Her Song

30 - Shattered

Except I wasn't.

Instead of an empty room filled with nothing but a pair of white sofas – never a good idea with rock bands in my opinion – a couple of chairs, assorted alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for after the show and the various personal possessions belonging to my guys I found all of that plus a pair of girls. One, clad in spike heels, a mini-skirt, fishnets and a strategically cut up band t-shirt was sipping from a beer and rifling through what I recognised was Ace's backpack. Her friend, more sedately clad in a pair of jeans, albeit tight ones, a t-shirt and a comfy looking pair of boots, was clutching an unopened beer and occasionally looking down at it as if she couldn't quite work out how it had found its way into her hand. Something about her screwed up face and anxious shuffling from foot to foot told me that she was the poor sap that her redheaded friend, who was currently trying to crack Ace's phone password, had dragged along for the ride. Oh, honey peer group pressure is a very bad thing.

"What the actual fuck do you think you're doing?" I exploded.

Jeans girl gave a squeak of surprise and pressed her hands to her mouth. The red devil looked up and snarled, "What does it look like I'm doing? Checking shit out. Now get lost blondie, we were here first. I've got first dibs and Cassie has second."

Jeans girl, who I took to be the aforementioned Cassie, gasped, "Courtney!"

"Bloody hell." I would have rolled my eyes but that would have taken energy I just didn't have. "You two need to leave right now."

"Yeah?" Courtney sneered. "And who's gonna make us?"

"Courtney!" Cassie was ready to bolt, the only question was would she take her friend with her or bail on her own? I was betting she'd try and take her friend with her. Courtney was clearly a skank queen from hell but Cassie gave off a loyal vibe. It was probably time she found herself some friends worthy of her loyalty.

"What Cassie? Look at her, the bitch is so drunk she can barely stand," Courtney snapped. "Who the fuck does she think she is anyway?"

Wow. Just wow. I was so exhausted I could barely stand but I wasn't bloody drunk! That was it. I'd had enough. All I wanted to do was to sit down on one of the sofas, rest my aching feet and back and maybe, if I was lucky, have a nap. But first I had to get these two women out of the room.

"She doesn't need to think she's anyone. She knows that she's the bands manager. Now, for the last time, get out before I call security and maybe the police if anything is missing from the guys' stuff." I took a couple of steps across the room and grasped Courtney's shoulder and pulled her away from Ace's bag.

"Come on Courtney, let's go! Jesus I told you we'd get busted!" Cassie was looking truly worried now and for the first time I realised how young they were, barely legal. And by barely legal I mean it would have been barely legal for them to be drinking beer in England. Here in the USA it was positively illegal.

Courtney scowled at her friend and then hit me with a full wattage glare. She shook my hand from her shoulder and gave me a shove out of the way as she stood up. As unsteady on my feet as I was I stumbled and tripped over Ace's abandoned backpack. Down I went, awkwardly catching the edge of the glass coffee table as I fell. It exploded into a million small pieces. The pain in my back that I'd spent the day trying to ignore suddenly went from a dull throb to fiery torment as it wrapped around my abdomen like razor wire. I gave a yelp of pain.

"Fuck!" Courtney exclaimed taking in the sight of me laying in the midst of the glassy wreckage, "I'm out of here!" And just like that she was gone, the door banging shut behind her, without a thought for me or her friend.