| Page 4 �What�s going on?� he snapped irritably. Claire and Andrea stopped jumping. �Claire got a part in the show!� Andrea said grinning from ear to ear. They started jumping again. Jayson stood up straight and grinned. �That�s great! Congratulations!� �Thanks.� Claire could still hardly believe it. Andrea changed the subject abruptly. �Where�s Josh?� Andrea asked suddenly serious. Jayson�s face twisted into a scowl and he threw up his hands in frustration. �Like every Friday he�s God-Knows-Where doing God-knows-What.� Andrea glanced at the clock. �It�s only 1:30. I�d give it another hour before you go out looking for him.� �Are you kidding?� Jayson said. �He�s nineteen! He�s supposed to be in bed!� Andrea raised her eyebrows. �Jayson, sweetheart, when you were nineteen were you in bed by 1:30?� Jayson said nothing. Andrea crossed the room and kissed him on the cheek. �Don�t worry baby. He�ll be fine.� Claire was surprised that was in question to begin with. Several hours later Claire was awakened by loud voices coming from the hallway. She got out of bed and tiptoed to the door. Glancing over her shoulder she noted that Andrea was still asleep. She opened the door a crack and peered into the hallway. Jayson was standing there in his pajamas whispering furiously at Josh who was still wearing his clothes and smelling like cigarette smoke and rancid beer. He looked like he had just gotten in. Claire glanced at the clock. 5:43 it read. Claire raised her eyebrows and leaned forward to listen. �Oh look at this,� Jayson snapped. �Who do you think you are waltzing in here at 5:30 in the morning?� Josh mumbled something Claire couldn�t hear. �I don�t care what time it is!� Jayson fired back. �Why don�t you at least tell me when you go out?� �Jesus, Jayson, if you weren�t such an old man maybe I would tell you stuff!� Josh snapped. He sounded tired and irritable and slightly drunk. Jayson ran his hands through his hair in frustration. Josh pushed past him and strode into their bedroom. Claire closed the door and climbed back into bed. Lying awake she could hear every word they were saying. Andrea had also awoken and was sitting up in bed listening. Jayson followed Josh into their room and closed the door. Claire could hear Josh pacing around the room kicking off his shoes and dropping various articles of clothing on the floor. �Look, Josh I�m not trying to intrude. But you can�t keep behaving like this,� Jayson said sounding more like a dad every second. �I�m sure I have no idea what you�re talking about. You only lecture me about it every goddamn day!� Josh said sarcastically. Claire heard a door close and the shower turn on. �But you could have been-�Jayson started. �I know, I know lying dead in some dark alley way and you wouldn�t know where to find me. I�ve heard all this before and I�m not stupid.� Josh said from inside the bathroom. Jayson sighed suddenly sounding tired. It was quiet and Claire and Andrea tiptoed over to the door adjoining the rooms and peeked through. Jayson was standing by the bathroom door. �What are you doing?� Jayson asked the door. It opened and Josh poked his head out. �I�m taking a shower. And no matter what I do in the shower never fear because I will not end up lying dead in a ditch.� Josh slammed the door and Jayson crawled back into bed and lay there staring at the ceiling for a long time. Claire and Andrea went back to bed. Jayson had almost memorized the patterns on the ceiling when he drifted off to sleep. Josh crept out of the bathroom with wet hair and a towel around his waist. He grabbed some clothes from his suitcase and glanced at the clock. 6:15, he had to be at work in fifteen minutes. Josh dressed quickly and left more quietly then he had entered. Another night when he wouldn�t sleep. Chapter 7 �I�m not sure about this honey,� Claire�s mom said over the phone. �After all, this originally was a punishment not a reward for bad behavior. Besides, it�s a lot of pressure to go out and perform every night.� Claire rolled her eyes. Her mother thought she was such a woman of the world. �Like you would know. I�m under more pressure at home to be the perfect mayor�s daughter then I will ever be on the road.� Not true. Claire knew just dealing with Josh and his mood swings was pressure enough. �If you�re going to be that immature about it perhaps we should forget this. I have calls to make,� Mrs. Atkins sighed and she sounded tired and old. �Sorry Mom,� Claire said quietly. She felt like she was always apologizing lately. �I�ve just never been given an opportunity like this and I don�t know when I�ll get it again.� Her mother was quiet for a long time. �All right, fax the contracts to my assistant. I�ll look over them and sign them for you if everything looks okay.� Claire beamed. She would have to use that maturity factor on her mother more often. �Okay great!� She said bye to her mother and turned to Max in his office. �Everything�s all set!� she said brightly hoping Max didn�t hear her whining with her mother. �My mom wants you to fax the forms to her.� Max looked up from his newspaper and smiled at her. �Okay fine. I�ll do that now. Your mother left me with numbers to contact her over the summer in case there was trouble.� Claire groaned inwardly. How embarrassing! Did her mother really think she�d go crazy on tour? One night of partying and she was a juvenile delinquent. Claire stifled a yawn and opened the door to find Michelle standing there waiting impatiently. Claire managed a weak smile but Michelle brushed past her as if she was invisible and stalked into Max�s office already complaining loudly about something. Claire had enough experience about this so that she didn�t care when the door slammed in her face and Max started talking in a soothing voice to calm Michelle down. Claire was exhausted from the events of last evening but Josh looked worse. He had gotten no sleep last night as far as Claire could tell and he had dark circles under his eyes. Now she found him slumped on a chair fast asleep. Claire shuddered thinking about what Max would do to him if he found Josh asleep. She crossed the room and shoved Josh on the shoulder to wake him. He sat up quickly blinking once, twice and looked at Claire. �Boss will kill you if finds out you were asleep,� Claire said. �Tell me about it.� Claire whirled around and came face to face with Michelle. Michelle smirked. �I�ll be sure to let him know. Now Claire, Max says I have to help you learn a new routine for the show. So let�s get it over with, I have better things to do.� Michelle turned and headed for the stage. Josh stood and stretched. �Dead man walking,� he muttered to himself as he walked off to find his mop. Claire giggled and started to call after him when Michelle called from the stage. �Hello? I am going to teach this routine to the dust bunnies?� Michelle asked. �There are no dust bunnies!� Max yelled from the wings. �At least there shouldn�t be. JOSH!� Claire walked onto the stage as Michelle and Josh reached Max at the same time. Michelle started telling an elaborate story. Max and Josh both grew red in the face; Max out of anger, Josh out of shame. Claire tiptoed off the stage. She felt like it was time for an early bathroom break. Two days later Claire waited nervously in the wings while Jayson and Andrea performed. She had learned a difficult dance routine in just two days with help from Michelle who was actually nice to her. Claire suspected that Michelle was only being nice to her because Max liked her. Andrea always said Michelle was only nice when it was convenient for her. Nethertheless, Michelle was a good friend to have for selfish reasons. Claire hated to admit it but she knew she was focusing more and more on herself. She hardly ever spoke to Josh or anyone for that matter that wasn�t Max or Michelle. page 5 |