MARCH 2014
Laughter jarred Shannon from his sleep. His heart raced for a brief second as his brain tried to place him into familiar surroundings. He blinked rapidly, looking around the small room. His eyes landed on his suitcase and he remembered that he'd been traveling. Then he heard Jared's voice from behind a door and he remembered the tour. They were in London promoting the new album. He sat up and his heart rate slowed as he yawned. A few shoulder rolls were futile against the tension in his neck, but it was all he could do at the moment. He pulled on a pair of sweatpants from the floor and slid a hoodie over his head before opening the door to his room and walking into the living area.
"Ah, Sleeping Beauty," Tomo joked. "Decided to join us?"
Shannon yawned and slid a pair of sunglasses over his tired eyes, flipping his middle finger up at the guitarist before slumping into the buttery leather sofa. He grabbed a scone from the coffee table and took a bite out of it, not caring that he was dropping crumbs on his shirt. Jared looked at him and rolled his eyes as he continued his phone call.
"No, yeah that works," Jared said into his cell phone, knocking Shannon's feet off of the coffee table and giving him a glare. "I was thinking maybe we could try to schedule it for some time in the next week. That way it'll give us time to sell tickets and hype it up a bit."
Shannon finished his scone and immediately picked up a coffee mug and filled it to the brim with dark liquid from a carafe. He chugged several inches of it down before letting out a contented sigh. He turned to their tour manager, Eric
"What do we have on the books for today?" he asked.
"You guys, plus Shayla and Dan, are heading over to the BBC for a TV interview and performance," the younger man said. "Then we're going over to the venue to soundcheck so we don't have to do it tomorrow afternoon before the show."
Shannon looked at his brother. "What's he doing then?" he asked.
"We're setting up a short notice VYRT," Reni told him. "Probably in Germany next week."
"Can we do that?" Shannon asked the younger woman. "Every other time you guys have tried to set one up, it was a giant cluster-fuck."
The event manager glared at him. "I'm aware of that, thank you," she answered dully.
He grinned at his smart-ass comment as she got up and walked out of the room. By that time, Jared was finished with his phone call and typing away on his laptop. Shannon shook his head. His brother was a control freak; he couldn't handle less than perfection and had difficulty delegating any task bigger than a cup of coffee to anyone he didn't absolutely trust. The result was him being overworked and exhausted ninety percent of the time.
"Eric, when do we need to leave for the BBC?" Jared asked, sipping a cup of tea.
Eric glanced at his watch. "In ten minutes."
"Shannon, you should probably put some real clothes on," Shayla said as the room descended into chaos.
Shannon stood and walked back to his bedroom as ten other bodies leapt into motion. Jared remained on the sofa, typing. Tomo stepped out onto the balcony to make a phone call. Stevie grabbed the last scone and drained the carafe before darting out of the suite. Shayla grabbed her ever-present shoulder bag and trotted off to find Reni. Eric and several remaining roadies went into the hallway to have a quick conversation. Everyone had their tasks and got right down to them.
That's what Shannon enjoyed the most about touring. Knowing that he was constantly busy kept him from going insane from the monotony of "hurry-up-and-wait". Touring was a fast-paced venture, but there was an awful lot of sitting around, doing nothing too. He quickly pulled a fresh outfit from his suitcase and hopped into the shower. After a quick hose-off, he dressed in a pair of jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and a leather jacket. He opened his door just in time to see everyone gathering at the door to leave. He slid on a pair of beat-up biker boots and jogged after them into the hallway.
~~~
Their dressing room at the Graham Norton Show was packed with people. They had been there for two hours already and were only then getting ready to go on stage. After a quick soundcheck, they had been sequestered backstage. Every ten minutes or so, a producer would stick their head in to give them an update on what was happening. To pass the time, Shannon took several selfies before posting one he liked best. He also managed to complete ten levels of Candy Crush with relative ease.
"Damn you really must be bored," Tomo remarked when he caught a glimpse of a work email on Shannon's phone.
It was pretty well-known that Shannon would do just about anything to avoid having to answer emails from his employees and manager at his coffee company. When he started working, you could tell he was really desperate.
"Well it seems like this is taking forever," he replied.
