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This story is a continuation of Rain_On_Me
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SORRY FOR THE BAD EDITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO START TO EDIT MYSELF.
LaDulceVida - The Sweet Life
HAZEL EYES
I was waiting in the corridor backstage. Almost a week had passed and Eric had finally felt comfortable singing the strange lament that he called, "Life isn't sweet". Gotti, the owner of the record label had somehow found it in his heart to give us a second chance after we more than screwed up our first chance at a debut. I was on edge, I knew everyone was on the edge. Hype had went balls out on preparing us for the performance. He believed that sex sold. He had me dressed with no shirt and these jeans that had so many 'fashionable' rips inside that you thought I had just come back from wrestling African lions.
Jay was the next to come. He didn't look nervous at all. He looked almost irritated, fanning himself constantly because of the hot concert lights that we could feel even from the backstage corridor. Ice, our security blanket, kept handing him glasses of water that Jay would swallow one after another.
"Where the hell is Eric?" Jay asked me, "These pants are squeezing the hell out of my balls."
He was right. We were wearing similar pants and they were probably the tightest pants that I ever wore in my life. I stood up and stretched being reminded of the slight pain that was shooting up my groin.
"Here he comes," I heard Hype say. He too had been missing in action but just seemed to be appearing what out of no where.
Eric came walking down the hall with Nina by his side. She was still trying to coach him on expressing his feelings through the music. Eric himself, I mean, he looked almost fucking good enough to eat! He wasn't wearing any shirt, but did have on a little trench coat that no doubt Hype instructed him to wear. The sweat glistened down his body. I could see his nipples. They were a chestnut color and they looked so goddam soft. I could see his chest. He definitely had a better chest than both Jay and I. I tried not to look at him, trying not to look at the sharp v-section that was at his abdominal region. They were like a trail to heaven. They were almost like a goddam arrow pointing deep into his crotch area. I could see his six-pack abs even against the dim light. His tinted beige complexion brought out everything in him.
He walked right next to me and stood between Jay and I. I tried not to have eye contact with him, still a little mad about all that he had told me a week before.
"Adrian, is that a woody?!" Jay suddenly cried out loud enough for people to laugh on just the way he said it.
I looked down. I couldn't believe I had the biggest boner that I probably ever had in my life and I didn't even notice it! I looked at Eric, who was staring at my dick (just like every other goddam person that heard I had it). I could feel my skin blush into the deepest red, my cheeks completely blooming with embarrassment! I knew looking at Eric would probably just make it worse. Soon everyone was laughing, pointing at it like it was a goddam joke. Even Eric...
Hype gave a little laugh and then his face went serious, "Adrian, this isn't the time to be getting excited."
"Ugh---it was a little breezy," I lied through my teeth.
Then I saw Jay, as if he hadn't already had a good enough time. He looked at me, then looked at Eric. I swear to god, I would have slammed his clown ass into the railing if he embarrassed me again with Eric.
"Right..." Jay told me, with such a sarcastic sound that everyone knew that he didn't believe a word of it.
I closed my eyes. I breathed hard, blushing even more, trying to concentrate on everything from dead puppies to old nuns, but it didn't work. Eric's cologne was close. I could smell the fine odor of sexual appeal all around him. I opened my eyes, hoping that the erection had gone away. No.
"The shows about to begin!" I heard Hype calling out suddenly after a few of the stage hands walked up to him to give him an alert.
Jay jumped to his feet, almost immediately, his eyes lighting up at the thought of beginning. All of a sudden no one cared about the hard-on that I was carrying around anymore. I was walking around with a 7 inch pole down my pants and no one could even give it a second look. Then I noticed Eric, he was looking at me with a bit of worry. I felt like I was almost gonna melt when he came and touched me on the shoulder, but that just made the hard-on rage even harder.
He gave me an innocent smile, still teasing me a little and said, "Lemme help."
He dug into the cup that Jay had been drinking out of and pulled out some ice.
"I really don't need your help..."
I really didn't. Him just looking at me was making my dick hard even worse. He looked me in the eyes and suddenly I felt him pulling at my pants! I thought I was going to cum all over myself when he did that. I wondered if that is what he was trying to do; make me cum and then the boner would go away.
"Lean back and hold your breath for as long you can," he told me.
I did so, leaning back and holding my breath. Suddenly I felt him drop the ice cube down my pants, no he didn't just drop it. He had actually put his hands down my pants and placed the ice cube on my dick! I moaned, a little excited but then slowly I could feel the ice cube nearly freezing my dick and then there was no sensation. In a second, the impossible boner was beaten by the cold temperature. He pulled his cold hand out of my pants.
