Hard Rock Unrehearsed (4 page)

“TAG!”  Jade gasped as the band hooted with laughter, dammit even the bodyguards were laughing!  She turned a red face to Diego and he tried to hide his laughter as he shrugged and winked at her.

“You have not a chance in hell of ever tying me up or spanking my ass.  Those little submissives you like to play with will have to do it for you.”

“Jay-Jay you have no idea what you’re missing baby.”  Tag smirked at her.

“Thanks, but no thanks you big pervert.”  She smirked back.

Tag had to suppress his laughter as he dried the sweat off Jay-Jay and felt Diego’s eyes burning into his back.  The man’s jealousy was like a physical slap against his body.  He stretched out the act even longer than usual before handing the towel to Jay-Jay to finish drying her front.  Not that he hadn’t done that job before, he just didn’t want her embarrassed on her first day with the band or create the wrong impression of their relationship.

He had been in the accident with Val and had promised his friend he would take care of his girl, and he would keep that promise no matter what.  And the way he interpreted that promise was that he had to make sure she lived a life that would bring her joy and love.  He would make sure she had love in her life again and the man who would be able to give that to her was Diego Delgado, and Tag was the man who was going to show him the way if he was too stupid to go there himself.  Joking with Jay-Jay he kept his eye on Diego, watching him watching Jay-Jay and the band.

This was going to be so much fun!  He grinned to himself as he followed Jay-Jay out of the ballroom and to their rooms.

CHAPTER THREE

The late dinner was a huge affair.  Luis had invited the entire crew to join the band for dinner to enable them to introduce Jade and stem the tide of rumours that the tour was being cancelled.  He knew he would not be able to contain the news of the new addition to the band and had sent out an announcement to the media before dinner.  He wanted to ensure that he got to the media first.  They had people on the crew that hadn’t been with the band very long and their loyalty wasn’t guaranteed.

Luis made sure he was leading the introduction with news that Richie was doing better and was out of danger before he introduced Jade.  The room fell silent as he rose and cleared his throat.

“I have just received an update from Richie’s doctor and he’s doing much better.  He is however not out of the woods yet, he has a long hard road to recovery, a road that will make it easier for him if he had the love and support of his band and crew.”  Luis held his hand up as voices rose.  “Richie will stay in the hospital here before transferring to a rehab centre.  At this time I ask all of you to be careful who you talk to.  Richie and his family don’t need the dirt the tabloids are going to be throwing at them.  We all know Richie wasn’t a saint and we’re not going to pretend he was, but we’re also not going to add to his troubles by telling stories to the tabloids.  Anyone who does will be summarily dismissed and I’ll make sure everyone in the industry knows that they aren’t to be trusted.  That is a promise you can bank on.”  Luis looked around the silent room before he continued.

“Now to news of the tour, we are not cancelling but are continuing on as Richie wanted.”  A roar erupted as everyone thumped tables and stamped their feet.  “As some of you know, as you set up the equipment, we’ve had auditions today to find someone to stand-in for Richie.  We had four very talented people come out and after playing with all of them the band has made a decision.  It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the drummer that will take us through the rest of the tour, Jay Gallado!”

There was a stunned silence as Jay stood there before the women in the crew began whistling and shouting which was quickly picked up by the rest.  Jade nodded, smiled and waved her acknowledgement.  They calmed as Luis held his hand up for silence.

“Jay comes to us from the studio where she has been recording with the newly reformed Killing Fields.  She comes highly recommended and you will all understand why she was offered the job when you hear her play.  We were supposed to stay here for our three day break before heading to Miami but we’ve had to alter our plans.  We need at least a day to rehearse the show and a soft run through before we open with Jay in Richie’s chair.  We need it perfect both for the fans and for us, therefore we’ll be flying out earlier than scheduled.  A few of the crew have already left with the heavier equipment and the rest of you will be leaving in the next three hours so let’s get done here and get busy.  We have a show to do!”

The crew immediately started leaving talking animatedly amongst themselves while sliding looks over to the band’s table.  Through it all Jade smiled, nodded and sipped her coffee trying very hard to look relaxed and as if she didn’t have a care in the world.  It was a big fat lie!  All those eyes staring at her and the whispering made her feel damned uncomfortable but she supposed she would have to get used to it as it was going to be her life for the next six weeks!  She was still sipping when Luis’s next words made her splutter and spit her coffee over the table!

