BlueSilkenSky
Rock n' Roll Doggie VIP PASS
Take this chapter... and make it be read...
*crickets*
Um. I like this one better than the last one, but it was still hard to edit. It's not a true story.
A few familiar faces here...
I jab the “End Call” button and groan, leaning back on the couch’s arm.
“Who was that call with?” Eric asks as he rolls his shirt on.
“KLM,” I answer, closing my eyes. My boss isn’t too happy that I’ve decided to extend my holiday. She especially wasn’t pleased to find I didn’t have a specific time frame in mind- “I’ll be gone for as long as the tour lasts, but I’m not actually sure how long that is…” I’d tried to get more information about Zoo TV out of Eric, but he couldn’t tell me much that hadn’t already told.
“Who’s that?” he asks now, walking towards the bathroom.
“My job,” I answer, and dial a new number.
“And who are you calling now?” he asks between vigorous scrubbings of his teeth.
Sheesh, he’s a nosy one. “Lina,” I answer. “My friend.”
Ring. I wouldn’t be waking her up, would I be? I hope she’s still in the flat… “Eric, what day is it?”
He comes out of the bathroom. “Monday, May 17th. Why?”
Hopefully she’s at home. Maybe finishing her breakfast… There’s a good chance I can catch her before she walks out the door. Suddenly the other end picks up.
“Lina? Hello!”
“Lina’s…um, hi Marieke. Lina can’t come to the phone right now…”
My heart sinks. “Herman?”
“Yes, it’s me. Er, if you wanted to speak to Lina I can get her…” The tone of his voice is apologetic.
“Why aren’t you at work yet?” My voice is rising.
“I’m about to leave now, actually.” The sound of a toilet flushing carries over the line before Herman covers the receiver. I can still hear muffled voices on the other end- “Marieke? But… late… we need to… Herman, go!”
Then Lina’s voice comes on. “Marieke! Hi, it’s good you called me. What’s the occasion?”
“What’s your occasion that you had your boss over at your house before you went to work?”
She heaves a sigh. “Marieke, don’t be like that. He stayed over from last night, that’s all…”
Stayed over from last night?! I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep in that bed ever again.
“Well, I just wanted to let you know my number for now if you want to call me.” I give her the phone number. “We won’t be staying in this hotel for that long though. And… Lina, I miss you.”
“I miss you too, Marieke.” There’s a pause. “Done anything fun yet?”
“Yesterday I spent nearly twenty-four hours on a bus. If that counts as fun…”
She laughs. “I’ll call you again, Marieke, maybe tonight. But now I have to get to work. Oh, KLM phoned yesterday, your boss wanted to know why-“
“It’s okay,” I cut in. “I called her this morning. Trust me, Lina, I’ve got this all figured out.”
She doesn’t respond, and I have a feeling I know where her mind is going. Finally she speaks my thoughts- “You thought you had it all figured out last year, and look how far you got then.”
“Lina, this time I really mean it.”
“You’ve really meant it all your life, haven’t you? It’s never taken you anywhere.”
“Lina…” I groan. “Please, don’t worry about me or money or anything. Life is short. There’s no time to get needlessly worked up.”
I can picture her narrowing her eyes. “Who told you that?”
“Goodbye,” I answer, and hang up.
I turn to find Eric watching me, his green eyes trained firmly on my face- and not straying elsewhere. His mouth is open a bit, as if he’s surprised at my Dutch speaking. But he shouldn’t be surprised- I am Dutch after all, and it’s not like I’m fluent enough in English to disguise that.
“What do we do now?”
His eyes gleam. “Breakfast?”
***
Most hotels have free breakfast each morning for the current occupants. This hotel is no exception. We get a free breakfast in a dining hall all to ourselves.As I settle myself down at a table, I see many more faces from the Zoo TV crew that I semi-recognize. It astounds me once again that no one is giving them a glance- maybe the staff at the hotel have seen more famous occupants than that. Or maybe it’s because they’re all famous too.
Eric comes to my table with his plate, but I push him away. “Go be with your friends. I am all right.”
“You sure?” He’s wavering, ready to wait on my hand and foot if need be. The act is getting very old.
“Go,” I insist, waving him off. He goes reluctantly, but I feel relief, and relax to eat my breakfast.
