by Tania Sparks
I walk down the corridor towards him. I place my hand on his head “I’m sorry Scott.”
Without lifting his head he mumbles, “Thanks Eve.”
I go inside mine and Ash’s room and close the door to give Scott some privacy. I get inside and Ash is waiting for me with open arms. We hold each other tightly. “They shouldn’t be apart.” I say.
“I know.” Ash replies. “Maybe Lizzie will realise that and change her mind?”
“I’m not sure Ash, Scott’s right, she’s a stubborn girl and she seems to have made up her mind. It’s not looking likely from what she told me. They’ve already said their good-byes.”
After a few more minutes of finding comfort in each other’s embrace, we pack our bags and make our way down to the bus for the road trip to the next destination…one person down. Within a few minutes the guys all join us on the bus and we head off.
~~~
Once we get moving along the highway, Ash pulls out a big box of papers and plonks them onto the small dining table. He calls the guys over and asks them to sit down. Ash explains to them that the box is full of all the files that Beth gave him to do with the bookings, reservations and arrangements for the rest of the tour. The guys all groan at the prospect of going through the paperwork. I excuse myself and head to the kitchen to start on a new batch of baking. After a couple of hours I bring over a tray holding a plate with a large chocolate cake and some coffees.
The guys all look despondent and confused. There’s messy piles of paper everywhere and Nikki’s slouched over, his head resting on the table, “How’s it going?” I ask reluctantly.
Ash looks up to me, “It’s an absolute fucking mess Angel. Honestly I don’t know how anything is ever right, this box is just a pile of print outs and emails. We’ve been going for a couple of hours and still none of it makes any sense! We’re musicians not fucking accountants or some shit.”
I put the chocolate cake and coffees down on the table, “Why don’t you guys take a break for a bit. We’re only about three hours from Fredericksburg. You all have an interview at a radio station or something don’t you? I’ll have a look through the papers while you’re gone and see if I can make any sense out of them.”
“Thanks Angel, would you really do that for us?”
“Of course I would Ash, I won’t have much to do while you’re gone, so I’d be happy to have a look through them for you.”
Nikki slaps me on the bottom, “You really are an Angel Eve. Chocolate cake, coffee and offering to look at all this shit for us, you’re fucking awesome.”
After demolishing the cake, the guys spend the next couple of hours practising the acoustic versions of a few songs they plan to play at this afternoon’s radio interview. They’re all happy that they’ve been excused from paperwork duty and are laughing and playing jubilantly. All except Scott who seems rather subdued, but I guess that can be expected. I pull out my laptop to check my emails. There’s a couple of messages from some of my hotel contacts so I excuse myself to make some phone calls.
Time passes quickly and before I know it, we’ve arrived in Fredericksburg. The guys go off to their radio interview and I sit down at the dining table to start going through Beth’s box of paperwork. The guys are right, it’s an absolute mess. There’s no organisation, just a pile of email print-outs that are roughly thrown into a box. There doesn’t seem to be any order. I start to sort them into piles on the floor according to show location and date. Before long the floor of the bus is covered with piles of paper. I step over them to grab my laptop from my bag. As I start to make some sense out of the piles I type up a proper itinerary which includes all of the accommodation details, interview times, transport and other commitments that the guys have for the next couple of months. I find a few holes or wrongly made arrangements and make a note of those in a separate document to bring up with Ash.
A couple of hours later I have everything sorted into a box of ordered files and a copy of the itinerary and queries are printed out and placed on top. I feel proud of myself and I’ve quite enjoyed doing something productive.
The door to the bus swings open and the guys all noisily pile inside.
“How’d the interview go Ash?” I ask.
“Fantastic Angel, it went really well, it was fun. Sorry we left you here sorting out all that shitty paper crap, how’d you go?”
