He had a good show. Which was amazing since his mind was full of worry. Not only was his mother missing but so was Shayna. Every time they had a break during the show, he would ask had anyone heard from Shayna. He left his phone on and with one of the assistants. He walked towards the buses with AJ,
�Man, we can�t leave. Shayna�s not here.�
�What do you mean �Shayna�s not here?�� He shook his head,
�She�s not here. She wasn�t at the concert and I don�t know where she is.� Even though she was an adult, this was going to be blamed on him. It wasn�t his fault, but at that moment he didn�t care about the unfairness of it all. This was Washington, D.C. One of the most dangerous cities in the country and the girl he loved, his girl, hadn�t been heard from in hours. The last time he talked to her was when he left the hotel room and that was like noon.
�Does she know we�re leaving directly from the venue? You did tell her that didn�t you?� He shook his head,
�I can�t remember if I told her or not.� AJ�s face was full of frustration,
�Well call her.�
�I�ve tried her cell phone. I�ve had people call her all night and its been off.�
�Well call the hotel and see if she�s been seen.�
Nick went off to find their tour manager to see if his room had been cleared.
�Hey man, are we already checked out of the hotel?� Scott nodded his head,
�Yeah, I did it myself before I met you guys here.� He immediately saw the fear on Nick�s face,
�What�s wrong?�
�I can�t find Shayna. I don�t know where she is.� Scott begin to become a little more interested in what he was doing before Nick disturbed him,
�Did you give her your credit card? She�s probably out on some shopping spree.� AJ ran over to them,
�Nick. Man, she�s on your damn bus waiting on you.� Scott shook his head and shouted,
�Hurry and wrap it up people. There is a concert tomorrow night in Jersey with our names in lights.�
�Shayna. Where the hell have you been?� She was looking at him with wide eyes,
�Well? I have been calling you all day. Our people have been calling and you had your damn phone turned off. What the hell is wrong with you?�
�I�m sorry. I really wasn�t thinking.� He shook his head,
�Yeah, you really weren�t thinking. Shayna, this is fucking DC. Anything could have happened to you.� He was out of control. It was only fitting because he felt as if he had no control over anything else. He didn�t have any control over his family, he didn�t know where his mother was and he definitely didn�t have any control over Shayna.
He knew he wasn�t supposed to have control over her but she made him feel so helpless this entire day,
�You don�t put someone through this. What were you doing?� She moved closer to him,
�I went to Dupont Circle and I did a little shopping.� He zoned out when he heard her say that and thought back to what Scott said about having his credit cards,
�Going off on some shopping spree�fine whatever but you cant forget about everything. Damn, you weren�t at the show, you didn�t call, you didn�t have your phone on so someone could get in contact with you. What if, for some reason, we were ready to go before you got here?� He frowned at her,
�What time did you get here?� She licked her lips,
�About twenty minutes ago.� He couldn�t believe her,
�Oh, so you were cutting it close until the very end. What else were you doing?�
�I went and ate lunch, saw some of the sights and then I ran into an old friend of mine from high school. We went to eat dinner�and I just lost track of time.� She had a lot of nerve. He was out of his mind with worry and she was running around having big fun.
�So, where is all this shit you bought? Let�s see some pictures of the sights and your little friend.�
�Nick, it wasn�t like that. Look, I just needed to escape.� She needed to escape. Escape from what?
�I�m the one on tour, busting my ass and working. What the fuck do you need to escape from?� She sighed,
I got these phone calls and-� He laughed snidely,
�Phone calls. You want to know about phone calls?� He grabbed her purse,
�Where�s your phone?� He pulled it out of her purse as she stood to the side and just watched. What could she do? It wasn�t as if he was going to let her stop him. He turned the phone on and the number of messages was on the screen,
�25 damn messages. They are probably all from me and our people looking for you. I�ll tell you about phone calls.� He started at her,
�How about getting a phone call that your father hit your mother?� She looked surprised,
�When did this happen?�
�I don�t know. Apparently, a week or so ago but I just got the call a couple of days ago. Or the call I got not too long ago that no one has heard from my mother since. My mother, my mother could be missing. She could be kidnapped, dead, lying in a ditch dying�who knows. My life is upside down right now.� He could feel the tears burning his eyes, �So, please don�t tell me about phone calls.�
The door to the bus opened and he fell silent. Tim walked in and closed the door.
�Hey, you might want to keep it down. Some fans are out here and they can hear the yelling.� He could tell Tim was checking them both out to make sure everything was ok,
�Do you guys have everything you need? We�re pulling out soon.� Neither of them said anything and Tim simply turned and left.
�Nick-� He shook his head and walked away from her,
�I�m going to take a shower and go to bed. I don�t want to talk.�
He stood in the shower. What was wrong with his life? Why did it seem as if he wasn�t allowed to just be happy? When his career was going well, his family life was in shambles. When his family life was ok, he broke up with Shayna. Now, his career is ok and his family life and his relationship with Shayna was strained. He just wasn�t allowed to be happy. His life required drama, it seemed.
The water poured down over him and he just stood there. So many times he loved it when Shayna would join him in the shower after they had an argument. At this moment he wanted nothing to do with her. If she tried to get into that shower he would probably bop her ass one good time. She made him look bad in front of everyone, not to mention she had him worried. He thought, maybe she just didn�t understand how serious and how big his career was. They didn�t run around like some rock stars doing what they wanted. They had limitations, restrictions, rules, schedules, and contracts. It wasn�t fun and games.
