Page 50 of Real Rocks
I could feel the eyes of all the teenage girls in the place burning into my skin as they, no doubt, jumped to the very wrong conclusion of what that kiss meant.
After the tour, Scott had reached out on a few occasions, offering his sympathy about what had happened on the last night and all the fallout afterwards. For all his front and bravado, he actually wasn’t a bad guy. Or at least that was the facade he was presenting to me now.
He waved at the waitress cleaning one of the tables near to us and ordered a double espresso from her. “Do you want anything?” He glanced at my half empty mug.
“Scott, it’s not table service here.”
“It’s okay,” interrupted the waitress. “I’ll go and grab it for you. It won’t take me a minute.” She beamed at him while she waited for me to make a decision.
“I’ll have another Americano then, black, strong. Thanks.”
“No problem.” She scurried off, clearly eager to make a good impression.
Once she’d gone, I fixed my gaze on Scott. “You said you had a proposition?” I didn’t see any point in beating around the bush.
“A music-related proposition,” he reiterated.
The waitress came back in record time with our drinks. I’d never got served that quickly in Monet’s before. Scott slipped her a twenty and told her to put the rest in the tip jar. I rolled my eyes as he picked up the tiny coffee cup and gulped it down in one. What a waste of coffee.
“Well?” I asked, drumming my fingers on the table.
“I want you to come in the studio and rerecordWasted By My Sidewith me.”
I almost choked on my coffee. “You want to what?” To say I was surprised was an understatement.
“Surely you could see how much the audience enjoyed it? We were hot together.” He winked.
I hoped he was joking.
“Seriously, the feedback I got from Adrian and his team was that it was the best received song each night. Because of you.” Scott fiddled with his empty cup, twisting it around on the saucer.
Flattery would get him everywhere. I had no idea of the reception. All I’d had was Adrian bawling me out.
“I think it’s a crazy idea.”
Scott’s face fell. He was obviously utterly convinced I would say yes straight away.
“But you know I’m good with crazy, so let’s do it.”
Once we’d got the agreement from the rest of both bands, we went straight into the studio and recorded the song. It sounded amazing and with a lot of radio support was soon receiving heaps of attention. I’d never been prouder of anything I’d done before.
The Matchbox hadn’t been my chosen venue for the release ofWasted By My Side, but Scott insisted. It was a venue with a lot of history for him and, I guessed, for me too.
Both Tris and I were nervous of going back there again, but for totally different reasons. Despite repeated attempts, Carl wouldn’t drop the charges against Tris and the court case resulted in him receiving a community sentence where he’d be doing unpaid work in the local community. Given his painting and decorating background, it wasn’t going to be all bad. He was already helping one of the local youth clubs to completely remodel their building. Carl, with the blackmail and threatening behaviour as well as assault, was sentenced to a prison stretch. I couldn’t have been more relieved it was over.
Joel fromRocciahad asked for an exclusive interview, and I’d gladly agreed. Jonas had recommended I do it to pacify the record company, again. It gave me the opportunity to set the record straight and move on with my life.
A move that meant moving in with Tris. Although we’d spent a lot of time at my place, we both agreed we could do without the interference of our families - in particular Annie - and had decided to move in together. We were still looking for the perfect place, the London property market was a nightmare and moved so quickly, but I was sure it wouldn’t be long before we found somewhere.
I watched him chatting with Darren, Barney and Tommo, the four of them having formed a pretty strong bond, and my pulse raced, awakening butterflies in my tummy. When I thought back to how we’d got together and how I’d initially seen it as the chance to clean up my reputation, I couldn’t have known where we’d end up.
“You seem happy.” Rosie appeared beside me.
The evening was an intimate affair for a hundred Trash Gun and TheSB fans, along with friends and family. I’d obviously invited Rosie, whose gaze I’d noticed kept straying in Scott’s direction.
“I should have stayed with you in Birmingham. Maybe all the shit with Carl could have been avoided.” She touched my arm and gave me a sympathetic smile.
“You weren’t to know. And I don’t think anything would have stopped him until he got what he wanted.” The thought shook me. I believed Carl would have hunted me down wherever I was and taken what he thought he should have. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed the longing looks you keep giving Scott.”
