I would like thank everyone that has taken the chance to read this story so far! I'm very grateful for all your support! I've also put a few extra lines into the previous chapter to add some more detail. The earlier readers that saw this story before the second chapter came out might want to look back for the improvements!
This chapter will let you look back and see how Audrey met Mike. There is also strong language ahead! You have been warned!
The Band
Mike shuddered - stuck in place. There was no way in hell he was going to find his way out of this one. Audrey was completely furious. Not only that, but she had him cornered here. With nowhere to run, he had no choice but to submit - his hands held up in surrender to the terrifying diva.
"Hear me out for a second, Audrey," the young man uttered swiftly - his feet attempting to back up a few defensive paces.
A dark scowl distorted the face of the redhead, all while her nails tightened in their grip. "I can't decide if I wanna hear your bullshit excuses. Who is she, Mike? I heard the way you called her 'sweetheart'…" Words that bore truest venom - Miss Belrose wasn't backing down.
At that point, Mike had no way to defend himself. He struggled to keep his cool under the pressure, held in place by a painful iron grip , "Look, I'm-"
"You're what?" Audrey cut the blond-haired man off with a violent shout before he could finish, "…This has happened to me before. You guys get cornered and you come up with so many shitty excuses... Well? C'mon! Fuck... you're getting on my nerves."
Mike felt his body sinking in the middle of a conflicting sea. There wasn't much sense to be made of this situation at all. He'd met Audrey months ago, but she was always so distant - never staying for more than one night, and hardly ever keeping in contact.
'That was why we drifted apart like this... and now you come back? Christ, Audrey... you're yelling at me like we're married.'
A sigh escaped - its sharpness cutting through the tension. "For somebody that always makes out she doesn't care, you're really getting angry over this."
It was time to face the demon - running wasn't going to solve anything. Alas, Mike brought his emerald gaze up to connect with Audrey. The intensity of his stare was piercing; the degree of those prying eyes even caused young lady in the dress to flinch for a second - her red glare veering away.
"What the Hell are you looking at me like that for?" Audrey questioned with a searing shout.
Mike's leer continued in its intrusiveness, almost as if he were trying to look into the very soul of the vixen. There was something deep within those eyes of Audrey's; behind all of the anger, hidden away beneath the venom she held in her bitter frown - he wanted to know more than anything what it was.
There was silence now, especially as Audrey threw her long red hair back - releasing Mike to place both slender hands on her hips, "Stop glaring… RIGHT NOW!" Her voice cracked into a high-pitched shout, "I mean it..."
It was after many passing moments that the rugged gent saw it - the pain buried deep beneath the surface that the French girl was hiding.
"….You care about me a lot more than you let on," Mike spoke softly as he averted his gaze. "That's clearly your issue here... otherwise you wouldn't be making such a big deal about all this.."
Audrey's body language changed fast; became very stiff and almost robotic, "What? Are you high or something dude?!" Her eyes becoming wide for the slightest moment, that was before they focused back in as a narrowed; stabbing glare.
"If all I am to you is some two-bit tumble you spend the weekends with, then just let me know." Mike held his head back up - with a nervous shuffle in his step as he crept back, "Then at least that way, we can both admit we made a mistake and walk away…."
"Well, yeah," Audrey barked, "Of course that's all you were, you know?! I told you, do whatever the hell you want!"
Those words; the way said them, the aggressive tone in which they came across - they hurt Mike terribly, "Fine," he bit back with a scoff of disgust, his expression growing steely as he turned away, "I guess… we're done then."
This situation, had been resting dormant in the back of his mind for a long time. Ever since Mike met Audrey, a part of him always wondered how long they would be together. Now, the answer to that question was clear.
With a sigh, he started slowly moving his feet away. Each passing second brought with it a memory of their past - and precious moments he'd never get back.
However, just as he was about to turn the corner and go out of sight - his feet froze to the concrete. He had to say something - anything to let the feelings he'd buried for so long come to light. Indeed, Mike felt in his heart that he had to turn back one last time.