The dining room is very fancy, and there’s a buffet in the middle of the floor. I watch the entrances for more familiar faces- particularly four of them. Eric has gone off with a few from the crew, and I spot Jack over by the window alone, drinking juice. The guy who said I have nice hips appears to be one of Eric’s friends. I watch closely, hoping he’ll leave the rest of the group.
There’s a flurry of voices all around, and the main language is Spanish. I never learned that one, only English and some Portuguese recently. The crew members are talking to each other in English, but as I watch one of the hotel staff passes by Eric, murmuring something in Spanish to him. Eric answers back fluently. I wonder how Jack’s going to get along, for his Portuguese speaking was not all that good.
I was right- there really aren’t that many women among the crew. All the women I see in the room are Spanish. I turn around in my seat- and suddenly find that U2’s in the room. Ah… ha…
We’re not exactlyface to face. None of them have spotted me in here yet. I slip my hand around the cool glass on my table and raise it to my lips, sipping the orange juice languidly. Even inside the hotel, the band can’t travel alone- there are a few more men in their group, probably bodyguards. Bleh. If it’s not safe in a hotel, where is it safe?
The first one to leave the clump is Edge. I observe him cross the room towards the buffet, gravitating to the food. I flip my legs and settle myself down on the other side of the chair, hoping he won’t come to sit with me. Why, I’m not really sure.
But it’s not Edge I have to fear- a few moments later, someone has sat down in the setaacross from me. Thinking it’s Bono, I meet his gaze with a smile.
“Hey,” Adam says.
“What?”
He blinks. “I’m keeping Bono’s seat warm.”
So it is Bono after all. Or at least it will be. I can’t think of what it will be like eating breakfast with him- what if I embarrass myself or him? Granted, I can’t think of what I would do to embarrass either of us- but what if? What if I lose memory of all my English words?
“You had a good night?” Adam asks. He’s eating an English muffin with one hand and holding a juice glass in the other.
I take in his gaze. Adam’s eyes are blue, like mine and Bono’s. He looks interested in me, a tentative smile ready to bloom on his face.
“Yes, I slept good,” I say. “And you?”
“It was okay,” he says, and slides out of the chair. “Here he comes.”
We turn our heads in the same direction. Bono is striding over, his hands full with a plate and glass. He’s smiling, and I have to smile back. There’s a man walking with him- a stouter man with brown hair, a bit taller than Bono.
“Hey Adam,” the unknown man says as they approach. Bono gives the bassist a glance, but I’m the one who has his full attention. He plops down into the other seat as Adam removes himself from it.
“Good morning.” The grin is brighter than the muted sunshine from the window next to me. “How was your sleep?”
“Good,” I answer. “And yours?” It doesn’t look like he slept as well as I did. His hair is all messed up, and those eyes look wearied.
“I’m fine,” Bono answers. He takes a bite of scrambled eggs, grimaces, and quickly swallows it down. “Rule of life, Marieke- do not eat eggs cooked at a hotel.”
“Why did you?” It’s only logical to ask.
“Because,” he sighs, “I only found out now.” I giggle. “You’d think having been on tour for as long as we have, I’d of learned that one!”
“Em, Bono?” the other man speaks up at last. “I don’t think you’ve introduced us.”
Bono flicks his eyes from the man to me. “Oh, I’m sorry. Marieke, this is Paul. He’s our manager…”
“Marieke Lang,” I say, holding out my hand.
He shakes and laughs. “Paul McGuiness.”
I smile and swallow the last of my juice. Now my plate is clear. I start to get up, and then ask Bono, “Is it all right to go?”
“Of course it is.” I leave the pair of men to converse.
Back by the buffet, I put away my empty plate. The rest of the band has moved to different sections of the room. Larry is sitting with Adam at a table, next to a few more people- probably crew members. There sure are a lot of them. The Edge is standing by a window a few meters from Jack, talking with a woman I haven’t noticed until now. Who could she be?
“Hey Marieke!” Edge calls from his location, taking notice of me. “Come over here; there’s someone you should meet.”
I come. Edge’s warm hazel eyes fall upon me. He’s got his hair tied back in a short ponytail, and he’s wearing a nice looking black hat. Then he turns his gaze back to the woman. I copy his actions.