“We have twenty minutes to get up to the conference room where I have a press conference set up to introduce Jay to the media.  I will give a small introduction and then there will be time for a few questions.  You will only answer questions pertaining to the tour.  Jay will only answer questions regarding her music.   There will be time at a later date to give a more comprehensive interview to a few selected journalists when we have more time to set it up.”  Luis looked around the table as they all nodded and he slid his chair back.  “Then let’s get to it people.”

And just like that the dinner was over.

Jade stood waiting nervously outside the door to the conference room listening to the questions being shouted at the band who sat at a long table facing the media.  Luis sat at one end and controlled the interview.  Some of the questions shouted obviously came from the tabloid press as they were devoid of any decency and Luis ignored them as if they had never spoken.  Instead he pointed at pre-chosen reporters and only their questions were being answered.  Her heart thumped in her chest as Trace started to speak.

“This is a very difficult time for all of us and we were going to cancel the tour but Richie wants us to continue.  We have therefore held auditions today to decide on a drummer to help us out with the rest of the tour dates.  It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to Jay Gallado.  Jay has been recording with the newly reformed Killing Fields and we’re very grateful that they agreed to her joining us for the next six weeks.  Come on out here Jay!”

The whole band stood and clapped as Jade walked through the door and over to the empty seat at the table.  Flashes blinded her as she sat and faced the monsters.  Not all of them, not really!  Hell!   Most of them!  She waited almost not breathing as they shouted incomprehensibly.

“Who else have you played with?”

“Where do you come from?”

“Is that your real name?”

“Are you sleeping with the band?”

It calmed slightly as Luis stood and waited for the furore to subside.

Luis’s assistants rushed through the crowd handing out information packages and the shouting came down to a dull roar as they read her bio.  With a smile Luis gave the floor to one of the reporters he trusted to keep it clean.

“Ms. Gallado are you excited to be playing with Storm Front?”

“Yes, it’s an amazing opportunity and I can’t wait to be back on stage again.”

Another question came from the back.  “How long since you played live?”

Jade smiled.  “It’s been about six months or so.  I did back-up work for Sweet Sacrifice on their tour.”

A rumpled predatory looking man in the front grinned as he shouted his question.

“Do you have a boyfriend Jay?”

“No, no boyfriend, I’m too busy working.”

Luis interrupted.  “We only have time for one more question.  Molly, you take it.”

Molly’s question was work related and quickly answered by Trace and then it was over and Luis was shepherding all of them out of the room.  Jade gave a big sigh of relief as they left the monsters behind.

“All of you come up to my room we have some decisions to make.”  With that cryptic comment Luis strode away with his bodyguard in tow and disappeared around the corner.

“What now?”  Jade asked Trace who just shrugged.

“What do you mean I need a style make-over?  I’m happy looking the way I do and when I’m playing I need to be comfortable!  I can’t prance around in heels baring my ass in miniskirts and then spread my legs to play in freaking thong underwear that will chafe the holy hell out of me!   Not to mention my boobs in those bras!  They would be hanging out all over the place!  That’s just obscene!”  Jade stormed at Luis as he showed her the stylist’s suggestions who wanted her to wear slutty little skirts, teeny tiny thongs, cropped tops with push-up bras and stilettos.  Hell no!   “And why the hell would I bleach my hair and colour it all the colours of the rainbow?  It makes no sense!”

“Jay-Jay those are only suggestions!  You don’t have to agree to all of it.”  Tag tried to reason with her.  “You can’t carry on walking around in my clothes!”

“It’s not your guava they want to show to the world!”

“Guava?  You call it your guava?”  RJ snorted with laughter.

“Whatever!  My vajayjay, cootchie, nini, snatch, peach, hoohah even vagina would do if it makes you understand.  I don’t see you with your dick in the breeze while you play.”

The guys collapsed with laughter.

“These are only suggestions Jay, it’s not written in stone.”  Luis murmured with a hidden grin.

