My kids told me they were going to run away from home if I did FanFic for Duran Duran. So, I’m helping them pack their bags, right now. Hey..I have a trilogy that was given to me. It’s fanfic based on One Direction. And, yes..it’s really well written. I figured why not. With Duran Duran’s new album, Paper Gods, coming out in the Fall and all..it’s a perfect time.
When I was in high school, I started a story that involved my friend who loved Bryan Adams and me, who loved Duran Duran. I wrote about how we met our faves and..well..you know how that stuff goes. Anyway, I wish I still had it.
ANYWHOO…without further ado..my attempt at FanFic based on Duran Duran (except, they are going to be in their late 20’s, early 30’s in this story.) It’s silly but SO FUN to write!
_________________________________________Part One______________________________________________
We didn’t stay for the encore. Instead, we came to a unanimous decision and rushed out of the crowded venue just as the band came back on. We ran through the car-infested parking lot and high-tailed it to Jill’s Jeep. We had found out Down Rulers, the biggest and hottest band on the planet, was staying at a ritzy hotel in town so we decided to camp out in the bar there, just in case. Between her Jeeps tires and all four of our voices, there was a lot of squealing going on.
It was a twenty minute ride from the concert to the hotel and the excitement was palpable. Down Rulers had been our absolute favorite band since the seventh grade when their first song, Starving for You, came out. We were goners when we first saw what the band looked like, one guy was hotter than the next. Jesse, the bassist, was my favorite. Luckily, the four of us liked a different members so there was no fighting. Because, even though the chances were slim we’d even meet them, let alone date them, it was best to have less girl drama.
Alicia punched my arm, “Oh my god, Brooke! Can you even believe we’re doing this?”
“Ouch,” I rubbed the spot where her fist landed harder than she’d expected it to, “Actually, yeah, I can like totally believe we’re doing this. And, worst case scenario, we’ll have a couple drinks and go home defeated.”
I’ll be completely honest, I wasn’t expecting to even catch a glimpse of my boys, Down Rulers. They probably would be hooking up with some overdone groupies handpicked from the audience or something and they’ll go directly to their rooms to party. That seemed to be par for the course of the rockstar lifestyle. I mean, we read about it in all the gossip mags; famous band busted for destroying hotel rooms, leaving behind giddy girls stories of hook ups. But, who was I to bring my friends down? We’d end up having fun anyway, we always did. The hotel bar was a pretty happening spot, a place to see and be seen. All of us looked concert cute, and, at the very least, we’d most likely end up flirting with guys in attempt to bring our spirits up.
Down Rulers came on the radio and Melanie, sitting in the co-pilot seat and always in charge of the radio, turned the volume up. My eardrums were already blown out from the noise of the concert and, instead of acting like a 23 year old, I became a granny and tapped Melanie on the shoulder, “Can you turn it down a bit? I think I’m going deaf.” I had to scream to be heard.
“When did you get to be so old?” Melanie cackled and turned the volume down a bit.
“Not old but would like to preserve my hearing, just in case I need it when I get older.” I turned and pressed my nose against the window. I was suddenly feeling a little nervous, “You guys, what IF?”
Those few words sent the girls giggling. Jill, the more daring one of the bunch, sighed audibly, “I’d definitely do Stephen. It would be one exciting story I could pass on to my grandchildren.”
“I’m thinking that would be a big NO, J. That would probably be something you’re grandchildren would appreciate NOT knowing about their dear old grandma.” I ran my leather purse strap across my lap to try to harness in my shaking legs. Being a chickenshit sucked, that was for sure. “I think if Jesse spoke to me, I’d probably crap my pants and throw up at the same time.”
Alicia put her arm across my shoulder, “You’ll be fine. The worst thing that could happen is you’ll turn your lovely shade of magenta and not be able to talk. We’ve all seen that happen. Don’t worry, it’s sort of…endearing.”
Pulling away from her, I shot her a glare, “And you’re just so outgoing yourself, Ms. OMGCOMEWITHMEONMYDATE.”
Jill caught my eye in the rearview mirror, she was sensing I was getting uptight, “Hey now, Brookie, Alicia was teasing. Take a pill, girl.”
Out of my three alleged best friends, Alicia was my least favorite. Somehow she had wormed her way into our group back when we were in high school. I don’t think any of us really liked her but she was gorgeous and that helped when we went out to do, what my mom called, trolling. We called it boyfriend hunting. Although, my parents always insisted we never wanted a boyfriend we had picked up at the bar. I never understood why not, the other alternatives were equally as pathetic.
I turned to Alicia, “Sorry, I guess I’m sort of super excited and nervous. Because..WHAT IF?” Which set us all back to giggling like we did in high school.
We were still giggling and spewing out ‘what if’ stories as Jill rolled into valet parking. We poured out of the car and took a collective deep breath. Jill pulled us into a sort of circle, huddle, “Okay girls, calm and cool. I say we get seated, order drinks and pretend like we know nothing.”
Melanie snorted, “That should be easy. Especially for Brooke.” Then, to prove she was teasing, she pulled me into a hug and planted a lipstick kiss on the top of my hairsprayed head. “We’re good?” She looked each of us in the eye and received nods, “Let’s go.”
Like unibrains, we walked in through the revolving doors and made our way to the hotel bar, The Joint. It’s where all the hipsters, divorcee’s and millennials hung out. And, seeing as we were in our 20’s, we definitely had the millennial thing covered.
There were a few vacant tables and we chose a hightop by the wall of windows. The instant we were seated, a tired looking waitress approached us and collected our drink orders.
