Incest/Taboo From the Ashes

"Thank you for agreeing to do this interview," the female reporter from Music Insider said, as her delicate fingers set the recording device on the coffee table of Magnus Condon's Montana home. "I'm Sophie Dale, but you can call me Saffi," she said, extending her hand. Noticing while his grip was light, yet it was strong and firm, something she liked. She hated those limped wristed handshakes she had experienced from a lot of the male members of society.

"Not a problem," Magnus said, keeping his nerves in check. Ever since he was ten and read his first issue of the magazine he knew he wanted to be a rock star. Yet doesn't everyone? Nevertheless, few ever achieve that goal. His shoulder length, raven hair was a far cry from his former look. The trimmed but full beard was a new addition to the once clean cut man that had died so long ago. His deep blue eyes looked at the woman before him with indifference. Oh, he's had women -- namely teenagers throwing themselves at him since he's been on tour with Straža Smrti (Death Watch in English), the Latin name just sounds cooler, or that's what Haleema had told him when she offered him the job.

"So tell our readers: what's it like being the lead guitarist in a Death Metal band?" Saffi asked, flipping open her small notepad to make her own quick notes while they talked. Her skirt slid up the thigh of her left leg as it rested on her right knee. Her black stockings clung to her shapely leg as the clip of her garter belt peeked out as the hem of her skirt rose up higher.

"Everything I could have hoped for when I was ten," Magnus chuckled.

"Oh?! So, you wanted to be in the music business that young?" Saffi asked, her soft pink painted lips curved into a warm yet seductive smile. Her brown eyes lustered in the soft lights of the room. Her brunette hair was freshly styled and down framing her face oh so perfectly. Ever since her editor gave her this assignment she had dug into his life from the moment he signed onto the band. So, she knew he wasn't dating anyone at least not that she could find out. She did love being fucked by musicians.

"Doesn't everyone?" Magnus asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Good point." Now it was her turn to chuckle. "I've done a bit of background..."

"I know," Magnus said, offhandedly.

"You... read my work?" Saffi asked, stunned. Every musician she had interviewed man or woman barely knew of the magazine. It was only because of their handlers whispering in their ears that they weren't totally befuddled when she showed up at their dressing room doors.

"Yeah..."

"I do hope you enjoy the articles," Saffi said, feeling her cheeks heat.

"They're quite insightful," Magnus nodded.

"Thank you, for that," Saffi said, brushing a strand of her hair behind her right ear. "So, take us back to the day that brought you into the world of Straža Smrti."

"Umm... do we have to go back that far?" Magnus asked, knowing it was a very dark time for him.

"Yes, I believe we do," Saffi nodded, her pen lightly tapped her notepad as she saw a change in his eyes. She knew all about his soon-to-be ex-wife. She had even done a quick interview with her before setting this one up just so she could have all the information she needed before the main event. So, she knew all about the woman's infidelity. "I know you're ongoing divorce spurred you into this..."

"You've talked to my ex-wife?" Magnus asked accusingly, as his eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I told you, and if you do truly read my work, then you know I go deep into my subject's background. While I'm not sorry for that, I am sorry if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Whatever," Magnus said, looking to his right as he waved her off. "Iona is no longer my concern. Whatever happens to her is of her own making. I stopped caring a long time ago," he said, coldly.

"My... I can feel the temperature dropping in here," Saffi said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well... if you talked to her then you know the reason," Magnus said, bitterly.

"But it was because of that, that it brought you here, is that not the case?" Saffi asked, lowering her leg to the floor flashing her bare cunt as she lifted her right leg to rest it on top of her left knee. "Why don't you take us back to that day?"

"You're readers really want to know this?" Magnus asked. He really didn't want to relive the past. He had spent the past year trying to forget his whore of a soon-to-be ex-wife. Sighing loudly when Saffi gave him an 'Mmmhmm' and a nod. "Fine, but I won't sugarcoat it."

"Wouldn't want you to," Saffi said, flashing him another stunning smile.