“I’m not wearing skirts, not off stage and definitely not on stage.  I have nothing against dressing the part but I’m a drummer people!  I sit with my legs spread wide open for heaven’s sake!  I’m comfortable in the clothes Mel makes for me to play in and I’m not budging on that.  If you want me to dress up then Mel Harris is going to dress me and no one else.”

Luis grinned as if he had won the game.  “I already spoke to Mel, she’ll be joining us tomorrow and she’ll be bringing some of the outfits I asked her to get ready for you.  We have quite a few meet and greets and radio and television interviews while on the road, she’ll be your stylist and travel with us when she can.”

Jade didn’t trust his sudden capitulation, he gave in too easily.  She would have to watch this clothes thing very carefully.  No way was her guava making its appearance in the tabloids!  Her name wasn’t Britney or Paris!

CHAPTER FOUR

The two days before Jade took the stage with Storm Front was filled with rehearsals, clothes fittings, hairdressing appointments, putting together a formal bio and a photo shoot to replace the promotional material already distributed.  As promised Mel arrived with bulging trunks filled with stuff she would be trying out on Jade.  When Jade balked on some of the more revealing outfits Mel called in the big guns, she called Cat De Luca of Sweet Sacrifice!

“Jay I get that you don’t want to reveal too much of yourself to the sharks out there but you have to build a stage persona.  A person that the fans can relate to and even imitate, you know better than most that I’m nothing like my stage and public persona and that is what Mel is trying to set up for you.  Believe me when I tell you that if you have that persona in place it will be easier to just slip through the cracks when you’re out there being just plain old you.  I do it all the time.  Let Mel do what she does best, trust her to have your back.”

“Dammit Cat I do trust her.  But being painted and primped is just not me.  And I sweat like a horse when I’m playing which is going to make all that crap run like a river.  Then everyone is going to laugh their asses off when I look like shit.”

Cat laughed as Jade snorted with disdain.  “Sweetheart we don’t use normal make-up.  The shit they’ll be putting on you will not budge, even if you stood in a force 10 hurricane.”

“So you say.”  Jade muttered in a disgusted voice.  “If this backfires I know where you live Cat De Luca.”  She gave in gracelessly.

Cat’s laughter was still ringing in her ears when she turned her eyes to a waiting Mel and grimaced.

“Fine, do your worst but I’m warning all of you if this makes me look like a clown I’m going to thump your asses.”

“Sweetie there’s no way in the world you could ever look like a clown, unless you dress up like one and that's never going to happen.”  Mel soothed.

Jade was not reassured.  Her friend Mel was gorgeous, model gorgeous.  She was tall, slender with shoulder length pale blonde hair and blue eyes.  Mel smiled and laughed a lot and drew people to her like a moth to a flame.  She was never without a date and all her exes stayed her friends after she broke it off with them.  The only man who hadn’t immediately fallen for her charm had been Diego, but Jade assumed that was because he liked his women curvy with more tits and ass.  Which was why her average boobs and toned drummers’ ass would not draw his eyes, she was just too muscular for Diego Delgado’s taste.  And that sucked ass!  Big time!

Jade was experiencing nerves.  Stage fright to be real honest.  She could hear the roar of the crowd where she stood in the corridor behind the guys waiting for the support act to finish and the crew to change the set up.  Security was tight and Tag was right there with her, holding her small bag with her water and towels.  She trusted no one else to take care of her as he did.  Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth she relaxed her shoulders and shook out her arms and then her legs.  Her new clothes fit her like a second skin and she had to admit that it was comfortable, even the soft calf-length boots that Mel had insisted on.  They had no heels and had been made especially for her to play in.  Her black fingerless gloves were specially made for her and were a gift from her uncle, a gift that appeared regularly every few months.  The guys were joking and punching each other and she could see the tension in all of them, tonight would be their first time going on without Richie.  They were missing him and she swore to herself that she would not let them down.  She just hoped the damn fans would not hate her on sight!

And then it was show time and she no longer had time to obsess about anything.  The guys ran on while she stood next to Luis, waiting for Trace to make the announcement.  The crowd roared as Trace gave his signature scream into the night and light flooded the stage.