She’s shorter than me but has a nice body. Her face is elongated, and her hair is dark, falling to her shoulders. One glance can tell me this- she is beautiful.
“Hello, Marieke…?” she murmurs, mispronouncing my name. “I’m Morleigh Steinberg.”
I take her slender hand and shake. “Marieke,” I answer back, gently correcting her, and hastily return her smile. Already I can feel her infectious warmth.
Edge seems to be feeling it too. He looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. In fact, I don’t think he’s stopped smiling since I came over here. What does he want from me?
“Are you in the crew?” I ask Morleigh.
“Kind of.” Her smile grows deeper. “You’ve seen me onstage before.”
What? Is she someone famous? I flip back in my memory for a glimpse of that face- and all at once it rushes back to me. Lina and I are dancing and singing, active in GA as Bono prowls the stage, distracted by the woman who’s spinning herself under his feet, scampering off whenever he tries to reach her. That woman is the same one who stands before me now.
“You’re the-“ I can’t remember the word for her, though I know the word for her actions.
“Yes, the dancer,” she says, sending me sighing with relief. “That’s the word!”
She laughs shortly- one burble of beauty- and Edge says, “So, Marieke, women can get hired on tour. Morleigh here is proof of it.”
“Oh!” I think about that. “That’s good.”
“But you’re not taking my place,” Morleigh adds. “I’m both dancer and choreographer here, and the band would really miss me if I left!”
I nod. I’m not familiar with the word “choreographer,” but apparently it’s a pretty important job. “I will not have your job; I don’t want it.”
“Of course not,” she says. “But… well, who knows, maybe one night I’ll want a break. How well is your dancing?”
From the way she and Edge are grinning I know she’s teasing with me. But I humor her back and say “I can dance all right, really.”
Morleigh’s eyes sparkle. “Really? Can you show me your moves?”
I shrug and think back to the concert I’d seen with Lina. We exhausted ourselves dancing that night. I remember the sound of Mysterious Ways and stretch my arms out, trying to imitate my moves from that night.
Johnny take a ride with your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things you can’t explain
To touch is- to heal, to hurt is- to steal
“If you wanna kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel,” I mutter to myself, and spin.
Obviously Edge and Morleigh hadn’t been expecting me to actually do it. Edge’s eyes are dancing, his mouth fighting a smile. Morleigh too looks humored, but there’s another emotion behind her eyes.
Is she taking my dancing seriously?
The dance in GA was a bit different from what I’m doing now. I try mimicking Morleigh’s moves. Spin, sashay, kick, and thrust with your hips- yeah, a lot of that. I’m sure I’m giving the guys in the room quite the eye-feast.
She’s the wave
She brings the tide
She sees the man inside the child
Before I let myself go into the chorus, I plant my feet firmly on the ground apart from each other and slowly bring my arms back down to normal level. It would have been easier to execute in a skirt…
To my embarrassment, it turns out that more than half the room was watching. A few people yell, “Bravo!” Eric is standing while his friends clap, his eyes trained on me as if waiting for more. Morleigh calls back to me, “Good- you just might put me out of a job!” She and Edge are laughing.
I duck my head and turn back to my table, where Bono and Paul are still sitting. Well, no- now they’ve stood up, and Paul is smiling at my performance. But not Bono. He is clapping for me firmly, though without a doubt that has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done. Okay… maybe that doesn’t take the cake… but it’s pretty high up there.
“Thank you,” I tell him, returning to my seat.
“You rocked,” Bono says with a smirk.
“Er…?”
“You were good.” His eyes shine. “But one of them-“ he hooks his finger towards Edge and Morleigh by the window- “will kill me if I fire her.”
“I’m not that good!” I try protesting.
“And I’m not that good at singing, but I do it anyway.”
Eric sees us sitting together, and he slinks his way over here.
“That was… odd. Hi, Bono, Paul,” he greets us. I’m glad that someone agrees with me on my dancing. “When are you all leaving?”
“Breakfast’s been served,”Bono says, smacking his hand on the table.
“We’re going to head off once everyone’s eaten. I’m sure you can organize something for the stadium. You’ll have to get to work today, the show’s two days from now,” Paul addresses Eric.