I explain to Ash that I managed to sort out all the paperwork and I show him the organised files. I go through the itinerary and list of queries. Ash looks at me in wonderment, “You’re amazing Angel, we couldn’t have sorted that shit out in a hundred years.” He looks over to the guys and holds up the printed itinerary proudly, “Hey guys, Angel’s done us a proper itinerary – look, we’ve never been so fucking organised!”
The guys all echo their thanks. Ash gives me a big hug. “Thanks Angel.” he says sincerely.
He looks at the list of queries and takes big sigh, “Thank god you went through it all, it looks like there’s at least a dozen or so other fuck ups on that list. I guess I’ll have to try and get Beth to sort them out, that’s going to be a fun conversation!” he cringes.
“I don’t mind sorting them out Ash.” I offer. “In fact, I think I’d quite enjoy it. It’ll give me something to do on tomorrow’s road trip and it’s sort of my thing to be a problem solver, so I’ll be right in my element.”
“Really!” he exclaims, “That would be wonderful Angel. I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’re like fucking bacon – you make everything better!”
“Bacon! Really, are you honestly comparing me to bacon?”
“No. Yes. Damn. You know what I mean.” he says bashfully. “You make it all worthwhile. I’m not just talking about the paperwork either. Having you here makes me feel like I’ve won the lottery. It’s the best fucking thing in the world. Thank you Angel.”
Batting my eyes at him I say, “You can show me your appreciation in the back room if you like. How long do you have before you have to go to sound check?”
“We’ve got plenty of time Angel, sounds like the best fucking idea I’ve had all day!” He laughs and grabs my hand dragging me towards the back of the bus.
Chapter 19
After the concert there’s an after-party organised at the venue. We’re staying on the bus tonight as we need to get on the road and start driving to the next venue in a couple of hours time. We’re all jam-packed into an extremely large dressing room that’s the size of a small hall, but you’d never know it because the place is crammed wall-to-wall with people. There’s music blasting and the drinks are flowing. I don’t know where all the people have come from but there must be close to a hundred of them, mainly scantily clad women who are clamouring all over each other to try to get the attention of the band. There’s not many of the road crew here tonight, I guess they’re busy packing up the stage and equipment ready to travel overnight to the next venue.
I’m not really the jealous type, but all these young and provocative women are literally throwing themselves at Ash, making all sorts of suggestive remarks and constantly trying to touch him. I make sure they know that he’s taken by clinging to him like my life depends on it! I have to give Ash credit, he doesn’t pay them any attention at all and is lavishing his affections on me, slapping them off him if they get too close or telling them to get lost if they don’t get the hint. I get plenty of scowls and nasty glares from thwarted girls but I don’t really care, Ash is all mine.
Cody, Hansen and Nikki have groupies all over them vying for their attention and they’re loving every minute of it. The last time I saw Scott he’d slinked off by himself to the back of the room with a bottle of vodka in his hand.
About an hour into the party Scott comes stumbling across the room towards us with three trampy looking groupies hanging off him. I look up to Ash with a questioning look on my face. “What does he think he’s doing Ash?” I ask sadly.
“It’s his way of coping Angel, just leave him be.”
&
nbsp; As Scott walks past us he tells us he’s going back to the bus and he doesn’t want to be disturbed. Obviously the three giggling groupies are going with him.
“Scott…” I start to say but he quickly interrupts me by holding up his hand in front of my face. He knows what I’m thinking and he can probably interpret the disappointment showing on my face.
“Eve, don’t say it. This is me. This is what I was like before Lizzie. She doesn’t want me and now she’s gone. This is my life Eve, don’t judge me.” He looks sad and resigned. He deserves so much more, and I know this isn’t going to make him happy in the long run, but I also know that me chastising him isn’t going to help either, so I keep my mouth shut.
Scott grabs one of the girls by her hair and shoves his tongue down her throat. After he’s finished devouring her, he looks up, slaps the ass of one of the other girls, grabs the hand of the third and drags them all towards the door. He growls at them, “Come on ladies, let’s go have some fun.” They all giggle and accompany him dutifully.
