Back To The Viper
Authors: Antara Mann
Back To The Viper
A Time Travel Experiment
by Antara Mann
Copyright © Antara Mann (2015).All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author. Reviewers may quote brief passages in reviews.
This novella is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover art by Tanya von Ness
Take your free gifts!
Thank you for taking a chance on my book. As a bonus, I offer you my next book
The Witch's Kiss
FOR FREE plus two amazing books by author Jay J. Falconer.
Back To The Viper - A Time Travel Experiment
If you could redo the worst mistake of your life, would you? At what cost?
Botching the biggest performance of her career ten years ago has left lead singer Ashley Greendale as an unfulfilled barista at a local coffee shop. Just as she was beginning to believe that superstardom was far from her grasp, her eccentric scientist friend, Harry, offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that she wouldn't dare pass up - to travel back in time and redo her career-ending performance.
Taking her band with her known as The Jackal, Ashley and her music group rocks on to repair their missteps from the past. But fame and fortune come with a price - now they must decide if they're willing to pay. Are they willing to live out their dreams and lose everything they've ever known?
Chapter 1
Ashley Greendale gave the customer his change and was just about to sit down on her chair again and finish an advice article for new mothers when the door of the Starbucks opened and in came Peggy.
“Ashley, what’s up? How’s your business today? Mine is dead in the water. Don’t people buy flowers during the summer?”
Ashley smiled and lifted her eyes from the magazine. Peggy, the florist from the neighboring shop, was being very emotional, as usual.
“It’s normal here; people will always buy muffins and tea.”
“Yeah…you’re right.” Peggy looked around and sat on the nearest chair.
Starbucks was empty and there was less than half an hour until the end of the working day. It was Saturday, June 27, 2015.
“Do you have any plans for tonight?” Peggy asked. “How about going to San Francisco, to Dada? Barney, Will’s friend, is interested in you.” She winked at Ashley.
“Barney? Have I really come to the point of dating a truck driver?” Ashley left the magazine tiredly and smoothed her hair. “I’d love to hang out with you, but today I’m seeing the guys from The Jackal.”
“The Jackal?” Peggy asked, puzzled.
“Yes, the band I used to sing in ten years ago. Do you remember when I told you about the showcase we had at The Viper Room?”
“Oh, that one? Where are you seeing them?”
“At Gordon Biersch, San Jose. Craig suggested the place because it’s close to Cisco’s office.”
“Your buddy works for Cisco?”
“Mhm.”
“Are the guys from your former band cool? Are any of them single?”
Ashley chuckled. “Wayne is always available, but he’s not exactly what I’d call ‘the dream boyfriend.’”
“But is he good looking?”
“He’s unarguably attractive, but he’s only good for a flirt, not for a long relationship.” Ashley let the cash register run an end-of-day sales report while opening the cashbook. She had decided to close fifteen minutes early tonight because of the date.
“So I can join, then? Do you think Wayne will like me?” Peggy came closer to the counter and leaned on the glass.
“If you want to.” Ashley replied absent-mindedly. She was too busy calculating the sales for the day.
“So how did you end up having a showcase at Hollywood’s most exclusive nightclub?” Peggy asked, but there was no answer. Ashley was taking out the receipts.
“It must have been awesome playing at The Viper Room among so many stars; did you enjoy it?”
Ashley lifted her head when she heard The Viper Room mentioned, but then her eyes dropped back to the report. After a while, the silence that had descended was suddenly broken by Ashley’s joyful exclamation: “One thousand, five hundred and five dollars for the day! Not bad.” She gave Peggy a satisfied look.
“I have just a bit over five hundred. Yesterday it was below a thousand, too.” Peggy gave a slight sigh.
“Why don’t you move here and work with me?” Ashley asked. “We would have fun and we pass the time more easily together. I’ll talk Mike into hiring one more girl. My colleague is probably quitting soon, anyway.”
“Ashley, I just don’t get why you didn’t keep on singing and, instead, you’re working such a dead-end job? Were you with The Jackal out of luck or something?”
“We were too young, inexperienced, and not stubborn enough. We thought our band would conquer the world immediately.” Ashley smiled bitterly. “During the showcase at The Viper Room, I was only eighteen, and at twenty, Wayne was the oldest in the band.” She turned off the computer. “I guess if we’d been more zealous and if we’d gone on, someone would have noticed us. Who knows?”
“That guy, Wayne, is he coming tonight?”
