Categories > Celebrities > Metallica > Ripe
Beware: This is the first fan fiction I haven’t aborted + English is not my mother tongue.
April 1985
I yawned loudly, looking around the diner to check the few clients; everybody seemed to be sedated, unwilling to talk or interact in any way more than strictly necessary. I decided to read a bit and quickly got enthralled in my new book, 'Level 7' by Mordecai Roshwald. I was a big fan of science fiction, horror literature, cyberpunk and dystopian novels, much to my parents’ chagrin; they considered my literary tastes to be too trivial, but I always had believed their accusation to be baseless.
I didn’t even notice the ring of the doorbell, signaling the entrance of two new customers; when I heard a strong cough, I almost jumped in surprise. As I took notice of the guys standing in front of me, my eyes widened: Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett were looking at me smiling. I gasped and started to babble, unable to form a coherent sentence. Get a grip on yourself, you idiot, it’s not like you’re talking to the President! I thought. Except I couldn’t care less about the President, while I adored those guys.
Cliff came to my rescue, asking me if they could order. I wrote down their orders and passed them to the cook, pausing in the kitchen to take a deep breath. They live here, they have to eat, of course there was the possibility to meet them, sooner or later. Now stop embarrassing yourself and treat them like normal people. Garrett, the cook, gave me a weird look. I shook my head and marched outside, determined to ask the guys for their autographs, and maybe share a few words with them.
I spotted Cliff and Kirk sitting at a table next to the door, grabbed the block note, a pen, and went to greet them; as I approached, they raised their heads and smiled at me.
“Hi, uh, I’m April, a big fan of your band. I was wondering if I could have your autographs.”
“Sure” said Cliff, signing my block notes and passing it to Kirk. “Have you already listened to our last album?”
“'Ride the Lightning'? Sure, it was great, even better than Kill’em All. Not that that was bad, only… rawer, yeah.” Ok, now try not to ruin everything, all right?
Kirk gave me back my block notes and said “Nice book you were reading, by the way. Are you a sci-fi fan?”
“Oh yeah, totally, since I was a kid.”
“Why don’t you sit with us, since there are so few customers? It’s always nice to talk with a fan, especially one with good taste in books.” said Kirk. Cliff snickered. I almost fainted. “Sure, uh, just let me get your food.”
I served them and took a glass of Coke for myself; we started talking about literature and movies. I loosened up quickly, it was easy talking to these guys, they made me feel comfortable.
We were in the middle of an argument about ‘Blade Runner’ when Cliff, glancing at my hands gripping the glass, exclaimed, “You have very short nails, that’s unusual for a chick.”
“That’s because I’m a bassist.” I answered.
“Really? What kind of music do you play? Don’t tell me you’re in a metal band!”
“Actually, yes, we formed past year and we have written a bunch of songs and performed live a few times, but we have yet to record an album.” I said, finishing my drink. “We play doom metal.”
“Uh? I’ve never heard of that.” said Kirk frowning.
“It’s a very underground scene, there’s not many of us out there. Think of Black Sabbath: slow and heavy.”
“Slow? How can metal be slow?” laughed Kirk.
“You would be surprised.” I said grinning.
“Ok then, if we promise to come back tomorrow, will you give us something to listen to?”
“Sure, I work here every morning from Monday to Friday. I’ll be happy to see you.”
“Wait a moment” interrupted Cliff “I have no intention to wake up early another morning anytime soon. You’ll have to go alone, man.”
Kirk rolled his eyes “Dude, I woke you up at nine.”
“An ungodly hour! You better not do that again.”
“Whatever. Well, we gotta go now. See you tomorrow, April.” said Kirk, smiling at me.
After they left, I realized what had just happened and felt dumbfounded. Had Kirk Hammett promised to meet me again? Did he really want to chat with me? I couldn’t believe that. Not only I had met half of Metallica, I was befriending them!
After my shift finished, I went for my daily running in the park and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to choose the best record to introduce Kirk to the realm of doom; in the end I opted for the first Saint Vitus album. That evening, when I met the guys of the band for rehearsal, I decided not to tell them about Kirk and Cliff; I wanted it to be my secret.
The morning after, the diner was much more crowded than the day before; when Kirk came in, I had no time to spend with him.
“I’m sorry I cannot talk with you right now, but I’ve brought you something as I promised.” I said, giving him the LP.
“Don’t worry, I understand. Could we meet after work?”
“Sure! At 3 p.m. in front of here. Is it ok for you?”
“Great. I’ll go listen to your album now, I’m curious to hear what you are into.” He said grinning.
