Chapter 18
Immense reactions from the fans in the stadium clamored around me, wrapping me in a cocoon of warm and celebratory energy.
I’d just performed the final song of opening night, and proceeded to get the audience to applaud for the backup dancers, the backup singers, the band, and the crew.
Literally anyone who had made this tour even a remote possibility.
With grateful tears bubbling against my eyes, I took one last moment to poise the microphone in front of me.
“Thank you again so much for making this such a special night. I love you guys. Goodnight!”
Another rolling wave of praise hit me as I turned around with the other amazing people I was sharing the stage with as confetti fell down like cheerful rain around us.
Full of smiles and insurmountable gratitude, I started separating from everyone and heading to the mark where I knew the lift was waiting for me.
Facing the crowd one last time, I started waving out to the masses as the lift started to lower and take me beneath the stage.
I’d done it. I’d fucking done it. I was on my first headlining tour! The rush of that realization was going to make it really fucking hard to sleep tonight, but I didn’t care. I’d finally made one of my dreams happen and I couldn’t be knocked off of the cloud nine I was running on.
It literally felt like there was a severed electrical line living underneath my veins, trapped and forced to keep sending shocks throughout my entire system.
I never wanted this feeling to end, but alas, I knew it had to.
I should be tired or worn out from the non-stop hour and a half show, but I wasn’t.
I couldn’t fucking wait to do it again tomorrow night.
The lift stopped, jarring me back into the real world and away from my jazzed thoughts.
As I was getting off the lift, I was suddenly surrounded by Blue and Priyanka, among other people congratulating me on a job well done.
Blue kept shaking me, telling me how amazing it was to see.
He’d know, considering he’d opened up for me.
Priyanka was all wide smiles and pleasantries, clapping me on the shoulder.
Clapping continued as members of the crew and the others that had shared the stage with me came by to join in on the applause.
“Thank you guys.” I told them earnestly. “I couldn’t have done this without each and every one of you. Thank you so much.”
Luckily, everyone started to disperse after that, Blue and Priyanka staying by me as Van came sauntering up to join our little trio.
“You were amazing, Alistair.” Van told me, the sincerity vibrating from his too blue eyes.
“Thank you.” Somehow, it coming from Van meant more.
Not sure if it was because we’d slept together, or if it was because he was the newest person in my life.
Both Priyanka and Blue had been by my side through almost my entire music career, so while I appreciated their praise, it felt heavier and more concrete coming from Van.
“Don’t kill me.” Priyanka began, which was a sign that I really wasn’t going to like what she was about to say. I tilted my stance, favoring my other foot as she went on. “There’s a couple by your dressing room that really want to meet you.”
My brow did a rollercoaster wave of surprise and annoyance.
I wasn’t doing any meet and greets because I wanted to make sure I had the stamina for the shows, considering I’d never been on this venture before.
So having it sprung on me that I was about to have to continue to be ‘on’ for whoever this couple was kind of got under my skin.
Priyanka knew I’d have this reaction, so I was confused why she’d even told the couple to wait by my dressing room.
“What?” I finally ripped myself away from my inner annoyance so that I could voice it. “Why would you agree to that without checking with me first?”
“Because it’s a very VIP couple.” Priyanka widened her eyes, as if that made all the difference and I could tell how important it was by the amount of her eyes I could spectate.
I couldn’t think of a single pair of people that would warrant her behavior, so I added, “Who?”
“Lafayette Rhodes and his wife, Veronica.”
Now it was time for my eyes to enlarge. On what fucking planet were we on that Priyanka could think I would entertain the idea that I’d connect myself to the Rhodes family of all people?
While I hadn’t really heard of Lafayette, if it was one of the direct siblings, I wanted nothing to do with that family.
Archibald Rhodes was a former senator that was very vocal about his hatred of Orbs.
He’d already had scandal after scandal with his children, and I wasn’t about to become transactionally connected to the next headline.
Several months ago, there had been an attack at the blood centers on the eastern side of the country, riots organized by a hate group calling themselves Hellgrammite.