Though somewhat solemn, his expression still bore a weak smile, "Thanks," he uttered softly, the edges of his mouth curved into a showing of kindness, "….I'm glad I got the chance to meet you, Audrey. You're not as bad as you try to make yourself seem…."
There wasn't a reason to wait any longer, not now. As the sharply dressed fellow turned around again, his feet began to move subconsciously. Finally, they pulled him around the corner and out of sight.
"It was fun while it lasted..."
Ten in the evening - and right now Mike couldn't scrape his thoughts together properly. "Dammit... I need a fucking drink..."
Neon lights and loud voices - the students were out in force on this, a Friday night. Yet another reminder of how everybody else was having fun but him.
Feet closed in - the pounding of shoes echoing within his ears. Oh great, somebody was on his tail again.
"...Wait," Audrey called out with fire. There she was again, veering around the corner to cut him off at the top of the street. She held fast - barring his advance with open arms, deep gasps for breath escaping from her ruby lips.
For the longest time Mike didn't respond. No, there was too much going around inside his head.
'Why are you following me like this? It'd be better for us both if we just went our seperate ways and let this come to an end... I don't get you, Audrey... not one bit.'
"I'm not letting you walk away from me that easy, you jerk," she huffed - refusing to budge, "I shouldn't feel like this... you're just some guy, and that's what makes me so fucking mad!" Her voice shook under the pressure, "...Mike... you're a pain in my ass."
"Yet you're the one that keeps following me," Mike shook his head - his whispered words fizzling into the nothingness of night
Some people were straightforward. What you saw at a glance was a strong painting of their personality. Audrey Belrose, however, was no such case. True, she was indulgent; selfish, and uncaring at a glance. So why in the world was she being so persistent?
In a single deft movement he removed his jacket - tossing it over shoulder. He had to take his mind off things - thinking back to how he met her it bothered him to no end. "….I guess that's why I wanted to forget about it... because back then, when Kyu first turned up... a little while before I met Audrey, I was pathetic."
His mind cast back, the blond reluctantly started to reminisce. Four months didn't seem like a lot, but so much happened since then.
"Can't believe it's been that long already," Mikey sighed.
"Hey! What are you whispering for?!" Audrey's voice boomed - but it fell upon deaf ears.
It was bizarre how life worked. A single decision held the power to thrust everything down a very different path from the one currently travelled. Alas, his awareness of the present day surroundings faded into nothingness. Mike's thoughts took several steps back. It was as if he was there all over again - in Lusties nightclub where he met Audrey for the very first time.
A figure clad in denim with a rugged facade stood backstage at Lusties nightclub; his gaze fixed impatiently upon a mirror. "….I don't know how I feel about this whole denim look, Kyu. I mean, it's been sat in my closet since New Year, but, it doesn't feel like it fits yet." Uncertainty laced his smooth voice - a pair of stiff shoulders turning around to examine the fullness of the attire.
A slender hand reached out to grip him softly by the arm. He turned his head slightly and saw a petite young woman in a long; revealing brown dress with loose straps. "You look good, Mike. Beats all those crappy movie shirts you wore when I first saw you."
Kyu's human outfit always gave a 'lasting' impression. Her words however were more than enough to earn soft chuckle, "Least I don't sit around In bars wearing wigs," he retorted with a smile, "Besides, the pink suits you more," Mike smiled, "You should show off your natural color more often."
Kyu growled playfully - her fingers tensing around his arm even tighter. "The same wig I'm wearing right now…."
"Still prefer the pink," Mike smirked, "For some strange reason the whole 'candyfloss' look works for you."
"Yeah, whatever... smartass," Kyu pouted softly as she delivered a gentle punch to Mke's shoulder, "That'll keep you on your toes!"
Damn that was hard - Mike rubbed his arm, "Kinda rough, don't ya think?"
