Bad Seed

My chest heaved and my toes curled. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and my body shook. I came on my hand for a third time since I’d seen him, and my chest heaved for breath. I was dripping with want for him. I felt tears rising to my eyes as I succumbed to the reality of the situation.

Despite my best intentions, I was lusting after my client.

Cleaning myself up, I tried to push the thought from my mind as best as I could, reminding myself that he was a client, a client that needed my help. I had worked on the outline of his plan to help him get sober and sent it to Hank for approval. I would need a go ahead from him before I started implementing anything.

And it started with watching him on this tour.

I got dressed after the shower and got ready for the day. I met Drake at his record label and he looked drunk. His eyes were glassy and his stance was sloppy. I could smell the alcohol coming off his breath, and his clothes were wrinkled and musty-smelling. Which meant he was drunker than he usually was.

That should’ve been enough to derail the need he elicited in me. Seeing him like my father before he drove away that day should’ve been enough. But it wasn’t. I wanted to reach out to him and help heal all it was that plagued him.

His record producer was going over some final things before they cut the last rendition of his latest album.

Hank was there paying attention, and I was grateful for it. My eyes were on Drake the entire time, studying his body and his reactions. His reaction times were especially slow. I could see his flask sticking out of his back pocket, but the cap wasn’t even screwed on. It was empty, and it made me wonder how much he’d had before coming to this meeting.

“Delia, can I speak with you for a second?”

“Sure Hank. What’s up?” I asked.

“You’re going to hate me for this, but there’s nothing I can do about that I suppose. I need you on the bus with the guys.”

“What?” I asked. “Why? You said I could follow in my truck.”

“I know, I know. But I got your sobriety plan in my inbox and I think it’s good. I agree with you that surveying him without intervention on this trip could be a good thing for you. But you won’t see that unless you’re on the bus. Plus I have a couple of meetings set up along the way and I’ll need my car for those.”

“I can gather all I need to know as we stop along our journey,” I said.

“Delia, you’re on the bus. The label said you can park your truck at the edge of the lot and keep it here. The bus is ready to roll. All we need to do is get on it.”

“I’m not getting out of this, am I?” I asked.

“Not if you want me to approve your sobriety plan. But here’s the deal. If you feel

the need to implement the plan sooner, I’m not gonna stop you.”

“Trust me, I won’t. If things get out of hand, I’ll do whatever is necessary to get it back under control. Especially if I’m going to have to live with those idiots for the next little while,” I said.

“I knew I hired the right person for this job. Good luck.”

Great.

Just fucking great.

I walked over to my truck and moved it to the edge of the parking lot. They had a space blocked off for me and everything, which only served to help the reality sink in a lot faster. I was now on the bus with a drunken man I couldn't resist and his two idiotic cronies. I had watched the videos that surfaced of their after parties and official videos of their concerts. I knew what I was getting into, and it wasn’t good.

“Come on, I’ll show you where to put your bags,” Drake said.

I grabbed my bag and followed Drake onto the bus. Landon was already there, sleeping in his bunk with his hand hanging out into the aisle. I made my way for the bedroom in the back, but Drake’s hand came down onto my shoulder.

“You’ll sleep in Stone’s bunk until we pick him up,” Drake said.

“I’m not doing this unless I take that room. Putting a door or something between me and you guys,” I said.

“Then the front door’s that way. Enjoy trying to keep up.”

I heard Landon chuckle as he turned over in bed, his eyes peeking out at me as he tapped the bunk above him.

“This is Stone’s bunk. Hope you don’t mind having a neighbor,” Landon said.