MERCS
The Next Day
After not seeing Effa for the day and spending another night on the crew room sofa, alone this time, I run my hand through my hair. Effa’s such a ray of sunshine in my fucked up life, and I went and screwed that up. She could have been a really good thing for me.
My mind wanders to Kiera, my beautiful sister, and I can’t help but get a little choked up thinking about her and how she’s going right now. I’m doing this all for her, but money’s tight and I’m not sure I can meet the deadline for her procedure.
“I’m sorry, Kiera,” I murmur, as I start to pace the crew room floor.
“They say talking to yourself is the first sign of madness,” a deep voice echoes from behind me with a hint of a laugh.
I turn to see Tank standing in the doorway, his eyes gleaming like he’s amused. Rolling my eyes, I huff and move over grabbing my cell and shove it in my pocket then I walk over to him. “I might just be going crazy, man.”
“Well, no better bunch of people to be going stark raving mad with than these rockers. I tell you, it’s easy to be crazy around them,” he jokes, and I smile. “But really, anything I can help you with?” he asks.
“Nah, man, thanks though. Just something I need to sort out on my own… somehow.”
He nods and raises his brow. “Ahh… I get it. Women trouble getting you down. Well, don’t worry, my friend. We get paid today, so you can go out and buy your girl, Kiera, something nice to make up for however you fucked up?”
“Thanks for letting me know. Tank you’re a legend.” That’s great news, I can send some money home to Gran to put away for Kiera’s procedure.
He chuckles and nods. “I know that. What I didn’t know is that you had a girl back home.”
“No, I don’t. Kiera’s my sister—”
“Hold up… you’re not into that Game of Thrones type of brother-sister relationship are you?” he asks.
“Oh, gross, dude. No. Come on now—”
He breaks out into a fit of laughter, putting up his hands in surrender, effectively cutting me off as he bends over clutching at his stomach. “Oh, bro, you should have seen your face… fuckin’ priceless.”
Reaching out, I slap him on the back of his head as he continues laughing at me while following me out.
“So, you stayed here again last night didn’t you?”
I nod. It will be weird seeing Effa again in a matter of minutes, after not talking to her since the night before last.
“Why didn’t you come to the hotel with us? You know your room’s paid for, right?”
I turn to look at him furrowing my brow.
I didn’t know that. It’s one of the reasons I stay here because I don’t want to spend money on unnecessary hotels. “What! That doesn’t seem like something bands normally do?”
“Yeah, these girls take care of their own. They hire a whole floor for the two bands and the crew. Pretty sure they have a room marked for you. You might have to share with someone, but at least you’ll have a bed and...” he sniffs the air, “… a shower.” He chuckles slightly.
“Okay. Right.” I quickly sniff under my arms. “Is this something they do at every stop?”
“Yep. If they don’t have an entire floor, they will get the penthouse and then hire rooms for us close by. These girls are something else. They really care about everyone on their team.”
“Yeah, I think I’m beginning to see that.”
We enter the backstage area, and there’s a few more people milling around now. They’ve been filing in since about lunchtime, starting to get things ready for tonight’s final show before we move on to Colorado to set up for an intimate show in Denver at the famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre. I’ve had to work out a whole new lighting dynamic for that show as it’s a hell of a lot smaller, and the stage is only half the size of their typical setup. Plus, the audience size is intimate with just over nine thousand, so there will be no interactive effects, no waterfalls, only the girls and the lights to showcase their sound. ‘Going back to grassroots,’ so I was informed by Luke. I’m quite looking forward to Red Rocks actually, I’m sure Effa would have asked to go there.
After checking it out on the internet, it’s said to be a magical, spiritual, and emotional area being outside, set amongst a geological phenomenon of the only naturally occurring, acoustically perfect amphitheater in the world which is surrounded by plains that meet rocky mountains. A breathtaking wonder mixed with live music. I can see why musicians like Sting, U2, and The Beatles all performed there. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.
