Stripped by Karolyn James Page B

open for bigger bands and work his way up.  The crowd in the club and the crowd outside the club, all those wanting to hear and feel the music... they would be the ones to take Down Silent to a higher level.
    With that in mind, Gunnar stood back at the mic and looked at Emily again and she wondered how far Gunnar would take her, if he wanted to touch her ever again.  She hoped that she wasn’t just some groupie to him, so woman he picked up at a bar to play with.  But the way he touched her, the ways his hands slithered along her curves, the way he opened her without even actually touching her most tempting spot or having her sexually...
    “I need him,” Ann cried out.
    “You what?” Emily yelled.
    “I mean, I need to talk to him.  This story is too big to let go.”
    “You’ll get it,” Emily said.
    “I think so.  He keeps looking over here...”
    The song came to an end and Gunnar walked to the drums and grabbed a bottle of water.  He drank some, poured some on his head, and then threw the bottle into the crowd.  People fought over the water bottle that Gunnar had touched like it was a million dollar check.  It was unbelievable the power that rock n’ roll held.  From the creators to those given the music, it was like nothing else in the world.
    “Okay, now we’re playing, right?” Gunnar asked.  He spoke to the crowd with such a casual tone, like they were all friends.  Old pals enjoying some music together.  That’s what made Gunnar a living rockstar.  He could hold the crowd in his hand.  He could also hold Emily in his hand, but she preferred his hands. 
    Both of them, working together.
    “I normally don’t do this,” Gunnar said, “but I’ll do whatever I want, right?”
    The crowd agreed.
    “We’re going to slow this show down for a song.  You all know it.  If you don’t, learn the fucking albums and come back tomorrow!”
    The crowd started to bounce.
    Gunnar looked to his left, at the lead guitarist, giving a signal.  The guitarist looked to the drummer and that set off a chain of head nods and signals as Gunnar spoke.
    “I have always loved a good ballad.  They’re like cutting your heart and seeing what the blood makes on paper.”
    The crowd slowly quieted.  The lights all turned off except a faint light on Gunnar.  He looked out beyond the audience.  It gave the appearance that he wasn’t talking to them, but there he was sharing himself.  Telling something deep.
    Emily was hooked.
    So was Ann.
    “We all grow up to die,” Gunnar said.  “Some go young, some go old, but only our hearts can judge the reality of age.  We’re given memories to keep, but maybe sometimes those memories are a curse.  We can burn the pictures and drink away the pain, but the memories... I said, the memories ... ”
    Gunnar put his head back and waited.
    The audience, coming together, finished the sentence.
    “Remain!”
    Gunnar put his lips back to the mic.  “This one goes out to last night.  We were alone but we weren’t a secret, were we?”
    An acoustic guitar started playing as the drummer held the pace with closed hi-hat hits and the occasional tap of the bell on the large ride cymbal. 
    That was last thing Emily cared about at that point.
    Had Gunnar just dedicated a song to her?
    And nobody knew it. 
    She reached for Ann again and when Ann looked at her, her face dropped.
    “Are you going to throw up?” she yelled.
    Gunnar’s voice came in, leading the beginning of the song as two people meeting.  Emily knew the song, ‘ Whispering Memories’ , because it was a huge ballad hit.  With its simple chord structure, emotional lyrics, and powerful tone, the song stuck in everyone’s head that heard it.  The story followed two people through the ups and downs of a relationship until it finally came to an end.
    Emily shook her head and her knees bent.
    “Come with me,” Ann yelled and she took Emily by the wrist.
    Emily tried to scream in pain, thanks to Gunnar,