A Rock & Roll Romance

Chapter Two

"Johnny, I have a boyfriend."

The pair pulled back with a sharp pang of reality. Luckily Tommy had been in his own little tipsy world mainly talking to his drink so hadn't noticed much of the interaction at all before Johnny stood and donned his fedora. "It's umm getting late. I should be going. If I don't sleep now I'll only end up sleeping through sound check and Alice will kill me. See you tomorrow." He said without even making eye contact. He gathered his stuff, before heading out the bar quickly. "Oh don't worry... I'll escort the young lady back to her room and be a gentleman. Don't you worry John! See ya..." Tommy said chuckling with sarcasm. Meghan looked at Tommy and smiled "Don't worry I can make my own way back. Besides he is right. It's getting late." Tommy nodded before they both stood. "It was good to finally meet you Tommy!" "You too darling! See ya tomorrow love." Meghan smiled before grabbing her bag and heading back to her hotel room.

The next day, was jam packed. Meghan was rushed off her feet gathering content, and ensuring everything was set up to make the coming weeks easier. She had met with various photographers who would be accompanying the band on tour some of them worked exclusively with each band member but overall it was unanimous that everyone would be flooding social media with HV content over the coming months. Nathan, Johnny's assistant had approached earlier that morning informing her that she would get to meet a woman called Gina Deuters on Friday in Istanbul which also happened to be Johnny's birthday. Gina was Johnny's full time social media manager, running his profiles, his company social media pages and putting together edits. She had heard of the woman and admired her work from a far but never had the privilege of meeting her so was fairly excited about that.

Meghan hadn't seen Johnny at all since their interaction the night prior. Not that she had been looking for him. The moment was a drunken lapse in judgement that only lasted for a second and was clearly both their faults but the sooner it was forgotten about the better.

After capturing a photo of the stage that had now been finished she sat back on one of the seats in the very empty stadium. She began scrolling and saw her boyfriend had text.

Hey beaut, how's it going? Just off to the gym. Wishing you were in my arms though. Then I would definitely stay in bed. Call me later xxxxx

Morning handsome. Yeah all good, first show in just a few hours. Just taking some final images to share when they go on. Gym doesn't sound fun.. but if you don't go, then those muscles will soon disappear won't they? What time is your first meeting I'll call before then as it might get hectic later on xxxxx

Well we wouldn't want me to loose my abs would we? We both know what a fan you and your tongue are of them, as well as other parts of my body. First meeting is at 10. Xxx

Meghan felt her cheeks glow. Her boyfriend was a very visual man and enjoyed phone sex and dirty talk more than the norm, or so she thought. She smirked at his response before looking up at the stage thinking of a witty reply. That's when she saw Johnny walk out of the wings with his guitar, he looked straight at her before turning around. Luckily she didn't have much time to think about it as the other band members began to play and rehearse.

I do love your abs, but that's not all I love. Better go, sound check about to start, love you x

Love you too babe xxx

The band rocked out as if they were in front of a packed out arena when in reality it was just a few staff members scattered around checking, and testing things, then there was Meghan taking photographs and videos, she slowly approached the stage and snapped away at each member before arriving in front of Johnny. She smiled at him as he took on a solo instrumental guitar piece and he winked back at her as she videoed for a few moments. The song finished and she clapped and cheered making the band members smirk, she noticed how Johnny smiled at her once more and she silently was relieved that things weren't awkward from the night before.

Not long after, she settled into the green room with a coffee, as she sat down on the couch she played with her Hollywood Vampires 2023 tour lanyard. VIP - Backstage access all areas. It stated and it made her feel accomplished once more, it almost matched the feeling of when she was given her very first office in a Chicago law firm. She snapped a photo of it and uploaded it to her personal Instagram account.

If you need me, this is where I'll be 🎸

She noticed the time and dialled her boyfriend.
"Hey gorgeous." He answered almost immediately.
"Hey yourself. How was the gym?"
"Yeah same old. The only fuckers in there at 5am are units like me. What are you up to?"
"Just chilling in a green room right now although ironically nothing is green in here."
"Ha. Well get you. My girl the rocker groupie."
"Alex I'm not a groupie. I'm here professionally."
"Yeah yeah. You're there because your uncle is who he is."
"Oh thanks."
"You know I didn't mean it like that, don't get stroppy."
"I'm not, but it would be nice to know I'm here on my own merit you know, maybe because they believe in me and think I will do a good job?"
"Oh come on. Neither of us can possibly say you would be there if your uncle wasn't lead singer of a supergroup."
"Alex can we change the subject?"
"Sure.. jeez somebody is hormonal."
Meghan rolled her eyes at this, she thought about arguing back but couldn't be bothered.
"So what's the city like?"
"Yeah it's ok, we didn't get to see much, we arrived late the night before last and then yesterday just hung out."
"Nice. You were up late judging by that selfie you sent me."
"Yeah fairly we all just sat around and had some drinks." And almost kissed Hollywood icons, Meghan thought to herself but obviously didn't voice it.
"Well sounds like a great time. Try not to work too hard."
"No chance.. don't you work too hard. I'm not gonna be home for another 9 weeks. Don't burn out on me!"
"I won't I promise. I better go, Wes is calling."
"Ok babe. Bye, love you."
"Love you too"

The band's call time arrived far quicker than anyone could have imagined, and the group huddled round wishing each other luck. Meghan stood to the side taking it all in, she admired her uncle from such an early age so to see him in his element was wonderful. Of course she had seen him perform many a time but to actually be given access all areas and spend the entire tour with him was going to be amazing. Her aunt Sheryl watched her from a few steps away, before approaching. "It's a ritual, they do it every show. Even more so now Jeff has gone." Meghan nodded and smiled before the group were led to the main wings of the stage, Megan stood back not wanting to get in the way. Her main aim for the evening was to see how the show worked, what elements she wanted to show off and enhance, and what parts she could get raw footage off. It was going to be an evening of mental note taking and enjoying the performance so she wasn't distracted at later dates.

Johnny turned on the spot and seeing her backed up against the wall he reached out his hand. Her eyebrows furrowed before he beckoned her over. She couldn't hear much due to the noisy crowd but he pulled her close before showing off his view. He could see almost the entire arena from where he stood but they couldn't see him. It was completely sold out. "That's quite a shot" he said into her ear so she could hear above the noise. She nodded and pulled her phone out her back pocket and snapped a shot. It was then he noticed her tee. "You bought merch already?" "Yeah... I have a tee from all of my uncle's shows. Wasn't planning on breaking the habit just because I'm now working on this tour." She said pulling back with a smile. Johnny nodded "it looks cute... I mean.. umm that it's cute. What a cute idea." He said nodding trying to correct himself. She smiled before saying "Thanks Johnny." She quickly stepped away and ushered the band to stand close together. The lights from the stage provided a perfect backdrop as she snapped another photo before they were called onto the stage.

As she peered down at her phone, her eyes scanned the shot. She could hear the roaring crowd welcoming the band. This was potentially going to be a fun few months.