Too Many Rock Stars (Access All Areas #1) (3 page)

I'd just finalised the roster for the next month and was about to post it online when the boss man, Chuck, came into my office.

He sat on the shonky sofa but didn't say anything. That was pretty unusual for Chuck. Normally he talked my ear off in the most annoying way possible. Chuck suffered from a short man complex – and probably a lot of other complexes as well – always acting like he had something to prove but never channelling that into anything productive.

I chewed on my nail, waiting for him to start but he just kept staring ahead.

Then he looked up as though he wanted to say something. I focused on him but no words came out. He just hung his head again.

Okay, it was becoming really uncomfortable. I glanced over at the paperwork on my desk, wondering if I should ignore him and keep working or if I should just wait for him to get started.

Actually, he did look a bit ashen in the face and that pulse in his neck was a worry. I hoped he wasn't about to have a heart attack in my office. Chuck was a total jerk but I'd much rather him alive than as a corpse on my sofa.

What would be so hard for him to discuss with me anyway? I was pretty sure I'd not done anything wrong recently. Well, nothing he'd find out about. And anyway, he'd never had an issue talking about stuff like that before.

He ran his hand through his hair and slowly raised his head.

"I've got some pretty shit news," he said.

"What's up?"

Knowing Chuck, this was all for dramatic effect and he was just going to bitch about some minor bit of shit going down. Like how the bar staff gave away too many free drinks or that some band nicked something from back stage. I don't even know why he came to me about that kind of stuff. I was the band booker, not the bar manager. My responsibility started and ended with the bands. I guess if they were pinching stuff from the club, I had some responsibility but not over the rest of it.

"I saw my accountant yesterday. There's been a huge fuck up with the taxes. I'm in debt. In big debt."

Chuck gulped.

"So? You can pay it off, right?"

All this fuss because he had to pay some taxes. His tax problems weren't my concern. I hoped he didn't want a loan because he should seriously know better than to ask that with what he paid me.

“It’s not that simple…”

“Huh?” Then, the words sunk in. This wasn’t just about him. “How does this affect the club?”

He didn't answer. I had no idea what Chuck's finances were like but he drove a pretty swish car and never seemed to worry about throwing money around on useless things like bimbos and flashy suits.

He shook his head and didn't look at me again.

I shuffled to the edge of my seat. "Chuck, this is the part where you reassure me that everything will okay."

"I'm not sure I can do that, Violet. I'm not sure..."

Hell, he was a mess. His hands shook and he'd gone even whiter. What would happen if Chuck went broke? Shit, would he sell the club? He couldn't sell the club. That was not possible. Surely he was just stressed because he'd have to cut back on his stupid expenses.

"You can sell your car. That's got to be worth a bit."

He scowled. "I don't own that. It's leased. Through the business."

Wow, you could do that? I had no idea how these things worked. I had no idea about the financial workings of the club at all. All I knew was booking bands. I bet those bimbos were leased too.

"Is the club going to survive? Should I be looking for another job?"

This was too big for me to comprehend. That throbbing neck vein seemed to have transferred from Chuck to me, like he'd handed me his burden. But I didn't want it.

He just sat there, hunched over staring at his hands for long enough that panic set in. He could say something instead of just looking defeated. Surely he'd know I had a zillion questions. Everyone would. That was a massive bombshell to drop.

My heart sunk like a drowning man. That was not what I'd been expecting at all. I couldn't get my mouth to work. I had the functionality and facial expressions of a goldfish.

"I don't know, Violet. I really don't know. He is running numbers now and trying to figure out how long we have to pay this back. Maybe we can pay instalments or something. It does mean that this place has to start making some serious money. Enough to cover my tax bill."

I wanted to ask how big the tax bill was but was afraid of the answer. Even though Trouble wasn't anything fancy, it must cost a heap to run, with wages and all that.

We had to pay the bands plus we needed at least two staff in the downstairs bar plus two upstairs on a regular night. Then there was security and cleaning and bussing. I had no idea how much money the club made. Of course, I knew how much the door takings were for the bands and how much we paid them but then there was the bar as well. It wasn't like the place didn't make money.

"We have to make serious cuts. No more bar tabs, no more free drinks. No more having half a crowd on a Saturday night. We need to get bands that will bring in people, paying customers."

Well, there went all of my work. I could tear next month's roster into pieces. This place had never been like that. That's why I loved my job. It wasn't some ritzy club just out to make money. We did stuff like gave bands a chance to prove themselves and all the misfits somewhere to gather. Even though Chuck was a jerk, this place worked. It worked as a family and a refuge from the shitty world.

"Will that do the trick?"

"It might, I can't really say at the moment. It's all a mess."

