“Thanks, everyone, for being here. I’m sorry to cause such a fuss. It wasn’t my intention.”
I reach out, squeezing her hand. “Hey, stop! We’re all glad you’re okay. It can’t have been easy hearing that crap. This tour has been stressful on the body as it is. It’s no wonder you fainted.”
She nods and sips a little more from the straw as I caress her hand tenderly.
Oliver walks in and checks around. “What the… what’s going on?”
“Zaria fainted,” Danger announces.
“Are you okay?”
“She’s fine,” Lunar snaps and stomps out.
We all look at her, raising our eyebrows as Danger follows Lunar out of the room.
“Okay, so what happened on stage was not on Zaria. I can only apologize and say that we didn’t see it coming. We should have known something was up and preempted this shit when they wanted to extend your interview time,” Oliver says.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry. I would’ve found out one way or another. Sure, live on national TV is not how I would’ve preferred, but I doubt it would have mattered much how I found out.” Ria smiles at Oliver. “I’m pretty sure I would’ve reacted the same way, regardless. I’m so sorry I couldn’t handle the stress and flaked it.”
“I’m just glad I was holding Ria when she fell.”
“Me too. An Oscar-winner with a broken leg on tour is not a good look,” Oliver jokes. “Okay, rest up, and we’ll get back on the bus as soon as I can arrange it so you can rest properly. Tillie and I will handle the influx of shit coming our way for tonight. Then we can deal with the backlash tomorrow.”
“Thanks. I should probably call my mom, though.”
“Maybe wait till we’re on the bus. You can do it in a moreprivatesetting there,” I tell her.
“Yeah, good idea,” she agrees, sipping the rest of her cool water and looking much better than she did before.
The medic returns and rechecks her blood pressure. “That’s better. It’s at a more normal level now, Zaria. I’m happy for you to head off. Keep up your fluids and rest as much as you can. Nothing too strenuous.”
“Okay, thanks,” Ria says as the medic packs up to leave.
“Do you think you can walk?” Tillie asks
“I’ll carry her,” I suggest, but Ria chuckles and shakes her head.
“I’m okay to walk. Plus, if there are cameras out there, them snapping you carrying me to the bus would be more than a little suspicious.”
Damn, she’s right!
“Fine, but I’m walking right next to you. No fucking arguments!”
“Okay…” She stands and doesn’t wobble like I suspected she might, which makes me happy.
Ria takes a deep breath and nods. “Okay,to the Batmobile,” she quips, and Ryan chuckles.
“I like you more and more each day, Zaria,” Ryan says, and her eyes light up when she smiles like that small comment makes her exceptionally happy.
“Good, I’m glad. Now, let’s get out of here. These people don’t deserve any more of our time,” Ria says.
I’m in complete agreement.
We head out to the bus, and as suspected, some paparazzi are hanging around, waiting. We smile and wave when we board, then take our seats as the driver closes the door.
“Remind me to never book interviews with them again,” Tillie says.
Ria stands, pulling out her cell.
