Aaron Connor (9 page)

In front I could see the black
van ahead. The brilliant thing about that van is that with the long
trail of smoke coming out from the exhaust pipe, he was easy to
follow. I could still see the funny little thing shake around as it
drove along. It wasn’t the best van in the world. In fact it was
pretty dire. Then again it served its purpose. When these guys are
finally famous they’ll have all the sweet rides they’ll need. For
now though, they had to put up with this old rattler.

I had forgotten, in the
excitement of the moment, to ask the guys where we were actually
going. I was just following these guys, trying to make sure that no
other cars would move lanes in front of me and make me lose them.
Occasionally I’d give a quick glance to the sidecar. I had full
confidence in it as it remained attached, didn’t wobble too much
and the black case itself kept perfectly still. It was a lovely
little journey.

It was then that the subject of
money came into my head. I’d spent the last of my money on those
helmets. We needed some money for food. I racked my brain for a
good few miles for a solution. I decided that when we came to our
destination, wherever that may be, that I’d ask the guys if I and
Lizzie could do anything for them for money. A tad bit rude and
desperate I know, but hell it was worth a shot!

We drove on for a little while
more. Then the black van in front pulled into a road which went off
of the main motorway. We followed them. We went around a roundabout
and drove down the turning with the sign which said: Epping. It
wasn’t too long before we found ourselves driving through the
market town of Epping. In look and design it was actually similar
to St.Ians, with the square houses and masses of woodland.

Soon the van finally stopped in
front of the hotel. It was called the Bell Hotel. Like the motel we
saw before, it was just a long red brick building with many little
windows. We both found parking spaces and parked our vehicles
there. While the lads were getting out of the van, I was beginning
to get the guitar case out. I felt Nick’s hand fall on my
shoulder.

“
Don’t bother
mate” he said, “Keep it in, you can drive it to the Speakeasy
tomorrow.”

“
The what?” I
asked,

“
The Speakeasy
bar” he repeated, “that’s where the gig’s at. Come on, let’s get to
our rooms. Just throw a blanket over it, so no one can see it and
try to nick it. That thing is wedged in so tight, I doubt any pleb
would dare try to take it anyway”

“
Hold on!”
said Stewie, with a look of concern on his face, “where are they
going to sleep?”

“
You and Stan
have a room” said Nick, calculating it over in his head, “Zo and
Ritchie are in another and I’m alone. All of the rooms we’ve booked
have two single beds in them, as long as these two don’t mind being
in the same bed, they can sleep in my room.”

Stewie looked annoyed. He
really wanted to find an excuse to get rid of us. Didn’t work
though did it? As Lizzie was going into the back of the van to look
for a blanket, Stewie looked like he was having a good old sulk. I
remember sulking. I remember sulking over silly things, like my Mum
just told me that my hair looked silly or something. I’d have a
long mope over that! Good that I’ve finally grown out of it.

I walked over to Lizzie to see
if she needed a hand. She was bent over quite far into the van’s
boot, only her legs showing like an ostrich when it sticks its head
in the ground. It was right then while staring at Lizzie’s lower
half that I noticed something, something that I hadn’t noticed
about Lizzie before. She had an incredible bum. Not just nice but
perfect. It had the right roundness, the right amount, was a
beautiful shape and the temptation to squeeze it became
unbelievable.

I heard a cough behind me. I
turned around to see the entire band also staring at Lizzie’s arse.
Most of them were nodding in agreement upon the bottom’s beauty,
while Stewie had his hand out flat and moving from side to side to
say he thought it was “ok”. Zo then pointed towards me, gave me a
thumbs up, then created a fist with his hand and mimed: “Cor!”

“
Ah-ha!”
shouted Lizzie from inside the boot, “I’ve got it”

She began to remerge from the
boot. At that first sign, all us lads dispersed accordingly. In a
panic we just ran away and scattered ourselves within the vicinity
of the van and Moped. We tried to do something that would make us
look unsuspicious. Unfortunately, when Lizzie finally came around
with the blanket, we’d all thought of the same idea.

