A/N: Oooh a bonus chapter!
Battle of the Bands
by: Fashiongrrl
Chapter 8: Caritas
The next day, only a few hours after Andrew had broken the news to the Vampires (a continuation of the Saturday in Chapter 6)...
Lorne Green sat behind the bar at Caritas, only the most happening nightclub in LA, taking inventory on what appeared to be a pleasant Saturday afternoon. He heard the bell attached to the door give a little jingle and looked at his watch. It read 3 pm. Neither in time for the lunch rush or the dinner hour, he wondered who was invading on his quiet time at this hour. Two very upset figures trudged into Caritas and threw themselves into seats at the bar. Lorne took a minute away from his work and looked up into the forlorn and utterly defeated faces of Rupert Giles, big time record producer at Magic Box Records and Andrew Wells, manager of everyone's favorite Vampires.
The meeting with Wolfram, Inc. had gone worse than planned and it looked as if Vampires in Love were very close to losing their tour schedule completely. They had little hope that anything could be worked out. Not only were Giles and Andrew losing out on money, that wasn't the half of it. The worst part was watching the crestfallen faces of Spike, Wes, Xander, and Riley. In all the time Giles had worked with the Vamps, he'd never seen them as unanimated as they were when they walked out the executive boardroom at Wolfram, Inc.
"Hey Lorne," Andrew said rather flatly, his cheery demeanor obviously misplaced at the moment.
"Lorne," Giles said with a nod.
"Well hey there, Sad and Sadder, what's with the frowny faces?"
"The end of the world!" Andrew wailed, sinking his head into his hands.
"I'm afraid Andrew is being a bit melodramatic, although a nice scotch neat would help matters at the moment," Giles said. Lorne watched as Giles methodically pulled a handkerchief out his pocket, took off his glasses, and proceeded to unnecessarily polish the already immaculate lenses. He'd seen the move several times before and he immediately knew something was amiss, but he knew pressing Giles wasn't going to get him any information.
"Oooh, can I get a rum and Coke?" Andrew said, his blonde head shooting up. Giles gave him a sideways glance and sighed.
"Let me guess, hon, lots of Coke but hold the rum?" Lorne chuckled, remembering Andrew's usual order. He busied himself with getting out some glasses and pouring a finger of scotch for Giles.
"No, this time lots of rum, hold the Coke," Andrew said.
The bottle slipped from Lorne's fingers and splashed scotch all over the top of the bar. Giles reached for some napkins to help clean up the mess, but Lorne stopped him. "Oh my God, it's worse than I thought!" he exclaimed, holding his hand up to his forehead. Giles gave him an odd look as well, he seemed to be full of them today. That's when Lorne started pointing fingers. "You're about to polish your lenses back into sand, you just ordered alcohol, and for goodness sakes it's 3 pm on a fabulous California Saturday, and no one, and I mean no one in their right mind would be spending it inside of a bar. Well not until later tonight anyways. Okay I smell crisis, and not the kind where your purse doesn't match your shoes. What's going on?"
"Parker's Love Machine was arrested last night. Heroin possession," Giles explained.
"Oh my God!" Lorne said. "I knew there was something off about that guy."
"That's not the part that needs an 'Oh my God!' The guys at Wolfram at this close to pulling out of the Vampires tour. Cancelled, finished, kaput, finitio, nada, the fat lady has sung, it's over, sayonara, na na hey hey goodbye, arrividercci, don't let the door hit ..." Andrew rambled.
Giles interrupted, "I think he gets the point, Andrew."
"Oh, sorry," Andrew mumbled nervously.
"You're right, that is the 'Oh my God!' part. This is really bad, if they cancel the Wolfram tour it means --"
"It means we're out a lot of money, merchandise, tickets, equipment, special effects, technicians, costumes, everything in place and all ready to go in a few weeks and we have no bloody opening band! If I could wrap my hands around Parker's neck right now I would snap that boys head clean from his body," Giles said.
"How'd the boys take it?" Lorne said, referring to the Vampires.
"Don't ask," Andrew said, trying not to remember the yelling and screaming and having to restrain Spike in the negotiations with Wolfram, Inc. The only image that came to Giles' mind was the faces of his four favorite rockers, each one's expression gloomier than the next.
"So what's the sitch? I know the Senior Partners at Wolfram aren't exactly big fluffy kittens, but did they strike some sort of a deal? They're not guys who like to lose money," Lorne said, surveying the situation.
"We have two weeks to find an opening act, or else they stick the Vampires in a binding agreement where they open for annoying teen pop sensation Kennedy! They've got every big lawyer in their department prepared to destroy Vampires in Love if they don't comply," Andrew said.
"Two weeks? No problem," Lorne said with a grin.
"Are you daft man? A fortnight? You can't do anything in a fortnight!" Giles exclaimed, pounding back a scotch that Lorne had just poured.
