“Yes, but I grow more gorgeous by the day, darling. Didn’t you know?” Aralia grinned and pranced into the apartment, surprisingly agile for someone in thigh high boots. Caroline rolled her eyes and picked up some earrings she had laid out on a side table.
“Here are the blue earrings I was talking about.” She handed them to Aralia. Aralia quickly scooped them up and stood in front of the hall mirror, putting them on. Caroline finished putting on the last touches of makeup and pulling on her heels.
“All right, I am ready to go. Where is Jackie?” Caroline asked, putting her wallet from her purse into a sparkling silver clutch.
“She is going to meet us at the south entrance,” Aralia said, heading to the door. The two girls left the condo and took the elevator down to the lobby. As the doors opened, the doorman’s eyes widened at the sight of their outfits.
“My word, you ladies look spectacular. Fun night ahead?” Jeremy asked them, as he held the glass door open for them.
“Isn’t every night with me fun?” Aralia winked at him, as she flounced out the door.
The two girls got into a waiting town car that Aralia had ordered to take them to Madison Square Garden for the night. The concert didn’t start for another two hours, but the women wanted to get there early in order to hit up a nearby bar beforehand. After about twenty minutes in New York City traffic, the town car pulled up to the curb and the girls hopped out. Jackie was waiting there for them and squealed when she saw them, rushing forward with arms wide. She was wearing a sparkling silver sleeveless top with bright pink skinny pants. To top off her ensemble, she was wearing clear platform heels that looked like they had just walked off a strip club stage.
“Jackie!” Aralia hugged her and Caroline moved in between them to hug Jackie, too.
“Caroline! I can’t believe that you got us these tickets! This is going to be AMAZING! How did you ever manage front row? Logan Clay, holy shit. He could have me any day of the week!” Jackie said, jumping up and down, like a young school girl, fawning over her favorite celebrity. Caroline broke out laughing at her and Aralia joined in, pushing the girls toward the bar.
“Just good luck, I guess. Come on, let's get to the bar before Aralia shoves us over.” The girls walked two doors down to a local pub, parking themselves at the main bar. The bartender slid some coasters in front of them and turned on the charm, partially for better tips but also because there were three scantily clad, beautiful women in front of him.
“Hi, ladies, I’m Wade. What can I get you to drink tonight?” he asked, particularly focusing his attention on Aralia and her enormous assets.
“Gin and tonic for me, handsome,” Aralia shot back, not missing a beat. She leaned forward and gave him a flirty smile.
“I’ll have a beer. Whatever is on draft,” Jackie said to him. He nodded at her, but his eyes never left Aralia.
“Jack and ginger for me,” Caroline chimed in. Jackie turned to look at her with a puzzled look on her face.
“What happened to Miss Lightweight, who always orders a vodka cranberry, hold the vodka?” Jackie teased her. Aralia looked at Caroline suspiciously as she blushed.
Caroline smiled deviously. “Just felt like mixing it up a bit.”
The truth was that she really needed some liquid courage before seeing Logan. Her stomach was in knots, as if filled with butterflies crashing into each other. Her cheeks turned even more red as she thought about him, a fact that did not escape her girlfriends. Aralia squinted her eyes at Caroline, studying her for a second, then took a big gulp of her gin and tonic, banging it down on the bar.
“Alright, fess up. What the fuck’s going on here?” Aralia demanded, her hands on her hips. Jackie turned and faced Caroline with one brow raised.
“What are you talking about?” Caroline innocently tried to dodge the inquiry, but both of the girls had picked up the scent and were not going to let it go.
“There is definitely something that you are not telling us, Caroline. What is going on with this concert tonight?” Jackie echoed Aralia’s accusation. Caroline sighed, took a few gulps of her drink, then turned to the girls.
“Okay, I got the tickets from Logan,” Caroline said, blushing again. She turned back to her drink and finished it off. She immediately lifted her finger to signal the bartender for a refill.
