Victor had just closed the bathroom door when the doorbell rang. He admitted room service and sent them to where Aaron and Vice were both on calls. As they set out the food, he pulled the bed into order, and opened the closet, flicking through the clothing inside. Typical tour wear, he noted. Her crew would have the costumes for stage, so her closet contained two extremes – outfits for interviews and comfortable wear for around the hotel.He selected from the latter and eased into the bathroom. He sat on the edge of the bath and watched Mirage in the shower. She stood unmoving under the spray, her face tilted up into it, and he was certain that some of the water running down her cheeks were tears.He needed to keep her moving, he thought. If he allowed her to dwell, she would disintegrate. It was a double blow, he thought, to her – the threat, and the rape. He did not know how he would hold up under such a thing, but he suspected not as well as she had done so far, and certainly not a
The seating arrangement was meant to be cosy and confidential. To the viewer it probably looked so. There were fake walls on three sides to give the impression that they were in a sitting room and not a studio, and she was certain that the green screens behind the windows would be filled with a pretty garden view and the sound-track augmented by birdsong by the time the show aired.The couches were possibly the most uncomfortable ones she had ever sat upon, Mirage thought. But maybe that was in her head because of her dread of the topic she was there to discuss. Kelly certainly appeared to be comfortable on them. But Mirage was glad that Vice had selected trousers, and not a skirt, for the interview, as the angle of the seats was such that she would have been fighting to keep her hemline decent. The last thing she needed was to flash a camera whilst she was there to discuss a sex crime committed against her.The combination of clothing that Vice had thrown together was stylish, relaxe
“Yes.”Kelly snorted. “I wouldn’t be able to make the choice between them, either. I am going to grab a photo with them for my social media.” She walked over to where the men were waiting off set, getting her PA to take photos, before kissing both men on the cheeks, shaking hands with Aaron, and posing for a selfie taken by Alexei, before walking off set.Mirage decided she trusted her legs and stood carefully. She was shaking. She walked over to Vice and Victor, who slung an arm over her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Let’s get you back to the hotel,” he said. “You have had enough for the day.”They returned to the hotel, and Aaron went to organise a room for the night. Alexei saw them to the room before leaving for another date with Mirage’s dancer, throwing Victor a wink over his shoulder. “Dancers,” he said. “So flexible.”Whilst Vice poured Mirage a bath and helped her to remove her hair extensions and make up, Victor stepped out into the hallway with his phone. During the re
Victor watched Mirage through the window into the DJ booth. She was smiling brightly at the DJ as she answered questions about her show. She wore a t-shirt advertising herself, over a pair of jeans, biker boots, and a cropped leather jacket, her hair slicked back into her signature ponytail, complete with pink-tipped extensions, and looked every part of the rockstar that she was.“She is holding up,” Vice murmured. “She is strong, our Mira.”“Mmm,” Victor wanted nothing more than to cancel the rest of her tour and take her home where he and Vice could keep her safe from the outside world that was too often cruel to her. But Mirage lived for her music, and being up close and personal, seeing the faces of her fans, was doing a lot to rebuild her confidence after twelve months of media harassment.He had taken control of Mirage’s phone and was fighting the desire to ring the burner phone number, to see if Mr Rich would answer, and then spewing some of the vitriol he was feeling towards t
Once he was certain that Mirage was asleep, Vice slipped out of the bed and retrieved the phone from where Victor had left it on the bedside table. As he returned to the bed to read through the response for himself, he saw Victor’s eyes open. Vice nodded his head in silent agreement that they would continue to shield Mirage from her phone. Victor closed his eyes again and snuggled into Mirage’s hair with a sigh.Victor had not lied. In the majority, her fans were incredibly sympathetic and supportive, and there were many messages from various media sources wanting interviews, as well as entreaties from various groups for her representation, but there were also those who used her social media to spew vitriol about women’s irresponsibility and that sexual assault was a result of dress choice and behaviour.There were several missed calls from Gabriella and Lucas, and a message from Aaron advising not to answer them and that he had told them that he was filtering calls from the record co
“Bloody hell,” Vice declared as he opened the door into their house. “I don’t think I have ever been so glad to get home. I think I am drunk off the smell of house.”“What does house smell like, exactly?” Mirage giggled.“Hmm,” he drew in a breath. “Ghosts of your perfume, furniture polish, and Victor’s gym socks.”“Hey,” Victor protested. “My gym socks are a refined vintage.”“Keep telling yourself that, whilst the rest of us gag,” Vice replied.“I smell,” Mirage stepped in. “Vice’s aftershave, and Victor’s shampoo, and staleness.”“I smell,” Victor followed them into the hall leaving the driver to unload the boot. “Vice’s toy room,” he added optimistically.“What does my toy room smell like?” Vice asked with a sly grin.“Lube, vinyl, and leather.” Victor replied readily.“Is that wishful thinking?” Vice asked conversationally as he claimed a suitcase from the front door and placed it into the front hall.“Factual thinking,” Victor decided.“Unpack, shower, food, wine, and then, I wi
On Monday Raven turned up unannounced at their gate as was his habit. Victor went to greet him at the door as Vice and Mirage were already in the pool, and watched as the lean, black-haired, sharply featured man got out of the crappy silver sedan he was driving.Raven looked rough even by his normal standards with a week’s worth of stubble on his face and shadows under his eyes, but he grinned widely, revealing a flash of strong white teeth against his olive complexion, upon seeing Victor.“If you offer me coffee, I am not responsible for my reaction,” Raven said.“What?” Victor raised an eyebrow and realised that he was teasing him about the manbun he was wearing and the beard he had been growing in. He stroked his beard between his forefinger and thumb. “You don’t like the beard? Apparently, they are the current fashion, and it doesn’t raise a rash on Mirage. Anywhere,” he added with a glint in his eye.Raven snorted. “You grew a beard so you that didn’t prickle your woman when you
Victor leaned against the bench as he waited for the coffee to percolate and watched his partner at work. Vice was bent over the control board his headphones on, his posture hunched, and his eyes closed as he nodded along with the music. Vice’s cheeks were dark with stubble, and he had shadows under his eyes. He looked as if they had put in a few hard nights partying, rather than at the control board and in the attached recording room.They were both looking a bit rough, Victor thought wryly. The last few days they had been putting in hard hours in the studio, getting as many tracks down as possible. Their mornings were early, showers perfunctory, and days long. Mirage had taken to bringing their meals to the studio and collecting the plates afterwards to ensure that they ate.But the hard work was gradually paying off. The album was shaping up, and it was solid. It did not have the magic of passion behind it that Mirage’s did, but they were convinced they were doing their best work s