Page 54 of The Last Dance

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I’ve never been so pumped after a show. The crowd was intense. You could feel the excitement, especially being right up front.

Towards the end of the show, Matthew couldn’t seem to keep his eyes off Karmen and at one point even seemed to be singing directly to her. He even knelt down and touched her outstretched hand while they performed one of their new songs. It was more weird than cool. I know sometimes bands get the crowd involved but I swear there is something else up. Awkward wasn’t even the right word. I felt like a voyeur in a room with them.

‘Ready?’ Karmen yells over the screaming crowd as the band exits the stage. She points to a security guard waving us over.

Noah and I follow her lead; it’s as if she’s done this a hundred times. We walk a few steps behind the security guard guiding us through the side door and down a maze of hallways that all look the same. I’d voice my growing excitement to Noah but the buzzing in my ears from the show would make it impossible to hear anything he said back.

‘You’ve got two hours,’ a large, bald man guarding the closed door behind him says in a loud stern voice.

Two hours? I mouth to Noah. That’s more than most people will have with them in a lifetime. I knew I was here for an interview, but I never expected such a time frame with them. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank Karmen for this.

We all silently nod in unison, not wanting to chance saying something wrong to get us banned from the room hiding behind the door he’s in charge of guarding. When he opens the door for us I half expect to see a room buzzing with people partying, but it’s nearly empty, containing only the five guys in the band and a few randoms lingering near a food table.

‘There she is…’ Matthew says to Karmen as we walk in. She races to him, smothering him in a hug he happily reciprocates. Noah and I exchange glances. We’ve been dating almost a year and we wouldn’t hug like this in public. This is more of a ‘let’s take it to the bedroom’ kind of embrace than an ‘I haven’t seen you in a while’ friend kind of hug. They linger in each other’s arms. When his hand slides down her, taking a spot on her ass, I know she hasn’t told me the entire truth about how well she knows Matthew Greene.

‘I’d say he’s more than just an old friend,’ Noah whispers in my ear.

‘Yeah.’ I watch the two of them, a bubble of irritation growing within me.

‘How’ve ya been?’ Karmen asks him as they finally part.

‘Good. You ran off to Portland for good, huh?’ he asks her.

‘Well, ya know, sometimes you have to take a chance and see where it takes you.’

They are chatting as if picking up on a conversation they’ve had before. And I can tell there was a before. I bet everyone in the room can tell there was a before.

‘When you love something set it free and shit, right?’ He seems almost infatuated with her, as if he can’t look away. His hand is on her back as they chat, obviously forgetting that they aren’t the only two in the room. I’m almost willing to bet that tattoo she mentioned the other day was some version of the name Matthew.

‘Exactly.’ She bats her eyes, a smitten grin on her face.

I’ve been around Karmen quite a few times now and I’ve never seen her look at Henry like this. Sure, she’s had that puppy-dog look but not this smitten, lustful adoration that she’s giving to Matthew right now. It’s activating something within me that I haven’t felt in a very long time. The need to protect him from her. From this.

‘You didn’t answer my call earlier. I was starting to worry that maybe you’d changed your mind.’ He looks her up and down, his perverted thoughts filling the air around her. I don’t even need to really know him to know what he’s thinking. He wants to sleep with her.

‘Definitely didn’t change my mind. I had some drama at home…’ She rolls her eyes.

I turn to Noah, closing my eyes for a second so I can’t see it. If only I could close my ears so I couldn’t hear it. She’s talking about Henry.He’sher drama. She’s made plans with this guy and she didn’t tell him. I can just feel it.

‘Not going quite the way we planned, is it?’ Noah asks.

‘Not really, no.’ I take a deep breath, almost afraid to turn around and see them having sex right in front of me.

‘I’m not sure she even remembers we’re here.’

I can do this. I am here for an interview for my story and that’s what I’ll get. I’ll deal with Karmen later.

‘Karmen?’ I ask, kind of hoping to jolt her into the real world. The one where she’s supposedly happily shacking up with my once best friend.

‘Oh, right! I almost forgot about you guys. Matthew, this is Ambri and her boyfriend, Noah. Ambri works for PDX Weekly.’

He extends a hand to me, which I graciously accept even though I’m now convinced he has ulterior motives.

‘Nice to meet you guys.’ He shakes Noah’s hand after mine but doesn’t greet us with quite the same lustful embrace that he gave to Karmen, which I am totally OK with.

‘It’s so nice to meet you. Are you OK with a quick interview while Noah videos? And maybe a few photos?’

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