Haley With the Hazel Eyes

Chapter 15: At the Venue

The stadium was a hive of activity when Luc and Haley arrived, with people in hard hats directing other people in hard hats to move heavy looking pieces of equipment here or there. The seating had to be rearranged from that of a soccer stadium to that which would accommodate a music concert, with room for standing on the pitch, which would be covered to protect the surface. Different areas were roped off to indicate the different standing areas.

Haley was once again blown away by the sheer size of the place, and the idea that in a few short hours it would be filled with screaming fans.

"Come on, let's get onstage before Lewis begins his sound check," Luc suggested.

"What, me get up on the stage? Are you kidding?" Haley stuttered.

"No, it's fine, come on," Luc encouraged. "You're with me, I'm like an all access pass." He chuckled and held his hand out to Haley, who hesitated before taking it.

It felt warm and strong, and she could feel the callouses from where he played the guitar. She did not let go when they gained the stage, but merely remained hand in hand with one of the biggest superstars in the world.

"Here we are, isn't it amazing?" Luc was asking, gesturing all around.

And it was. From the stage, the stadium looked even larger, rising up around them on all sides to dizzying heights.

Wow.

Haley couldn't imagine standing in front of all those screaming people, let alone singing or performing in any way.

"You're so brave, to be able to get up here when this place is full of people and perform," she said.

Luc looked at her in surprise. "No, it's actually quite easy," he contradicted. "Being up here in front of everyone and performing fulfills me, it gives me something that nothing else can. It completes me in some way." He squeezed her hand. "It's like the best high, only without any of the horrible side effects of narcotics or alcohol."

Haley nodded, trying to wrap her head around how someone would want to do this for a living.

"I guess it makes a difference when they all love you before you've even done anything," she admitted.

"Yes, the feelings from the crowd are everything," Luc agreed. "If they were booing, or just waiting to see someone else, it might be different."

"Isn't that the truth," a voice next to them agreed.

Haley and Luc turned to see Lewis, cigarette in hand, smiling laconically at them. "I mean, some of them are here to see me, but most are coming for him." He gestured with the cigarette hand in Luc's direction. "It's hard to work up a lot of enthusiasm when you're literally second billed."

"But second billed in this circumstance is still huge," Haley protested, feeling self-conscious about holding hands with Luc in front of Lewis, who had glanced down to their clasped hands briefly. "I mean, regardless of the circumstances, people are still listening to your music, enjoying what you're producing, aren't they?"

Luc let go of her hand, but only so he could put an arm around her shoulder.

"There, Lew, now you see why I wanted her around," he declared with a dimpled smile. "She always makes everyone around her feel better, like sunshine on a cloudy day, to quote the Temptations." He squeezed her shoulder, drawing her in for a brief hug. She felt the warmth of his firm body up and down her side, and, surprisingly, she felt a zing, a swooping sensation in her tummy.

She wondered if hugging her made him feel the same way, and she looked at Lewis, who was watching them avidly, to see if he noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Lewis raised a skinny arm to lift his cigarette to his lips, taking a deep drag and exhaling, forming his stubbly jaw and mouth into a narrow circle to do so. He looked back and forth between the two of them, a cynical grin now playing around his lips.

"Yeah, I get it," he finally said, taking another drag from his cigarette. "That's why you keep her around, her sunny outlook on life. Right." He looked Haley up and down, his glance lingering on her cleavage and legs. "A perfect reason."

Haley felt like covering up, for some reason, though she usually wasn't self-conscious about her appearance. She had nothing to cover up with, however, so she settled for looking down at the ground.

Luc waved a hand dismissively in Lewis' direction. "Forget it, you wouldn't understand."

He turned to Haley. "Come on, Haley with the hazel eyes, let me show you craft services, which makes the best food in the world."

They turned and left Lewis standing in the middle of the stage, cigarette dangling from his hand.

Craft Services was indeed incredible, with a dizzying array of food, from sandwiches to sushi, from cake to candy.

Luc waved a hand at the array. "Anything you want to nosh on? Help yourself."
Haley grabbed a California Roll, even though it wasn't even close to lunch time.

Delicious.

"Do all tours eat this well?" she asked between bites. The California Rolll had real crab, which Haley had never had before, even in so-called "authentic" sushi restaurants.

Luc laughed and grabbed a piece of quiche for himself, which he just picked up and ate with his hand. He shook his head. "No, not usually. I mean, generally the performers, the talent, so to speak, gets good food, catered and all that, and the crew and everyone else gets crap."

"But?"

"But I feel bad to know that my crew and the rest of the staff aren't eating well, aren't enjoying what they eat, so I pay for them to have the same food. It costs more, but I think it's worth it in the end. Everyone knows they're getting the good stuff, and that makes for a happy crew." Luc shrugged and shoved the last of the quiche in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, and smiled at Haley. "And that makes me feel better, see?"

Haley nodded, eating another piece of her California Roll. "Well, this is delicious, I'd be happy too, if I got to eat this every day."

"Didn't you eat well as a caterer's assistant?" Luc asked, reaching for her hand once more to lead her somewhere else. "I mean, didn't you get to finish the leftovers and such?"

Haley nodded. "We were allowed to help ourselves to the leftovers, yeah. But sometimes there weren't any leftovers, and we'd leave hungry." She shook her head and laughed. "Then I'd have to stop for a hot dog or whatever on my way home."

Luc hugged her again, laughing along. "My poor Haley, serving shrimp tartlets to the elite, then having to have a hot dog from a vendor on the street."

This much contact with Luc was doing something to the circuits in her brain, not to mention her body. Haley could feel herself growing warm, along with that swooping sensation in her tummy again. She found herself wanting to lean into him, into his strong arms and taut thighs.

WTF?

Luc, too was feeling things from all this contact with Haley. He found the side of his body that was touching hers getting warm, and he wanted to pull her in tighter so he could feel her breasts pressing on him.

With one half of his brain, he was showing her the backstage rooms, where people went to relax and clean up between when they were onstage, while with the other half he wondered what color underwear she was wearing, and what it was that made her smell so fucking good. And he was enjoying the hell out of holding her hand.

Whatever. He told himself sternly and in no uncertain terms that that was not why he'd invited her along, and she wasn't that kind of girl, anyway, to quote her own words. Besides, Gigi, his current sort of girlfriend, would be arriving to join him in just a few days, and she could scratch that particular itch for him if he wanted her to.

But he'd never wondered what kind of underwear Gigi was wearing, nor had he ever thought her to smell particularly good.