DANGER

 

Luminous stole the show at the conference. The reporters were eating out of their hands, and all it has effectively done is to bring up the old emotions of Recoil being the bridesmaid yet again.

This is meant to be our headline tour, and yet somehow at the press conference, we seemed to be treated more like the backup band and less like the hero of the day. It’s made my blood boil, and if there’s one thing I don’t need to be reminded about it’s how Recoil always used to play second fiddle. We were always basking under Ella’s band Staked’s limelight, and we could never get anywhere when they were around. They always had everything bigger and better than us. I guess that’s what happens when your father just happens to be a member of the biggest rock band on the planet.

Slayed was huge when we toured with them and Staked, and that really got us noticed in the UK and US, but not enough for Recoil to take off on their own merits. Without the backing of Staked and Slayed, Recoil fizzled into nothing. I think that’s when I gave up trying to make the band work on its own merits, when I knew how easily it came to Ella. It made everything so fucking frustrating. She had everything handed to her—record deals, headline tours, albums—everything just dished up like it was nothing. But Recoil, we had to fight and work our asses off just to be heard through the noise of everyone else.

It was hard and I just essentially gave up. It was stupid. I should have never left the band, and I should have never left the States to give up everything to propose and live with Ella. That was my biggest mistake. Being around her band and still in the industry, but not making music, tore at my very soul every day. But I did it for her, because I loved her, and wanted to be with her more than I wanted the thrill of the music.

I was a fool!

We’re packing up after the press conference. Luminous left leaving us to clean up—fucking typical, and I’m hanging with Matt when Nate walks over. Rolling my eyes at his mere presence, I stand taller when he stops in front of me.

“Isn’t it uncanny?” he asks.

I want to ignore him, but he’s piqued my interest. “Okay, I’ll bite. What?”

“Effa! She’s a tiny little thing, blonde hair, smoking body, beautiful face, innocent little nature… I can’t help but think she’s sweet, just like… sugar?” Nate smirks and my body stiffens as I think of Ella and her Sugar nickname. It suddenly clicks that Effa is a lot like Ella, not regarding her happiness, but in looks and even down to her name—Effa and Ella, they’re not that different.

“Fuck man,” I jibe and Matt glares at Nate.

“Bro, seriously, we have to tour with Luminous. Try not to be a dick and make things hard for the bands, all right?” Matt chides pushing Nate’s arm.

Nate shrugs and purses his lips. “What! I’m just pointing out what everyone was thinking... right?”

Shaking my head, I scowl at him. “No, not right. I hadn’t thought of Effa that way. But fucking hell now when I see her that’s all I’m going to see… Ella fucking Slade… thanks to you. Good one, Nate, you’re a real fucking ass fucker aren’t you?” I jab and storm off past him as he chuckles to himself.

“Good! When you look at her and remember Ella, then look at Lunar and think about the outcome,” he calls out after me.

My muscles tense as I storm away hoping like fuck Lunar isn’t still within ear shot to hear that crap.

Walking out of the press conference room, I notice Lunar talking to Effa, and it’s like my past and my present colliding. It’s unsettling, and my stomach flips on itself watching the innocence of Effa with the tough confidence of Lunar. Knowing how different they are, but how Lunar has changed my life so dramatically in the short time I’ve known her. Shaking my head, I walk over to the two women as they laugh together and turn to look at me with great big smiles.

“Hey big guy, we were just talking about how cool it would be for Recoil and Luminous to do a duet,” Lunar says, and I scoff.

“I haven’t heard their sound, it probably won’t even mesh.”

Effa rolls her eyes. “Oh… whatever! Just listen to us then make a call, gorilla man.”

Smirking, I tilt my head. “Gorilla man? You saying I’m hairy? Have you seen my chest?”

She chuckles. “No, but by the look of the ink I’m sure the tattoos tell a great story.”

Lunar frowns furrowing her brows slightly showing a hint of jealousy, and I exhale turning back toward Effa. “Okay fine, I’ll listen to your music. Drop a demo around to my room and I’ll think about it.”

She jumps up clapping her hands and squeals. “Thanks, this is gonna be amazing.”

“I haven’t said yes, Effa!”

“No, but you will.”

“And you think I’m a cocky shit?”

