Strung (Rock & Romance I.)

Chapter 32. - Remembrance

A/N: Welcome back! I know you are all dying to see if Lukas chases after London after she *finally* confesses her love to him... But alas, here's what you've BEEN asking me for, for the last few months - Lukas' POV.

Because, you know, I'm cruel af.

This chapter is dedicated to CatherineNalley  for the awesome pun and for being a fan!

***

*Lukas*

*5 weeks ago*

"I fucking love this song!" Jesse yelled from the backseat of my newest Mercedes G-Wagon while punching his brother's arm until he turned it up louder.

"I have no idea how he can listen to this girly shit," Ash complained, his face set it its usual hard expression. "I swear, I'm going to call that drummer kid from our opening band. See if he's open to taking this gig."

"You wish you could get rid of me!" Jesse spoke up, and my eyes met his in the mirror briefly as he winked at me. "But I'm a part of the band's contract, hence, irreplaceable."

"The contract does have a death clause. It would be a real shame if-" Ash paused, and turned his head just enough for his brother to see his expression. "-something were to happen to you."

Brian groaned. "Enough of this shit. This is exactly why I never hang out with you guys anymore."

"You're saying your wife is more fun than us?!" Jesse shot back.

But before our bassist could reply, Ash spoke up again. "Speaking of Nikki. Why the fuck isn't she the one going to this bullshit?! I thought this was her job."

"She's already met with this chick," Brian explained. "They're basically hired, but since we don't have a lot of time until the release party, we have to do our fair share. And if this inconveniences you, perhaps you shouldn't fuck the hired help, Asher."

Ash grinned. "Trust me, if you could see what that girl did with her ass, you'd know that it was worth it."

I frowned, feeling just as annoyed as my best friend about having to get involved in the planning process. For us, anything that didn't involve the actual music was like pulling a teeth. All these press events, meeting with fans, planning a party... Summed up everything we hated about the business.

But unfortunately, this is what we all signed up for when we sold our souls to the label. In exchange for world fame and more cash than we knew what to do with, we had to put on a face every now and again.

"Let's just make this quick, shall we?" I said, trying to ease the obvious tension in the car.

"All we gotta do is meet with this planner chick, check out the venue, and we're free. Apparently, she already has ideas about what she wants to do."

We agreed. "Besides, I saw a few pictures of this venue, and it looked very promising," Brian added, and I could sense that the group really hoped it would be. The sooner we found the place, the less time we had to spend doing this girly shit, hence the less time we'd get gawked at. Because if there was one thing all these planners had in common, it was that they were fans.

And we hated nothing more than working with groupies.

***

We pulled up in front of this giant venue, with a generous outside parking lot. If this were the place we'd choose, the whole parking area would convert into a high-class valet, or perhaps a limousine park. There were very few of the rich and famous who enjoyed driving as much as I did.