Merch Girl

by Rebecca Lewis

  We sat comfortably in the lounge and turned on the TV.

  “Why are you so quiet?” he asked.

  “No reason,” I said, quickly.

  “Well, you better get your rest before your big day tomorrow.”

  “Big day?”

  “I know I’m a guy, but I did remember your Birthday,” he said, holding up his phone to show me that he put it in his calendar.

  “You cheated.”

  “Would you rather me forget?” he asked, shoving the phone back in his pocket.

  I looked at him and crossed my arms.

  “Okay, I will commit it to memory,” he said.

  “Much better.”

  “And I have the perfect gift for you.”

  “Really?” I asked, genuinely surprised. I wasn’t even expecting him to remember the day.

  “Yep, but don’t even think about getting it out of me.”

  I racked my brain trying to guess what it could be. We hadn’t stopped near many malls; I hoped it wasn’t some cheesy hotel gift store item.

  “I don’t even need anything; all I want for my Birthday is you.”

  “Oh, really?”

  I rolled on top of him and gave him a kiss. He returned my kiss and slid his strong arms around my body. It was true, my perfect gift was him. I looked deeply into his eyes, and couldn’t even fathom asking for anything more than this.

  “You’re amazing,” I told him.

  He squeezed me tight. “You haven’t seen nothing yet.”

  “What? What does that mean?”

  “You’ll see,” he answered, smiling. “You’re gonna be blown away tomorrow. I think I’m more excited than you are.”

  “What the heck is it?”

  “Not telling,” he said, with the same silly grin on his face.

  I tickled him. “I won’t stop till you tell me!”

  “No, no I won’t give in!” he said between laughs.

  He grabbed my hands, and held them still. It was useless for me to try to overcome his strength. I let go, moved to the other side of the couch, and crossed my arms, pouting.

  “That’s not going to work either,” he said. “You’ll just have to be patient; we’ll be in Houston before you know it.”

  I didn’t budge from my seat.

  “Lacey…”

  I looked away, and didn’t answer.

  “Fine, be like that,” he said. “You’ll thank me later after all the surprises I have in store for you.”

  “Surprises? Plural?”

  “Uh huh,” he answered. “I have many tricks up my sleeve.”

  I stuck my tongue out at him like a five-year-old. He slid down the couch to sit next to me again. I tried to ignore him, but he smelled so good, and he looked amazing in his tight jeans and vintage Aerosmith t-shirt.

  “You suck,” I told him.

  “What did I do?”

  “You make it impossible for me to stay mad at you,” I admitted.

  “But you look so cute when you’re angry.”

  “Shut up,” I said.

  “See, that was hot.”

  I turned to grimace at him, but he caught my chin with his hand and tilted my head up. I couldn’t resist him; I was putty in his hands. He managed to make me practically forget about the stupid fan girls and the drama with Trina. Now all I could think about was what he had in store for me tomorrow.

  Chapter 15 – Houston

  “Happy Birthday!”

  I opened my eyes to find Logan and Robyn standing over me.

  “Get up Birthday girl,” Robyn said, extending her hand.

  She pulled me up off the couch and Logan took my other hand, leading me towards the door.

  “Wait, I didn’t even brush my hair,” I mumbled as we walked outside.

  “Happy Birthday!” someone yelled as I stepped off the bus. The voice was familiar, and I jumped back in shock when I realized who it was.

  Trina doubled over laughing.

  “What? What are you doing here? Oh my God!” I screamed. I couldn’t help but cry. I was so excited to see her.

  “Why are you crying? Be happy!” she exclaimed, pulling me into a bear hug.

  “I’m just, you don’t even want to know all the morbid scenarios I thought of since I hadn’t heard from you in so long,” I said. “Don’t ever do that to me again!”

  “But it wouldn’t have been such a great surprise if I’d called you every day,” she said, hugging me close again. “Besides, it’s only been a few days, not months!”