"Like I said, I always wanted to be a rocker. Yet my parents always told me to put my dream aside and think about my future. Did that stop me from practicing for hours on my grandfather's '58 Gibson hollow body electric guitar?" Magnus looked over at the sunburst paint job on the old guitar. "No," returning his attention back to Saffi, "not that my parents took an interest in my "hobby", as they called it. Sure, I probably played too loudly a few... okay a lot of the time, sure, I wasn't all that good at first, but who is?" Magnus asked, with a pointed look. "Yet the words of my grandfather always came back to me: 'Do what you love, regardless of what anyone thinks'. He told me that the day he gave me his guitar then... well he died. So... the years went on, I got better and better, however, I never really joined a band. All the nay saying my parents were giving me kind of hurt my self-esteem. Then I met Iona when I was seventeen, it's weird what love can do to a person, isn't it?" Magnus asked, to which Saffi nodded. "So being a foolish nineteen-year-old I asked Iona to marry me. Foolish, I know. We were way too young, but I didn't care. I loved her..."

"Do you still love her?" Saffi asked, slyly flipping up the sheets of paper where she had her own notes when she had an interview with Iona.

"No," Magnus said, very coldly.

"That's some animosity you have for your estranged wife," Saffi said, noting the look of hatred in his blue eyes.

"Wouldn't you, when you found your spouse fucking someone else that wasn't you?"

"Hmm... I can't say, I've never been married," Saffi said, the butt of her pen tapped against her chin. "Why don't you tell me about it."

"Well... Iona and I dated for two years before we got married. For the first four years of it everything was great or so I thought. I went to work for my father when I got out of high school, yet I was always thought of as the black sheep since they always thought I had my head in the clouds because I wanted to be a musician compared to my brother Bill. He took after my father who was grooming him to take over the company when he retired. I on the other hand was put on the low end of the totem pole and had to work my way up the ladder. Iona went to school to be a paralegal during the day, then we both would retire to our apartment. While I was dead tired, I always made sure she was taken care of. Like I said, life was good at the time. That was until we got into the middle of our fifth year of marriage... Mind if we take this outside?" Magnus asked, glance at his pack of Marlboro's.

"Sure," Saffi said, leaning forward, her blouse opened allowing Magnus to peer down her shirt. Letting him see that she wore no bra to support her 38B breasts as she pressed the stop button on the recorder.

"You want a water or...?" Magnus asked, being polite.

"Beer if you have any," Saffi said, flashing him another smile as she elegantly rose from the leather loveseat she had been sitting on as they talked.

"I just might," Magnus muttered, his raven hair swayed and bounced lightly against his neck as he led Saffi into his grand kitchen. Opening the fridge, handing her a cold bottle once he had popped off the bottle cap.

"Thanks," Saffi cooed as the pad of her index finger ran along his as she took the bottle from him.

"No problem, but that's the only one you're getting. I can't have you driving drunk," Magnus said, over his shoulder as he led her out to the back patio.

"Caring and a nice ass," Saffi muttered to herself as she took a sip of her beer. Taking the chair across from him as she watched how his nail pushed up the lid of the pack of cigarettes. Watching how the orange-yellow flame danced along his dark hair as his hand cupped the flame. Setting the recorder onto the table pressing the record button as she watched how his lips drew a long puff on his cigarette. "So, you were speaking about the fifth year of your marriage," Saffi said, getting Magnus's mind back on track.

"Well..." Magnus blew out a cloud of smoke as his eyes gazed out at his hundred acres. "It all started the first week of November. I started to see a change in Iona. She was staying later and later at her job. Sometimes coming home at midnight or later. Always telling me that she and that ass..."

"Connor Bags, yes?" Saffi asked, quickly flipping through her notes for his name.

"You said it, that name shall never pass my lips," Magnus said, hatefully.

"I heard his wife got almost everything in the divorce," Saffi said, a little taken aback by that wicked smile of his.

"Good. I had hoped it hurt!"

"Not the turn the other cheek kind of guy are you?" Saffi asked, as his eyes flickered over to her.

"Do I look like that kind of man to you?" Magnus asked, taking another drag of his cigarette.

"No... you don't strike me as that kind of man," Saffi noted before taking another sip of her beer.

"So as I was saying... Iona and that ass always had some big case they had to work on late into the night. Now you see, I knew Iona well enough to know when she's lying, her right eye always twitches when she does. At the time I just couldn't understand why she would have to if it was all above board, you know what I mean?"

