On Tour

"Swing from the chandelier, really?" Karma laughed. "Absolutely, as if the kids cared about the lyrics in dance music these days," the young man with the curly blond hair showing beneath his beanie retorted.

Alexander Hastings was a producer, only barely twenty-one but he had already made himself a name in the pop scene. For seven hours straight, Karma and Alex had been in the studio, writing mainstream songs they knew would become hits.

And before that, they’d been working together for some weeks, with Karma only leaving and jetting to wherever Avenged needed to have her, only to return to London hours later.

Their concerts were amazing despite not having rehearsed together in a long time. Karma dreaded that they would become worse with time, but now was not the right moment to worry about that, Trey told her.

She’d have her album out soon and then Avenged’s tour would be over. The guys would take a break anyway and Karma would either tour or take on some new challenge like one of the suggested collaborations or even an acting job.

Karma found herself watching Alex as he typed something into his computer with a concentrated expression, a pencil tucked behind his ear. She'd grown fond of him in a platonic way up until now, realizing he was a talented writer who was indeed capable of writing good music. He just preferred not to, seeing as industrial, mainstream pop music paid off best.

"Dude, does that imply suicide? Hanging yourself on a chandelier?" Karma became serious, not wanting to sing about that issue so carelessly during a shallow pop song.
"Nah, I meant at a party, like actually swinging," Alexander retorted, and behind his thin glasses, his blue eyes lit up with mischief.

"Talking from experience?" Karma asked. He grinned approvingly, then turned to the keyboard again. "This is how I imagine you to sing it."
He started to play, and Karma loved it. "Yess, that's it."
"Alright, then get in the booth."

Karma did a couple more exercises to warm up her voice, then got into the booth. One take and they were done with yet another song. After that, Alex would add some stuff and then it would be done.

"How's it going guys?" Trey poked his head through the door just as they listened the new song, adding some beats on Alex' DJ pult.
"This!" Trey exclaimed in delight. Really? Karma thought. It sounds just like any other pop song. Literally any...

"Karma, Matt called for the third time, I thought I'd tell you. You might wanna check your phone." Matt. The thought of him made her happy, almost giddy. She felt like a school girl in love, one whose mother finally let her take the call after she finished her eighth grade homework.

"10 minute break?" she suggested in Alex' direction, but didn't even bother to wait for his response. She switched on the phone and waited for it to pick up on the reception.


MATT <3: 7 new messages
Missing you.

Call me when you're on a break.

Babe, don't forget to eat and drink alright?

Love you. Please call me.

Jimmy just killed a pigeon. He's been arrested now. Lol. Wish you were here.

Good thing we don't have a show tonight, he's staying in jail.

Karma, it's been long since I heard from you. Everything alright?

Karma quickly pushed the call button. He picked up after the first ring. "Karma, hey! I hope I didn't spam you too much with my messages," she heard him chuckle into the phone. Hearing his smooth voice was so soothing. It felt like it was crawling out through the speaker and encasing her with a feeling of concealment.

When was the last time I actually spent some quality time with him, Karma wondered, but then quickly told herself it was not going to be that way forever. Matt knew that.

"You didn't," she quickly reassured him. "That's good," he cooed, "how was your day?"
"Good, we actually got more songs for a solo album done. This guy right here Trey hooked me up with, is a real good-"
"WHAT? Who hooked up with the guy? You? Or Trey?"

Karma chuckled at his fake jealousy, though she was certain a dash of it was real. This specimen just didn't enjoy seeing her get along with anyone else, not even with Brian. But she was glad he was trying nevertheless. He didn't want to restrain her from being with friends, he just needed to be reassured sometimes.

"I hooked up with him, we fucked to the sound of my dance music! Ooomph, oomph, oomph,“ she teased, and imitated the easy rhythm which was the same for almost every dance song. He groaned into her ear.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you something," Matt said, and Karma was glad he changed the subject. "Since you're staying there for another night, how about I come see you for dinner, just the two of us? I'll leave first thing in the morning so I won't keep you from recording."

The prospect of seeing Matt soon made her heart jump. "I'd love to!" she exclaimed, and then immediately entered the studio again.

"Alex," she said with Matt still on her phone, "what time did you say the studio's closing today?"
Some minutes and the story of Jimmy's arrest later, they'd sorted something out, and Karma pressed the end call button after they said their goodbyes. I’m so glad he’s managing to come see me, she thought with a happy smile.

For the next hours, Karma and Alex were working hard and recorded some more. It was easy to write with Alex as he was very talented. At seven, she finally left the studio after an almost ten hour long session.

She walked back the short distance to the hotel. Matt said he would be waiting in the lobby and then follow her to her room in some distance, seeing as they were not planning on going public very soon.

