THE BIGGEST STAGE (A Brothers of Rock - WILLOW SON - novel) (4 page)

“
Which
we don
’
t do,
”
Van said.
“
If we can
’
t do what we want, what
’
s the damn point then?
”

“
Yet
we have fans out there,
”
Colby said and pointed to the doors that led to the balcony.
“
We were just chased to the
elevators. People want to meet us, want our autographs, want new music.
”

“
Then
we do it,
”
Jett said.
“
We just write and play.
”

“
Where?
”
Brantley said.

Colby stood up. He smiled. He
pointed to the doors to the balcony.
“
Right
there.
”

“
What?
”
Van asked.

Colby was on the move.
“
Right there. Right now. We go
out on the balcony and play.
”

“
Dude,
”
Ryker said.
“
We
’
re
eight stories up. How they hell are we going to have sound?
”

Colby looked back.
“
How much equipment do we have?
”

“
Enough
for an acoustic set,
”
Jett
said.
“
That
’
s all we brought. In case those
executives wanted to hear us.
”

“
Let
’
s do it,
”
Colby said.
“
Let
’
s get on the balcony and do
something.
”

“
It
’
s too far up,
”
Brantley said.
“
The sound won
’
t carry.
”

“
Then
we go down
…”

Colby thought about it.

He could go back to his room and
bother the hell out of Tessa. But she didn
’
t
have a balcony. That room faced the other side of the hotel and didn
’
t come equipped with a balcony.

“
It
’
s a good idea,
”
Jett said.

“
Get
on the phone with Harry,
”
Colby said.
“
We
’
re making this happen. I
’
m playing a goddamn rock concert
tonight.
”

Everyone started to laugh.

Van stood up and put his guitar
down.
“
We
’
re going to end up arrested
tonight.
”

Colby snapped his fingers and
pointed at Van.
“
Exactly.
Live hard, party harder.
”

And in the morning I
’
ll get to share breakfast
with pretty eyes. With Tessa.

(4)

It was no shock that Harry flipped
his lid when the band called and wanted to perform a show at the hotel. So it
took a little finagling to get what they wanted. Simply put, Colby knocked on a
hotel door and offered to trade rooms. Lucky for them, the couple in the room
were on an anniversary trip and were fans of Willow Son. They traded their
standard hotel room for the luxury suite on the top floor.

Who wouldn
’
t, right?

Willow Son signed some autographs,
took pictures, wished the couple a happy anniversary and then told them to open
their doors to the balcony suite and listen for the music.

It was close to midnight by the
time they were on the balcony, ready to do something insane and probably
illegal.

They ran extension cords in from
the room to the balcony. Colby had a small stage speaker pointed out to carry
his voice from the balcony. Jett and Ryker had small wattage amps, but the
sound would do for now. Same for Van and his bass. Brantley had himself set up
with his bass drum, an amp, and a mic. A snare stood between his legs and the
rest was a makeshift drum kit. Not exactly what he would have preferred for a
show, but it was all they could manage.

The balcony overlooked the front
lot of the hotel.

Colby already saw people gathering,
wondering what the hell was going on. A few were smart enough to realize it was
Willow Son. They cheered and yelled for the band.

“
Hey!
”
Colby yelled, his voice
actually echoing into the night.

He looked back at the guys and
nodded.

“
We
’
re going to play some songs,
”
Colby said.
“
We don
’
t have a record deal right now but that doesn
’
t mean we can
’
t jam!
”

What started as maybe a dozen
people quickly turned into a large group within thirty seconds of the band
starting to play. People were flooding from the hotel to see the band. Those
with balconies near the band were out on them, watching.

Willow Son played through two
songs.

When they stopped, the crowd
cheered.

Security was out in the parking
lot, pointing and shouting at the people. The entire thing was a big liability
and fire risk. But it was rock n
’
roll. It was what Willow Son did for a living.

Behind Colby he heard someone
pounding on the hotel door to their room.

“
We
have to keep going,
”
he
said to the guys, his voice half carrying into the mic.