What was weird was only the blood centers owned by Archibald Rhodes himself had been attacked.
He’d been under investigation ever since.
Then, his daughter Aspen had began kidnapping petrylle in order to extract their luster. Petrylle were capable of creating a clear sheen shield of sorts around them that made them practically indestructible. She’d been apprehended by the authorities and last I’d heard, she was still in custody.
While that was going on, the twins of the Rhodes family, Casper and Cheyenne, had kidnapped someone with the intent to murder them for some sort of family drama that hadn’t been posted publicly, but rumors said it was because of an estranged family member getting a sum of money that the family deemed inappropriate.
The man had escaped, after the twins had disappeared.
No one, especially the family, knew their current whereabouts.
Most recently, Lincoln Rhodes had recruited members of Hellgrammite to attack an ex-lover for the simple fact that he’d dumped him for an Orb.
While I thought the idea of humans and Orbs mixing romantically was becoming a bit more accepted, someone taking it that personal, personal enough to enact violence on someone like that, was really upsetting.
You couldn’t pay me enough money to be close to that sort of family. So I really didn’t give a shit why Priyanka thought I would agree to meet them, but it wasn’t fucking happening.
“And why the hell would I give them the time of day?” I finally stated, crossing my arms defiantly, ready to start an argument for her explanation.
“I know that you don’t want to be anywhere near the Rhodes family drama,” That was putting it lightly, but I gave her a nod. “But Veronica is on that talk show, The Gab? You’re booked for an interview during your week off from tour, so I didn’t think it would be smart to shove them away.”
My arms crossed in defeat, a sigh tumbling out of me.
Per usual, Priyanka was right. I didn’t have my phone on me, but I did remember booking a spot on The Gab and it was during one of my breaks in the middle of tour.
As much as I didn’t want to even give the Rhodes family a single second of my time, business was business.
And I didn’t want to fuck up anything business related.
I could be cordial, just long enough to see what they wanted and then I could get back home to Fawcett and Thiessen so we could cuddle up in my bed and watch a horror movie.
I was jonesing for it the entire back half of the setlist. Unfortunately, business came first.
“Fine.” I glanced immediately at Van. “But you’re coming with me.”
“Of course.” Van nodded, like it had already been a given.
“I don’t feel safe being around them alone.” I really hated that this impromptu meeting was really killing my adrenaline buzz, so I slapped on a simple smile and tried to let it go.
“I’m sorry, Alistair,” Priyanka apologized, recognizing the look on my face. “I should have waited to talk to you about it and made them wait instead of the other way around. That’s my bad.”
“No, it’s fine. You did the right thing, Pri.” I gave Van a tilt of my head, gesturing away from everyone. “Let’s go, Van. I want to hurry up and get this over with.”
“Congrats again, Alistair.” Blue said, clapping my shoulder once, probably heading off to his own dressing room to gather his things and head home himself. How I envied him.
I told Priyanka it was fine one last time before I weaved through the bustling crew that was working to wrap everything up that needed to be done, leading Van toward the direction of my dressing room.
“So who are these people?” Van questioned as we wound our way throughout the backroom of the stadium.
“I don’t know much about Lafayette, but his family’s reputation is horrid. They’ve been very loud about just how anti-Orb they are, and I don’t want anything to do with them because of it.”
There was a grimace that graced Van’s face, and I wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from. Although, he’d been surprised but elated by my inclusion of Orbs in my music video, so I knew he was supportive of Orb rights.
Another reason I wasn’t overly excited about meeting this Rhodes couple was because I had hired Orb backup dancers for the tour, and they were liable to know about the Rhodes controversy.
Having me associated with them wasn’t how I wanted to thank the Orbs that had agreed to be a part of this tour.
So I hoped that having Van with me would, at least, allow Lafayette and Veronica to be on their best behavior.
Managing to cool down my anger, I turned into a more neutral space mentally by the time Van and I had turned a corner, allowing the mirages of our awaiting guests to take shape and start solidifying in my eyes.