ONNAXOFF

Chapter 17

Jessie

“And then Jess was all like ‘What do you mean I’m not on the list? Check it again.’” Rose does a cute and surprisingly accurate impression of my accent and Hyghly chuckles. “She was this close to fighting him.”

“I wasn’t gonna fight him.” I shake my head. “I was trying to get him to change his tone. He must have thought we were some sly groupies trying to sneak in. He even asked ‘if we thought we were the first ones to try it.’” It’s been an annoying couple of weeks with this bloody move and the bouncer not letting us backstage after the show was just the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“Abel must have forgotten to put you on.” He remarks as he leads us to the smoke-filled VIP area. I wonder who chose this place for the after party. It’s on the small side, so I’m surprised it even has a VIP area.

“Forgotten?” He has his phone with him 24/7. And he always gets things done as soon as he thinks of them. Even as we were talking about it, I’m sure he was emailing to make the arrangements. I mean, I got my tickets in the mail weeks ago. 

As soon as we get past the rope, I recognise Abel. Even with his back turned, his distinctive hair makes him stand out of the crowd. I haven’t spoken to him since New York but I have a nagging suspicion that he took me off the list once he found out I moved out. He most likely doesn’t want to see me, but I need to make sure.

“Hey.” I tap his shoulder, expecting a frosty welcome. Instead he turns around with a huge grin on his face. He snakes his arm around my shoulders, resting what feels like all of his weight on me. 

"Hey! Guys, this is Jessie, have you met Jessie?" He quickly runs through the names of the people he's standing with, all in various stages of intoxication, talking way fast for me to catch any of them.

"It's been so long since I saw you! How long has it been? 2 years?!" He laughs loudly, breathing vodka fumes in my face. “Were you backstage? Coz I don’t think I saw you there…” 

“Actually, I wasn’t on the list apparently.”

“Oh shit. Really? I must have forgotten to give them your name. Imma tell you a secret.” He leans in even closer. “I was fucked-up faded during that whole show.”

“Really?” I ask sarcastically, freeing myself from his constricting grip. “I couldn’t tell.”

“I don’t think anyone did. I know the set list backwards in my sleep. I tell you though, trying not to slur when I was talking…” He chuckles again. “It’s over now though. No more shows! Now we partaaaay.” He cheers and his friends half-heartedly join in.

He suddenly spots someone in the crowd, shouting “Yo! Belly!” before he leaves me standing there bewildered. What the fuck was that? 

"That was a combination of a couple pills, few blunts, a little coke and a lotta alcohol." Lamar says from beside me.

I wasn't even aware that I'd spoken out loud.

"He always gets ‘white girl wasted’ after he gets off tour." He grins with amusement. "He's like Superman though. It'll wear off before the end of the night. Or maybe it won't." He adds, as he sees Abel stumble around, bumping into almost everyone on his way across the room.

“Anyway, I’m glad you could make it. Help yourself to drinks, girls, goodies, whatever you desire.” He smiles, gesturing to the fully stocked table.

“Don’t mind if I do.” I eye a bottle of Henny. I’m gonna need a drink to forget that strange encounter. Or maybe two. I push two glasses together but before I can start filling them, a hand reaches past mine and plucks the bottle off the table. I follow the arm up to find Hawk on the other end.