  “I know, I know. Thanks, this is the best Birthday surprise ever; I can’t believe you’re really here!”

  “Logan and Robyn helped,” she said, looking over at them.

  “Thanks guys,” I said. “You’re all amazing.”

  “We know,” Robyn joked. “Come on, let’s go check in.”

  I hoped Trina stayed for the remainder of the tour. There were only a few days left after all. Maybe she and Griffin could work out their issues.

  We walked inside the hotel and stood in line.

  “Crap, there’s Griffin,” Trina said, nodding to the front of the line.

  “You guys still aren’t speaking?”

  She shook her head.

  “I’m sorry, it really means a lot to me that you’d come here knowing you’d probably have to see him.”

  “Anything for my bestie.”

  Griffin’s eyes opened wide when he turned to find us waiting in line.

  “What do I do?” Trina whispered, looking away from him.

  “Just stay calm,” I advised. “He’s coming this way.”

  “Hey, Trina.” He didn’t make eye contact with her, and he didn’t sound very confident.

  “Hi,” she responded.

  He should be thanking his lucky stars that she decided to speak to him.

  “Um, Logan told me you’d be here today.” He kept his eyes glued to the floor. “I was wondering if you’d want to talk later, after the show maybe.”

  Trina looked at me for guidance, and I shrugged my shoulders. Of course I wanted them to work it out, but I had a hard time trusting him after everything that happened in Atlanta.

  “Sure,” she answered.

  He looked up to face her. “Great, see you then.”

  He walked away to meet up with Ryan on the other side of the lobby and they hopped in the elevator.

  “Oh my God…” I whispered.

  “Ugh, I was so dreading this moment! He makes me forget all rational thought. I look at him and all the same feelings come rushing back,” she said.

  “Just be smart about it,” I told her. “Make sure he knows how hurt you felt, and how much of a jerk he was.”

  “I will,” she said, nodding her head. “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  We checked into our room and caught up on everything that had happened in the past few days.

  “You’re so in love with him!” Trina said, smiling wide.

  I sighed and fell back onto the bed, smiling. “Yeah, I really am.”

  “I can tell he loves you too,” she said. “I don’t know why he’s not telling you yet.”

  “How can you be so sure?” I asked, sitting back up.

  “The way he looks at you, the way he talks about you, the things you’ve told me about him,” she replied. “It’s obvious.”

  “I hope so.”

  Trina unpacked her suitcase and I noticed she packed more clothes than necessary for just one night.

  “Are you planning on joining the tour again?” I asked.

  She hesitated before answering. “Um, I…don’t know.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

  “Well, I figured I’d over pack, just in case, you know, if things worked out…”

  “Would you take him back? I mean, after all the mean things he said?” I asked.

  I wanted to tell her about the whole groupie ordeal, but I figured I’d give Griffin a chance to tell her himself first.

 
“Maybe,” she replied. “I guess it depends on what he says, and how much he apologizes.”

  “Well, Logan did tell me that Griffin was really upset after you left, so I know that he isn’t completely void of having a heart.”

  “Well, that’s good to know,” she said.

  “So, are you up for selling merch with me tonight?” I asked.

  “Of course, I actually really missed all the craziness.”

  “Can you believe there are only four more shows after tonight? It went by way too fast.”

  “And, that we’re starting college soon!”

  “I know, it’s insane,” I replied. “I actually have orientation in a few weeks.”

  “Me too,” Trina said. “It’s gonna be weird going back to ‘real life.’”

  “Yeah, definitely.”

  Trina finished unpacking and took a seat on the bed. “So, should I assume I’ll be alone in here tonight?” she asked, smirking.

  “Um, yeah, probably,” I responded, quietly.

  “Do you think you’ll, you know…do it?”

  I blushed thinking about the possibility. “Maybe…”

  “Do you want to?” she asked.

  “I’ve thought about it a lot, and yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m ready. I mean, I’m in love with him, and he’s perfect and incredible and hot, and I can’t think of any reasons not to.”

