The space behind the stage was a fevered buzz of techs, assistants, security staff, reporters, VIP guests. The band had retreated to the dressing room to get ready for the meet & greet before playing.
Jo rescued Silvia from the trailer steps and took her to join Claudia at a dark corner of the stageside, from where they could watch the show. But the other two refused to stay there. Their friends had taken the best spot against the fence, right in front of Jim’s microphone, and they intended to join them. Jo argued it could get rough in the pit sometimes, and they could get bruised out there.
“Yeah, well, it’s a rock concert, not an opera,” Silvia replied.
They made her confess she’d never watched the band from the audience since they’d released their first album, and they ended up convincing her to join them.
Five minutes before No Return took the stage, Deborah saw Ron come running, pale as if he’d just seen
Keeping in mind they were playing again the next day, Deborah didn’t let the after party go on for more than two hours, and she was relieved when everybody voted to go back to the hotel.On the bus, Jim noticed Silvia was oddly silent. She’d spent the after party with Jo and Claudia, away from the people buzzing around the musicians and the rivers of alcohol that usually flowed after a concert. Now she rested against his side, quiet and still. He felt her draw in a deep, shaky breath and kissed her hair. She was exhausted.She actually regretted declining all the drinks she’d been offered. She wished she’d had some beers, or a couple of tequila shots. Or all of that together, so now fear wouldn’t be clutching at her belly with those sharp icy claws. Still shaken by so many emotions since she’d opened her eyes to Jim’s smile, her survival instinct had finally rioted, demanding that she did something about it. And it was
The day was breaking when Silvia found herself awake. Jim was sound asleep, flat on his back, one arm under her neck and the other stretched across the bed. She lay still against his side, his profile a dark line against the window opening to the receding night.Nothing made sense anymore.Waking up to such a man, loving him so much.Her head was a mess of flashing thoughts and feelings and sensations that had no way to come together in any coherent idea.The way he’d made love to her. Nobody had ever made love to her like that. It had nothing to do with his legendary skills as a lover, that she’d already been introduced to when she didn’t even know who he was. His gentleness and attention, the emotions sparkling in those eyes of ice and stars, the way he’d given himself to her.Her chill brought his arm to bend around her shoulders and hold her closer.If over the last two days she’d been flowing from one momen
Silvia had just finished getting dressed, and Jim was still in the shower, when the room phone rang. She hesitated, but the thing kept ringing as to wake the dead, so she picked up.“You fucking asshole! You took my green tennis last night? Again? I ain’t giving them up! If you like them, go buy yourself a pair!”Silvia blinked. Okay, that was some way to say good morning. She wasn’t sure which musician was screaming on the phone, so she asked softly, “Good morning, sir, how can I help you?”“Err… Sorry… Isn’t it Jim Robinson’s room?”She swallowed a chuckle. It was Tom. “Yes, it is. Did you say green tennis?” She looked around. “Give me a minute, please.”Jim’s duffel bag was where he’d dropped it the night before, just before she’d pretty much assaulted him. She opened it and saw a pair of green sneakers.“I’ll br
It was one of those gorgeous days of May, a distant sun shimmering in a bright blue sky, a soft cool breeze. And Buenos Aires pandemonium all around. All of them took a moment to deplore they were in the middle of the city, instead of a beach by the lake or camping in the woods.“But at least we’re all together,” said Miyen, raising his beer.They all toasted to it, and then to Juan again.A zillion people strolled down the park lanes among the stands offering crafts, clothing, food, books. The Cultural Center had some interesting expositions they meant to check on later. A couple of bands were getting ready to play at different corners of the park.They’d picked a nice spot on the grass to lay Mika’s tablecloth, where they set all the food they’d brought to share. They were near the secondary gates of the Cultural Center, the traffic up and down Alvear Avenue roaring only forty feet away.Silvia sat down between
Jim got on the bus and went to his usual seat, two rows behind the driver, by the window. He dropped his duffel bag on the seat by his and waited. Silvia got on with Jo, almost the last ones, and they stayed at the first seat. Jo held her small camera, and they looked completely absorbed in their conversation. Like they’d been since they’d gotten back from the park, talking about the best places to visit in the city.He tilted his head with a mild frown, studying her. How much longer would it take her to get over the night before? He knew it was as absurd as logical, but she was still trying to stomach that he hadn’t rejected her. So she’d retreated to some inner corner, trying to find a little balance to keep going.And in the meantime, she was being evasive to a cold extent. She’d gotten in the shower when he was still trying to get up, and had pretty much jumped out of it when he’d joined her. To leave the room without even lettin
Watching the concert from the stageside was safe and comfortable. They could sing, dance, take pictures or film, even have a beer or a snack while at it. But it only made Silvia, Claudia and Jo swear that they would be back to the pit against the fence the next night, because now they knew what they were missing from that nice comfy spot.Jim seemed to be especially inspired that night, driving the audience crazy to the extent of frenzy, and letting them infect him. He hardly played his guitar on the second half of the show. He surfed the crowd, walked among them, climbed up a sound column to dive into their eager hands, best Eddie Vedder’s style. And people touched him, held him up, kissed him, snatched his jacket, took his mittens away, ripped his tee off. Yet he still asked for more. So the crowd gave him more, and soon some were fighting with the security staff at the fence, trying to reach the stage to stand by his side.“He’s fucking wild tonigh
Jim locked the trailer and pushed Silvia against the cockpit door. She could see him shaking, and the violence blazing up in his eyes. She tried to keep calm. This was not Pat. It was Jim, it was her Jay. He was just intoxicated by all he’d taken in over those hours of fevered frenzy.But while she still tried to tell herself all that, he pinned her to the door and pressed his body against hers, kissing her roughly as his hands pulled her jacket open. She didn’t reject him, and tried to kiss him back despite the instinctive fear squeezing her belly. He yanked her jacket off.“D’you love it, bitch?” he snarled, taking a hand to her throat. “The crowd, the lights, the fucking minute of glory? D’you love breathing my air, bitch?”His other hand grabbed the collar of her top and pulled to rip it open, and that was just too much for her. That wasn’t about rough sex to burn out the overdrive. That was plain violenc
Maybe Jim had unwillingly killed her.Sean had heard noises like wrestling and things being smashed and shattered.Maybe Jim had pushed her too rough, she’d tripped and hit her head the wrong way. And right now, his brother was shocked before the dead body, not knowing what to do.Or maybe she had unwillingly killed Jim.She wouldn’t be the first woman to throw things at Jim during a fight. Maybe she’d hit him with something harder than she’d thought. And right now, she was shocked before Jim’s dead body, trying to come up with a way to escape before they caught her.Or maybe they had hurt each other, and now they were both lying on the floor, bleeding out, too stunned or too weak to ask for help or at least unlock the damned door.Or maybe…But Sean couldn’t think of any more tragedies to explain the silence inside the trailer.Shit! He should’ve known better. He shouldn’t