"Ugh...thanks," I told him, hoping not to look too deep in his eyes and get the erection once again.
"Its cool, my brother used to do it all the time just before he went into church," Eric said and started laughing. I gave a little laugh too, not because it was funny but because it would have been awkward as hell not to laugh.
It wasn't long before we walked out on stage. I could feel the warm heat that exploded off the stage. As it was set up, I was supposed to be playing the piano, while Eric sang his melody. Jay and I had the part of singing backup and singing the chorus with him. I went to the piano, hoping not to trip over anything because I had been blinded by the stage lights. There were these little wing fans on the front of the stage, but I could hardly feel it. I saw Eric, standing there next to Jay. The crowd was silent as hell at that moment. I saw Jay then, flashing a little smile and trying to milk the dead crowd for all it was worth. It was almost like even before we started to perform, they wanted to boo us of the stage. The piano bench seemed a little more comfortable for me then standing around dancing any day. Either way, I was cued and began to play the melody on the keys. I concentrated so hard on them, not wanting to mess this day up, feeling like this was the only opportunity we had to impress Gotti and the rest of the record company. The crowd fell completely silent by the time Eric began to sing. His lips parted and began to describe feelings, feelings that he had once felt when trying to get closer to another person.
"You made my dream come true And with secrets you only knew You caressed my soul A dream that grew A bird that flew A day that came Give me your body, your love As you touch those certain places >From the low up above Give me your body, body, your love."
Then came Jay and I for the chorus.
"Your lips speak soft sweetness Your touch a cool caress I am lost in your magic My heart beats within your chest Sometimes I can't stand the bitter taste of life Your love was the only fruit I could eat I'm starving off a melody That starts and ends with Life isn't sweet"
It was a performance that I would remember for all time. I remember how I felt when Eric hit that last part of the chorus. I remember how the crowd stood up off their feet and started cheering, suddenly awaken by such a slow serenade. I remember wanting to cry, but not knowing exactly how. I saw Irv Gotti and a lot of other celebrities in the crowd. They were standing, off their chairs and clapping. I wanted to kiss Eric for singing so goddam well, but I think he was a little overwhelmed with all the attention he was getting off those little teenage girls. They were throwing their panties or stage after him! I could hear Ice calling us to get off stage, saying that the crowd was going a little crazy. Eric was the first to leave and I would have been close behind if I didn't have to actually usher Jay off the stage myself.
That was only the beginning of what was going on. Soon the radio began to feed off the single. They premiered it on the following Tuesday and ever since then they couldn't stop playing it. Gotti began to see a new interest on us. We began to perform even more, at the clubs or what not. We all knew that it was only a matter of time before we would be doing the BIG star things like making a music videos for the song. I prayed it wouldn't end up like one of those one hit wonders, but the truth was I had gotten so greedy over the quick fame that had come that I didn't even mind if it did become a one hit wonder.
<Hello> I said after dialing the number. <Hey> The voice answered. <Is this Antonio?> <Yeah, it is. Lemme guess who this is...> <Adrian.> <Wow, so hazel eyes finally gives me a call?> <Hazel eyes?> No one had ever called me by that before. I knew I had hazel eyes, but it was never a nickname. There was a pause. It wasn't long or overdrawn, but none-the-less, it was a pause. I could hear strange whispers in the background and then I heard Antonio come back on the phone. <Can you meet me?> he asked suddenly. <Now?> <Yeah. I really wanna see you again.> I blushed. <Sure, I guess.> <Good, come to the Syndicate. Oh, Adrian. Can you do me a favor? Your manager Hype Williams is having dinner with Mr. Knight. Could you probably bring the other band members, too? Mr. Knight really wants to meet them.> Before I had a chance to say anything, Antonio hung up the phone. I didn't know how I was going to get both Jay and Eric to come with me to the Syndicate. All I knew was Antonio wanted them to be there. I never had much of a problem getting Jay to go anywhere, but what surprised me was how willing Eric was to go. He had made it clear that he forever wanted to stay away from the Syndicate, but now he used the excuse saying that he wanted to go to the Syndicate and prove to me that they were just using me or whatever. I really didn't hear too much of his whole explanation on why he wanted to go to the Syndicate, but was just sincerely happy that he wanted to go.We arrived at the Syndicate in our Ice's town car. It was almost midnight by now. The fresh moon lit up the sky, but that wasn't the only source of light on the busy street. The bright lights around the club scene were brightening up the streets.
"Look," Jay suddenly said leaning out into window, "They're giving us the royal treatment."
