Chapter 16: The Aftermath
Nico
The loud banging woke me. I wasn't sure where it was coming from, but I suspected it was from inside my head. As I came completely awake, I absently realized that my head was pounding, but the noise that woke me was caused by someone banging - loudly and repeatedly - on the door to my hotel suite.
"This fucking hotel better be on fire, or I'm going to kick somebody's ass," I muttered, as I tried to force my abused body to get up out of the bed. I was still wearing my dress pants from last night. Mostly. They were unbuttoned and unzipped, and by this point were hanging part way off my ass. I pulled them up and zipped them as I trudged to the door, hoping with every step that the asshole banging on the door would actually break his goddamned hand in the process. It would serve him right.
I slid off the security latch and opened the deadbolt, then yanked open the door without bothering to look through the peephole. I probably couldn't have focused my eyes enough to see through it anyway.
It was Tony. A very pissed off Tony, whose arm was raised mid-swing to pound on the door again. Behind him, looking every bit as angry, stood Matt and Josh.
"What the hell? What's wrong?" I demanded. Tony stepped forward and shoved me, hard, in the middle of my chest. Onlysheer luck and my grip on the door kept me upright. What the fuck was his problem?
He pushed past me and stormed into the living area of the suite, quickly followed by the other two. I let the door slam shut as I turned to follow them into the room. I had no idea what the fuck was going on, but I was pretty damned sure I was about to find out.
Tony, who seemed to be the fucking ringleader of this no-so-merry band of men, whirled around toward me, and pointed his finger in my face.
"Tell me you didn't fucking do it. Please tell me you weren't actually fucking stupid enough to do that shit!" he demanded, much too loudly for my still-pounding head to stand.
Matt suddenly joined in, snarling "Is she still here?" He turned suddenly and made a beeline for the bedroom, coming back after presumably checking the attached bathroom as well. He looked at Tony and Josh, both of whom were looking at him for some kind of confirmation and shook his head no. Tony dropped his chin down to his chest and took a deep breath. Whether it was a sigh of relief, or he was simply gearing up to yell at me some more remained to be seen.
At that point, my brain finally started to come back online, and I was able to form a coherent thought. "I don't know what the fuck you guys are talking about," I said, really confused, and getting really pissed off. "Did I do what? Who the fuck did you think was here?" I asked defensively. "Wait, are you talking about Allie? Is something wrong with Allie?"
Matt, who had been my best friend growing up, long before we even thought about making music, stalked back across theroom to me, and then he was the one in my face. He huffed and gave an angry shake of his head. "We don't know how Allie is, asshole. We don't even knowwhereshe is. She checked out of her room earlier this morning and isn't answering her goddamned phone. We've called and texted, and she won't fucking respond to any of us."
"Do you have any fucking idea what you've done - any idea of the goddamned shit-show she's starring in because of you? Those fucking photos are everywhere!" Tony snarled angrily. "I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here, man. After our talk last week, I'm trying to believe there's a fucking good explanation for that picture, but even if there is, this is a huge fucking mess, and you're gonna have to fix it really fucking quick!"
I was starting to freak out, since something had clearly happened involving Allie. "Look, I don't have a fucking clue what's going on here. Tell me what the hell happened. Is this about me kissing her?" If it was, there was no way in hell I was apologizing for that. I would remember that first sweet taste of her for the rest of my fucking life.
"Did somebody take a picture of us? That's what all this shit's about?" I asked in disbelief. I mean, no, I didn't want a private moment between Allie and me to be splashed all over the damned tabloids or social media, but it couldn't be that big of a fucking deal, could it?
Josh, who had been quiet so far, shot me a look that was close to pure loathing. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket, tapped the screen a few times, and turned it around to shove it in my face.
"This is what this shit's about. This is what fucking happened, asshole." He held the phone out and gestured for me to take it. "Go on, look at it. Look at what a clusterfuck you created because you couldn't keep your dick in your goddamned pants for one night. Allie was so excited for last night. It was so special for her, and you managed to shit all over the whole fucking thing." His disgust for me and my supposed crimes was clear. "Scroll on through the pics, man. Just look at those fucking headlines."