“Hello Miami!”  He shouted as he stood right on the front of the stage, grinning as the crowd shouted back.  When they calmed down he started speaking.

“As you all know a few days ago Richie overdosed and we almost lost him.  He’s doing better but he has a long road to recovery and he will need all the love and support all of us can give him.  He’s really sorry he can’t be with us for the next six weeks but he’ll be with us in spirit as we finish the American leg of the Big City Tour.”  Holding his hand up to silence the screaming fans he looked back at where Jade was waiting in the wings.  “I’m sure you have seen the press releases that Jay Gallado will be filling in for him and that she has his full support.  So without dragging it out any longer.  Here she is, our drummer for the next six weeks, Jay Gallado!”

Jade hugged Luis and walked out on stage, a pair of sticks in one hand a bottle of water clamped in the other.  She got a mixed reaction, some screams, some boo’s but that was to be expected as she settled herself behind the drums and ignored the crowd.  She had a job to do and bugger it if she would let anything stop her from doing it.

She hit the snare as they had rehearsed and Storm Front was off and running.  Jade lost herself in the beat, in the sheer physicality of her job as sweat streamed down her.  It felt as if the night had just begun when the last note screamed into the fans and the band left the stage waving.

Tag was there with her towel, giving her a quick dry before she had to go back out to play an encore.  Her hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to her forehead and cheeks, damned new hairstyle!  The wings were packed with security, friends and family of the band and some hangers on who had VIP passes that couldn’t be cancelled.  She ignored them and focused on the job.  Her heart hammered in her chest, adrenalin so high it felt as if she was flying.  And then she was back on stage slamming through the four songs Trace had chosen to finish off the night.  The crowd went wild when they stood on the front of the stage waving their goodbye.  A guy against the barrier in front kept shouting her name, calling to her.  Jade laughed and lobbed her used sticks at him before she ran off with the guys.

Backstage was pandemonium!  Tag immediately gave her a bottle of water she chugged gratefully before taking the towel he held and drying her face and arms.  The guys were surrounded by the friends they had invited and by Givens’s family who lived in Miami.  Jade grinned as Luis made his way to her, hugging her tight.

“Great job sweetheart.  You totally rocked it like I knew you would.”

“Thanks Papa but I’m wet and stinky and I’ll make you wet and stinky.”  Jade laughed as she wriggled out of his arms.

“I don’t care baby girl.  You were magnificent, absolutely magnificent and if hugging you makes me a bit wet and stinky I don’t care.”

“You had better care ‘cause you don’t want the press smelling you.  They’ll call you Smelly Delgado before you know it.”  She teased.

“Who’s a smelly Delgado?”  Diego’s voice sent her already racing heart racing even faster.

“Your Dad if he keeps on hugging me.”  She laughed as she turned to him.

He stood so close she could feel the heat of him, smell that amazing scent he gave off.

“Well we can’t have him be the only smelly Delgado.”  Diego grinned as he grabbed her in a bear hug, raising her feet off the floor and she grabbed onto him as he swung her around.  She had her arms around his neck laughing when she spotted the woman she hated more than anything in this world, Marcella Vincent.  What the fuck was the slut doing at a Storm Front gig and who the hell had given her backstage passes?  She hadn’t been on the list that Tag had showed her this morning!  Marcella stood with four skanks her eyes narrowed to slits and her mouth pinched in a sneer as she watched Diego and Jade.

“Well done baby!  Wow, just wow!”  Diego pulled her attention back to him and Jade looked down at him with a grin.

“Put me down you ass.”  She grinned.  “People will think you like me!”

“They will be right.  I do like you.”  He teased.

“Yeah but they will think you like me, like me.”

Diego grinned as he slid her down his body and put her down, watching her as she stepped back from him.  Even covered in sweat and smelling of the hard work she had done she took his breath away.  Jade Galloway Delgado was one very dangerous woman.  Before he could think of something to say she was grabbed by RJ and he pulled her along with the rest of the band, all of them disappearing into the dressing room with his dad.

Diego positioned himself in front of the door and Tag came and stood beside him.

“Our girl did great tonight.”  Tag smiled as his eyes swept over the people spilling out of the hospitality room and filling the corridor.

“Yeah she did, like we always knew she would.”  Diego grinned.

