Chapter 4
Joseline
Sebastian shows up a few hours later, wearing black clothes that cover him from head to toe. His signature skull mask with sharp teeth conceals everything from the shoulders up.
It’s so odd how the members of Rhage insist on remaining covered at all times. No one is going to recognize them by their wrists or earlobes…
Or would they?
They’re either hiding something or seriously committing to the bit, and I don’t know which is worse.
“Jos, this is Sebastian.” Niki smiles, her eyes bouncing between us. “My love, this is my best friend in the whole world.”
“Nice to officially meet you.” I force a smile onto my face. Even though we’ve never met in person, I’ve seen enough photos of him and heard enough about him to make it feel like we already know each other.
“Likewise.” He nods in my direction and stops next to the recliner to place a hand on Niki’s shoulder. Her expression softens, and she perks up at his touch.
Gross. These two are so in love it’s sickening.
Sebastian’s next words are directed at her, “How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”
“Better.” This time when she smiles, it doesn’t look weak or forced. “Kind of hungry.”
“I’m going to shower and change,” he rumbles softly, gently rubbing his fingers up and down her arm. “Then I’ll get you something to eat, alright?”
At the mention of food, my stomach growls, and I’m struck with an idea. “Actually, do you mind if I kidnap her for a bit?” I’m already pulling out my phone to search for local restaurants. “We can go eat somewhere close, if you’re feeling up to it.”
Sebastian’s eyes shift to me, his red contacts almost glowing under the fluorescents. “I don’t think that’s the best idea.”
“Why not?” My brows furrow together as I lock eyes with him. Is he implying that he doesn’t trust me? Or that he’s worried about Niki’s health? The urge to ask which strikes me, but I swallow it. “We won’t be gone long. It’ll be totally fine.”
“Yeah, I’d like to get out of the bus for a little bit.” Niki’s soft reply is a relief to the tension in the room. “And we won’t go far. Where are we? Village Run?”
I nod enthusiastically.
She furrows her brows in thought. “There should be a really good Thai place close by, if I remember correctly.”
“Niki,” Sebastian’s voice rumbles, “I really don’t mind going to grab food for both of you. You’ve been so weak lately. I just worry, that’s all.”
Her lips purse, her eyes narrowing a bit, and I know what’s coming. Niki might be completely exhausted, but she’ll never lose her stubborn streak. Once she sets her mind on something, she’s going to do it with or without permission.
“Well, you can worry a little less,” she says. “I will be fine. Thai Garden is only a couple of miles away. You can be there in no time if anything happens.”
Silence follows, and I’m worried Sebastian will try to keep her trapped in the bus. I understand his point of view, sort of, but I also want to make Niki happy. And right now, it sounds like Thai food is going to do the trick.
While they have a stare down, I punch in the order for an Uber, my fingers speeding across the phone screen.
“Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?” Sebastian asks, his voice thick with concern. For someone who screams like he’s summoning a beast straight from Hell, he sure is caring. About her, at least.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She waves him away fussily, and pulls her long faded hair out of its bun. It tumbles around her face in waves. “Besides, we won’t be gone long.”
He must know that he’s not going to change her mind, because he sighs. “Alright. But if you need anything, promise you’ll call.”
“Of course.” She giggles. “Now, go shower. You’re sweaty.”
As he begrudgingly heads for the back of the tour bus, Niki hauls herself out of the recliner and stretches. “I hope you don’t mind me wearing this,” she gestures to her T-shirt and leggings, “because this is my uniform for the next few months.”
I roll my eyes. “If it makes you feel better, I can put on my pajamas. Niki, you know I don’t give a single fuck.”
She laughs and her round belly wiggles with the movement. “Alright. Do I have time to brush my hair? How long until the Uber gets here?”
I glance at my phone. “Three minutes.”
“Yeah, I have time.” With that, she takes off waddling toward her bedroom.
Going out to dinner with Niki in theory sounds amazing; it’s been so long since we’ve done anything, just the two of us, that I’m bursting at the seams to get out of the bus and hit the town.
In practice, taking her out probably isn’t the best idea. She’s already stressing me out by the time we make it to the restaurant. As we slide up to the hostess station, she blows out a big breath and sways on the spot, grabbing the stand to catch her balance.