Lorne walked around the bar, resting his arms on Andrew and Giles' shoulders. "But you see I don't need a fortnight. I just need one night. Go home, both of you need some rest. Shower, take a nap, and take the rest of the day off. Get yourselves dolled up and be back here Tuesday night around 8 pm. Bring the boys around too."
"Tuesday night? Wasn't Mystik Spiral supposed to be on then? I've heard them old man, and they are not what we need. I don't know why you're so charitable to them," Giles worried.
"What can I say, I got a little crush on the lead singer. He's delish! But no, they're not on tonight. Artistic differences. They broke up again on Thursday, and I don't think they'll be back together for at least another week. That's usually how long it takes them to come up with a new name. I think this is the fifth time this year," Lorne said. He pulled Andrew and Giles out of their seats and ushered them towards the door.
"Oh my God, its not Happy Meals With Legs or the Gentlemen or that freaky granola-eating hippie Gwendolyn Post? She asked me to be her manager and I gave her a definite no," Andrew said. "She was really scary, she told me she was going to put a hex on me!" he whispered as an afterthought.
"No, don't worry chickadees, it'll be all right, I promise," Lorne replied.
"Please don't tell me its Hope and Mr. Trick? That was the saddest lounge act you'd ever booked," Giles said.
"You forget, I had nothing to do with any of those bands playing here. I was on vacation that month, remember? That was all Flutie's doing. I fired him after I heard Happy Meals With Legs. I couldn't do anything about the other bands. But trust me on this one, I've got a winner. You'll love them, and if you don't -- which would actually be impossible -- but if you don't, then I'll open up for the Vamps myself. I do a really good version of 'Baby One More Time,'" Lorne said.
"The Earth is doomed," Giles said as Lorne ushered his friends out the door.
Lorne was the owner of the hippest, trendiest, most amazing club in LA. He was well known all around the globe for his various nightspots like the 9:30 club, the Viper Room, the Canal Club, and a host of other famous nightclubs. And in music circles he was known as the guy to talk to if you wanted to launch a career. A spot at one of his local band nights had brought glory to such talents as Incubus, Usher, Yellowcard, and the Donnas to name a few. He was also the owner of the national music magazine, Revolver and he did host a late night music hour on MTV occasionally. He wasn't perhaps the most famous celebrity, but if you were in music or if you followed the lives of celebs and where they partied, you knew who Lorne Green was.
The night before...
"Buffy Summers?" a voice said.
"Oh my God!" Buffy breathed softly. She jumped out her chair, wiping her eyes with a tissue.
"Did I catch you at a bad time, hon? Are you okay?"
"No, no, I'm just fine."
Lorne walked toward her and extended a hand, "I'm really sorry if I interrupted, but my name is Lorne Green and I own a little club in LA called --"
"Caritas? I wouldn't call it little," Buffy said, shaking his hand.
"Oh so you've heard of it?" Lorne said, pleased.
"Mr. Green --" Buffy began.
"No, no. Just Lorne. None of this Mr. Green business, just Lorne," he said interrupting her.
"I'm sorry, Lorne," she said before she continued. "Heard of Caritas? It's just one of the best music venues in the country. You've got excellent taste."
"Thank you! And you play excellent music."
"You heard us?!" Buffy asked incredulously.
"Heard you and loved you. I actually wasn't supposed to be in Sunnydale today, one of my employees was supposed to be down here scoping out some local talent but he had an unfortunate incident with a pink slip, so I took a drive down here. It's a pretty nice place."
"Thank you, Lorne."
"No thank you, I wish there were more bands like you. It'd make my job a lot easier. Anyways, I was wondering if I could invite you and Scoobies to play at Caritas?"
"Oh my God! You're serious?"
"100 percent."
"We... we'd love to!
"Excellent. One thing, I know this is short notice, but I have an opening for this Tuesday. Tuesday is one of our busiest weekday nights, and if we don't have a band, it's always bad business any night of the week in Hell-Ay."
"Tuesday? I'm sure that shouldn't be a problem, but if you don't mind I've got to talk it over with the rest of the guys," Buffy said.
Lorne linked arms with her and steered her towards the door, saying, "Well, do you think they'd mind if we found them now? I'd like you all to come to LA as my guests. I don't know what it is Buffy Summers, but there's just something wonderful about you girls. Maybe it's the fashion sense combined with good music. It's been a while since we've had a fashion conscious and talented girl band around, and I intend to keep an eye on you all."
With that Lorne and Buffy walked out into the Bronze, in search of Faith, Anya, Tara, and Willow, ready to give them some news that might just change their lives forever."
"Just you wait until Tuesday, Giles. I promise you'll have something fabulous on your hands," Lorne said to himself. He started humming a little tune as he made his way to the kitchen, ready to oversee his staff as they prepared for their usually busy and stellar Saturday nights in fabulous Hell-Ay.
A/N: Sorry no S/B yet. Be patient. Good things come to those who wait. You guys are the best readers ever for being so patient. Spuffy love and many Spike shaped chocolate cookies for all - FG :D