He was right about that. Things were going to change and I hated change. It seemed bloody stupid to me that just because Chuck or his accountant had screwed up, we all had to suffer. The moment of pity I'd had for him passed quickly to be replaced by a rage at his incompetence. I knew this was his club but in some ways it was mine. I was the one who booked the bands. That wasn't as easy as you'd think. It wasn't just picking up the phone and telling some bozos to come in and play. It was an art, a special blending of the right sounds and the right people to create something magical. Sometimes that meant seeing the promise in a young band and letting them play a few times to get their confidence. Nurturing them until it all clicked. I’d built it all up and made it something special.

Now Chuck had screwed that all up.

I'd given everything to my job. I had no life outside of work. I didn't date. I didn't have outside of work friends. I didn't even do family. Hell, for my last birthday, my family had given me a gift card to some swanky department store. It was still sitting in my drawer. The guys at the club had given me a caramel peanut cheesecake and a vintage pair of Docs. Shit I really needed.

My hands shook worse than Chuck's and the icky feelings took over my stomach. I stood up. I had to get up.

If Chuck sold the club, I'd be back on the streets. No job, no money, no friends. People say they'll keep in touch but that's easier said than done. I'd built up the roster at this place. I'd created something. If he sold this place then that would've all been for nothing.

“Well, thanks for telling me, Chuck. Now I have some calls to make so I’ll let you go tell the rest of the staff.”

Wow, I could sound so professional and in control but really I screamed inside. I wasn’t sure how I’d cope with this.

Alex came in early, almost as soon as the bar opened. Carlie nudged me as he walked across the room.

"I can see why you were giving Razer the brush-off."

I shrugged. I hadn't been giving Razer the brush-off. I'd been giving him nothing at all. Just a friendly warning to keep his distance. That wasn't dependent on another man being in the picture, he'd be outside the frame regardless.

Still, the sight of Alex did give me a little bolt of pleasure. I'd have to watch out for him or I'd end up doing something stupid. Damn his soulful eyes.

I'd called him earlier in the week to book him in for a gig.

"It's just you? No band?"

"Just me at the moment. I'm trying to get some guys together but no one has measured up until now. So, I'm a solo act."

He'd sighed as though the solo thing was weighed with meaning.

"We'd get a better a crowd with a full band," I said. His demo had been with a band not solo stuff. "But I'll put you on. You never know, it might be the best way to get to know some local musos. I'm sure you'll find someone."

"Do you know any cellists? I have some ideas for a cellist in the band."

I thought through the entire roster that had played in the club and couldn't think of a single cellist. I could reel off a list of a thousand guitarists, almost as many bass players and drummers. Keyboards weren't so common but still plentiful. Hell, I even knew a few piano accordion players and a dude who played the combs, but this wasn't the sort of place that attracted cellists. It sounded a bit wanky to me.

Alex sat down beside me and smiled at me again. Those eyes, I couldn't keep looking at him or I'd forget all my carefully made promises to myself. No dating rock stars, no falling for them. Damn it though, Alex made question if I could maybe take a night off from that vow.

I called Babs over to look after the door while I went backstage to check on the second band. They should've been setting up already. I knew them though and they were slackers. I'd have to kick some rocker butt to get them out there. They could cut their set short if they didn't get onstage soon.

"I could do that for you," Alex said, poking at the cash box while we waited for Babs.

"Don't touch that!" I yelled, snatching the cash away from him.

Why had he even suggested that? Seriously, the guy was cute and all but I would not be leaving someone who wasn't staff in charge of the cash box.

"Sorry," he said, putting his hands in the air as though to suggest he wouldn't dream of touching anything.

I handed the money over to Babs and headed backstage. Maybe I'd been too harsh with Alex. He might've just been trying to help but you couldn't be too careful. And, if he was offended, I'd have one less rocker to deal with.

As I opened the door to the backstage room, the smell of pot almost knocked me out.

"Hey, you bunch of useless stoners," I yelled at them. "Get yourself up on stage now!"

A few foggy grumbles greeted me but they did start moving. I noticed the opener band hanging around in the hallway, probably afraid to enter the band room with those guys taking over.

"Just a moment," I said to them and got a chair to prop the door open and get the smell aired out.

I thought Alex might be gone when I got back out but he was waiting in the same spot. He even had another beer for me.

“Anyone come in?” I asked Babs.

She shook her head.

I sat back down and counted the money in the cash box.

Violet, she entranced me. I'd gone to the club with the intent of charming her, throwing her a few compliments and treating her to my winning smile in order to get a leg up at the club. God, I needed that. I needed a fresh start and to put all the shit I'd left behind firmly in my past. That was the plan. I'd take this town by storm.

I'd heard through my sources that she was the person to get to know in town. I thought I'd sweet talk her and have her like putty in my hands within minutes. I didn't plan on anything more than that. Until I met her.