“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” I ask, putting my hand on her arm. “If I even think you’re going down, I’m calling Sebastian.” He’d make it here before an ambulance would stand a chance.
She purses her lips. “I’m fine, really, Jos. My center of gravity is just different now, and sometimes I lose my balance.”
I don’t believe her, but I don’t say anything. Luckily, I don’t have to, because the hostess shows up and leads us to a little table in the corner.
An intricate wood carving hangs above us, matching the rest of the darkly-stained decorations. The entire restaurant is elegant, but somehow cozy, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the menu.
Soft instrumental music plays through the space as we get settled and flip through several pages of entree options. I try to remain cool, calm, and collected, but really I’m on high alert, watching for any sign that Niki might pass out.
“How far did you say your hotel is from the event center?” she asks as our waitress sets our drinks down in front of us. She already asked twice, but I’m not going to point that out; I guess that’s the pregnancy brain my mom always talked about when she was pregnant with my siblings.
We give our waitress our orders and hand back the menus before picking up the conversation where we left off.
“It’s only a few blocks,” I assure her. “Not far.”
“Is it nice?”
I nod. “Nicer than I expected, honestly. Your boyfriend has good taste.”
“He does.” She flips her hair over her shoulder, and I snort a laugh. It’s good that she’s joking. Maybe she really is okay and I’m overreacting. “I told him you’d complain if he put you up in a roach motel.”
We laugh together. “You know me so well.”
The hostess leads a family with three kids to a booth near ours, and they stuff their chubby toddler into a high chair.
As he giggles and coos, trying to reach for everything on the table, I don’t miss the way Niki’s eyes track in their direction.
She watches silently, the corners of her mouth lifting in a tiny smile, and I can almost read her thoughts.
She can’t wait to have a family moment like that with Sebastian. I wonder if he’d finally take off that mask of his and have a normal sit-down dinner.
“Tell me more about this new job,” she says, tearing her eyes away from the adorable baby. “You run people’s socials? Make posts for them? Things like that?”
I nod slowly. “It’s easy, but making content is time-consuming.”
“Oh yeah, that’s why Rhage’s socials are so neglected. You should see them.” Niki laughs and rolls her eyes. “Tobias used to be in charge, but he said it took up too much time. Now, Emrys posts occasionally. He’s not the greatest, but they refuse to hire anyone.”
“Why not?” My face contorts unintentionally, and Niki shrugs.
“No clue.”
I don’t even want to think about how social media savvy a bunch of rockstars are without professional help. With a groan, I reach for my phone. “Am I going to regret this?”
Hell yeah, I am. But I’m going to do it anyway.
Social media is my special interest. Branding is in my blood. I’ve spent the last three years immersed in the world of online marketing, and I hate seeing wasted potential because of bad graphics or wonky aesthetics.
I’m curious to see what Emrys and that jerkass drummer came up with—
“What…is…this?” I glare at the screen in horror as I scroll, looking at the mismatched photos and clear lack of direction. This could be a random fan account by the looks of it. “Why are half these photos blurry?”
I grimace. It’s such a shame. I bet those masks could photograph great on stage.
Niki peers over to see what I’m looking at and smiles. “Leave them alone. They tried.”
I scoff and check their follower count.
Two-hundred thousand. Cute.
Then I check the date of their most recent post, and my disappointment intensifies.
“They haven’t posted in three weeks?” I look up at Niki. No wonder their follower count is so low. Their consistency sucks.
She smiles awkwardly. “Did I mention they tried?”
“Barely.” I check their other platforms, looking at their numbers, their follower count, their content. Silently critiquing everything as I go.
On the upside, the band is very appealing, and the few things they post do well as far as likes. But they need to be doing more. They should be posting once a day, if not two or three times. There’s no reason why these guys shouldn’t be on the verge of half a million by now.
Well, besides their crappy social media presence. That’s a good reason.
“Are you really analyzing their marketing right now?” Niki takes a sip of her drink and pushes it away.
“This is your fault.” I level her with a stare. “You said I had to see it.”