"I do," Saffi nodded in agreement. She personally knew how bad it felt to be cheated on. She personally hated people like that. She was glad Iona had lost everything when it all came out.

"So... I think it was in January, when I showed up one night at her office since she so had to work late again for the third time that week. I pretty much had enough of it, yet I tried, I really did try to keep the marriage together. I didn't ask her to give up her job, just to cut back on the hours so we could be husband and wife again. Was that too much to ask?" Magnus asked, with a pointed look.

"Sounds reasonable to me."

"You and every sensible person out there," Magnus said, sweeping his arm outward to the world. "Yet not so much to Iona. Oh, how she bitched and whined that I didn't understand, blah, blah, blah," he said, his venom was clear as day. "So being the good husband, the faithful husband that I was, I showed up with dinner, thinking if we couldn't have a meal at home I could at least have one with her at her work. I nodded to the night guardsman as I walked past the front desk. Seeing how I've been there before he knew who I was. As I got to my ex-wife's desk, I arched an eyebrow when she wasn't at it. Then I heard something. I turned my head, the heat of the lasagna dinners I had picked up heated my leg before I went to investigate. How I wished I didn't," Magnus said, sadly.

"What did you see?" Saffi asked, while she felt for him, she knew this was going to sell a lot of copies once it went to print. A torrid love affair normally does, especially when it involved a rising star like Magnus.

"My wife on her back on the conference table with that bastard thrusting between her legs. Of course, they couldn't hear me or the bag falling to the floor when it slipped from my hand as I stood there in shock as I listened to her moans and that man's grunts. Thankfully, I had the wherewithal to take a couple of photos of them in my state of mind. I knew then and there that my marriage to Iona was over. I wanted nothing more to do with her. The moment she stepped out of our marriage she was done. Now I had the proof, and in Mississippi it's a fault state. So, I knew I'd take her to the cleaners. Adultery is still a crime there even if no one gets arrested for it any more. So, I turned on my heel, leaving the food on the floor as I had lost my appetite. Pulling up my contact list, pressing my wife's number, I heard her phone ringing in her desk as I walked by, naturally," Magnus spat. "The whore didn't want to be interrupted by me when she was getting fucked!"

"I'm going to assume you left a voice message for her on her phone?" Saffi inquired, keeping her smile hidden knowing all this was going to make her editor's mouth water. However, she couldn't keep herself from chuckling as Magnus rolled his eyes at her question.

"Of course, I did! When it went to her voicemail I told that two-bit whore not to bother to come home. That she could stay with her fucking lover... then I said, oh wait! He's married! How does it feel knowing you have ruined two marriages?! Telling her she could pick up her shit in the morning or I'll throw it in the garbage where it belongs along with her skanky ass! That once she did I didn't want to ever see her again! So, once I got home I tossed everything of hers in garbage bags and tossed them out onto the breezeway in front of the door. Whether or not if they were there in the morning I didn't care. It was sometime around eleven when my phone buzzed like mad.

No doubt they had stopped long enough to notice the spilled lasagna or my voicemail, I don't know which. Personally, I didn't care, still don't. I didn't answer. I phoned Cary Bags instead. Telling her of what I saw that night, texting her the pictures I had taken. How I got her number?" Magnus asked, seeing the questioning look in Saffi's eyes. "She gave it to me at the very first company event that they held. Telling me the spouses had a group that gathered once a month knowing how it was with lawyers and how many hours they put in. While I never went to one, I did keep her number on hand. Why? I can't say, but I'm glad I did.

While I did hurt for her, me being the barer of bad news that her husband was nothing but a cheating bastard, she needed to know the truth. After she had calmed down she did thank me for the evidence before hanging up. Then the texts came pouring in. Turning off my phone, I had nothing to say to her nor did I want to hear whatever excuse she had prepared for the moment she had been caught. Nothing she had to say could be trusted. It didn't matter if it was one time or many, once was enough to end 'a' marriage. I could never trust her or her word ever again. Then as I began to lay down for bed, my anger slowly turning into hate. My front door burst open. Honestly, I don't know why she even bothered," Magnus said, thumbing his ashes.