“You can’t get him out of your head and you haven’t even seen him!” Ashley remembered how ten years ago they’d had a fling. God, how fast did the time fly! Back then, she’d just been graduating from high school, full of big dreams about life. Ten years later, she worked as a barista at Redwood City’s Starbucks and was a single mother of a four-year-old girl.
“Come on, let’s go!” Ashley said. “It’s at least a thirty minute ride to Gordon Biersch.” She took her bag and drew the blinds. Peggy was already outside waiting for her.
Chapter 2
“Scene two, take one! Aaand, action!”
Wayne Bonner started the motorcycle and hit the jeep coming from the opposite direction at full speed. In the last second before the crash, he jumped out and fell to the ground.
“Cut! End of scene two. Nice job, guys! Thirty minute break. We’re resuming at three o’clock.” The director left the film set and Wayne saw him walking along the shore.
“What’s up, bro? How’s it going?” Joe slapped him on the back.
“Perfect – as usual!” Wayne smiled widely and slapped the actor warmly in return.
“Are you free tonight? We are going out with the boys…” Joe didn’t manage to finish because Wayne’s cell phone rang loudly.
“Yes?” he answered. “Baby, what is it? I thought we agreed that tonight I won’t be able to…” Wayne paused to listen and then spoke nervously. “What are you talking about? I never went out with your friend Brittany! Yes, I’m seeing my friends from the band… What? The band I played in years ago! Yes, that’s right. No, they’re all men except for Ashley… God, you’re crazy! Go see a shrink!” Wayne pushed the end call button angrily and then quickly put his iPhone back into his pocket.
“Your girlfriend bugging you?” Joe asked.
“Women!” Wayne said. “They’re crazy! She accuses me of sleeping with her best friend, and I’ve never even been alone with her! And all because I once said she had great legs.”
Joe clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“You can’t do that, man. Don’t talk about other women in front of your girl. Make her feel unique…”
“Since when did you start talking like Dr. Phil? Has your wife begun throwing
Cosmo
tips or feng shoon bullshit at you or what?”
“It’s called feng shui, not feng shoon…”
“I don’t care! You’ve become a real softie, man. I guess that’s one of the cons of family life.”
Joe looked at Wayne thoughtfully. He liked him as a friend, but he couldn’t really imagine him as a good husband or even boyfriend. He changed his girlfriend every three months – either they caught him red-handed or he’d find “a hotter babe,” as he would say. He was obviously an incorrigible womanizer.
“I heard you’re seeing your old buddies from your former band?”
Wayne opened a bottle of beer and then sat on one of the closest chairs. He looked around – fifteen minutes later, when the break would be over, the place would be full of people and awfully crowded. Now it just looked like an empty set.
“Yes, that’s right,” Wayne answered. “We haven’t seen one another in almost a year.” His eyes wandered in the empty space before him. “The four of us hold a reunion at least once a year.”
“Speaking of reunions, are you playing with the Masters of the Dark at Mr. T’s Bowl this week?”
Wayne had given up on his music career and worked as a stuntman in Hollywood for actors such as Joe, but he played in a pop rock band in his spare time.
“Yeah, we should.” He took a sip of beer.
Joe looked around and then asked: “So what happened to your former band? Why did you break up?”
“Buddy, could you do me a favor and stop making me talk about that?”
“Okay,” Joe said. “I was just curious and wanted to know some more.”
“Ask me anything else, but not about The Jackal! It’s painful to me.”
Joe looked at Wayne with interest; he wondered what could have happened to make Wayne react so sharply.
Chapter 3
Craig Bloomingdale was getting dressed, looking at his reflection in the mirror approvingly. He was just putting on his tie when he pricked himself with a pin stuck in his shirt.
“Ow,” he groaned. “Honey, the dry cleaner left a pin in my shirt collar
again! This is the second time they’ve returned my suit with something extra on it,” he shouted toward the kitchen, where his wife was hanging about.
“Honey, don’t forget your lunch! I made your favorite: broccoli with mushrooms!” his wife Monique yelled. Apparently, she hadn’t heard him.
Craig tightened his tie and went to the kitchen.
“It’s the second time I've stuck myself with a pin from the dry cleaner.” He threw the object in question on the kitchen table.
“I’m sorry, honey, I’ll look for another firm. Just, please, don’t forget to come home by eight tonight. Jerald and Abby are coming to visit with little Tim and…”