Devil's Entourage [The Devil's Series #1]

Nate

“Hey, Nate! Wait up!”
Startled, I turn around when a girl calls for me just as I’m about to escape the venue. I’ve had enough for the day.
It’s barely one in the morning, but I can’t take these intoxicated people tonight. With every minute I spent staring at my phone, I felt my mood getting worse. Now all I want is to go back to the hotel and mourn the better life I used to have. If it wasn’t for Holly’s intern running after me.
“What do you want?” I ask Roxy as I stop walking so she can catch up with me.
“Are you going back to the hotel? I was hoping I could tag along,” she tells me a little breathlessly after the exertion of running down the corridor after me.
“Yeah, I guess,” I shrug. I’m not in the mood for company, but leaving a barely eighteen-year-old girl with the drunk men in here, or forcing her to get back to the hotel on her own, makes me feel uncomfortable as well. “Are you ready to go?”
“Almost, I just got to grab my bag and tell Holly real quick. I’ll be out in a second.” Grinning, she runs back to the green room while I stroll down to the back entrance where my favourite bouncer is still having one smoke after the other.
“How long until you can go home?” I ask him as I lean against the wall beside him. Lifting up his cigarette pack towards me, he silently offers me one as well, but I shake my head to turn him down.
“To answer the question you actually want to be asking, I think your girl was here,” he tells me with a smirk, his words making my heart stop in my chest.
“What? When? Where?” Jumping away from the wall, I let my eyes move to the backyard immediately, scanning the surrounding area for any trace of a short girl with blonde hair and probably black clothes. A mix of hope, excitement and happiness hits me at the same time that I feel disappointment creeping into my heart.
Jay was here? Why is she not anymore? Why didn’t she come in? Where is she now?
“About forty minutes ago?” The bouncer tells me with a shrug. “She stood back there by the fence, but when I called her out, she left. A small girl, slim face, long blonde hair, looked a lot like the girl you showed me. Although this one was dressed… ragged, I’d say.”
From tomboyish baggy clothes to skinny jeans in combination with band shirts, everything seems possible for Jay. At least everything but a yellow, girly dress with high heels. No matter what clothes she wears, though, whether they’re tight-fitted, loose, tomboyish, or girly, Jay is and will always be beautiful. But when I look around, I see neither a girl with baggy pants nor a girl with skinny jeans. I don’t see anyone at all.
Why didn’t she come in? Why did she walk away? Why was she here to begin with? What does all of this mean? Doesn’t she want to see me?
“I’m ready to go!” Roxy’s voice rips me out of my thoughts as she appears at my side, her hand slinging around my arm without invitation.
Distracted with scanning every square millimetre around us, I lead her over to the car that’s waiting for me. My eyes never look away from the window as we roll out of the backyard, never stopping to try to find her. During the entire drive back to the hotel, I’m busy searching the street for any signs of Jay. My mind is completely clouded by thoughts of whys and hows and ifs.
The girl the bouncer saw, was it really Jay? If so, was she at our concert tonight? Has she watched me perform all these songs I wrote for her? Did she like them? Does she know I wrote them for her? There can’t be any doubt about ‘Devil’s Daughter’ since the name says it all. Everyone in our neighbourhood used to call her that when we were kids, and it was that nickname that inspired our band name as well. Devil’s Entourage.
Jay’s certainly no devil, though, she’s merely a bit of a wild, untamed brat. But in an absolutely lovable way. She’s passionate and loyal with a great sense of justice and fair play. When she sees someone being treated unfairly, she can’t keep quiet about it.
Not to forget that she used to curse like a sailor at the sweet age of ten already. She may have looked lovely as a child with her long golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes, dressed in a green school uniform. But the second she opened her mouth, all sweetness was gone immediately.
She always says what’s on her mind. Whether it is good or bad, she hasn’t got a filter. And sadly, only few people enjoy that kind of honesty. I do, though. Most of the time, at least.
There were moments when she tripped over sensitive topics with me as well. When our band first got together, for example. I was nervous. I’d never played with other musicians. It was hard for me at first, focusing on my bandmates and my own doing at the same time. Jay’s blunt words on how we’d sucked certainly didn’t help me much. But if there was a person allowed to say it, it was Jay. She’s a musical genius, music is her mother tongue. Her dad always brags about how she’d learned to play the guitar before she could talk. But when your father is the world-class guitarist Jim D, it’s probably no surprise.
After her mother had died giving birth to her, Jim was left with no choice but to take baby Jay on tour with him. Back then, he was the lead guitarist of Sinking Ship, one of the biggest rock bands of our time. Jay grew up playing with instruments instead of toys. Guitar, piano, drums, she learned everything from the band members themselves. Her dad, their drummer Jason Cooper, and her godfather, the worldwide celebrated lead vocalist of the band. Brad Roberts.