After another twenty minutes or so Ash leans down and whispers in my ear, “I’ve had enough of this Eve. How ‘bout we get out of here and go back to the bus where there’s not so many annoying-as-hell people?”
I’m so thankful that he’s suggested we go. The fawning girls were starting to drive me batty but I didn’t want to be the first to suggest we leave, I don’t want Ash to think I’m a stick in the mud wanting to leave the party early. I sigh in relief, “That sounds like a brilliant idea, let’s go.” He puts his arm around me and we make our way out the door towards the bus.
As we get closer I start to get concerned about interrupting Scott. He had said that he didn’t want to be disturbed and it’s only been twenty minutes and I really don’t want to walk in on him doing god knows what with three groupies. But as we round the corner I can see that it’s not going to be a problem. Scott’s literally shoving the girls out the door of the bus as security are dragging them away kicking and screaming.
One of the girls screeches, “You’re an asshole Scott, as soon as you’re done with us you kick us out! Un-bloody-believable!”
Another girls whines, “Yeah Scott, you fuck us all stupid and we get booted out before we even get our damned clothes back on, you’re a heartless bastard.”
The third girl is just sobbing as she frantically tries to cover herself with her discarded clothing.
Scott stands at the door glaring at them angrily, “What the hell did you expect you stupid girls, a fucking wedding proposal? You act like whores, you’ll get treated like whores!”
One of the girls glares back at him, “At least if we were whores we’d get paid!”
Scott reaches into his jeans pocket, pulls out a quarter and flicks it at them, “That should ‘bout cover it.” He turns his back and slams the door closed as security drag the girls away squawking obscenities at him.
I look over to Ash stunned. This doesn’t sound like the Scott I thought I knew, “Shit, that’s harsh!” I exclaim.
“Yeah, well, that’s Scott. He never did have the best bedroom manners, especially when he’s in a shitty mood.” Ash laughs as he grabs my hand and we make our way onto the bus. We get inside and Scott’s slouched at the dining table, his arms stretched across the table, his head resting on them. When he hears us come in, without lifting his head he slurs, “Sorry you had to see that Eve.”
I know he doesn’t need a lecture from me, I can see from the look on his face that he already knows he’s behaved like a total prick. “Coffee?” I ask.
“No thanks Eve, I think I’ll just crash in my bunk for the night, my head’s spinning!” Scott looks over to Ash and grimaces. “Sorry Ash, the sheets ‘ll need changing in the back room before you and Eve crash.”
“eew Scott!” I shriek.
“Fuck man.” Ash slaps Scott playfully across the head.
I ruffle Scott’s hair playfully. “Go and sleep it off Scott, we’ll take care of the sheets.”
Scott drags himself up and stumbles along the corridor throwing himself into a bunk and falling asleep before his head has even hit the pillow.
Ash jumps in the shower while I cagily change the sheets. We crash into bed and snuggle. After a short while we hear the others come back, laughing and talking loudly. I hear the driver yell out, “all aboard” then I hear Cody, Hansen and Nikki make their way onto the bus which promptly starts up and pulls out. Soon everyone’s crashed into their beds and the motion of the bus makes us fall asleep pretty quickly.
~~~
The next week on tour is a blur of travel, interviews, concerts and after-parties. I still revel in watching every single show. Seeing Ash perform never gets tiresome, but the after-parties are tedious, the travel is torturous and the days are long and boring. The guys are always busy, even when we’re travelling or hanging around on the bus or in hotel rooms they constantly rehearse or are composing new songs. It gets a bit repetitive playing house and baking every time we’re stuck on the bus, even though the guys do really appreciate it.
I do a little bit of work remotely for one of my New York hotel clients, helping them arrange a big convention they have coming up. I spend some time sorting out the muck-ups that Beth’s made with the bookings, but that doesn’t take long and I’m starting to get restless. She definitely didn’t like the fact that it was me that was sorting it all out, but Ash told her to suck it up and do a better job if she doesn’t want someone else fixing all her crap mistakes. Needless to say, I’m not her favourite person.
