A/N: Okay… So, I have several stories in my head… And this story won't leave so I'm putting it out here to get it out of my head. I normally plan out my stories ahead a little bit. This one is a little different. I have NO IDEA how this will go or end. So… PM or REVIEW if you want to influence this story one way to the other. Again, this story was causing writer's block so I had to get it out…. Not my best work. Feel free to help/criticize/critique me. It will be much appreciated! (Slightly intimidated after reading some of the really good stories in the AATC section… help me get better) :-D
Setting: The setting is in Europe. The Chipmunks are coming to the end of their European tour. They are old enough to not have Dave with them. (He is back in the states.) I think that's all you need to know… Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Players
"I can't wait to get this over with so we can go home…" Alvin tossed himself onto the motel room bed, "I just want to go back to the normal world…"
"Alvin," Simon, who was seated in one of the chairs next to the window, looked up from the European travel guide he was perusing, "this is the real world… just not the real world in California."
"Whatever… They don't even speak English here!" he complained
"But the food is good!" Theodore offered walking into the room sporting a loaf of French bread and some other groceries tucked under his arm.
"And it's good for us to get some culture." Simon motioned towards the window which displayed a beautiful morning view of the Eiffel Tower.
"Culture? What culture? They're all just weird! All of them!" Alvin sat up, "At every single stop we've made on this tour we've done nothing but meet weird people. They talk weird. They eat weird food. I just want to go back home, grab a toaster waffle, and watch some television that I can understand…"
"Well, relax." Simon glanced back inside his travel guide before closing it, "This is our last stop before heading back anyway. One week and then you can have your toaster waffles… But in the mean time, I will be doing some sightseeing… want to come?"
"I will!" Theo called from the small kitchen.
Alvin's mind rolled at the thought of doing MORE sightseeing. Sightseeing? Again? How many sights do we have to see? It's all the same. Weird castles, tall buildings, leaning towers, old paintings… Alvin looked out the window Simon had gestured toward… and weird funky shaped towers in the middle of the city…
"No thanks…" Alvin replied as he got up from the bed, grabbed his cap, and headed for the door. "I think I need a little fresh air… you guys go ahead…"
"Come on. We're going to go to the Louvre first." Simon put his book on the side table.
"Yeah…. No thanks… doesn't sound cool enough for me." Alvin gestured towards himself before crossing his arms and putting on his 'coolest guy on earth' stance.
Simon rolled his eyes. "Come on…. You'll have fun."
Alvin just rolled his eyes and walked out the door. "See you guys later…"
"Hey, be back in time for the show!" Simon called out as the door shut behind Alvin
Theo entered the room and walked up next to Simon, "What's the matter with him?"
Simon sighed, "I don't know… he's been like this since Germany… when he met that girl…"
"Which one?" Theodore asked
"Any of them…" Simon put his jacket on and donned a blue French Barrett-styled hat. "I think the third girl... I actually think he liked that one."
"Really? I couldn't tell. He kinda treated her just like the others…" Theodore said as he slipped into his leather jacket.
Simon shook his head, "Yeah, I don't know… girls are kinda like his hobby…"
Theodore shrugged his shoulders, "That can't be that much fun… picking up a girl at every stop…. Then leaving… When do you think he'll stop?"
"When he starts thinking about more than himself…" Simon answered matter-of-factly.
"Hmmm. Guess we have awhile to wait then huh?" Theodore tried to joke
Simon just sighed in response…. "Yeah…. I know…"
Theodore saw that Simon was really bothered by their brother's activities so he decided to move on from the subject… "Well, let's get going… I want to try out that pizzeria or that café' that is across the street…"
"Okay," a playful smirk danced across his face. "Are you always thinking about food?"
"No… not ALL the time." Theo returned his smile with a playful light elbowing to Simon's ribs as he walked past him and out the door.