  “I think you should totally go for it,” she said. “I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet!”

  I smiled thinking about it, and wished it was night time already. The anticipation was killing me.

  We grabbed something to eat and made our way over to the venue early. The huge number of fans already waiting outside the building caught me off guard. It made me so happy to see hundreds of people supporting the guys and all their hard work, even if most of them hated me.

  “Hey, where’s Ryan lover?” Trina asked, noticing Devin’s disappearance from her usual front of the line spot.

  “Her name is Devin, and she’s actually really cool,” I said. “She helped me sell merch while you were gone, but she had to head home the other day.”

  “Oh, sorrrrry,” Trina said sarcastically.

  “Why do you do that?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “You hate on her for no reason,” I said, defending my new friend.

  “She’s just some silly fan,” she replied.

  “No, she’s not. She’s one of my friends now. You know, Logan noticed that you trash the fans, and I tried to defend you, but I can see what he meant. It’s not cool. Even though the fans can sometimes be annoying, they’re helping Lansdowne’s dreams come true.”

  She didn’t say a word. I think I stunned her; we hardly ever fought, but I had to stand up for Devin, and the other fan girls.

  “Whatever, fine,” she said, and walked into the venue with her boxes.

  I didn’t want us to fight today, of all days. Hopefully she wouldn’t stay mad. I followed her into the venue with my boxes.

  “Happy Birthday!”

  I turned to look at the well-wishers -- a couple of Lansdowne fans.

  “How did you know?” I asked the group of girls.

  “Devin posted it on her blog,” one of the fans said.

  “Thanks, that’s really sweet of you.”

  “Can you tell Logan we said hi?” they asked.

  “Uh, sure,” I answered. “He’ll probably come out after the show.”

  The girls all grabbed each other’s arms and looked like they were about to faint. “Thanks!”

  “No problem,” I said, and made my way into the venue.

  “See, they’re nice,” I told Trina. “They wished me Happy Birthday.”

  “Yeah, they’re only nice to you so they can have a chance to meet the band,” she said. “You’re too gullible.”

  “Fine, you can choose to believe that, and I can believe that they just want to be nice.”

  “Okay, we can agree to disagree.”

  I wasn’t happy with Trina’s mindset, but what could I do? We set up the merch display and sat together in silence until soundcheck started.

  “I don’t think I can watch,” Trina said. “It’s too hard to see him…”

  “I understand, I’ll stay here with you.”

  “No, no, I’ll be fine.”

  She shooed me away with her hand, and I left to wander closer to the stage. Logan noticed me and waved. Griffin looked happy on stage, too smug for my liking, but if Trina was willing to forgive him, I would forgive him too.

  They sounded great, and I blew Logan a kiss before returning to the table with Trina. I was so happy to have my best friend back. I chalked up her attitude to nerves, I’m sure she was freaking out about talking to Griffin later.

  We listened to the concert in the lobby together since Trina still didn’t want to see Griffin on stage. As the show came closer to the end, I noticed that they switched up their set list, skipping a song.

  “That’s weird,” I remarked.

  “You should go in there” Trina said, smiling and pointing into the venue.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Just do it,” she said, giving me a small push. “I’ll go with you, Griffin won’t be on stage.”

  “Huh? Why not?”

  Trina pulled me closer to the stage with her. She was right; the spotlight was only on Logan. I was so confused since they’d never done solos before.

  Logan sat down on a wooden stool and scooted up to the mic stand. “We’re deviating from the usual show tonight with a new song. You guys will let me know if you like it, right?”

  The crowd yelled out in agreement.

  He looked around the room, and squinted through the spotlight. “Happy Birthday.”

  I grabbed Trina’s arm and held on tightly, my legs were about to fall out from beneath me. Was this song for me?