"So, what did she say to try to justify her cheating?" Saffi asked, her eyes slyly running down his chest. Noting how his t-shirt clung to his pectoral muscles. Wondering how the woman could have given up such a handsome, defined man, for what, in her eyes, was nothing more than a mid-forties, balding, pot belly of a man.

"That she was doing it for us, that it didn't mean anything, that it was just sex etc. etc.," Magnus said, stamping out his cigarette. His fingers ran through his beard as he felt himself trembling in anger. Then again, that always happened when he thought about Iona. "I told her to shove that shit up her whorish cunt! That nothing I had done warranted her cheating on me. That she was nothing more than a selfish bitch who was only thinking about herself, not caring that her actions would be the downfall of our marriage. How I took joy in the horrified look on her face when I said that. So, I told her to get her shit, and get her whorish ass out of my apartment seeing how it was my name on the lease. Oh, she ran crying out the door, not that I cared. Okay, maybe a little, I mean I did just give that woman seven years of my life only for it to go to waste.

I hunted for a good lawyer to take my case for the next week. Went to the bank took out half of our savings and checking; there was no way I was going to let that bitch have access to my money. Then went to another and created an account in my name only. We had been saving to buy a house, thank God we didn't. I didn't want to be stuck in a house that reminded me of her, and thankfully we never had kids, I so didn't have to deal with her if something happened to them. Where Iona was staying I didn't know, and I didn't care. She could have been dead in a ditch somewhere and I wouldn't care. That was until I saw my mother's car pulling into my apartment complex. Ever since I had brought her home to meet my folks my parents took a liking to Iona. Treating her like she was their own daughter, given that Iona was a ward of the state until she reached the age of eighteen. When I told them we were getting married they were ecstatic. Then came a pounding on my door. My mother's voice filtering through the door demanding that I open it. Mind you, I hadn't been to work all week. So you can believe how upset they were with me for that. Then again, what came next I'm glad I didn't," Magnus said, taking out another cigarette from the pack to calm his nerves.

"'Magnus! Open up!' My mother yelled. I sighed heavily, knowing I was going to have to tell them sooner, rather than later, that Iona and I were divorcing. As the door opened there my mother stood, with an angry look on her face, and behind her stood Iona. Her head was bowed, she wouldn't even look at me. Then again, she was caught red handed. Then my mother laid into me about how foolish I was being. That Iona made a mistake, a very stupid mistake, and that we could work it out if only I would stop being stupid and just listen to her..."

"Your own mother was actually taking your wife's side?!" Saffi asked, a little surprised and shocked.

"I know, shocking," Magnus said, sarcastically. "You would have thought my own parents would have been on my side for once in my life, but no they chose her over their own son."

"So what happened next?"

"I stood there in my doorway quite shocked, as you can believe. I think anyone would be when your own parents took the side of the lying, cheating slut over their own flesh and blood. I asked her to clarify if she was actually taking Iona's side over mine. She fumbled with her words for a bit muttering how she was only trying to save my marriage, but I was being pig headed and not allowing Iona to explain herself, then her insistence that I let them in, so they didn't air our dirty laundry for all to hear. I personally didn't care if they knew or not. I knew the people beside me and below me had heard quite a lot when I found out about my cheating wife, so what if they heard a little more? I had heard enough. I leaned in looking my mother in the eye and said very plainly: 'No. If you can't be on my side when that whore...' The slap came out of nowhere; that was the first time my mother ever raised a hand to me.

She seethed at me telling me never to call a woman that. I countered with, 'if she can't keep her legs closed like some two dollar hooker then she shouldn't be surprised when she gets called one.' So I continued: 'lies to me, cheats on me, destroys everything we had worked for. Then I don't want to be your son any more. Since you care so fucking much about her why doesn't she be your daughter since you, and I'm guessing my sperm donor, are bending over backwards for that slut; and I'll just go about my merry way.' Clearly my mother didn't think I would dare say that to her, how wrong she was. Stating that I didn't know what I was saying that I was letting my anger get the best of me. Now I'm not quick to anger but when I am I'm like a storm destroying anything and everyone that stands in my way.

So I told my mother... let me clarify, my birth giver since I don't have parents any more. That I was very serious and to tell my sperm donor that as of that moment I quit then I slammed the door in their faces. Whatever my wife had to say I never found out. And so, three weeks passed, and my lawyer had informed me that my wife had officially been served. Little did I know at the time that my birth givers were financing my wife's lawyer," Magnus said, looking out at the vast expanse of his land.

