Authors: Heidi Hutchinson
Or maybe he was
falling in love with her.
***
Lenny’s mind
refused to let her fall asleep. Again. Long after the crew had come
back to the bus and had filled the bunks, she was still lying in the
darkness. Waiting for exhaustion to win out over her thoughts. The
lines were blurring between her job and her desire to be their
friend. Especially Luke.
She couldn’t
explain the irresistible pull she felt towards him. She got along
with the other guys really well, but Luke…he was special.
Every time they had eye contact it felt like she was getting
electrocuted. In a good way.
She sighed and
rolled over to face the wall. Why did he have to be so damn perfect?
Tonight he hadn’t even made a move; he had simply held her,
without expectations. That was new, especially considering his
reputation. Then that conversation earlier that exposed so much of
his complicated loveliness... and now he was asking her to move to
his bus. No way would Carl be okay with that. It had to stop; she
couldn't let it go any further.
It was protection
for him just as much as it was for her.
An unexplainable
tear made it’s way out of the corner of her eye and traveled
down to the pillow.
“
I
am the king of this castle!” Blake shouted from the top of the
bar. He lifted his beer pitcher high in the air and the crowd
cheered as he started to pour it down his throat, spilling frothy
overflow onto the front of his shirt.
“
CHUG!
CHUG! CHUG!” The spectators shouted at his feet, pumping their
fists in the air.
“
How
the hell did this happen?!” Carl snarled as he and Lenny tried
to push through the mass of people to get to the inebriated
guitarist.
“
I
don’t know, Carl! They lied to me!” Lenny yelled back
angrily.
The day had started
very differently from where it was ending up. Lenny had told the
guys she was going to the beach with some of the merch booth girls.
But she didn’t.
Carl
had wanted her to follow the guys and make sure they didn’t
cause trouble and negative headlines. Lenny thought he was being
just a touch too controlling but he was her boss, she didn’t
want to tell him
that
two weeks into her employment.
Besides, she really
didn’t think the guys would get into any trouble. They’d
been on the road for a little while now and they had shown no
interest in the former things that had tainted the atmosphere of
their previous tour. Lenny had to wonder if Carl was just being
overly pessimistic or if there was some truth to his anxiety.
Luke and Mike went
offshore fishing. Easy enough. All Carl had to do was follow them to
the pier and wait in a small café till they returned.
Sway, Harrison and
Blake said they were going to a local water park. Lenny suspected
Carl had her follow those three because she was younger and would
blend in easier with the youthful crowd. She was thankful that she
could wear her bathing suit and still get a tan, adding to her alibi
of going to the beach.
The guys rented a
private cabana but that didn't limit their social capacity. It did,
however, make it easier for Lenny to track them.
Sway had women all
over him, constantly bringing him lemonade and reapplying sunscreen
to him every ten minutes. Harrison and Blake were much more active,
they enjoyed the rides and were very affable with the fans that
recognized them, signing autographs and posing for photos. Lenny had
been impressed with their graciousness and humility.
Sometime in the late
afternoon, Lenny lost them. They left the water park early and Lenny
got stuck in traffic. This is exactly what Carl didn’t want to
happen.
Desperate, she
called Harrison on his cell, thinking he was the most likely to tell
her the truth.
“
Hey
Lenny, how’s the beach?” He sounded nervous, that wasn't
good.
“
We
came back early, Tanya got a sunburn.” That would be an easy
cover, Tanya was always sunburned. “Where are you guys?”
She tried to sound curious but not overly so.
“
Um,
we’re headed to a movie downtown.” He didn’t sound
like himself and Lenny could hear Sway whispering something to him in
the background. “I have to go, it’s about to start.”
And he hung up.
Lenny had no choice
but to believe them so she pointed the rental car in that direction.
But they weren’t downtown. They went to the far west side. To
a biker bar.
About the same time
Lenny figured out they weren’t at the theater, she saw a
picture sent to her on Twitter of Blake having a drinking contest
with the lead guitarist from their opening act, Juniper Highlights.
Cursing herself for
being so naïve and cursing them for lying, Lenny called Carl.
They each raced to the bar to attempt to stop what they both feared.
But by the time they got there, it was too late. Blake had already
crawled up on top of the bar. And now he was waving his shirt over
his head.
Lenny got to him
first and shoved other patrons out of the way. She grabbed him by
his pant legs and shouted up at him, “Blake! Please come down!”
“
Pretty
Lenny!” He smiled at her happily, “C’mere, Pretty
Lenny.” He wriggled his hips to the beat and attempted what
Lenny could only guess to be his best
Coyote
Ugly
moves. His words were slurred and he was weaving a little on the
bar. Out of the corner of her eye Lenny saw dozens of camera phones
taking pictures. The place was packed.
This was a
nightmare.
She
climbed up on the bar with him much to the pleasure of the crowd.
The air was now filled with cat calls and whistles. Ignoring all the
requests for her to take off her
own
shirt, Lenny grabbed Blake tightly by the shoulders and began to help
him down off the bar into Carl’s waiting arms. His skin had a
fine sheen of sweat mixed with beer and Lenny's fingers had
difficulty getting a decent grip on him. She was forced to hold him
close to her to keep from dropping him. The stench turned her
stomach and added to her already pissed off state.