It’s a Thursday morning and the bus is rumbling along the highway. We have another long drive ahead of us. I wonder on over to Ash who’s strumming on his guitar showing the guys a new riff he’s come up with. “Ash, there’s a couple of things I want to talk to you about, do you have a few minutes?”
“Yeah, no problem, anything for you Angel.” He puts his guitar down and we take a few small steps into the kitchen area. “What is it Angel?” He looks concerned as he grabs hold of my hands. I didn’t mean to sound so serious, but I have been kind of nervous about talking to him about this, so he must have read it on my face. The other guys sense the slight tension and are listening intently from a few feet away. There’s absolutely no privacy on this bus, so I may as well just say it with everyone listening, it’s really no big deal anyway. “Well there’s two things I want to talk to you about…”
“Yeah…” he asks hesitantly looking at me sceptically, “Spit it out Eve, you’re killing me here.”
“Well, I’ve been getting really bored. You guys have lots of things that you need to do and it keeps you busy, but most of the time I just sit here and watch. I’m not used to sitting around and doing nothing Ash, it’s driving me crazy!”
Ash looks at me worriedly and anxiously asks, “Angel, I know it’s not exactly exciting for you, but please don’t tell me you’re giving up and you want to go back to LA!”
“No Ash!” I shriek, “God nothing like that!”
Ash lets out a sigh of relief, “Oh thank fuck for that, you almost gave me a heart attack Angel, what is it then?”
“Well firstly, I was wondering if you would mind if Trixie comes to visit for a couple of nights. She can get some time off work and can fly over to meet up with us in Michigan tomorrow, travel with us for a few days then fly back home.”
I hear Nikki whooping, “Hell yeah!, Trixie’s welcome any time.”
Ash laughs, “No problem Eve. She’s welcome to come and stay as long as she wants.”
“Fuck yeah!” Nikki yells as he jumps around like an excited toddler, clapping his hands and making whooping noises.
Ash gives me a hug, “Was there something else you wanted to talk to me about Angel?” he enquires.
“Yeah…umm...well…I’ve been talking to one of my regular hotel contacts up in New York City. They’ve got a big convention kicking off there next Wednesday, I’ve been helping them with some of the arrangements from here on the road, but I was thinking of going up th
ere and giving them a hand for three or four days during the actual event. You guys arrive in the city on Saturday, so I can just meet you up there. You guys have a pretty busy schedule over those days so you probably won’t even notice I’m gone.”
Ash’s face drops and the colour drains from his face. He doesn’t look happy at all. He grabs my hand and drags me into the back room. His reaction has taken me by surprise, I knew he wouldn’t be overly pleased about us being apart for a few days but I didn’t expect such a strong reaction.
We get into the back room and he closes the door behind us. He stands facing me, his hands at his sides. “Is this your way of letting me down lightly Angel? Next are you actually going to tell me you’re going back to LA? You promised me we’d try to make this work.”
I move towards him and grab his hands in mine. “No Ash, it’s nothing like that, and we are making it work. I love being here with you, it’s just that when you’re busy I feel like a spare wheel. I have nothing to do, and I’m just not used to doing nothing, it’s driving me mad. It’s only a few days. I’m just jumping ahead of your tour schedule, by the time you get to New York on Saturday, I’ll be finished work and waiting for you.”
“It doesn’t feel right Angel. I like having you here with me. I miss you when we’re apart for a few hours, I’ll go fucking crazy if you’re gone for three or four days!” His voice is starting to get louder and his fingers are twitching in frustration.
“I know Ash, I like being with you too, but sometimes you and the guys have things you need to do and you’re pretty fully booked up over those days anyway with concerts, interviews and meet and greets. It won’t do us any harm, it’s just a few days. Besides, I’ve been on holiday for a couple of weeks now. I can’t not work forever, I have to start taking on some assignments again at some stage.”