I looked out the window to wonder what the hell was going on. There was a red carpet and a couple bouncers waiting for us next to the door. Behind them was a long line of guys waiting to get into the Syndicate. One of the bouncers waved Ice's town car to come right to the front entrance. Jay and I got a little star-stricken as we walked out of the town car flashing a conceited look at all the guys who would probably be waiting for an hour to get into the high-class club. Eric dragged on behind us, like he wasn't excited. He always tried to put that barrier up in him. Jay tapped my back as we entered into the expensive club.
As soon as we entered the club, high glasses of Ambrosia (a sweet drink that had become famous in the Syndicate) was served to us with orange peels hanging over the side. The fancy ushers led us towards the backroom, the backrooms that I never even knew existed! I could smell the scent of some kind of food that I recognized as Italian food from the first sniff.
I leaned over to Jay, "They never treated us like this before."
He flashed me one of his many vain smiles, "They probably heard our new single on the radio."
"Eric's single," I corrected him.
He acted as though he didn't hear me and kept walking. It was like Jay to act like he had anything to do with the making or producing that song. I shifted back a little to wait for Eric. He gave me a smile when he saw me waiting up for him.
"Like the treatment?"
He shrugged his shoulders, "Definitely different."
We were ushered into a different part of the Syndicate, a part of the Syndicate that looked almost completely like a restaurant. I could still hear the loud music from far away, but it wasn't very loud in this part of the Syndicate. There were red curtains against the wall and fancy Greek tables with a little angel fountain dead in the center of the room. I was so surprised all of a sudden, looking around and noticing the people that were in the room. I noticed some of these important looking faces that were around the room. They had on all their Gucci outfits and big Rolex watches, with the fancy shoes to match. Most were just smoking a cigar and talking amongst themselves, but a couple were actually having a bite to eat too. I noticed Mr. Knight. He had his cane and was sitting at the far end of the table. His cronies surrounded the table, just watching him like he was a piece of art or some goddam jewel.
As I got closer I looked at Mr. Knight. I had seen him before. He looked a little pale today, his eyes looking faded. He clutched to his cane and he saw us, then I saw his mouth wrinkle up to give us a slight smile. I wondered if it was the HIV that made him look so creepy.
"Please sit," Mr. Knight invited us, at the table where he was at.
I looked around for Antonio and saw him sitting near the door. I could have sworn he was some kind of goddam bellboy by the way he was serving the 'bigger' people in the Syndicate. He gave me a slight wave as our eyes met and then disappeared into the next room. My eyes followed him until I heard a loud bang and looked at the table.
One of Mr. Knights bodyguards had slammed Jay's arm onto the table. Eric had jumped out of his seat as though trying to aide him and the other cronies swarmed around the table suddenly. I looked at everyone in almost complete confusion.
"I just wanted to shake his hand," I heard Jay say.
They slammed his hand on the table because he reached out to shake Mr. Knight's hand?! I began to notice how really big the Syndicate had become. It had always been a big deal to people, but now it had somehow managed to lose all types of competition in the area. If Mr. Knight didn't own the clubs near them, he owned the guy who fucked the owner of the club.
"Relax, everyone," Mr. Knight said giving another one of his creepy smiles, "Everyone is so tense tonight. The boy was just trying to be friendly."
Mr. Knight reached across the table and shook Jay's hand. Jay and I sat, but Eric still seemed to be at a face off with the goddam cronies. They were looking at each other, staring each other down until finally Mr. Knight waved his hand and the cronies backed up away from the table a little bit.
Eric finally sat at the table.
"Are you boy's hungry?"
"No, sir. But I just wanna say. I am so happy that you invited us here," Jay sucked up further, "It's a real honor."
"No, the honor is mine," Mr. Knight said and suddenly called out, "Antonio!"
Antonio ran out of the backroom. He didn't look like he had looked with me. He wasn't the superior guy, but instead his ego seemed to have shrunk in the presence of Mr. Knight.
"Yes sir?"
"Bring these boys some more ambrosia. And by the way bring me one of those Cuban cigars."
Mr. Knight waved him off and Antonio disappeared into the backroom again. Antonio came back with the drinks and the cigar. I gave him a look, as though intriguing on why he would tell me to come here and meet him, if he was working. He didn't give me a look, he just put the drink in front of me and handed Mr. Knight his cigar. Mr. Knight started to smoke the cigar slowly, staring Jay right into the eye and then staring at me.
"We were told that our manager was here," Eric said suddenly, setting off one of those real uncomfortable stares back at Mr. Knight. I wanted to tell him to loosen up but everyone's attention was already on him.
