Authors: Heidi Hutchinson
He was starting to wonder how he had done this for
nearly twenty years without her. Gone were the days of wild parties,
coked out musicians, and random girls filing on and off the buses.
She kept the buses clean of any contraband and shooed groupies away.
Carl finally slept easily at night and as a pleasant result, his acid
reflux was under control.
He knew he should give credit to the band for the
lifestyle overhaul they'd promised from the beginning, but Carl chose
to believe that none of this would be possible without Lenny. She
was his right hand. If Carl was the Emperor, then Lenny was Darth
Vader.
It was possible that the power was going to Carl's head.
He still didn't know what she had so readily left behind
the day he hired her. He kind of didn't care. Whoever, or whatever,
had chased her away was a fool, and he was reaping the benefits of
that mistake. All he had to do was keep her happy and his life was
smooth sailing.
He rotated which bus she rode on daily, sometimes
hourly. However, he still preferred to have her ride the Crew bus
overnights. No reason to play with fire.
No complaints had been uttered. The guys enjoyed having
Lenny around, and Carl knew they didn't want to screw it up. Having
a woman of Lenny's character on the tour had softened things
considerably, to the point where even the hardest of roadies watched
their behavior around her.
Carl couldn't blame
them, she had a charm and exuberance that was contagious. He looked
forward to her bringing coffee to him every morning. He never made
that part of her duties, but he believed she did it out of the
kindness of her heart.
That’s where
he was waiting when she came to him with a frown.
“
What’s
up?” Carl asked, trying not to sound concerned.
Lenny handed him his
coffee and shook her head. “The new opening act is a bunch of
dicks,” she growled.
Carl
laughed out loud; Lenny never talked negatively about anyone. Even
so, he knew what she meant. A new band had opened up for them last
night and would be traveling with them for a short leg of the tour,
six shows altogether. They were young, immature, and hard-headed.
They had their own set of rules that they lived by. They
thought
they were punk rockers, but they seemed to care an awful lot about
making sure they
looked
like punk rockers.
“
Just
a week and they’ll be outta your hair.” Carl said, taking
a sip of his coffee.
“
I
hope I can make it a week.” Lenny grunted. “If that
skinny asshat hits on me one more time, I’m gonna punch him in
the neck...accidentally. ”
Carl choked on his
coffee. Lenny smirked at his sputtering. When he recovered he
cautioned, “Just stay away from them. The label wants them to
get some exposure. They’ll burn out soon enough.”
“
What
kind of a name is Juniper Highlights anyway? They think they're
so
tough. I bet I could make ‘em cry in under five minutes.”
Lenny huffed under her breath and then shook off her bad mood. “We
still gonna make good time with all the extra stops?”
Carl pursed his
lips, “Yeah, for the most part.” He grimaced as he
thought about the time being wasted on friggin' bathroom breaks.
“That's the last time Sway buys tacos out of some guy's trunk.”
Lenny tried to hide
her smirk behind her cup but Carl caught it anyway.
“
I
know, you think it's funny.”
“
It
is
funny!” Lenny grinned at him. “And it's really not
Sway's fault. I mean, that Hibachi looked clean to me.”
Carl rolled his
eyes. “Well then, no more Mexican food on the road. We can't
keep stopping every time he's gotta take a dump.”
“
Gross,
Carl,” Lenny pretended to look disgusted. “He's just
following the rules.” She raised her eyebrows at him and he
said the rule out loud with her:
“
No
number two on the bus.”
“
That
should've been the name of the tour.” Carl muttered under his
breath.
Lenny chuckled at
his orneriness. “Hey, day off tomorrow, what’s the
plan?”
Carl considered
before replying, “I was thinking about giving you the day off,
too.” He raised an eyebrow and gave her a knowing look.
“
You
mean, tell everyone I have the day off and then sneak around to see
if they try to get into any trouble?” Lenny translated for
him.
“
Yeah,
pretty much.” Carl nodded.
“
Sounds
like a good idea. I think the guys are getting sick of me playing
Mother Hen. It might be better for me to lay low for a day.”
“
They’re
not sick of you, they love you. Everyone does.” Carl told her
seriously.
Lenny avoided his
stern look and gave him her now famous half-smirk, did her trademark
move of slamming her coffee and got ready to get back to work. Carl
knew it was her exit strategy for when things started to get too
personal for her. She was really good at protecting herself, but he
was getting to know her despite it. She didn't really allow
compliments for herself. She'd get a flicker in her eye and
immediately end the conversation. Just like now.
“
Time
to get back to work, Boss Man.” She strode to the end bus to
start her rounds, her golden hair reflecting the rising sun and
bouncing the color off the shiny chrome. Carl took another sip of
his coffee as he watched her depart. Damn, but that girl knew how to
find good coffee.
“
Hey!”
Carl called after her, “Blue Bus today!” She waved her
hand at him over her shoulder in acknowledgment.
