We were about to go on, it was the first leg of the tour across the states. I knocked back a little liquid courage and took the guitar in hand. The crowd screamed and shouted and I had to remind myself that there were fifty thousand people in the audience. As I'm playing a girl throws her panties onto the stage and I pick them up and put them in my back pocket. Got to play it up right?
The band played well into the night, finally bowing out at midnight. But my night had just begun. The groupies were waiting back at the hotel and I had my eye on one in particular. As I make my way back to my hotel I'm barraged by paparazzi and I'm asked several times by the people snapping pictures of me if I'm seeing anyone special and my answer is always the same. No.
The paparazzi try to follow me into the hotel but my manager rallies them for questions outside the hotel. I sigh as I go up in the elevator. I want two things, a bottle of Grey Goose and a cigarette. When I swipe the key card for my room and swing open the door they're all there. Clary, Maia and Isabelle. They're dressed in their best heels and dresses.
I take my hat off and smile at them as they lounge on one of the sofa's of the penthouse suite I'm staying in. "Hello ladies."
They chorus in a quick 'hello' putting their phones away and Maia pours me a vodka on the rocks. I light up a cigarette and Isabelle, probably the most head strong of the group comes up and kisses my cheek, she asks if we're having the other band members up to the room tonight and I nod.
"Should I set up beer pong?" Clary asks me.
"Yeah the guys will want to play," I respond.
These are my girls. I mean, technically the word is 'groupie' but I don't like to hear that word. I like them all but we've got no romantic entanglements. There's a knock at the door and I open it.
Alec's there, along with Jordan and Simon, the members of my band. They've got drinks with them and Alec has a 30 rack of beer with him.
Somewhere in the background I hear the girls squabbling over music but someone settles on something with a fast pace. Clary, who's been quiet all night slinks up to me. "Can I have this dance?" I smile at her, she looks perfect in a short dress and some black pumps. Before I can give her an answer though, more girls pour into the room and some of the sound guys come in and within five minutes there's easily 30 people in the room. I bring my attention back to Clary and smile. "You can always have a dance with me." I say to her.
If I had to pick a favorite out of the girls I keep company with I would have to say that Clary is it. She's beautiful in an other worldly way that the other girls have a hard time competing with.
The song she's picked is fast paced and I let her set the tempo for what she wants to do. Her petite hips are already digging into my groin and she knows what it does to me. She knows she makes me wild. I disband with my drink and put out my cigarette on a nearby table and let my hips sway with hers to the sound of the music. She's grinding into me so good. But then the song ends and she turns around, giving me a sweet kiss. "Do you need another vodka?" She says as innocently as she can for the hard on I'm sporting.
"Yes, come join me on the sofa?"
"Of course." She winks at me, winks at me for fuck's sake and goes to get my drink. That girl is some kind of head trip and I don't know what to make of her. Isabelle is macking on Simon and Maia is getting her ass beat by Jordan in pong.
An hour later and things have heated up considerably. The girls are talking in a circle amongst the people in my suite. All four of them make their way to the bathroom, giggling all the way. I have to wonder what they're doing since no one else is paying attention to them except Simon and Jordan.
I knock on the bathroom door and say, "It's Jace."
More giggling and I hear Clary's voice say, "Come in." Proceded by more giggling.
When I open the door a wall of sweet smoke greets me and I cough lightly. "You know there is a window y'all could open." Maia looks out of her mind high and I go to open the window in the spacious bathroom. "No, don't open a window we want to hotbox the smoke!" Clary says to me. They pass the joint around and I squeeze in between Izzy and Clary. Izzy passes the joint to me and I feel everything slow down as I inhale. "Whose weed is this?"
"Mine." Maia says. "We got it from Simon. He has that friend that grows kush." I smile, trust Maia to find the best weed.
We pass the roach around once more before there's nothing left and if I had to guess I'd say we'd hotboxed the bathroom pretty well.
I look at my watch, it's nearly 2am and I kind of want to have the rest of night alone with my girls.
I exit the bathroom and start rounding up people. Fifteen minutes later and it's just me and the girls. Maia has passed out cold on the couch and Izzy's eyes are looking heavy. Just to be clear, I'm completely wasted. But as I head to the bedroom, Clary is sitting on the bed looking pretty perky for 2am.
"Is it just us?" I ask her.
"I think so. Izzy looks like she's going to pass out any second."
"Will you sing?" I don't think she was expecting me to ask her to sing tonight. Usually I would want to do the dirt with her but her voice… well if you could hear it you would understand.
"What do you want me to sing?" She looks pensive and I can't blame her. Maybe she thinks I don't want her like that anymore?
"Mmm… Something soulful?" I light up a cigarette, take a drag and pass it to her.
"Hello, it's me, I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet. To go over everything, they say that time's supposed to heal ya, but I ain't done much healing."
I pick up the guitar and began strumming to the beat. Her voice is slightly raspy from smoking but I like it.
"Hello, can you hear me? I'm in California dreaming about who we used to be when we were younger and free. I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet, there's such a difference between us, and a million miles."
She's smiling at me as she sings with all her might and it's sexier than anything else she could possibly do. I continue strumming and and she belts out the lyrics.
"Hello from the other side, I must have called a thousand times, to tell you I'm sorry for everything that I've done. But when I call you never seem to be home…" Her voice fades away and she takes a drag of the cigarette.
"Do you think I could ever get a label record?" She wonders aloud before passing the cigarette back to me.
"I know you could. Adele would be ashamed if she could hear you sing her songs."
Clary flushes and I have to say I've considered talking to the guys about including her on some guest vocals. Like a light bulb going off I have an idea. "Do you want to open our next show?"
"Yeah. But what would I sing?" She says face flushing. "Wouldn't that be a big change from the country singer you've got planned for Toronto?"
"I never liked country anyway. And I think with a couple texts I could have permission for you to sing Adele at the openings. Could you learn the lyrics?"
"I think I already know the lyrics honestly. Do you want to hear one more?"
"Yeah, you know me, I can't get enough of your singing."
"This was all you, none of it me. You put your hands on, on my body and told me. Mmm. You told me you were ready, for the big one, for the big jump, I'd be your last love everlasting you and me. Mmm. That was what you told me…"
I strum along on the guitar and everytime she sings I'm impressed. "I'm giving you up, I've forgiven it all, You set me free. Send my love to your new lover, treat her better, we've gotta let go of all of our ghosts. We both know we ain't kids no more, send my love to your new lover. Treat her better!"
I give the guitar one last strum and clap lightly for her before drawing her in for kiss. I tease her lip in between my teeth before letting it go with a pop.
It was a good night and a good show. I'm ready to hit the hay.