)
G-Man Series (Contemporary Romance/Suspense)
Can be standalones, but are most enjoyable if read in order.
Diamond Girl* (Book 1)
Love Plus One* (Book 2)
Night Moves* (Book 3)
G-Men Holiday Wrap* (Novella) (Book 4)
Taz* (Book 5)
Walk of Shame* (Book 6)
Dude Interrupted* (Book 7)
Carson (Book 8 - releasing December 2020)
M/M/F (Men Series)
These Men* (Book 1)
My Men* (Book 2)
Beyond Series (Contemporary Steamy Romance with Paranormal Edge)
Can be read as stand-alone, but most enjoyable when read in order.
Broken Promise* (Book 1)
Broken Dreams* (Book 2)
Forbidden Series (New Adult- Taboo)
Need to be read in order.
Loving Jesse (Book 1)
Forever Jesse (Book 2)
Black Balled Series M/M Romance co-written with Eva LeNoir
(Should be read in order)
Black Balled* (Book 1)
Guns Blazing* (Book 2)
Hard Edit* (Book 3)
NA Suspense - Stand Alones
The Preacher
Dirty Diana (releasing Winter 2020)
Wasted (releasing Fall 2020)
Evermore Series (New Adult Romance)
Need to be read in order.
Crushed* (Book 1)