Stepping Stones to Hell

chapter 1

"Good morning," Steve said, taking the seat across the table from Robin. She was focusing on the nail brush in her hand, trying very hard not to get the black polish on her fingers.

"Eddie always makes this look so easy," she grumbled.

"Here, let me help," he offered. Steve reached across the table and took the nail lacquer. He moved his hand steadily, being careful to not get paint on her skin.

"How'd you sleep?" Robin asked. She glanced out the window and watched as the trees passed in a blur. Last night Corroded Coffin had a show in Atlanta and now they were traveling toward Chicago. She knew they were almost there but traveling on the tour bus always made her feel uneasy. She never slept great on the bus, not even when she had a two hour performance on the drums each night.

"Okay enough, I suppose. I would ask you but I heard you leaving your bunk at six this morning. Have you had coffee?" he dipped the brush back into the bottle before moving on to the next nail.

Typical question. Even though Steve had been her best friend since the summer of her junior year of high school, he was the band's manager now. He was always asking them about their caffeine intake, their water drinking habits and somehow always finding food to shove in everyone's face. She was grateful to have him on the road, that she couldn't deny.

"I have. I also ate some toast and I've already started drinking water."

"Nice," he grinned proudly. "Okay, I don't want to spring this on you but we do have interviews today."

Robin shrugged, being careful to keep her hands flat on the table. They did interviews frequently on tour and at this point she was used to it. It didn't make her anxious the way it did at first. She was good at letting the guys take the lead so she normally got away with minimal talking.

Steve sucked in a breath, "Okay don't be mad." She raised an eyebrow and he continued, "It's an article on just you."

Robin looked up at him quickly, "What? Why?"

"Well, the magazine wants to do an article on women in the industry. They have a few questions for you. They want to do a feature specifically on you and how successful you are. The band of course, but how you rose to fame and how you're making a place in the industry."

Different thoughts ran through Robin's brain. The music scene was known for being misogynistic, especially to females who weren't fronting the band. Not to mention feminism was lacking seriously everywhere, not just in music. She felt honored and wanted to speak up but doing an interview alone made her feel sick. She was so used to letting everyone else do the talking. She was content with being partially silent.

"Come on, Robs. It'll be great," she knew Steve was just trying to be encouraging but she felt nauseous.

"What if the interviewer twists my words? What if I say something and he takes it the wrong way? What if this is a trap to try and make the guys look bad," she started spilling out her worries.

Steve wrapped his hand around Robin, rubbing the palm of her hand. "Hey, listen. That's the point of this isn't it? Your first concern is making the men in the band look bad? That's not going to happen because they aren't bad. And I doubt they'll be asking about them, this going to be about you and what being a woman in this scene is like. Also, the interviewer isn't a man. This is a fully female run magazine."

Weight seemed to lift off her shoulders learning that information changed things. "It is?"

"Yes. I think it's a great opportunity and I already agreed to you doing it. I'm sorry I didn't ask first. If you decide it's not for you, we will cancel."