As soon as she woke up she was aware of what day it was. If this moment had to be categorized by a movie title it would have to be Misery. Its Leighanne arrives on the scene day. She was going to meet them in DC when they arrived there in the early afternoon. She rolled over and noticed she was in bed alone. Usually, Nick would have woken her up. He hates being the only person awake, it drives him crazy. She looked over and saw his bags sitting by the door. The flush of the toilet was followed by the opening of the bathroom door,
�Hey Mr. Efficient. When did you pack?� Nick was anal but for some reason that didn�t interfere with his constant procrastination.
�Last night.� She frowned and he elaborated,
�I couldn�t sleep.� Nick wasn�t a morning person and he was even less of a communicator but he seemed even more reserved than usual.
�And why didn�t you pack mine?� She kicked the blanket off of her and smiled at him.
�You could have packed while you were watching movies.� That was it and he walked over to one of his bags and put something inside. She decided to let it go. Nick was moody. Far more moody than any woman on her period or even a pregnant woman. He had been a little off even last night. He didn�t say much and he didn�t even want to watch the movie with her. For the longest time he just sat outside on the balcony. She gave him his space but what she really wanted to do was ask him what was wrong. She made the decision to let him come to her. That was one of the misunderstandings they had when they broke up. He said she asked too many questions, wanted to know too much.
Their break up seemed like a lifetime ago, in fact, it seemed like it never happened. Now, she couldn�t imagine not being with Nick. She watched as he headed towards the balcony,
�We�re leaving in an hour. You better start getting ready.� She instantly went to the bathroom. Her things were all over the place. She didn�t like to live completely out of her suitcase like Nick did, she had things all over and it would take a little time to get things organized again. Because once more she wasn�t like Nick, she didn�t just stuff her things in her bags.
She followed Nick to the bus and made the obligatory waves and smiles at the fans who were seeing the group off. Pictures were being snapped left and right and she wondered how many of them were of her. She was always conscience of it now. When she was out in public with Nick she always made sure she looked prepared for a picture. A couple of years ago there was an awful picture taken. Her sister emailed it to her. She and Nick were getting off the bus and it was four in the morning. It was one of the times she was on tour with him for a couple of days. They had been on the bus all night and were asleep when the bus pulled up to the hotel. They both were half comatose and were constantly blinded by the flashes. She considered it so rude and didn�t hide her disgust and their total lack of respect and decency. Even when she wore a baseball cap she made sure she had on makeup and she never wore anything like sweats or some unflattering oversized T-shirt.
This particular morning she had on a pair of brown corduroy pants and a cream sweater. It was February first and they were in Philly. She loved the cold. Winter was her favorite time of the year. She and Nick have had some wonderful memories in the cold.
One winter they went to a cabin in Minnesota that was owned by one of the producers he worked with. They spent the entire time with no cell phones, no outside contact with anyone, enjoying their surroundings and each other. They were there for five days and they only had sex once. It was about so much more than that. To this day, she felt that was the most perfect the two of them had ever been. There didn�t have one slight disagreement about anything.
When she climbed on the bus she was happy that it was very comfortable and they didn�t have to suffer through waiting for the bus to warm up. She immediately pulled off her sweater and kicked off her boots. She felt at home in a cream cashmere tank top that she bought during her shopping spree with Nick. It was a splurge and she had to talk herself into buying it..
�So what did you do last night during the concert?� She had been waiting on that issue to come up, she really wished it didn�t. It was the first show she missed and when he didn�t go off in a whining temper tantrum last night she had to confess she was taken aback. If things didn�t go Nick�s way he tended to act a little juvenile from time to time.
�I took Kristin to the airport and we started talking about older TV shows and movies and she suggested some. So, I went to a video store and bought a few. I got Big Easy, The Fabulous Baker Boys and Niagara. They all are, by the way, movies she would like to play the lead female role in.� That didn�t really answer his question but he seemed to let it go,
�Sorry, I didn�t make it. I just kind of got caught up in the movies. By the time I remembered the show had already started and I didn�t want to try and contact you.� That was a complete lie. She did think about the show even before the opening act was scheduled to start but she didn�t want to call him. She knew if she did there would be a big argument if she stood her ground and if she didn�t she would be guilt-tripped into attending the show.
�It�s ok, don�t worry about it. I mean, you can�t go to every show I guess.� She looked over at him in shock. That was it? He was going to let her get off like that. Shocking wasn�t even the word to describe what she was feeling at that moment.
�So how did everything go at the show?� He shrugged,
�As usual.� She smiled and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck,
�So you killed it huh? You know one day you are going to kill those women.� He laughed,
�They�ll die happy.� She knew he was great. He was always great. She wondered how it felt to have thousands of people in the palm of your hand. She wanted to simply smile and have an amazing effect on someone the way Nick did with little teen girls.
The bus jolted and they were tossed forward like a couple of rag dolls until he grabbed her and held her against his body with one arm and held onto a table with the other hand,
�Sorry about that. A fan ran in front of the bus to take a picture.� Dave called out as they both looked at each other. Their expressions were the same, she didn�t have to ask. Neither of them knew whether to laugh or shake their heads; simultaneously they did both.
�Fans, you got to love them.� She frowned slightly,
�I don�t.� He became serious,
�Yeah, you do or you better do a good job of pretending. I�ve already got the lecture about having a girlfriend on tour full time. No one wants all the drama.� That hurt her a little. She didn�t want anyone thinking she would be a problem, she thought they had a higher regard for her than to think she would do anything to cast a bad reflection on any of them.
�What lecture? About me? What have I ever done to-� He sighed,
�Not particularly you but yeah you. I mean, it�s nothing you did. It was in general. Anyone could be my girlfriend and it would still be an issue. It�s just that they can get pretty rowdy. Not all of them, just a crazy few. It�ll be okay. Everyone is used to you and you�ve been around for a long time. And like I told everyone, you�ve never had an incident with fans before.� Who was everyone? And she didn�t like the idea of whomever they were talking about her like she was a part of some agenda.
