“Why are we going to a museum?” she asked. “I thought you had to work?”
“Good afternoon, young lady, and welcome to the Irish Rock and Roll museum, how can I help you today?” a man asked, smiling at her before pausing when he saw me stood there. “Oh, good afternoon sir, the band are setting up downstairs and everything is set to your liking. Let me take you down, sir.” He paused before looking back at Lily. “Is there something I can do for you, young lady?”
“She is with me and the band,” I answered firmly.
That seemed to satisfy the newcomer, who led us down the corridors filled with discs and memorabilia from various artists. To small rooms downstairs, letting us into one with a small set up of instruments. “This is a rehearsal building; upstairs is the button factory stage where most of us had our first big gigs in town. And across the street is the recording studios. They make a little extra cash doing tours and showing off the memorabilia they collected. This is one of Dublin’s most popular attractions. Every single one of our albums was recorded here,” I informed her.
“This is incredible.” She looked around the room. Respectfully stroking the guitars set up ready for play. A small table was set up with cans of soda, beer and snacks. “The full band is coming here?” she asked nervously.
“Yes, Miss Fangirl, and I will introduce ye to all of them,” I promised, finding her semi control over her inner fangirl so cute.
She looked green. “Maybe I should go; you guys can drink and play without my interference.”
“Well, yes we drink a little and we order in food later on and tonight I am going to take youse out on a treat to say thank you for putting up with being stuck here with us.”
“And do you do other things than drink?” she asked almost silently.
I studied her face wondering what the other guy could have done at rehearsal to make her look so scared. The awfully slow penny dropped. “No darling we don’t do any drugs. No weed, no pills, none of my boys touch any of that shit and neither do I. We might get smashed out of our faces sometimes, but we are one hundred percent anti-drugs other than caffeine. And we always will be,” I promised.
The relief was clear as she came for a hug.
“We are not like him, I promise. We are a family. We support each other through everything. Keep each other grounded. Watch out for each other. So we don’t have to do bullshit to feel okay. And we will do it for you as well. You are part of this now. Part of our family.”
A tall, dark-haired lady stormed into the room, in a nicely cut suit dress glaring at me. “And where have you been? The boys got tired of waiting for you and went to lunch early. Really, you ask to leave early and then you turn up late!”
“Something came up.”
“So I see.” Her glaze turned to Lily looking her up and down. “And who is this?”
“I’m Lily.”
“She is a friend,” I said firmly.
“Uh huh. Sure, she is,” the woman said, rolling her eyes. “Make sure she doesn’t become a distraction for the others.” She floated off dropping setlists off in front of each of the band stations.
“That’s Shelly, she is our promoter,” I told Lily. “You will get used to her. She’s actually really sweet under all that rough attitude. It’s a stressful time for the band, our keyboardist broke his hand and we had to hire a new guy last week. He is good, but it’s like we are playing catch up all the time while trying to get ready for the tour next month. And then our backing singer, she is getting ready to leave and we haven’t even had time to search for a replacement for her yet.”
“Sounds complicated, sure I am not in the way?” she asked.
“Nah girl, as long as youse won’t be bored listening to us play the same song like sixty million times.”
She laughed, “I love the music, I think I can cope.”
I smiled at her. “You really are a fangirl, huh?”
“I refuse to comment on the grounds it may spoil our new friendship.”
I leaned over to kiss her neck while Shelly wasn’t looking. “Friendship? Is that what the cool kids call fucking youse senseless last night?”
She didn’t have time to answer as the others came bouncing into the room. “About time Ade, where the fuck ye been, boy?” one shouted over.
“That’s Harry, he is our amazing drummer,” I introduced. “Guys, this is my friend Lily. She’s in Dublin for the first time and I am showing her around.”
“Oh, I bet you are showing her a good time.” Harry winked.
“Shut it you.” I slapped at his shoulder as he walked by, “And that’s Callum, or Cal, our bass guitar player, Nick our brand new keyboardist but we call him Teddy as he gives massive snuggly hugs, and the lady at the back, that’s Claire, our backing vocals.”
Polite nods from the band.
“Enough chat, we have a lot to get through and truly little time to do it in. If you want me to order in pizza, you need to earn it!” Shelly snapped. “Let’s go people! Six weeks, two days, fourteen hours, and thirty-three minutes and do not even make me go into seconds, until opening night!”
Chapter 8
Adrian’s POV
The rehearsal was long and slow and boring for all of