The crowd started to cheer and
chant for Willow Son.

They wanted more.

Colby looked off the balcony. Yeah,
it was a small crowd, but it was something. They were getting attention. They
were going to take some major shit for it, too. But it was worth it.

“
Ready
for more?
”
Colby yelled
into the mic.

People cheered. The pounding on the
door behind the band ensued. It was wild, crazy, and it was everything Willow
Son had known.

Willow Son went right into another
song. Jett and Ryker were able to take the electric sound that made Willow Son
famous and turn it into authentic and beautiful acoustic music. Van carried the
song with a heavy bass line, allowing Jett and Ryker to find their balance
between main riffs and chords. Then, of course, in the back of it all was
Brantley on the drums. He was a guy who could turn over paint buckets and turn
them into an actual drum set. Colby thought this because he
’
d seen it before.

The band was great. The band was
the dream.

They still had purpose and reason
to be writing and playing.

Colby eyed the band, smiling. The
hotel room door busted open as he turned and started to sing. He expected to
hear all power get cut from the song. But he was able to keep going. The band
stayed right with him. The people down in the parking lot held up their cell
phones, taking pictures and videos of the surprise show.

When the guitar solos started, that
’
s when the power was cut from
the show. The thing was
…
just because the power to the amps were dead didn
’
t
mean the guitars were dead. Jett and Ryker kept playing. So did Van. So did
Brantley. Their sound was next to nothing, but Willow Son wasn
’
t done yet.

Colby started to sing again,
needing to really belt out the lyrics. He turned and saw two guys from
security, two people in suits with name tags, three police officers, and Harry
all standing there. Colby gave a wave and Harry crossed his arms, shaking his
head.

“
You
have to stop!
”
one of the
officers yelled.

Colby held up a finger.
“
Not yet, man.
”

The officer pulled out a set of
handcuffs and dangled them in front of the band.
“
Want
to leave the room for the night?
”

Colby had no choice but to succumb.
He stopped singing and turned, leaning over the balcony. He waved his arms at
the fans in the parking lot. The rest of the band stopped playing too.

“
We
have to stop,
”
Colby
shouted.
“
Thanks for
hanging with us!
”

They guys threw their guitar picks
and drumsticks off the balcony.

Colby retreated into the hotel with
his hands up.
“
What did we
do wrong?
”

“
Seriously?
”
one of the hotel employees
said.
“
Disturbing all our
guests this late at night.
”

The officer put a hand out.
“
Simple question. Are you kicking
them out of here for the night?
”

The hotel employee - maybe some
kind of manager - shook his head.
“
No
more noise. Last chance.
”

“
Get
that, boys?
”
the officer
asked.

“
We
got it,
”
Colby said.

“
Look,
I personally apologize,
”
Harry said, stepping between the band and the police. It was what had been
happening for years.
“
I was
out at a meeting. I should have been here.
”

“
If
we get called again,
”
the
officer said,
“
everyone
will be arrested. I
’
m not in
the mood. Celebrities or not, I don
’
t
care.
”

As fast as the room seemed to fill
up, it emptied out.

When the door shut, Harry locked it
and spun around. He crossed his arms and let out a long sigh.

“
What
the hell am I supposed to do?
”
he growled.

“
What?
”
Colby asked.
“
We wanted to play some music,
Harry. It
’
s our job.
”

“
You
don't have a goddamn job right now.
”

“
The
meeting,
”
Brantley said.

Harry shook his head.
“
They
’
re not interested. They wanted the copyright on the
old stuff. They were going to promote you, throw together a few
Best Of
compilations and just cash in. No talks of new material or touring.
”

“
Christ,
”
Van said.

“
How
the hell did you get this room?
”
Harry asked.

“
Negotiated
for it,
”
Colby said.

He went to the minibar and started
to clear it out. He tossed small bottles of whiskey and vodka all around,
including Harry.

“
I
don
’
t drink,
”
Harry said.

“
You
do tonight,
”
Colby said.

They all twisted off the small caps
and Colby led the way, holding his bottle to the middle of the group.

