Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star

staring at her.

*   *   *

Waiting in the Top 20 green room, Elizabeth was bored to tears. Jane was chatting politely with a production assistant, and Charlotte was flipping through a magazine. Elizabeth reflected that while she loved touring and the performing it brought, she had never done so much waiting in her life as she had in the last month. She thought about Slurry and how they had spent the better part of the last four years touring and wondered how they managed to stay sane.

She was pleased when the door opened and Alex came in, but that pleasure was short lived as Bill Collins followed him. Relief flowed through her when Collins ignored her and sat next to Charlotte.

“I have good news,” Alex told her as he took the empty seat beside her, his hazel eyes dancing.

“What?”

“Guess who is shooting a video next month?”

Elizabeth’s eyes flared open. “Us?”

Alex smiled and nodded. “Collins just told me.” He leaned closer and said in a low voice, “It’s for ‘Can’t Stop Me,’ Lizzy. Your song.”

Elizabeth gasped in surprise. After her meeting with Catherine, she suspected she was out of favor with the studio. “Oh my God!” she cried. “I can’t believe it!”

“Believe it, Lizzy,” Alex told her happily. “I’ve just signed the contract for a two-video deal. The tour has the three-day break next month and we’ll shoot the first one then.”

Elizabeth smiled brilliantly and hugged Alex then excitedly discussed the details until it was time for them to go on.

*   *   *

Saturday night found them in Chicago for the first of two dates. The bands had settled into an easy routine; Jane and Charles lived days of peaceful bliss, Richard and Charlotte continued their friendly banter and occasional sexual encounters, and Elizabeth and Darcy maintained a pleasant relationship by reminding themselves constantly that they had no hope with the other.

Charlotte stood in her usual spot at the meet-and-greet. She had found to her pleasure that the only people who wanted to talk to her were other musicians, and due to this, she had enjoyed a number of interesting conversations.

But tonight did not seem to hold out any hope for her. She had already scoped out all the guests and none of them were musicians. She had also noticed Richard talking up a pretty girl who looked to be of college age, and she knew he would be busy for the night. She had been tempted to card the girl to make sure she was over eighteen but figured that with a rack like that she had to be. She sighed, frankly bored, as she signed the occasional CD case that was passed to her.

Eventually a pretty woman standing before her arrested her attention. “Charlotte?” the woman said nervously.

Charlotte smiled and nodded. “That’s right.”

The woman beamed. “It’s so incredible to meet you!” she gushed. “My name is Dawn.” She offered her hand.

Charlotte shook Dawn’s hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you too, Dawn.”

Dawn looked as though she would melt. “I’m such a fan of yours, Charlotte. I love to watch you play; you’re so strong.” She looked down and blushed. “I was kinda worried it was all an image, but I see now that you are real.”

Charlotte laughed. “Oh, I’m real! Sometimes a little too real for people,” she shrugged, “but what can you do.”

Dawn stared at her, then caught herself and smiled embarrassedly. “Charlotte, you are very pretty,” she said softly.

Charlotte smiled knowingly, her suspicions confirmed. What the hell? “Can I kiss you, Dawn?” she asked softly.

Dawn’s eyes got very huge and she nodded. Charlotte put her hand on the woman’s face and gently pulled her close, letting Dawn decide how deep to make the kiss.

Darcy was signing a CD case when Richard hit him. “Wha?” he said looking up, but the word died in his throat. He hit Charles, who had a similar reaction. All three men stared across the room where Charlotte was intently kissing another woman.

Elizabeth and Jane were also just noticing. Jane opened her mouth to say something when Elizabeth stopped her with a hand on her arm and pointed to the guys staring with wide eyes and slack jaws across the room.

Jane instead looked at Elizabeth and struggled not to laugh.

Charlotte let the kiss end and, smiling, said, “Thank you, Dawn.”

Dawn was blushing wildly and mumbled something before wandering away.

It didn’t surprise Charlotte in the least when Richard appeared as if by magic at her elbow. “Who was that?” he asked, slightly dazed.

Charlotte grinned, fully enjoying herself. “That was Dawn. She’s a fan of mine.”

“She, um, she seems to really like you,” he stammered. “Are you going to see her later?” he asked, trying to look innocent and failing utterly.

“If I were, I wouldn’t invite you, sugar. Some things are not for sharing.”

Richard didn’t try to deny his interest, and she respected him for that at least, even if he was practically drooling on her shoes. “Besides,” she said, “you have that pretty young thing over there. What’s her name?”

“Becky.”

Charlotte suppressed a snort. “Well, I’m sure that you and Becky will have a good time.” She patted his arm in sympathy.

*   *   *

Charlotte was already set to go, so she waited by the stage door, having a cigarette. Soon Richard took his regular place at her side and lit up.

“Where is Becky?” Charlotte asked mockingly.

“She doesn’t smoke, so she’s waiting inside.”

Charlotte nodded and continued, “Did you enjoy the show?”

“Which one?” Richard asked flatly. “It seems to be the night for shows.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened a moment. “Ohhh, good one.”

Richard acknowledged his conversational victory and said in a low voice, “I enjoyed the show very much. I wouldn’t mind seeing a repeat of it.”

“I’m sorry, Richard, but I think you’ll be too busy tonight for any more shows.” She ground out her cigarette with her shoe and walked back inside.

As she passed by the gates that separated backstage from the rest of the theater, she heard someone calling her name and stopped.

Pressed up among all the girls that were seeking to get backstage to meet Slurry was a man who was calling to her.

Her mouth twisted into a half smile and she approached the gate.

“Do I know you?” she asked the man. He was tall with reddish-brown curly hair. There was something about his voice that intrigued her.

“No, my name’s Phil. I’m a big fan of yours, Charlotte,” he said in a soft Australian accent.

Charlotte studied him for a moment and then gave Tommy, who was guarding the gate, the nod, and Phil was let through. Charlotte led him away from the screaming girls but kept in view of Tommy and the gates.

“Tell me about yourself, Phil,” Charlotte said.

“I’d rather talk about you.” He ran his hand lightly up her arm. “I think you are really beautiful and I love your music.” He looked at her questioningly.

Charlotte saw Richard approaching from the stage door and lifted her mouth to Phil. He kissed her softly, and then opened his mouth to slip his tongue into hers. After a few moments, Charlotte pulled back. “You kiss very nicely, Phil, are you busy tonight?”