When she spotted him, she almost burst out laughing. He was wearing a wig with blond Justin Bieber hair and a fake blond mustache. He'd covered his tattoos with a long sleeved red button down shirt, something he would indeed never wear. 10/10 disguise rating, she thought with a grin as she walked to the elevator.

Matt immediately connected his lips with hers, and she felt the old-familiar tingles rush down her spine as they moved in perfect sync. Breathless, they pulled apart as the elevator made a sound, signaling they’d arrived at Karma’s floor.

„I missed you,“ he whispered, and she nodded. „I missed you, too. I’m glad you’re here now.“
Karma slid the keycard through the reader. The door opened with a mechanical sound. „I brought you some disguise, too,“ he grinned as he pulled out something very hairy, and very, very pink of his bag pack. „Pink? You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,“ Karma grinned as she spotted the wig.

„They only had that one, I’m sorry,“ he defended himself with a grin, „we should have brought some stuff from home. I got tons of wigs in my attic and we just don’t use them anymore. This one,“ he pointed to the pink wig, „is Lola from Hannah Montana, apparently.“

Karma snickered as she put her hair up and placed the wig over her blond bun. „I do kinda look like that girl from Hannah Montana,“ she agreed, then put on her fake glasses. „Well, now you look like a nerd who told her hairdresser she wanted to look ‚a little cheeky‘,“ Matt grinned.

„But this,“ he exclaimed, „this is the cherry on top,“ he said as he pulled out some white sheet of paper, which was wrapped in a plastic. There were some dark brown spots on one side. „Fake moles,“ he grinned and placed a large one on her cheek, almost where Marilyn Monroe had hers. „Lola Marilyn whatever, we’re done,“ he laughed.

Karma took his arm as they exited the hotel through the rear exit. One could never be too sure, right?

Matt lifted his arm for a cab, then told the driver, an Arab looking woman with a headscarf, some address. „You have pretty hair,“ she commented, and Karma faked a British accent as she thanked her.

The drive was short, and the restaurant they were let out at appeared to be some upper class Italian specialties place. „I did my homework,“ Matt reassured her, „this is where Brits go on special occasions, but no celebrity has ever been photographed here. I think they have a no-photo policy.“

„Hi,“ Matt said to the waiter, „we got a reservation for Jack Sawyer, two persons.“ Karma looked around. The building appeared to once have been a museum. Various lamps illuminated the modest interior in shades of orange. The walls were plain, and there were not many decorations apart from some artworks like a beautiful painting of the sunrise.

It was directly in front of a vault with pictures and scriptures about the building process of the city. They were seated at the window with a beautiful look over the River Thames. The tower bridge could be seen in the distance.

„Did you seriously just mix up the names from those two guys from LOST?“ Karma snickered as they sat down. He grinned and nodded. She knew he was the only one who was more obsessed with the series than her.

Matt ordered a bottle of wine, and although Karma was still on a diet, she decided that if he came to visit her, she would drink with him. A glass or two wouldn’t make her fat, right?

„I’m the bearer of good news today,“ he said, but they were interrupted by the waiter. Karma didn’t think too much, she ended up ordering what she wanted to eat instead of just a salad. It was her first solid meal anyway.

„Alright, about that announcement?“
„I’m not that child’s dad. I didn’t think I was, but now we know.“

Oh my God, Karma thought, I almost forgot about that whole thing. I’m way too busy with that fucking career I don’t even want to have.

„I’m really glad that’s out of the way now,“ she smiled and took the hand he offered from across the table. He grinned, and then she knew it wasn’t the only thing he was about to say. „There’s more to it, right?“ „You bet there is,“ he chuckled, then leaned over the table.

„Guess who the father is…“ Karma looked at him dumbfoundly. How was she supposed to know? „Is that a rhetorical question?“
„Yeah, I guess… It’s Raken!“

Karma felt the edges of her mouth curve up in a devilish grin. „Seriously? He deserves it.“
„And that’s still not all! I mean… speaking of Raken,“ Matt said between laughters, „we won that Johnny Cash contest, and they were … fucking last!“ They laughed until their stomachs hurt.

„Are you heading straight back after tour’s finished next week?“ Karma asked, wondering where the time had gone. It feels like we’ve been in Europe for mere days when it’s been months already.

„I don’t know, I might stay here for a little longer. I could come to London and just wait in your room until you come home from recording,“ he said with his signature smile. „Oh I’ll be done here, soon. It’s gonna be good to be back in sunny Cali,“ she smiled, „But I love the sound of you visiting me before I go back there.“

„Anything for you. I love you.“
„I love you, too.“

Everything seemed good. Everything went well. If only it had stayed this golden.

Notes

Really hope you liked this chapter, it took me longer to write than the previous ones. :)