The owner had been so cool.
“You’ve got no retail experience but you look the part, so come in Tuesday and start work.”
The place was dangerous, though. Dangerous to my wallet. There were about fifteen t-shirts I wanted to buy and a bunch of dresses. I’d gotten the boots with my first pay cheque.
The owner, Bindi, had warned me to go easy on the rock chick look.
“We want to be alternative but not scarily so. If some kid from the suburbs wants to come in and spend their money here, we want to make it easy for them. Cool, but not unobtainable cool,” She’d smiled and I totally got what she meant.
I arrived at the rehearsal studio, out of breath from the run. When I got into the place, I saw no sign of Pete and Ferdie. Damn it, I could’ve run a bit slower and not gotten so hot and sweaty.
There was sound coming from the other room. Shit, Alex was here. I could wait for the guys outside. That would avoid any awkward meetings.
After seeing Alex in the bar the other night, I couldn’t help but look for him at our gig. I was sure he’d be there and I’d prepared my attitude, cold and aloof. Not giving him the time of day. That would be me. Once I’d started playing though, all thoughts of Alex were long gone. The buzz of being on stage drove all that away. It was only afterwards that I realised he hadn’t been there. All that carefully prepared attitude had gone to waste.
Before I got outside, I heard voices. Pete and Alex. My heart jumped. Was Alex here to see me? I smoothed my hair. The guy obviously couldn’t pick up a phone but he’d manoeuvre his way into my life.
“Thanks for that,” Alex said to Pete. “You managed to get the sound just the way I wanted it.”
“Any time, mate.”
Huh? Pete had been playing with Alex? Was Alex intending to steal my band? The two of them had become best buddies again and Pete stuck up for Alex every time I said something bad about him. Of course, Pete didn’t know what had happened in Sally’s office.
“What’s going on?” I glared at Pete, not even wanting to acknowledge Alex with my eyes.
“Alex asked me to help him out with some stuff.”
“Oh, Alex asked you. Well, that’s fine.”
I was going to storm into the rehearsal room but Alex caught hold of me.
“It’s just a one-off. Don’t get worried.”
His hand was on my arm. I was so aware of his hand on my arm. I couldn’t bring myself to shake it off but I didn’t want it there. I wanted it anywhere but on my body.
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, because trusting you has worked out so well in the past.”
This rehearsal studio wasn’t big enough. It was filled with Alex. Even when he wasn’t around, I could smell his cologne and notice touches of him. As soon as the cash from my job started rolling in, I’d get another rehearsal space. All part of my easing away from Alex plan.
Alex dropped his hand but he still stood close enough that his body almost brushed against mine.
“Alex just wanted me to fill in on a demo track he’s putting together. It’s not a big deal.”
“Yeah, well, Pete, you were the one who dragged me into this whole band thing. If you want out, let me know. There are plenty of other bass players in the world.”
“It’s just one track, Dee. Don’t get hysterical.”
I backed away from Pete. Since he’d been hanging out with Alex, his whole “nice guy” facade had really fallen. I wasn’t sure if it was because Alex had some hold over him. I did know that we were small fish and Alex was a much bigger fish, maybe even a barracouta. If Pete got the chance, he’d ditch me for Alex in no time.
“I’m not hysterical,” I told him. “I just like to know what’s going on.”
“You really need to be a bit nicer to Alex.”
“Nicer? I think I’ve been nice enough. Considering.”
Pete tried to touch me, to calm me down but I recoiled.
“You’ve been a bitch to him, Dee. Alex isn’t the bad guy you make him out to be. And Jake sure wasn’t that saintly. If you knew the truth, you’d not be so harsh.”