“What do you mean you got them from Logan? Logan Clay?” Aralia squeaked.
“Logan Clay? Musician, hottie hunk, cover of every magazine, Logan Clay?” Jackie gawked at her in disbelief.
“Yes, we met on Monday at the Java Jolt and he gave me the tickets. We didn’t really get along that well. He was so full of himself, I wasn’t very impressed,” Caroline explained rapidly, hoping she could avoid talking further about it.
Aralia rolled her eyes and laughed at Caroline. “Oh well, sorry your golden helmet is too heavy, Miss Priss.”
Jackie didn’t say anything because her jaw had practically hit the bar in shock. Caroline grinned guiltily, snatching up her second drink that the bartender had just dropped off. The girls continued to tease her for the next hour, but Caroline kept a lid on her true feelings of attraction for Logan. She didn’t even know how she felt, so she really didn’t want to embarrass herself by talking about her silly romantic fantasy. They enjoyed a few more drinks before deciding it was time to head over to the concert.
CHAPTER FIVE
The concert hall was packed full when they arrived with almost no room to move. When the women first entered the arena and showed the usher their tickets, they were surprised not to have to fight through the crowds. Instead, the usher escorted them behind some red velvet ropes to a separate hallway that headed down the length of the auditorium.
They walked to the end of the hallway and took a right through some plush golden curtains, which led them out to the front row by the stage. He showed the women their seats, which were literally front and center. Caroline’s nerves began escalating rapidly, because there was no way that Logan would miss her now. She ran her hands through her hair, fluffing it out, hoping that it looked okay. She pulled on her blouse, rearranging it several times until she found a way that looked the best, or at least not the worst.
The crowd was already extremely loud, but the moment the lights dimmed and spotlights tagged the stage, they began to roar. Aralia and Jackie jumped up and waved their arms in the air, screaming along with the crowd. Caroline followed suit, but stood rather awkwardly swaying side to side with her arms around her waist. She was just as excited as her friends, but didn’t want to seem like a groupie in heat if Logan were to see her. She laughed at herself for that thought, doubting that he would even remember her. With all these fans in the crowd, there was no doubt in her mind that she would be just another blip on his radar of fans.
Music started coming out of the speakers and the lights went completely dark as a hush came over the crowd, eagerly anticipating the start of the show. Suddenly fountains of fire and sparks roared up from the back of the stage, illuminating a sole shadowy figure. Guitar chords pulsed out of the amplifiers and roared through the crowd, a heavy rock and roll solo lasting about forty-five seconds until the lights flashed on. Logan stood still in the spotlight on the empty stage. The room roared with excitement at seeing him as he looked out on his fans with a sexy grin.
The other band members suddenly became visible in their own smaller spotlight, music streamed out of the speakers. Logan swaggered forward to the front microphone with the dramatic manner expected of rock stars. He swung the guitar he had been playing around his back, grabbed the microphone, and began to sing. Caroline was at most six feet away from him, but still drowned in the crowd of girls screaming and singing along to his music.
Logan wasn’t even glancing her way. His eyes were squinted from the hot stage lights, looking above her out further into the crowd. This only confirmed her theory that he had never even given her a second thought. The front row started to fill up further, even though all the seats had already been t
aken. Women were apparently moving forward to get next to the stage. Jackie and Aralia hollered along throughout the first song, singing at their loudest volume possible, having memorized every one of his songs. She had been listening to his albums since the moment they came out, so she was easily able to sing along too.
As the first song came to an end, Caroline began feeling a little more outgoing and joined her friends in their raucous dancing and singing. For the next two songs, she just put the thought of the Logan she had met out of her mind, thinking only of the musician Logan that she had been singing along to for years. His songs were loud and upbeat, but not deafening and illegible. He had several guitar solos that pretty much brought the roof down with the screaming fans’ excitement.
