Rock Revenge: Alex's Story (Access All Areas 4)

“Sorry,” he said again.

I glared at him. The apologies just annoyed me more.

“Let’s get started,” I said, picking up my guitar.

We got through the first song okay but, when I decided I wanted to go through a few newer songs, Hedley seemed to be a beat behind.

“What’s with you today?” I snapped.

“Huh?”

“You’re the drummer. You are meant to have rhythm. In this life, that is the one and only thing you need to do. Surely you can manage that.”

It went on like that for the best part of an hour. I wasn’t sure if they were purposely trying to test me or just if I’d reached the limit of their competence.

“Look, if the material is too hard for you, just say.”

I wondered if I should throw a few solo numbers into the set. That would be a chance to spotlight my talent without them ruining it for me. Hell, if I got signed, I’d dump these guys as fast as I could if it meant getting to the next level. When I’d played with my old band, things had just clicked. There was no need to go into lengthy explanations about how I wanted the song played or any of that. We rehearsed, we had a laugh, and things came together.

Maybe Pete would be interested in joining me. I had no idea what Dee’s intentions were with her band but, if I had a solid contract and festival dates, he’d dump her in a heartbeat.

Only that would make her hate me even more. Hell, I’d do it in an instant to any other person in this business without the slightest qualm but she was the one person I couldn’t screw over.

“Okay, let’s do a run through of the set list for Saturday night and leave it at that.”

“How long will it take?” asked Hedley. “I’ve got to babysit my niece after rehearsal and I don’t want to be late.”

“Well, stop making mistakes and we’ll get through it faster.”

I could feel the resentment radiating in the room but figured it was better to let them look inside themselves to work out their issues than to say anymore.

When we were done, I packed up and got out of there, less than happy with the session.

“What’s up his arse?” I heard Fabian say as I left the room.

“Woman trouble, mate. It has to be.”

Dee

You’d think playing the club a second time would be less nerve-racking than the first. But you’d be wrong. The first time we’d played, we were the openers and no one was there to watch us. Now, we were top billing and, even though it was a Wednesday night, that was scary as hell. The pressure was on, too. Alex was generous and had laid it all on for us but that only went so far. If we hadn’t built a bit of a following after the four weeks, we’d have to pack up and go home. He’d made it clear that he expected to make a profit out of this.

“We need to do t-shirts,” said Pete. “Other bands have t-shirts. It’d make us more money.”

“Who’d buy them? And who’d front up the cash?” asked Ferdie.

“Well, I would. Since I’m the one with a job.”

I turned away. I’d meant to look for a job but we had enough money to be getting along on and it hadn’t seemed that urgent but Pete’s words pretty much implied that we were lazy bastards. He had regular shifts at the bar now and the two of us did nothing.

“If you want to organise it, then go ahead.” Ferdie was always happy to coast along.

I’d taken my makeup along, intending to get sorted at the club, since we had to hang around after sound check. It kinda bugged me that the guys could go on stage just wearing their everyday clothes, jeans and t-shirts, while I had to fuss around with makeup and an actual “outfit”. I liked getting dressed up but I didn’t see why it should be a prerequisite for going on stage. Sometimes I felt like just being casual and this was one of those times. I was tired and cranky.

I hauled my makeup case and outfit to the bathroom. My eyeliner didn’t want to stick to my eyelids and my foundation seemed to slide off my face. The more I mucked around with it, the more I screwed things up. In the end, I wiped off my whole face and started again.

Someone knocked on the door. There was only one toilet cubicle for backstage.

“I’m busy in here. Go use the toilets out front.”