26
Emma woke the next morning with that first-thing-in-the-morning-confusion that comes with sleeping in a different bed nearly every night. She paused for a moment to try and remember where they were that day. New Mexico.The second item to figure out that morning was just whose arm was wrapped snugly around her waist, and why it was still there. She thought hard about the previous night and remembered going to bed lying next to Nick. She also remembered telling him that she didn’t cuddle. And yet, there he was pressed up against her back, arm wrapped around her body, and not only hadn’t she pushed him out of the bed, but she hadn’t even noticed that he’d done it. Or maybe she had, but for some unknown reason she let him do it.
Whatever the reason, she now felt the desire to get away and carefully slid off of the bed onto the floor. She sat on the floor quietly watching as Nick stirred and she willed him to stay asleep. When he rolled over and wrapped his arm around a pillow she let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, and grabbed her tee shirt from the floor before quietly making her way out of the room.
It wasn’t until she’d pushed her head through the neck of the shirt that she realized that she wasn’t alone in the room. “Fuck me…” she said as she literally jumped as she saw AJ sitting on the couch looking at her.
He laughed, “Good morning to you too…”
She put her hand over her heart and took a few deep breaths, “You scared me. I thought that lump in the bed back there was you.”
“Blankets and pillows…” he smiled. “Sneaking off without saying goodbye?”
She shook her head and sat down next to him to pull her shoes on, “I was going to write a note.”
“What’s the rush?”
“Meeting…” she mumbled as she tied her shoes.
“You have meetings?” he asked.
“Not often. I think they fired one of the other girls for stealing merchandize. So they’re probably introducing a new person or telling us we have to cover all of her shifts as a team. I’m supposed to be at the venue in about an hour, so I’ve gotta run.”
“Weird…” AJ said.
“What?” she laughed. “Tee Shirt Girls aren’t allowed to have meetings?”
“No… it’s not that… I just… I dunno. I never imagined that you guys had meetings to sit through.”
“Yeah I know… show up, sell tee shirts, go back to the hotel…” she chuckled. “We aren’t all as lucky as you, AJ.”
“Emma…” he sighed and she laughed at the face he made. “I didn’t mean it that way…”
“ I know…” she smiled and patted his knee. “I’ll see ya…”
“Lunch after sound check?”
She nodded, “Certainly… I’ll be around somewhere. If you can’t find me, just call me.”
“Cool…” he nodded.
She stood up and as she walked toward the door she noticed Nick curled up asleep in the other room. She smiled and looked back at AJ who’d gotten up to see her to the door, “Tell Nick I… well, tell him I said bye.”
AJ smiled and nodded holding the door open as Emma stepped out into the hall. He’d seen Nick’s arm comfortably wrapped around Emma when he got up that morning. He’d also seen just how okay with it Emma seemed as they both slept soundly. “I’ll tell him… have fun at your meeting.”
She twirled her finger in the air, “The exciting life of a Tee Shirt Girl…”
They laughed, said goodbye, and then parted ways. Emma thinking about how soundly she’d slept, and AJ wondering if having Nick around more often might not be such a bad idea after all.