Tony seemed like he was starting to calm down a little, and waded back into the fray at that point, "Let him try to explain, Josh. We don't know that the stupid shit actually did anything, aside from when he kissed Allie." He shot me a pleading look. "Please, tell me you didn't fuck around with that damned skanky-ass redhead."
"What???" I yelled, my voice rising in horror. "I didn't fuck anybody."
I grabbed Josh's phone out of his hand and tapped the dark screen to bring it to life as Tony kept talking. "Well, someone got a goddamned picture of you leaving the party, looking like you'd just been fucking the bitch hanging on your arm, and then posted it online. The tabloids picked that shit up quick, along with the pictures of you and Allie on the red carpet and you kissing the hell out of her before she left the party," he seethed.
I stared down at the first image on the screen. Allie and me, standing on the red carpet together. She was smiling softly up at me, as I was brushing a small curl back behind her ear. I scrolled to the next picture. It was of us kissing at the party. God, we looked so right wrapped up together like that.
Then I scrolled to the next one. Oh, dear God no! This one made my breathing stop and my stomach clench. I slumped down on the sofa behind me, shaking my head as I stared at the image on the screen in disbelief. No, this cannot be fucking happening! It was a photo of me as I left the party, along with that redhead who'd been trying to hang on to my arm as I got on the elevator.
Shit, she had been such a bitch, and completely drunk off her ass. She had cornered me as I left the ballroom and literally threw her drunk ass at me. If I hadn't fucking caught her, she would have fallen. As it was, she had landed with her face smashed against my shoulder, and as her hand reached out to grab hold of me, she'd ripped my fucking shirt open. Then as I had steadied her back on her feet, the bitch had lunged for me again, throwing her arms around my neck and trying to run her fingers through my hair. I was able to push her off again, and almost made it to the elevator before she caught up to me and grabbed my arm again. That was not at all what the photo looked like though.
"Fuck!" I roared, tempted to throw the phone across the room. Tony was right. The photo looked like I had just had a quick fuck and hadn't bothered getting fully dressed. There was even a smear of her goddamned lipstick on the collar of my shirt, probably from where her face landed when she fell against me. From the angle the picture was taken, it looked like we were walking to the elevator together, her holding onto my arm for support, likely going back to my room to go for round two. In reality, the bitch was being half-dragged behind me because she wouldn't fucking let go.
"Nico," Matt said softly, seeming to have realized that I may not have done anything wrong, "tell us what happened when you left the party."
I flopped back on the sofa and dropped my head back to stare at the ceiling as I spoke, seeing the entire clusterfuck playing out in my mind. I explained it all, starting with the moment I stepped out of the ballroom.
"And that was it," I finished quietly, resignedly. "Security finally noticed what was going on, and they intercepted her just before she was able to get on the elevator with me. Of course, the fucker who took the picture didn't bother to post that one! Goddammit all to hell. I need to talk to Allie. I need to explain what happened. She's gotta believe me, right?"
When nobody said anything, I lifted my head from the back of the sofa to look at them, only to see them looking at each other and sharing some kind of silent communication. Clearly, they had more bad news for me. Matt apparently drew the mental short straw, and he came over and sat on the coffee table right in front of me. Tony walked around and took a seat on the other side of the sofa, and Josh flopped back in the recliner.
Matt leaned forward to rest his forearms on knees and looked at me solemnly. "It's not just the photo of the redheaded bitch, Nico. A bunch of photos of you and Allie on the red carpet hit first. You guys were trending on social media with all sorts of cutesy hashtags and shit, and you were all over the tabloid sites. The fans, for the most part, were loving the idea that you two were a couple after all, and the tabloids were going on about how the great Nico Peretti had been tamed by the girl next door. I mean, you two looked pretty cozy in those pictures." he smiled sadly.