U2 is leaving? “Where are you going?” I ask Paul.
Bono answers before Paul can. “We’re working on a new LP…” He sees my face and backtracks. “I mean, there’s a project we’re working on that needs to be finished, and we really need to get together and work on that.”
My head spins so that I barely hear his last words. A new LP? Sure, I’ve heard it been announced before, but… good lord, the fact that I am in such close proximity to new songs is killing me!
The three men worriedly watch my reaction, and Bono murmurs, “Maybe we should have kept this as confidential information.”
“Or not brought a fan along,” Paul adds. He throws Eric a brief look.
“Just don’t let Marieke near that new material,” Eric offers, rolling his eyes at Paul.
“What?” I ask. “I will not do anything…”
Eric leans in and gently touches my shoulder, making me start. “Hey, we’re going to get ready to go down to the stadium pretty soon, you want to come with me?”
I glance back at Bono. I’d rather be going with the band . But they seem convinced now that it’s not a good idea. Although what do they possibly think I could do- destroy all the works in progress? Snag myself a copy of the record? Apparently there isn’t even a record to speak of.
“Yes, I will go,” I sigh. Eric watches me stand up. He puts his arm around me as soon as I’m ready.
“Keep trying to find that job,” Bono suggests, and bids me farewell. I answer with a goodbye for him and split off in the opposite direction with Eric. If only a job weren’t so elusive!
Joining Eric’s friends in the crew, I hang back while Eric talks to them. Bono is at the window now, cutting in on Edge and Morleigh’s conversation. He takes a second to pick out the other band members in the room. Adam seems to realize Bono is staring at him and murmurs something to the guys he’s hanging with- probably a goodbye- before rushing over to the window. Larry follows Adam and joins his friends. They converse for a moment before leaving the room, the bodyguards blending back into the group from nowhere. Edge kisses Morleigh’s cheek before they go, and she stares after them for a little while before turning back.
“What do you think, Marieke?” Eric asks in response to something I haven’t heard.
“What?”
His friends groan.
“I do believe it’s time to go to the stadium.”
*crickets*
Um. I like this one better than the last one, but it was still hard to edit. It's not a true story.
A few familiar faces here...
I jab the “End Call” button and groan, leaning back on the couch’s arm.
“Who was that call with?” Eric asks as he rolls his shirt on.
“KLM,” I answer, closing my eyes. My boss isn’t too happy that I’ve decided to extend my holiday. She especially wasn’t pleased to find I didn’t have a specific time frame in mind- “I’ll be gone for as long as the tour lasts, but I’m not actually sure how long that is…” I’d tried to get more information about Zoo TV out of Eric, but he couldn’t tell me much that hadn’t already told.
“Who’s that?” he asks now, walking towards the bathroom.
“My job,” I answer, and dial a new number.
“And who are you calling now?” he asks between vigorous scrubbings of his teeth.
Sheesh, he’s a nosy one. “Lina,” I answer. “My friend.”
Ring. I wouldn’t be waking her up, would I be? I hope she’s still in the flat… “Eric, what day is it?”
He comes out of the bathroom. “Monday, May 17th. Why?”
Hopefully she’s at home. Maybe finishing her breakfast… There’s a good chance I can catch her before she walks out the door. Suddenly the other end picks up.
“Lina? Hello!”
“Lina’s…um, hi Marieke. Lina can’t come to the phone right now…”
My heart sinks. “Herman?”
“Yes, it’s me. Er, if you wanted to speak to Lina I can get her…” The tone of his voice is apologetic.
“Why aren’t you at work yet?” My voice is rising.
“I’m about to leave now, actually.” The sound of a toilet flushing carries over the line before Herman covers the receiver. I can still hear muffled voices on the other end- “Marieke? But… late… we need to… Herman, go!”
Then Lina’s voice comes on. “Marieke! Hi, it’s good you called me. What’s the occasion?”
“What’s your occasion that you had your boss over at your house before you went to work?”
She heaves a sigh. “Marieke, don’t be like that. He stayed over from last night, that’s all…”
Stayed over from last night?! I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep in that bed ever again.
“Well, I just wanted to let you know my number for now if you want to call me.” I give her the phone number. “We won’t be staying in this hotel for that long though. And… Lina, I miss you.”