Since it was usually Jared doing most of the press for the band, Shannon often had difficulties being patient in situations like this. Being the drummer meant he had a lot of down time, which could be a blessing or a curse depending how he looked at it. As if on cue, a producer appeared and they were suddenly being rushed to the stage.
Shayla handed Jared a cup of tea, which he downed quickly before handing back to her. They all had their monitors on and Shannon could feel the adrenaline building as they got closer to the stage.
"Does anyone know who we're on with tonight?" Jared asked the crowd of people surrounding them as they walked.
"Callie Morrison," Shayla supplied, hurrying next to her employer. "She's an actress. From the show Sanctum. She's promoting the new season and a play she's doing in the West End."
"Shit, I know that show," he remarked. "It's like two steps away from porn," he chuckled.
Shannon's interest was piqued. He was still a guy, after all. Mentions of sex always got his attention. Though he had heard of the show, he had never watched it. The whole idea of the BDSM and sex aspect had been ruined for him by the shit-show that was Fifty Shades of Grey. Sex clubs weren't uncommon in Los Angeles and he'd been in his fair share of them, so the whole premise of the show had basically gone off of his radar up until this point.
The group was led through a darkened hallway to a stage area where their instruments had been set up. Shannon could vaguely make out an audience in front of them and several cameras at different angles. He picked up his sticks and stood in in front of his stool as Dan plugged his monitors in. After a quick stretch of his arms, he handed the drum technician his jacket.
Suddenly, a shorter man in a well-tailored suit appeared in front of the audience and lights switched on from above, illuminating the theater. The man was surrounded by people touching up makeup and adjusting his wardrobe. Someone stood behind the camera with cue cards, waiting for the man to read them. A theme song played and the audience started cheering. Shannon kept his focus on Jared as he stood at the microphone and adjusted his monitors in his ears. After a ten second intro, the host ran onto a circular stage and greeted the audience.
"We've got a great show for you tonight," he said. "From the insanely popular new show Sanctum, currently starring in Tyrion Place in the West End, Callie Morrison is here!" The audience cheered. "And we will also have music and chat from Academy Award winner Jared Leto and his band Thirty Seconds to Mars!" More cheers.
Graham Norton ran across the stage to a red sofa and stood in front of it. Shannon thought that the man would probably have been a chihuahua if he was a dog in a past life.
"Before get started tonight, it's Thirty Seconds to Mars!" Graham shouted.
Immediately, Jared signaled Shannon and he launched into City of Angels. Graham watched from his side of the stage as Jared sang, walking up into the audience and doing his front man thing. There had been a time when Shannon had been jealous of his brother; he felt like Jared got all of the attention and credit. He seemed to be the wonder kid who could do no wrong. But then Shannon saw what it cost him.
The band's fans were extremely invested in all of their lives, but Jared's more-so. They stalked his every move. Shannon could swear that the CIA could learn a few things from some of them. They knew Jared's friends. They stalked his female friends within an inch of their lives. They could identify landmarks and places. They could put together intricate details from pictures and weave entire theories about his life. Hell, they probably could figure out if Wilkes Booth really had killed Kennedy or not. It made Shannon's head spin.
It was this realization that made Shannon glad that he was able to fly under the radar more. He could go grocery shopping without the contents of his basket being photographed and analyzed. He could ride his motorcycle without being chased and photographed by fans in their cars. He could go for a walk with a female companion without fearing for her safety and sanity on the internet. And he was happy for his brother.
Jared was like Tinkerbell, just minus the fairy wings and green mini-dress (though he could probably rock those too). He needed applause and praise to survive. All throughout their childhood, Jared had always been the ham; he was always putting on shows and constantly trying to get attention with his artistic endeavors. Shannon preferred his much more laid-back style of creativity to Jared's 'in-your-face' antics. He figured that's why he liked drumming so much - he could share the experience of making and performing music while avoiding most of the spotlight at the back of the stage.
The song ended and the stage was filled with cheers and applause. Shannon felt Dan unplug his cords and he stood up to follow Jared.
"That was incredible!" Graham said, applauding. "Come on over here!" Jared waved to the audience as he jogged across the stage. "Thirty Seconds to Mars, everyone!" Shannon walked around his kit and followed Tomo to the couch. "Good to see you!" Graham greeted each man with a handshake. "Sit yourselves down on the end over there."
