Don't Change the Way You Think of Me

**Brian’s POV**

“Brian, dude wake up,” I felt someone shaking my shoulder. We had left for Los Angeles around 2 hours ago, traffic being horrible as we got downtown. We were heading to the Nokia Theatre for our show tonight and they’d said something about an interview beforehand. It was a surprise show that had been announced only a few weeks ago, but was sold out. It was the first show since Nightmare had been announced and for being May it was a little cool out.


“Brian,” Matt said again shaking me again. “Come on man, we have that interview in about a half hour. We gotta get you some coffee and food.”


“Ughh..” I groaned from my position in the Tahoe. “Fine, I’m up…give me a couple minutes.”


“Alright, but don’t go back to sleep or I’ll send Jimmy to get you,” he said with a hint of laughter in his voice. All he earned from me was a groan.


I looked at my phone seeing 5 missed calls from Michelle within the last 24 hours, Fuck woman, I’m working. We had left straight from the studio this morning having all spent the last night working on promotion for this new album. We had almost everything done for it but we still needed to decide on how we were going to release the album cover. While discussing of course, we decided to bring in some alcohol and bullshit over ideas.


It was then that I noticed the text messages session in my phone. As I went to open the chat, Michelle called again. Jesus Christ. I inwardly groaned and decided I should take this. “Hello?” I said as I stretched.


“There you are, I’ve been worried sick, I haven’t heard from you in like thirty-six hours Brian,” my wife chastised me.


“I’ve been working, Chelle,” I reminded her and rolled my eyes.


“Well that’s great for you, are we going to talk about the fight anytime soon? Are you coming home soon?” She demanded answers and I thought back to the other day. She had a pregnancy scare and the test came back negative. I can’t tell you how relieved I felt when it came back negative. We have only been married for 10 months, we’re no where ready for children. Hell, I’m still touring with my band, we are getting to the point where our fanbase is growing faster than we know what to do with it.

I may have told her, “Thank-God.” Apparently that was the wrong thing to say in a situation like that…oops. “Yeah, when I get home we’ll talk.”


“And? When are you coming home?” Michelle almost whined. God you’re fucking annoying today.


“I don’t know, today or tomorrow. I don’t know when the guys are coming home yet,” I answered honestly.


She sighed and knowing her mannerisms well, I knew she was now rolling her eyes, “Well, I guess I’ll see you when you get home. I love you Brian…”


“I love you too Chelle. Talk to you then,” I said and hung up. I sat back in my seat and stared at the roof of the car. I can’t believe you just lied to your wife, my conscious scolded me. I didn’t lie, I just…I don’t know what I feel right now. I reasoned with myself.


It was that moment that I realized Matt was true to his word, Jimmy was trying to stealthily sneak up on me. “Don’t do it JimJam,” I told him right before he could attack.


“Awww…” he groaned being found out. “Fine, but we need to go get you coffee, Mattie’s orders.”


I couldn’t help but smile at my best friend, “Alright, let’s go.” I allowed Jimmy to lead me out of the vehicle and across the street to a starbucks. As we walked, I went back to my text messages. I inwardly groaned, “Fuck.”


Jimmy turned and looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “Yeah?”


“I drunk texted last night,” I explained to him, “and it was to a fan…” I showed him the picture.


“She’s really pretty,” he acknowledged as he studied her face.


“She’s a fan Jimmy,” I reminded him, pointing to the death bat logo.


“So? Maybe she’s not crazy? And if she is then you can just change your number again,” Jimmy shrugged as it was our turn to order.


While we waited on our coffee another text came through, this one from Michelle. Jesus Christ woman, I just talked to you. Hey Bri, just wanted to let you know that I love you. I’m sorry we fought…can’t wait until you’re home. I bit back a growl and shoved my phone into my pocket.


“Who was that?” Jimmy asked curiously as the barista handed us our drinks.


“Michelle…again.” I rolled my eyes, don’t get me wrong. I love her, we’ve been friends since the eighth grade. We’ve dated for years, and everything and yes, I still have affection for her. However, this bullshit with the constantly having to dominate my phone, blowing it up when she knows I’m working. I mean, I just talked to her not even 10 fucking minutes ago.


“She’s your wife Bri…” Jimmy trailed off, stating the obvious.


“I know that Jim, but I just talked to her,” I vented to him.


“When?” He took a drink of his coffee.


“Like right before you came to the Tahoe,” I explained, exasperated with the situation.


“Oh, well just ignore her. Maybe she’ll leave you be,” Jimmy offered as we made our way back to the theater.