"Oh, Hype Williams. Yes, he was here. He left earlier," Mr. Knight said, nonchalantly.
"He left...so why is it that we are here?" Eric said.
I wanted to know the same thing, but I wasn't going to ask it like Eric. He didn't even touch the drink, keeping it at a distance like it was probably poisoned. He sat a little away from the table, looking as awkward as a Buddha statue in the middle of an Episcopalian church.
"Relax," Mr. Knight said, "You and I. We have a mutual friend."
"Who?" Jay asked, probably just wanting to get into a conversation with such a important man.
Mr. Knight replied, "His name was Damien."
Everyone went quiet at the moment. Jay had knew the name well. He tried to keep away from the name. He still blamed himself for Damien's death. He had never told Eric that it was him who had caused the big pileup after he had been out drinking that night. He looked away from the table. Then I looked at Eric...I couldn't read his eyes or even guess what he was thinking at the moment. He was just staring out, almost lost all of a sudden.
I looked around, just wanting to see Antonio some more. Someone was walking, the footsteps were clear again the wooden tiles of the restaurant. I turned around and saw the guy that came right up to the table and stood in back of Mr. Knight. I looked at him, remembering the perfected face and expression of cockiness on him. It was the heir to the Syndicate...Robbie.
"Mr. Knight, you shouldn't be smoking those things," Robbie suddenly said putting his hand on Mr. Knight's shoulders and looking at his cigar.
"Aww, you worry too much," Mr. Knight said, "I was just talking to our young friends here about why I brought them here."
"Why? Why would you bring him here?" Robbie said. I could see an anger in his eyes as he looked right at Eric, causing Mr. Knight to let out a small laugh of satisfaction.
"Trust me, I don't wanna be here," Eric replied, not looking Robbie right back.
The hostility between the two was so clear, almost like it was rubbed out in blood. I knew that they had history and I wondered if Mr. Knight had any idea what this history was. He seemed very amused by it though.
"Mr. Knight. Let me take out the trash on this one," Robbie said suddenly, clearly threatening Eric, "He is worthless to you."
I could see Eric about to say something back but Mr. Knight interrupted quickly, "Robbie calm down. Leave the past as it was. Boys, this is from the Syndicate. Lets say a gift...or perhaps more of a proposition. Friends do favors for friends. Perhaps...we can be friends."
I saw him slide a stuffed envelope towards the other side of the table.
"What! Propositions! I can't believe your making a deal with HIM!"
I saw Mr. Knight grabbing Robbie by his sleeve suddenly, "Listen up! The Syndicate is still mine! I will make deals with who I please."
Robbie gave Mr. Knight a shot look. I could tell that even though everyone who worked for the Syndicate was afraid of Mr. Knight, Robbie seemed to prove as the exception. He gave Mr. Knight one of those real freaky 'Carrie' looks and then turned around and walked out of the room. The stuffed envelope was halfway across the table and when Robbie left, Mr. Knight pushed it even closer to us. I could tell it was stuffed with money. You had to be an idiot not to tell. I saw Jay reaching out for the envelope and suddenly Eric stopped him.
"No! We don't want your money," Eric suddenly said and pushed the envelope back.
"Speak for yourself," Jay said, trying even harder to reach for the envelope.
"No, please Jay. We can't accept this money. Not from them," Eric pleaded.
I saw the passion in Eric's eyes. There was this strong feeling of sympathy and wonder that lit up in his eyes. I finally got up as well and helped Eric push the envelope away.
"Jay back off," I said, knowing that Jay would listen to me before he listened to Eric, "Mr. Knight, you heard Eric, we will have to decline."
"Hmmm," Mr. Knight grunted, "You boys don't seem to get it. I am offering you my friendship and you are turning it down. I hope you realize what this means...ANTONIO! Come show these boys out."
We got up and followed Antonio awkwardly out of the room, knowing that we were being followed by eyes. We didn't talk during the way, just kept walking. It was very, very awkward! I saw Jay's face. He looked more than pissed at the moment. He looked beyond pissed. and I tried to keep him at bay with stern looks, but he just looked like he was about to explode.
