Chapter Five
You and I Both
Mark barely hadtime to eat his breakfast and enjoy his coffee before he was running out the door for rehearsal. All week he would get up, eat quickly and then leave, returning after midnight. If I hadn’t been through this before I might have been irritated. I remembered this from before. When they were working on their last album, they were all like this. The only difference was last time I had more things to occupy my time.
This time around Cleo and Ethan had hired a private nanny for the kids. Sure, I could go get them to do stuff with, but my help wasn’t needed. I did get to watch Rocky two to three times a week now, but he still didn’t do much. Out of the four times I’d watched him, he’d been awake for maybe an hour at most. I could play with him or feed him then but most of the time he slept. He was a lazy baby. But once I dropped him off with Chase in the evening, I was left twiddling my fingers.
Today was one of my off days. Chase didn’t have a doctor’s appointment, so my schedule was completely empty. Plopping down on the couch with the dogs again I grabbed my phone and called Stacie. She answered on the first ring.
“Are you coming tonight?” She asked quickly before I could even say hello. Oh! I had been so worked up over the Thomas thing that I had totally forgotten about the auditions.
“Yes. I told you I would. What are you up to?”
“I am about to leave to drive four hours to San Luis Obispo for the scripts and some furniture,” she sighed. “You want to come with? We can swing by and grab you,” she offered. I sat up.
“Sure, I’ve got nothing else better to do. We?” I asked.
“Thomas. Justin was called in to work last minute. Something about some big head honchos coming and they needed to get some things fixed super quick. Thomas was the only one available to come. I need someone strong to load it all up. Be ready, we’re on our way now.” She hung up before I could protest. Not that I really had any reason to. It was either go or sit around the house bored out of my mind.
They picked me up twenty minutes later in Stacie’s big blue truck. I hurried down my stairs and hopped in. Thomas and Stacie both smiled welcoming at me and moved over to give me room. I was so glad to get the window. It was going to be a long day.
“Why are we picking up stuff from so far away? Couldn’t they have just shipped it?” I questioned. Stacie swung a glare over at me.
“The original theatre we were getting them from sent them to the wrong theatre. We got scripts and costumes for ‘The Three Musketeers’. They got ours. We didn’t find out until last night. With auditions tonight and rehearsals starting next week we kind of need this stuff like now,” she practically growled.
Thomas turned to me.
“Isn’t she just a treat?”
I burst out laughing and the tension in the truck eased. We made a quick coffee and snacks run and then got onto the freeway. Thankfully Stacie’s truck had a newer stereo system, so we were able to plug our phones into it. We turned it all the way and for four hours we sang musicals and 90’s tunes terribly. We jammed out and pretended we were professionals. When there was a slight pause in the songs Thomas spoke.
“Is this what it’s like when you’re with your husband and the band?” I frowned.
“Not really. They are huge goofballs, but they take their music seriously. Ethan and Cleo are obnoxious with the singing though. They are always looking for opportunities to belt out a song,” I chuckled. In their defense, their instruments were always with them. I’m positive if Mark or the other two could bring theirs along everywhere, they'd play them constantly too. Actually, Mark kind of does. He never stood still. He was always tapping something.
“She’s the singer, right? And that’s her husband, the guy who Duchess wrote that book about?” He asked. I cringed. It didn’t even involve me in the slightest, but I still felt bad for them.
“Yep, that’s him. You know that book was total bull crap. She lied about 90 percent of whatever was in it,” I defended. He raised his eyebrows, clearly amused by my reaction.
“Yeah, I remember seeing something about it. They pulled her book off the shelves before they even made it onto them. Did you watch the video of her attacking that guy at the signing?”
I smiled. “Yeah, that was my husband. His back was tore up for weeks after that.” Both of my friends’ mouths fell open.
“That was him? Oh my God. Did she recognize him? Is that why she attacked him?” Stacie asked.
“Didn’t she get arrested for running someone over too? Was it your husband?”
I shook my head, trying to answer before they could ask another question. I held up my hand.
“Mark was not involved in the hit and run. Their bassist and the guitarist’s husband were the ones she hit. And at the signing my husband was there with Adrian, the guitarist. She did recognize them. I guess the room was divided between people loving her and people wanting to call her out for the lies. A few people had already been escorted out. She was crazy before that though. She was harassing Ethan for months.”
“I got that scorned lover vibe. That was what the book was about right?” Thomas asked. I nodded.
“When she ran over your friends, was she trying to hit Ethan?” Stacie asked.
“No. Ethan wasn’t there. I don’t know what she was doing then. It’s been horrible. Both Ethan and Cleo still get lots of crap from fans who think that he should be with Duchess. People need to get a life. They are real people.” The truck grew quiet for a moment before Thomas switched the music back on.
Finally, after four long, long hours Stacie pulled into the small theatre. I hopped out and began stretching my legs. It felt so good to be on solid ground again. It brought memories of traveling when I was younger to the surface. I hated it then, I hate it now. Glancing at Thomas who was also stretching, I remembered why I did it for so long.