"Really?! They paid for her lawyer?" Saffi gasped in shock as Magnus nodded.

"So, you can see that I have no love for them. From what I have heard they have allowed her to live with them since we've been separated."

"That's just... fucked up," Saffi said, shaking her head in disgust.

"Tell me about it," Magnus said, flicking his ashes.

"So the moment we were first in front of a judge, I knew I was in for a fight given my lawyer's reaction to the woman as she took her seat. When she ordered that we go to counseling to see if we could save the marriage I flatly refused. I was not going to waste another second on that woman when she didn't have the balls to end our marriage before she went and slept with another man. If she had done that I would have respected her more. Yet she took the coward's way out and thought she could have it all, only to have it come crashing down on her. When the judged warned that I would be in contempt of court if I didn't comply with her order I told her to suck my dick!" Saffi laughed madly at that. "As the bailiffs led me away to the holding cells I flipped off both my wife and the judge."

"So how long did they hold you for?" Saffi asked, arching an eyebrow when Magnus smiled.

"Thirty days," Magnus said, proudly.

"Wow. In two months you've gone from losing your wife and a month in jail..."

"Totally worth it, meant I didn't have to see that bitch for a whole month. I was in heaven," Magnus chuckled.

"So what did you do when you got out?" Saffi asked, her mind wondering how she was going to get him to pose for a photo. She was also a photographer as well as a journalist. This way, like now, she could take as many photos as she needed without having to hire a photographer. Plus, the extra money helped whenever she turned in an assignment.

"At first nothing. I had about ten grand in the bank, so I knew I'd be okay for a while until I had to look for work. Then... I read about Bobby Dean's death."

"The former guitarist for Straža Smrti?" Saffi asked, clarifying for the record.

"The one and only," Magnus nodded. "It was your magazine that told me about how the others in the band were holding auditions for his replacement a week after his funeral. While Death Metal isn't my kind of music, my grandmother would have called it nothing but noise with all the screaming and whatnot." Saffi noting how his tone softened when he had mentioned his grandmother. "So I thought: What the hell!" Magnus said, shrugging his shoulders. "What did I have to lose, right?" he asked, shooting Saffi a look. "Not like I had a wife anymore, a marriage, or a family that supported me. So with a little help from google on how to make a good video without looking like crap seeing how I was doing this on my own. I had looked up everything about the man. How he played, watching a lot of their videos so I could watch how his fingers moved along the neck of his guitar. I wasn't out to outplace the guy; that would just be rude. I thought if I could emulate his style then a strange new sound wouldn't off put their fans when they have listened to their songs for so long. I wanted to show that I respected his memory being so fresh in their minds."

"I would say it worked," Saffi said, smiling coyly at him.

"Who knew! I didn't think Haleema or the other two would even bother to watch the video I sent in to them. Little did I know of the events that would unfold two weeks later."

"How did you react when you got that notice that told you you'd made it to the second round?" Saffi asked, liking this side of him. Anger didn't suit his face all that well. She found his smile far more charming than that burning look of hatred.

"I was floored! I mean I knew I played well and all, yet to play for a band as well-known like Straža Smrti or at least have a chance to play for the members of the band I was excited as hell! However, I was also nervous as hell too," Magnus said, with a small smile.

"Why?!"

"Well, like I've said I've never been in a band, and I've never played in front of someone I didn't know," Magnus said, looking down bashfully.

"So who was it that got the pleasure in listening to those sweet melodies?" Saffi asked, enjoying how those cheeks of his heated. She found it rather cute.

"My grandmother. Before my grandfather died he would always play Flamenco and Malaguena for her especially when the sun was starting to set. When I was a little boy, I would watch as she would slowly twirl on the porch of their house, her hand held the side of her long skirt as she danced for him. She would always have these rose color cheeks as she did. My grandfather was the reason I wanted to play the guitar. He always said to me: music knows no creed, no race, no nationality, only the pure joy in the notes. It didn't matter where the music came from as long as it was played from the heart," Magnus said, a little sad as the memories of his grandfather flashed in his mind.