Alvin pulled his cap low and drove his hands deep into the pocket of his hoodie. It wasn't that he was trying to hide from anyone… well, maybe that was it… he wanted to get away. Hide from everything and everyone… Alvin's mind replayed the Chipmunks' last few months as they played and sang all across Europe.
It had been fun at first. Just like in America. There was the fans. There was the reporters. There was the fancy restaurants filled with famous people who wanted to meet them. There was the really nice hotels and motels that they stayed in… And there was the girls…
Alvin's face flinched as his mind briefly replayed the escapades and short romances that had begun to be a part of his life. Stupid girls… nothing but trouble…
His face furrowed as he remembered their recent concerts in Germany. Why is it always the same thing?... The same pattern? I go somewhere. Start to talk to someone and the next thing I know we're switching phone numbers… Alvin let out a sigh… Then we go on a date… and then I leave…. And then I see someone else… "and then it starts all over again…." Alvin mumbled aloud as he turned down a street that had fewer people.
Alvin began to reason with himself, Okay… sometimes I know it won't work… and I do it anyway... and sometimes I start something just to have a little fun... nothing serious… that doesn't make me like… I don't know… addicted to being a player, does it?
A burrowed frown revealed itself as Alvin continued to walk downhill toward a picturesque riverside view. Why am I such a player?... Why can't I settle down… Stop being such a jerk…
Alvin continued to walk and think before he stopped halfway across a walking bridge that crossed the river. I really wanted the last one to work out… I just want to start over… back home… Be real….
"Where is Alvin!?" Simon frantically burst into the dressing room. "Have you seen Alvin?!"
"Um… No…. he didn't come back from his walk?" Theodore answered
Simon was on the verge of panicking… they had thirty minutes until their 8pm show time and they hadn't even gone over the song schedule for this evening. "Did he say where he was going? Or when he'd be back?"
"No… he didn't... he just said he wanted some fresh air, remember?"
"Relax worry-wart" Alvin's voice sounded from the doorway behind the two brothers.
"Where were you!" Simon demanded…
"I went for a walk…." He responded coolly
"Do you know what time it is?! Nevermind… just go get ready…"
"Sheesh, relax man…" Alvin nonchalantly made his way to his dressing room to prepare for the show.
"I swear someday I'm going to kill him…" Simon muttered under his breath….
"Relax, Si…" Theodore put his arm on Simon's shoulder, "With any luck he'll find another 'distraction' tonight and be back to normal…"
Simon just shrugged and left to tell the manager that Alvin had made it back… Who'd have thought I'd want Alvin 'back to normal' again…
So typical… Alvin's thoughts wandered as he played the last chords to the song that they had been singing. Alvin scanned the small dining/concert hall that they were performing in… Let's see… yep… Over to the left there's the big, rich, and famous people's tables. And in the middle are the normal diner visitors that don't really care who is playing… the dance floor just to the right of them… and then the fans… Alvin's scan of the room had gone from the stage's left side of the room to the right. The left side of the restaurant was the reservable side, but the right side was open on a first come first served basis…. This side was the side that was nearly filled with the Chipmunk fans…
Alvin quietly let out a sigh… Let's get this last song over with so I can leave…
Simon began thanking everyone for the moderate applause. Alvin's mind continued to wonder…
I hate this… I'm a Rock star! Not a dinner-table sideshow! Alvin rolled his eyes and looked away from Simon back to the audience… A small bit of movement in the back of the room caught his attention as a small group made their way inside….