She laughs and nods. “Touché! But seriously think about it, a duet will only boost sales on the tour and get us both heard on radio. It’s good marketing, Danger.”

Lunar nods and I puff a gust of air from my mouth. “Shit, can’t argue with that. Right Lunar, let’s go. I gotta eat.” Grabbing Lunar’s hand, I pull her with me as we walk away from Effa.

“I’ll come by later with the demo.”

“Sure,” I call out and Lunar giggles beside me racing to keep up. “What?”

She looks at me and smiles. “You’re gonna cave to her, you know that, right?”

With a huff, I shake my head. “No, I won’t.”

She laughs, and we head off toward the hotel restaurant.

 

***

 

Sitting down, Lunar is at the table along with Ryan as we eat our small meals. I decide to discuss with Ryan what happened with Effa.

“So, Effa came to me about doing a duet with the band.”

Ryan nods taking a sip of his soda. “Well, honestly Danger, I think that could be a wise move. Her voice is amazing, and if we get the two bands to play together, it could benefit us both.”

“Yeah, but I don’t even know what they sound like?”

He nods and smiles. “I do, they’re pretty amazing, D, and to be honest, they are practically the pussy version of us. I think it will flow well and we should do it.”

“What do you think, Lunar?” I ask.

She smiles and her face lights up like she’s honored that I would include her in this. “Well, the way I see it there’s two options. You could join two of your preexisting songs together or, you and Effa could write a new song, one just for the two bands. I think option two would draw a better reception from the fans.”

Nodding, I smile. “Okay then, I’ll listen to Effa’s tape. Get a feel for their sound, and talk to her about a new song.” Even though every part of me wants to stay away from Effa, she’s a huge reminder of Ella and everything that went so terribly wrong in my life.

“Good idea, I think it’s the right call, D.” Ryan takes a massive bite out of his burger and we go about finishing our dinner.

We head back to the hotel room, Lunar’s hand fits perfectly in mine as we walk the hall toward our room. The light’s sending a harmonious glow down the hall, lighting the sporadically placed artwork which makes me smile. I’m in a relatively good mood as we approach the door to our room. Swiping my card it clicks and we walk through. Lunar places her bag on the counter and I turn pulling her to me. She smiles wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her body against mine making my cock strain in my jeans.

“You’re beautiful, you know that?”

She half smiles and leans in to kiss my lips, but just as her fruity deliciousness touches my mouth there’s a knock on the door. I groan pulling back and she giggles letting me go as I walk to the door in annoyance. As I open it I notice Effa standing there in a giraffe onesie. I furrow my brows looking at her, and she smiles wide like she isn’t wearing the world’s weirdest fucking outfit.

“Effa, you really are strange, you know that right?” I ask.

She smiles brightly, her pearly white teeth almost dazzling me with their brilliance as she steps forward making me stand to the side to let her pass.

“Thank you, that’s so nice of you to say.” She walks past me into my room, like she owns the joint.

I turn closing the door and look to see her onesie even has a fucking tail. Chuckling to myself as she strolls around and waves to Lunar, I shake my head rubbing the back of my neck wondering what the hell I’ve gotten myself into with this chick and her ridiculous hippy band. I glide past her and move over to the bed to sit down as she stands in front of the television. I want to keep my distance from her because even though she looks ridiculous, she still reminds me of Ella and any memories of her are just way too raw for me still.

“Okay, so this song I’m going to play you, is all about how when you love someone it’s with your whole being. Not just with your heart, but your soul, your skin, your hair, your energy and your aura.” She takes a deep breath like the words are soothing to her, as she closes her eyes taking in the peace of the silence as I look to Lunar, who’s trying not to laugh. I furrow my brows and shake my head.

She sounds like an idiot.

How can your skin and hair love someone?

She’s a fricking fruit cake!

Effa jumps on the spot and smiles wide. “Okay, so when I play the song, I want you to envisage a cloud of white light enveloping you and entering every pore of your body. I need you to feel the connection to the words, to the lyrics, and to the harmony. Okay?”

I take a steadying breath and nod. “Yep… okay,” I say just to placate her.

She pulls out her cell opening an app, and I look to Lunar, who shrugs and then turns back to Effa. This chick has seriously smoked too much of the wacky-tobaccy in her time. She presses a button and takes a deep breath.