A quarter to three, I was already in front of the diner. I had decided to wear a red dress that my housemate had convinced me to buy, saying that it flattered my body shape and that red was definitely my colour. I had let my hair loose and discarded high heels in favor of flats, since Kirk was only about an inch taller than me. Was I trying to impress him? Being a bassist, Cliff was my favourite member of the band, but I considered Kirk to be the cutest. I didn’t just want to bed him, though; I wanted to know him, to be his friend primary, and maybe, just maybe, become his girlfriend. He had got me hooked. I had never wallowed in such fantasies before and it still all seemed surreal to me. At three o’ clock, Kirk arrived; he looked so good, with those beautiful curly hair, brown eyes and luscious lips. “Hey April!” he greeted me “you look really good in that dress.”
“Uh, thanks. So, have you listened to the album I gave you?”
“Yes, but if you don’t mind I’ll give it back to you another day. I made Cliff listen to it too and he said he wanted to ‘assimilate’ it better.” he said laughing.
“It’s ok. But what about you? Did you like it?”
“It’s… interesting, not exactly my cup of tea, but I liked the gloomy atmosphere of it.”
“Ok, I can accept that.” I replied smiling. “Is Cliff still at home listening to it?”
“Yeah, it’s only the two of us, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Would you like to go for a walk in the park?”
We ended up spending all the afternoon together, talking and laughing, I really enjoyed is company. Kirk looked at his watch. “It’s a quarter past seven, would you like to join me for dinner?”
“Is it so late? At eight I have to join my band for rehearsal, I need to go home and take my bass.” I was worried; Joel, our singer and band leader, always expected punctuality from us. I didn’t want to hear one of his endless tirades about professionalism.
“How long does it take for you to reach your friends?”
“Half an hour by bus.”
“I would give you a ride, but…”
“Don’t worry, I can make it. See ya.”
“Wait just a moment!” he said, taking out a pen from his pocket. He scribbled a phone number on the back of my hand, “call me whenever you want” he said. I made it in time, but managed to get scolded anyway because I played with my head in the clouds. I have Kirk Hammett’s phone number. I have Kirk Hammett’s phone number. was the only thing I could think about.
Author’s note: The label “Doom metal” was actually codified in 1986 after the album “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus” by Candlemass, but we can let it slide.
April 1985
I yawned loudly, looking around the diner to check the few clients; everybody seemed to be sedated, unwilling to talk or interact in any way more than strictly necessary. I decided to read a bit and quickly got enthralled in my new book, 'Level 7' by Mordecai Roshwald. I was a big fan of science fiction, horror literature, cyberpunk and dystopian novels, much to my parents’ chagrin; they considered my literary tastes to be too trivial, but I always had believed their accusation to be baseless.
I didn’t even notice the ring of the doorbell, signaling the entrance of two new customers; when I heard a strong cough, I almost jumped in surprise. As I took notice of the guys standing in front of me, my eyes widened: Cliff Burton and Kirk Hammett were looking at me smiling. I gasped and started to babble, unable to form a coherent sentence. Get a grip on yourself, you idiot, it’s not like you’re talking to the President! I thought. Except I couldn’t care less about the President, while I adored those guys.
Cliff came to my rescue, asking me if they could order. I wrote down their orders and passed them to the cook, pausing in the kitchen to take a deep breath. They live here, they have to eat, of course there was the possibility to meet them, sooner or later. Now stop embarrassing yourself and treat them like normal people. Garrett, the cook, gave me a weird look. I shook my head and marched outside, determined to ask the guys for their autographs, and maybe share a few words with them.
I spotted Cliff and Kirk sitting at a table next to the door, grabbed the block note, a pen, and went to greet them; as I approached, they raised their heads and smiled at me.
“Hi, uh, I’m April, a big fan of your band. I was wondering if I could have your autographs.”
“Sure” said Cliff, signing my block notes and passing it to Kirk. “Have you already listened to our last album?”
“'Ride the Lightning'? Sure, it was great, even better than Kill’em All. Not that that was bad, only… rawer, yeah.” Ok, now try not to ruin everything, all right?
Kirk gave me back my block notes and said “Nice book you were reading, by the way. Are you a sci-fi fan?”
“Oh yeah, totally, since I was a kid.”
“Why don’t you sit with us, since there are so few customers? It’s always nice to talk with a fan, especially one with good taste in books.” said Kirk. Cliff snickered. I almost fainted. “Sure, uh, just let me get your food.”