“I miss you too, Marieke.” There’s a pause. “Done anything fun yet?”
“Yesterday I spent nearly twenty-four hours on a bus. If that counts as fun…”
She laughs. “I’ll call you again, Marieke, maybe tonight. But now I have to get to work. Oh, KLM phoned yesterday, your boss wanted to know why-“
“It’s okay,” I cut in. “I called her this morning. Trust me, Lina, I’ve got this all figured out.”
She doesn’t respond, and I have a feeling I know where her mind is going. Finally she speaks my thoughts- “You thought you had it all figured out last year, and look how far you got then.”
“Lina, this time I really mean it.”
“You’ve really meant it all your life, haven’t you? It’s never taken you anywhere.”
“Lina…” I groan. “Please, don’t worry about me or money or anything. Life is short. There’s no time to get needlessly worked up.”
I can picture her narrowing her eyes. “Who told you that?”
“Goodbye,” I answer, and hang up.
I turn to find Eric watching me, his green eyes trained firmly on my face- and not straying elsewhere. His mouth is open a bit, as if he’s surprised at my Dutch speaking. But he shouldn’t be surprised- I am Dutch after all, and it’s not like I’m fluent enough in English to disguise that.
“What do we do now?”
His eyes gleam. “Breakfast?”
***
Most hotels have free breakfast each morning for the current occupants. This hotel is no exception. We get a free breakfast in a dining hall all to ourselves.As I settle myself down at a table, I see many more faces from the Zoo TV crew that I semi-recognize. It astounds me once again that no one is giving them a glance- maybe the staff at the hotel have seen more famous occupants than that. Or maybe it’s because they’re all famous too.
Eric comes to my table with his plate, but I push him away. “Go be with your friends. I am all right.”
“You sure?” He’s wavering, ready to wait on my hand and foot if need be. The act is getting very old.
“Go,” I insist, waving him off. He goes reluctantly, but I feel relief, and relax to eat my breakfast.
The dining room is very fancy, and there’s a buffet in the middle of the floor. I watch the entrances for more familiar faces- particularly four of them. Eric has gone off with a few from the crew, and I spot Jack over by the window alone, drinking juice. The guy who said I have nice hips appears to be one of Eric’s friends. I watch closely, hoping he’ll leave the rest of the group.
There’s a flurry of voices all around, and the main language is Spanish. I never learned that one, only English and some Portuguese recently. The crew members are talking to each other in English, but as I watch one of the hotel staff passes by Eric, murmuring something in Spanish to him. Eric answers back fluently. I wonder how Jack’s going to get along, for his Portuguese speaking was not all that good.
I was right- there really aren’t that many women among the crew. All the women I see in the room are Spanish. I turn around in my seat- and suddenly find that U2’s in the room. Ah… ha…
We’re not exactlyface to face. None of them have spotted me in here yet. I slip my hand around the cool glass on my table and raise it to my lips, sipping the orange juice languidly. Even inside the hotel, the band can’t travel alone- there are a few more men in their group, probably bodyguards. Bleh. If it’s not safe in a hotel, where is it safe?
The first one to leave the clump is Edge. I observe him cross the room towards the buffet, gravitating to the food. I flip my legs and settle myself down on the other side of the chair, hoping he won’t come to sit with me. Why, I’m not really sure.
But it’s not Edge I have to fear- a few moments later, someone has sat down in the setaacross from me. Thinking it’s Bono, I meet his gaze with a smile.
“Hey,” Adam says.
“What?”
He blinks. “I’m keeping Bono’s seat warm.”
So it is Bono after all. Or at least it will be. I can’t think of what it will be like eating breakfast with him- what if I embarrass myself or him? Granted, I can’t think of what I would do to embarrass either of us- but what if? What if I lose memory of all my English words?
“You had a good night?” Adam asks. He’s eating an English muffin with one hand and holding a juice glass in the other.
I take in his gaze. Adam’s eyes are blue, like mine and Bono’s. He looks interested in me, a tentative smile ready to bloom on his face.
“Yes, I slept good,” I say. “And you?”
“It was okay,” he says, and slides out of the chair. “Here he comes.”
