Angel

Part 5

August 11th, 1980

~

The situation hadn't improved over the last few days. Lindsey's initial confusion and disappointment had begun morphing into anger. He had tried talking to Stevie whenever she was by herself if only for a couple of minutes, but she shunned him every single time. She seemed to have all the time in the world for everyone else but him. He didn't want to admit it, but it hurt him. Maybe it wouldn't have if she hadn't let him get close and then pushed him away yet again.

The band was in Mobile, Alabama that night. Lindsey had planned on staying in his room, but Carol Ann had been complaining about being bored out of her mind since the day before. I want to have fun, she yelled at him, when Lindsey's head hit the pillow in his hotel suite after the show. He had no idea if there even was anything to do in the city they currently were in, most of the time he didn't know where he was at all. Lindsey remembered Mick talking about going somewhere for the afterparty. The problem with that was that Stevie was likely going to be there too. 

"Go to Mick's room." Lindsey ordered Carol Ann. "See if he hasn't left yet. If not, we'll join him."

The squeal Carol Ann let out pierced Lindsey's ears, he told her not to be so damn loud. While his girlfriend was out of the room, Lindsey got up from the bed and walked over to his suitcase for a change of clothes. He didn't bother at the venue. Without Carol Ann there to distract him, Lindsey had Stevie on his mind once again. Maybe it was something I did, Lindsey wondered. No, I was being a friend to her. He obsessed over it for a moment longer until Carol Ann returned, announcing that Mick would be waiting for them down in the lobby. 

Lindsey immediately regretted his decision to go out, when he entered the place Mick had picked out. There were too many people and it was way too loud. He knew, he couldn't just turn around and leave, though. Lindsey recognized some people, who worked on the tour, and some others, who he was certain were in the front row at the show, around. The latter were women only and had to have been invited by Mick. The man loved his groupies, well, most of the time they weren't his, but the women never seemed to care, whose lap they were going to sit on anyway.

"Here." Mick thrust a bottle of beer in Lindsey's hand then clinked his against it and grinned. "To another great show!"

They soon occupied an empty booth and were quickly joined by a couple of those fans, Lindsey had noticed earlier. Lindsey wasn't in the mood to pretend that he was enjoying their attention. He scanned the crowd, but Carol Ann was nowhere to be seen. Even if she annoyed the hell out of him, she was a great repellent in those kind of situations. This time, Stevie turned out to be his unlikely savior, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Excuse me, sweetheart." Stevie forced a smile towards the young brunette at Lindsey's side. "You're in my seat."

The woman couldn't possibly do or say anything, so she unwillingly got up and walked away, only turning back to glare at Stevie.

"Thanks." Lindsey said then gulped down half of his beer. 

Stevie just gave a shrug of her shoulders. Christine came into Stevie's view and she waved for her to come join them. Now Lindsey really wanted to get out of there.

While everyone seemed to be having fun, Lindsey sat quietly, sipping his beer, observing his surroundings. His bandmates, except for John, who wasn't there, seemed to be enjoying the typical rockstar life, but to Lindsey it had all already become boring. He would have been much happier if he had stayed in his room instead and placed his acoustic across his lap with a notepad nearby. That was until he felt Stevie's delicate hand on his thigh under the table. For a second, Lindsey thought she had simply forgotten that he was sitting beside her, but she then glanced at him for a brief moment and looked away. Her hand remained still on his leg for a minute before he felt it move up. 

"The hell are you doing?" Lindsey hissed in her ear. 

Stevie didn't reply, engaged in conversation with Christine as if nothing was going on. Lindsey should have pushed her away, but he couldn't help how his body responded to her touch. He hated the rough material of his jeans, which deprived him of the full sensation of her actions.

"You gotta stop." Lindsey addressed Stevie again and she turned to face him, a smirk on her face. 

"Are you sure?" Stevie asked, her head cocked to one side. Breathing heavily, Lindsey placed his hand over hers and gripped it firmly, he moved it away even if he hated that he had to do it. Stevie leaned in closer and whispered for only him to hear. "I'm going to leave in about an hour. Come to my room and we can finish what I've started."