Queuing was a pain in the arse. Some people, very sad lonely people, Adrian assumed had been at the front of the queue since the early hours of the morning and now it was minutes from six in the afternoon and the line of the great unwashed stretched round the building. Adrian enjoyed the fact that he was not one of them, like many others he stood in a beer garden a cold pint in his hand and watched the fidgeting crowd who waited for a door to open to let them into a concert that did not even start for another hour and a half.
The beer garden was full of heavy metal fans, nearly all in blue or black jeans and sporting black t-shirts the backs of which showed lists of tour dates that spanned at least two decades and all worn like a badge of honour. The ages ranged as well, Adrian had seen a child of at least eight with his dad and another man who was nearing his sixties, bald head marked in fading tattoo's, it was an eclectic bunch of people one that Adrian was proud to be part of. Iron Maiden's fan base covered a whole load of ages.
Adrian caught the glance of the girl again, a lingering glance that was followed by a smile on her dark purple coloured lips Adrian had chance to smile and raise his glass slightly in her direction before her attention was dragged back to one of her friends. She had bumped into him at the bar, quite literally as people jostled for space and the attention of the bar tender and his moody assistants. She caught his arm with one of her own and sent one pint of beer crashing to the floor much to the merriment and cheers of everyone around them, "Oh fuck I am so sorry," she had said a look of genuine concern on her face.
"It's okay, don't worry about it." Adrian replied, though slightly annoyed at the waste of perfectly good beer. He went to say something rather de-grading to her but the words dried up in his mouth. Her red hair was cut short to just below her ears. Blue eyes hidden behind a pair of rather retro looking black spectacles and her full lips painted in a dark purple that made her skin look paler than it probably was. She was attractive and probably no older than twenty was the guess, she gave him a small smile and her brow knitted in the centre as he realised he was staring, "erm, sorry, sorry I didn't mean to you," His eyes went wide as he tried to find the words and failed miserably , "sorry," her repeated once more.
She gave an easy laugh, "I think I'm the one who should be apologising, remember?" Adrian looked down, noticing the shattered glass and the tops of his sneakers wet and dark. "Let me get you one to make up for it." Before he could say no she had begun to squeeze through the crowd and he quickly lost sight of her.
A few minutes later she found him on the outskirts of the bar, the other two pints for his friends sitting on the snooker table. She handed over the pint of dark stout with a flourish, running it down on arm as if she were showing off a diamond necklace on a tacky game show, "The finest pint in the land." She said.
"You didn't have to you know, thank you, erm..." He shook his head and bit the side of his lower lip.
"Holly. And no problems..." She looked back her eyebrows rising above the rim of her glasses. He took the pint from her, "Adrian." She smiled and repeated his name with a nod of her head. "You here for the Iron's?" he asked already knowing the answer and knowing that at any minute she would let him down gently and walk off to tell her friends about the sad middle aged man she had just gotten away from.
She snorted a laugh "Of course, same reason everyone else in this pub are hear," Adrian looked down, just a casual glance wanting to see which t-shirt she was sporting. Instead of a t-shirt she had on a small tank top that clung to her breasts, pink bra straps on show at the shoulder. He looked up quickly feeling his cheeks burning, "I don't go for the whole t-shirt thing, waste of money if you ask me." He was glad that she had not taken offense at his looking. "Well, Adrian I guess I might see you inside," She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder at no one in particular "Friends waiting for their own liquid refreshment." She turned and started to head back to the crowded bar, Adrian could not help but check out her backside in the tight fitting jeans.
"Standing or sitting?" Holly said looking over her shoulder. Adrian looked up quickly, knowing that he had probably been caught out, but Holly just looked at him the question hanging in the air.
"Standing, I always go standing for Iron Maiden." He said Holly gave a small smile, nodded and plunged into the crowd.
Adrian finished his pint, his two friends, Patrick and Robert argued away over something work related that Adrian had little interest in but he tried to look mildly caught up in the conversation which helped to keep his mind away from Holly. Just the brief thought of her name and his eyes flicked back to where she was stood, his shoulders sagged she had disappeared along with her friends. 'Ah well, it was fun while it lasted.' He thought to himself. Adrian knew better though, at forty years old girls like that were way out of his league.
The heavy beats from the drums and the crunching guitars sent ripples of electricity from his feet and up to his head as the crowd pushed forward, the band taking to the stage as the cheers rose to the ceiling. Heads flung back and forwards as the band tore into their first track, bodies pushed together as the crowd went wild. Adrian moshed with the best of them even at forty he could hold his own. His long hair stuck to his already sweaty face and he flicked his head back swiping away what he could with one hand while his other worked hard at his air guitar.
By the fourth song Adrian gave up the fight and staggered out of the pit, limbs aching and neck showing signs of possible whip lash and a big smile plastered across his sweaty face. Robert cheered and patted him on the back handing over a plastic cup filled with beer, "You are crazy doing that." Robert shouted into Adrian's ear. Adrian laughed and downed the pint throwing the empty container onto the ground as another classic song sent the crowd into harmonious hysteria and singing. Adrian had his hands high above his head clapping away like a trained seal when the small figure pushed past him and stood before him. He looked down noticing the red hair and the top straps of a tank top and pink bra. He lowered a hand and tapped gently on a hot shoulder.
Holly turned, a look of thunder on her face, ready for a fight, it took her a couple seconds to realise who had tapped her on the shoulder before she dropped the look "Enjoying the show," she shouted her voice dampened by the crowds singing, years of concerts had left Adrian with a good grasp of lip reading and he gave her a solid thumbs up. She found herself smiling up at him a little lost for words then turned back to the stage and to the man she counted as a living sex god, Bruce Dickinson. After a few minutes she turned her head looking behind her and catching the eyes of Adrian. Had he been watching her the whole time she wondered?
Adrian for his part had tried to stay focused on the stage and on the band but time and time again his eyes would slide down onto the girl before him. He thought he could smell perfume but knew that was crazy, the only thing he could smell was the sweat from three thousand Iron Maiden fans. His eyes roamed her back, spotting the top of a tattoo on her right shoulder, he found himself wondering how far down the tattoo went. A sudden surge from the back pushed the crowd forward, Adrian lost his footing and stumbled forward and into the small frame of Holly in front of him, his hands grabbing her waist as he steadied himself and also stopped Holly from falling forward.
The riff kicked in and Holly knew the crowd would surge, it happened all the time but she was still unprepared as it hit her like a wave from behind. She gasped as two hot, sweaty hands clamped on her sides just as her feet gave way holding her steady. She looked behind her seeing Adrian stood close, very close in fact behind her. She mouthed 'thank you' and he nodded, he looked just as scared as she felt. 'Why are his hands still there?' her mind asked, she could feel his grip lessen on her waist but not actually let go. She smiled inwardly, back at the pub she had assumed he was not interested, simply making conversation with the little girl until she went on her way. Perhaps she had misread the situation. Perhaps she was misreading the situation now but why else was he still holding her 'keeping you safe maybe?' her mind retorted.
He knew he should let go, she had clearly found her feet but his hands refused to disengage. He could feel toned muscle under her sweaty tank top and his mind wondered what her stomach and waist would feel like without the tank top. To his surprise she took a small step back, the base of her spin bumping into his crotch as she stood as close as possible to him. She moved with the beat of the drum her own hands in the air as she swayed back and forth her own voice loud as she joined in on the chorus.