I don’t mean to repeat myself but I have a tendency to do so, so you will have to forgive me if I do. My mediocre life has been just fine, despite that by some people’s standards it may have been less than noteworthy. To me, it had been great. Almost perfect even. Almost, not quite, there are a few thorns in there that I would like to trim off. Keeping under the radar as much as I could meant smooth sailing, but all that was about to change. The trouble started two weeks before Thanksgiving when I got that cursed phone call from home that would have a domino effect.
I had just gotten to my hotel room after a long day of nonstop photos and running around. Everything that could have gone wrong did, from petty things like Nick getting a huge zit to more serious things like equipment malfunctions. Overall, it was a bad day for everyone and I was thankful it was finally over. I tossed my bag on the bed and kicked off my shoes ready to relax and forget about everything. I had a terrible headache and my feet were killing me. It was one of those days where they had me up and down and in circles. Everyone was going nuts, but the end result was worth it, it was a great show. I downed a couple of Advil and I was about to throw myself on the bed when I was startled by the ringing.
“Hello.” I mumbled.
“Gracie.” My mother’s voice full of enjoyment traveled from the other end. “I’ve been trying to reach you for the past couple hours but I keep getting sent straight to your voice mail.”
I was sprawled on the bed holding the phone to my ear. “Yeah I had it turned off while I was working.” I gathered it must have been important and if she didn’t leave it in a message it was something she wanted to tell me directly.
“Guess what?”
My brows furrowed, I wasn’t in the mood for guessing games. Luckily, I wouldn’t have to wait too long, this was my mother, she couldn’t hold in exciting news even if you paid her to and “guess what” was more like “shut up and pay attention, I got something to tell you.”
“Something wonderful has happened.”
“Mmm. What’s that?” I asked not really wanting to know.
“Your sister’s getting married. Can you believe that? Honey, you’re sister’s getting married, isn’t that great?”
Now I wish I really hadn’t known what this something wonderful has happened was. Wasn’t so wonderful to me.
“Really? Wow.” I said in a dull voice.
“You don’t sound so enthused. This is your sister, you should be happy.”
“I am mom, really.” I lied. “It’s just that I’m a little beat and well, frankly it’s a bit of a shock.”
“Oh, it’s not so much of a shock, Gracie. Sammie and Alvin have been serious for a long time now. I’m surprised it didn’t come any sooner. You’ll be at the wedding won’t you?”
“Yeah, I’ll see if I can’t make it.”
“Gra-”
“I’m joking, of course, I’ll be there.”
“Great! Um, you’re coming home for Thanksgiving aren’t you?”
“Yes mom, I told you I’d be there. The last show’s a week before so I’ll be there on time.” I’d already told her this a thousand times perhaps early signs of Alzheimer’s were beginning to show. Although I thought she was too young, but it was a possibility. She is rather forgetful.
“Great, your aunt Rita and uncle Roy are coming and we’re gonna need all the extra help we can get.”
“Aunt Rita and Uncle Roy.” I repeated. “Great.” I hadn’t see either of those two since I was eight. They weren't exactly the easiest people to get along with.
“And now we’ve got a wedding to plan. We have so little time to do it.”
“When’s the date anyway?”
“December 28.”
“Why so soon mom?” I asked is a suggestive tone. What was the rush? Why does anyone rush a wedding in the first place. Unless…
“Oh Grace, behave.” She was quick to pick up the insinuation.
“No really, why the rush?”
“Shut it Grace.”
“But mom…”
“Put a cork in it!”
I laughed.
"Okay, okay. I'll stop."
“I guess I’ll let you go now. Sammie and I are going to see about catering. So we’ll need to be up bright and early. Bye sweetheart. Get some rest, you do sound like you need it.”
“Alright, I will. Bye mom…hey mom.” I said before she hung up.
“Yes dear.”
“Have you noticed a bump on Sammie’s belly?”
I heard the line go dead and laughed. I always did love to mess around with my mother like that. It was just way too easy and too much fun.
I got up to set my phone to charge, switched off the light and got back into bed. I laid there processing the phone call. I know it was wrong of me and I felt a little guilty for not feeling as ecstatic as I should have, but the thought of my little sister getting married was a stab at the old ego. Samantha was barely twenty one and already she was getting married and I, on the other hand, was a year shy of thirty and I didn’t even have a steady man in my life. I think it was at that very moment that my biological clock began to tick.
I had already been dreading the holiday season and the thought of going home and spending it with family. Every year it was the same, all the relatives would be there and I would constantly be compare to Sammie throughout the entire stay. And bombarded with a million questions. Where’s your boyfriend? How come you never bring a man home? When are you getting married? You better hurry up before the train passes you by. Little Sammie’s going to beat you to it. And now it was happening. She was getting married... and I was alone.
I screamed into the pillow. How was I going to survive through the holidays. A whole month and a half a torture at the hands of my own blood? Shoot who needs terrorists when you’ve got family, right? I tossed and turned all night think about the horrors I was going to be subjected to, and thinking of ways to get out of it. I even contemplated faking my own death. I spent all night planning it in my head, all the details until I had convinced myself that I could actually pull it off.
The next morning I was dead tired, exhausted from planning my own death. I’d only gotten a couple of hours of sleep. I’d used an extra layer of cover up to conceal the dark circles under my eyes but it didn’t do much good. I still looked like crap. Today had gone a little better than yesterday, work wise, but nearing the end of the tour, everybody was burned out. We all just wanted to go home and be with our families, except me of course. I could of gone another month or two of work.
I helped Leigh pack up some of her and her family’s belongings while she changed James’ soiled diaper. That was the grossest thing I’d ever witnessed before. I think Leigh caught me making a face at the sight because she laughed at me. I was holding my breath and shoving things into their bags as quickly as possible so I could run out the room and breathe.
