Fallen Embers

Sabrina along with her band left to head back to New York City to play some similar club dates there before the VMAs at the end of the month. Adie began work on their outfits for the VMAs while Green Day began getting finishing touches done on their CD.

Every night Tre called Sabrina upon Mike's request to find out if Beth had an answer to the bass player's question since the young women was not taking the man's calls. Every night, Sabrina didn't have an answer for Tre to tell Mike because Beth flat out refused to talk about it. Sabrina felt bad for Mike; she didn't know what to say to the man when she heard him in the background while she talked to Tre asking "But why won't she talk to me?"

On the flip side of these calls, Tre and Sabrina began to have really good conversations, not unlike the ones they had while still happily married in the Oakland house. Sometimes the conversations turned into something else... if Tre begged hard enough. But as the stress and awkwardness was starting to disappear with those two it began to turn up between Mike and Beth.

The 31st was rapidly approaching and Mike still had no idea who he was going to the VMAs with. He really wanted to go with Beth, so he held back from asking someone else to go; though going stag was always an option. Sunday the 27th came and saw the Green Day gang fly back out to the city along with the three outfits designed by Adie through Adeline Street. Sabrina met Billie, Adie, Mike, Tre and Bill at the airport with a van and drove them back into the city to her penthouse where everyone was staying until the VMAs.

Mike still didn't know if Beth was going to go with him or not and Adie wouldn't even let him see the dress that had been designed for the younger woman. He felt like some gawky teenager waiting for the girl to pass back the 'Check yes or no' note with her answer. He was frustrated and wondered why she seemed to hate him so.

Toby and Beth were at the penthouse waiting for Sabrina to come back with everyone. "Have you told him yet?" Toby asked the younger women wondering what her game was.

"No..."

"You plan on making a decision anytime soon? The VMAs are less than 4 days away you know."

"I know," she said with a smile. "I'm gonna make him sweat."

"Honey, Mike has been sweating for weeks over this..." the manager said trailing off. A small wave of guilt came over the woman at Toby's words. She wondered if she had carried this too far.

At that moment, the door opened up and in poured the members of Green Day along with various amounts of luggage and the most precious cargo, a garment bag that held the three outfits. Mike was the last one in the door and Toby saw the hopeful look come over the man's face upon seeing Beth sitting there, but when she looked away, he saw Mike's face fall. 'Damn he's got it bad for her' he thought to himself. Mike walked by everyone and went into the room he was staying in. Sab watched Mike's reaction to Beth and wanted to strangle her for not giving the man an answer and put him out of his misery.

After everyone settled in they ordered in Chinese food and sat around talking. Billie and Adie were sitting together on the couch; the managers Bill and Toby were conferring at the kitchen table while Tre was sitting in an overstuffed chair with Sabrina sitting on the floor between his legs at the man's feet. Mike and Beth sat in chairs opposite of each other, each occasionally glancing up at each other.

Mike glanced over to his two friends sitting together. Sabrina was looking up at Tre and was laughing at something he had said, a smile was on her face and her eyes were alive while Tre looked to be enjoying himself. Mike thought it was good to see that the two people seemed to be back on track with each other. He sighed as he wished that he could say the same thing for himself. He glanced over to Beth who was digging into her moo shu pork wielding her chopsticks with an expertise that he hadn't seen before. He dug into his own Chinese chicken salad with his own pair of chopsticks and thought about how beautiful and how aggravating she was all at the same time. He hadn't been this confused with a girl since he was a little kid. He shrugged his shoulders as he dug into his own dinner.

Beth watched Mike out of the corner of her eye, he looked so lost and she knew it was her fault but being stubborn was something that she was born to be. She pushed back the guilty thoughts to the back of her mind. She saw him pick at his dinner and radiate a 'not really interested in but eating cause he knew he had too' kind of feeling. She squared her shoulders and vowed to stick it to him as long as she could.

The 31st arrived and Beth woke up in the bedroom of the penthouse to yawn and stretch as she knew she had a while before all hell broke loose around her. She rolled out of bed and decided to grab some tea so she went out to the kitchen in just the t-shirt and lounge pants she slept in. Upon walking out of the bedroom, she could smell the fresh aroma of brewing coffee and wondered who was up this early.

