"Excuse me, who is that guy?"

☆

Ash heads back into the VIP room, again looking around for the man who had just pulled him into the side room. Surely someone in this place would have seen him. Apart from Ash, he was the only other guy. "Excuse me?..." Ash approaches a man, looking rather official by the door. "Have you seen a guy come in here? Black baseball hat, hoop earring, minty green sweater?"

Ash pulls lightly at his own sweater as he asks, with the official just looking at him with a slight curl to his lips. "Are you referring to Luca?"

"Yeah Luca! You know him?" Ash says looking hopeful.

"Are you trying to be funny?" The man says, with an air of sarcasm in his voice.

"No? Why, is it funny?" Ash wonders. Why couldn't the guy just answer his question?"

The man's face soon turns serious, with the realisation that this guy must be new to this. "Luca will not be coming in here. You will meet him after the concert along with the others.'' The man confirms.

"Others? What others?" Ash says, now totally lost.

"Are you actually a fan?" The man questions, furrowing his brow a little.

"No. I was given a ticket... from Luca." Ash now produces his ticket once again.

"Yeah ok and I'm Brad Pitt." The man snorts.

"Very funny." Ash bites back, deciding to walk away with more questions than answers as he pockets his ticket. The man just shakes his head, used to the delusional fans that Ultimate Crush seemed to attract.

Ash heads to a table and grabs another complimentary drink. Where had Luca gone? And what did the man mean by his answers? Ash sighed. He would just have to wait and see.

It is not too long until the small crowd of VIPs are escorted to the very front of the arena. Ash had given up on Luca's whereabouts and the mystery which seemed to surround him as he got comfortable in a velvety blue chair. He looks up at the stage at the three giant screens. Music was playing at a medium level, accompanied by the music video on the screen. He takes it all in, finding a weird familiarity by what he is witnessing on the giant monitor. Was that Luca? It looked like Luca. Ash finds himself snorting in amusement. The guy must have been a super fanboy to want to look just like a member of Ultimate Crush.

Ash turns to a girl sitting next to him. "Excuse me, who is that guy?" He points to the male on screen, enthusiastically dancing to the tune blaring out.

"He's Luca." She replies smiling. "You a newbie?" She questions back.

"Uh...yeah." Ash replies, forcing a grin. He looks back at the screen feeling suddenly sick. The realisation dawning on him as to who exactly this Luca was. Ash had always thought he was rather bright, but right now, he felt foolish. A gullible idiot. It all made sense. Everything! The running from the crowds, the weird secrecy, the comment from the official, but now Ash was beginning to wonder why. What did this Luca want from him?

Maybe he would soon find out, as no sooner had the penny dropped, the lights began to dim, the music cranked up a notch and before him, behind a sheer screen, he could see the silhouettes of four men. Then, a sudden boom, the intro of a song he was unfamiliar with and the piercing scream of the devotees around him, Ash was faced with the reality before his eyes.

There on stage, alongside three other well turned out males, was the man in the flesh. The guy from the dark alleyway. The man who had pulled him into a dumpster. There was Luca.

Ash sits, as if frozen in place, just staring. Trying his best to process what he was witnessing. This couldn't be happening. This can't be real. He finds himself shaking his own head in disbelief. Convincing himself that he was mistaken. He must have got it wrong.

But then it happens. The confirmation Ash was dreading. Luca looks out to the sea of faces. Many are invisible due to the glaring stage lights, but just for that few seconds, that front row is illuminated. Just enough time to see the guy from the coffee bar looking at him. Luca smiles, hopeful that whatever outcome he was rooting for would prevail. For Ash to still talk to him like he had been, but the look he was getting back was indecipherable. Had he just made the worst mistake of his life?