A Bitter Cinderella Story [Tom Keifer/Nikki Sixx fanfic]

Chapter 2: Los Angeles

Two weeks and the boys of Cinderella were in Los Angeles taking the first earliest flight out of Philly. It was just April but unlike their home town that was just coming out of the winter, L.A was breezy and warmer, considerably warmer than back home. The others wore appropriate clothing for the change in climate but Tom wore all black. He may have stuck out but it helped Callum spot the band amongst the crowds of native Angelinos, tourists, and business people. 

He held a sign but by spotting them first he immediately caught their attention, calling them over to him. Once their luggage was collected, which wasn't much, each had a single bad plus Eric, Tom, and Jeff their guitar cases headed to the reserved limo waiting for them, yeah a fucking limo. Everyone but Tom was excited to get the star treatment, or it looked that way. Tom had a way of not really showing what he felt on the surface. 

He eased up along the ride to their hotel while Callum explained their itinerary. 

"Later this afternoon you'll be driven to the studio, it's in West Hollywood, near the Strip so by all means fellas afterwards go have some fun!" 

 He then explained the process like he previously had discussed over the phone once he had left Philly confidant in his discovery. It was good to be back in L.A Sure the city wasn't much cleaner than Philadelphia but the climate suited him much better. The rain, snowy slush, cold dampness were rather unpleasant for someone used to sunshine, and the heat. 

They'd play a set of three songs, he told them to really ensure they were the best they had to offer, this audition had to go perfectly. Impress them. Tom had squirmed over these phone calls mainly because Cal spoke as if this was a done deal, it wasn't. Whether Euphoria decided to sign them or not, it was their final call, as a band. Cinderella was his baby, his project with Eric, and signing with this label could take everything away from him. Unless they were willing to negotiate the terms of the contract, Tom was not going to sign. If the others voted to sign, well Tom didn't want to think about that route right now. 

Fred and Jeff were like giddy school kids on a field trip, and in some way they kinda were. A free weekend in L.A was just never in the picture for any of them, so it was exciting. Since their audition was that same day, it meant the rest of the weekend was theirs to do as they pleased, unless they were called back. But the contract didn't need to be signed there in L.A, Cal informed them sometimes the decision took a while, so if they didn't hear back immediately he'd be in contact later on whether the news was good or bad. On that premise, the boys were planning on one hell of a party weekend. Hitting the Strip, maybe one of the popular beaches too. 

They were given two rooms in a decent but definitely cheaper hotel, but it had a pool. To them it was fancy as fuck. Since they had a few hours to spare, they took to the pool except Tom who sat under a beach umbrella in the shade, on a plastic chair strumming his guitar softly singing the lyrics to the songs they chose for the audition; Nobody's Fool, Nothin' For Nothin', and Somebody Save Me. 

After some pool shenanigans, showering, and made themselves as presentable as possible but nothing too showy. Cal had told them the glam looks were not needed for the audition, what they needed to concentrate was on just on their sound. 

"I wonder if we'll bump into anyone famous," Jeff exclaimed as they were loaded back into the same limo that had dropped them off a couple of hours ago. 

"At the studio or the Strip?" Fred asked. 

"Both?" 

"Probably."

Everyone discussed who they wanted to meet, or potentially meet. There were a lot of big acts that called L.A their home, and the Strip was the hot spot to find them at.