Mike was standing in front of the coffee machine with a half awake look upon his face. He was tapping his foot impatiently waiting for the coffee to finish brewing so that he could finally begin to wake up. Suddenly out of no where, he heard the sound of running water and turned toward the sound.

Beth walked up behind Mike and didn't bother to say anything to him, but instead went to the stove to grab the kettle and fill it with water so she could have her morning 'cup o tea'.

Mike glanced at the younger woman and took in her beauty at that early in the morning; her bed tousled hair fell in waves down her back, her face devoid of makeup was innocent looking and her body in the simple t-shirt and pants were breathtaking; she was beautiful with out even trying.

Beth moved back over to the stove and caught a view of Mike out of the corner of her eye. He was standing there with a 5 o' clock shadow and a nice case of bed head. The lounge pants he was wearing were low slung and make him already lean hips seem that much leaner, his bare feet poked out from the cuffs of the pants and the wife beater he wore set off the muscles in his back.

"I'll go with you." she said quietly breaking the silence of the moment.

"Huh?" he said, turning to look at her.

"I said... I'll be your date Mike."

Mike turned his body to face the woman as he took in her words. "Well you sure took long enough to decide that... what if I found another date?" he asked with a gleam in his eye.

Beth look startled at this bit of information, "You didn't? Did you?"

Mike just smiled and turned back around to the coffee machine which finally was finished brewing. He didn't say a word as he found a mug and filled himself a full cup of 'morning wake up'. He moved away from the kitchen and went into the living room and plopped down on a couch in front of the TV and proceeded to surf through channels in order to find something of interest.

Beth stood rooted to her spot in the kitchen walking Mike walk away. 'He wouldn't find another date...' she tried to convince herself. This was the second time she thought that maybe she carried this mean streak too far and it might have backfired on her. She stood there lost in thought until her kettle started to whistle proclaiming the fact that the water was boiling. She quickly gathered a mug and tea bag and soon was dunking the bag in the ever darkening water.

She decided to go into the living room with Mike as he had landed on the 'Today' show, a show she, herself, had never bothered to watch. She maneuvered next to him at the other end of the couch and quietly sipped her tea as they watched the show in silence. After they had been watching TV for a while with no words between them, Mike finally broke the silence. "I don't have another date." She looked at him and saw that he had a smile on his face as he turned toward her. The comment was rewarded with a real smile from her, before Mike turned back and returned his attention to the TV.

It was about 4pm in the afternoon and there was a flurry of activity in the penthouse as the three women and five men were getting around for the VMAs. They had to be there by 6pm for the red carpet walk so that left just over an hour to finish getting around. The traffic was going to be bad and since it was rush hour in NYC, they wanted plenty of time to get across town. The men were done before the women and they sat around drinking beer waiting for the females to finish grooming.

The three members of Green Day looked their normal dapper selves. Billie was in his tight low slung pants with an Adeline Street shirt and jacket on. Mike was standing strong in a pair of tight black jeans and one of his many shirt and jackets one. His hair was longer than normal and was just sans gel, a throwback to the Pop Disaster days. The drummer was a little different looking then he normally was; instead of wearing one of his trademarked suits he wore a pair of black pants and a plain button up shirt and in honor of the Harley he wore a black leather jacket. Since they weren't going to wear helmets, Tre did have his faux hawk up and running. The managers Bill and Toby were dressed in normal suits and had everyone's credentials in hand with their own around their necks.

"Jesus," Billie said while looking at his watch for what seemed the hundredth time, "Are they ever getting around?"

"Chill Bill," Tre said, "The women have to make themselves more beautiful than normal, that takes work... sculptors and artists you know are needed to do that."

"Well then I guess they're screwed, since none of those people are here." Mike snorted, "We'll be lucky if they come out with bags on their heads."

"I heard that Dirnt." a young female voice rang out across the room. The men turned and their eyes just about popped out of their heads. Adie beamed at the result her creations had over the men in the room.