I nodded as we walked back to the venue in silence. Matt, Zack, and Johnny were all waiting for us outside the doors. “Where’s mine?” Johnny joked with us.


“Back at Starbucks, we couldn’t carry it, it was too tiny,” Jimmy teased him back.


“Yeah, we’re real men, we have big hands for big cups, no sippy cups for us,” I added on smirking.


“Then why do you both go for itty bitty titties?” Johnny countered continuing our banter.


This earned a laugh from everyone, because we all knew damn well that all of us enjoyed a good pair of tits. “So what interview is this?” I asked taking another drink.


“It’s for some up and coming music magazine, locally produced and published,” Zacky shrugged.


“Who agreed to this interview?” I asked knowing that usually the label didn’t have us do small interviews unless it was a personal favor.


Everyone looked over at Jimmy and I raised an eyebrow at him, “Really Jim?”


He shrugged, “Hey, everyone starts somewhere and I may have agreed because they told me that I was the most awesome drummer.”



I laughed and shook my head as the others only chuckled. “Alright, fair enough. They’re not wrong Jambo,” I joked with him knowing he hated when I called him that.


“It’s JIMMY or JimJam, and yes I know they’re right because I’m the most awesome person ever,” he joked with me about that. He was a really humble guy and didn’t let his ego get in the way very often…unless there was a pissing contest between him and Johnny or the Berry brothers.


I couldn’t help but chuckle again and hugged him with one arm. “Yeah, that you are.” I kissed his head affectionately and we went into the venue. There were many different rooms, the one for the interview overlooked the arena. It was a private suite on the 2nd level that had cushioned seating everywhere.


“Ah, there you guys are,” Larry welcomed us into the room. “I’d like you to meet your interviewer, Dani. Dani, these are the boys.” He motioned over to a brunette that looked extremely familiar. She stood in front of us wearing leather heeled boots that hugged her low rise, skinny jean, clad calves. The skin tight jeans almost looked painted onto her perfect ass. Her shirt barely met the top of her jeans, leaving just enough of a peak of her hip bones and lower abdomen. Her Pantera shirt had been cut in an off the shoulder style neckline and fuck me if she didn’t have a great set of tits. It was then that I saw a death bat tattoo peaking out from her black cami and the words “You had my heart” visible above it.

Oh Fuck. I thought to myself as I finally looked up into those dark chocolate eyes, darker than mine. I felt my dick twitch as I subtly licked my lips and took a drink of my coffee to hide the fact that I was immensely turned on by this girl I had accidently texted the night before.


Jimmy subtly looked over at me with a questioning gaze, “Is that her?” he mouthed to me. All I could do was nod.

I looked back at her and she just smirked, obviously enjoying the fact that she now realized that it was really me texting her. Her lips were perfectly painted with a dark red lipstick, her eyes looked beautiful with the make-up she’d used. “Hi, I’m Dani,” she almost purred out, “Please have a seat.” Fuck I’m in deep shit.


**Dani’s POV 3 hours earlier**

I arrived at the office in Long Beach, it was 8am and I knew I was about 15 minutes late. Usually on Saturdays they were okay with us being a little late. However, I had been told of an interview at the last minute that I would be covering because the boss was out of the office. Unfortunately, I was already in route to the office. Meaning, I had taken casual day to the ultimate level and had opted for a Pantera shirt with an off the shoulder neckline, skinny low-rise jeans, and my black leather heeled boots.


I groaned, This is why you need to keep extra clothes in your car. I scolded myself as I walked into the building, my cubicle being towards the middle of the area. Most people hadn’t arrived yet, but considering I had an interview in Los Angeles at 11 and the traffic was fucking horrible during rush hour? I had an hour before I had to leave to ensure that I would make it to the theater and get everything set up.


I booted up my computer staring up at the clock on the wall, 8:10. FUCK. I complained to myself and went to the break room rustling up some coffee and poured some of my Hershey’s Chocolate Caramel creamer into it. I got back to my desk, sat in my chair and logged into the system. The company logo “Infinity Rock” appeared as my system made sure that everything was running smoothly.


Once the stupid thing had loaded up and half of my coffee was gone, it was 8:15. I immediately went to my e-mail for any notes possible for this interview. If there’s one thing I absolutely resented in this business it was handling an assignment originally given to someone else. The reason why is because if they don’t have shit done before the day of the interview, you’re stuck flying by the seat of your pants. Thank God you’re a professional then. I commended myself and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen to make notes about what was supposed to go on.


