Warning: nudity, adult situations, language, reader discretion is advised
Monte Vista, Present day...
The Drifters were doing well in Monte Vista, Adrian had become their manager of some sorts and with his help they had managed to book four weekly gigs around town.
The money they made wasn't much, but they were having fun, building their fan base.
Tonight they were playing at the Cantina, and Michaela was excited, mainly because Cameron would be there, his flight was due to later that evening. She’d offered to pick him up from the airport, but he'd declined, he knew how crazy it was before a gig and he didn't want her to feel rushed.
She was just applying the second coat of the bright pink nail polish when the door burst open and René bounded into the room. The sudden intrusion startled Michaela and she smudged the nail polish on her thumb.
"René!" She made a face at her friend. “Look what you made me do!"
"I'm sorry, but I really need to borrow your kit," René cried sheepishly.
Michaela rolled her eyes and jerked her head at her dresser where she kept her makeup case.
René found the makeup with little trouble and she was about to close the dresser when a file fell out of one of the drawers. She knelt down to retrieve it.
"What's this?" René frowned at the document in her hands.
"It's nothing," Michaela cried, she could just kick herself, she’d been meaning to destroy it, but something always came up, and now she had a mess on her hands.
"It doesn't look like nothing to me," René replied in a small voice.
"Okay, fine, it's a recording contract." Michaela jumped from the bed, the nail polish bottle fell onto the floor, splashing all over the place.
“For The Drifters," René noted as she read over the document. “And the offer expired over a month ago. Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I didn't want to sign with O+ Records-"
"Why not?" René demanded, and Michaela explained her reasons, she wanted to make it on her own, without her family's backing.
"Look, I get that, but it's not just your name on the contract. You had no right to make such a choice for all of us. No right at all!" René hissed as she dumped the contract on the bed.
"Please, I’m sorry!" Michaela cried.
"No! You are only sorry because you got caught!" René yelled.
"René , please don't tell the others, it will just break them," Michaela pleaded with her friend.
"I won't. But you will," and with that René let herself out of the room, the mascara she came to borrow was long forgotten.
That night the Drifters delivered a less than stellar performance.
Hayden and Lowell, unaware of the fight earlier, were on top of their game though, and they worked twice as hard to cover up the lack of chemistry between Michaela and René .
Backstage, after their set, things got a little heated when Hayden confronted René and Michaela; he wanted to know why they’d struggled through the set.
René refused to explain herself, insisting they should ask Michaela.
Hayden and Lowell turned to her and patiently waited for an explanation. But it never came. All Michaela offered was a feeble, “I’m sorry.”
“That’s not good enough! What the fuck happened?” Hayden wouldn’t let her off the hook so easily though. As a new band just starting out, a bad performance could cost them a lot more than just a gig.
“Fine. I lied! I lied, okay!” Michaela screamed, attracting a few glances from the Cantina’s staff.
“Lied about what?” Lowell, silent all along, watching the argument unfold, spoke at last.
“O+ Records wanted to sign us, the offer expired a month ago,” Michaela looked at everything but her band mates as the words tumbled out of her mouth.
“What?”
“What do you mean the offer expired?”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
Their questions were rapid and relentless, and she tried to field them all as best as she could. She explained to the brothers her reasons. Like René, they would have understood if it was her name only on the contract.
“You knew how much it meant to us to get a record deal. You knew how much we wanted to work with O+ Records!” Lowell’s words cut through her like a knife and she felt like the worst scum on earth. Of course she knew, but she was more concerned about herself, determined to make it on her own, she never stopped to consider everyone’s feelings.
“I’ll fix this, I promise, I’ll speak to Krisis, I’ll make it right,” She cried over and over.
But Hayden and Lowell told her to forget it. They were done with her. They couldn’t work with her if they couldn’t trust her. Lowell left the room in a cloud of hurt feelings and anger, and René followed suit, leaving Michaela and Hayden alone.
“I thought you were my friend,” Hayden shook his head.
“I am you friend!” Michaela insisted in a wobbly voice, she was trying so hard not to fall apart.
“No, friends don’t keep secrets, Michaela. Friends don’t mess with each other’s futures. Friends don’t lie to each other!”
“Please give me a chance to make this right,” Michaela pleaded, holding on his arm, but Hayden brushed her off and left the room.
Michaela collapsed on the sofa in a messy heap and cried the same instant all her dreams of making it on her own came crashing down all around her.
