“All the better for seeing you, girlfriend! Alex is in the back. He’ll be out in- Wait, here he is now.” I followed her gaze to the back door where sure enough, Alex waded through carrying a crate. “Toodles!” she sang in my ear before kissing my cheek and sauntering off toward the stage. I eyed up the size of her heels as she sashayed away and wondered how the fuck she managed to make it through each night without snapping several bones.
“Oh, hey,” Alex greeted, lowering the crate onto the floor. “I’m glad you stopped by. I have some news.” Pulling my stool closer to the counter I leaned in to listen. “So, I was talking to Gary earlier and he wants to sell this place. Now, I assumed you wanted a straight club, and maybe something more central, but he said to ask you before he officially puts it on the market.”
“Seriously? Why’s he selling?”
“He wants to move back home to New Jersey. His dad’s sick, like real sick, and he wants to be there to support his mom. So what do you think? Interested?”
“Abso-fuckin’lutely.”
“Bear in mind you won’t be buying the pussy magnet you’d hoped for,” Alex added with a tooth-flashing smile.
“Maybe not, but it makes sense. I already know the place, and most of the people in it. And you know it even better, which is perfect seeing as you’ll be running it.”
“You really meant that?” A look of genuine surprise washed over his face. I didn’t understand why. Who would I trust more than Alex?
“Sure I did. I don’t have a clue how to run any kind of business.”
“Great!” His smile beamed so brightly I would’ve been able to see it from miles away. “I’d take a couple of days to think it over, and if you still want to go ahead I’ll get Gary to come by your place and talk about it.”
“Screw thinking. Let’s just do it. Bring him over tomorrow and I’ll get my lawyer to be there too. No point wasting time.”
“You have a lawyer?”
“Well the band did. I’ll need to ask Saw for his number, but I assume he can deal with this kinda thing.”
Alex tried to talk me out of making any rash decisions, but in my eyes the worst that could happen was I’d just sell it again. I was tired of being bored out of my freakin’ skull. I wanted a new adventure and I wanted it now.
Feeling excited and determined, I headed straight home ready to make some calls, but not before grabbing Alex’s jacket, hat and sunglasses from the back room and then sneaking out amidst a group of strangers. Thankfully, I made it back to my car without being recognized until it was too late. Only once I pulled out of the lot did the waiting photographers notice they’d been duped, and by the time they’d scurried over to their own vehicles I was already out of sight.
After getting back to the house I spent the next few hours on the phone. One of those calls included my mom, who told me Ashley and Adam were back in town and would be visiting in the morning. That meant there was no doubt my mom would be round before dawn making sure the place was pristine. With that in mind, I went to bed before midnight for the first time in years.
As expected, I woke up the next morning to the sound of the vacuum cleaner, shortly followed by a knock on my bedroom door. Scrambling wearily out of bed, I stretched my arms above my head and sighed when I noted the time. Seven AM. Seriously?
“Come in, Mom,” I said through a yawn.
“You need to get your butt downstairs. I told Ashley and Adam to come over for breakfast. They’ll be here in half an hour.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. Mom, it’s practically still the middle of the night! I need a shower, my mouth’s drier than a prude’s cun-”
“Language, Matthew.”
I adored my mom, but I swear sometimes I still felt like I was fifteen years old.
“Fine, fine,” I muttered, surrendering my palms. “I’ll be there in ten.”
Ugh.
I couldn’t wait to see Ashley, but Adam was hard enough to stomach at the best of times. The thought of pretending not to hate his guts this early in the morning made me nauseous. Nevertheless, if I didn’t want an ass-kicking from my mom, I needed to drag myself to the bathroom and get myself ready for a morning of fake smiles and tongue biting.
I smelt the silver lining the second I stepped out of the shower.
Bacon.
Wrapping a towel around my waist, I made my way to the closet, which was actually a giant fucking room filled with racks, shelves, cupboards and mirrors. I grabbed the first pair of jeans I came to and a black t-shirt, shrugging into them quickly before running toward the delicious smell of breakfast.