“Okay close your eyes,” she instructs, then closes her eyes putting her hands out in front of her. One of her hands holds onto her cell while the other is palm out, facing me. “My aura reading says your eyes aren’t closed, Danger. Close them and imagine the white cloud of light,” she instructs as the beat kicks in.

I glance at Lunar while shaking my head, she rolls her eyes but then closes them.

I figure what the hell, it won’t hurt. So I close my eyes, but I certainly don’t envisage any ball of fucking light. My parents are hippies, I, am not.

The music wafts through the room. Ryan was right as I listen, the riffs and the beats are all similar to Recoil’s. Their sound is good, and a smile creeps up on my face as I sit up straighter on the bed. Then suddenly Effa’s voice filters through the cell and my chest tightens. It’s powerful, husky and strong. So completely hypnotic that I’m taken into a trance. It’s amazing and I know instantly her tone will work brilliantly in conjunction with my voice, and that this is the perfect move for both of us.

My eyes pop open as the song reaches its crescendo, Effa’s eyes are still closed as she sways to her own music. She’s a true free spirit and I stand up striding over to her, grabbing the cell and stopping the song. She opens her eyes, her body jolts and falls slightly as if she’s been woken from a deep sleep. She furrows her brows looking at me and her lips turn downward.

“You broke the white light… you don’t like the music?” she asks with a hurt look as Lunar opens her eyes wide in shock like she can’t possibly understand how I couldn’t like what I’d just heard.

“No, you have me wrong. I’m shocked that such a powerful, enigmatic voice can come from something as tiny as you.”

She smiles and nods. “Good vocal coaching… so what’s the verdict?”

“I say we write a song. You and me. A hardcore love rock song. High emotion, something people won’t expect from us.”

She raises up on her toes and claps her hands together looking up to the ceiling. “Praise Gaia, I’m so glad you’ve seen the light!”

“Well, sometimes we all have to step out of our comfort zones. A really great person recently taught me that.” I look over to Lunar and think how brave she has been lately, she really is an inspiration.

“Okay, so we have a few weeks of rehearsals before we start the tour. We should try to nail this song before then, right?” Effa asks.

I nod. “Yes, we should have it ready for the tour. If we can release it to the radio the opening week of the tour that would be ideal.”

“Right, so tomorrow… you, me, and a writing party we will go.”

“Yes, for sure. Good thinking, Effa.”

“Meh, I’m not just a pretty face.” She smiles tilting her stature to the side and Lunar and I laugh shaking our heads.

“Okay, I’m leaving so you two can do whatever it is you two do. Have a good night and I’ll see you tomorrow. And thank you. Thanks for this opportunity, Danger. I do appreciate it.”

Nodding, I pat her shoulder and lead her to the door. “No, thank you. This will be great for both of us. Night Effa.”

“Night Danger, bye Lunar,” she calls out as she walks through the door.

“See ya,” Lunar calls down the room. I close the door and turn walking back toward Lunar with a bright smile.

“I hope we can write something decent. My songs lately have all been a little… depressing.”

Lunar walks up to me and wraps her arms around my neck like we were before Effa came along, and I slide my arms around her waist running my thumbs against her soft skin under her shirt.

“Think of all the good things in your life, rather than the bad. Things are looking up now, Danger, concentrate on that.

Nodding, I pull her into a tight hug and nuzzle my nose into her neck. Her fruity smell invades my senses sending my cock into a frenzy. “What would I do without you?”

She embraces me holding me tightly. “Probably waste away on whiskey and hot women.”

Laughing, I pull back from her slightly and look into her blue eyes. “True story. So you’ll be here tomorrow to be my muse for when we’re writing, right?” She stiffens in my arms and chews on her bottom lip. “Or, maybe you won’t?”

“It’s just… I have a meeting with the organizers of the fundraiser tomorrow. They’re talking about having balls and galas and whatnot, where we can have special guest speakers… maybe have you guys play, you’re free. They’re saying they’ll get the who’s who of Oz celebrities to come along.”

“Well, that’s great, Candy. I’m so proud of you,” I say honestly.

“But if you need me to stay here and help you, I can talk to them via email?”

Shaking my head adamantly, I hold her tighter. “No way! This is your job now. You left the Savages to stand on your own two feet. You go, be the strong woman you’re meant to be. I’ve written hundreds of songs. How hard can one more be, right?”