Lizzie came out of the boot
holding the large dark green blanket. She walked towards the Moped,
to see a rather odd sight. To her, it would have seemed that while
she was looking around in that boot, us lads had suddenly gained a
huge interest in the stars. All of us were looking up and pointing
and commenting on the shining dots above. Lizzie did nothing more
then raise her eyebrows.

She walked over to the Moped
and covered the sidecar in the blanket. She the tucked it into the
seating compartment, so that it covered the guitar case but wasn’t
a complete mess. That’s the one thing that me and Lizzie don’t have
in common. She’s neat, tidy and all about the details. Me on the
other hand believe in a way of life that many of us blokes share,
which is the “just bung it anywhere” philosophy.

Once Lizzie was finished, Nick
turned around and clapped his hands together enthusiastically.

“
I think it’s
time to get some kip” he said loudly,

“
Yah I’m
knackered mate!” said Lizzie with a smile,

I don’t think Lizzie even
wanted to bother about what the boys were doing looking up at the
sky. She looked at me with a smile that was more on the side of her
face, which told me that she had a good idea what we were doing.
Girls aren’t daft. Girls know when we’re doing that sort of thing,
even if they don’t tell us that they know. Lizzie’s nice though, so
she wouldn’t make a big thing out of it. Anyway, she was used to
people gawking at her and knew how to handle those sorts of
situations. I then felt kind of guilty but I didn’t really know
why.

Stewie marched into the
building first, still in his sour mood, with us following behind.
Lizzie walked next to me and looked around, excited. Not scared,
not nervous but excited. I couldn’t have picked a better travelling
companion. I knew that I’d have to tell her eventually that I
fancied her. But not now, I’d thought I’d wait until the time was
right.

We entered the building. Blimey
it was well nice. The carpet was this brown coloured tartan and the
main desk was made of fine wood which was polished to perfection.
To the left was a long extension to the foyer which had tables with
wicker chairs placed around them. It looked old fashioned but well
kept. It smelt fresh and clean. Lizzie and I couldn’t help but
smile as we entered the building, as this was going to be the
nicest place we’ve ever stayed in.

Behind the main desk was a
pleasant looking women wearing a white shirt, blue waistcoat and
had her brown hair pinned up into a bun. She was stunning. Her
beautiful blue eyes just added to the elegance of the building. Her
long, fake eyelashes fluttered in a charming way as we approached
her. It’s always to have someone nice and pleasant like her to run
a place you’re not accustomed with. I might not have been as
relaxed if there was a nasty, uncaring pleb behind that
counter.

“
Hello and
welcome to the Bell Hotel” said the women with a smile of pearly
white teeth, “do you have a reservation?”

“
Yes” said
Ritchie, who was fiddling with a computer print out that he
unfolded from his pocket, “we’re the band who’s playing at the
Speakeasy bar tomorrow night. The reservation is under
Smith?”

“
Let me see”
said the women, who began to click clack with her nails on the
keyboard of her computer, “ah yes, Mr Ritchie Smith is
it?”

“
That’s me”
Ritchie said, passing the print out with his details to the women
behind the desk, “this is the proof of purchase sheet”

“
Yes that all
seems to be in order” said the Woman who then got up and walked
over to a wall covered in hooks holding room keys, “your in rooms
15, 16 and 17”

“
Thank you
very much” said Ritchie, taking all three keys in one snatch,
“pleasure doing business with you”

Ritchie walked across the hall
to figure out where the rooms were. The boys went back outside to
collect their suitcases from the van. Lizzie and I were left alone
in the foyer. Lizzie had a little look around so she could really
admire the place. I joined her in looking around at the fine
paintings and interesting furnishing.

“
This place is
lovely” said Lizzie, “this ain’t some road side place, this is a
proper hotel. Hope we get some freebies”

“
Some what?” I
asked,

“
Freebies”
Lizzie repeated, “Haven’t you been in a hotel before?”