I stared at the patrons reflections in the window and wondered out loud, “I have a feeling we had the wrong tip. Don’t you think this place would be crawling with more people like us if Down Rulers was really going to show up?”
The response I received was dead silence which led me to believe my posse agreed with my assessment, “Maybe we’ll give it a little bit. But, if they don’t show up in an hour, let’s call it a night. I have a long day tomorrow.” I was starting an internship at a huge digital marketing agency where I would actually use my degree in graphic design.
I inspected my friends who were definitely already looking defeated. The waitress brought our drinks which we quickly downed. Jill flagged down the waitress and signaled we wanted another round. We busied ourselves by staring at each other, making silly faces until we began to laugh.
We started in our our second round and suddenly the atmosphere of the bar shifted. Hoards of girls started piling in, squealing louder than we had been earlier. Out the window, I saw THE tour bus come to a stop and my head exploded. I started shaking Melanie, whose chair was practically on top of mine, “Oh my fucking god, you guys. Oh. My. God.”
Jill kicked me under the table, “Calm yourself, woman.”
I could tell she was as excited as I was but she was way better at concealing it. I tried to be inconspicuous and use my peripheral vision to see what was going on outside. The bus was surrounded and a couple of big, burly bodyguards were trying to clear a walking path through the bodies of bouncing boobs. Slowly, the band emerged and I almost threw up. Stephen, the lead singer, led the way. Behind him, Jesse and his gorgeous smile stunned the screaming chicks to submission. Jarrod, Ryan and Nathan followed slowly behind the two leads.
The four of us were kicking each other, squeezing hands and trying not to scream like teeny boppers. I gotta admit, it wasn’t easy. Not in the least bit. There he was, the live version of the posters plastered all over my childhood bedroom. 3 dimensional is just so much better than flat. Like, so much better.
Alicia frowned, “They’re skinnier up close. I don’t like guys that skinny.”
I rolled my eyes, “Really Alicia? Because Kyle was just so buff.” Her last boyfriend was anorexically skinny. And these guys weren’t all that skinny, they definitely had eaten sandwiches recently.
She rolled her eyes back at me, “Shut up, Brooke. Ms. Holier than thou. You wouldn’t know what to do with any guy, let alone someone like Jesse. Besides, I can almost guarantee, he won’t be going anywhere with you.”
Jill jumped in to my rescue, “Be nice, Alicia. Or maybe that’s not so easy for you to do anymore?” Her tone was so venomous that Alicia simply opened her mouth and then shut it, reconsidering any type of comeback.
I gave Jill a look of gratitude before turning my attention to the front door, “Don’t look but they just walked in and are heading to the bar.” Now I was glad I was sitting in the seat facing the front of the restaurant, usually it was the last place I liked to be but I could see everything and tonight, I was good with that.
Melanie started dancing in her seat, “I have to see. You guys, I’m turning around. It’ll be quick, I promise.” She snapped her chair around, her jaw went slack and she whipped herself back to face us, “And then, I died.”
Too nervous to even talk, I mean..I was practically face to face with my lifelong love…all I could do was stir the ice in my margarita and let the girls talk amongst themselves.
Picking up my drink and downing it like a rockstar wanna be, I decided to check them out again. The bar had gotten super crowded and loud and I could hardly see them, meaning Jesse, perched at the bar. They were handling the gaggle like the pros they were, signing autographs and taking selfies with dignity and grace. I sighed and wished I had the nerve to push my way through those girls. I think a simple selfie with Jesse would be enough to make my life complete. But, I didn’t have the nerve so, instead, I’d have to live vicariously through everyone else.
Jill threw a piece of balled up cocktail napkin at me, “Hey, lets?” She nudged her head in the direction of where they were.
I shook my curls, “You go, I’ll just sit here. Anyway, fantasy is always better than reality.” Oh good god, I sounded like my mother. That was just wrong.
Alicia was still in silent submission, thankfully. Without saying a word to us, she jumped out of her seat and walked toward the crowd. Melanie shrugged and followed and Jill gave me one last pleading look before chasing after them.
I felt like crying, it made me sick that I was so shy and sometimes gutless. Especially when it came to guys, famous or not. It only took one broken heart to ruin me for, what seemed as though it would be, the rest of my life. “Guys.” I whispered to myself.
I grabbed an ice cube from my empty glass and popped it in my mouth. Feeling self conscious for being alone at a table, I took my phone out of my purse and busied myself by checking in on Facebook and seeing what was going on with the rest of my friends. I wasn’t going to status update about what a complete wuss I was, that was for sure. Instead, I looked at and liked everyone else’s.
The air shifted as I felt someone standing behind me, looking over my shoulder. I figured it was one of the girls so I threw my elbow back and hoped to get whomever it was square in the boob.
“Hey, not nice!” A breathy, laughing male voice with a beautiful English accent breathed into my ear. Let me rephrase that, a familiar sounding breathy, laughing male voice with a beautiful English accent breathed into my air.
Too shocked to actually throw up and crap my pants, I twirled around in my seat. And, I’m pretty certain my hair hit the owner of the voice in the face about a bazillion times.
Standing there, next to me, with two beers in his hand, was Jesse. The bassist. And fantasy love of my life. And, he was offering me one of the two beers.
Without fainting, I took the sweating bottle in my clammy hand and motioned for him to have a seat.
To Be Continued…
You are awesome with this! Love your FanFic! For sure we will read more of this from you soon!
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