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Your opinion only knows The one thing that you seem to want to have most
"Alex said she'd leave you for Dave Grohl." The antagonistic admission earned Sam a swift smack to the back of the head.
The woman in question scowled at him in scoff, contemplating hitting him once more for his trifling comment, despite the affronted expression he now emoted. "Fucking snitch," she seethed at the youngest Kiszka. "I told you that in confidence." Though, it was probably her own fault for trusting the fetters of friendship to trump familial fealty.
The six of them were supposed to be having a laid-back lunch before exploring the local scenery, but here he was stirring the proverbial pot unscrupulously, as the others stared on in amusement.
"Would you really?" Jake asked, humor shading his eyes as his arm sat across her shoulders. It was an idle impendence, and they both knew it. She didn't have a shot in hell with a rock legend double her age. Although, it did prove Alex had a penchant for lusting after long-haired musicians.
Alex pretended to bat the idea around for a period, head peaked and pensive. "Oh, most definitely. You may be good, but Nirvana? Man's an icon. You're lucky he's married with kids." The fallacy slipped from her silver tongue with no weight to support it. Like those were the only reasons it was unequivocally never gonna happen.
Josh piped up with his two cents, "last night didn't sway you in our favor?"
Alex shared a telling look with Joy over the table. It turned out she was real and not a figment of Sam's overactive imagination. Last night's performance had been phenomenal, but their playing wouldn't be the resounding memory that would remain with her. If anything, the previous evening's events made one thing abundantly apparent—teenagers were testy no matter the terrain.
"Jake can do so much better," a girl, she had to be no more than sixteen, sneered as she strolled by in a Greta shirt.
Alex bobbed her head in feigned reflection. "I'm sure he could, but he has really low standards." The statement stole the wind straight from the child's sails, and she stormed off without further strife.
Albeit, another took her place almost instantly. "I don't know what he sees in you," one with butterfly clips decorating her hair came to comment. Were butterfly clips back in fashion? Man, the 90s really were having a resurgence; Alex became distracted by the thought as the girl remained, hand cocked on hip, idly waiting for a response.
"It's probably the nepotism," she finally acknowledged with a stolid shrug. "That, and I'm rich." Alex was many things, and two of them were snarky and self-aware.
Again, without the lack of proper participation, the second girl also disappeared in a cloud of disappointment. Turning to Joy, she asked, "are they always like this?" Alex blamed the passerby who had caught them leaving the studio together and snapped a picture. It was an innocuous enough image, but the proximity alone had proven problematic. It had been a feeding frenzy ever since, and she was the chum in the water.
Never had Alex been so glad for her nonexistent social media presence. The trolls were undoubtedly tearing her apart in the Ethernet void, but she could remain blissfully unaware of their transmitting tantrums. Not so much when they were standing before her, willing her dead with their disdainful glares and attempting to wound her with their wayward words, but you win some, and you lose some.
Joy's response wasn't comforting in its candor. "Yeah, pretty much. You're handling it better than I would, though. Usually, I just tell them to piss off." That appeared to align with what she'd seen from Sam's girlfriend so far. She minced no words and took no prisoners.
If only Alex could be as carefree in her flippancy. The last thing she needed was a headline reading: Daughter of Acclaimed Film Director Gets Into Verbal Altercation with Teenager at Boyfriend's Show. Therefore, it was best to keep her responses short and self-deprecating.
Unfortunately, matters hadn't improved as the night wore on, and backstage was just another rigmarole to reason with. All the girls with paid-for passes were employing every trick in their arsenal to draw attention, from presumptively pawing at the band to precariously pulling down their tops to proffer enticement. Alex didn't know who she felt more pity towards, herself for not anticipating this outcome or the boys for having to maneuver the awkward encounters gracefully.
Ultimately, she'd found an excuse to escape the evening first, brushing aside all bereavements in the sanctity of an empty suite.
Granted, Alex relayed none of these reservations to Jake. She'd considered it unfair to burden him with botherations beyond his breath of control. "Are you in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice?" She questioned skeptically instead because sarcasm always came quicker than self-consciousness. "I'm just saying." She received a series of snickers for her slight.
"One day we will be," Danny offered, and his eternal optimism was just the breath of fresh air that always blew away her more troublesome thoughts.
Alex saddled the drummer with a high five that shook their adjoining hands. "Hell yeah! Love to see it," she supported, her earlier reserve slowly slinking aside. "Are we ready for this Hans Christian Andersen Museum?" She asked, and a round of agreement rolled across the company as everyone readied themselves to retire.
Jake's hand encasing her forearm halted her exit. "Go ahead, we'll catch up in a second," he informed the others who looked confused by his conviction to remain seated.
Now she was in for it, Alex mused as she watched the others abandon her and all hopes for avoidance. Clearly, she hadn't composed herself well enough, if the lingering look Jake was leveling her with was anything to judge by. "What's up?" She asked in the most measured tone she could muster.
"You tell me," he casually challenged. Jake's eyes evaluated every expression, aiming to enter her mind and determine an explanation for the disruption in her demeanor himself.
Alex's options were simple, imitate ignorance or teeter into transparency. In a surprising show of amelioration, she selected the latter. "Last night was a lot," she admitted, though it echoed in its open endedness.
Whatever Jake considered the insinuation to imply caused his countenance to crack into a wicked grin. "Turned you on, huh? Couldn't contain yourself, so you had to call it early?" He teased the question with a suggestive squeeze to her thigh.
For a moment, Alex contemplated not catching up with the others at all. Who needed to see the sights when they had a solitary room to themselves waiting? He nearly had her, with his treacherous hand toying higher, but she caught it with her own before it could wander towards its target. "Of course, you're a Greek god. I live in awe of your all-encompassing excellence," the compliment compounded his already cocky smirk. It ached, knowing she was about to be the reason it broke. "But your fans were a bit frustrating, what with them trying to filet me like a fish."
His smile suddenly slipped to a frown, one that furrowed his brows, creating a crease between them, and all her concerns came to fruition. "Shit. I'm sorry," he winced, working his fingers across his chin in worry.
He wasn't at fault or responsible for others' actions, freewill withstanding and all. "Don't apologize," Alex rebuffed his efforts to atone. "I'll adjust. First times are always the roughest, right?" When her aphorisms didn't appear to alleviate his apprehension, Alex drew Jake in for a deep kiss instead. The angling of their lips aimed to state sentiments unspoken.
The whispers of anyone could be watching, prompted her to pull away, and she watched as his eyes fluttered back into fullness. Jake's iridescent irises were alit with an affection Alex knew was mirrored within her own hazel orbs. Her heart clenched so suddenly it shook her to the core. There was nowhere he'd go that she wouldn't diligently follow, flocking and feisty fangirls be damned.
There was a sentiment sitting at the tip of her tongue, threatening to tumble into truthfulness, but she bit it back before it could turn traitorous.