“
Come
on,
”
he said.
“
We
’
re
not giving up. We
’
re
playing shows. If I have to use my own money, I will. I
’
ll go broke doing what I love to do. I didn
’
t trust those guys from the
second they walked into the restaurant.
”

“
Yeah,
I got that vibe,
”
Harry
said.
“
We need something
new and fresh. Where someone will listen to you guys. Actually hear the music
and just
…”

“
Just
get us in a studio,
”
Ryker
said.

“
Exactly,
”
Colby said.
“
We
’
ve
been messing around with so much stuff lately. If we got some time to just stop
and really write it all out
…”

“
Well,
we have another meeting,
”
Harry said.
“
Two nights
from now. Little beach town party thing going on. Kind of fancy or whatever.
But the guy that
’
s going to
be there heads up his own label. Not exactly huge, but he might be what you
guys are looking for. I mean, the days of huge advances are gone.
”

“
What
do we care?
”
Colby asked.
“
We could fade into the night and
live comfortably. We want the road, Harry. We want to play, tour, and write.
The whole thing.
”

“
Then
be ready,
”
Harry said.
“
It
’
ll
be the biggest meeting of your lives. Just don
’
t
get hurt or arrested in the meantime.
”

“
I
don
’
t think we can promise
anything,
”
Jett said with a
smile.

“
Christ,
”
Harry said.
“
Got anymore of those little
shots?
”

Colby laughed and went back to the
minibar.

He grabbed another handful of the
small bottles.

It
’
ll be the biggest meeting of your lives.

Colby kept grinning. Maybe for the
band that would be the biggest meeting but Colby personally looked more forward
to the morning and having breakfast with Tessa.

**

Tessa was up and ready before
seven. Even with the music, the police, and the entire Willow Son ordeal, she
couldn't really sleep in. It just wasn
’
t
what Tessa did. She knew how things usually went. There was a little bit of
time in the morning for Tessa to have time to herself. That was before the
emails started. The phone calls started. Her boss back in Seattle would start his
nonsense of quarterly numbers, sales reports, leads, products, and the usual
word dump he provided to make sure he was doing his job. And it was Tessa
’
s job to just listen and take it
all in.

The coffeemaker in the hotel room
didn
’
t work. The room
itself was small and cramped. There was no balcony, just a window looking out
to a beautiful morning.

Nothing wrong with getting on the
road early, right? She and Christie could meet up and take a little road trip.
Find somewhere to grab breakfast and then get to the beach a little early. They
could soak up some sun before their meetings.

That was if Christie was sober and
actually in her own hotel room bed.

Tessa packed up and then paused,
wondering if she should wait for Colby.

Colby.

The night played through her mind
again and it made her smile. Kind of fun and cool, right? To have a rockstar
kiss her. To meet up with Willow Son. Not that she had any proof of what had
happened, but what did that matter? It wasn
’
t
like it actually mattered at all. She
’
d
never see the band again, unless they were on TV, online, or on stage
somewhere.

Tessa waited another few minutes
and then finally left the room. She shut the door and went to the front desk in
the lobby. She handed in the key cards and told the woman at the desk that the
room was Colby
’
s. The woman
gave Tessa a set of judging eyes.

“
I
didn
’
t sleep with him,
”
Tessa caught herself saying,
again, not that it mattered.

The woman smiled and nodded.
“
Enjoy your day. Feel free to
stop for a complementary breakfast.
”

Tessa turned and walked toward the
corner area where there was a buffet style of breakfast foods. She peeked
around, waiting to see if Colby would be sitting at one of the tables.

Nope. No sign of him.

Which wasn
’
t shocking.

He was a rockstar. He probably
either stayed up all night drinking or was actually arrested.

Tessa left the hotel and promised
she
’
d check her phone when
she got some time to see what happened last night.

One thing was for sure.

Tessa met Willow Son. She kissed
the lead singer.

And it was damn cool.

The smile on her face faded as her
cell started to ring.

It was Wendy calling.