  Griffin strummed a few chords on his guitar and Logan began to sing. I was in too much shock to hear the lyrics at first, but when the chorus picked up, I could tell he wasn’t just dedicating the song to me, but that it was about me, and him, and how he felt about us. I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t mention my name, but he didn’t have to. It was the most perfect gift I had ever received in my entire life. Through his song, I knew that he loved me. My heart beat faster and my arms pricked up with goosebumps. Tears fell from my eyes, and I noticed some of the fans were crying too.

  Logan looked up at the audience after the song ended and waited for a response. The fans immediately clapped and screamed.

  “I’m going to take it that you liked it?” he asked.

  I floated back to the merch table. I was on cloud nine; blissfully unaware of the fans and the rest of the world.

  “You knew?” I asked Trina.

  “Yeah, but I hadn’t actually heard it yet. It was so beautiful, he almost had me crying! You guys are so doing it tonight.”

  “Shut up!” I said, slapping her arm and giggling.

  When the show ended and the fans came out to buy merch, I noticed less evil stares from them. I knew it would help change their opinion of me if they knew Logan actually liked me. It was the perfect way of telling them, without actually telling them. Devin called me as we were packing up the bus. Someone already sent her the video of Logan’s new song, and she was flipping out almost as much as I was.

  We packed up the last box, and I wished Trina good luck with her talk with Griffin. She wished me good luck with my night too.

  I quickly ran back inside the venue, and knocked on the door to the band’s dressing room. The guys told me to come in and I rushed through the door looking for Logan.

  “Logan, oh my God, that was…” I couldn’t even finish my sentence before the tears streamed down my face again.

  He met me in the middle of the room and slid his comforting arms around me. “I meant every word.”

  I looked up into his clear blue eyes and told him what I’d wanted to tell him for what seemed like forever. “I love
you too.”

  He leaned down and kissed me, there were no other words to say. He pulled away from me after a few minutes. I knew this moment with him wouldn’t last long since he needed to go outside with the rest of the band.

  “I’ll meet you back at the hotel,” he said, tossing me a key. “Suite 700.”

  I took a cab back to the hotel and found my way to suite 700. I entered the room to find candles lit throughout the room, and rose petals strewn across the floor and the bed. It was so romantic, like something out of a movie. I slipped into one of the silk robes hanging in the closet, and waited patiently for my rockstar to arrive.

  As the minutes ticked by my mind raced. What if I did something wrong? Or what if I was bad at it? I tried to shake the negative thoughts from my head, and just wished he’d come back soon.

  When the door finally opened, Logan walked in carrying a bottle of champagne. “I got it from the bar downstairs, they didn’t card me,” he explained. “Happy Birthday, baby.”

  He poured us each a glass and sat down on the bed with me. His icy blue eyes pierced through me as he stared into my eyes. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” I replied.

  He stripped off his t-shirt and jeans and got under the sheets with me. I took in the sight of his perfect body in the dim light; he was the beautiful one.

  He held his head up in his hand and looked over at me, brushing my hair behind my ear with his fingers. “I love you, Lacey,” he whispered.

  His eyes were smoldering, and his glistening hair was perfectly out of place. Whatever nervous feelings I had before suddenly escaped me, and I felt completely comfortable with him.

  “I love you too,” I responded.

  “You said you wanted me for your Birthday,” he said, leaning in closer.

  I nodded and kissed his lips softly. “I still do.”

  Chapter 16 – Kansas City

  Trina and I were stuck on the bus for the entire day, but we didn’t mind at all. The time flew by as we talked endlessly about Logan and Griffin. I told her all about my super-amazing-incredible night. It was almost like a dream. He was so sweet and gentle, and I could tell that he genuinely cared about how I felt, emotionally and physically. I was glad I waited for the right person.

  It sounded like Trina had a pretty similar night. Thank goodness she was able to work things out with Griffin. I don’t know how I would have survived the rest of the tour without her. Griffin swore he didn’t hook up with anyone while she was gone, and if she believes him, then I will too. I just hope he’s telling the truth. I couldn’t bear to see her hurt again.