"Payback for making fun of my hair," Kyu gave a sinister wink, "Now... it's almost time for you to go on stage. Let's go over the important shit one more time."
The excited fairy gave an energetic fist-pump, "Confidence, Mikey. You have a new look and a new direction for your band. Keep it cool."
"Yeah, right," the young man spun round on his heels to grab a microphone from one of the stage managers, "I'm the boss…. I need to keep telling myself that," he uttered softly - giving Kyu a mock salute. "Don't think about it... feel it instead."
Kyu rolled her eyes, "You've been up here before... and last time you were on your own. Trust me homie, you got this!"
A snap of her fingers and the fairy vanished in dusting of magical sparkles, "Remember dude... use your Talent. Do that... and you can get whatever the Hell you want in life."
Mike took a deep breath to soak up the atmosphere of the club. His ears resonated with the sound of chart music humming in the background. Monday to Friday they played all the same electronic garbage in here, but Saturday and Sunday were different. The manager let in live bands and changed things up - making it a local hangout for the Rock crowd.
The blonde tapped his foot impatiently, "We ready to go yet, Jamie?"
A figure kneeled several feet behind - a man. He was a tall and stocky in terms of build = arms hairy and his hair greasy and matted. Lopsided shades concealed his eyes. Looking up with a grunt - the behemoth of a man put down the coil of black cables in his chunky hands.
"Yeah, not long now, Mike," Jamie responded - going back to plugging a crimson coloured guitar into an amp. "I just need to finish up here and we'll be almost ready."
"Good, good!" Mikey nodded in response, turning around to aim his eyes across the stage area to a mirror image - two identical twins.
"Neil... Steve," he moved to stand beside them, "You ready to do this?"
At first there was little in the way of a reply. Of course, they were distracted as always. Sighing, Mike took a moment to look them over as they hurried with their preparations - both adjusting their headsets with matching vigor.
Their identical clothing was striking - black jeans and vests with well-shined shoes. Both of them stood tall in size, but were thin in build, their pale; long arms scrawled in black ink tribal tattoos. Powerful brown eyes and long hair of purest night - nothing about them differed, making it a true nightmare to tell them apart. It had been easier in the past to identify them as a duo instead of asking for one specific half of the whole.
A nod in perfect sync from the two of them was the closest thing to a response Mike got from the two of them. It never ceased to creep him out when they did that, ever.
"We're good to go." Jamie voice bounced from behind the trio - a solid thumbs up gesture from one of his chunky hands acting as the signal before he dashed off stage.
The music inside the club cutting dead. This was it - the point of no return. Their time on stage was now. Sound hummed faintly over the club speakers for a moment, their backing track, and with the mic now in hand, Mike stepped forward - the curtains slowly crawling upward. Their obscuring him and his bandmates from view no longer.
Those green eyes of Mikey's scanned the crowd for just a brief moment. It gave him nervous adrenaline, a small sea of faces, no doubt that Lusties was well over half full, a couple of hundred people at least.
A suave sigh of adrenaline escaped from the denim-clad gent's mouth as he prepared, "We're the Third Betrayal," Mikey spoke smoothly and calmly - the backing track kicking in loudly, causing the speaker cones to shake. Their song was live and ready to go - a heavy modern Rock track with plenty of shred.
"We hope you enjoy," the twin guitarists chimed confidently through their headsets - picks moving to caress guitars as they started their piece.
The twins kicked up the opening to the song with flare. Mike simply closed his eyes and became absorbed in the music. It was almost time for his verse. As he opened his eyes again, they caught glance of a fiery red hue. A girl with pale skin; a frilly red dress; and long burning red hair. She was right at the front - stood there with her arms folded. Her expression was interesting; half pissed off, and half-curious, as her slender fingers knitted around the drink in her right hand.
It was time - Mike disregarded the sight of the girl as his verse drew in. One of the twins broke into a powerful solo on his guitar. That was the signal for the verse to start.