She groans. “Okay, I take it back. Forget I said anything.”
“Too late.” I pause on a picture of Tobias haloed in blue light, looking like some kind of terrifying rock god playing his drums. “What happened to this photographer?” I flash her my phone screen. “Why don’t they have any recent professional shots?”
“Well, they booked a photographer to take some pictures today, and they didn’t show up. I don’t know what their plan is now.”
I take a deep breath and set my phone down on the table to massage both my temples.
“These guys don’t have a social media marketer or a photographer?” I ask, the thought grating on my brain. “What the hell are they doing?”
Niki laughs softly and shakes her head. “Jamming, Jos. They just want to play music and tour. And I don’t have the energy to invest in helping them, so I’m pretty much useless.”
“You’re not useless, you’re pregnant.” I narrow my eyes on her. “Besides, it’s not your job.”
“But it’s yours.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
I freeze, considering the implication of her words. Yes, it is my job, and yes I could definitely help them get their socials on track. But that’s not what I signed up for by coming here.
I’m here for Niki, no one else.
“Is this really why you brought me out here?” I smirk. “You wanted to con me into helping your boyfriend’s band.”
“Of course not!” She throws her straw paper at me and it bounces off my tit. “I definitely don’t want to add more to your plate. Babysitting me is more than enough.”
It’s my turn to throw my straw paper at her; it nearly lands in her glass before bouncing off the table.
“I am not babysitting you, mensa.” I purse my lips. “I’m just helping, in whatever way you and the guys need. Hell, Sebastian is forking out a fortune to put me up in hotels and even giving me a food budget…”
My words trail off as the reality of them hits me. Yes, I knew what I was agreeing to by coming here. Sebastian was very up front about covering the majority of my expenses so I could be here with Niki, but I’m not actually doing work for them. I’m spending time with my best friend.
As much as I love the thought of a free vacation and travel, I don’t like taking advantage of people. In fact, the idea makes my skin crawl.
Would it really be going out of my way to help run their socials? Just for a little while? It wouldn’t be much added work to my current list of clients, and maybe I can convince them to hire a professional after they see their new conversion rates.
It’ll technically be free work, considering it wasn’t part of our agreement, but it’ll make me feel a little better about running up Sebastian’s credit card.
Our waitress arrives with our food, carefully setting the plates in front of us, and my mouth waters. We dig in, Niki expertly using her chopsticks to eat her Pad Thai. For several minutes, neither of us says anything.
“Okay, you’re too quiet. What are you thinking about?” She cocks a dark brow at me. She’s always been able to read me like a book.
“Who says I’m thinking anything?”
She glares.
“Okay, fine. I was just thinking, maybe I could make myself a little more useful. If your boyfriend is putting me up in hotels every week, the least I can do is help out.”
She glares at me. “Joseline, you’re doing plenty just by being here. You could be in New York schmoozing up to some big-time influencers—”
“I do not schmooze,” I scoff.
“—but you’re here, taking care of me. Seriously, you’re doing plenty.”
“Okay, but what if I want to?”
Do I? I'm not sure yet.
Yes, I love marketing and posting on social media, but I don’t know much about metal bands. I’ve certainly never run a musician’s social media pages. Or taken photos of them to do just that.
But I have my equipment. I have my camera.
It really wouldn’t be hard…
And, if I'm lucky, I could pick up other artist clients at some point after they see my work with Rhage.
Niki blinks at me. “You want to run Rhage’s accounts?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. After all, you’re the one that put the idea in my head.” I point my fork at her. “I want to be helpful, and that seems to be the only thing I can help them with. Besides making sure you don’t hurt yourself, of course.”
She makes a face at me and continues eating her noodles.
“You know what I mean,” I go on. “Besides, it’ll give me something to fill my free time. I don’t have a ton of freelance clients yet. I can do it.”
Her pursed lips shift side to side. “Okay, I’ll talk to Sebastian. But please don’t feel like you need to help with anything. You’re here as a guest.”
“I won’t.” I smile through the lie. Even if I’m the only one who knows what I’m doing, it’ll bring me peace of mind. And I’ll still get to help Niki whenever she needs me.
Seems like a plan to me.