Caroline admired his musical talent, especially his deep and husky voice. The way he was able to move seamlessly across a stage as if he had done it all his life was enticing and every woman in the room felt it. She swayed with the music, pumped her arms to the beat, and laughed with Jackie and Aralia like young school girls. She hadn’t felt this way in a while and she loved it. A feeling of freedom and being herself, shedding the invisible mask of stoicism and propriety that she usually wore. After about ninety minutes of singing, performing, crazy stunts, explosions, and nonstop dancing, Logan stepped up to the microphone for the final song in his set.
“This song is new and you are the first audience to hear it!” Logan spoke seductively with a wink. The crowd instantly cheered in approval.
“It’s a story about a girl and a boy, but aren’t they all?” Logan grinned at the crowd and picked up an acoustic guitar that was propped on the stage near him.
He took a few steps back and a stage hand rushed out a stool to him. The lights dimmed, creating a romantic ambiance as he perched himself on the edge of the stool. The rest of the band had left the stage and all the theatrics had come to an end. It was just Logan holding the acoustic guitar in front of a microphone. The melody slowly began, as the spotlight centered on him. The crowd fell silent.
Caroline sat down, as most of the audience did too. She had never heard any slower songs from Logan, especially acoustic songs. His voice changed from the loud, deep rocker voice she was used to and soothed into a raspy, soft sound as he began to serenade the microphone. Love struck fans cheered as he ended the first verse and slid into the chorus with a bit more vigor.
Caroline had been tuning in and out, but when she caught a line of the chorus, her entire body went stiff. Completely paralyzed with her eyes open wide, she stared at him.
“…hazel eyes over hazelnut coffee, her upturned nose, and her stubborn pose. She rules the roost as she scoffs in her cup, and rolls her eyes as if I’m not enough.”
Caroline’s breath was shallow as she tried to pull every word out of his mouth and directly into her ears. Was he talking about her? She had hazel eyes. She definitely had been pretty stubborn with him, but it was warranted, or so she reminded herself.
“She tossed my music, like she tossed my heart,
her little button nose like a cupid’s dart.
Can’t stand her mouth because her tongue is sharp,
her words cut the strings on my harp.
but she’s the sour that made my day sweet,
the prettiest lips I should never want to meet,
and the shiniest eyes I never want to leave,
through my heart, she’s started to weave.
Aralia turned to Caroline, her eyes wide and round. She grabbed Caroline’s forearm and squealed, bouncing up and down in her seat.
“Caroline, is that you? He is fucking talking about you!” Aralia whispered, not so quietly, while Jackie leaned over to get in on the conversation. Her friends were staring at her as if she was holding back a secret from them. She didn’t turn to look at them, her eyes were still glued to Logan. Her hands clutched the arm rests as she kept telling herself that they were wrong, but all she could hear was his voice and the soft lyrics.
Those hazel eyes hide her chained up heart,
but her play is over, now it’s my part.”
With those last lines, Logan turned to look directly at Caroline. It was the first time he had looked at her during the concert and she felt her entire body go weak from the attention. His eyes pierced straight through her. She could feel the heat from his gaze searing her skin. Finally, he sang the last verse and finished his love song. The lights went dark on the stage.
The show was over.
The crowd started to siphon out the exits, talking excitedly about how great the show was. Jackie and Aralia started pushing Caroline towards the end of the front row. They were trading thoughts about the performance, but their eyes were trained on Caroline’s face, trying to figure out what she was thinking. She smiled at them, putting on a false air of confidence.
“Ready to go?” Caroline said to them. They shrugged yes, following her down the row of seats toward the end.
“What did you think of the show, Caroline? Wasn’t it wonderful?” Aralia smiled behind her. Jackie quickly agreed.
“It was wonderful! He is very talented.” Caroline turned her head to tell Aralia truthfully.
