Access Restricted by Alice Severin Page A

the interviews they gave then. So much less guarded. Just a bunch of kids who had no idea what was about to hit them.” She sounded sad. “I couldn’t tour with them all the time. And it suddenly got to a point where it was either going to be serious, or it wasn’t. And the time wasn’t right.” She sighed.
    I suddenly felt very, very sorry for her. Was this going to be me? In a couple of months? Next year? I needed to know more. I’d never, might not ever, have this chance again. I needed to know this stuff. Now.
    “Did he break it off with you gently?” I wanted to hear about the future.
    She shook her head. “He didn’t mean to be cruel. I flew out to meet him in LA for a show. As a surprise. He was sleeping with the drummer from the lead on band. I found her trussed up in the dressing room with his head between her legs. AC said he didn’t realize they were in there, but I think he’d always been slightly jealous of how close we were. And he wanted a go at me himself. A way to get back at Tristan? Maybe. Or a way to get close to him. It was a pretty open secret that AC thought Tristan should explore the other side…with AC as the guide.” She filled her glass up to the top. “Oops, a little too much there. Never mind.” We both drank.
    “And you and AC?”
    “We were an item for nearly two years. Ironically, it lasted slightly longer than my time with Tristan. How funny is that? But it wasn’t the same, never the same.” She sighed. “Paul, the guitarist, you know, the one who AC punched?” I nodded. “Good, at least you know that story. He always claimed that I was like their Yoko. That I started the split with the band. But that was bullshit, and everyone knew it. Everyone knew that he was hiding what his girlfriend had done. She was the one that brought the photos of Tristan and the drummer to the papers. We all knew it.”
    Well, this was interesting.
    “Which photos?”
    “Oh, of course they couldn’t be published. One of the big mags wanted to buy one of the cleaner ones. Sheer porn.”
    “Did you see them?”
    “Yeah, AC got a copy of some of them. I actually think he took them. Nothing that surprising to anyone in that circle. Tristan in leather. A collection of whips. Probably the most shocking one was the small brand on her hip, with his initials. But no one ever said whether he did it or not. The drummer, what was her name, Christina, that was it, chained and bound. His cock, with a cock ring. Pretty standard stuff, really.”
    Really. I laughed, I couldn’t help it, but whether it was from nervousness, or the wine, or just the idiocy of the whole situation, I couldn’t tell. “Maybe not to your average person.”
    “Yes, but who cares? No one. Anyone in the spotlight has to take it further. That’s what they want!” She was becoming more animated. “That’s what started all the stories. Those pictures. The rumors about what was really in them. And again, it all came up again later on, when his wife left him. Although no one was really sure why she had married him in the first place. Anyone who knew Tristan from the old days knew that he liked to drink, and party, but that he wasn’t really about the party, he wanted to push the boundaries. She just wanted the money. To be the center of attention. Well, she’s in Hollywood. Getting what she deserves, the bitch. I think she really hurt him. Hopefully someone even more shallow and concerned with appearances will dump her and her fake boobs.” She pulled out the chopstick and her hair fell down around her face, and she energetically swept it back up again and rearranged it, again watching me watch her.
    I couldn’t resist. “Do you still have the pictures?”
    Her hands slowly finished putting the chopstick in place. “Who said I had them in the first place?”
    More flattery was needed. “I thought AC might have trusted you to keep them out of the wrong hands.”
    She pursed her lips. Her face grew more pointed, almost