For a long time she just sat there, crying, wishing she could go back and redo everything. Her band mates were the only real friends she’d had since high school. René had welcomed her into her home. The brothers, still reeling from their parents’ deaths, afraid to let anyone in, had opened their hearts to her. They were responsible for her healing as much as she was; and being a part of the band had given her a new sense purpose. She had to fix this, make things right.
She was still crying when Cameron came to find her ten minutes later. Without saying a word he held out his hand, she took it, and he led her out of the venue.
Back at the hotel, they had a late supper, but Michaela barely touched her food, she kept pushing it around her plate, staring absently into space.
A few times, Cameron asked if she was okay, and Michaela would quickly nod. But he could tell she wasn’t okay, he could see the tears shimmering in her eyes.
Later, he ran her a bubble bath, and poured her a glass of wine. After a few sips, she pushed it aside, she obviously had a lot on her mind.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Cameron asked as he massaged her feet in slow rhythmic movements.
Michaela sighed and shook her head; she didn't want to talk, she just wanted to feel. All of him.
Reading her mind, Cameron stripped off his clothes and joined her in the tub and held her.
She turned around slowly to face him, and soapy suds fell out and trickled onto the floor.
"I just want to forget," she told him as she took his face in her hands and began to kiss him, slowly at first, her lips gliding smoothly over his, her tongue, sweet and warm, darted in and out of his mouth, dueling with his own.
Her rhythm grew a little more frenzied as she deepened the kiss, her hands roaming all over his body, feverishly begging him for her release.
But Cameron wouldn't give in to her demands, at least not so soon.
He lifted her up and gently pressed her back to the edge of the tub. Michaela shivered, not from the cold tiles, but from anticipation as she watched him, through eyes heavy with desire, kneel in front of her.
She immediately tensed up when she realized what he wanted to do. She tried to cover herself and move away, but Cameron’s hand around her waist, held her closely to him.
“Don’t do that,” he warned her, as he swatted her hand away.
Gently he parted her thighs, his hands traveled upwards as he grabbed her hips and brought her to his face.
Michaela gasped and threw her head back when his tongue darted forth, seeking entry to her most intimate of places.
She tangled her hands in his hair, holding on tightly, steadying herself from falling over just from the sheer pleasure rushing through her body.
Just as she was getting used to the sensation of his sweet tongue receding in and out of her like the rise and fall of the tide, Cameron pulled away, leaving her bewildered and wanting more.
She was about to complain, but he silenced her again, with his fingers this time; she couldn't believe how incredibly good they felt inside her as he teased, and stroked.
"Cam-" she gasped out his name, unable to get her head around the wave of bliss swirling at her core. She threw her head back and closed her eyes, struggling to breathe, her hands feverishly ran through his hair, she was sure she was hurting him, but for the life of her she couldn’t let go.
She was close, she could feel it, the tight buildup at her core, and she didn't want it to be over so soon, so she writhed above him, splashing water all around them as she fought off her approaching orgasm. The harder she tried to hold out, the more determined he was to get her to lose control; he increased the pace of his strokes, alternating the rhythm of his touch with his tongue and lips.
"Cum for me," he ordered her, his voice hoarse with desire.
"No," she shook her head, sobbing. She didn't want to, not like this.
"I want you to cum for me, Michaela," he whispered sternly, his warm breath on her thighs was as devastating as his tongue and fingers were inside her.
When she still wouldn't give in, he lifted her leg, and placed it over his shoulder, allowing him more entry. This time he was merciless, his mouth clamped over her sensitive bud, his tongue slid back and forth, in and out, slowly pushing her over the edge, within moments she was screaming out his name, clutching his hair as her body heaved and swayed from her release...
Cameron leaned back in the tub, and pulled her down to him, sprawling her body over his, Michaela pressed her cheek on his chest, and listened to his steady heartbeat, it was oddly comforting.
And for a long time, they just lay in the tub, not saying anything. The water had grown cold, but Michaela didn’t care, she was very warm and comfortable in Cameron’s embrace.
“What happened?” Cameron asked after a long stretch of silence.
“They found out about the contract and they kicked me out of the band,” Michaela admitted.
“They’ll come around.” He kissed her temple.
“What if they don’t? What if they never forgive me?” She lifted her head and stared at him. She looked so scared then and so vulnerable, Cameron immediately wanted to fix it all for her. But if he did, she might never learn anything from her mistakes. This was her mess to fix.
“It will look better in the morning.” he assured her as he brought her face to his for a kiss…