“She’s going to have a conniption fit though when she sees that bitch hanging out back here.”  Tag growled through tight lips.

“Which bitch?  No one got in who hadn’t been invited, I made sure of that.”  Diego frowned.

“That skank Marcella Vincent and her troop of sluts.”  Tag growled.

Diego’s head snapped around and he glared at Tag with narrowed eyes.

“Fuck you Tag.  She called me and I got them in.  You know Marcella and I have history.  Why should it piss Jay off that I got her backstage passes?”

“Jay-Jay and Marcella have a very bad history dude, really very fuckin’ bad.  She’s going to have your nuts for putting her on the list.”

Before Diego could ask him to clarify the history he saw Marcella and her girls making their way towards them.  By the glint in their eyes he knew exactly what they were after, the guys in the band.  Diego hadn’t been with Marcella in months and he’d mistakenly thought to use her to get his mind off Jade.  Who the fuck knew that it would blow up in his face?  He slid his eyes away from them pretending he hadn’t seen them.  About ten minutes later the door opened behind him as he glanced back in the general direction he had last seen Marcella with her girls then turned to face a very pissed off Luis Delgado.

“What in the seven levels of hell did you do Diego?”  He snapped as he pushed into the corridor.  “I thought we had an agreement, no sluts backstage!  I’m trying my damned best to get this band back onto their feet and you go and fuck it up the first time out!  Were you not listening when I set out the rules for backstage passes?  No sluts, no dealers, no one even remotely connected to drugs!”

“Hell Dad I’m sorry.  Marcella called this afternoon and asked if she and her girls could come and see the show.  I didn’t think they would be a problem.  Shit they used to hang out with Val and the guys all the time and you didn’t say anything.  Why are they now a problem?”

His dad shook his head while swearing softly and Diego could see the disappointment in his eyes.  “If you have to ask you are further up your own ass than I thought.  Get rid of them!  They fall under the heading of sluts and drugs Diego.  I don’t ever want to see them back here.  And when I say ever that’s exactly what I mean.  They are not invited back to the hotel, it’s for family and friends only, which obviously they aren’t.”  With that he disappeared back into the dressing room, slamming the door behind him.

“What the fuck just happened?”  Diego stormed but Tag just shrugged and turned his head away, watching the people milling about and ignoring him.

Marcella was going to have a shit fit when he told her they weren’t invited to the after party at the hotel.  He had sort of promised her that he would arrange a pass for her and her girls.  Why the fuck had he done it?  He knew the women with Marcella followed the bands around, partied with them and tried to sleep with as many as possible.  Hell, they posted that shit on-line!  He knew Marcella was no angel and that she had slept with her fair share of rockers but he hadn’t known that she was a rock star collector.  Why the hell did Jade hate her?  What had Marcella done that had pissed Jade off to that extent?  Did it have something to do with Val?  He hadn’t even known that the two of them knew each other.  He had always kept her well away from Jade.

“You watch the door while I go and get my face slapped.”  He growled at Tag and moved out towards where Marcella stood laughing with one of the crew.  This was going to suck.

Trace couldn’t stop grinning and looking around he saw that the guys had the same stupid grin on their faces, even Jay was grinning like a loon.

“Shit!  We killed it out there!  We totally killed it!”  Givens crowed as he chugged a bottle of water.

“It was so smooth it felt as if we had been playing with Jay our whole lives.”  RJ grinned and winked at Jay.

“This has been the singular most amazing time I’ve ever had behind a set of drums.  I was so nervous before we started but once we hit that first note I just went for it!  Hell guys it was way better than a force five, no wait, scrap that, a force eight orgasm!”

“You rate orgasms like hurricanes?”  Jimmy sniggered.

Trace laughed as a red flush crept up Jay’s neck.

“Yeah, well you know it’s never..., shit!  They aren’t all the same!  So my friends and I rate them from a gentle breeze to a force ten.  Though I have to say you don’t often hear of a force ten.”  Jay seemed to get more comfortable with them as she talked.

“Holy shit!  You discuss your orgasms?”  Trace gasped.

Jay shrugged as she ran a small towel over her hair.  “We’re girls, we talk.”