Josh's Destiny

Chapter 20

New Orleans. A beautiful city to be sure and a city with a long history, not all of it pleasant. Destiny thought about this history as she rode the tram. The guys had already done the first show, and had damn near blown the roof off the Superdome football stadium. Destiny could not help but notice that they had become even better than they were. It was natural for a group to grow and transform, they would just fizzle out if they didn't.

But Greta Van Fleet had grown by leaps and bounds and there was no end in sight for the band. Josh was as attentive as before, more so in fact. Destiny wasn't sure she liked that. She wondered if Josh didn't trust her ---- or himself. Groupies were everywhere, especially at the hotels and the venues. She knew she could compete and win with most of them, but she shouldn't have too. And she wouldn't, Josh needed to reign in his ego.

In fact, they all did. Arrogance had crept in and taken root among the band members and Destiny didn't like it one bit. They had started out sweet and humble guys, but she didn't like what they were now. They were petulant, arrogant, vain and downright rude to the crew. Fans were a different story, of course, but Destiny had seen Josh and Jake brush some of them off as well.

It was early and the tram reached Destiny's stop. She got off the tram, careful not to spill the hot coffee she had gotten for Josh. She had one for herself and a bag of freshly baked baguettes. And she managed to carry the newspaper. Josh insisted that he have a newspaper every morning after a show, so he could save the reviews.

When it had become Destiny's job to be his personal "go-fer" she had no idea. They hadn't really talked in some time now. When the band had free time they were usually doing interviews or talking to this artist or planning what to play in this city or that. Destiny still did her job well, finding things for them to do and places for them to go, but they were canceling more and more often.

And in bed, all Josh wanted to do was have sex. Destiny could not call it making love, more like sexual gymnastics. She was into it, always was with Josh, and he lavished her with attention. The intense emotions were still there, Gods how he loved her, and she him, but there was something different about him. Or maybe it was her. Maybe it was both of them. All she knew was that she had to find out and that would require talking.

They were staying at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, which overlooked Bourbon Street. It was a grand hotel and the guys would not have to go far to enjoy the French Quarter and taste the flavor of New Orleans. If they chose too. Frankly, Destiny would rather spend the day at the hotel pool, have a late supper, and then hit The Dungeon.

She would just as soon skip The Dungeon too, but the guys were really looking forward to it. The bar didn't open until 10:30 P.M. so they had plenty of time to kill. Destiny made her way through the lobby with her purchases. It would have been so much easier to go to the hotel restaurant or order room service, but she knew several places that no one could beat. Little holes in the wall, mom and pop places that no one in New Orleans wanted to close. They were that good.

Destiny had her reasons for going though. Besides the food and coffee, the owners of said establishments were dear friends of Tanta's and hers. She may only be twenty-two, but Destiny had her share of experiences. She had been to New Orleans a dozen times when she was growing up and she had been to The Dungeon a few times. She had not gone there to drink, though she could have, but she had gone to study.

It was common knowledge that the bar was haunted. Destiny had never seen or felt a spirit, but there were other entities there she had seen ---- and feared. Which was silly, they had been as nice and pleasant as anyone could wish. But when the bar opened it was another world.

Destiny let herself into the spacious room and noted the bed was empty. Josh was up and she heard the shower slow as it was turned off. Josh walked naked into the room and proceeded to dry off.