On Tour

Karma paced the small dressing room with the wooden vintage wardrobes like a lioness in her cage.Her heart pounded loudly and insanely fast. She felt like a school girl on her first date, giddy and excited, but also timid. A mere hour remained before Matt would pick her up, and Karma had absolutely no idea what to wear.

She had tried on her entire wardrobe when suddenly her phone vibrated, signalling the arrival of a new text message.

From: MATT
Good shoes, and wear pants. Don't forget your bikini. And don't worry about your outfit too much.

Asshat, she thought. He knows me so well. I bet he's sitting there on his ugly black couch from when he still lived with his parents. That thing... She grinned. He never seems to throw that away. He's sitting there picturing me not knowing what to wear. For HIM! And the worst part: He's right.

Karma decided she should not worry so much about it, he was right. Good shoes and pants, he'd written. And that's what she would wear. In the end, Karma chose black jeans that ended just above her ankles and a white top with some small ornaments and a large passage of lace in the back. She wore her old, worn-out Adidas sneakers and took a red leather jacket, just in case.

She carefully put on mascara. Today, she opted for a nude look. If she was to wear good shoes, she certainly wouldn't need that much makeup. However, she also packed her glasses and a large sunhat.

Karma was blessed with her mother's good eyesight. Still, when she wanted to go out without fans recognizing her, she wore large glasses. It wasn't the best disguise, but it would have to do. To this day, only very few fans had been able to recognize her. In Karma's opinion, those diehard fans deserved every bit of attention they got from her.

But not today. The thought of being seen together bugged her. She curled her straight long hair into small, tight curls, hoping to fool some more. They'd definitely be looking for a straight haired Karma.

She hoped Matt would think the same about being seen and make any plan that did not involve a place where fans or magazine photographers usually hung out, hoping to spot one of them.
To Karma, it was still unreal. The commercial success the last album had brought them, in addition to the solo projects and collaborations she'd been doing on her own made her famous almost over night.

She couldn't go to the hairdresser without being photographed. She'd had to buy an expensive and complicated alarm system. She couldn't go a day without finding an article about her in a newspaper, a magazine or a blog.

Karma didn't like that she was celebrated as a fashion icon for the simple fact that she was none. She never checked out trends, she just bought whatever she liked. But there was nothing she could do against the constant photographs and the magazine articles.

A sharp knock on her door snapped her out of her thoughts. He was here. He was really here. She threw herself a last checking glance in the mirror before opening the door.

Matt looked handsome as ever in his plain white t-shirt and his black fitting jeans. From previous undercover events with the guys, Karma knew he would wear a flannel to cover up his unique arm tattoos, as well as a hat and sunglasses that were not aviators for once.

"Hey there," he greeted her shyly with a dimpled smile. He kissed her on both cheeks before pulling a small package out of his back pocket. "I didn't wanna show up empty-handed," he said, as if he had to explain to her why he gave her a present.

"And flowers are so... kitschy?" She laughed before softly pressing her lips on his cheek. "Thank you, Matt. You really didn't have to."

The box was small, about double the size of a credit card, and it had the imprint of Dean Cunningham Inc., one of the local jewellers. For a second, Karma wondered if it was a ring, but shoved away the thought decidedly. He might be in love with her, but he certainly wasn't out of his mind.

The box made a soft suction sound as she opened it and revealed a beautiful, classy pair of earrings. They were a silver frame with a dark gray pearl, surrounded by little stones she thought were swarovski crystals. Her lips curled up in a smile. They were so beautiful!

"I knew you're crazy about earrings," he chuckled. Karma practically ripped out the little golden balls she was wearing and put in the new ones. They reflected the light beautifully and matched her small diamond studs at the rim of her ears.

"They're so beautiful," she whispered reverently. Matt smiled, looking genuinely happy. "I'm really glad you like them. Now shall we?" He asked, motioning towards a vehicle Karma had never seen before.


The Buick was relatively new, but certainly not of this year. It was of the ugly matte silver color all cars seemed to have back when Karma's grandparents gave her her first car, a Toyota Yaris, for her 16th birthday. But the worst feature by far were the baby pink flames on the hood.

Matt laughed as he noticed her hesitation. "I borrowed a friend's car. Thought mine was too... conspicuous." Karma thought about the red convertible they used for the Bat Country music video. Every fan knew it was Matt's, and she never saw a single car that looked even remotely alike.

"As if this isn't flashy," she chuckled, pointing to the tuned hood. "Hey," he shouted out, defending his idea, "would you expect Karma Strikes to get in a car like that?" She shook her head no. Between laughs, she explained, "I was just messing with you."

Matt refused to tell her where he was taking her. All Karma knew was that he drove down the interstate five south. She'd always liked the way he drove, never too risky or too fast, making you feel safe overall.

As some light Bowie music started playing, she closed her eyes for a second and allowed herself to relax.

Half an hour into their drive, Matt cleared his throat. It was obvious to her he wanted to say something of a greater importance, so she remained quiet. With Matt, you always had to wait and let him come to you. A 'What's wrong?" scared him off, that way he'd brush it off as 'nothing important'.

For some more minutes, Karma sat there and enjoyed the purring of the engine, as well as the low volume classic rock song the radio was playing. The song, surprisingly for Radio OC, was pretty good. Karma usually hated the radio station, especially their late morning show with 'Dan Can', the most insincerely giddy moderator in the history of bad radio moderators.

"There are a lot of things," Matt finally began, "that happened since that truth and dare night. Mostly things I'm not exactly proud of. I, uh... Fuck, how do I say this?" He ran his free hand through his hair.

