Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

The next morning I was awake earlier than what I would have been if it had been a normal school day. Truth be told I was terrified. Today I would have to speak to the guy that destroyed all of my faith in men. The four years I had spent in LA I hadn’t gone near a single guy for fear of being hurt in the way that Rob had hurt me. It wasn’t for lack of offers from some of the guys I knew and hung out with. I wasn’t ugly but I sure wasn’t beautiful. My hair was dyed black with chunky red streaks in it that shone in the sunlight. I was supposed to wear glasses but I mainly got away with wearing contacts that showed my brown eyes through. The same eyes my dad had. Chocolate brown, warm and deep my mum said. They were almond shaped so they looked really big when I managed to do my make up right. I didn’t wear too much make up but I loved my eyes so I tried to highlight them as best I could. I was quite tall for my age and puberty had implanted these huge boobs on me that I didn’t want, need or know what to do with.

I called Sarah the second she was awake. I needed to talk to her. If there was anyone who would even slightly understand it would be her. Or Brad. Oh god how was I going to face him. I drove over to Sarah’s to find her waiting for me in her front garden ready to start her day of tanning and doing not much else.

“Hey! Where did you vanish to last night?” she said when I plonked myself down next to her. I took a deep breath. Here we go.

“I need to tell you something. You can’t scream, shriek or go crazy at me until I’ve finished ok?” she nodded sitting up, listening intently. She loved gossip.

“OK so my parents have decided they want to give me my own record label which will be solely for rock acts and will be the way in which they teach me how to run the company. They’ve signed Cold Vengeance and in about an hour I’m meant to be meeting them at the studio to work on their album. The problem is I kind of know some of the guys out of Cold Vengeance since my time in New York. Brad was my best friend growing up and I kind of dated his brother Rob.” I paused for breath. Sarah’s face was a picture. She was so shocked.

“I met Brad at kindergarten. Our moms were friends. I grew up around them what with my family and his. I always had a bit of a crush on Rob because he was older. We started dating when I was 13 and it lasted about 6 months, I really thought that I loved him and that he loved me. I thought that we would be together forever and I wouldn’t have to leave New York for LA. Two weeks before we were due to move I found out that Rob had slept with a girl from his high school all because I wouldn’t lose my virginity to him.” That was the point where the tears started. It had been so long since I had told anybody this story yet it still felt so fresh and raw.

Sarah just stared at me for what seemed like forever. Slowly she began to move forward and wrapped her arms around me giving me a hug.

“Dick” she muttered “he never deserved you”. This is why I loved her. She always understood.

“So, you are going to go and sit in a studio with Cold Vengeance for the rest of the school year?” she asked. I nodded. She took a few seconds to digest this.

“No. Freaking. Way” she started to shriek a little.

“Sarah shush! Did you not just hear what I said?” I asked her.

“Yeah sure I did. So you and Brad can pick up where you left off and become good friends again and you can introduce us. Forget about Rob. He was a jerk to you and the ball is so in your court. You hold all the power as to how their album goes. He can’t get on the wrong side of you. Revenge is a dish best served cold. Hold that pretty head up high, go in there and kick ass!” her empowering little speech was so unexpected.

I smiled up at her, she was right. Rob couldn’t run the risk of pissing me off when it was my dad and our company that was determining his bands future. All I had to do was ignore him as best I could and treat him in a professional manner.

“Now, Chelsea, I have been your best friend for four years and you know how much I love this band so can you please swing me an invite to the album launch?” Sarah asked pleadingly.

“I will do better than that; I will introduce you personally once I've got sorted in the studio. Deal?”

She screamed a bit and jumped on me hugging me tightly. Damn I love this girl.

I said my goodbyes after we had hugged it out for a bit and set off on the short journey to the recording studios. This was going to be hard and I knew it. I had never confronted Rob about cheating on me. I didn’t want to hear his pitiful excuses. Instead I had just left for LA. It had been perfect timing really.

As I pulled up to the studio I noticed the bassist guy stood outside smoking. Not the sexiest habit really.

“Hey” I said to him as I walked up. “Is everyone else inside?”

“It’s just me so far, the others got a bit drunk last night so I figured I could get started on my bass parts first until they surface. I’m really sorry about them” he looked guilty and ashamed all rolled into one. This was not how you wanted your first day of professional recording to go.

“It’s fine don’t worry I’m sure there was a lot to celebrate” I replied. We headed in passing security without any trouble.

My dad was waiting for us in one of the studios with his favourite assistant producer Phil. I had known Phil since I was tiny and he was so cool it was untrue. He was always there to help with anything I had ever needed and he knew all of the coolest metal bands and had helped them out over the years in the studios. His stories could keep me entertained for hours.

“Morning daddy, Phil.” I said as I walked in. Matt followed silently and shut the door behind him. He took a breath as if to begin telling his story of the others being too hung over to come in.  I stopped him before he started.

“Daddy, Phil, I asked Matt to come in on his own first so I can get an understanding from him about how he has been managing the band and promoting it seeing as that has been his job since they started. I’d rather he told me direct than we have a three hour long chat with the whole band. Is that ok?”

My dad looked at me slightly impressed and nodded.

“That’s fine sugar. Give us a shout when you are ready to start recording the bass tracks. Make a note of everything that he says and we can brain storm later.”

With that they both left the room leaving Matt and I alone. He was so cute it was difficult to not stare at him constantly. The way his dark hair just flopped slightly over his eyes, he kept trying to keep it in place with a bandana.

“Thanks for covering for them, you didn’t have to” he said.

“Not a problem, I think my dad was a bit harsh trying to make you start work straight away considering the show last night plus being signed to a label. It’s a big deal, he should have given you time to party a bit.”

He turned and smiled up at me and I felt like I was floating. His smile totally melted me. This dude was so cute.

“So, Matt, tell me about the band. I must confess I'm not a fan although I was at the gig last night and I get that you guys are really talented.”

“Well, we met about two years ago now. It was Brad’s idea. He was good friends with Mick and Rob is his brother so they started to jam and then they just began adding to the band with me and then Xander. It works well. Xander is really calm and relaxed; he keeps everyone on track for the most part. We all pull our weight and we work like a team and it’s like a little family. It’s good.”

I stared at him for a few moments. Was it possible that neither Brad nor Rob had mentioned the fact that they knew me? If they did maybe Matt was being a gentleman by not bringing it up. If they hadn’t should I tell Matt?

I don’t know what to do.

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A/N - more of a filler chapter whilst I prepare the next chapter which will feature confrontations and reunions. im looking for cast ideas for any characters - all will be considered - if you comment and put your story link i will try read and comment tomorrow :)

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