The e-mail from my boss was of course buried by other bullshit e-mails that had nothing to do with me. When I found the e-mail I opened it:


Dani,

Here are all the notes on the interview with Avenged Sevenfold.

WHAT?! I thought to myself as I continued reading.

The meeting is at 11 AM at the Nokia theater, Larry Jacobson will meet you at the venue, you need to be there around 10:30 at the very latest to make sure that everything is ready to go. Also stick to the music, the band has been asked many different times about their personal relationships especially with the scandals surrounding their lead singer. Find out their feeling on the newest album and the upcoming release.

Also please make sure you remain professional, I know you are not fully prepared and I apologize for having to rely on you. My mother is in the hospital with heart failure, I will look forward to reading your notes. Please send me a transcript of the interview once you have it written up. We are looking to print this for the upcoming deadline on Monday. They are also our cover story, please thank Mr. Jacobson for setting up an additional session for the photo shoot. It is supposed to be au natural, no props, nothing out of the normal. The theater has said there is a hidden game room in the backstage area meant to entertain their entertainers. See if you can incorporate that in there.

I have also left you the four backstage VIP press passes, they’re in your mailbox. Please tell Lily Happy fourth birthday for me and thank-you again for covering this story.


Lucy


I had to re-read the e-mail a few times before I realized there were no questions pre-written. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? I looked at the clock. 8:30. Fuck. Me.

I immediately went to the mail room at the other end of the cubicle farm and grabbed the passes. I brought them back to my desk and threw them into my purse. I had to leave here by 9:30 just in case I hit horrible traffic on the way in. In light traffic I could make it in about 40 minutes, in heavy traffic, it could take up to an hour. Hopefully today would be a lucky day, but we will see.


I sat at my desk and picked up my pen. Questions that didn’t relate to their personal lives. This was going to be hard, of course everyone wanted to know what happened between Matt and his long-term girlfriend and fiancé, Valary Dibenedetto. All anyone knew is that they split up a couple of months ago. As you can imagine, that hit the fanbase a little hard. Everyone loved them, they were a power couple of the Heavy Metal world. The other’s had relationships but there really wasn’t much information.

I went off of what Lucy had written and 40 minutes later, I had 30 different questions that I could get their input on. It would be a good couple hour long interview and I prayed the theater would have comfortable areas for it to be conducted. It was 9:20, I reloaded the travel mug I brought with me. Coffee and Creamer, the notes and pad of paper with a few pens in my bag along with the passes. Well…it’s now or nothing.


When I finally reached the venue, I showed security the VIP press passes and they allowed me in. True to his word, Larry Jacobson, a middle aged man in a business suit stood at the entrance. Security having given him a heads up that I was on site. I got out of the car, grabbing my mug, bag, and pass. I slipped the pass around my neck and locked the car, the keys going straight into my purse.


“Lucy?” Larry asked me as he extended his hand.


“No, I’m so sorry Mr. Jacobson, Lucy had a family emergency come up. I’m Danielle, but you can call me Dani, I’ll be conducting the interview,” I explained to him and shook his hand in a business fashion.


“Oh, sorry about that Dani, I had a missed call from your magazine this morning but I haven’t had time to listen to the voicemail,” he admitted obviously a little embarrassed.


“No worries,” I smiled comfortingly towards him.


“Shall we?” He asked and held the door open for me.


I nodded and walked through the door, “Thank-you.” I smiled warmly, he followed close behind me and before I knew it we were walking in stride.


“So how long have you been with the magazine?” He asked me as we reached the elevator.


“Since it started, Lucy has been a friend of mine since college and she got tired of focusing journalism on secret lives and politics. So, she pitched an idea to me and I told her if she got it off the ground I’d be her lead girl,” I answered. He looked over as the elevator doors opened and I could tell he admired the loyalty towards my editor in chief.


“Well, I hope she pays you well. These guys are a little rambunctious,” he chuckled to himself and I couldn’t help but smile.

“That I believe,” I chuckled with him. The elevator doors opened again and he led me down a hallway to a conference room.


“Here we are,” he smiled and opened the door. The suite looked out over the arena where they’d be playing later.


“Awesome,” I smiled, my heart jumping for joy seeing the comfortable chairs and sofas in the lounge. The layout had it’s own little kitchenette with a big conference table next to it. Over closer towards the door there were two arm chairs and a long sofa big enough to accommodate all 5 men. I nodded knowing this would work perfectly.


“Is there anything else you need before I go meet the band?” He asked looking at his wrist watch.


“Directions to the bathroom and is there a coffee pot?” I asked him.


