A Stranger In A Strange Land

Part 3: Enemy of mine....

We arrived at The Boiler Room and headed for the entrance. There wasn't many people in line yet so it didn't take us long until it was our turn. The bouncer, a big guy, looked us up and down and raised an eyebrow. Me: "hi. I'm on the guest list. My name is Jean Hensley and my friend here is my pluss one" I smiled nervously at him. He checked his clipboard, going through a short list. I could see my name there and he looked back at me. Bouncer "I see your name there. But can I see some ID first? I'd just want to make sure." I took my little wallet out of my purse and showed him my driver's licence and smiled at him again, more confident this time. B"ok. That's good. Thank you. And what's your name, miss?" He looked at Amy and she amswered: "I'm Amy Palmer" The bouncer wrote it down, grabbed our wrists and gave us each our stamps. Then he opened the door and let us inside.

We checked our jackets in at the wardrobe and headed for the bar. Rock music was played at a very pleasant volume. Just as we approached the counter, someone tapped at my shoulder. I turned around and was happily surprised to see Jared smiling in front of me. Him"Jean hey. So good to see you! I'm so glad you came" We embraced in a tight and friendly hug as I answered "It's so nice to see you too Jared" Then we pulled apart, but he still held his hands on my upper arms: "You look great. I like your outfit. It's very sexy!" I broke my stare, blushed and grinned as I looked shyly at my feet. He placed his index finger under my chin so I had to look at him again. "Thank you. You look great too" I answered. He beamed at me: "you don't have to get shy around me. I mean it. And I say what I mean. Hell, I call it as I see it." I sighed in relief, cleared my cheek burn and swallowed before I could find the courage and words to speak again: "I appreciate your cander Jared. And your compliments. Speaking of, I bought your CD yesterday and I have been listening to it ever since! I think it's really good. So I'm very excited to hear you play tonight" J"thank you. I hope we'll be able to live up to your expectations." Me"I believe you will. I have no doubt. Your music has such great energy!" J"Then I we have to deliver, now won't we?!" I was about to give him a comeback when Amy approached behind Jared and stopped besides me with two bottles of beer, handing one of them to me. I thanked her. A"Here, I figured I'd buy first round since you seemed to be busy. So, who's this then?" Me"sorry Amy. Meet Jared. Jared, this is my best friend Amy" They shook hands and said 'hello, nice to meet you' Jared smiled at her, Amy grinned and said "so this is your new, handsome friend. You did not exaggerate, that's for sure!" J"and Jean didn't mention you she had such a pretty friend. Do you guys want to come backstage and meet the rest of the band?" he said as he turned to me. Me"yeah sure. That sounds like fun" J"ok great. Then let's go before it gets too crowded in here" then he lead the way further into The Boiler Room, towards the stage where a bouncer opened a side door he was guarding. Jared said to him"these two ladies here are allowed to enter this door whenever all night" Bouncer"just a minute. Let me put on these wristbands. That way they won't have any problems with that" then he pulled out two green plastic bracelets with 'The Boiler Room VIP' on them and slid them on our left hand wrists, wished us a good evening and opened the door for us. We followed Jared down the grey hall with lots of pictures from the venue hanging on the walls to a door on the right. The sign on it read 'Green Room'. Jared opened it and I heard an infectious laughter coming from a man with a dark voice. Jared showed us in and I saw three handsome men, all with dark hair. The one closest to us approached me with his right hand extended to me. He had black hair, dark brown eyes, a wide torsoe and big hands with long fingers. His smile reached his whole face when he said "hi, I'm Tomo, the guitar player of the band." I shook his hand and he pulled me into a hug. Me"I'm Jean. Very nice to meet you!" Then he pulled me towards a tall, slim italian looking guy with a friendly smile and lighter brown eyes. Tomo"and this is Stevie, our bass player. Stevie, this is Jared's friend Jean." Stevie also hugged me and said "it's so nice to meet you. I hope you'll enjoy the show?!" Me"nice to meet you too Stevie. And I think we will" I grinned at him as we pulled apart. The last guy approached me. And o'boy was he beautiful: hazel eyes, a sexy smirk and his tanktop revealed very muscular arms and chest. He took my right hand and shook it as he said with a sexy, raspy voice "Hello Jean, my name is Shannon and I play the drums. My brother didn't tell me his new friend was this pretty!" giving me a real bearhug!. I blushed again, but smiled at him:"it's very nice to finally meet you too. Let me introduce my friend Amy" Suddenly she stood besides me and just as Shannon layed eyes on her his jaw almost dropped, he shook his head, cleared his throat and brought her right hand to his lips and stared into her eyes as he kissed her chast on her hand making her giggle S"and you are just as pretty. Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you Amy" A"And it's VERY nice to meet you too Shannon." She grinned at him as she licked her lips before she took a sip from her beerbottle. She had no shame to blush. I admired her selfconfidence. I also took a sip from mine as Jared pulled me aside to a corner. The four others had sat down in the lounge, Shannon had made sure Amy was beside him. Jared"I meant what I said. You look great. And I'm glad you are here. And I hope I get to know you better after the concert as well. In fact, I plan to go hiking tomorrow morning. Would you like to join me?" I looked at him while he spoke. His eyes were now dark blue and sparked with anticipation and excitement. He was wearing black jeans, white sneakers, black tank top and a short sleaved green unbuttoned armylike shirt. Me"tomorrow morning? I guess I better stop drinking after this then? How early?" J"how about I pick you up at 9? I like to finish the descend before noon" Me"ok, 9 it is" J"great. Let's exchange numbers, so I can call you before I leave from home. To make sure you're ready" I gave him my number which he plotted into his mobile phone and I did the same on my phone when he gave me his number. Then he leaned in and kissed my cheek again and I closed my eyes at the gentle touch of his soft lips. J"I really like you and look forward to show you my secret spot tomorrow" he whispered to me. I grinned "and I look forward for you to show me your favorite things Jared" I whispered with a shaky voice, staring into his eyes, letting him know by that how interested I was in him. He narrowed his eyes and they darkened even a bit more before he broke the spell and he cleared his throat and swallowed. J"why don't you sit down with the others. I'll join you in a bit. And just help yourselves with snacks and drinks!" I said ok and went to the lounge and sat down besides Amy. We clinked our bottles together, smiled and winked at each other. This was going to be an interesting night...

