Part Five

Leaving his girlfriend behind with his sister and Freya who has returned following her conversation with Travis, Malik eventually left the three women to head over to Club Ruby for his shift. Arriving at the nightclub which was already bustling with activity, Malik put his stuff in the staff room before making his way behind the bar where Lily was sitting, looking over the ledgers.

"You’re early," Lily commented as she looked up from the book. "It's Malik, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Malik nodded. "Figured I’d prep before the rush. Friday's are usually busy. Everyone's off for the weekend."

"That's true no matter which country you come from, everyone wants to wind down after a long week," Lily nodded in agreement. "Can I ask you something?" Lily wondered and Malik simply nodded in response. "You didn't apply for the manager position. I would think after being here for two years, it would be of some interest to you,"

"Thought you'd have enough candidates without me adding to the pile," Malik shrugged.

"You think my partners and I wouldn’t consider you?" Lily questioned. "Or that you wouldn’t be good at it?"

"I didn't think I was management material to be honest," Malik admitted. "I’m good with people when they’re three drinks deep and laughing. Not sure I’ve got the patience for schedules, payroll, and whatever you guys want us to upsell this month."

"And you think we do?" Lily laughed. "I'm a Harrington, working with a Grayson and Jason Silver. We don't know the meaning of patience..."

"Yeah, I’ve noticed. You weren't exactly quiet when you let David go," Malik commented.

"David stole from us. I wanted to turn him in but Peter and Jason convinced me to give him a chance to return the money and he did. It could have been a lot worse for him," Lily coldly responded. "But I know you won't make that mistake. You've got morals, I can tell. Look David was a part of the old regime, a holdover from when my partners and I bought this place. We kept him on because he knew the city and we needed someone here we could trust or at least someone we thought we could,"

"Yeah, well. Trust's funny like that." Malik sighed. "Believe me, I know."

"Sounds like something someone who has been burned before would say?" Lily said in realisation. "Want to tell me about it?"

"I was young and stupid and had this girlfriend a couple of years ago," Malik informed his boss.

"Ah," Lily smiled. "Been there,"

"Really?" Malik said in surprise. "You don’t strike me as the type to fall for bullshit,"

"Young and very stupid," Lily grinned.

"Story of my life," Malik chuckled.

"So," Lily said. "She broke your heart?"

"Something like that." Malik shook his head at the memory. "But I've moved on from that and definitely not looking back on that."

"You seeing someone?" Lily curiously asked.

"Yeah," Malik answered as he thought of Lauren. "But it's... still early days."

"Early days," Lily repeated. "But you like her."

"Yeah," Malik admitted.

"That’s not a bad thing," Lily murmured. "Unless you’re scared. In which case, let me give you some advice. Don't be. You're clearly smart, handsome otherwise why else would we have you behind that bar and I can tell you truly do care about people. That's the kind of person people want to stick by and have around them and it's the kind of person I want to manage this place. So what do you say?"

"You got an application on you?" Malik asked.

"Thought you’d never ask," Lily grinned as she pulled one out from out of the ledger. "Just get it filled out and back to me by the end of the week."

That evening, after finishing clearing out the attic for Malik’s bedroom, Kat found herself inviting Lauren for a drink, leading the pair to leave Freya and Ashlyn who had returned from her audition at Victoria Street and head across to Club Ruby where after the bouncer scrutinised her ID, Kat and Lauren sat down in one of the booths, drinks in hand.

"I can't believe you still get Id'd," Lauren shouted over the music.

"Only because I've got the face of a fucking angel," Kat shot back.

"So, you just moved into the house with your brother?" Lauren wondered.

"Yeah, about a week now. Malik’s been weirdly chill about it, surprising. Actually they've all been." Kat answered as she took a sip of her drink.

"Chill? Malik?" Lauren curiously asked. "I haven’t known him long but I don’t think you could use that word with him."

"Oh, you'd be surprised. He's a lot more different than when we were kids," Kat grinned.

"Different how?" Lauren wondered.

"He's less uptight, for starters," Kat said with a smile. "He used to be so serious. Probably cos he was the only guy stuck between two sisters. I think his friends have helped mellow him out."

"You mean Ashlyn and Freya?" Lauren responded..

"They're a lot but they are good people," Kat told her. "Even Freya. She's not as bad as she seems. She even helped me get this job."

"Really. From what I could tell, Freya seems like the kind of person who doesn’t help people unless there’s something in it for her," Lauren commented.

"I think Freya’s more complex than she makes out behind that pretty face." Kat replied. “Either that or I'm reading her all wrong. Ashlyn, I can read like a book. Malik’s been lucky to have them both in his life,”

"So what you're saying is," Lauren realised. "Malik’s housemates are the kind of people who’d bail you out of trouble, no questions asked?"

