The Devil's Tattoo (5 page)

"Hey," she said suddenly.
"Has anyone ever told you
you
look like Alison
Mosshart
? You know, the lead singer from The Kills?"

I blinked hard in surprise. I think I
liked this girl already.

CHAPTER FOUR

WILL

I stood out in the middle of the street
at the closest tram stop to the studio, darkness all around, apart from the
traffic that passed behind me.

We were in the middle of recording our
third album and usually we all got along in such close quarters. We had long
days and nights, but we'd thrived on those things. This time, we'd been at each
other’s throats and I knew it was my fault. I could tell myself that it wasn't,
that I was still messed up, but that would be a lie. Months had passed since
all of that and the only one who was keeping me back was
me
.

I'd been driving the guys mad with my
mood swings and even I didn't know where I was coming from anymore. As if I
hadn't done enough after all that crap with my ex.

The tram pulled up at the stop, the
doors opening with a squeal and I climbed on, swiping my card at the terminal.
I needed to get out, like yesterday, so I was headed for the city. There was a
band I'd wanted to see for ages called Ipswich. They'd been around a while and
heaps of people were talking about them and they were on tonight at
Cherry
.
I hadn't been out in months and I hoped this would kick my ass into gear.

There was a girl sitting in the back of
the tram with long dark-brown hair and a black jacket and I had to do a double
take in case it was
her
. When it wasn't, I sunk down
in an empty seat, slumping against the window. Ever since I saw that woman in
the crowd at our last gig, I found myself looking everywhere I went, hoping
that I might see her again. I never did and I began to wonder if I'd really
seen her in the first place. The only thing that stopped me from going mad was
Pete. He'd seen her too.

Sometimes, I thought going mad might be
better than this. Then I'd actually know what was wrong with me. How can you
pine over a girl who might or might not be real? I was such a wanker.

Cherry Bar
was probably one of my
favourite
places to
catch a band in the city. It was small, dark and intimate. There was no
backstage area. There was hardly a stage. It was like one huge house party that
cost eight bucks to get into, depending on who was playing. It was a place well
known for it's dirty rock history and attracted all types of alternative
people.

As I walked down the alleyway towards
the door, I noticed the lineup had changed. The support that was on the
flyer had been dusted off the chalkboard and another had replaced it. 
The Devil's Tattoo.
Great name. I wondered what they were
like. New bands appeared all the time and sometimes it was hard to keep up. Not
many of them made it and the ones who did didn't always stay there.

That's why I was so glad to be a part
of The Stabs. I mean, we had that success, but we were brothers. Not all bands
had that with one another, you know? Recording, touring… you had to live on top
of one another and getting along could break the best of them.

The girl on the door took my money, but
her eyes lingered on me for far too long. She was pretty enough, but not my
type at all. Tall, slender, long blonde hair, tattoos and heavy make up. I was
stark in contrast, wild curly hair, tattoos and a beat up denim jacket. Any guy
would fall over
themselves
for her, but I only wanted
one person.
A figment of my imagination.
 With a
thin smile, I went inside and elbowed my way straight to the bar.

"Hey," someone called out to
me as I passed.

Looking around, I saw Billy and clapped
him on the shoulder. Billy was the guy who picked us up when The Stabs
were playing tiny places like this. He's a talent scout for our label and it's
his job to go see bands play. You know, finding the next best thing. Sounded
easy, but you had to have the right kind of ear for it.

"What are you doing out
tonight?" he asked. "Aren't you guys recording?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. I needed a
break."

"Shit," he laughed. "I
know what you mean, bro."

He introduced me to a few people he was
with and when they heard who I was they all seemed very interested. Drawback
number one of being in a band people know. They suddenly want to know you and
be popular by association. I don't subscribe to that shit.

"Have you seen '
em
before?" Billy asked, picking up on my mood.
"Ipswich?"

"Na," I shook my head.
"I've heard some good things, though."

"What about that other band? I've
never heard of them before."

I remembered the band that had been
added last minute. "No. They must be new."

"Oh, they're starting,"
Billy
said, looking over the crowd towards the stage.
"I'm going down front. Catch you round, bro."

As people moved away from the bar to
hear the band, I snuck in and got a drink and weaved my way towards the top of
the stairs. Here, I could see and not be bothered.

The Devil's Tattoo was a typical four
piece.
Two guitars, bass and drums.
There's
three guys and a girl and suddenly, I'm interested. Guys usually dominate these
types of rock bands. Her back was to the crowd, but I could see she must have
an attitude. She's got on a black leather biker jacket, tight black jeans that
hug her ass in just the right way and beat up combat boots.
My
type of girl.
Her hair is long, dark and wavy and I suddenly
wondered… When she turned around, her hair was covering most of her face,
but I'd
recognise
it anywhere and my heart thudded
painfully in my chest. It's her. It had to be.

God, and then she opened her mouth and
sung. Ever read one of those stories about sailors getting lost at sea and
drowning themselves because of siren calls from beautiful mermaids? Sounded
bloody stupid, but she's fucking calling to me now and I would have drowned
myself gladly.

