Devil with Angel Eyes

“Your father is an asshole.” My brother Brandon says as he walks into my apartment with his Pit Blue puppy, Dinosaur.

“I thought you and Dad were on good terms now?” I barely look up from an email my management sent me. It’s talking about photoshoot details for my upcoming CD release. Problem is… not a fan of the photographer. This is enough for me to make a face.

“What’s with the face?”

“My manager hired a sleazy photographer for my upcoming photoshoot.” I reply. “Britt and I worked with this photographer when Paradise City opened up and he kept touching our dancers inappropriately and making sleazy comments. I’m not looking forward to working with this guy.”

“Then say no. It’s not like you don’t have photographers for backup.” Brandon states. “I’m sure Kenny or Nikki would have no problem doing this for you.”

“This is true.” I bite my lower lip in though. “But if I want to be sexy, I’d have to turn to Kenny. If it was up to Nikki, I would have been sent to a convent.”

“Dad and Nikki are so fucking happy that you swore off men for now.” Brandon chuckles. “Fuck, all of us are. We are sick of seeing you get your heart broken.”

“Yea, yea, yea.” I roll my eyes. My email dings, telling me I have yet another email from my manager. I open it up and let out an annoyed groan.

“What’s wrong?”

“Apparently my manager said yes to an interview this Friday.” I reply. “I’m being interviewed by Colson and Douglas.”

“Are you fucking serious?”

“Would I lie to you, my baby brother?”

“I mean, yea, you would.” He chuckles. “Have you seen him since London?”

“Nope. I haven’t.”

“This’ll be awkward as fuck, huh?”

“Fuck yea…”

**

Douglas Booth

Colson and I walk into Tommy’s rehearsal studio Friday. We are meeting a video crew here to interview Nikkole after she does her rehearsal for the upcoming tour with Colson. This is the first time I’ve seen her since London. And honestly? I’m pretty nervous.

We walk in and see the tail end of Nikkole’s performance. The music is very bass and drum influenced. You can easily move to it and it’s not too rock but not too pop. It fits Nikkole’s personality well.

”It's dark in my imagination // I don't wanna think about it now” Nikkole finishes, causing Colson to clap his hands. She smiles as he walks over and picks her up and spin her briefly before placing her back on her feet. I can’t help but to feel a pain of jealousy. That should be me doing that. Her eyes fall onto mine and her once genuine smile turns fake. “Hey Doug.”

“Hey Nik.” I offer a fake smile back. “You look great.”

She just smiles at me before turning towards Colson. “You are a dick, by the way. You and my dad are both forcing me to go to a party I don't’ want you. And both of you think you can get your way by calling me by my full name. What the fuck, Baker?”

“This just proves I was the perfect person to play Tommy Lee.” He chuckles before a smirk appears on his lips. “You better get used to the whole Nikkole Athena Lee thing. I’ll be using that the whole fucking tour.” Nikkole just groans, causing the smirk on Colson’s lips to get bigger. Again jealousy is creeping up on me again.

**

It doesn’t take long for the filming crew to get here and set everything up. Within 30 minutes everything is put together and we are given microphones set ups and are told to start the interview. We were told to keep this as casual as possible. Like old friends talking.

“Alrighty, first question…” Colson starts. “What is the reasoning behind calling your first CD Kiss It?”

“No rhyme or reason behind it.” Nikkole replies. “I just thought it fit perfectly. I didn’t think Kiss the Ring or Kiss my Ass sounded good. And to me Kiss It was the perfect comprise and it was more suitable for the public.”

“What the story behind the song On My Knees and why did you include it on the CD? It has a more of a rock feeling than all your other songs?” I ask her.

“On My Knees is about an ex boyfriend.” She starts out, letting out a little chuckle. “It’s basically me liking him more than he liked me kind thing. I think everyone here can gather who the song is about. But my reasoning behind adding it to the CD is simple. It’s a song that needed to be heard. A lot of girls love guys more than the guys love them. And I think girls need a good anthem for that. Plus the record label liked it and since they canned Black Tar and Nicotine they allowed me this song.”

“What was Black Tar and Nicotine about?” I ask.

“It was heavily inspired by the life and times of one of the most notorious bass players ever… Nikki Sixx.” She smiles. “Besides the producer and label, Nikki is the only person that has heard the song. And that might stay that way for a bit. Maybe I’ll come out with an EP of unheard music down the road, who knows. For now, that song is going to be one of my best kept secrets.

An hour goes by so fast. It starts feeling like old times where we would drink and just talk about random shit. It makes me really miss Nikkole and our time with each other.

“So last question…” Colson says. “There is a rumor going around about you moving out of L.A. Is that true?”

“It’s already happened.” She states, smiling. “After the CD wrapped, I sold my apartment and bought a house far away from the City of Angels.”

“Where is Nikki Lovey calling home these days?” I ask her.

“Nashville, Tennessee.” She smiles. Colson and I share a look. Nashville? Seriously?