"They basically did it for him. Let me stay when they didn't know me," Kat admitted. "Took me in when my own mother kicked me out for kissing another girl."

"It's funny isn't it?" Lauren said. "You'll have people in your life who spend the entire time you're together telling you to be yourself, right up until being yourself means something they can't show off to their friends and family," Lauren added. "It sounds like your mom is a piece of work,”

"That she is," Kat sighed as she finished her drink. "I'm going to get another and see if I can see my brother, find out what time he's finishing,"

Leaving Lauren at the booth, Kat made her way towards the bar, making her way across the nightclub, passing the dancers until finally she reached the bar where she didn't spot her brother but one of the other bartenders and quickly ordered another round of drinks.

It was as she waited for the drinks, Kat noticed quite possibly one of the most beautiful women she had seen. The woman had long blonde hair and grey eyes that seemed to sparkle as she looked over at Kat along with a slender, well-toned figure with large breasts and a round ass, accentuated by the dress she was wearing.

"I hope you don't mind me saying, you are gorgeous," Kat told the blonde.

"And here I was thinking you'd be more creative," Lily purred.

"Creative's overrated," Kat countered. "I'd rather be honest. Like telling you that dress on you should illegal,"

“Illegal, hm?” Lily murmured. “Funny. Because I own this place. Pretty sure that makes me the law here.”

"Well then," Kat said, stepping closer to Lily with a mischievous smile. "Arrest me. After all, I do look good in handcuffs,"

"Handcuffs, hm?" Lily playfully responded. "I don't think I have any on me but I'm sure we could improvise."

"Improvisation’s my specialty," Kat smirked. "Though I should warn you, I’ve been told I’m a terrible influence."

"Terrible influence?" Lily leaned in close. "Sweetheart, I'm a Harrington. Terrible influence is in my blood."

“Harrington,” Kat repeated. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

"You don’t know the Harringtons?" Lily said in surprise. "That's refreshing, actually..." Lily paused. "You're either the worst liar I've ever met or the first person in this city who hasn't heard of and is terrified of my family's reputation," Lily smiled. "I like you."

"Well, either way, I don't judge people on their families," Kat admitted. "I'd rather make my own judgments about a person."

"Maybe not tonight. Your friend will be waiting on those drinks," Lily murmured, nodding toward the booth where Lauren was as the bartender finally handed Kat the drinks she had ordered. Kat reached to grab her card to pay, however, Lily stopped her. "Leave it. This round’s on me," Lily added, "Consider it an incentive to come back. Preferably when you don't have company."

“An incentive?” Kat echoed.

"Call it whatever you like," Lily responded. "Either way I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun together."

Following her audition, Ashlyn returned home to Seven Victoria Street where she found Freya, Kat and Lauren. Helping them with Malik’s room whilst putting the audition in the back of her mind, Ashlyn watched as Kat and Lauren left to get drinks just as Chantelle returned home and together the three women found themselves sitting around the island in the kitchen, drinking wine and talking amongst each other.

It was just as Freya refilled her glass, Ashlyn noticed her phone on the flashing, the screen lighting up to indicate a private number was calling her and Ashlyn curious and from previous experience knowing it might be someone from the audition ringing her, picked up the phone, answering it whilst also stepping slightly away from the island and Freya and Chantelle to get a little privacy.

"Hello?" Ashlyn answered the call.

"Ashlyn Munroe?" The familiar voice of Kaleb responded. "It's Kaleb from the audition earlier,"

"Kaleb Mercury," Ashlyn softly said, recalling their kiss earlier in the day, a thought that made her cheeks blush. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon."

"We don’t usually move this fast," Kaleb admitted, "If I'm being honest we were going to do another three days of auditions," Kaleb paused. "But then," Kaleb continued. "Then you walked in and..." Kaleb said, his voice filled with awe. "I mean you absolutely killed it."

“Wait,” Ashlyn said in disbelief. “Are you saying…”

"You got the part," Kaleb confirmed. "Congratulations. Very soon your name is going to be up in lights." Kaleb paused, clearly to let Ashlyn take the information in, something that the blonde was doing her best to do, his words registering in her brain. "Look, I know it’s a lot to process. Take a breath. You earned this."

"I… thank you," Ashlyn exhaled.

"Don't thank me yet," Kaleb chuckled. "Wait till you see the sixteen-hour shoot days. Don't worry though, one of the team will be in touch to go through everything with you but I suggest you should take the moment and celebrate," Kaleb said before finally parting the call with a last few words of encouragement. "I’ll see you soon, Ashlyn."

"Everything okay?" Freya wondered upon seeing Ashlyn jaw-dropped face as she turned around once the phone call had ended.

