"Night guys." He said and with that he left.
I shook my head at Rex. "Let's get another drink, keep an eye on Roman, and make sure we're out of here by twelve. Tomorrow's a big day."
"Agreed. I'm off to get a pint. You having one?"
I shook my head, looking at one of the women Roman was dancing with. "Not a pint, more a quick shot."
THE DAILY NEWS
FRONT PAGE EXCLUSIVE
THE H-EX FACTOR
3 October 2020
As tonight's first live rounds get under way, we can reveal that The Paranormal's bass guitarist, Noah Granger, was the childhood sweetheart of Seven Sister's Stacey Williams.
A source close to them said, "They dated for a year in school, but then Noah ditched Stacey to form the other band and pursue his musical dreams."
Suddenly it seems there might be more to watch the live shows for than just the music! Especially when Stacey has recently been seen in the company of Drayton Beyer, lead singer of Flame-Grilled Steak.
Stacey
We were backstage and waiting to go on stage for the first live show. With twenty acts, there were ten on a show today and ten tomorrow (a scandal had meant one of Carmela's other bands had been disqualified so all judges had an even amount of contestants again). Both my band and The Paranormals were appearing tonight. Drayton's Flame-Grilled Steak were on tomorrow night's show. Drayton had sent a bouquet of flowers to me. The note with them was as endearing as I figured he was going to get.
Stacey,
Good luck. I hope with all my heart your band are the runners up in the competition. But you're getting my D when this is all over, so you're a winner anyway!
Dray xo
Who said romance was dead?
The press were having a field day over my past relationship history with Noah, and Donna was fucked off with me for not having told her about him. The more time that passed, the more I wondered why I'd entered this competition at all. I'd been leaving rehearsals to find press hanging around the doors asking me if I was enjoying a threesome. I kept with my stock answer of I 'preferred seven'.
Tonight's mixture of bands appeared to be human apart from us and The Paranormals. It was a live audience and after an emcee had been on stage to warm them up and tell them the do's and don'ts of the evening, the judges came out to whoops and hollers from the studio audience before taking their seats. Carmela and Marianne were wearing outfits to try to outdo one another in terms of flashing the flesh and shock value, but they may as well have not bothered. Harley went on stage to a loud chorus of applause far louder than theirs, and as the cameras flashed to the audience, I noticed a tightness around both their mouths.
She faced the cameras.
"Hello and welcome to the first live final of Britain's Best New Band. Before we carry on with the competition, I would just like to take a moment to bring everyone's attention to the man who should be standing here with me tonight, by my side."
The audience went quiet and a picture of Dan flashed up on the screen behind, along with a telephone number.
"As you know, our friend and colleague Dan is still missing. Dan, if you're watching, our thoughts are with you. Please get in touch and let someone know you're okay. Our best regards go out to Dan's family, and if anyone at home has any information on his whereabouts, then please ring this number that goes to the team working on locating him. Thank you."
Marianne stood up. "Dan was the best fucking presenter ever." She kind of fell back in her seat and then looked around at the others looking dazed.
Harley smiled. "Indeed, he is a fantastic presenter. On behalf of the show and to anyone offended by the use of language, I apologise."
"What the hell just happened then?" Kiki said to the rest of us.
"Looks like Marianne's had too many uppers before she came out." Shonna laughed.
The cameras went back to Harley. "Our first band tonight are on Team Bill. So, Bill, would you like to introduce your band and tell us a little about their song tonight?"
The camera panned in on Bill. "My first band on stage tonight are called The Paranormals." There was a cheer from the crowd. "These four guys definitely have what it takes to go the whole way through this competition. Tonight's song choice shows the lead, Zak's, vocal talents in all their glory. They will be singing Toxic by Britney Spears."
"You heard it from Bill. Tonight's first act, singing Toxic, is The Paranormals." She held up a hand to the side of the stage and they walked on stage while she walked off.
When the live shows happened, everyone got a makeover. From the lame looking act that had gone through the auditions, Noah's band had now been primped and preened to perfection. Zak's hair was short, blonded to platinum and spiked on top of his head. He was dressed in tight black leather trousers that left nothing to the imagination and a white vest top. It showed off his muscled arms and the tattoo of a death eater on the top of his right bicep.
Rex had taken to the drums at the back, his large body like a shadow of a boulder. Just his head and massive corded arms visible. His hair had been cut into his neck, but curls hung over one side of his face.
Roman wore tight silver jeans, a baggy black t-shirt with Alice Cooper on the front with the word Poison across it and he had silver jewellery that ran from his ear to a nose stud. Against his dusky skin he looked electric, and I loved the poison/toxic connotations that wardrobe had put in. Like as if they were saying, warning: this band can get in your bloodstream.
Noah certainly seemed in mine.
I finally allowed my eyes to rest on him as he took his place and began to strum the guitar. All I could think of was those digits on my body instead. His dark hair was spiked like Zak's, but buzz cut below, rather than short. They'd put him in faded blue jeans that hugged his thighs and a black short sleeved shirt open at the neck. His chain hung down with the plectrum on it between the sides of his collar, taking me back to seeing him walk past me and ignore me when we were young. It still hurt. I wished with all my heart it didn't, but he still made me feel things I should have got over by now. As their performance began, every one of them lit up like they'd been plugged into Blackpool Illuminations, especially Noah. His dark eyes seemed to spark under the lights, the music seeping into his very being, and I realised that it would be wrong to separate this man from his music. So very wrong. Because although Noah was to all intents and purposes dead, with music he became very much alive.
It became clear to me then that Noah was married to his music. He'd made that commitment long ago, in the days when he'd left me behind, and some part of me now understood, watching him work the crowd, giving them a cheeky smirk—not because he was flirting with them, but because he was so happy to be standing where he was.
I had an amazing vocal. I knew that. And my band were good. But I also knew that next to The Paranormals, at this moment we weren't going to win. Because you had to give it your all up there, and some of me still belonged to the man on stage.
The audience went insane as the band finished their number. The judges went wild in their feedback, with Bill becoming increasingly smug.