She wasn't so easy to win over.

I wasn't averse to a challenge. And she definitely was a challenge but not an unwinnable one. She put on that stony front but she'd be a marshmallow underneath it all. Girls like that always were.

As I put the final touches to my outfit, I knew she'd be hooked. Not that the clothes meant anything, it was the image, the whole package. Once I got on stage, I'd show her I wasn't just another rock star with nothing in his head and a short range weapon in his pants.

I'd known from the moment she'd fallen into my arms that she was for me. Her legs in those tiny shorts got my cock hard but it was her mouth that got the rest of me interested. Something about way she twisted it when she was thinking about work intrigued me. I couldn’t get that image out of my mind.

The only problem was that meathead who kept hanging around her. I had no idea what his game was but he wasn't her type, anyone could see that. She was sensitive and gentle. An oaf like him would crush her, physically and mentally.

My t-shirt stretched nicely over my belly. I patted my stomach, rock hard and nicely sculpted. Not the ugly muscles that meathead had.

As I walked out the door, I checked my phone. There was a message, someone interested in the "band members wanted" notice I'd put out. I replied as I walked down the street, telling him to show up at the gig if he could make it. He sounded promising.

The hardest part about starting over was getting a band together. So many idiots wanted to waste my time and most of them weren't even worth auditioning. If they couldn't follow the simple instructions in my ad, it didn't matter how well they played. I wanted no egos in my band.

I wanted people who could play well but who knew who was boss. I didn't need a democracy or a bunch of friends. Doing it any other way would never work out. I knew that now.

I got there early, as I'd intended. I sat at the bar downstairs and ordered a whisky. The bar girl, Carlie, gave me a weird smile as she sat my drink down.

"We're not supposed to, but you can have this one on the house. You get your rider upstairs."

I nodded my thanks and looked around for Violet but she was nowhere to be seen. That was okay, I could bide my time. There was nothing to gain from being overly anxious.

When I finished my drink, I headed upstairs. There was a decent crowd already. I'd known I had a fan base in this town, it was one of the reasons I'd chosen it. A few girls ran over and asked for autographs. One of them slipped me her phone number. I gave her a wink but had no intention of ever calling her. She wore too much makeup and her top had a stain on it as though she'd spilt her drink. Anyway, banging groupies was not in my plan. Even if I didn't have Violet in my sights, flirting and the hint of a promise did much more than straight up sex. Sex just got messy and emotional. I wanted to be admired, not attached.

I sipped on another whisky and listened to the opening act. They weren't the type of band I'd have chosen to follow, far too much uncontained rage, but I wasn't in a position to be picky. I had to establish myself first.

A lanky guy with unkempt hair approached me just as I was about to go backstage.

"Alex? I emailed you. I'm Fabian, the bass player..."

"Cool. I'm about to get up but stick around. We can chat after I play."

I gave him a nod and went to set up. With just me, it wouldn't take long.

Violet came over before I went on. She looked even better than I'd remembered. Her short dress and boots were almost as sexy as those skimpy shorts. Some girls just look good no matter what they do and she was that type. With her hair in a thick braid and barely any makeup on, she still was as sexy as hell.

"You ready?"

"Yep, pretty much. Just me and my guitar. Are you sticking around for the set?" I tried to look like I didn't care but I sure as hell wanted to impress her. Without that, I'd not have a chance in this town and I'd sure as hell not have a chance with her.

She nodded. "I'll be watching. You've got a good crowd in tonight. That's going to impress Chucklehead Chuck. He's all about the money at the moment."

She was checking me out. She tried to hide it but her gaze was all over my body. The thought of her thinking about me warmed me up. It gave me an extra edge. This would be a good night.

I walked out onto the stage, fully aware of the cheers going up for me. I'd have them eating out of my hand before I was done. I didn't look around until I got to the centre of the stage though, then I gave a short salute.

I sat down on the stool and got out my guitar, looking around the room before starting into my first song so I could fix Violet in my sights. The combination of a slow love song and a meaningful look had gotten me a long way in life.

I started with a slow number, getting into the groove of the place. In the chorus, I caught Violet's eye and slowly smiled.

She was watching, not talking to anyone. I had her full attention and I meant to keep it.

I followed that up with a faster number, hoping to get a few more people crowding up to the front.

I'd waited too long to play again. That rush from the crowd had been missing in my life. With each song, that hollow part inside me filled up.

I smiled, knowing Violet watched me.

I finished my set to massive cheers and grinned, knowing I'd done it. She hadn't taken her eyes off me all night.

I gave the room another salute before picking up my guitar and heading off stage. I wanted to go running to her for her opinion but I'd make her wait.