Shannon sat between Jared and Tomo and picked up his glass of water.
"From the hit show Sanctum, and starring in the new West End play Tyrion Place, please welcome Callie Morrison!" Graham said, bringing the audience to applause again.
Shannon stood up again and turned to greet the new guest. He blinked when he saw that she wasn't the typical leggy blonde or brunette Hollywood favored. She was petite with copper hair and a size or two over a zero. Her simple, flowy floral mini dress was offset with a pair of beat-up leather boots and a black leather jacket. Each man greeted her with a smile, light embrace, and a polite kiss on the cheek. When it was Shannon's turn, he inhaled the scent of Irish Spring soap and was taken aback by a woman using a traditionally-male product. Her entire appearance was throwing him for a loop.
"Shannon - nice to meet you," he said into her ear. Her head came up to his shoulder and his arm fit easily around her waist.
"Callie," she replied, giving him a smile.
"Callie, you're over here," Graham said once introductions were finished. She sat down and crossed her legs. "Hiya," Graham said, in a chipper tone.
"Hiya," Callie replied, bringing a smile to everyone's faces.
"Dibs," Shannon whispered in Jared's ear.
"What?" Jared asked him.
"Dibs," Shannon repeated, this time throwing in a pointed glance at Callie.
Jared rolled his eyes and sighed. It was a rule they had come up with years ago when the band really started getting attention. Any time one of them saw a girl he was interested in, he had to call dibs or she was up for grabs. The rule hadn't gotten any play in years because their circles had widened considerably. But Shannon had seen the glint of interest in his brother's eye and wasn't going to let him weasel his way in.
Shannon zoned out for several minutes, thinking about what Callie looked like under that dress and trying to formulate his pick-up line for use when they were done. It wasn't until Jared nudged him that he realized he hadn't been paying attention.
"Callie you've spoken about how different getting around London has been for you compared to America," Graham remarked. "How is it different?"
"Well in LA, I mostly just ride my motorcycle," she explained. "But here in London it's ten times harder because of the traffic and everything. I've had to learn how to navigate the train system here."
At 'motorcycle', Shannon's ears perked up considerably. "What do you ride?" he asked her, leaning around Jared. The image of her petite frame on top of a roaring bike was playing dirty tricks on his mind's eye.
"A Yamaha XT500," she replied. "My dad restored it for me as a sixteenth birthday gift."
Shannon was impressed. A vintage bike was not something he thought a girl like her would have. "That's impressive. Do you like vintage bikes?" he asked, surprising himself with his sudden talkative behavior. In most interviews, he sat back and let Jared do the talking.
"Yeah. My dad has a Norton that I've made him promise to give to me in his will," she laughed.
Shannon let out a whistle of appreciation. "A Norton? Shit. I'd love to ride one of those."
"Fortunately, there's a Norton sitting right over here," Graham cracked, making the audience burst into laughter and Shannon blush slightly. "But the trains are a lot easier, though," Graham said, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand . "I can't imagine the traffic."
"It is nicer. But it's getting harder for me to do it now," Callie said with a smile. "I keep getting stopped by fans."
"Jared, you get stopped all the time, though don't you?" Graham asked.
"Yeah," Jared admitted. "Since the Oscars, it has gotten harder to go out and do stuff."
The audience erupted into cheers at the mention of the award. Jared gave them a smile.
"Yes, you were so, so good in that film," Graham praised him. "Well-deserved."
"Thank you," Jared said. "It was a wonderful experience and a really challenging role. I loved every second of it."
"Now, we just had a taste of your new album, but Callie you come bearing gifts as well," Graham said.
"Yes, I do," she answered. "I brought the first teaser trailer for the second season of Sanctum."
This brought a chorus of cheers and an air of excitement from the audience.
"Let's have a look at that and we'll talk some more," Graham said.
A video clip started playing on the television screen behind Graham and Shannon's eyes focused on it.
"It's about manifesting erotic dreams into reality." A masculine voice over said.
The camera panned across a large room, the figures in varying states of undress appearing blurry on the screen. The crack of a whip and a woman's moan led into a guitar-heavy rock song.