Jay walks up to us as we head to the backstage area and he smiles wide. “Yo… heard you stayed here again last night. You know that’s weird, right?” he calls out, and everyone around us laughs.
“Okay, okay, I get it. Don’t worry I’ll stay at the hotel with the rest of you tonight.”
A loud round of cheering echoes through the backstage area, and I burst out laughing as they all crowd around me. “Why guys, I didn’t know you liked me so much,” I tease.
“Shut up. We want all our team together. We don’t particularly like having a man out,” Tank expresses.
I like the team atmosphere. It’s a pleasant environment to work with.
Suddenly, a round of wolf-whistling rings out down the hall, and we all look around to see the girls making their way toward us. They’re not dressed in their concert attire just yet, but they’re all looking very stylish, except for Effa. I smile when I see her. She’s shoeless, makeup-less, her hair is down and looking extra wavy today. She’s wearing these crazy as hell pants, and a plain shoe stringed white top showing off her midriff that only just covers the fact that she isn’t wearing a bra.
She looks… like Effa.
She looks great.
On anyone else that look would be a complete failure, but on her it’s fucking hot, and I smile wide while staring at her. She looks so tiny and fragile, but I know beneath the tiny girl façade is a fierce woman who’s ready to take on the world.
“Cool it, guys,” Luke calls out to everyone as he walks behind them. And just like that my daze is broken.
Effa walks toward me along with the other girls. They’re talking amongst themselves as they approach, but I don’t miss the sly sideways glance Effa tries to hide as she walks past me. However, she doesn’t say a word and keeps walking. Alana looks to me with a wince and I sigh, rubbing the back of my neck in frustration. It’s hard to keep my thoughts in check when I don’t even know what it is I’m meant to be thinking. I hardly know Effa, having her being annoyed at me shouldn’t affect me, but knowing that I’ve upset her with my words sends an ache through my body that I can’t seem to shift. It makes the caring man in me want to go to her and try to make things better between us. But maybe sometimes space is the best answer. Sometimes not trying is the only way to try.
Tank lets out a small laugh. “Wow! I’ve never seen Effa give someone the cold shoulder. You’ve been here less than four days, and already you’ve pissed her off. Dude, what the hell did you do?”
“I was an asshole. She was nice, I was a dick, because Luke was in my face.”
“Mmm… Luke, the overbearing older brother type. He only steps in when he sees potential in something. Otherwise, he lets the girls run amok. So, if he stepped on your shoes about Effa, he sees a connection there with you two. Not trying to scare you off or nothing, but if you like the girl, which from the googly eyes I just saw you do… then don’t let Luke get in your way. I thought you had bigger balls than that, Mercs,” Tank states. He turns and walks away to start getting everyone in line for the evening.
Taking a deep breath, I straighten up giving myself the boost I need to grow my balls back. My feet start moving before I even think about what the hell I’m going to say. I really should be working this out in my head, but all I’m thinking about is how sexy the small of her back is, naked and exposed like that, as she stands facing Andi talking to her about something.
Alana sees me coming and opens her eyes wide like she didn’t expect me to make a move, but I don’t care. I need to let Effa know I didn’t mean what I said. That spending time, the kiss and holding her two nights ago meant something to me.
As I step up toward them, I hear Effa talking to Andi, and I can’t help but overhear her conversation. “So then Jett said he’d wait around for me after the show tonight—”
I stop on the spot just behind her. Alana shakes her head looking right at me as the other girls giggle.
“You and Jett are getting along so well,” Kristy interrupts.
Alana furrows her eyes at me and grabs Effa shaking her slightly. “Mercs.”
“He said his piece the other morn—”
“No, behind you,” she warns.
Effa turns to look at me. “Mercs,” her husky, velvet voice mumbles.
“Look, I’m not the type of guy who wants drama. So if you want to talk, I’ll find you at the after party. Right now, I have work to do.” I walk off toward the crew room, but she doesn’t follow me.
At this moment, though, all I really want to do is slam her against a wall and kiss the fuck out of her.
But what good would that do?