"Bring it back to me," Mike's voice smoothly called into the microphone, "The power that longs for me, what I need to take for my-self. This destiny, it's mine, against the will of all that's right, held back for too long, but now it's gonna be fine."
The crowd, they cheered with mighty flare. It was a call for more; they wanted the band to keep going. Even the girl at the front - Mike saw her sipping her drink with great interest. Everything was going smoothly - time to kick it up a notch. He closed his eyes and sang harder - all while the twins broke into synchronised riffs. The club was under their total control - and their idea to play in Lusties seemed to be a raging success.
The whole house wanted more from the trio. An hour later and they were still on stage. This didn't look to end their set anytime soon. Everyone was up on his their feet.
When their slot did come to a final; mighty end, Mike found himself slumped over the bar. It was a good hour at least since they'd finished packing their stuff up. With a tired smile, the young vocalist hailed the bartender "Give me a double, hold the ice," he yawned, face pressed against the bar.
Heeled footsteps echoed from behind. Mike didn't move. He hadn't the energy after such an intense show.
"HEY!" An abrupt, loud voice invaded his ears - body moving on automatic to pull from the tired heap in which it sat. When his eyes met with the sound of the voice from a moment ago, he found the color of deep red staring back at him.
"I saw you standing at the front," Mike smiled smoothly, "You got a name I can fit with your lovely face?"
That frilly dress; the long red hair, those piercing eyes she had, they were one heck of a combination, "….Well, YEAH!" she snorted in smug response, "My name's Audrey, and you know, considering that your music doesn't totally suck balls, I was HOPING you might buy me a drink."
She had some real personality - that was for damn sure. Mike laughed, "I think I can do that," he nodded, brushing back his blond strands. "Whatever you want, I'll get it for ya."
"GOD, okay! Stop being so cheerful and like, hurry up with my Daiquiri already. Audrey swept in like a diva and stole the seat to his side - hands rested impatiently upon her sides while she waited.
With a snap of his fingers Mike hailed the bartender again, "Your wish is my command."
After the drinks were ready, he looked back to the redhead. His eyes diverted downward to a piece of paper sat there on the table. Upon it was a hasty pen scribble. Numbers, and badly written ones at that.
"My digits," Audrey spoke in such an entitled tone. Her words implied so much, it was almost as if she was saying to Mike that he should be grateful, "Call me when you're like, gonna play here again... or you wanna to hang out sometime... not that I give a shit or anything."
The world slowed to a blur for the slightest moment - everything moved at half speed. A conquest of the female heart - and man did it feel good!
A smile curved Mike's lips as the world regained its normal pace, "Thanks…. You must like my music, huh?"
Another arrogant snort erupted from Audrey as she slid her drink closer, "Hmm… It's not bad!"
Alas, the drinking continued in honor of this personal victory. Mike's heart swelled with pride. It felt like things were finally picking up after such a long time. The band was in business, and this smoking hot girl had given him her number.
Someone's hand on the shoulder caused the smooth singer to flinch. Turning, he caught sight of the person who had stolen the seat to his other side.
"What's up, Kyu?" Mikey sipped his whiskey. The timing of her arrival was just too good - especially since Audrey was starting to go off on self-important rant.
The sexy fairy shrugged - her face curving into a very strange smile indeed, "….Just wanted to say that you did well tonight! You totally look boss right now!"
A cool smirk overtook the blond man's features - the core of his being pulsing with pride., "Thanks," his smooth voice sparked with a suave flare. "Having things go my way feels… good... real good!"
This sensation - the feeling of being on top of the game for a change - Mike liked it.
"You know what? I could get used to this..."
To be continued….
I wanted to think about this a lot and make sure it was just right before I continued! This prologue chapter idea came out better than I thought it would.
Once again, I would like to thank everybody that has taken the time to read this. Your support of my story is something I'm very grateful for! In the next chapter, I might dive deeper into the past of Audrey and Mike's relationship a bit more, but I'm not sure just yet. Please leave some feedback if you would like, and I will see you in the next chapter!