"He sounded like a very wise man," Saffi said, reaching across the patio table, her hand covering his. Her thumb softly brushed against the back of his hand.

"He was," Magnus nodded. "So when I was good enough and knew I wouldn't butcher the songs. One afternoon, this was before I met Iona, I raced over to her house. Throwing the strap over my head, the body of my acoustic resting against my chest. My fingers strummed the copper strings, playing Dark Gipsy -- another Spanish song -- to entice my grandmother out of the house. I knew she could hear me given how the windows were all open at that time of the year. I smiled as I heard the screen door open, my grandmother standing there just staring at me. Then..." A warm smile rose on Magnus's lips as he thought back to that day. "I started to play Flamenco; her hands flew to her lips as my fingers played those strings masterfully. I knew ever since grandpa died that she feared she would never hear it again. My heart grew in confidence as my grandmother began to twirl like she had always done for my grandfather..."

"She must have really been pleased and so happy that you did that for her?" Saffi asked, noting how he glanced down at her hand. Chills of excitement ran up her spine as her fingertips ran along the back of his hand as she leaned back into her seat.

"She was, so whenever I could, I would make sure I was there before sunset to play those songs to her, to let her know that grandpa's words still lived inside of me."

"Are you still in touch with her?"

"With my grandmother?" Magnus asked, to which Saffi nodded. "Of course, I am, I divorced my parents not my grandmother. So back to my story, I read the email they sent me over and over again sure they were pranking me. The date they wanted me there staring at me like it was going to reach out from the screen to swallow me hole. I paced my apartment like a mad man, my heart raced as I paced my living room as I debated on whether or not to reply my conformation. The money for the ticket wasn't a problem, it was the fear that I would freeze up when I got there. So... I sent the conformation before my nerves could get the better of me. My face fell into my hands wondering what I had done. After an hour of second guessing myself, I bought the plane ticket and made arrangements for my mail and other things to be taken care of while I was gone. I didn't know how long I'd be gone so I was covering my bases.

My grandmother took me to the airport. She was the only one I told where I was going. She wished me luck as she hugged me. I could see how proud she was knowing how my grandfather would have been overjoyed to know that I at least had the chance to follow my dreams just like how he wanted when he was my age, yet he had a family to raise. All through the flight I hoped and prayed I didn't fall flat on my face as I knew I would be taken straight to their studio once I landed. While I kept my cool on the outside, on the inside I was a nervous wreck as whomever they had hired drove me through downtown LA," Magnus said, pinching his leg underneath the table to make sure he wasn't dreaming. It still felt like a dream to him, even after they had just gotten back from finishing the tour on which Bobby Dean had died due to an overdose.

"So, what was your first impression of the band?"

"I mean, I was kind of star struck even if I didn't listen to the genre of music they produced. I was kind of intimidated when I stood before Haleema, Brandon, and George."

"Why did you feel intimidated?" Saffi asked. Writing down her observations of his emotions she could see so when she sat down to draft the article on him that she captured everything.

"Well," scratching his cheek, looking off to the side, "they were the professionals, I was just the guy off the street hoping, just hoping, that something would go right in my life for once," Magnus said, shrugging his shoulders. He wasn't going to mention that when Haleema was sitting there so elegantly in that director's chair. Her ebony hair streaked with bright chestnut highlights draped down her chest stopping at the tops of her breasts, which sat beneath a dark teal sleeveless halter top. Her Latino-African American heritage gave her the exotic look that he hadn't encountered, nor did he think he ever would. Her dark caramel skin glistened in the studio lights as those warm, deep dark brown eyes gazed at him as he stood before them. The way she sang had him thinking her voice would be on the high end, yet as she spoke to him it was soft, warm, enveloping him like a warm sensual blanket. Remembering how the denim of her blue jeans tightened around her leg as she lowered it to the floor as she rose. The way the scent of her perfume clung and drifted on the air as her eyes never left him. Nope. She didn't need to know about his depraved, lustful thoughts about Haleema.

"I have to say, I thought I (we), would never hear a sound like Bobby's again," Haleema said, as she stood before him.

