I wave her away. “No, he won’t. He’ll be grateshful I did what he said and caught a taxi home, and he’ll be busy with his band, you’ll shee.” A sudden wave of tiredness hits me and I yawn. I’m so glad to be going home. It’s been a great night but I need my bed now.
Erin’s voice sounds distant to me when she says, “You’re gonna wake up to hell tomorrow.”
I vaguely understand she’s saying something about hell, but all I can think about is how my pillow is going to feel like heaven very soon.
19
Jett
“For fuck’s sake, where is your head today?” Tom rants at me as we leave our third interview for the day. “You’re moody and coming off like an asshole. I know you’ve just had a long flight but that has never stopped you from getting the job done before.”
Fuck.
My head is with Presley today, and Tom’s right, it’s affecting my work. She hung up on me this morning and I haven’t been able to get back in touch with her. Rationally, I know she would have gotten home safe, but my irrational side has kicked in and I’m all over the place because of it.
And what the fuck was she doing out with two lawyers?
Fuck.
I shove my fingers through my hair. “Sorry, man, I’m worried about Presley, and I can’t think straight because of it.” I look at him in hope. “Tell me this shit gets easier the further into a relationship you get, ‘cause I’m not enjoying this a helluva lot at the moment.”
He shakes his head at me. “Jesus, this is because of her? I never thought I’d see the day where Jett Vaughn was this hung up on a woman. And no, I don’t think it gets easier so you need to get your shit together and find a way to cope with being so far away from her.”
“Shit,” I mutter as I check the time on my phone again. It’s just after four am in Brisbane so she’ll still be asleep. I’m desperate to talk to her but I don’t want to wake her up so I put my phone away. Thankfully, we’ve got another interview straight away so that should help take my mind off her.
Fuck, who the hell am I kidding? The only thing that will take my mind off her is her.
Tom leaves me to talk to Van, and West slaps his hand on my back. “Sorry to do this to you,” he murmurs, and I have no idea what he’s talking about.
Frowning, I ask, “Do what to me?”
“Dragging you away from Presley when you two are just getting started. I fucking hope we won’t have to be here for too long.”
“Shit, West, we’ve discussed this. This is not your fault, so you’ve got nothing to apologise for. And speaking of whose fault it is, do you know if Tom has found anything on that woman?”
“Nothing yet.” He sounds so down and it pisses me off, yet again, that she’s done this to him. West is usually the most upbeat one of our band, but at the moment, he’s so far down I don’t know what will bring him back up, short of her recanting her accusation. And I’m guessing that’s highly unlikely to happen. The woman contacted Tom just before we flew out of Brisbane to ask for money. If we pay her, she’ll do another interview and say it wasn’t true, but West is adamant he doesn’t want to pay her off.
“Okay, boys,” Tom rounds us up, “you’ve got fifteen minutes before the next interview. I’ll see you back here then.”
We’re holding the interviews in a hotel room in the same hotel we’re staying in so I head back to my room. I’m craving some quiet so I can try to work out everything running through my mind. I make it to my room and am closing the door behind me when my phone rings.
Goddamnit, I just want ten minutes to myself. Is that too much to ask?
I’m sure it’s Tom or one of the guys but when I check caller ID, I’m happy to see it’s C
laudia. She suffers from insomnia and often calls me at weird times when I’m overseas.
“Hey, sis,” I greet her with a smile on my face.
“Hey, big brother, are you kicking some ass over there or what?”
“More like I’m getting the band’s ass kicked,” I mutter as I sit down.
“That doesn’t sound good. Wanna talk about it?”
“I’m in a mood over Presley today and it’s interfering with our interviews. Tom’s just told me to sort myself out so that’s what I’m trying to do.”
“Why are you in a mood over Presley? Did you have another fight with her?”