Jared left to go into the dressingroom that was attached to the green room. Amy talked and laughed with the other guys, having a party of our own. Tomo explained that Jared just needed some time to himself before going on stage. Shannon stood up and took Amy with him to the corner to talk in private. I didn't mind. I liked talking with Tomo and Stevie. They were so happy and friendly and told a few good stories from touring. I laughed and had a good time with them, feeling very comfortable. They asked who I was, and I told them about my job and passion. Shannon and Amy had returned to us by then and Shannon took a lot of interest in my work, being an aspiring photographer himself. Jared came back in and made his way to sit besides me, grabbing me hand and smiled warmly at me. "I'm sorry to break this party up, but we need to warm up now. You are welcome back here after the show. And we'll see you out there" Me"that's totally fine by us. Besides, I think Amy and I need to powder our noses and find a good spot anyways. See you guys later!" Amy and I stood up, reluctantely. The guys followed suit and Jared followed me to the door, giving me another kiss on the cheek. I returned the favor this time as my hand run through his hair on his neck. He quickly grabbed my hand and looked at me. I bit my lower lip and he licked his and looked into my eyes:"Please don't touch me unless you mean it. I'm extremely attracted to you, but I don't think I can control myself if we kiss. So I think it's better we wait. Because I also want to spend some more time with you" he whispered to me. I felt a rush of adrenaline flush through my body at his confession. And my heart plummeted down in my stomache and made a summersault on it's way back up in my chest. I blushed big time and had to surpress a giggle and clear my throat before I could answer:"well, we don't want you to loose your control just yet, do we? But I sure would like to explore that. Because I feel the same" Now he blushed, sighed in relief and swallowed. I heard Shannon clear his throat 3feet away from us, ushering Amy towards me. We exited the green room and made our way back into the bar area, leaving the guys behind. I was making sure the ladies room was our first stop, because Amy and I needed to talk, NOW!

We showed our wristbands to the local crew member who was patrolling the hall and he opened the door to the venue for us. I looked for the sign to the bathrooms close to the bar, and lead us to the ladies room. It was empty inside so I got straight to the point: "so, what did you think of Jared? And you seemed to get comfy with Shannon!" A"well, he seems nice. A little intense. And hot! Wow, you are right, he is deff not a rebound girl. He seems like a keeper. He's gorgeous and really into you! I noticed how he looked at you. Almost like a lovesick teenager" she snickered at me. Me"lovesick? I don't think I would have said that! Interested? Yeah, I know he is. He told me. Straight out, just like that. He asked me to go hiking with him tomorrow morning. So I'm done with wine and beer tonight and switch to coke and coffee" A"Tomorrow already? He doesn't waste time, does he? And neither will I. I'm gonna give into Shannon first chance I get. For once I'll throw all stupid 'dating rules' out the window and follow whatever I want!" Me"then just do it Amy. You deserve that happiness and whatever Shannon can give you. Him and his brother sure won the gene lottery and I'm so glad you find him attractive. And I know he likes you too. His arm almost never left your shoulder!" She blushed and grinned at me and we hugged each other tight. Me"No matter what happends here tonight, we might leave here separate and that's fine by me. You go ahead with Shannon. And I have a date in the morning. Now let's finish up here and go and see the show!" Then we did our business, washed our hands, went to the bar to get a Pepsi each and found our way through the scattered crowd towards the center front of the stage. The concert would start in just a few minutes.