Authors: Heidi Hutchinson
Luke went up inside
the bus and took his turn yelling at Sway and Harrison. Lenny wasn't
even surprised. She knew how deeply Luke cared for his mates.
Mike slowly shuffled
over and sat down near Blake with his back against a tree.
“
You
never did know when to stop,” Mike remarked pensively. He let
his head drop between his knees and rubbed the back of his neck with
one hand.
Lenny could tell
Mike was thinking about more than just tonight’s incident. Her
anger slowly dissipated and turned into compassion. They had seen
their share of success and failure. They knew each other's ugly
sides better than anyone. How hard it must be to see someone you
care about slip into old habits, long conquered.
She looked at Carl,
still having a fit in the distance, and she understood his worries
better. She was wrong. He wasn’t being controlling, he was
being realistic.
“
At
least we got there before he went full college coed on us.”
Lenny joked lightly.
“
Yeah?
Where’s his shirt?” Mike raised his eyebrows pointedly.
Lenny shrugged in
mock confusion, making Mike laugh.
“
I
think I’m dying.” Blake moaned from the grass.
“
You’re
not dying, don’t be so dramatic.” Lenny rubbed his back
as he hurled some more. “You’re gonna be hella sick
tomorrow, though.” She added with a touch of sympathy in her
voice. Blake groaned in response.
“
How
was the fishing?” Lenny looked at Mike.
“
Good.”
Mike's expression softened with the subject change. “Peaceful.”
“
You
do anything this exciting?” She gestured to Blake.
Mike chuckled, “Not
in a long time.”
Lenny motioned to
Mike to help her get Blake, who had finally stopped vomiting, into a
standing position. They helped him up the steps and into the bus,
pushing past the lecture in the front room. Luke stopped yelling and
assisted in getting Blake into his bunk.
Lenny set a garbage
can next to him and propped pillows behind his back so he was lying
on his side. She took a seat on the floor and leaned against the
opposite bunk.
“
I’ll
stay with him tonight in case we need to go to the hospital.”
She was worried and annoyed at the same time. She should have taken
Carl more seriously. How was she going to repair this?
Harrison
and Sway felt badly, it was obvious. They
should
feel bad. They had broken their promise to Carl, they lied to Lenny
and now Blake had to be watched to make sure he didn't die in his own
vomit.
Mike nodded and
headed for the door. He grabbed Luke’s arm, pulling him with,
on the way out.
Luke stopped
momentarily and touched Lenny’s shoulder. “You sure?”
She nodded but
couldn't look up at him. She felt too responsible for all of this.
Luke paused just
above her then he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “You’re
amazing,” he whispered in her ear before he followed Mike out
of the bus.
Lenny expelled the
air in her lungs slowly. Luke’s sweet gesture had sent shivers
through her. She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling.
The lines between professionalism and friendship were tangling. But
she was too tired to care at the moment.
She
watched Blake’s sleeping form, his mouth hanging open. She was
more upset that they had lied to her than she was about the drinking
in general.
I'm
the worst kind of hypocrite,
she
thought bitterly. What kind of right did she have to be angry with
them for lying when that's basically all she had done since she'd met
them?
She should have kept
a closer visual on them. She hoped Carl wasn’t going to fire
her. It would probably depend on what the media reported tomorrow.
Sway and Harrison
hung their heads like ashamed puppies and went to bed without saying
a word. Lenny knew she had scared them with her outburst and part of
her was satisfied. She chuckled inwardly. If Sway hadn't stopped her
she would have given that little douche bag a good thrashing. She
hadn’t let her anger get the better of her in a long time. It
felt kinda good to unleash the back country girl, she had missed her.
***
Mike sat on the
couch across from Luke and contemplated how to address the growing
concern he had for his band mate's feelings in regards to their new
assistant. He had thought it was a brief crush, but now he wasn't so
sure. Mike could see the attachment to her gaining strength and he
didn't want to see his friend get hurt. Either one of them.
“
What's
going on with you and Lenny?”
Luke's eyebrows drew
together and his mouth ticked up on one side. “I'm not sure
what you mean. Can you be more specific?”
Mike rolled his
eyes. Was he really trying to play coy about this? It was
definitely not his usual.
“
C'mon,
man.” Mike scratched the back of his head in frustration.
“It's me.”
Luke took a deep
breathe and looked down at the floor. He leaned forward, bracing his
forearms on his knees and looked back up at Mike. His face was
serious and almost inquisitive.
He dropped his voice
to just above a hush, like he was afraid someone would hear him.
“You know all those things we sing about? Love, passion,
truth, beauty, life...?”
Mike nodded, feeling
his frown deepen.
Luke shook his head
slightly, as if he didn't believe what he was about to say. He
rubbed his face aggressively with one hand and chuckled sardonically
at himself. “When I look at Lenny...I feel like I finally know
what those songs are talking about.” He pushed back in his
chair and closed his eyes, “Do I sound completely crazy?”
Mike held back a
smile and answered quietly, “No, you don't sound crazy.”