I served them and took a glass of Coke for myself; we started talking about literature and movies. I loosened up quickly, it was easy talking to these guys, they made me feel comfortable.
We were in the middle of an argument about ‘Blade Runner’ when Cliff, glancing at my hands gripping the glass, exclaimed, “You have very short nails, that’s unusual for a chick.”
“That’s because I’m a bassist.” I answered.
“Really? What kind of music do you play? Don’t tell me you’re in a metal band!”
“Actually, yes, we formed past year and we have written a bunch of songs and performed live a few times, but we have yet to record an album.” I said, finishing my drink. “We play doom metal.”
“Uh? I’ve never heard of that.” said Kirk frowning.
“It’s a very underground scene, there’s not many of us out there. Think of Black Sabbath: slow and heavy.”
“Slow? How can metal be slow?” laughed Kirk.
“You would be surprised.” I said grinning.
“Ok then, if we promise to come back tomorrow, will you give us something to listen to?”
“Sure, I work here every morning from Monday to Friday. I’ll be happy to see you.”
“Wait a moment” interrupted Cliff “I have no intention to wake up early another morning anytime soon. You’ll have to go alone, man.”
Kirk rolled his eyes “Dude, I woke you up at nine.”
“An ungodly hour! You better not do that again.”
“Whatever. Well, we gotta go now. See you tomorrow, April.” said Kirk, smiling at me.
After they left, I realized what had just happened and felt dumbfounded. Had Kirk Hammett promised to meet me again? Did he really want to chat with me? I couldn’t believe that. Not only I had met half of Metallica, I was befriending them!
After my shift finished, I went for my daily running in the park and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to choose the best record to introduce Kirk to the realm of doom; in the end I opted for the first Saint Vitus album. That evening, when I met the guys of the band for rehearsal, I decided not to tell them about Kirk and Cliff; I wanted it to be my secret.
The morning after, the diner was much more crowded than the day before; when Kirk came in, I had no time to spend with him.
“I’m sorry I cannot talk with you right now, but I’ve brought you something as I promised.” I said, giving him the LP.
“Don’t worry, I understand. Could we meet after work?”
“Sure! At 3 p.m. in front of here. Is it ok for you?”
“Great. I’ll go listen to your album now, I’m curious to hear what you are into.” He said grinning.
A quarter to three, I was already in front of the diner. I had decided to wear a red dress that my housemate had convinced me to buy, saying that it flattered my body shape and that red was definitely my colour. I had let my hair loose and discarded high heels in favor of flats, since Kirk was only about an inch taller than me. Was I trying to impress him? Being a bassist, Cliff was my favourite member of the band, but I considered Kirk to be the cutest. I didn’t just want to bed him, though; I wanted to know him, to be his friend primary, and maybe, just maybe, become his girlfriend. He had got me hooked. I had never wallowed in such fantasies before and it still all seemed surreal to me. At three o’ clock, Kirk arrived; he looked so good, with those beautiful curly hair, brown eyes and luscious lips. “Hey April!” he greeted me “you look really good in that dress.”
“Uh, thanks. So, have you listened to the album I gave you?”
“Yes, but if you don’t mind I’ll give it back to you another day. I made Cliff listen to it too and he said he wanted to ‘assimilate’ it better.” he said laughing.
“It’s ok. But what about you? Did you like it?”
“It’s… interesting, not exactly my cup of tea, but I liked the gloomy atmosphere of it.”
“Ok, I can accept that.” I replied smiling. “Is Cliff still at home listening to it?”
“Yeah, it’s only the two of us, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Would you like to go for a walk in the park?”
We ended up spending all the afternoon together, talking and laughing, I really enjoyed is company. Kirk looked at his watch. “It’s a quarter past seven, would you like to join me for dinner?”
“Is it so late? At eight I have to join my band for rehearsal, I need to go home and take my bass.” I was worried; Joel, our singer and band leader, always expected punctuality from us. I didn’t want to hear one of his endless tirades about professionalism.
“How long does it take for you to reach your friends?”
“Half an hour by bus.”
“I would give you a ride, but…”
“Don’t worry, I can make it. See ya.”
“Wait just a moment!” he said, taking out a pen from his pocket. He scribbled a phone number on the back of my hand, “call me whenever you want” he said. I made it in time, but managed to get scolded anyway because I played with my head in the clouds. I have Kirk Hammett’s phone number. I have Kirk Hammett’s phone number. was the only thing I could think about.
Author’s note: The label “Doom metal” was actually codified in 1986 after the album “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus” by Candlemass, but we can let it slide.
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