At the front leading the group was the restaurant owner/manager that had scheduled the chipmunks stop here… And behind him…. Alvin couldn't really tell…. Three maybe four smaller individuals followed him as they made their way through the reserved section of the restaurant to an open table… He couldn't really get a good view of them as they sat down and a waiter took their coats… And then another waiter took their orders…
"Ah-hem…"
Alvin heard Simon clear his throat and glanced over to see that they were all waiting on him to start their next song… Alvin started to play again… oops…
Alvin's guitar sprang to life as he started to play the opening chords to the last song… "Bad Day"
"Alvin… wrong song…" Simon tried to whisper but it was too late…
The two brothers adjusted quickly and came in at their assigned times…. Even though they hadn't practiced this song in a while or had the music for it in front of them, they had sung this song so much that they could pretty much pick it up…
Alvin's focus shifted back to the song as he led the chipmunks in one of their classic performance songs… During the guitar solo he looked up again…
There at the table he had glanced at earlier sat the most beautiful girl that he had ever seen…
She was short, probably an average height for a chipmunk, and all Alvin could see it that she was wearing a new, black leather jacket with a pink top that matched the pink French-styled hat that she was waiting. Now that the waiters had left, Alvin could see that the Chippette was sitting between two other Chippettes discussing something over dinner…
Alvin was so absorbing in looking at her that at the end of the chorus… he started to sing the second verse over again!
Simon shot a look at Theodore who continued to sing and just shrugged his shoulders in response… There was nothing they could do but follow his lead…
Finally, the song ended and the crowd began to applaud them again…
Alvin continued to stare at the table of three. The one dressed in pink began to clap along and finally looked up to see who had been singing. In an instant the two of them locked gazes. They stared at each other for a few seconds, but what seemed like minutes to Alvin, before the two of them both broke of the stare.
The Chipmunks bowed and backed up toward the back of the stage as the owner made his way up to the platform and began to address the audience… He spoke in French so Alvin didn't know what he was saying.
"Simon, what's he saying?" Alvin whispered
"He's saying…." Simon strained as he listened, "Thank the Chipmunks for a good time tonight. They played well. They will be here for this week. And…. Something about a new singing group tomorrow tonight when they open up the dance floor…"
The crowd applauded again and the Chipmunks bowed and then made their way off stage.
"Either that or he said, 'the Chipmunks' hair was a wet shower. They pay well. They sleep all week in rain. And the dancing floor will collapse under a new group tomorrow….'" Simon said a little louder once they were behind the curtain…
"I think you were right the first time…" Theodore piped up as they walked into the dressing room areas.
"Alvin?"
"Yeah, Si?" Alvin stopped before heading into his room.
"What's wrong with you? You showed up late. You sang the wrong song tonight…"
"What? No I didn't…"
"We were supposed to sing something peppy to get people in the mood for the dance floor when it opens up later… But you sang "Bad day" instead…" Simon pointed out
"Really?... Hmmm…. Must've been 'cause it was going through my head earlier today…. Anyway I got to go… I need to take care of something."
Before Simon could respond Alvin had disappeared through the doorway and shut the door.
"I am so glad this will be over in a week…" Simon moaned returning to his own dressing room.
Inside Alvin's dressing room, Alvin had jumped to life. He quickly double-checked the mirror to make sure that everything was still in order… Alright… coat? Alvin brushed off some lint of the edges of his tuxedo Check. Now the hair… Alvin dabbed some water on his hand and pushed a few of his stay hairs into place… Check… Tie? Alvin hated bow ties. He hated tying them. He hated wearing them. But even Alvin had to admit he looked good in one. He adjusted and tightened the tie, ever- so-slightly… Check… And the finishing move… Alvin grabbed his cologne and doused on a few extra drops.
Alvin stepped back and looked back at his reflection… "Alvin," he spoke to the mirror, "you are one sexy Chipmunk… No wonder no one can say no to you. "
Alvin turned and cockily made his way toward the door. "Got my swag on… Got my charm… Time to party…" Alvin concluded as he began to make his way back to the dining/concert hall.
A/N: What will happen next? I don't know… we'll both find out soon. Sorry for the choppiness (I thought is was choppy anyways) REMEMBER TO TAKE TWO SECONDS AND REVIEW… Let me know what you think… good, bad, awful, cliché', out-of-character-ness, misspellings… ANYTHING GOOD OR BAD JUST LET ME KNOW. (or anything you want to see happen)
THANKYOU FOR YOUR TIME! ENJOY LIFE! :-D