“I got it,” Ashlyn whispered before loudly exclaiming. "I got it!"

"Holy shit!" Freya excitedly yelled as she got up from her stool, ran up and leaped into her best friend’s arms hugging her tightly. "You’re going to be famous!"

"Yeah, congratulations, Ashlyn," Chantelle said in agreement, also making her way over to hug the blonde. "You deserve this. Especially after all those bullshit auditions you’ve been on over the years,"

"Well," Freya said, finally letting go of her best friend. "Girls, I suppose this calls for something stronger than the usual red wine," Freya told the pair, making her way to the cabinet. "We are celebrating properly and I got the perfect bottle to do so,"

That evening Dexter stood outside the tube station, waiting a few minutes until finally Audrey finally appeared wearing a leather jacket he had never expected to see her in, a tight pair of jeans and a top that showed just a little of her cleavage, something that Audrey clearly did not feel all too comfortable in.

“You clean up okay,” Dexter commented.

"Clean up?" Audrey said, shaking her head. "I just put something on. You haven't even told me where we're going..."

"Somewhere you'll probably hate," Dexter grinned. "I told you that you need to figure out what that song means to you, so I thought I'd show you what music means to me."

Dexter led Audrey into the tube station and together, they took the tube, skipping past several stops until finally they stepped out and made their way out of the station, onto the streets of London, navigating street after street until finally they reached a building on the corner of a street, home to The Black Cat, a clear home to a rock 'n' roll club.

“This is where you bring me to learn music?” Audrey commented as they entered the club. “It’s clearly seen some better days,”

"Hey, don't knock it. I pretty much grew up here." Dexter said defensively.

"Wait, what?" Audrey said in surprise.

Dexter simply ignored her and instead made his way over to the oak bar and Audrey quickly followed where they were met by an older woman in her forties with long blonde hair, emerald green eyes with a lean, athletic-body wrapped up in a leather jacket over a crop-top that proudly showcased her medium-sized breasts and and pair of jeans that hugged her round ass.

"Audrey, meet my mom, Ronnie Nicks. Owner, resident badass, and the reason I can play a mean guitar." Dexter grinned.

"Nice to meet you," Ronnie warmly greeted Audrey before addressing her son. "She's pretty, Dex. But what happened to Chantelle? I was only speaking to her the other day..."

"Oh, Chantelle’s fine." Dexter told her. "I'm helping Audrey out with a song. She wants to sing for her parents' anniversary but she's having a bit of trouble so I thought I'd show her what music is all about,"

"So you dragged her here to educate her?" Ronnie commented. "Kid, I thought I taught you years ago, you can’t teach someone to feel music. They either do or they don’t. You should know. It took you a while to appreciate my kind of music. I happened to recall you liked your father's crappy music taste when you were much younger," Ronnie leaned close to Audrey before speaking to the younger woman. "Dexter was around eleven when he first picked up a guitar in here. It sounded terrible. But that didn’t stop him, though. The kid's got stubborn in his blood." Ronnie glanced at Dexter. "Like me and his father,"

"So if you can't teach someone to feel music," Audrey asked Ronnie. "How do you figure out music?"

"You don’t figure it out, honey. It figures you out." Ronnie handed Audrey and her son a drink. "Drink that, then tell me what you taste. Not the ****. But the burn. The way it sits in your chest after. That’s music. That's rock and roll." Ronnie smiled as she took a shot. "Do you ever feel like that when you sing?"

"I… I don't know," Audrey admitted. "Singing has never been something I do so other people could hear."

"But it should be?" Ronnie told her. "Let everyone hear your voice. Whether you're good at singing or not. Embrace it. You want to sing for your parents? Fine. But fall in love with the song and the words, you get me?"

“Yeah,” Audrey nodded before asking. "Where's the bathroom?"

Ronnie pointed it out to the younger woman and then watched as Audrey got up from her seat and headed in that direction just as the band Dexter noticed decided to take a small break. It was then as his mother refilled his drink, she finally turned her attention back to him.

“So,” Ronnie said, looking over at her son. “You gonna ask about my life, or am I just gonna have to wait for your next call in two months?”

“I was going to... what’s new?” Dexter rolled his eyes.

“Well, as you can see the club is still going well and I got a new tattoo, just under my tits. I'm thinking of getting a back tattoo or maybe an ass tattoo. I do get many compliments about my ass. It's genuinely making me consider some ink there..." Ronnie commented.

“Mom, what the hell?” Dexter choked on his drink, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I do not need to know about your as…”

"Oh, relax, you prude. I’m forty-three, not dead," Ronnie poured herself another shot. "Besides, the new boyfriend loves it."