He chuckled, “Coffee addict?” He joked nodding towards my cup.


I blushed, “Guilty as charged.” He smiled warmly and went to the cabinets.


“They always stash their coffee pots at the top of the cabinets, the coffee is in the cabinet closest to the mini fridge.” He pulled the coffee pot down for me and pointed to the cabinet that held the coffee. “I think you’ll get along great with the guys,” He smiled warmly. “Bathroom is down the hall on your left. I’ll be back in about 30 minutes to give you enough time to get set up and ready for them.”


“Thank-you Mr. Jacobson,” I stated sincerely. He was being so much nicer than some of the managers I’d worked with in the past.


“It’s Larry, Mr. Jacobson makes me feel old,” He winked at me jokingly. “And you are most welcome Dani. See you soon.”


I nodded as he left and pulled out my speaker and phone. I left them on the cabinet and started the coffee pot. I grabbed my make up out of my bag that I carried on me for emergencies such as this. Oh, of course, you carry make up but not actual business clothes. I shushed the inner voice in my head as I made my way down the hallway.


I decided to skip the full face and chose to focus on my eyes and lips. I applied some golden-brown eye shadow as a base on my top lid. I mixed in some purple and rose colors, then I blended them to perfection. Next, I threw on some black liner, thick but not smoky. I couldn’t stand the smoky look, I chose the dramatic without the grunge. After throwing on some mascara, I put on some deep wine red lipstick. This is as good as it’s gonna get. I decided and hurried back down to the room.


The coffee was done and I realized that I only had about 20 minutes before the guys would be back in there.

I quickly found a coffee table in the corner of the room holding a plant and a table next to the kitchenette that held a lamp. I moved the plant and lamp to the floor before I pulled them over to our sitting area. I set the coffee table in front of the couch and the lamp table in between the chairs.


My phone rang and I jumped slightly going over to the counter. I poured more coffee into my mug and added a couple things of sugar. “Hello?” I asked into my phone.


“Good morning mama,” Lily’s sweet voice came through the phone.


“Hey baby!” I smiled happily loving her voice. “Happy Birthday Princess. Did you get a present from the Birthday Bear today?”


“Yeah!” she said excitedly, mimicking my tone. Gah she’s growing up.


“And what did he bring you baby?” I asked knowing that I already knew. I had snuck in this morning and left her a present at the foot of the bed.


“It’s an avenged sevenfold t-shirt and a teddy bear with a matching shirt, Mama!” she said again then I heard a thud and an uh-oh.


I laughed to myself knowing she had gotten too excited and dropped the phone. “Lily babe?”


“Yeah mama?” she answered picking the phone back up.


“I love you baby, be ready to come to LA when Aunt Roxie is, okay?” I told her wishing I had more time to talk to her. Fuck I wish I could have just been there for her.

“I will mama, can I bring my bear and wear my shirt?” She asked already knowing the answer.


“Of course! Make sure that you have Aunt Roxie pack you a few different outfit choices and a jacket okay?” I smiled knowing I’d have to text Roxie after the interview.


“Okay mommy, Love you,” she replied.


“Love you too baby girl, I’ll talk to you soon, mommy has to work. Happy birthday baby doll,” I cherished that little girl more than I’d ever cherish anything in the rest of my life.


“See you soon mama,” she said and I knew she was a little disappointed, but I’d make it up to her.


There was a knock on the door, “Dani?” Larry asked coming in as I walked with my paper and pen to the seating area and set my stuff down.


“Yeah?” I looked over at him and shut my phone off.


“The guys will be along in just a moment, one of them had a slow start after the ride here,” he shook his head knowing they had been up too late drinking.


“Oh, no worries,” I smiled warmly and went back to the counter to grab my coffee.


“There you are guys, I’d like you to meet Dani, she’ll be interviewing you guys today,” Larry said. I turned around and found 5 pairs of eyes looking me over. One set of eyes in particular caught my eye. He looked me over slower, checking my body out. I felt like I should shy away from his prying eyes but then rationalized that I’d shown him more skin last night than I was right now. His eyes reached my tattoo and he then snapped his eyes up to meet mine before taking a huge drink of the coffee in his hand.


I couldn’t help but let a smirk cross my lips, “Hi, I’m Dani.” I met each of their eyes, “Please have a seat.” Oh boy, this was gonna be interesting.

Notes

Haha, Alright guys, let me know what you think of this installment. I know it's a long chapter but I didn't feel right only having Brian's point of view for this one.

Thank-you for reading.