Sinking Ship wasn’t as huge back then as they are now, but they were quite famous when Jim was still their lead guitarist. At least they were famous enough for me to be more than excited when I heard the Jim D, the best guitarist I’d known, had sold his house in Los Angeles to move to Guildford. Guildford in Surrey, England. Not to New York, not to London, he was going to move into my bloody neighbourhood, in a village right outside of Guildford!
Little had I known back then that he wouldn’t only be living near me but that his daughter would walk into my room out of the blue. I was sitting on my bed, focused on the guitar in my hands when I’d heard a noise that had made me look up. And there she stood, Caribbean blue eyes staring at me with curiosity inside of them that immediately sparked my own. Two hours later, I was standing in the basement of her home, Jim D right in front of me, a friendly smile on his face as he encouraged me to play for him. And the rest is history.
Jim didn’t only give me guitar lessons, he also introduced me to my bandmates. He helped us through our first shitty rehearsals, he got us gigs around town, he even helped us record our first album in his studio in the basement of his house. And Jay was right there with us all along, designing our first band merchandise, setting up various social media sites to get our name out, promoting us and supporting us in any way she could think of. Without those two, there’d be no Devil’s Entourage, there’d be no band.
A few months before they moved to Manchester, we finally got that record deal we’d been working for. I know the only reason we had was because of our vitamin C, though. ‘C’ as in ‘contacts’. Best pills that could be taken in this business and I can’t pretend that we’d be anywhere close to where we are now without it. Jim pulled the strings to get us to the right places right from the start, he introduced us to the right people, got them to hear our music and keep their eyes on us until they eventually offered us a deal.
But he moved away and I haven’t heard from him since. Jay and I had our regular phone conversations for a while, though, until that one call that had changed everything. It was the last time I’ve heard her voice.
For weeks, I tried calling her. I tried everything I could think of. Everything but coming here. I wanted to. But I didn’t.
Coming to Manchester is what Jay would have done, though, if it was me who’d gone missing. She wouldn’t have listened to anyone telling her she couldn’t go home to look for me, or that she should just move on. That my silence meant I didn’t want her anymore, that maybe I’d found someone else in Manchester and was happy with my new life without her.
Jay would have told them straight in the face that no one knows me as well as she does and that they can go to hell. She would have boarded the next flight to Manchester to find me, giving a shit on whatever consequences it may have for her career. And knowing what a bad friend I am compared to her makes me feel even worse about my poor attempts at searching for her.
Guilt, longing, desire, grief and heartbreak are my constant companions ever since the day I couldn’t reach her anymore, around one and a half years ago. I poured them into plenty of love songs for our first album. I allowed them to come out every time I sang them to the audience, at every concert we played. Until tonight.
Tonight, I found hope. Hope that she was there to hear me sing my songs for her, hope that she knows how awfully sorry I am for losing her. I hope she knows that I still love her and that I miss her to the point of insanity.
“Thanks for letting me come with you, I appreciate it,” Roxy’s voice pulls me out of my pondering silence when we arrive at our destination. I can barely tear my eyes away from the window to give her a polite smile before I get out of the car. Hurried footsteps behind me let me know that she’s following me, catching up just when I reach the entrance. She walks beside me all the way through the lobby and up to the second floor, but I don’t bother trying to start a conversation.
Only when she stops in front of my room with me, I turn around and raise my eyebrows. “Do you need anything else?”
I don’t mean to be impolite, I just really want to be alone. Roxy doesn’t seem to mind, though, she steps closer to me, wrapping her arms around my neck as she giggles, “I wanted to wish you a good night!”
Being hugged out of nowhere, I should be used to it by now. But it still startles me every time, so much that it takes me a few seconds until my brain catches up and I lift my hands to her shoulder blades to somewhat return the gesture.
“Well, good night. I hope you had a great first tour,” I tell her with another friendly smile as I let go of her again. ‘Always be nice to the interns of today, they’re the managers of tomorrow’, another advice Jim had given us once. Riley Adams from our label’s A&R was one of those interns he was friendly to some years ago, now we’ve got a record deal because of it.
“Oh yes, it was lovely, thank you!” Roxy grins at me, her arms still around my neck. I awkwardly let my one hand rest on her hip while dropping the other to my side.
“So, um, do you want anything else?” I mutter helplessly as I look at her. This is getting uncomfortable, why is she still hugging me?
“Yeah, I do. I mean, I wanted this for a while, so… What the hell?” She mumbles, probably more to herself than to me, but before I can ask her what exactly she means, she steps closer to me and presses her lips on mine.
