Separate And Ever Deadly

Chapter 11 - Bottoms up!

"Thank you so much Newcastle! It's been a pleasure! Now were leaving you with a song called 'A certain romance'! Good night!" Alex shouted in the microphone.

Their fourth gig from the tour was about to end. For the first half an hour, I'd been sitting in the back of the room, selling tshirts and handmade Arctic Monkeys bracelets, which finished immediately, then advanced in the front row. I was their greatest fan, singing, dancing and fangirling all over the place.

Alex, at first visibly concerned about his upcoming performance, was now enjoying the moment at its maximum after the connection between the band and the public had been successfully established.

As part of the public, I had the chance to observe people's reactions and behavior and later communicate the results of my "surveys" to the band. I was usually making friends, talking to different people and get to know more about their opinion on the band. I'd even ask girls about their favourite band member and, obviously, Alex was almost every time their first selection. Of course, I didn't tell that to anybody.

Backstage, I clung to Alex's neck and wrapped my legs around his body. I was light and I liked taking advantage of it.

"You were so great, mon amour!" I whispered in his ear.

I could feel the vibrations of his abdomen as he was chuckling.

"I love when you're speaking French, Fries..." He replied, softly biting at the top of my ear. "Je t'aime comme un fou"

"Oh, mon p'tit chou! You're learning fast!"

"You two'll have the chance to shag each other later. Time to party!!!" Matt came in and destroyed our little tender moment.

"What did he say?" I asked Alex. "'Sheng'?" I tried to reproduce the word Matt just said.

"Nope, actually..." Alex blushed right away and was getting visibly more and more uncomfortable, smiling nervously. "He said 'shag'"

"Which means what? Al, tell me, I'm not one of you! Your stupid British slag drives me crazy!"

"Well... It's a pretty common word and I think you can see how awkward I feel explaining this to you. It means to, you know... get laid?"

Oops. Fuck! I was now feeling awkward too.

"Auch! Scummy son of a bitch!"

"That's cool! Very British!" Alex remarked my insult towards Matt.

"By the way, sorry for asking" I giggled nervously. "I'm trying to learn."

"Neah, it's okay, sweetheart, its part of the fun dating a non-British girl!"

***

The others had been waiting for us at the bar, surrounded by girls and different guys, plus a bodyguard sitting two meters behind. The record label made them hire one for "safety".

"To the monkeys!" Andy toasted.

"To the monkeys!" We clinked our beers and Matt added the classic "Bottoms up!"

We put the bottles to our mouths and I didn't stop until I felt the bottle light in my hand. Everyone started to clap their hands, surprised by my performance.

"Amazing, Fries!" Jamie hugged me, showing everyone my empty bottle.

"You're gonna have some fun tonight, dude!" Matt winked at Alex, who was visibly concerned about my action.

And he was right, a lot of fun followed, so many drinks I lost their number. We played pool and, as far as I can remember, I ended up dancing on the table. Again. However, I slightly remember keeping my top on this time. Then we danced crazily to every song the dj was playing, clinking glasses and stepping on each other's feet.

***

"You shouldn't have done that" Alex whispered in my ear when we both went outside.

"I'm fine, mon ami! I'm absolutely fiiiine!!!" I assured him, placing my arm around his neck in order not to fall." Je suis la meilleure danseuse que tu as jamais vue!"

I tried to make an elegant ballerina pirouette but ended up falling in his arms.

"No, you're not fine. And I don't know what you just said so c'mon, we're going to the hotel earlier tonight."

He grabbed my hand and was ready to walk me to the van when I opposed resistance and stopped.

"I wanna party, Al! I wanna stay up late and daaaance! I wanna have fun because 'girls, they wanna have fuun, oh girl, just they wanna have...!'" I started to sing the famous Cyndy Lauper song, despite feeling dizzy and drunk.

"Marie, don't make me repeat myself, c'mon!"

"No! Let me down!!! I'm a big girl now!" I started to mumble something in French as he took me up in his weak arms and started to walk with me.

He stopped answering. I knew I was going to hate myself for that night for the rest of my life.

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Yeah, it's been 7 months and yes, I'm lazy. Anything else?