Billie came forward and kissed his wife while giving her the once over. "Just when I thinking you are beautiful, you go and somehow become even more so." She smiled as she twirled for her husband. The tight bodice showed her bosom to perfection as the skirt flowed to her knees. A set of 50's styled pumps fit her feet, her hair was piled on top of her head and a P-Nut inspired Adeline Skully lay in between her breasts.

Tre was mesmerized by his ex wife when she appeared in the room. Her outfit was more revealing than ever. Her's was very much rocker chick inspired; the black leather skimmed her body into a tight corset that made her waist seem impossibly tiny. The back leather pants fit her legs like second skin. The studded leather belt hung slung low on her hips as the low rise of the pants was almost as low as the top of her ass. Her hair was just loose and wild down her back and the high heeled boots made her taller than him; which was a secret turn on of his. A smile came over Tre's face as he moved toward Sabrina and took her into his arms and dropped a kiss to her bare shoulder. "You are so sexy looking, you went and gave me wood just looking at you." he purred in her ear.

Beth walked toward Mike and watched the reaction play over his face. He looked as though he very much was that 7th grader who was seeing his dance date for the first time and understanding that girls gave boys funny feelings 'down there'. Her tight corset like design hugged her frame and gave the 'girls' lift that defied gravity. The tight skirt hugged her hips and fell to just above her knees; the high heels she wore gave her legs a look that said 'they went on for miles'. Even in heels she still was shorter than him by a few inches but he was drawn to her lips. They just looked like they had just been kissed swollen and her hair looked as though she had just gotten laid and rolled out of bed.

"How do I look?" she asked mischievously.

"Wow..." he said with his voice breaking like said 7th grader, "You look... wow." A smile broke out on her face as Mike crocked his elbow for her to grab, like the gentlemen he was.

"Are we all finally ready?" Toby asked as he handed his charges their credentials. "Sab your Harley is outside and waiting, the police have been informed that you both will be sans helmets." He turned toward Beth, "You are riding with us and the rest of the band will arrive by another limo and bypass the red carpet." Beth took her credential from Toby and Mike took it from her and placed it inside of his jacket pocket.

Tre not to outdone by Mike, gave Sabrina his, "Since I am your bitch, you need to carry these." he said with a smile playing on his lips.

Sabrina looked at him with her head cocked, "And just WHERE do you purpose I place them?"

He looked at her up and down with a look of lust and leaned over to breath in her ear, "I can think of a place..."

She shook off the shivers that Tre always managed to produce in her and slipped her hands under his jacket. She moved her hands up his torso and placed the tickets in his inner pocket, "Yup I found a place." she said with a wink.

"Jesus Christ the sexual tension in here is horrible..." Billie grumbled, "Come on Adie, I know that I am getting laid tonight, thank god."

The group started to make their way out of the penthouse and down to the street level where their rides awaited. Toby and Bill led the way through the hallway of the building down to the street. Billie and Adie were leaning into each other lost in their own moment while Tre and Sabrina were laughing and giggling like newlyweds. Mike ever the gentleman brought up the rear with Beth on his arm. They were watching the lovers ahead of them.

Every peal of laughter from Tre and Sabrina had Beth rolling her eyes. "I wish they would just fuck and get it over with." she grumbled. "Geez they are acting like two rutting dogs in heat."

Mike for his part was trying not to chuckle at the comments coming from the beauty on his arm. He knew if he laughed, she would more than likely bite his head off, and it wouldn't be pleasant in the least. The tall man kept stealing glances at the woman walking next to him. He had an excellent view of 'the girls' from his vantage point. He kept trying to move his looks upward but each time, he drifted back.

"It's like choreography. They're dancing around each other, with steps they have memorized but unless they get to the big 'lift her over your head like in Dirty Dancing' move, then what's the point, right?" Beth said. Mike did chuckle that time and was rewarded with a smile from the younger woman.

'He has such a nice laugh' she thought to herself. She too had been stealing glances at the man escorting her. He looked quite handsome in his outfit, it was casual but not. She decided that she liked his hair like this, long looking and without hair product; which the other two Green Day men were so found of. Mike's hair, she concluded was just begging to have hands run through it. Without thinking her hand moved up and when he turned at the movement, she realized what she was doing and quickly recovered by fixing her own hair.