I let it all out once I was on the other side of the door and now that work and the stinky diaper situation was out of my head, thoughts of last night’s phone call came back to me. I had half a mind to go back in there and suffer the wrath of James’ dirty diaper just so that I wouldn’t have to think about it. I banged my head against the wall. What had seemed last night to be a brilliant plan, now was sounding redundant and childish. I laughed hysterically.
“You okay?” Leigh asked, holding James in one arm and shutting the door with her other hand. “You look like shit.”
“Yeah, well, I feel like it.” I muttered.
“God, Grace, if being godmother to my child is going to put that much stress on you, then just forget it.” She teased.
“No, it’s not that.” I walked down the hallway trying to locate the nearest exit. I needed to get out of there. Leigh followed. “It’s just that, I just have a lot on my mind last night that’s all.”
“And today as well, from the looks of it. You’ve been like a zombie all day. What’s going on?”
“I’m just really stressed out about visiting the family back home. I’m not looking forward to it, not one bit.”
“Yeah the holidays can get a bit stressful.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Just hang in there. It'll be over soon and in the meantime, if you need anything Grace, just let me know.”
“Nah, I’ll b alright. I just need a little downtime.”
Leigh’s face brightened up and for a moment I wished I could take back what I had just said. I knew that look she was giving me. It was the look she always gets when she has an idea. I could see the light bulb floating above her head. Unfortunately, Leigh’s ideas are never the best ones, at least not the ones that involve me.
“That’s perfect cause Howie said that they were talking about going out to get a bite to eat and having a couple of drinks to wind down. You should come with us.”
I don’t think Leigh quite understood that when I said downtime, I meant, me, alone, by myself.
“I don’t know Leigh.”
“Oh come on, it’ll be fun. It’ll get you mind off you family for a bit.”
I don’t think I’ve ever accepted an invitation before. I usually just keep to myself. Although Leigh was great, I just didn’t feel like I belonged there. But the idea of forgetting my family and my sister’s engagement even if just for a little while was too temping to pass. I thought about it for a minute and then I heard myself saying the words I never thought I’d say.
“Alright, I’ll go.”
“Alright, great!” Her expression showed just as much surprise as my own. “So we’ll meet you back at the hotel. Get ready and wear something nice.” She yelled as I walked out of the building and started for the parking lot. I braced myself for the masses of screaming fans that lingered outside. They weren’t here to see me but they still made it difficult for me to get to my ride.
~~~
The knock came about 3:00 am. I’d been having second thoughts about going to this little outing. It was just so late and all I wanted to do was crawl under my sheets and make up the sleep I’d lost the previous night, but it was too late. Leigh was already standing outside my door. I could hear her talking to Howie. Maybe I could pretend to be asleep. Yeah, that might have worked except knowing Leigh, she would have gone to fetch security to open my door and drag me out of bed, and then I’d be caught in the lie. I dragged my feet to the door and opened it.
“Hey, you ready?” She asked.
I wanted to say no but I just nodded. I regret agreeing to do this.
“Let’s go.”
I grabbed my purse and made sure I had my key in it, last thing I wanted to do was get locked out of my own room again.
“We’re going to meet everyone at the restaurant.” She said as we headed for the elevator. “They went off without us.” She cocked her head in her husband’s direction. “Somebody couldn’t find anything to wear.”
“Ha ha,” Howie said, rolling his eyes at his wife. “It’s really nice that you finally decided to come with us.”
I kept quiet most of the drive to the 24 hour diner Brian and Leighanne had selected, only speaking to answer any questions either of them had for me. Mostly though the car was filled with the two of them discussing their plans for the next week. Who’s family they were going to see and when. I watched them interact with each other. I always did love watching them together. They made a lovely couple. So did Brian and his wife, but Howie and Leigh, it was different with them. They weren’t as caramelized as the other couple, but they were still sweet. They would bicker constantly, but even amidst a fight, he would still open doors for her, still very thoughtful to each other. That was something I wanted for myself. I had to look away and concentrate on something else before I turned into a little green eyed monster.
Nick and Lauren had just arrived and were stepping out of the car when we reached the diner. They were nice enough to wait for us to go in. One look at me and he eyed Howie like he was questioning him about my presence. I didn’t see the look he returned to the 6 foot tall blonde, but his blue eyes turned back to me.
“Hey, Grace, What’s going on?”
“Nothing much. Leigh dragged me out here tonight.” I hoped that would answer his question.
“I see. Yeah she has a way of making people do things she wants them to do. And wait ‘till she starts playing matchmaker.”
“Carter! Hush. I don’t see neither you, nor Lauren complaining. You all should be thanking me for practically forcing you to date.”
“Ah, my wife, the matchmaker. Who needs match.com when you have my wife?”
“Howard!”
“What? You’re always in everybody’s business hon.”
“Whatever, let’s just go inside.” There was the little bickering I was talking about.
Through the window I could see Brian and his wife were already seated at a table with Alex. As expected they were all surprised to see me there. Lauren and Nick sat next to the Littrells while the Doroughs sat across from them, leaving me to sit beside Alex. It was a strange feeling to be so close to him now, but what was stranger was Ronnie was nowhere in sight. Alex and Ronnie had began dating a couple of months before the start of the tour and now nearing its end they seemed pretty serious about each other. She was always around him so it struck me as odd that she wasn’t there, but I didn’t want to ask. It just let it be.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Glad you guys are liking it so far. Here's chapter 2. I probably won't get to type out the other chapters I've got written down until after Christmas.
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks for the reviews.
