Chapter 1
Daniella Meza, Dani to her friends, 23, is a spirited young woman who is often misunderstood. Being a rock band drummer, tattoo artist and a writer it is easy to overlook her kindness and genuine graciousness. There’s more to her than meets the eye and more to her past than she reveals.
At the moment, she is getting ready to leave her workplace. She turns to her colleague as she clears her workstation.
“Do we have any more clients scheduled today, Claire?”
“That was your last client today, Dani.” Claire is also a tattoo artist and Dani’s assistant in the shop.
“Okay. I have to run out. When do you need me here?”
“Miss Angie called in a request to be scheduled. She liked the unicorn tattoo you did on her shoulder so she wanted to have another one made by you. She wants a fairy tattoo on her forearm.”
“Does she have a preferred design?”
“She wants a unique design by you.”
“Okay. I’ll forward some designs that I have to your email so you can give those to her. When is her schedule?”
“Next week. Tuesday night.”
“Perfect. We have an out of town gig tomorrow night. I won’t be in Manila the whole weekend. Alright, Claire. I’ll go ahead.”
“Okay. Take care.”
“You too.”
With that, Dani grabs her purse and heads out the door.
“Oh? What are you doing here?”
“Picking you up. Let me drive you home.”
“No, thanks, Jaden.” She says dismissively and walks ahead of him. Jaden is one of her friends and bandmates who is never shy to show that he wants to be more than friends with her. He catches up.
“Come on, Dani. It’s late. It could be dangerous.”
“Jaden, I can take care of myself. I don’t need you to do this every night.”
“I want to. I worry about you, Dani.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Please? I’ll buy you your favorite beef stew with extra chili.” He smiled, unfazed by her rejection. He’s used to it. He had confessed his feelings for her many times and asked her out but she kept turning him down. She likes him as a friend and he has learned to accept that but a guy could always try and he never misses to shoot his shot when he sees a chance. They have gotten used to the cordial exchange and remained good friends.
Dani sighed and rolled her eyes. Despite Jaden’s constant bugging, she knew he was also a caring friend and that’s how she wants things to stay between them. “Fine. As long as you’re buying and stop asking me out.”
“I won’t. I promise. Let’s go?”
“Let’s go.”
***
After their meal he moves to the chair next to her and grins. “Babe, have you posted a tweet yet? You have the most followers among us. If you tweet, your fans will definitely go to our gig in Santa Rosa.”
She rolls her eyes at him and thinks here he goes again. “Yes, I have. And, stop calling me babe or else I’ll hit you right on the esophagus. Just because you bought dinner for me doesn’t mean you can call me babe as you please. Did you fix the problem yet?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jaden pouted and dramatically slapped his chest as if he was hit by an arrow but he was not really hurt by her words. It’s part of their usual banter plus he’s too endeared by anything Dani does to even be slightly offended. “You’re always so harsh to me, Dani. That’s why I fall harder for you.” He groans as Dani shakes her head and chuckles. “Don’t worry about it, babe. I’ll take care of everything. All you have to do is show up and be hot like always.”
“You really want to die, huh?! Call me babe one more time and I’ll throw you under a truck to let it roll over you. Make sure you take care of it or I’m quitting!” She glares at him.
“Please don’t be like this, love. You’re the best member we have on the band and most people only come to see you. I’ll fix this, okay? I promise. Love you, darling.” He winks.
“You’re an ass.” She hits his arm and rolls her eyes at him again.
“Pleasure to be your ass, my love. Don’t fight it. You’ll still end up with me anyway. We’re meant to be.”
“Shut up! I. Will. End. You!” She picks up the fork in front of her and stabs the table. He cowers and moves back to the chair across the table. She can be scary sometimes and he knows when to stop when she's being serious.
***
The next morning, Jaden calls Kai, another friend and bandmate. “Kai!!!”
“What the fuck is your problem, Jaden? Do you know what time it is? It’s so fucking early!” She answers irritatedly.
“For your information, madam diva, it’s already 11 in the morning. That’s why you can’t catch the blessings of beauty, you always wake up late. Look at Dani, my love, she’s always up early..”
“Excuse me, jerk! My twinnie is only slightly prettier than me. Just a little makeup and you won’t be able to tell the difference between us.” Kai scoffs. She calls Dani her twin, not that they look anything alike, but because of how long their friendship has been. Their friendship has become deep enough to consider each other as family. “Anyway, what did you do again? She just texted me to rant about how pissed off she is by you.”
Jaden chuckles. “It’s just a little spat. You know she can never resist me anyway. She loves me. She just doesn’t realize it yet.”
“Idiot! You got some nerve! She will never realize something that’s impossible to happen. Have you ever considered that she’s too pretty for you? You’re ugly ass could never” Kai shakes her head. No, Jaden is not ugly. He’s just not what most people would consider appealing but whatever he lacks in the looks department, he more than makes up for with his confidence, talent, wit and humor. “So? Did you find a bassist yet?” She sighs. “It’s all that jerk Jared’s fault. Why did he just leave like that? He didn’t even bother to finish one last gig and not leave us hanging.”
“It’s because Dani rejected his confession. Well, we can’t do anything about it. We all know my baby Daniella only loves me.”
“Who’s your baby? Go ahead, keep living with your illusions. Damn bastard.” Kai grumbles. “You better fix the problem, Jaden. Stop thinking about hitting on Dani for a second and find a solution. If you show up with a bass player later, Dani will definitely chop off your dick!”
“That’s okay. As long as she touches it.”
“Damn pervert! Can’t you fucking think straight for once? Fix the problem, Jaden, or you can forget about seeing Dani again. She will surely quit the band if you mess this up. And let’s face it, we might as well end everything because no one will come to our shows if she quits.”
“I know.” Jaden answers in a serious tone. “I’ll take care of it. We won’t lose Dani. Trust me.”