Callie appeared on screen, sliding a masquerade mask over her face. It glittered in the light. Then her voice came over the music and the screen went black.
"It's not about mindless sex; it's about pleasure. We derive pleasure from all sorts of places," she said. She appeared on screen again, dressed in an expensive evening gown, walking down a long hallway, pulling off articles of her outfit as she went. "You derive it from money." Her dress dropped to the floor, revealing a smooth pale back. "I derive it from blood."
The camera cut to Callie leaning over a man with a gun, her brown eyes highlighted with smokey makeup and her pillowy lips painted a deep red, a dark purple mask over the top half of her face. She held a gun to the man's forehead and flipped her copper hair over her shoulder. The music stopped and the noise of the gun cocking echoed.
The shot changed back to Callie walking down the long hallway, but now she was totally naked. The golden light warmed up her pale skin as the camera moved around her, hiding her breasts and ass. She stopped at a door and opened it, looking directly at the camera coyly.
"Are you coming?" she asked, a sexy smile on her lips.
The screen went dark.
"Oooohhhh!" Graham exclaimed, applauding excitedly. "It does look so good."
Callie grinned. "I know. I'm so excited to see how people like it."
"Now Jared, you guys did something similar with your video for Hurricane off of your last album," Graham said. "Does Sanctum appeal to you, or no? Have you seen it?"
Jared sighed. "You know, I haven't had a chance to watch anything lately. We've been so busy with the album and touring," he chuckled. "But I can certainly see the appeal and why it's so popular," he added with a glance at Callie.
Shannon knew what he was going to be doing on the flight from London to Perth.
"Is it weird still on set or are you all more comfortable with each other now that the initial shock has gone?" Graham asked Callie.
She took a deep breath. "I mean, there's always a little bit of nerves when you're walking around completely or mostly exposed like we are," she said. "But we have such a good bond with each other and we have an excellent crew that is super respectful. So I guess, yeah we're a bit more comfortable. But when you're doing the things we do to each other, are you ever really completely comfortable?"
"So the new season starts on..." Graham started.
"April 5th it's released on Netflix," Callie completed.
Callie looked over at Shannon briefly and he smiled at her. For a second he got lost in her brown eyes and he let his mind drift back to the footage from the trailer, namely the shot of her naked body. The interview continued, with Jared talking about the tour and album. They were the same questions he'd been fielding since the tour started and Shannon could easily repeat Jared's answers in his sleep.
"Speaking of live performances, Callie you are starring in Tyrion Place in the West End," Graham said, steering the conversation. "Tell us about that."
Callie cleared her throat. "It's about a family grappling with the reality of a parent suffering from dementia," she explained. "It's got a lot of laughs, despite it's subject matter," she chuckled. "And just a lot of heart and love. It's a very real depiction of what life is like for those who have to care for an infirm or disabled loved one. We've got an incredible cast."
"Jude Law plays your father, Maggie Smith plays your grandmother. It really is a fantastic cast," Graham confirmed. "And was it three weeks ago that the incident with the garlic happened?"
Callie sighed and looked at the audience in a mixture of apology and embarrassment. "Yeah," she admitted, bringing her hands up to her face. A look of pain came across it.
"Do tell," Jared said, his flirtatious smile spreading on his face.
"Okay. So in the show, I cook a bolognese sauce while Jude's character does a monologue," she started. "I chop a few things before crushing a clove of garlic. Well it's supposed to be pre-crushed so that I don't have to push too hard when it's time to crush it. So I get to that part and I bring the side of my knife down on the garlic, expecting it to crush easily. It doesn't. Instead, it goes flying into the audience."
A loud gasp came from the crowd.
"I should also probably mention that our theater isn't set up in the traditional way; we have several smaller "stages" as different rooms of the family's house. In other theaters, they have the whole seating house available for seats," she explained. "And I should also tell you that this was the night that Prince Charles and Camilla came to see the show."
Shannon could see her face getting more pained by the second, even though laughter was building.
"So I crush the garlic, it goes flying, and Charles and Camilla are sitting right in front of me. It smacks her in the head and I just freeze," she said, mimicking the action. Everybody burst into laughter. "You know how rabbits just freeze when they are threatened or surprised? That's what I did; I just froze. And I thought, 'This is how I'm going to die. I hit Camilla Parker Bowles in the face with a clove of garlic and this is how I die.' I legitimately just stood there and waited for the security guards to pile on."
