Sweet Misery


Lita was back up on the stage, rearranging some of her equipment and oddly feeling as though she'd been at In The Raw a lot longer than the mere two hours she'd actually been there.

In this time, she'd met everyone present for the moment whom she hadn't met that morning at her audition - Trish, Stephanie, Albert, Shane Helms - the cute and good-humored bartender, and, of course, Edge.

The tall blond man had been the only sour spot of her entire day thus far, and no matter how much his friends tried to convince Amy that he wasn't really a bad guy, she had her own ideas.  And quite frankly, as she'd told Jericho, she didn't care if Edge was nice to her or not.  She'd had plenty of practice in dealing with jerks, so she could handle it.

Chris had explained to her that she would meet Mr. Flair within a day or two, as the co-owner of the club was also a talent scout.  Currently, the man was visiting other area clubs for bands to play at In The Raw.  If he found one or several good enough, he would invite them to play here.

Edge eyed the redhead from across the club, then glanced away as Chris suddenly approached him.

The shorter blond man looked him over with what appeared to be a bit of consternation, and Edge arched a brow at that.

"So, what's your problem, Edgeward?" Jericho asked, calling him by the nickname he'd invented a couple of years back and used only infrequently to make fun of him when he was annoyed with him.

"I don't have a problem, Chris," the tall blond said.  "I'm afraid I'm not following you..."

Jericho swatted him on the arm as a wary look came into his eyes.

Adam looked up and noticed that Lita was heading in the direction of the door with Christian and Trish, and he fell silent.

"Hey...we're gonna grab some lunch next door," the drummer said as he passed them by.  "See ya later."  Christian winked as though pleased to be heading out in the company of two exceptionally beautiful women.  As they left, Trish waved and gave both Edge and Chris a winning smile.  And while the redhead had smiled at Jericho, she'd completely disregarded Adam - and, oddly, the tall Canadian actually felt a bit hurt at that rather than merely insulted.  Damn it, he didn't like having problems with people he would have to associate with so closely and so often.  On top of that, he wasn't used to having someone dislike his so much, at least this openly.  It made him feel badly and uncomfortable.

The moment the three were out the door, Chris turned back to him, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Now, you listen to me, Junior," he said, practically poking Edge in the chest with his forefinger.  "I don't know why you went so out of your way to antagonize the woman, but Lita is a really nice person, and, like it or not, she's now part of Sweet Misery...So, I suggest you go over to her when she comes back, and you apologize...I don't care if you get down on your knees and beg her forgiveness for acting like such an ass clown - just mend this shit between you!"

The taller man stared at him with disgust, speechless for the moment.  Chris was pretty sure Edge was going to flat-out refuse, and he was fully prepared for a fight if it came down to that - but instead, he got a surprise.

"Okay," the blond Canadian said, raking a hand through his long hair.  "I'll apologize...but there is no way in hell I'm gonna beg that woman's forgiveness - no way, no chance, no how!"  He glared at Jericho for a beat before stalking away, back to the small stage.

"Fine - whatever, man...Just so long as you do apologize," Chris said, shrugging as he neared the stage.

Adam pressed his lips tightly together, no further response to offer to his friend.  He wondered what in the hell Chris and Christian were seeing in the redheaded woman that was so special in the first place - surely, they couldn't be so taken in by her good looks that they'd allowed their dicks to decide she would be their new bandmember...

And then, the tall blond man got the real answer as he turned around and found himself staring at the electric purple Ibanez Explorer sitting on the stand nearby.

There was no way Edge could deny it - Lita was one hell of a guitar player.  And, although he hated to acknowledge it, she was actually a tad better at it than he was.






Part 9

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