Sunny

Chapter 8

Lola continued to remain silent until the woman finished using the facilities and left and then, as if some one had lit a fire under her, Lola was finally ready to leave.

"Let go and sneak a peek!"

Rhea followed Lola down the long barren concrete corridor that lead to the stage, convinced that someone was going to stop them and make the leave, but Lola was acting as if she belonged and no one stopped them. They managed to make their way down to the pit on the side of the stage and Rhea felt the music swell around her and Eli's gravelly voice as it vibrated from the speakers.

Taking a deep breath, she looked up in time to see Eli move to the edge of the stage with the mic. The band had lowered their sound a bit so that he could be heard as his deep bluesy voice sang the words to a tragic love song. She knew the song well and when he came to the point in the song where he stopped power singing and started to almost speak the lyrics, she closed her eyes, remembering his voice as it had sounded when he had told her that he wanted her, that she was the girl of his dreams, his muse.

When she opened her eyes, he was staring directly at her, as if he was singing the song to her. He only looked at her for a seconded before he looked away, and she began to believe that she had imagined the look.

"He noticed us, did you see him look directly at me!" Lola screamed, she was almost giddy.

Rhea knew she had imagined his look of recognition, he probably looked at all of the girls that way. They stayed where they were for two more songs until security asked them to return back to the VIP waiting area backstage.

They waited in VIP room with a bunch of other people and Rhea stayed with Lola as long as she could, until finally, she couldn't take Lola was weighing the merits of each individual band member and which one would make the best lover. She wandered down the empty hall towards the stage area and she could hear the applause as it filled the stadium, making her wonder if they would do an encore.

It only took a minute for her to realize that the answer to that question was no, as the security guard that was walking ahead of the band spotted her and headed in her direction. "I'm sorry ma'am, you can't be here!" he said as he grabbed her arm roughly.

The raven-haired beauty was bringing up the rear of the group walking with Eli and she smirked at Rhea as she saw the guard take her arm.

"It's alright, she's with us!" Red, the lead guitarist, a tall lanky man with long red hair, said as he threw his arms around her shoulders and pulled her off to the side. The band had a new drummer and he looked at her curiously, as she smiled at him.

Rhea let her eyes wander from the drummer to Eli as he bent down to hear what the reporter was saying as they passed her. He didn't acknowledge her presence at all before they entered the VIP room.

Red kept his arms around her shoulders, giving them a squeeze. "Hey Paxton, this is our friend Sunny," he introduced the drummer. "She used to work for Eli and Victoria about a year ago."

Paxton grinned at her as he held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you," he greeted before Red nodded his head to the VIP room, telling him he should go ahead of them.

"Can you introduce me to your friend?" Paxton asked her as he walked away.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she'll introduce herself," Rhea assured him just before he disappeared into the room.

"Wait here," Red insisted as he followed Paxton.

Rhea stood, leaning against the wall, worrying her bottom lip as she looked at her feet. Why had Eli acted as if he had never seen her, he hadn't even smiled at her. She must have been right, he must still regret their last conversation.

She was so deep in thought that she was caught by surprise when a hand grabbed her arm and startled a yelp from her. She looked up to see Eli looking serious as he dragged her down the hall, towards a closed door, which he pushed her through and then slammed behind him.

She turned to face him and could see the muscle jumping in his jaw as he clenched it.

"What are you doing here?" he asked roughly.

"M-my friend Lola won tickets and invited me..." She licked her lips nervously and his eyes followed the movement. "I thought I would say hi."

He took a deep shuddering breath before he walked quickly towards her, grabbing her face in both hands, his lips claimed hers in a sudden and fierce kiss. Rhea was too shocked to respond at first but eventually she did and her knees gave way as she landed against him.

The kiss turned from hard to soft and then he pulled away and looked into her glazed eyes, tucking some hair that had come loose behind her ears, letting his fingers trace her face and lips before he pulled her into a tight hug, it was so tight that it stole the breath from her body just as much as the kiss had.

"I have to go back out there. Will you wait here?"

Rhea nodded into his chest, too stunned by the sudden kiss and hug to speak.

He set her away from him and she leaned against the back of a chair which was behind her. Her legs were too weak to hold her up.

"You'll be here when I come back?"

Rhea nodded again, letting her eyes travel over his familiar face, watching as a grin spread across it. She had never seen him smile in such away, as if he was happy.

"Promise?" he asked once more, his grin fading as he took in the details of her face.

"Yes, I promise." It was almost a whisper.

He grinned again then disappeared through the door, leaving Rhea to make her way on shaky legs over to the small sofa where she landed with a thump.

She didn't realize that her face was covered in a grin that matched his.