Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story Read Free

Thrust, Michael Wade was Annie’s favorite, the one she desperately tried to emulate.  She knew everything about him and his band;  owned their entire catalog of music and had read everything ever written about them that she could get her hands on.  She witnessed their rise to fame and their fall from grace when drugs had ruled and almost ruined their lives.  Twenty years later, and now living a clean and sober lifestyle, they were still a band to be reckoned with, managing to produce chart climbing hits year after year.
    Thrust was a band of five New Jersey-bred bad boys, streetwise beyond their years.  What they may have lacked in formal education they had ample supply of male swagger and determination.  As soon as they could drive, they crossed the river into New York City and played their music at any club that would have them.  Individually, their talent was good but together their chemistry was limitless and magical.  They recognized it the first time they played together.  It fueled their drive and fed their egos.  Over twenty years later, that same chemistry still remained and had made them all rich beyond their wildest expectations.
    It was when Mark Ridley, the bass player for the band, decided to follow his girlfriend to Boston while she went to college, the rest of the band decided to join him.  Soon thereafter, they claimed Boston as their home away from home.  Although Mark ended the relationship with his girlfriend soon after their arrival in the city, the bands’ notoriety grew in leaps and bounds within the hallowed halls of the infamous Boston venues.  Fame had not diminished their commitment to give something back to the city that launched their star skyward and this contest was one more way for them to prove it.
    With three songs left to their second set, Annie saw the two dark figures leave the club.  A lot of the patrons followed them outside, perhaps for autographs, or maybe to see if it was really Michael Wade.  Annie wondered why Michael and his bodyguard were leaving early.  Did her band really sound that bad?  Did this mean their chance at stardom was gone?
    She went home that night feeling elated and apprehensive, her body twitched with nervous energy.  Working day to day with Michael would be a life changing event for her.  The biggest event of her life.  What would he be like, she wondered?  Would he be an ego driven rock star or approachable and down to earth?  She tossed and turned in bed.  Sleep did not come easy that night and wouldn’t for days to come.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
     
    A week later they were again standing anxiously in Sir Morgan’s Cove, waiting for the appointed hour when Michael Wade and a Bostonian Promotions representative would arrive for their first meeting.  Finally, a shiny black turbo Porsche came into view and pulled directly in front of the club.  Two men emerged from a second car that came to a stop behind it.  Michael Wade stepped out from behind the wheel of his Porsche and greeted the two men from the second car.
    He was dressed in a pair of tight black jeans and a plain untucked white shirt, buttons undone almost to his navel, sleeves rolled back to his elbows.  Dark shades hid his eyes and his long, dark hair was a mass of chestnut waves.
    “This better fly, Annie, or I'll never forgive you for it,” Gary said through clenched teeth.  It had been a week since he had learned about the contest and a week since he and Annie had talked.  He was defiant and unforgiving because they had entered this contest behind his back.  In his mind he felt he had lost some sense of control over what he considered to be his band.  And it didn't help the situation, knowing Annie's feelings for her life-long rock idol.  The idea of seeing them together in the same room made his blood boil.
    “It’s time you put our band before your pride, Gary.  At our age, this could be our last chance,” Annie said, her voice trailing off to a soft