Page 21 of Dark Room Junkie

Damn, man! How can this guy sing like that?

I stood there, completely stunned, transfixed by his predatory, lascivious movements and deep, dark voice, carried by the music and growing ever more intense. With camera in hand, I stood still, unable to tear my gaze away from him. Only when he smiled at me and winked did I return to reality, bewilderedly furrowing my brows and brushing off my reaction with a smile. As the instruments faded out, Noé turned to his bandmates.

“Sorry, I didn’t have a chance to warm up my vocal cords.”

“That was awesome!” Chris called out from behind the drums.

I let the band do their thing and eventually focused on taking photos. After a few songs, the guys had shed their initial camera shyness and behaved quite normally. With Noé, I wasn’t so sure if his confidence was that great or if he was just putting on a show for me. Whenever he noticed I was nearby, he even played with the camera once or twice, completely throwing me off, much to his amusement.

***

“So,” Marco said, flopping down onto the sofa. “The warm-up concert is on October 27th. Here in the rehearsal room. It would be great if you could join with your camera ... or cameras.”

I pulled out my phone and checked the calendar. “That’s a Thursday. I have a shoot in Geneva that day. Can’t make it.”

“You could join later,” Marco suggested.

“I’m staying in Geneva until Friday.”

“Too bad,” Chris said, handing me a water bottle. “But you’re coming to the album release party on November 12th, right?”

“Yeah, I already marked it down.”

As I put the phone back in my back pocket, I noticed Noé staring absentmindedly at me. He was sitting on the armrest of a chair, tapping one foot while twirling a water bottle in his hands. Unlike earlier on stage, he appeared introverted all of a sudden. I still could hardly believe what the guy was capable of. He had already been attractive before, but seeing him sing, hold the mic, and move to the music ... He seemed like a demigod to me—who was now staring at his phone and reading some messages.

He has to be in my book.

“Shall we go grab a drink?” Chris asked the group.

“I can’t,” Lukas replied. “Got work tomorrow.”

“I’m going home,” Marco said. “Totally beat from work.”

My gaze fell on Noé, who was typing something on his phone.

“What about you, Alex?” Chris asked. “You’re coming, right?”

Although I didn’t have to get up early, I was undecided. So I looked back at Noé, who finally glanced up and smiled.

“Noé’s coming, right?” Ramon called out.

“As far as I’m concerned,” he replied, then returned his gaze to his phone.

“Oh well. I have to head back to the city anyway,” I said, packing my cameras into the bag.

As we left the rehearsal room, Chris drove us downtown, while Marco and Lukas took the bus.

I sat with Noé in the back seat, wondering why my heart was racing so fast. Was it just because we had sex?

Pull yourself together. Noé seems pretty relaxed about it.

“And? Did the photos turn out all right?” he asked.

“I ... I think so.”

“Let me see!”

Feeling a bit caught off guard, I looked at him. “O-okay.” I opened the bag on my lap and examined the three cameras somewhat puzzledly.

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