***
Lenny knocked on the
Red Bus’s door and waited for a few seconds before boarding the
bus. She liked to give a small warning before entering because a
couple of days ago she discovered how much Sway liked to walk around
in the nude. Growing up with three brothers it wasn't anything
shocking for Lenny. But Sway had actually been kind of embarrassed.
Which had been pretty adorable.
The guys were
sitting in the main living space with guitars and papers spread all
around them. They looked up in unison as Lenny entered the room.
“
How
you feeling Sway?” Lenny asked the bassist.
He rubbed his belly
and made a sad face, “Now that I've shit out half my intestines
I feel a little better.”
“
Nice.”
Lenny shook her head. “Well, Carl says no more Mexican food on
the road.”
“
Agreed,”
Blake and Harrison replied as one.
“
You
ready to hit the road?” She asked as she inspected their
refrigerator and bathroom supplies.
“
Who
are you riding with today?” Blake asked curiously.
“
Blue
Bus today. Hopefully it'll be less stinky.” She teased,
waving her hand in front of her face. Sway looked apologetic and
Lenny grinned at him. “Don't feel bad, we've all been there.”
“
Hey,
what’s the plan for the day off tomorrow?” Harrison
seemed hesitant to ask. His large brown eyes looking anywhere but
directly at Lenny.
“
Um,
let’s see,” Lenny said, pretending to think about it. “A
whole day off in Virginia Beach…I think I might actually go to
the beach.” She laughed at their silent faces. “What?
Carl said I could have the day off, too.”
“
Cool.
We were just talking about…how you needed a day off.”
Harrison quickly covered as Blake gave him a stern look.
“
Sure
ya were.” Lenny smirked, “I know, I’ve been in your
hair a lot. You need a break, I get it.” She smiled at their
protesting faces but didn't leave room for discussion. “It’s
cool, I totally understand. I’ll see you later,” she
waved as she left the bus.
Lenny’s next
stop was the Blue Bus with Mike and Luke. It was her favorite stop
of the day, that’s why she usually saved it for last. And
today was even better because she would be getting to stay.
Lenny
tried to stifle the spark of excitement that was bouncing around in
her belly. She knocked and paused. She hadn't had any indecent
accidents on this bus like the other one but she decided that she
really couldn't be too careful. Besides, Luke Casey naked was
not
an image she really needed to have in her head forever.
Unfortunately. That would make working for him that much harder.
Making her way into
the living space she could see Mike sleeping on the sofa, looked like
he’d been there all night. Empty water bottles and candy
wrappers littered the floor. Automatically, she started to pick up
the garbage and throw it away. Luke came out of the bathroom, having
just showered, with a towel slung low on his hips.
“
Why
is Mike sleeping on the couch? You guys have a fight?” She
quipped, refusing to look up, knowing she wouldn’t be able to
keep herself from staring at Luke’s perfectly sculpted chest
and abs.
Freaking
Adonis.
Luke retreated to
the back room to put clothes on. When he reemerged he was wearing
faded jeans and a black t-shirt, his hair still wet and messy from
the shower. He had started to grow some scruff on his face a few
days ago and hadn’t shaved it. But it looked good on him. Made
him look older. He stepped towards Lenny and took the now full trash
bag from her hands to tie it closed.
“
He
was watching a movie last night and decided to sleep out here,”
he explained in a hushed voice. He was standing close to Lenny so
that she could hear him and she could smell the fresh shampoo from
his shower and his minty breath. Suddenly, she was very aware of her
coffee breath and took a step back. She smiled casually, ignoring
the flush she felt creeping up her neck, and opened the refrigerator
to give it a quick scan.
“
What
movie was it?” She asked, surprised at the steadiness of her
voice despite the pounding of her pulse. The intensity with which
her body consistently responded to Luke's presence was alarming, to
say the least.
“
Rear
Window
with Jimmy Stewart.” His voice was close again, just over her
shoulder and she swallowed hard before turning around.
His crystal blue
eyes scanned her face slowly. He had successfully backed her into
the corner of the kitchenette. She licked her bottom lip nervously
and saw his gaze drop to her mouth and stay there.
“
I
love that movie, too.” Lenny reached for the trash bag,
grazing his hand with her own as she slipped it from Luke’s
grasp. He inhaled sharply and she stepped around him quickly, backing
towards the door.
“
I’ll
make sure you guys get a refill of water before we take off.”
She paused, trying to get her heart rate under control, “I'm
riding on this bus today so...I'll be right back.”
Luke took a step
toward her, “What are you going to do tomorrow?”
“
Maybe
go to the beach with Tanya and the other merch girls,” she
lied, looking away from his penetrating gaze.
“
That
sounds like fun…” Luke acted like there was more he
wanted to say but couldn't think of it.
“
Yeah…so
I’ll be right back.” She repeated, but this time she
turned around, finally breaking the tension between them and walked
down the steps.
***
Mike watched their
interaction through slits in his eyes and held back the deep chuckle
that wanted to escape.
“
That
sounds like fun,” Mike mocked softly from the couch.
Luke turned to him,
clearly surprised that he was awake. “You’re an ass,”
he muttered to his friend on his way to the back of the bus.