"Well... I figured you would appreciate it and that the fans would too." Magnus couldn't believe how nervous he was acting even if he didn't show it. He tried to keep his eyes from noticing how lush, how soft, how inviting her lips were. How her dark brown eyes seemed to entice him into their warm depths. He had thought after what Iona had done to him that he wouldn't find someone that made him feel like he was at that time. However, the moment Haleema smiled he felt his heart racing, his body heating as she stood so close to him. While Magnus wasn't about to start anything, it was way too soon for that, he was just pleased that once this nightmare with Iona was finally over that he could find someone far more trustworthy than what his wife turned out to be.

"And we appreciate that." Seeing the other two nodding behind her. "While Bobby was a troubled soul, he was still a good man." Magnus could see the tears forming in her eyes, noticing how George, as he would come to later know him, reached over and brushed away a tear from Brandon's right cheek. Instantly, Magnus knew there was something between them. No one does that if there wasn't some kind of romantic connection between them. He for one hoped it lasted for them longer than his own did. "Now we've heard you play our sound; I want to hear yours."

"I can do that," Magnus nodded.

"Good. Whenever you're ready, the floor is yours." Haleema said, before backing away, watching how Magnus set his guitar case lightly down on the stand. Listening to the snapping sound of the clasps coming undone. The way his fingers lightly danced along the neck of his instrument. How he lightly lifted his Gibson from the velvet lining. To how he stood before the amp turning knobs like he had belonged there. The sound of the amp buzzing before becoming silent as Magnus inserted the cord into the jack.

Magnus breathed out slowly as he strummed the strings after having done a light tuning due to the long trip. Starting off with Lonnie Mack's 'I found a love' blues song, then going into Eric Clapton's 'Tears in Heaven', Charlie Musselwhite's 'Crazy for my Baby', and 'Big Fine Hunk Of Woman' by Rufus Thomas.

"That all?" Haleema asked, arching an eyebrow. She surely thought he would have prepared more than four songs to play when Magnus lifted the strap from his shoulders.

"No," Magnus said, shaking his head as he set his guitar in its case. "Mind if I use this?" he asked, pointing at the acoustic that sat in its stand. "The other songs wouldn't sound right on an electric," Magnus stated clarifying his intentions.

"No, go ahead," Haleema said, gesturing to the instrument. Pleased that it wasn't over so soon, and that he could play both types. The past few auditions they had gone through struggled to play one due to their singular use of the electric. Most of the videos had been dumped when most were just show offs who only wanted to upstage the band, she could see that if they had been chosen. She knew he had this audition in the bag: the act of respecting Bobby made it so when he sent in his audition tape. Her eyes grew wide as she heard 'Dark Gipsy' playing in the room. Her father loved that song among other Spanish guitar songs. She had to fight herself from reaching for some maracas and dancing as Magnus transitioned into Flamenco then Malaguena. How her hips wiggled in the seat as she watched how his hands moved over the neck, body, and the strings of the guitar.

"Wow... where did you learn to play like that?" Brandon asked, his pitch black dark hair was spiked and held high due to his hair gel. The metal of his wallet chain clinked against the wood as he shifted in his seat.

"Watching my grandfather play, the rest I picked up on my own," Magnus stated...

"Hmm... what?!" Magnus asked, returning to the present.

"I asked, how did you get along with the members of the band once you were signed on?" Saffi asked, repeating her question.

"Oh, George and Brandon helped me out a lot, namely letting me crash at their place until I could find my own. Showing me around the city, very supportive when they learned of my troubles with Iona. They didn't take to the fact that she was stepping out on me. Brandon telling me how his last boyfriend before he and George became a couple had been sleeping around without protection while they were on the road. Straight or gay no one likes a cheater. Then they tried to get me to go clubbing with them once I had packed up my stuff and moved out to LA, yet I wasn't in the mood for that. Iona's betrayal was still raw, ya know?" Magnus said, brushing his hand along his leg.

"I know the feeling," Saffi nodded in support. "So did you tell anyone that you were leaving Mississippi?"

"Other than my grandmother and my lawyer, no. Personally I didn't see the point, they already made their allegiance known, I saw no need to tell my birth givers where I was heading. So I packed up my stuff and slipped away in the dead of night. Then Haleema worked me to the bone," Magnus chuckled lightly. "For twelve hours a day for nearly a week she drilled me on the songs that were going to be played during the twenty shows they had left." His cheeks rapidly heated as he remembered how his eyes would always find a way to that taut apple shaped ass of hers whether they were in practice or on the stage. "Then the big day came, God, I was nervous as hell. It was their soft and caring words that stilled my nerves as the roar of the crowd could be heard through the walls of the stadium we were at."