Aralia smiled at her, then looked confused for a second. Caroline couldn’t tell why until she turned back around walked right into the chest of a tall, broad man wearing a black t-shirt that said “SECURITY” on it. She stumbled back a step, tripping on Aralia’s feet, who then tripped on Jackie’s feet, like a pile up on the highway. The girls collected and righted themselves, turning to look at the man.
“Sorry about that, sir. I didn’t see you there,” Caroline apologized, trying to squeeze past him toward the exit. He stepped in her way, blocking her. She looked nervously up at him. Aralia put her hand on the back of Caroline’s arm in a show of support.
“Mr. Clay has invited the three of you to join him backstage. Follow me,” the tall man spoke in a deep and ominous voice.
He turned around and began walking toward the edge of the stage. They glanced at each other and then decided to follow him backstage. The girls had been to several concerts together over their long friendship, but never had been backstage at any of them. They followed the security guard through a black door at the side of the stage, which led to a long hallway with vinyl floors and dingy white walls, cluttered with posters from concerts that had been held there in the past. When they got to the swinging double doors at the end, he thrust them open like they were two light pieces of paper he could toss in the air.
They scurried behind him eagerly. They were all excited, except for Caroline who could only think of who was waiting back stage for them. This man she had only met once, yet she had just heard their single exchange turned into a love song in front of thousands of witnesses. This was dangerous territory and she knew it. She looked for any reasons that contradicted what she was sure she had just heard. After all, musicians draw inspiration from many areas of their lives, often turning nothing into something. The song might have been based off of their meeting, but that is all it was. Just a song to sell albums and draw in more adoring fans. She could be honored that she might have served as a muse for him, but knew that she shouldn’t fool herself into thinking it was anything more than that. Still, that little tiny voice in the back of her head, that lived off of romantic comedy movies and fairytales, begged her to keep that door open.
Behind the double doors at the end of the hall was another perpendicular hall, resembling a boring office with rows of doors on either side of the hall going down as far as they could see. The man turned left and walked to the first door on the right that had a large golden star on it. He tapped on the door quickly twice, then slowly three times. He stepped back and stood in a military stance, waiting. The girls dropped back. Caroline took a step behind Jackie and Aralia, partially hiding herself from immediate view. Her nerves were on hyper drive and her stomach was flopping around, like a fish on land.
The door swung open and a bleach blonde, beautiful woman came swinging out, towe
ring over the friends in the hall. She glanced down at the with a smug look, then strutted down the hall. Caroline watched her saunter off, feeling a pang of jealousy over her tall, thin frame and the fact that she had just come out of a room alone with Logan. She knew for sure now that her daydreams were just that, only dreams. He was a musician. The blonde model was the type he would be surrounded by, not her short, brunette frame.
The security guard motioned them to enter through the open door, but didn’t move from his spot. Jackie and Aralia rushed in excitedly with Caroline lagging behind slowly, trying to stay in the background. They walked into a room that seemed larger than her entire apartment. There were multiple lounging sections with groupings of chairs and couches, as well as a fully stocked bar toward the back, a mini stage to one side with musical equipment piled up, and a curtained off corner hidden by a thick velvet curtain.
There were several people in the room, mostly drinking and partaking in other activities you might expect to find back stage at a rock concert. Logan was nowhere in sight, which Jackie and Aralia didn’t seem to notice as they were already at the bar, making drinks and talking to several handsome men who looked like they were either musicians or roadies.
Caroline walked further into the room awkwardly, putting her focus on some intriguing art pinned to the wall. The room was a bit loud, but she tuned it out and tried to breathe out her anxiety. She glanced toward the farther side of the room, seeing that Aralia and Jackie were already settled on different couches with groups of men and more models.
They were laughing and obviously enjoying themselves. She smiled for them, but that wasn’t her type of fun. She wasn’t interested in being surrounded by people most likely impaired from multiple substances. She turned back to look at the next painting on the wall, an abstract piece with swirls of colors, seeming to go in a certain pattern she couldn’t quite figure out.