"Boyfriend?" Dexter said curiously. "What happened to Mick?"

“Mick? Oh, honey, that ended weeks ago. Axel on the other hand is a drummer and super hot.” Dexter rolled his eyes again at his mother while looking back at his drink. “Don’t look so horrified. I’m allowed to have fun.”

"I don’t need the details. I still haven’t recovered from walking in on you and your band having an orgy when I was sixteen." Dexter groaned.

"Oh, grow up. You're acting like you weren't conceived in the backroom of this very club." Ronnie paused. "Actually, it might've been the stage. Your dad and I had quite an active sex life back when we could tolerate each other." Dexter groaned louder as his mother took another shot. "Anyway, how's Chantelle been, like I said we spoke over the phone the other day. And does she know you're out here playing music tutor with some other girl? Because I might be open minded but I still get jealous when I see my man with a pretty girl."

“Chantelle’s fine. We’re not…” Dexter shook his head. “It’s not like that with Audrey. She needed help, and I offered. Chantelle knows and has told me she's okay with it,”

"Look, kid, I like Chantelle. She's creative and she’s better than your last girlfriends," Ronnie smiled. "Audrey’s nice too, though. Clearly out of place here but she seems like a good girl…"

Ronnie's voice trailed off as her eyes went from focusing on her son to instead behind him and curious, Dexter shifted on his seat, turning to where his mother was looking only to be surprised to see Audrey on stage with the band his mother had booked tonight.

And it was then, Audrey surprised him with something he wasn't expecting as she looked to the band who nodded their encouragement, began to beat to the song and then he watched and listened as Audrey came out of her shell and began singing the lyrics to ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You’ by Kiss with an enthusiasm and energy he had never seen from her before.

As the song continued, Dexter watched as Audrey lost herself to the song and the crowd erupted in cheers and enjoyment until finally the song and Audrey left the stage, hurrying back to Dexter and taking another shot that Ronnie poured her.

“Holy shit,” Audrey breathed. “Did I just…?”

Dexter simply smiled and nodded before offering Audrey another drink. And it was after a few more hours of sharing a few more drinks and some conversations with his mother following the high of her singing Dexter and Audrey left The Black Cat and headed back to the tube station to part ways for the evening.

It was as they stood, waiting for the tube to arrive, Dexter couldn't help but look over at Audrey who looked more relaxed and yet so excited than he had ever seen her and he couldn't help but smile at the thought that she might have found a new passion and appreciation for music.

“i still can't believe you got on stage with the band,” Dexter laughed, shaking his head.

“It just sort of happened so fast, I met the bass player outside of the bathroom, I mentioned what I was doing for my parents' anniversary and she invited me on stage... But it was incredible! And the audience loved it! Loved me! I totally get it now, performing...” Audrey excitedly spoke only to be cut off by Dexter leaning in and pressing his lips against hers.

Audrey's voice muffled as Dexter kissed her, his hands moving to her waist to hold her while she brought her hands up to Dexter’s shoulders however before he could deepen the kiss, her hands pushed him slightly away from her and Dexter upon being separated from his friend, quickly noticed her face, full of shock whilst he suddenly realised what he had just done.

"Shit... I didn't mean to, I'm with Chantelle but I don't know what I was thinking..." Dexter immediately began to apologise.

"Jesus Christ, Decker," Audrey finally spoke. "You really know how to kill a moment."

"I'm sorry," Dexter apologised once more. "I should never..."

"Dexter," Audrey responded softly. "It's fine. Well, not fine. You just kissed someone who is not your girlfriend and I thought we were just friends but it's fine… Really it is..." Audrey paused, noticing how guilty Dexter clearly looked on his face and closed the gap between them once again before telling him. “Listen. I should’ve said this sooner. Probably once I came back into your life and definitely before you…” Audrey gestured vaguely between them. “But I’m gay, Dexter. Like, full-on accidentally made out with my roommate and never looked back gay,”

"You’re… wait, what?" Dexter said in confusion as he realised what Audrey just said. "But you and Malik?”

"Yeah, it's why things were so difficult between me and Malik," Audrey admitted. "I was twenty-three, confused, and thought dating a guy might... I don't know, fix whatever feels broken. Turns out you can't hide from who you are." Audrey told him as her tube finally arrived. “Look, let’s just pretend that didn’t happen. **** makes people do stupid shit,” Audrey stepped closer to the tube, taking one last look at Dexter before telling him. "Seriously, Dexter, let's chalk it up to bad judgment and live music adrenaline. I won't tell Chantelle if you don't. There's no point in stirring up drama over something that was nothing right?"

“Yeah,” Dexter slowly nodded, before watching Audrey get on the tube and head on home.