“
No I haven’t”
I admitted,

“
Basically
with every room you get free stuff, they’re called Freebies. You’d
get like little bottles of shampoo and shower gel, some squares of
chocolate, bags of tea, soap and so on. So, like, when you go you
get to take lots of stuff with you”

“
Really?”

“
Oh yah, my
bathroom’s full of stuff from holidays and hotels. You hardly ever
get things cheap these days, so I take any opportunity of a bargain
when it comes along. It’s like that sidecar we got for that bike,
we got that for free didn’t we? You just can’t turn down great
offers like that, can yah?”

“
Guess
not”

“
I know so!”
said Lizzie, linking her arm with mine, “Stick with me Connor, I’ll
make sure that you don’t regret me coming along”

“
I’d never
regret you coming” I said, looking into her eyes and stroking her
white blonde hair, “I don’t think I could have done this, without
you”

At that point the boys came
back with their luggage. Across the various bags were music
stickers from bands such as: The Beatles, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Sex
Pistols, Pink Floyd and Stewie even had a sticker of the anarchy
logo. The cases looked battered and worn out from months of
touring. That’s the odd thing with the music industry, the
scruffier it looks the cooler it is. The bashed and dented look of
the cases perfectly matched the overall rock style that they were
going for.

“
Come on you
two!” called Nick to us two, “lets go find where that Ritchie’s
gone off to”

We obeyed and followed the band
towards the direction that Ritchie had left previously. We passed
more tables and wicker chairs before going through a set of wooden
double doors. This led to a long corridor lined with doors on each
side. These doors led to the many rooms of the hotel. Ritchie was
towards the end of the corridor waiting for us.

The corridor was lit in an
orangey glow, had some more of that tartan carpeting and everything
was polished and cleaned leaving a shining gleam. The walls were
made of a light coloured wood that looked fantastic compared to the
white plaster walls that I was used to. I may be sugar coating this
a bit. I must be honest when I say that I’m easily pleased. This
was luxury to me but might be a slum through the eyes of
another.

We walked down and met Ritchie
at the end. Ritchie had unlocked and opened the doors of rooms 15,
16 and 17 as to mark where the rooms are, like a bookmark. Stan and
Stewie walked straight into room 15 without saying a word. Zo went
into room 16 followed by Ritchie. Me and Lizzie followed Nick and
went into room 17. Blimey it was nice!

The room was surprisingly big
and had two comfy looking beds in white sheets. Some paintings were
hung on the wall behind the beds. These paintings depicted calm
scenes which included a forest path and the beach when the tide is
out. There was an ensuite bathroom with a large Jacuzzi bath tub,
shower and (as Lizzie predicted) free bottles of bathroom items.
The room smelt of rosy apples. At the end of the two beds was a
large flat screened television. Nick popped on the television as
soon as we entered the room, using the controller that lay waiting
on the first bed.

Well, it’s become a sort of
natural response init it? You walk in, on goes the telly and you
carry on as usual. When mom did this, she would have the television
blaring away in the background while she did other things around
the house. She’d be cooking, hovering, cutting people’s hair,
talking on the phone and many other ordinary things, all the while
with that telly playing away. It’s just a comfort init? To have
some blokes chatting away while your going by your business. We’ve
become so dependant on the telly, can you imagine a world where
telly didn’t exist? We’d all read and be just that little bit
cleverer. Oh well, at the end of the day we do have it. If it is
dumbing us down and making us more gullible to what we hear on it,
it doesn’t matter as long as there is The X-Factor.

Nick fell in a heap of
exhaustion onto the soft bed. Lizzie fell onto the opposite bed and
sat on it crossed legged. I joined her as we watched Nick flick
through the channels. There wasn’t much on, just some really awful
sitcoms and shopping programs. Nick found a channel that was
showing a marathon of Whose Line Is It Anyway? USA. Nick gave a
little smile before putting the remote to the side.

For those who’ve not heard of
Whose Line Is It Anyway? It’s basically a show where the actors
have to improvise everything. They get suggestions from the
audience for things to include in the scene. Blimey they can make
some funny sketches, completely off the top of their heads! In my
opinion it’s the American version of the show that’s funnier then
the British version.