Karma had to suppress a chuckle. He took enough time to think about a way to address this that he could have easily written a symphony or two and all he could come up with was this?
That was another remarkable thing about Matt: He wrote amazingly beautiful song lyrics full of emotions, yet when it came to talking about his own feelings, he seemed so clumsy sometimes.

"I wanna apologize in particular for the night after... That hotel thing. I... I didn't sleep with that groupie, Karma. I tried to run from... the night before. But I realized I couldn't. Not after seeing you. Not after you looked jealous, or at least I thought you did.

"And I realized I had a chance. I thought I never had one. And then, that video shoot. I don't know. I was so grumpy you fucked up my groupie intermezzo the night before. I didn't WANT to be in so deep if that makes sense to you. Whatever. Then we reconciled, and it could have been so great. But then..."

"Sarah came," she finished for him. "Sarah came," he repeated. His hand was steady as he set the blinker, leaving the interstate in a city named Aldenville. She'd never heard about it. Was it even big enough to be on a map? Where is he taking me? It really bugged Karma that she had no idea.

"I could have just... douche baggy called her and quietly broken up with her, but she came. So I fucked up again. And then that spark... during November Rain. I saw you felt it, too. And, uh... Here we are I guess."


The sincerity was quite refreshing. Karma felt flattered. That was something she really liked about him, he never beat around the bush. "I, too, made mistakes," she finally said. Although, she added silently, those mistakes never really hurt you.

It was true, after all. His mistakes hurt her, and her own mistakes hurt her, too. It wasn't right to give in over and over again, ending their affair and less then 24 hours later sleeping with him, that much she knew.

Still, those mistakes had been exactly right. And his mistakes weren't exactly nice for him, either, while hers were equally good for both. Until the bad conscience struck. But it didn't matter. She was no fan of 'an eye for an eye' anyway.

Lost in those thoughts, Karma didn't realize that he pulled into a parking lot. Suddenly startled, she asked, "Where are we?"
"Santa Rodriguez yachting club," he replied, getting out of the car. "Wait, did you say YACHTING CLUB?" She heard herself say despite being nearly a hundred percent sure that was exactly what he said.

"You... have a yacht?" she rephrased her question since she didn't want to sound like an utter idiot. He chuckled. "I don't. Someone who owes me does. And it stands here, hence the car trip." Karma did nothing to hide her excitement. "You can sail a yacht?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

"Contrary to popular belief, I do have other hobbies besides screwing my co-singer, doing drugs and rock'n'roll," he replied coquettishly. Karma smirked while he opened the trunk, revealing a large cooler and a bag with swimming gear. "Now shall we? I'm really hungry," he suggested, nodding his head in direction of the cooler.

A few seconds later, Karma and Matt were boarding the yacht. She was still somewhat surprised that she never knew about this side of Matt. Yet, she was determined to enjoy the day with him.

The yacht wasn't one of those flashy ones you bought because you wanted to brag, which Karma was glad about. That way, they were less likely to be spotted by anyone else on the waters. No-one would suspect Karma Strikes, the "metal diva" as Cosmopolitan constantly labelled her, on such a small yacht.

Karma watched as Matt skillfully untied the boat and steered onto the calm ocean. From the steadiness of his motions, she could tell he'd done it a lot of times. "Do you wanna steer? It's deep enough here, so you won't hit anything," he offered, and Karma took the wheel for a while. In the meanwhile, he prepared the food he'd brought along.

Minutes later, he called her for a very late lunch. Karma was surprised to see that it was a little after 2 pm already. Leaving the cabin behind like he told her to, Karma emerged onto the front deck.

Matt had spread out a picnic blanket, and the cooler box was standing next to him. He'd already changed into his trunks, so she liked what she saw. The thought of him stripping naked just meters away from her made her inexplicably hot. He'd taken off his pants and boxers before he put on the trunks... Ugh.

"Karma?" Matt said, but she was too mesmerized by his muscle play as he threw the anchor. "I think I'll change into my bikini, too," she said, noticing how his eyes sharpened. Good thing she was wearing her bikini underneath. This was not ending well, him and her half-naked. Definitely not. But Karma was okay with that. She grinned as he watched her slow movements, taking an awful long time to take off her clothes.

He licked his lips. "Alright, about that lunch?" she asked, smiling innocently.

They sat down and Matt took out his treasures. He'd brought sandwiches, a fruit salad and some crackers. After they were done eating, she asked, "What now?"

Karma felt like her body was on fire. He ravished her with his eyes. "Dessert, I'd hoped," he said in a low voice. Sure, we can just fuck on the first date, whatever. With that, he crashed his lips on hers, pulling her onto his lap. His tongue demanded entrance, and she was more than happy to grant it to him. His hands were all over her body, causing goosebumps to spread. Karma melted against him as they made out passionately.

His fingers tangled in her hair as he slowly moved to kiss her neck. She inhaled sharply as he dug his teeth into her neck before kissing further down. With a snap, the clasp of her bikini opened. He quickly dismissed of the annoying fabric before immediately reconnecting his lips with her skin.

His hands cupped her breasts, and he moaned against her. Karma needed him. "Fuck me," she hissed, only to be met with a surprised look. "I thought dessert consisted of eating," he replied, stressing the last word. A hot wave shot through her. "And I thought we should fuck now," she grinned.

She didn't need to say more. He ripped off her bikini bottoms an she pushed down his trunks with her feet. They both moaned as he slowly filled her up. So perfect.

Notes

Hey guys, hope you liked the update. They're finally having a date, and I'd say it's looking fairly good, right?

What do you think? :) Hope you all had a nice weekend. <3