Free A Lush Betrayal by Selena Laurence

her. I sent letters, emails, gifts. I apologized, I begged, I made a general fool out of myself. I knew it had been a drastic mistake, but I needed it to be a mistake we’d made together. I couldn’t stand the feeling that I had somehow done it to her instead of with her. She refused to talk to me, to look at me, to answer me. She slept with me then walked away and never spoke about it again. Now she has a reaction and I can’t imagine why, unless she’s jealous. It’s almost comical. The minute I’m finally feeling like I might be able to move on, she gets jealous.
    I smile. I know it’s not a nice smile, but she deserves it. “I’m not doing anything with Mel, Tammy, but I certainly can if you’d like.”
    “You’re a fucking asshole, Joss, and don’t for a minute think I don’t know you’re only doing it to punish me more. How could you? How could you screw with her like that just to get back at me?”
    “Holy shit, Tammy. Have you finally completely lost your ever-loving mind? You can’t be for real, because that’s got to be the most self-absorbed thing I’ve ever heard someone say.” I feel adrenaline bursting through me as my temper skyrockets. It’s been too long with no place to put this shit. “You know what? Fuck you, Tammy DiLorenzo. Fuck you. My whole goddamned life does not revolve around you or what happened between us. And for your information, your sister has plenty of assets to put her on any guy’s radar. In case you somehow missed it, she’s unbelievably hot and smart, and unlike her older sister, she’s a nice person. So go to hell, Tammy, and unless it’s about work, don’t fucking talk to me again.”
    I stride off, kicking a wall on my way, but not before I hear Tammy screech in frustration and slam a door as she leaves the hallway. All I can think is, This is going to be a damn long tour.

Mel
    I’ VE SPENT most of the day directing the freelancers on the kinds of things I want to capture as well as getting the layout of the auditorium and the logistics for the show. Tonight we’re going to shoot the opening performance of the As Lush As It Gets Tour. All four of the band members have been on site rehearsing and preparing since right after lunch. It’s amazing to me how professional they are. I still think of them as my sister’s raunchy high school friends. Offstage, they often still act like that, but when it’s time to work, they become every bit the mega-successful rock band.
    The logistics of a large-scale rock concert are astonishing. There’s a crew of over fifty guys working nonstop today to set up this show, and when it’s done, they’ll spend the rest of the night breaking it down before they hit the road to meet up with us at the next stop tomorrow night.
    As the sun sets outside and the event staff for the auditorium begin to clock in, the energy in the place shifts. I have two of my freelancers walking around backstage and catching the buzz of the place while the third is outside on the sidewalk photographing the crowd. Apparently they’re already lined up for several blocks outside the auditorium.
    Backstage, Tammy is running around like a chicken minus the head. But if you really watch, you’ll find that she’s absolutely in control and there is an order to her chaos. I’m amazed at what she can keep track of and how much she seems to know about this business when she’s never had any sort of formal training.
    The guys are each preparing in their own ways I guess. Mike is walking around backstage, chatting with the crew, and doing jumping jacks. He has knit gloves on, apparently to keep his fingers warm. It never occurred to me that a guitarist would have real problems if his fingers were cold and stiff.
    Walsh’s normal easygoing personality and Colin’s constantly stoned one mesh nicely, and the two of them are hanging out in the green room eating snacks and chugging water. When he’s onstage, Walsh sweats about two buckets per performance.