Her kiss is like an alarm siren going off in my head, blinking red lights at me and screaming that this is wrong. For a moment, I’m so shocked that I just stand there, not knowing what the hell is even happening until my senses kick back in and I softly shove her away from me. I can see the hurt my rejection causes her in her eyes, but I don’t say anything to ease it. I wouldn’t know what to say anyway. I only open the door and escape into my room without another word to her before I slam it shut between us. Leaning against it, I lower myself to the floor, letting my head fall back against it as I close my eyes.
I should have read the signs, I should have seen the warning. Her not letting go of me, the look in her eyes. How could I be so stupid? I should have stopped her before her lips ever touched mine. Maybe I didn’t kiss her back, but I still feel dirty for feeling her where only Jay belongs. My Jay, my beautiful girl with her delicious lips that taste like the sweetest strawberries in the summer.
Everything’s better in the summer, everything blooms and blossoms, the air is full of the nicest scents. It’s warm in the summer, and sometimes, even in England, the sun smiles down on us and fills our hearts with happiness. Just like Jay does.
‘True beauty of life blossoms after halftime’, those are the words written in black ink on my chest. Right over my heart. The first halftime of the year ends with June, then comes July, which is Jay’s actual name. I started calling her ‘Jay’ at some point because I always considered the name ‘July’ to be too girly for her. At second thought, though, Jim couldn’t have chosen a better one.
She is like July, she’s the heat of the summer, the scent of the most beautiful flower, the taste of the sweetest fruit, refreshing like a bath in the ocean, full of life and happiness. She’s my sun.
That’s what I’d thought of when I told the tattoo artist to write these words on my heart. For everyone else, these are cryptic words they don’t understand. To me, they mean only one thing. ‘The true beauty of life comes with July.’ With Jay.
It was my first tattoo, but I guess it’s true what people always say, ink is addictive! I may not have gotten more than this one yet, but I’ve got no doubt others will follow in the future. A future I only hope I won’t have to spend alone.
But Jay was at our concert tonight. She’s alive and she’s still here, in Manchester, in the same city I am currently in. And will be for another fifteen hours before the plane takes me back to London. Which means I’ve got fifteen hours to find her!
Without wasting any more of them, I get up from the floor and leave my room again. I don’t know where I’m going or where I should be looking first, but sitting in my room and thinking about her won’t help me get her back.
I’ve barely taken three steps down the staircase when my way gets blocked, though. Two broad guys who are walking right beside each other make it impossible for me to squeeze through.
“Where are you going at two in the morning? Got a date we should know about?” Dru asks me with a naughty grin on his face even though he knows dates are the last thing I’d agree on anytime soon. At least unless I find Jay and get lucky enough for her to forgive me.
“If I’m successful, I hope,” I let him know, only being able to look down at him because I’m standing two steps above. Usually, my 5’7’’ doesn’t do much for me in that department, all my bandmates are at least a head taller than me. Which makes Jay even more perfect for me, though. Standing next to her 5’1’’ makes me feel tall for once.
“I think we need a bit more information on that, mate. You get a beer if we get the details, deal?” Mickey suggests with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Without waiting for me to agree, he grabs me by my arm and drags me back upstairs to Luke’s room. Our drummer seems to be prepared for this little private party, though, two six-packs of beer are already waiting for us when we enter.
“We didn’t even have to haul him out of bed, he just wanted to sneak out when we came,” Dru announces while I’m being pushed into an armchair, a bottle of beer shoved into my hand at the same time.
“Yeah, mate, what was that about? Beer has arrived, now I want the details!” Mickey demands as he sits down on the edge of the bed across from me.
Sighing, I resign myself to my fate. I know there’s no chance in hell they’ll let me leave any time soon, at least not without a good reason. And finding Jay is one, at least for Mickey. So, staring down at the beer in my hands, I tell them. “Jay was at the concert tonight.”
“What?” Mickey shouts right away, his voice full of the same excitement I felt earlier as well. “How do you know that? Did you talk to her? Is she alright?”
He and Jay were close, good mates ever since his family had moved into the house next to her and Jim. He’s the only one who’s never told me that she must have moved on from me when her silence stretched on. Instead, he was sitting right by my side when I called the police to report her missing and got into a fret with me when they’d refused to take me seriously.
“I’d shown the bouncer a picture of her and told him to let her in if she showed up,” I admit. “He said she was there, but she walked away without attempting to get in. But it was her. Short girl, blonde hair, slim face. I know it was her, Mickey, I can feel it! This means she’s still here and she still cares! She wanted to see me. And I will search for her!”
