“Well, I’m sure you could use Buck Shot as rehearsal space.”
“Or as gig space,” Ben said absently. Stan raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you doing that thing where you have an idea and you’re trying to make me think it’s my idea so I’m on board with it?”
“If only I was that manipulative, darling,” Stan said. And smiled.
“Alright. What if we played a gig at Buck Shot?”
“What if you did?”
Ben leaned in and tickled Stan’s sides until he was screaming with laughter.
“Get off me. Get off, you brute.”
Ben kissed him soundly. “A gig,” he continued, as if they hadn’t just been acting like total children. “To play a few old favourites and a couple of songs from the new album. For fans. At the venue where we broke out.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Stan said.
Ben knew when he was being manipulated. Luckily, when it was Stan, he didn’t care.
Chapter Twenty Five
Stan managed to set the whole thing up in a matter of hours. It wasn’t as difficult as the others seemed to think—he just walked into Buck Shot when it opened, sat down at the bar with the new manager, Kerry, and told him what he wanted.
Kerry was cool, an older guy who had been managing pubs in Camden for about forty years, give or take, and had done a lot to build on the good reputation that Buck Shot already had for live music. He’d brought in some local craft beers too, and converted one of the upstairs rooms into a kitchen that served food in the evenings.
Even though Kerry had no experience working with Ares, he was aware of the guys from back in the day.
“I kicked Tone out of the Oxford Arms once,” he said, tugging on his greyish beard and grinning.
“I hate to tell you this,” Stan said, “But that really isn’t much of a claim to fame. Tone has been kicked out of many pubs around here.”
That made Kerry laugh.
They worked out a plan for the gig that would mean extra security brought in at the right moment to keep things nicely under control, without making the regular pub patrons feel like they were in some kind of police state. Stan could promise publicity for the bar in return for the effort Kerry was putting in, which he accepted as a good deal, especially since it came with generous compensation for the fuss they were causing. Stan also had an idea to do a photo shoot in the bar at some point, maybe when it came to promoting the next album, and Kerry was up for that too. After all, if they were going with a homecoming theme for the promotion season, it made sense to root that in the pub where it all started.
Setting up for the gig and sound checking didn’t take long at all, mostly because of how familiar Ares were with the space and how their music sounded in it. Stan sat at the back of the room and worked on his laptop and occasionally gave Jez a thumbs-up when he was testing levels. And stepped in to play peacekeeper when the inevitable arguments broke out.
In the end, they decided they’d do five songs—opening with their biggest hit to date, three from the new album, including “Girl Things,” then finishing like they’d always done in their early gigs, with their own version of “Teenage Kicks.”
While they were rehearsing—and arguing—over that, Stan went outside to get some fresh air, and found a woman who looked very out of place for Camden texting rapidly on her phone.
“Can I help?” Stan asked, carefully shutting the door behind himself so the noise from rehearsals didn’t spill out.
She looked at him with a frantic expression. “Is there… a band… rehearsing here?”
“Yes.” Stan wasn’t sure what else to tell her. She was dressed smartly, in a tailored dress and heels, with her dark hair in slightly frizzy waves around her shoulders.
“I don’t suppose…. Are you Stan?”
“Yes,” Stan said, holding out his hand.
“Oh thank God. I’m Melissa Armitage. I’m with Coast, Ares’s management company.”
“Nice to meet you,” Stan said as she shook his hand. “I’m sorry, I don’t think anyone was expecting you.”
“No, probably not. I spoke to Jeremy last night—well, last night my time—and I figured I should be here for this.”
“You just flew in from LA?”
“Yes.” She smoothed her hand over her hair, a little self-consciously.
“Do you want a drink?” Stan asked with a laugh.
“Dear God, yes. But I probably shouldn’t. Are they rehearsing?”
“They’re almost done,” Stan said. He cocked his head to the side as he considered how much to tell her. “Ares rehearsals don’t always run smoothly.”
“Nothing with this band does. You’re Ben’s boyfriend?”
“Yes.” Stan was still getting used to that title again. It was nice, hearing it from someone else.
“I’m sure there are other people who have said this to you already, but holy shit, Stan, the change in that man since you came along is astonishing.”
Stan was slightly taken aback by that. “I didn’t know you’d spoken to him.”
Melissa shook her head. “I speak to Jeremy and Summer a few times a week. Tone and Will and Ben less, but I try and keep in touch.”
“I’m sorry, I’m totally thrown by you using their full names,” Stan said, unable to keep the smile from his face. Melissa laughed too.
“I know. Tone is the only one who’s managed to get me using his nickname. Probably because he refuses to answer to Daniel, so I had to get used to calling him Tone if I ever wanted him to talk to me.”
“That sounds like Tone.”
“How’s the album coming along?”
“You haven’t heard it?”
“Bits of it,” Melissa said. Her phone buzzed in her hand, and she looked down at the notification, rolled her eyes, then tucked it into her Mulberry handbag. “I liked what I heard a lot, but it felt like there was still a lot to do.”
“They’ve done a lot in the past week, ten days,” Stan said, nodding. “They’ve finished recording everything now, and Jez is working with their producer to start putting it all together. Tonight is to test it out, see how people respond to it, and make any final tweaks.”
“Will this band ever do anything in a normal fashion?” Melissa asked, clearly exasperated. “I thought they’d be a nice pop/rock band that I could keep entertained with Rolling Stone covers and appearances on SNL.”
“I wish you’d called me before you picked up the job.” Stan grinned. “I would have warned you off.”
“Jeremy said they want to talk to me. Do you know what that’s about?”
Stan immediately clammed up. “I’m just Ben’s boyfriend,” he said. “You’ll have to ask them about that.”
“You’re a lot more than just Ben’s anything,” she said, giving him a small smile. “But I do appreciate your loyalty. They probably need it.”
“Melissa!”
Stan jumped when Tone burst through the door and jogged over to pull Melissa into one of his traditional bear-hugs.