"The Kansas City show?" Saffi asked, to which Magnus nodded. "What were your thoughts on it?"

"One: Haleema was amazing, she commanded that stage. The fans seemed to know that too," Magnus said, quickly adding to himself. "And god damn gorgeous in doing it."

"Two: I could see how some people let it all go to their heads and waste everything they had earned. So when I got my cut of my check for the twenty shows... I had been looking for places to live when we were on the road, when I wasn't in LA recording. I so wasn't about to pay California taxes or dealing with the smog there. Plus, I wasn't going back to my hometown, something my grandmother wasn't happy about, but she understood. I stumbled onto this place and bought it out right since it was in foreclosure. I didn't want to have mortgage payments and paying rent for an apartment in LA. Plus, no paparazzi out here. And that brings us to where we are," Magnus said, finishing detailing the events that led up to that very moment. There was more but Saffi or the world didn't need to know that. Watching Saffi switching off the recorder, before flipping her notepad closed.

"Magnus... Can I call you Magnus?" Saffi asked, her fingers fidgeting with her empty beer bottle.

"Sure."

"Would you mind if I took a few pictures of you?" Saffi asked, knowing if she could get a very good one then it would probably make the cover of next month's issue.

"No... I guess I'd be okay with that," Magnus said, arching an eyebrow.

"Excellent!" Saffi said, her tone chipper, as she shot him a wide smile. "Mind if we go inside and I'll scope out the best place to set this up?" Saffi bit the inside of her cheek to keep her excitement in check as Magnus shrugged his shoulders as he rose.

"You want to do it here?" Magnus asked, a little confused as they stood in his bedroom after wandering his house.

"Mmmhmm," Saffi nodded. "This has the best natural lighting," gesturing to the large windows, "and with the light off in your bathroom it will give me the best backdrop so this," her hands slowly moving up and down his body, "will be shown in the best light," she said, she couldn't wait to get him undressed and between her legs. Ever since they had sat down out on his patio she has been so wet. She wanted to make him forget about his wife seeing how his divorce hasn't gone through yet. She had learned they were dragging it out in hopes that Magnus would see reason. Obviously, they are blind, even she can see reconciliation was out of the question between Magnus and Iona. All they had to do was look in his eyes. "Plus, this way getting you onto your bed and fucking you silly will be way easier," Saffi said to herself.

"O-okay," Magnus said, finding this very odd. He wasn't a fool. He knew she had been slyly flirting with him during the whole interview. The lack of a bra and panties were a dead giveaway. If she wanted to fuck him why didn't she just say so? Yet Magnus could never understand a woman's mind, his time with Iona taught him that.

"And could you wet your hair, and take off your shirt," Saffi directed as she checked her camera. She had been wondering if those muscles were as hard as they appeared to be.

"Alright," Magnus said, shaking his head slightly as he walked into the bathroom. Tossing his shirt into the hamper, knowing if this went as he thought it would he wouldn't be getting dressed for a while. Wetting his hair like Saffi had asked him to, standing in the doorway, flipping off the lights. Pressing his forearms against the top molding of the doorframe as she directed him, making it appear as if he was leaning against it.

Saffi's mouth began to water as her eyes ran along his glistening wet hair, down his face, and his bare chest. "Look down like you're studying something on the floor," Saffi directed snapping off a couple of shots. "Now glance those beautiful, blue eyes at me," she ordered as she took to a knee. "Yes, yes, that's it! Perfect!" Feeling her nipples hardening as those eyes of his peered at her through the lens of her camera. "Now give me one of those sexy smirks..."

"Oh my..." Saffi moaned in her mind as a single droplet hung on a strand of his raven hair, the way the corner of his mouth was lifted in that coy smirk of his made her mound throb in anticipation. "What's that spot on your chest about?" Saffi asked, noticing the slight discoloration of his skin on his left pectoral muscle. While slyly glancing down at the growing bulge in his pants.​