***
Lenny left the bus
early while everyone was still sleeping. She had a lot of time to
think throughout the night as she watched over Blake. She was still
disappointed that they had lied to her, but this wasn’t her
first experience with a bunch of guys hell bent on getting messed up.
She had three older brothers, after all. And that didn't even cover
half the things she'd seen grown men do when testosterone got
involved.
She went across the
street to a local fast food restaurant and ordered copious amounts of
greasy hash browns, breakfast sandwiches and coffee. She had one of
the employees help her transport her large order, promising him a
free CD in return.
Carl was waiting in
his usual spot for coffee. It was a relief to Lenny because she
wasn’t sure how mad he was at her from the night before. She
handed him his coffee and waved him into the Red Bus where she
deposited the rest of her bundle. She thanked the employee for his
help and gave him the CD.
“
Aren’t
you the girl who tried to knock out Travis Cline last night?”
The kid asked, referring to the lead singer of Juniper Highlights
that Lenny had attacked outside the bar. The kid had stars in his
eyes; he was acting like he had just met a celebrity.
“
Were
you there?” Lenny asked, eying him suspiciously. He looked too
young to have been at the bar.
“
Nah,
my buddy sent me the video in my email.” He held up his phone
and showed Lenny a grainy replay of her outburst and Sway throwing
her into the back of the van.
She tried to feign
indifference. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“
C’mon,
that was
awesome!
”
The kid argued. Carl gently grabbed the young man’s elbow,
unsuccessfully trying to hide his smirk.
“
Take
your CD, kid. Thanks for the help.” He turned him over to
security at the bottom of the stairs to continue his exit.
“
I
thought we should have a family meeting,” she started to
explain, ignoring what had just happened with the internet video as
she unpacked her purchases on the table top.
“
I’m
not mad at you, Lenny.” Carl got her to look at him.
“
You
have every right to be, Carl. I let you down.”
Carl gave a lopsided
grin, “No, actually, you didn’t.” Lenny frowned at
him and he continued. “I watched all the media coverage of last
night’s incident and no one has video of Blake’s ‘King
of the Castle’ speech. But there is video everywhere of a
blonde bad-ass attempting to take out Travis Cline.”
Lenny’s face
fell, “Oh, no.”
Carl laughed, “It’s
alright, Len. You saved the day.” He laughed again at her
horrified expression. “I’m just glad Sway got to you
before you could do any real damage and I had to bail you out of
jail.”
Lenny finally saw
the humor in it and let out a small laugh herself. “Yeah, I
woulda hurt him pretty bad.” What she didn't say, was that her
reason for panic was two-fold. If she was identified in that video
it could cause even more trouble.
I'm sure the sponsors would
love that kind of publicity.
They heard a groan
from Blake’s bunk, interrupting Lenny's thoughts and she went
to help him up.
“
What
the f-.” Blake was holding his head and trying to sit upright.
“
C’mon,
your Majesty,” Lenny helped him up and to bathroom.
When she heard the
toilet flush she reminded, “Make sure you wash your hands.”
She was talking too loudly on purpose and Carl chuckled.
Blake staggered out
of the small bathroom and Lenny led him to the booth of waiting food.
His face turned up at the smell and he tried to pull away.
“
No,
no, no.” Lenny prodded, “You have a show tonight and you
need a healthy breakfast.” She unwrapped the hash browns for
him and raised an expectant eyebrow.
Blake grimaced but
surrendered and took a bite. After a few more small tastes he
started eating normally and even asked for some coffee. Lenny sat
next to him in the booth and put her hand on his back. She ignored
Carl's watchful eye. If she expected these guys to be upfront with
her from now on, she was going to have to let some of her own walls
come down.
Carl texted Luke and
Mike to join them and he pulled Sway and Harrison from their bunks,
literally. He was obviously still mad at them. They all gathered
around the food silently. Carl let them eat for awhile before he
spoke.
“
Last
night was stupid.” His voice was calm but serious. “The
only thing that saved your asses from a full blown media evisceration
was this girl, right here, going all Chuck Norris on that idiot.”
He pointed at Lenny and the guys snickered quietly. “We’ve
got a few more months before we can call it a day, you know what I
mean?” They all nodded.
The air was quiet
and Lenny was again struck with compassion for the guys. While she
was mad that they lied to her and Blake had come dangerously close to
alcohol poisoning, she understood how badly they needed to expel some
energy. They were rock stars after all.
“
Thanks,
Len.” Blake gestured with his food and then looked down at the
table.
“
Don’t
think you’re off the hook with me,” Lenny was stern, “I’m
still angry with you.” She sighed, “but I get it, more
than you know.”
Mike’s brow
furrowed at her slight confession and he exchanged a look with Luke
who shrugged. Lenny didn't feel the need to explain herself. The
time for that would come later.
“
Next
time you feel the need to prove your manhood, come and see me first.
I have some alternatives that might interest you.” She slid
out of the booth and started for the door.
“
Where
you goin?” Sway asked.