“And how exactly do you plan to do that? Knock on every door at two in the morning in hopes that she’ll show up behind one of them? Have you lost your mind?” Luke grunts at me, rolling his eyes in obvious annoyance.
“Well yes, quite possibly I have lost my mind,” I huff. “But she’s here, okay? And I need to find her before we fly back home tomorrow!”
I don’t understand why it’s so hard for him to get it! What choice do I have? Just go home and pretend I didn’t know she was there, so very close to me tonight without me knowing? That’s impossible!
“Still, you can’t go around waking up the whole city! People know you, mate, what do you think the press has to say about you walking up and down the streets, yelling a girl’s name over and over again and disturbing everyone’s sleep?”
“Probably, ‘oh, what a romantic! Nate Fox is searching for his one true love in Manchester, who is the lucky girl?’” Dru scoffs with a laugh. “Honestly, mate, they’ve got you so hyped up as the big cuddly romantic, they’d probably love you even more for it!”
I know he was trying to make a joke, but he’s probably right. Mickey might be chased by girls who want to get in his pants, but the girls chasing me want to get into my heart. Or they want other girls to get into it.
Ever since ‘No Farewell’ hit the charts, we’ve been the band everyone in this country talked about, and one of the first questions I got asked was who this song was about. Several rumours came up over the summer, of me being in relationships with famous girls, including some I’ve never even met. The most persistent one was a musician I’d recorded a duet with, though, Amy Ronalds.
There were bloody fan accounts some people made with photoshopped pictures of her and me together, endless essays on what a great chemistry we apparently had. Although that girl is a major bitch, a first-class cow who’d been pampered by this business for long enough to make her believe she was a goddess and everyone else way beyond her. She’s the embodiment of ‘fake’ and it’s almost insulting that people actually believe I could be in love with her. Working with her was pure torture, but the label insisted on it. And my name on the charts with hers gave our career a much-welcomed boost, so I trudged through it.
“You know, Dru isn’t wrong about that!” Mickey’s voice sounds to my right and makes me look up at him again. “You should just post it on social media, ask if anyone knows where she is. The press going berserk over it would maximise your chance of actually finding her and spruce up your image at the same time! And you know Jay, she loves the spotlight!”
His idea doesn’t sound bad at all. He’s right, Jay loves the spotlight. She was obsessed with Instagram and always gave me an earful for not liking it. She wouldn’t mind showing up on ours, that’s for sure.
Caught up in the idea that this might be a good solution, I scroll through Jay’s last posts until I get stuck on a picture that was taken by me shortly before she left. It shows her and Jim jamming together. Back then, she was rocking a neon pink streak in her light blonde hair. She was wearing one of our first, self-designed band shirts with a pair of black leather pants and boots, and looked as hot as always.
Somehow, it slightly bothers me that Mickey was the one to suggest using social media. I should have thought of it myself. I should have thought of this right when she’d disappeared. I’ve got no idea how I could be so stupid not to think of it before, I’m just never doing enough. Always only giving it my almost all, when Jay is nothing but perfection. She’s a perfect human being made up of passion, love, impertinence and fire. She’s irresistible, like a forbidden fruit in paradise.
And considering that the whole reason we met was that she was my little sister’s friend first before she became mine as well, she certainly was sort of forbidden for me. I’d resisted her for years, but once her lips touched mine for the first time on the night of her seventeenth birthday, all my self-discipline was gone. And damn, I’d gladly burn in hell for the rest of my existence if it meant I could taste her only one more time!
Driven by my desire, I finally choose a picture of her that I’d taken during a jam session with Jim, but I zoom in on Jay only. She’s showing her signature grin to the camera, the bright colour of her Caribbean blue eyes highlighted by the black makeup around them and the pink streak of hair falling into her face.
Silky hair on her soft cheeks, how I loved tucking it behind her ear. Having this random chance to touch her face ever so innocently, my fingers brushing over her skin lightly. Her stunningly beautiful eyes would shoot up at mine, looking at me with that sparkle of surprise and affection in them that always told me she loved my caressing just as much as I loved touching her.
It’d soon become my favourite activity, these random physical contacts. A light contact of our fingers while walking next to each other, a kiss on the top of her head, or cheek, or forehead when she hugged me, brushing a strand of hair out of her face, wrapping my arms around her shoulder when we were sitting beside each other, pulling her to my chest when we watched a movie in my bed. Now that I’m thinking of it, if I’d honestly believed no one had figured out that I was madly in love with her back then, I was a bloody fool!
But it’s not a secret anymore, all my mates and my family know how badly I’m still in love with her. She’s only got to come back to me, then nothing would be standing between us ever again. No confusions or misunderstandings, no suppression of my feelings for her, no secrets. All that’s left to do for me is to find her.
And I swear to God, I will!