We turn our heads in the same direction. Bono is striding over, his hands full with a plate and glass. He’s smiling, and I have to smile back. There’s a man walking with him- a stouter man with brown hair, a bit taller than Bono.
“Hey Adam,” the unknown man says as they approach. Bono gives the bassist a glance, but I’m the one who has his full attention. He plops down into the other seat as Adam removes himself from it.
“Good morning.” The grin is brighter than the muted sunshine from the window next to me. “How was your sleep?”
“Good,” I answer. “And yours?” It doesn’t look like he slept as well as I did. His hair is all messed up, and those eyes look wearied.
“I’m fine,” Bono answers. He takes a bite of scrambled eggs, grimaces, and quickly swallows it down. “Rule of life, Marieke- do not eat eggs cooked at a hotel.”
“Why did you?” It’s only logical to ask.
“Because,” he sighs, “I only found out now.” I giggle. “You’d think having been on tour for as long as we have, I’d of learned that one!”
“Em, Bono?” the other man speaks up at last. “I don’t think you’ve introduced us.”
Bono flicks his eyes from the man to me. “Oh, I’m sorry. Marieke, this is Paul. He’s our manager…”
“Marieke Lang,” I say, holding out my hand.
He shakes and laughs. “Paul McGuiness.”
I smile and swallow the last of my juice. Now my plate is clear. I start to get up, and then ask Bono, “Is it all right to go?”
“Of course it is.” I leave the pair of men to converse.
Back by the buffet, I put away my empty plate. The rest of the band has moved to different sections of the room. Larry is sitting with Adam at a table, next to a few more people- probably crew members. There sure are a lot of them. The Edge is standing by a window a few meters from Jack, talking with a woman I haven’t noticed until now. Who could she be?
“Hey Marieke!” Edge calls from his location, taking notice of me. “Come over here; there’s someone you should meet.”
I come. Edge’s warm hazel eyes fall upon me. He’s got his hair tied back in a short ponytail, and he’s wearing a nice looking black hat. Then he turns his gaze back to the woman. I copy his actions.
She’s shorter than me but has a nice body. Her face is elongated, and her hair is dark, falling to her shoulders. One glance can tell me this- she is beautiful.
“Hello, Marieke…?” she murmurs, mispronouncing my name. “I’m Morleigh Steinberg.”
I take her slender hand and shake. “Marieke,” I answer back, gently correcting her, and hastily return her smile. Already I can feel her infectious warmth.
Edge seems to be feeling it too. He looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. In fact, I don’t think he’s stopped smiling since I came over here. What does he want from me?
“Are you in the crew?” I ask Morleigh.
“Kind of.” Her smile grows deeper. “You’ve seen me onstage before.”
What? Is she someone famous? I flip back in my memory for a glimpse of that face- and all at once it rushes back to me. Lina and I are dancing and singing, active in GA as Bono prowls the stage, distracted by the woman who’s spinning herself under his feet, scampering off whenever he tries to reach her. That woman is the same one who stands before me now.
“You’re the-“ I can’t remember the word for her, though I know the word for her actions.
“Yes, the dancer,” she says, sending me sighing with relief. “That’s the word!”
She laughs shortly- one burble of beauty- and Edge says, “So, Marieke, women can get hired on tour. Morleigh here is proof of it.”
“Oh!” I think about that. “That’s good.”
“But you’re not taking my place,” Morleigh adds. “I’m both dancer and choreographer here, and the band would really miss me if I left!”
I nod. I’m not familiar with the word “choreographer,” but apparently it’s a pretty important job. “I will not have your job; I don’t want it.”
“Of course not,” she says. “But… well, who knows, maybe one night I’ll want a break. How well is your dancing?”
From the way she and Edge are grinning I know she’s teasing with me. But I humor her back and say “I can dance all right, really.”
Morleigh’s eyes sparkle. “Really? Can you show me your moves?”
I shrug and think back to the concert I’d seen with Lina. We exhausted ourselves dancing that night. I remember the sound of Mysterious Ways and stretch my arms out, trying to imitate my moves from that night.
Johnny take a ride with your sister in the rain
Let her talk about the things you can’t explain
To touch is- to heal, to hurt is- to steal
“If you wanna kiss the sky, better learn how to kneel,” I mutter to myself, and spin.