Jared and Tomo were howling in laughter, wiping their eyes.
"What did you do?" Tomo asked as he gasped for breath.
"Well first I dropped the knife - for obvious reasons. Then I looked across the theater and saw Jude against the other side of the wall with this grin - you know the look the Grinch had on his face when he decided to steal from Whoville? That's what Jude looked like," she laughed. "And I just thought 'Fuck you, Law. Fuck you hard. And your mommy.' I'm glad he found it so hilarious. I'm over here basically going to get killed over a clove of garlic and he's laughing like Don Rickles."
The entire auditorium was laughing so hard.
"Didn't they come back after the show?" Graham asked, wiping his eyes.
"They did!" Callie laughed. "He told me he liked Italian food, but next time I should lay off the garlic. I'm still here, so clearly they didn't order me beheaded or anything. But damn! It was the most scared I've ever been in my life!" Callie exclaimed, wiping her own eyes.
Shannon was tearing up and his abs hurt from laughing so much. This girl was definitely not like others - she actually had a brain and a sense of humor. It wasn't like he preferred his women dumb or anything; it was more that he only seemed to attract dumb ones. Admittedly, dumb women were easier to coerce and keep under control and they served his needs well. But there was something about Callie that made him feel the urge to conquer her. As if he had to have her. She was charming and funny and his ego would not let him live it down if he didn't try.
And that's why, an hour later when the show was done taping, he was walking down the hallway in the backstage area searching for her dressing room. He found it in a matter of minutes and knocked on the door. It opened and another woman stood in front of him.
"Oh - hi. Is Callie still here?" he asked, trying to look around the woman.
She opened her mouth but Callie's voice came instead. "Shannon? Hi," Callie said. "Come on in."
Shannon slid past the woman and walked into the room. Callie was sitting on a blue sofa looking at her phone. She stood when she saw him.
"Hi again," she said with a smile. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to come by and say that it was nice to meet you," he said, forcing himself to remain calm and collected. "You don't see too many girls in Hollywood that are into motorcycles."
"Oh - thanks," she answered. "It was nice to meet you, too."
"So I was wondering if maybe you wanted to get together some time and go for a ride or something like that?" Shannon asked. He could feel his resolve disappearing as her eyes stared into his.
"Sure! That would be fun. I don't hang out with that many bikers these days but I think I could make an exception," Callie replied, a flirty smile on her face.
"Awesome!" Shannon pulled his phone out. "Why don't you give me your number and we can set something up."
She rattled off her number. "I'm in London for another three months for the play, but after that I'm back in the States. We could totally do a ride or something like that," she said with a smile.
"Great. Looking forward to it," Shannon said.
"Callie we need to go," the woman said.
"That's my que," she told him, raising her eyebrows and grinning. "Shoot me a text or something and we can work out the details."
He nodded and smiled, watching her go. Three months was a long time and he was sure there would be other women in that time. But now he had an in and could come back to her later. He grinned and strutted down the hallway toward the band's dressing room, feeling quite productive and pleased with himself.
GOSSIP BOARD
LETODREAMER606 POSTED: The guys were on Graham Norton last night. All three of them looked incredible.
STARKSY POSTED: I saw that. The episode won't air until Saturday.
BOLDASLOVE302 POSTED: They were on with Callie Morrison from Sanctum. They performed COA. Can't wait to see how they did. The boys are off to Perth tomorrow.
STARKSY POSTED: Ugh. Sarah's back to her usual trolling self, I see. I don't normally care about who Shannon sees, but it's so obvious he doesn't want people to know about her. If he did, she'd be allowed to post whatever she wanted.
DREAMINGOFLETO POSTED: I can't stand her. Why the fuck does he keep her around? After how horrible she was to those fans last month, she can suck a big toe.
LETODREAMER606 POSTED: I don't think it was all her fault. Those fans were kind of aggressive. And as much as we hate her being with him, Shannon is entitled to a private life.
STARKSY POSTED: Yeah, but she's not doing a very good job of keeping it private is she? She posts shit hinting that she's with him then complains about negative attention. It's ridiculous.