As they helped him
through the crowd, he stumbled, and Lenny and Carl had to hold him up
on each side. Sway and Harrison emerged from the mass of bodies and
were met with angry glares from both Lenny and Carl.
“
Can
we help?” Harrison asked.
“
Pay
your friends tab!” Lenny bit out. She ignored Harrison's wide
eyes. She felt her anger burning low in her belly and knew she was
on the verge of losing her temper.
Blake, oblivious to
Lenny's ire, started singing along with the music and tried to dance
again but fell instead. He sat down hard on the floor with his legs
splayed out in front of him like a toddler. He reached his arms up
towards Lenny and gave her a sloppy grin.
“
Kiss
me!” He declared. “Kiss me now!” And then he
dissolved into uncontrolled giggles.
Lenny ground her
teeth together, her heart beginning to hammer with barely controlled
rage. She and Carl helped him back into a standing position and
maneuvered him through the door and into the parking lot. Blake's arm
was haphazardly pulling her hair as he tried to keep his own balance
and Lenny grimaced.
Waiting outside were
the punkers from Juniper Highlights, doubled over in laughter. Lenny
used all the self-control she had left to move past them and get
Blake in the van before any media showed up. But then, they started
heckling.
“
Your
mama had to come get ya, huh?” The tall skinny one laughed.
Lenny's face was already flushed with exertion but she felt a new
surge of heat bloom across her cheeks.
For some reason,
Blake felt it necessary to defend himself; he pushed Lenny and Carl
away and held up his fists, charging towards the mockers. “I’ll
kick your ass!” He was threatening when he stumbled and fell
backwards. Lenny and Carl helped him up again. The punkers were
laughing even harder now.
Lenny
shot a death glare in their direction but kept moving.
We
just need to get out of here.
Lenny tried to focus on the task at hand.
“
Guess
you can’t hold you drink as well as you thought, huh, old man!”
More laughter. Lenny literally bit her tongue and tasted blood.
She exchanged glances with Carl from behind Blake's shoulders and he
shook his head at her. He must've been reading her mind.
“
There’s
nothing worse than a talent-less, washed up rock star who doesn’t
know when to quit!”
That was the last
straw. Lenny'd had a long day. She was beyond angry at this point.
Of all the mistakes she had made that day, letting a some dick-less
moron talk trash about someone she considered a friend would not be
another one.
“
HEY!”
Lenny whirled on them, dropping Blake into Carl’s arms.
“Blake Diedrich has more talent in one earlobe that you have in
your entire piss poor excuse of a band!”
Then she charged.
She was lunging, her vision completely red, when she felt two strong
arms grab her by her waist and pull her back. She pushed the arms
away, clawing to get to the punkers. She broke free and tore towards
them once more.
“
Who
do you think you are? Huh? You’re no one!” She screamed
as she rushed them. She shoved the guy and he fell to the ground
with a thud, her eyes blazed with fury as she cocked her left leg up
to kick him in the chest. Suddenly the arms grabbed a tight hold of
her again and lifted her up and backwards, retreating to the waiting
van.
The frightened
hecklers had fallen silent. Sway handed Lenny over to Harrison who
pulled her into the van and closed the door. He got in the front
passenger seat and Carl squealed the tires on the van as he whipped
out of the parking lot.
Lenny was in the
backseat breathing hard, blood boiling. Her body trembling with the
adrenaline surge. Harrison tentatively touched her arm to calm her
down but she jerked away.
“
Are
you kidding me?!” She yelled. “What the hell?” She
threw her head against the back of the seat and closed her eyes,
angry tears pushing out from under her eyelids.
“
I’m
sorry, Lenny-” Harrison began, his expression pale.
“
Don’t!”
She snapped, pointing her finger at him. She rubbed the wetness off
her face and smelled the beer on her hands from carrying Blake. She
let out another growl and wiped her hands on her jeans.
“
Lenny,”
Sway leaned around the seat but Carl reached over and put his hand
on his chest, signaling him to stop.
No one dared to
speak the rest of the trip. By the time they made it back to the
buses, Blake was ready to throw up. Lenny helped him to a patch of
grass a few yards away and rubbed his back as he heaved.
Carl took Harrison
and Sway inside the bus and proceeded to lecture them for their
recklessness and irresponsibility. Lenny would have laughed if she
wouldn't have been so mad; he was treating them like teenagers.
She rubbed Blake’s
back as he clutched the earth, holding on for dear life. As his body
expelled the alcohol again and again, he began to cry. Lenny didn’t
feel it appropriate or beneficial for her to say anything.
“
I’m
so sorry.” Blake sobbed over and over again. “I’m
sorry, Lenny... p-pretty, pretty Lenny…” More heaving.
Luke and Mike came
around the corner of the bus. Lenny's heart caught slightly as she
and Luke held eye contact. She knew she was mirroring the frown on
his face but she didn't know what to say. He glanced up at the bus
where she could still hear Carl yelling.
Suddenly, Carl came
stomping down the stairs and huffed out into the darkness. His
lighter ignited his cigarette and then he paced around the parking
lot like a caged animal, kicking rocks and randomly yelling.