Unique - A James Hetfield one shot

A night to remember

    "He has something different".

It was the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw him playing with his band in a San Francisco nightclub. That man was really something. I have never seen a frontman like that. He was standing there, wearing a misfit shirt, black pants and a bullet belt, with his white flying V way lower than it should be, maybe because he was too tall. His revoltuous blonde hair covering his face every time he banged.

It was obvious that the band was just starting in the music scene, and it was even more obvious that the lead guitarist and singer was still adapting to the dynamics of being a frontman. But it didn't make the show bad. It was kinda cute. I enjoyed watching those folks playing their songs and figuring out how to interact with the public. Everyone seemed to love them. And who am I not to love them too?

They definitely were very creative, starting from the band name. "Metallica" sounded very powerful to me, at least. Their songs also sounded pretty good. It was very original, so different from everything I heard my entire life. It was a new experience for me. I guess this is one of the reasons why this concert caused such a massive impact in my life.

I still don't know how I ended up in that bar, but drinking some beer, listening to "Seek and destroy", watching those four guys playing so enthusiastically, I realized that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

The show finished but I decided to stay a bit longer and process everything that happened that night. With that in mind, I ordered another beer. It was the second bottle of the night, and I was already feeling a little different. I was too weak to drink, and still, I decided to drink a bit more.

 - Enjoying yourself, aren't you? - I almost jumped when I heard that deep voice speaking very close to me.

I turned my face to the left just to see the vocalist of the band sitting by my side. I was so distracted that I didn't see him coming. I paused for a second to look closer at him. He was even more handsome this close. Now I could see he has beautiful blue-ocean eyes and small acne scars all over his face. He looked so shy now, very different from the stage. I smiled at him.

- Actually, I was more like enjoying you. You guys were great. It was the first time I ever saw you. - I said, and he smiled widely. It was a stunning smile.

- Really? I'm glad you liked it. I'm James, by the way. - He extended his hand and i shaked it enthusiastically, feeling the calluses caused by the string in his fingers. I confess I felt my body shiver with his touch. I told him my name, to which he responded with a "nice to meet you".

- May I offer you something else to drink? - He asked, after ordering a beer himself.

- Nah, thanks. I'm already regretting buying that one. - I answered, shaking the half-drunk bottle in my hand. He chuckled a little.

- Are you weak for alcohol? - He inquired, jokingly.

- Sort of. Yeah.

- Well, I probably shouldn't be drinking as well, but I guess I deserve it after tonight. - He spoke, and I laughed, agreeing with him.

After James beer arrived, we started talking about ourselves. He told me how the band started, how things were so fast and somewhat complicated. He explained that before the actual formation, there was a different guitarist and a different bassist and all of these processes are difficult for guys like them, but they didn't give up and kept working to release their first album, untitled "Kill 'em all".

I didn't expected him to be so open about delicate stuff like that, but it felt very nice to know how's the dynamic of a band behind the stage. We also talked about personal matters of our lives. I was a little apprehensive at first, I mean, I was talking to a guy I just met at a bar concert and I'm not the talkative type, but something about him just made me speak like I never did before, and getting out of my comfort zone and just say some things out loud felt really nice.