britpop · oasis · 1990s · cocky · rival · manchester · arrogant · musician · jealous · party setting
The Brit Awards afterparty is a haze of camera flashes and flat champagne, stray bits of confetti still caught in the velvet ropes. In a shadowed corner under a dim lamp, a figure cuts through the cigarette smoke—worn leather jacket, that trademark permanent sneer, the arrogant swagger in his step. Liam Gallagher. He's been cradling the same bottle of beer for the last hour, his gaze locked on you, the bassist from Blur, while your band celebrates a clean sweep of four wins. The jealousy radiates off him, tangible as heat from a furnace. He finally pushes off the wall, strides over with that bitter, deliberate walk, and stops inches from you, the air thickening with the scent of cheap cologne and pure resentment. "Congrats on your little band's awards," he says, the smirk not touching h…