Her fingers glided across the strings
of her guitar effortlessly and I wondered why I'd never heard of this band
before or any other band she'd been a part of. She was… phenomenal. I had to
get closer, so I threaded my way through the crowd of people and I swear
everyone who's watching is
mesmerised
. They're bloody
brilliant. If Billy doesn't pick them up, he's mad. Shit, I'd push for them to
be signed myself.

Standing in the middle of the room,
five people out from the stage, I just watched, the drink in my hand forgotten.
They run through song after song, people cheering and clapping around me, but
I've only eyes for her. The ghost, the siren and I think I'm alive again.

Before I'm ready, they start playing
the last song of their set and it took my breath away, how sad and soulful it
was. I hung on every word and
it was so gut wrenching, I
wondered if she'd been hurt by someone
. It's like she was telling a
story.

As the last notes died away into
applause, I shook my head and clapped, overwhelmed. That's when she chose to
look up at the crowd for the first time and her eyes collided with
mine. For a moment I thought she might have remembered me, but she looked
away and hurried off stage, leaving my heart thumping.

"Wow," Billy said behind me.
"I'd keep my eye on them."

Oh man, I intended to.

I watched as people stopped and talked
to her. The way she shrunk back into her hair was captivating. Was she shy? Did
she think about people the same way I did? What did her voice sound like when
she wasn't singing? I looked back at the bartender, who was still serving
another person and when I turned around, she was gone.

I leant against the bar with a sigh,
determined to talk to her. This time, I wouldn't let her get away without at
least getting her name. Someone pressed against me, a warm arm against my skin
and I turned to glare, but everywhere tingled and burned. It's her, and
abruptly I began to understand the depth of the thing I have for this woman who
I don't even know.

Angling my body face on to hers, I
smiled and managed to get out the word, "Hey."

Her face softened and she said,
"Hey."

Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and
pulled her away from me, her eyes wide with surprise, the soft, innocent way
she'd spoken to me leaving me breathless.

Watching her with disappointment, I saw
it was one of the guys from her band and he's talking to her with a scowl on
his face. Were they together? He sure seemed protective. The thought had
never crossed my mind that she might already be taken. That guy looked pissed
and it wasn't a stretch for anyone to find out about my reputation. The guy let
her go and the way he acted towards her let me know that they were just
friends.

And the thing about reputations was
that they were not always true. I'd been pigeonholed as the typical rock star
player.
Womaniser
. One night stand aficionado. All
because of one woman who'd smashed me to bits. Now, I was stuck with it.

Watching as the lead singer of my new
favourite
band, The Devil's Tattoo, was dragged away to
pick up their gear, I knew I had to do something.
First
things first was
convincing Billy to take a second look. Then maybe I'd
be able to see her again in an official capacity and then maybe my reputation
mightn't get in the way.

Maybe next time, I'd get her name.

Turned out, The Devil's Tattoo did
their own
work towards getting signed. Billy picked them up
not long after that gig at
Cherry
and for once in my
life,
things seemed to be moving in the right direction. And it was one
interview in
Beat
that gave me the information I was looking for. Her
name.

Zoe Granger.

It was probably a little obsessive on my
part, but I found myself watching their music video for their single,
Walls
,
over and over. This was the moment when Pete decided to call an intervention
and it was exactly how they found me on the couch in the living room of the
house Pete and I shared.

Louie snapped the lid of the laptop
closed, making me jump.

"Pussy whipped," Sticks
smirked, sitting in the armchair across from me.

"What is this, an intervention or
something?" I sighed, tossing the laptop on the couch next to me.

"Bingo," Louie stated,
perching on the arm of the couch.

"You're so strung out, mate, it's
driving us nuts," Sticks groaned.

"You know who she is now,"
Pete said. "Do something about it."

I shook my head. "If I just go up
and talk to her, she'll think I'm only after one thing."

"But, isn't that what you
want?" Sticks said with a smirk.

"No," I glared at him.

"This one's different," Pete
said and everyone stopped.

"I reckon," Louie agreed.

"You want them on tour, don't you?
This coming one."

I didn't say anything. I was a little
embarrassed that a girl I'd only spoken one word to had gotten me this wound up
and obsessed.

"You've been driving us all nuts
over this Zoe chick," Louie said, seemingly making the decision for
everyone.

"If it'll get you off our backs,
then we'll help you push for it," Sticks said, closing off his thought.

"They're amazing anyway,"
Pete agreed. "It'll be great if we could at least play a gig
together."

They seemed to have settled on it and
after a while, Louie and Sticks went off home, leaving me with Pete.

"If they get on tour with us,
you've
gotta
tone it down, Will. You know the
intensity level is a little alarming."

I scowled at him, knowing he was right.
"Don't screw this up for me Pete."

He held up his hands, raising his
eyebrows. "Consider these hands off."

"Good," I said, turning back
to the laptop.

"Just don't do anything
stupid."

"Since when do I do stupid
stuff?"