Her ears were ringing with the sounds from the maxed out amps, as she picked up the last guitar pick from the wooden stage. The concert had been one of the best she had seen thus far on this stage – her stage, as she had come to think of it in the last few months since she had signed her name to the dotted line that made her the full owner of the venue. All her life she had searched for the place where she felt she truly belonged, and this – her own 2000 person capacity showroom, had become the place where she had finally reached her destination. She could have chosen to sit back and watch the band's set-up crew do all the clean up work, but tonight she found herself still itching to be a part of the show, and picking up discarded tools of the rock trade was delaying the inevitable end to the evening. She looked out over the floor where just a few minutes prior a couple thousand fans had screamed the names of that evening's entertainment, smiled at the thought of the mosh pit that had churned with mysterious testosterone-filled pseudo-violence, and walked slowly from the stage.
"That one rocked the house, Syl," her house manager, Casey, said as he handed her a tall cold beer he had grabbed from the bar after closing out and sending the scantily clad bartenders on their way for the night.
"Yes – yes it did, my friend," Sylvia took a long cool draw from the bottle, sitting down beside him. "How's the take?"
A slow smile crept across his bearded face, the house lights glinting off of his shaven head. "Best one yet. We gotta get those dudes back here, and soon."
"And all their friends and fellow musicians," she laughed. "I never get enough of the buzz of the crowd, Casey. We could have just broken even tonight and I would still be flying high!"
"I hear ya, doll." He touched his beer to hers. "Here's to the never ending buzz of rock and roll." He took a drink, cleared his throat, then leaned over closer to her, gazing at her with intense dark eyes. "Did you think anymore about my offer?"
She pulled out a cigarette, searched for her lighter. Just as she found it deep in the pocket of her jeans, he lit her smoke with his own Zippo. "If you are speaking of your ever so kind offer to sleep in my bed tonight – pass."
"Come on, Sylvia," he smiled wryly. "How much longer are you going to deny that we are two of a kind? Just let me come up to your loft and help you wind down off that buzz tonight."
"Even if I thought you were serious, I think that you have someone waiting for me to turn you down, right over there." She nodded towards the bar, where the last 20-something year old blonde bartender had just reappeared, looking anxiously for Casey. Who could blame the kid, Sylvia thought. Casey was all man, in a hard core package, had the tatts and piercings to show for it, and he was damn smart to boot. Not that the blonde appeared to be interested in his brain...her gaze was directed much further south.
He laughed, standing up and moving closer to Sylvia. She could feel his breath in her ear as he leaned into her. "I am serious, doll. I'll tell her to go home, all you have to do is say the word."
She pushed him back, grabbing his shoulders. "I said PASS, dude." She grabbed her beer and her smokes and waved to him. "I'm going upstairs now – it is past my bedtime. Youth awaits, Casey," nodding towards the blonde. "Go grab it."
He sighed and turned away. Sylvia walked to the back of the club and opened the door to the stairs leading up to her loft apartment right above the stage. She turned to remind him to lock up, but he was already across the room with his keys out, walking the bartender out the door. She was laughing at some lame line he was telling her, no doubt, and he was looking quite pleased at the attention. Sylvia watched as he closed the glass doors and locked them. He blew her a sarcastic kiss and mouthed, "good night".
She ascended the stairs to her domain, flipping the dim lights on as she rose. Her plush couch awaited her, and she sank into it as she grabbed the remote for her sound system. She chose the music from that night's headliner, playing it loud, as she didn't want the evening to end. Her body was tingling with the feeling of the music pulsing through her, the thrill of having made the show come together in her own place. Her mind wandered to the evening's event, how she and Casey had worked together like a well-oiled machine to assure that the crowd was happy, the beer was flowing, and the temperamental musicians that were the reason for it all were all good, too. Casey had done a great job – it was why she hired him, and he delivered. She sighed as she thought of his eyes meeting hers across the room, that slow, sly, smile that she couldn't help but return. He had pegged her from the start – yeah, she was attracted to him, but she knew he had a hard on for the young, fake-titted types, so she blew him off every time he jokingly made a pass at her. He was still fine to look at, and she had used him as the object of many a night's imagination candy when she wound down alone in her apartment and gave herself multiple orgasms. She'd have to thank him someday. The thought made her laugh.