Obviously Edge and Morleigh hadn’t been expecting me to actually do it. Edge’s eyes are dancing, his mouth fighting a smile. Morleigh too looks humored, but there’s another emotion behind her eyes.
Is she taking my dancing seriously?
The dance in GA was a bit different from what I’m doing now. I try mimicking Morleigh’s moves. Spin, sashay, kick, and thrust with your hips- yeah, a lot of that. I’m sure I’m giving the guys in the room quite the eye-feast.
She’s the wave
She brings the tide
She sees the man inside the child
Before I let myself go into the chorus, I plant my feet firmly on the ground apart from each other and slowly bring my arms back down to normal level. It would have been easier to execute in a skirt…
To my embarrassment, it turns out that more than half the room was watching. A few people yell, “Bravo!” Eric is standing while his friends clap, his eyes trained on me as if waiting for more. Morleigh calls back to me, “Good- you just might put me out of a job!” She and Edge are laughing.
I duck my head and turn back to my table, where Bono and Paul are still sitting. Well, no- now they’ve stood up, and Paul is smiling at my performance. But not Bono. He is clapping for me firmly, though without a doubt that has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done. Okay… maybe that doesn’t take the cake… but it’s pretty high up there.
“Thank you,” I tell him, returning to my seat.
“You rocked,” Bono says with a smirk.
“Er…?”
“You were good.” His eyes shine. “But one of them-“ he hooks his finger towards Edge and Morleigh by the window- “will kill me if I fire her.”
“I’m not that good!” I try protesting.
“And I’m not that good at singing, but I do it anyway.”
Eric sees us sitting together, and he slinks his way over here.
“That was… odd. Hi, Bono, Paul,” he greets us. I’m glad that someone agrees with me on my dancing. “When are you all leaving?”
“Breakfast’s been served,”Bono says, smacking his hand on the table.
“We’re going to head off once everyone’s eaten. I’m sure you can organize something for the stadium. You’ll have to get to work today, the show’s two days from now,” Paul addresses Eric.
U2 is leaving? “Where are you going?” I ask Paul.
Bono answers before Paul can. “We’re working on a new LP…” He sees my face and backtracks. “I mean, there’s a project we’re working on that needs to be finished, and we really need to get together and work on that.”
My head spins so that I barely hear his last words. A new LP? Sure, I’ve heard it been announced before, but… good lord, the fact that I am in such close proximity to new songs is killing me!
The three men worriedly watch my reaction, and Bono murmurs, “Maybe we should have kept this as confidential information.”
“Or not brought a fan along,” Paul adds. He throws Eric a brief look.
“Just don’t let Marieke near that new material,” Eric offers, rolling his eyes at Paul.
“What?” I ask. “I will not do anything…”
Eric leans in and gently touches my shoulder, making me start. “Hey, we’re going to get ready to go down to the stadium pretty soon, you want to come with me?”
I glance back at Bono. I’d rather be going with the band . But they seem convinced now that it’s not a good idea. Although what do they possibly think I could do- destroy all the works in progress? Snag myself a copy of the record? Apparently there isn’t even a record to speak of.
“Yes, I will go,” I sigh. Eric watches me stand up. He puts his arm around me as soon as I’m ready.
“Keep trying to find that job,” Bono suggests, and bids me farewell. I answer with a goodbye for him and split off in the opposite direction with Eric. If only a job weren’t so elusive!
Joining Eric’s friends in the crew, I hang back while Eric talks to them. Bono is at the window now, cutting in on Edge and Morleigh’s conversation. He takes a second to pick out the other band members in the room. Adam seems to realize Bono is staring at him and murmurs something to the guys he’s hanging with- probably a goodbye- before rushing over to the window. Larry follows Adam and joins his friends. They converse for a moment before leaving the room, the bodyguards blending back into the group from nowhere. Edge kisses Morleigh’s cheek before they go, and she stares after them for a little while before turning back.
“What do you think, Marieke?” Eric asks in response to something I haven’t heard.
“What?”
His friends groan.
“I do believe it’s time to go to the stadium.”
I've eased up a bit on his personality later though.
who I know next to nothing about...ah well, I can fill in the gaps as best I can. 
