“I’ll be right out!” she screams from the bathroom. I help myself to a drink from the refrigerator and wait for her out on the back balcony.
“Sorry, hon. I slept way too late today and I’m still suffering from that awful jet lag.” She’s wearing her usual denim shorts and a tank top, and is rubbing her damp hair with a towel. Her eyes are red with puffy bags underneath.
“You look tired as fuck,” I tell her. “You need to slow down.”
She sits, and crosses her lean, tan legs. She lights up a cigarette, her long, fire-engine red hair hanging over her face and almost catching a spark. Last time I saw her, her hair was blue.
“Tell me how you’re doing. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here, Van …”
I wave my hand at her. “Not your fault, Syd. You were touring in England—that takes precedence over everything else. I get that.” I shrug my shoulder and shake my hair out of my face. “I’m doing better. I haven’t had a drink in like, two or four days.”
“Well that’s a start, pal. One day at a time.”
“So they say.”
She yawns and stretches her fully tattooed arms out and above her head, her white tank top straining over her large breasts that normally I stare at, but today I look away.
“I ran into Talon and Ash at the studio yesterday and they told me you’re out for a while.” She takes a drag on her cigarette and watches me for a reaction.
I roll my eyes in disgust. “Yeah, I guess they had a vote and they don’t want me wrecking their sacred image with my drunken outbursts. I don’t know who the fuck they think can replace me with on such short notice. Even wasted I play better than most of the hacks out there.”
She smashes her cigarette into a marble ashtray on the table. “Me,” she states simply.
“You, what?”
“They asked me to play the tour with them.”
I almost fall over. Sydni can totally fucking rock. Her all-female rock band Sugar Kiss is one of the best out there. I’ve known her for years and they’ve opened for us more times than I can count. I gotta hand it to Asher: it’s a genius marketing move to stick a hot girl in the band for a few months.
Running my hand through my hair, I look over at her, speechless. “I really didn’t see this coming, Syd.”
“I know. Neither did I. Vandal, listen. This isn’t permanent. I only agreed to do it if it’s just for a few months for this tour, until you come back on board. I’m not going to leave Sugar to be a permanent member of A&E. I couldn’t really say no; the ties run deep here, you know that …”
I nod. “I know, I know.”
“I won’t do it if you’re not okay with it. That’s why I wanted to see you. I’m not going to risk our friendship for this; I respect you way too much, man. You taught me way too much. And just so you know, Ash kept saying that you were coming back.” She gives my hand a quick squeeze.