Lick (Stage Dive 1)

I snapped my mouth shut.

“Come on.” David’s hands clutched my shoulders, turning me away from the scene. He was livid, his mouth a bitter line.

“What, not going to say hi to Kaetrin, Dave? That’s a bit harsh. Thought you two were good friends.”

“Fuck off, Jimmy.”

Behind us Jimmy groaned long and loud as the show on the couch reached its obvious conclusion. My husband slammed the door shut. The party continued on, music pumping out of the sound system, glasses clinking and lots of loud conversation. We were out of there, but David stared off into the middle distance, oblivious to everything, it seemed. His face was lined with tension.

“David?”

“Five minutes,” yelled Adrian, clapping his hands high in the air. “Show time. Let’s go.”

David’s eyelids blinked rapidly as if he was waking up in the middle of a bad dream.

The atmosphere in the room was suddenly charged with excitement. The crowd cheered and Jimmy staggered on out with Kaetrin in tow. More cheering and shouts of encouragement for the band to take to the stage, along with some knowing laughter over Jimmy and the girl’s re-appearance.

“Let’s do this!” shouted Jimmy, shaking hands and clapping people on the back as he moved through the room. “Come on, Davie.”

My husband’s shoulders hiked up. “Martha.”

The woman sauntered over, her face a careful mask. “What can I do for you?”

“Look after Ev while I’m on stage.”

“Sure.”

“Look, I’ve got to go but I’ll be right back,” he said to me.

“Of course. Go.”

With a final kiss to my forehead he went, shoulders hunched in protectively. I had the maddest impulse to go after him. To stop him. To do something. Mal joined him at the door and slung an arm around his neck. David didn’t look back. The bulk of the people followed them. I stood alone, watching the exodus. He’d been right, the room was cold. I clutched his jacket around me tighter, letting the scent of him soothe me. Everything was fine. If I kept telling myself that, sooner or later it would become true. Even the bits I didn’t understand would work out. I had to have faith. And damn it, I did have faith. But my smile was long gone.

Martha watched me, her immaculate expression never altering.

After a moment, her red lips parted. “I’ve known David a very long time.”

“That’s nice,” I said, refusing to be cowed by her cool gaze.

“Yes. He’s enormously talented and driven. It makes him intense about things, passionate.”

I said nothing.

“Sometimes he gets carried away. It doesn’t mean anything.” Martha stared at my ring. With an elegant motion she tucked her dark hair back behind her ear. Above a beautifully set cluster of dark red stones sat a single, small, winking diamond. Little more than a chip, it didn’t really seem to fit Martha’s expensive veneer. “When you’re ready I’ll show you where you can watch the show from.”

The sensation of spiraling that had started when David walked away from me became stronger. Beside me, Martha waited patiently, not saying a word, for which I was grateful. She’d said more than enough already. Only the clutter of red stones hung from her other ear. Paranoia wasn’t pretty. Could this be the mate to the diamond earring David wore? No. That made no sense.

Lots of people wore tiny diamond solitaire earrings. Even millionaires.

I pushed my water aside, forcing a smile. “Shall we go?”

*

Watching the show was amazing. Martha took me to a spot to the side of the stage, behind the curtains, but it still felt like I was right in the thick of things. And things were loud and thrilling. Music thrummed through my chest, making my heart race. The music was a great distraction from my worries about the earring. David and I needed to talk. I’d been all for waiting until he felt comfortable enough to tell me things, but my questions were getting out of hand. I didn’t want to be second-guessing him in this way. We needed honesty.

With a guitar in his hands, David was a god. Little wonder people worshiped him. His hands moved over the strings of his electric guitar with absolute precision, his concentration total. The muscles flexing in his forearms made his tattoos come to life. I stood in awe of him, mouth agape. There were other people on stage too, but David held me spellbound. I’d only seen the private side of him, who he was when he was with me. This seemed to be almost another entity. A stranger. My husband had taken a back seat to the performer. The rock star. It was actually a little daunting. But in that moment, his passion made perfect sense to me. His talent was such a gift.

They played five songs, then it was announced another big-name artist would take to the stage. All four of the band members exited by the other side. Martha had disappeared on me. Hard to be upset about that, despite backstage being a maze of hallways and dressing rooms. The woman was a monster. I was better off alone.

I made my way back on my own, taking tiny, delicate steps because my stupid shoes were killing me. Blisters lined my toes where the strap cut across, rubbing away at my skin. Didn’t matter, my joy would not be dimmed. The memory of the music stayed with me. The way David had looked all caught up in the performance, both exciting and unknown. Talk about a rush.

I smiled and swore, quietly, ignoring my poor feet and winding my way through the mix of roadies, sound technicians, make-up artists and general hangers-on.

“Child bride.” Mal smacked a noisy kiss on my cheek. “I’m heading to a club. You guys coming or taking off back to your love nest?”

“I don’t know. Just let me find David. That was amazing by the way. You guys were brilliant.”

“Glad you liked it. Don’t tell David I carried the show, though. He’s so precious about that sort of thing.”

“My lips are sealed.”

He laughed. “He’s better with you, you know? Artistic types have a bad habit of disappearing up their own asses. He’s smiled more in the last few days with you than I’ve seen him do in the last five years put together. You’re good for him.”

“Really?”

Mal grinned. “Really. You tell him I’m going to Charlotte’s. See you there later, maybe.”

“Okay.”

Mal took off and I made my way toward the band’s dressing room through the even bigger and better crush of people assembled. Inside the dressing room, however, things were quiet. Jimmy and Adrian had stood huddled out in the hallway, deep in conversation as I passed on by. Definitely not stopping. Sam and a second security person nodded to me as I passed.