Chapter 21 - Veronica
The morning of the Grammys was exciting. I went to bed with a goodnight text from Carter, and woke up to a good morning text from him as well. I smiled, and then jumped out of bed and got ready.
I would meet Lacie at a hotel near the Staples Centre, where we’d prep the band for the red carpet. Then, we’d head backstage and meet them before their performance to make sure they looked perfect.
From there, it was up to them to play how we all knew they could and get this album launched.
I glanced around the hotel room while Lacie got her makeup and hair supplies ready. “Thank God we get to watch the show from backstage. If I was stuck in this hotel room all evening I think I’d go crazy.”
“At least there’s a mini bar,” Lacie said, walking over and cracking open a tiny bottle of whiskey.
My eyebrow arched and I grinned. Looks like her time with Maddox had been pretty transformative. “When did you turn into a little rebel?”
“We can just bill it to the band,” Lacie laughed. “I’m about to be married to one of them, after all.”
I laughed and shook my head. This week had been insane. “Is that still going down?”
Lacie nodded, and then started laughing with me. “It’s so ridiculous, but Vee, it feels good.”
“Good.”
The door opened, and Maddox and Carter appeared. I put her hands on my hips.
“I guess I should be congratulating you, shouldn’t I?” I said to Maddox. He glanced at Lacie and his eyes widened.
“You told her?”
Lacie shrugged. “One of my faults, I guess. Veronica knows everything.”
Carter frowned. “What’s going on?”
Lacie cheeks flushed and she glanced at Maddox. Carter looked at me, then Lacie, then Maddox. He had a cute little confused expression on his face, and my heart thumped in my chest. A grin spread over Maddox’s lips and he put his hand on Carter’s shoulder.
“I’m getting married.”
Carter frowned. “To who?”
“To me,” Lacie said, laughing as she blushed.
No one said anything. The room was deathly still, and then Carter started chuckling. Once he started, none of us could resist. All four of us leaned on each other and laughed until tears streamed down our faces.
“Well, congratulations, I guess,” Carter said. “Am I the best man, or what?”
“Yeah,” Maddox laughed. “You are, you presumptuous bastard.”
I glanced at Lacie. She grinned and nodded. “And you’ll be my maid of honor.”
”Monday morning, at the courthouse,” Maddox said.
“I’ll be there,” Carter said, shaking his hand. Then, he walked up to me and kissed me softly. I looked at his face and shot him a questioning glance, but he just shook his head.
I’ll tell you later, he seemed to be saying.
Garrett got to the hotel a couple minutes later. When he walked into the room, his face was darker than usual. Carter shifted in his seat and put his hand on my thigh. Something was wrong, and we could all feel it.
“Everything okay, Garrett?” Maddox asked. Garrett slumped into the makeup chair and grunted.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he said. “Just got a lot on my mind.”
“You checked our gear at the Staples Centre?”
“Yeah, it’s all fine, we’ll do a final check before we go on but it should be good to go.”
Maddox and Carter nodded. Lacie started on Garrett’s makeup. Carter and I exchanged a glance, and then I got up and started taking pictures. This was the perfect opportunity for some great behind-the-scenes pictures. I’d just have to make sure Garrett didn’t look too angry in them. Morgan had posted some of my photos from New York to the band’s social media pages, and they’d gotten fantastic responses. I knew these would be the same.
We were all quiet, with Carter and Maddox lounging and Lacie and I working. Garrett’s phone rang.
“Miss me already, do you?” Garrett said as he answered
My eyebrows shot up towards my hairline. I glanced at Lacie, whose eyes had widened. It had to be Morgan. Had to be!
“What?” I mouthed. Lacie was close enough to hear what Garrett was saying, and maybe even the person on the other end of the line. I saw her struggle to keep her face steady. She shrugged.
“I didn’t send them to her,” Garrett said to the phone. His voice was calm, but there was an undercurrent of anger. “She blindsided me.”
What was he talking about? Something was wrong. I looked at Carter, who had stiffened in his chair. He was trying to look casual, but I knew he was listening to Garrett’s conversation as intently as I was.
“I’ll handle it,” Garrett growled. He hung up the phone and pushed himself out of the chair.
“Good enough,” he grunted. “I think I’m pretty enough now,” he said to me, and I stepped back.
“Okay,” Lacie said. “I was almost done anyways.” She took a step back, wide-eyed and stiff.
“Who was that?” Carter asked. I glanced from him to Garrett to Maddox, trying to shrink into the walls. It felt like I was intruding, but I felt like something was very, very wrong. Then, Garrett said the name that I’d wished he wouldn’t say.
“Morgan.” Garrett growled. “We have a situation.”
Maddox’s straightened up. “What do you need us to do?”
“Just get ready for the show. I’ll meet you there.”
And with that, Garrett rushed out of the room. All four of us exchanged glances and frowns. I sighed.
“Well I don’t know about you guys, but it sounds like something not entirely professional is going on between the two of them,” I said.
“I’m not sure you’re one to talk,” Carter said, grinning. “Can you say you’ve been ‘entirely professional’?”
My face turned red, and Lacie started laughing.
“Well, whatever it is, you heard the man,” Lacie said, saving me from the embarrassment. “Carter, you’re up. I need to fix that face of yours.”
“Fix my face!” He said, his eyebrows shooting up in mock offense. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”
“You’re no David Beckham, I’ll tell you that much,” Lacie grinned, winking at me. It would have been offensive, except for the fact that The Mondays were possibly the sexiest three men in the Universe.
“You’re not like any makeup artist I’ve ever met,” Carter said, still in shock. “Usually they try to butter us up and make us feel good about ourselves.”
“She’s not like other makeup artists,” Maddox said, his eyes full of love as he looked at Lacie. “That’s why I’m marrying her.”
Carter looked at his friend, and then towards me. He gave me a sly wink and I smiled. Whatever was going on with Garrett and Morgan, I hoped it wouldn’t change things between Carter and I, or between Maddox and Lacie.