At the front entrance Antonio finally decided to talk to me. Eric and Jay went into the town car, taking all of their hostilities into the town car with them. Antonio looked at me with a exotic look and then pulled out a piece of paper. "Sorry I didn't get to really talk to you today, but tomorrow night can you come to this address." "I dunno. I came here to see you today. How do I know that you aren't just calling this meeting so I can talk to your boss again?" He leaned over and wrapped his hand around my head, kissing me. Our lips pressed up against one another and his tongue even managed to move into my lips. We tongue kissed long and hard, him reaching down to squeeze my ass like it was a beanie bag. I could see him start to get even more risky, moving his hand down the side of my pants and suddenly I pulled back, feeling my hard-on going from mediocre, to nearly full. "I'll be there," I managed to say after we broke the kiss. I walked towards the town car, completely dazed by the intense kiss he had given me. I went into the town car to see Eric and Jay already arguing in the middle of the town car. Ice ignored it and started to drive the car down the street. Jay looked probably like someone had just stolen his liver and ran away with it. His face was so flushed with anger and disappointment. He told Eric with more rage than I had ever seen him with, "What the hell was that about! Do you know who that guy is back there?" Eric looked out, almost completely calm or probably seeming calm because his mind was somewhere else thinking intensely, "I know who he is." "You goddam offended Mr. Knight. Don't you know that it is polite to accept gifts. That was MONEY too! Adrian! Say something." He was right. I hated to admit it but Jay was right. Accepting a gift from a guy like Mr. Knight could only help us. I mean it was good to have friends in high places especially when you were in the entertainment business. Eric had completely shot that guy down and I had helped him. I knew that Eric wouldn't have butt into it, if he didn't feel real strong about it. He never really cared too much about how we spent our advance or got too much into all the deal issues. He was usually just along for the ride, so I knew for sure there must have been a reason that he got so involved when we were back at the Syndicate. I knew Jay would be mad regardless of the explanation, but I really needed a piece of mind to find out what it was that was on Eric's mind. I looked at Eric, deeply into his eyes, trying to breach that wonder that I kept, "Eric, you do have a lot of explaining to do. Your past is beginning to affect us." He stayed silent only for a little while and stared out, into the dark pavement that was outside our window. I could see him concentrating as though bringing back thoughts that had come and was already inside of his mind. "I'm sorry. I am getting you guys involved in my past," he told us. "Its ok. We are in this together," I told him and put his hand on his, "Isn't that right, Jay?" Jay grunted and crossed his hands leaning back into the car seat, still pissed off that we hadn't taken the money. I wanted to give a little laugh but then felt Eric's hand next to mind. He rubbed my hand a little, accepting my support. "I really never trusted Mr. Knight. I mean looking back into my past, I never trusted him. I used to warn Damien to stay away from him, but he never listened. I knew what he was trying to do to Damien, the sick twisted thoughts that he had in mind for Damien." "He wanted to have sex with Damien." "I guess. He probably had HIV back then too. I remember once that I had did something to Damien one time and he found confide in that guy. That guy told him all kinds of dumb crap. He took Damien to work at his little club scene. All that did was get some guy to almost rape Damien in a private room. Mr. Knight is just bad news." "Damien must have been a close friend for you to be so protective," I said suddenly. Eric looked out at the pavement and then turned back to me, "Yeah." "You loved him?" Jay all of a sudden started to laugh, probably because he had told me almost a thousand times that Eric wasn't gay and that I should stop thinking about him being gay. He had told me that Eric was probably straighter than he was. I guess part of me never believed Jay, so I was asking him now, up front. I had always been so afraid to talk about something like that with Eric. "I more than loved him," Eric said suddenly, causing Jay to stop laughing. "You're gay?" Jay asked, bluntly. "JAY!" I called out, in embarrassment. "Its ok," Eric said, "It was never that simple as being gay. I had been attracted to men, but only on a physical level and it was never too strong for me to control, until I met Damien. I adored him. I didn't just want sex from him. I would do anything he wanted and he wanted us to fall in love. So we did. It would have probably been the perfect relationship, but people didn't want to see us together. Those people ended up killing him in the end." I wanted to ask what people he were talking about but then I heard Jay finally say something. "So now we know who you are singing about," Jay said suddenly, giving a little laugh. It hit me like a ton of bricks. Now I knew for sure that Eric and Damien were once lovers. I felt happy and sad at the same time. No, it was more than just happy and sad. My emotions were so mixed up. I felt jealousy. I felt satisfaction. For some reason the curiosity hurt. The way Eric had described his relationship with Damien was like Damien was the only person he could ever love. It almost seemed like he wasn't even going to try and let anyone into his life. I could see why he was so closed off. I knew that I had only been scratching the surface of what went on in the past, but I wanted to know more. There was no time tonight. Eric seemed like he was getting uncomfortable talking about it and I guess he though he had already told us too much. I wanted to know who this Robbie to him? What did he mean that the people who didn't want to see him with Damien, ended up killing Damien in the end?