“Sure,” I said.
Abby moved her eyes to Miss Neon-Green Thong.
Without hesitation, she cupped her hands under her tits.
She lifted them and just held there.
“Before you swallow another one of his loads, make him get you a bra,” Abby said. “Because when you need to run from him, you’re going to knock yourself out with these things.”
Abby backed away and let Miss Neon-Green Thong’s chest go.
She left the room and I felt everyone staring at me.
That right there…
That was the Abby I once knew.
8
ABBY
I walked to the table in the busy restaurant and they all looked at me with a gleam in their eyes.
Sasha, Rae, and even Jess.
Normally Jess didn’t go crazy over things. I knew with her it was more about the history between Reed and I over what was happening right now.
I sat down and there was a drink waiting for me.
“Celebrate,” Jess said. “Keep celebrating too. Everything is on us tonight.”
“You want me to get drunk and share details,” I said.
“Of course we do!” Rae said.
“There’s nothing to share,” I said.
“Yes, there is,” Sasha said.
I looked at her and frowned.
I felt bad that she didn’t get a call.
She was a really good singer.
I knew nothing about the other two women… were they good? Yeah. They were good. Really good.
Were they better than Sasha?
To me, Sasha was better.
But she was my friend, so of course I was going to think that.
“Just tell us everything,” Rae said. “Was the entire band there?”
“Yeah,” I said. “The band. The manager. There were two people there with cameras. I guess this is a big deal for the band.”
“What kind of song is it?” Sasha asked.
I shook my head. “I’m not allowed to talk about anything. I had to sign a bunch of papers. I can’t even have my phone when we’re practicing. Nothing can get leaked. They’re taking this seriously.”
“So what can you tell us?” Jess asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. It wasn’t anything new to me.”
“Oh, you’re such a bitch,” Rae said. “I would kill to have a minute alone with them.”
I rolled my eyes. “I meant… I’ve met them all before. I…” I swallowed hard. “Okay. They have this giant practice area. It’s almost like a storage unit or something. There’s equipment and instruments everywhere. It’s not really a rock star party thing. Uh, there’s a small stage. Obviously, that’s where we practiced. We played the song a few times. Then Dex and Reed wanted to change some stuff…”
Just saying his name - Reed - made my stomach turn.
Fuck him for bringing Line Whores. What was he thinking? That I was going to get jealous or something? Like I really gave a damn what he did. It was his life. It was his dick.
“What did they change?” Sasha asked.
I smiled. “I can’t tell you. They just adjusted parts of the song. That’s it.”
“Then what happened?”
The song sounded much better. Toward the end, Reed walked off the stage to go be with one of his Line Whores. He was trying to get me jealous. I was going to leave but then I noticed this bitch wasn’t wearing a bra. So I walked up to her and pushed up her boobs and told her to wear a bra.
“Then it was over,” I said.
“Over?” Rae asked.
“Yeah. The band called it a day after that. We all went our own ways. Toby - the manager - walked us outside. He said he would be in touch about studio time. I’m thinking that’s maybe tomorrow. The day after. I don’t know. I just have to wait and see.”
“That’s so amazing,” Sasha said. “You really did it, Abby. You auditioned and got the gig. This is huge.”
“It’s one song,” I said.
“But it’s FILTHY LINE,” Rae said.
“Yeah, Abby, it’s FILTHY LINE,” Jess said.
“Here, let’s toast to Abby,” Sasha said. She lifted her glass. “I don’t care if it’s one song. This is awesome. Congrats.”
They lifted their glasses.
I lifted mine.
“Um… seriously though… thank you for being supportive. I wish all four of us were there right now. I hate that it’s just me. I don’t feel-”
“Give it up,” Jess said. “You’re the best singer in our group. You deserve it. Just don’t sleep with any of the band members.”
My face burned red hot.
“Screw that,” Rae said. “Sleep with them all!”
We touched our glasses and I felt Jess grinning at me.
I hurried to down my drink and nodded to Sasha for another one.
I might as well celebrate, right?
I survived my first day being near Reed.
Text me ur address. I wanna punch you in the face again.
“What did you just do?” Jess asked me.
I had reached the point of drunk where I was sloppy.
We had intentions of feeling good and finding some men to hang out with. Which Rae and Sasha went off to do.
They were at the bar, scoring free drinks and glances down their shirts.
I was fucking up Jess’s night though.
I knew that because she only ever smoked one cigarette at a time. She had a thing about her timing with them. It was her way of telling herself she could quit if she wanted to. But when Jess smoked one cigarette after another, she was upset.
Now she was finishing her third cigarette.
That meant she was pissed at me.
I had gone too far with the drinks.
I was now the annoying friend who was going to say or do something stupid and ruin the night.
“I didn’t do anything,” I said.
I hurried to get a ride.
A few clicks on my phone and someone named Josh was now picking me up.
“There,” I said. “I’m leaving.”
“You’re not leaving, Abby,” Jess said.
“I drank too much.”
“Yeah, you kind of did. Today didn’t go so well, did it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never told me who it was,” Jess said. “You always said you were involved with a rock star. Were you two in love? What was it?”
“Love?” I asked. I laughed. “Never. Not a chance in hell, Jess. He was a piece of shit. Always a piece of shit.”
“Okay, Abby,” she said. “Why don’t I take you home?”
“You’re drunk too.”
“I’m not drunk. I can drive you home.”
“There’s men in there. And you’re sexy.”
“You can call me sexy when we get home,” Jess said.
“I got a ride home,” I said.
I showed her my phone.
“Shit,” Jess said. “He’ll be here in a minute.”
“See? Boom. Right home.”
“I’m waiting with you.”
Which Jess did.
A black car pulled up.