"It looks fine Beth." Mike murmured, "You look beautiful all around." Beth stared at the man for a minute and wondered what it was again that made her hate him. And for that moment in time for the life of her she couldn't remember.

The group arrived at the limo and the six watched Sabrina and Tre climb aboard her new Harley. It was one from a local shop up where Sabrina's farm was. The color scheme was red and black while black widow spiders which were Sabrina's logo were painted on the fenders and gas tank. To see Tre clammer up behind Sab was priceless and the others burst out laughing.

The limo door opened and Bill and Toby went inside. They arranged for a larger limo than normal so Tre and Sab could join them after the VMA to the after party. The managers situated themselves on the side seat near the front of the limo where they soon became in grossed in their manager duties. Billie and Adie slid into another side seat and Billie promptly pulled his wife onto his lap for some lovin'. Mike held Beth's hand as she lowered herself into the remaining limo seat which was the bench seat in the back. The bassist caught a glimpse of leg when her skirt rode up a little as she bent to get in, his breath caught as he watched her smooth it back down.

She looked at him when he didn't move. "You know we can't go until you IN the limo."

"Oh yea... sorry, I'm coming." Mike said as he climbed in himself. His long legs were able to stretch out in front of him as he got comfortable in the seat.

"Good God, are we gonna have to see this all night?" Beth said while gesturing at Billie and Adie who were lost in their own private little world.

"Oh behave, they are in love after all these years, they just celebrated their 12th anniversary in July." Toby said from his perch near the front. "Have a god damn drink already and stop your bitching woman!" he snapped to a startled Beth.

Beth blinked at the manager's words. Outwardly she seethed, but inside she welcomed that Toby always told her where the bear shit in the woods. Not many men could or would do that to her. She smiled and reached for the bottle of champagne which was supplied by the limo company. With a smile she handed it to Mike to open. The man wore a look of surprise when Beth handed him the bottle, but he wasn't going to argue with it. He quickly popped the cork without any spillage and poured two glasses worth of the bubbly. "Anyone else?" he asked. The managers shook their heads, and the kissy faced pair never heard a word. Mike shrugged and placed the bottle back into its holder and turned back to Beth.

She gazed up at the man, and held her glass up to his, "To things to come." she said with a slight smile.

"To things to come." he replied, softly clinking his glass to hers.

Mike watched as Beth quickly downed the contents of her glass and reached to pour some more into the now empty flute. As he sipped from his own glass he wondered why the sudden turn of events for Beth. She wasn't acting like her normal self, but once again, he wasn't going to argue, since she wasn't arguing with him.

By the time, they reached the Red Carpet of the VMAs, Tre and Sabrina were dismounting from her Harley. The limo quickly pulled up as someone drove the bike away. The door opened with a security person asking for IDs as the people exited from the limo. Toby and Bill got out first to prepare for their jobs of hustling them down the red carpet. The fans and media were jumping for joy at Tre and Sabrina arriving together. They were happily posing for pictures and signing autographs while Mike climbed out of the limo.

He reached in and held out his hand for Beth to take. For a spilt second Beth almost didn't take his hand, she saw all the lights and cameras and heard the screams of the fans, and faltered. Mike smiled at her, "Come on, it's not so bad, I'll be right next to you the entire time. I won't let anything get out of control." She smiled weakly and drained the rest of her fourth glass of bubbly and placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her out.

When she finally was standing upright, the crowd went nuts. 'Beth, Mike look this way', 'Mike, is she your date?', 'Beth, are you and Mike an item?' came at her from all directions. "It's okay," he said as his hand found hers, "Stay next to me." She thought that his hand and voice were like a lighthouse in a heavy fog over a night fallen sea and she was safe at the moment in time.

She smiled at him and moved closer as the camera flashes and spots lights were in their face. Once Billie and Adie came up next to them, they joined Sabrina and Tre along with the waiting managers for the red carpet walk.