G’ANNA
The departure date in three days highlighted the saved email I read on my phone as I sat back during take-off. When I snuck out of the suite this morning, I considered waking Ryder to say goodbye, but I knew we’d be seeing each other soon, so I let them all sleep. My flight left early, and I had no idea when they would take off. I should have taken Chandler up on the flights to and from Boston but business called.
Resting my head back, I glanced at the man seated next to me. His even breathing told me he slept through the take-off. Lucky him. I could never do it.
I finished looking at the itinerary for the tour. The band wanted me to travel the entire tour taking pictures, but my busy schedule said otherwise. Trudy would hold down the fort while I enjoyed shooting in several European locations.
I wanted to capture scenery and places I’d never visited before. I hoped there would be time for it. I pulled up my notes app and looked over the places I considered as a must-see. Finding the right moment to escape the bands would be the key.
Would Ryder be interested in coming with me on some of my side trips? I hoped so, but maybe he felt like he needed to be with Chandler to sightsee. They could discover the world together. What better way to get to know each other? Who wouldn’t want that with their long-lost parent?
A ding from my phone startled me back to reality, never having gotten used to the idea that messages were now acceptable on flights.
It read, “Call me.” I didn’t recognize the number attached to it, so I deleted the brief note.
The ding happened again within a few minutes. “Call me, please.” I stared at the same number from our area code. Maybe Trudy got a new number for some reason, so I typed out, “In the air. Talk later.” No reply came. I decided it must have been her.
As my chair leaned back, I closed my eyes thinking about the past weekend. My time with Ryder rattled my brain first. What a strange weekend it was with him. Hanging around with celebrities in relaxed atmospheres as we’d been in happened all the time. I took the opportunity to shoot picture after picture. Having a photo pass to backstage, I enjoyed taking candid shots. Nothing like this weekend had ever been on my radar. Experiencing the behind-the-scene situations gave me a whole new perspective.
I admitted to myself that some of it I enjoyed, some of it disgusted me, and some of it freaked me out. Rolling with the band might not be a life I could take on a full-time basis. The best part came from the intimacy I shared with Ryder. Remembering the scratches from his beard on my face and neck, I felt the heat running up my face.
That man kissed me senseless more than once. I’d never experienced kisses that caused me to lose all thought. My mind disintegrated with his lips on me. It didn’t matter if my lips, ear, or neck were the recipient of those little nips he took from my skin. My ability to think sprouted wings when the warmth from his tongue wielded licks against the sensitive spots on my neck.
I’d had more than one long-term relationship in my years. This would probably not be one, though. As the tour ran its course, so would our chance at a relationship. His life consisted of wherever the band took him. My life followed a pattern—shooting, editing, selling.
Most of my band work happened in Austin. People referred to it as the live music capital of the South. Flying off to venues all over the world wasn’t necessary when I could catch so many of the greatest bands in my hometown. I knew enough about every venue that choosing spots to shoot from became second nature to me.
Steel played most of the venues over the twenty plus years they’d been together. Even though lots of them had changed names over the years, little else had changed. Living in the city also helped me meet the owners and managers which gave me an advantage in most cases. They allowed me backstage, entrance without a ticket, and access to the holding rooms.
The difference between Ryder and me was he traveled constantly, and I usually stayed in one place. Since Ryder shared their story with me, I understood why they needed to have this time allowed to them during the tour. Chandler truly wanted me to record their reuniting, so I agreed to travel with them. After the weekend I now flew home from, the tour took on a whole new perspective.
I woke to the plane preparing to land, and the flight attendant tapping me on the shoulder. “Sorry to wake you, but you were sleeping pretty hard, and you need to bring your seat back up.” I punched the button and looked out the uncovered window in my row surprised I’d slept that long. My fingers ran around my mouth to make sure drool hadn’t dripped down my chin.
After disembarking, I collected my bags and car, I took off for the studio. Trudy’s text said there were things I needed to deal with so I bypassed going home. When I looked at my phone, that same number had left one that I didn’t bother to look up. I needed to block that number, so no more landed in my inbox.
The quiet of the studio scared me since it was usually nonstop controlled chaos. Trudy sat behind her desk with paperwork piled all over it. She looked up as I stepped in front of it. “Oh, hey. Didn’t hear the door open.”
“Let’s get a bell or something for the door. You need to know when someone comes in. I never realized you didn’t hear it.” I wanted to rant about this because of the safety but held off for now.
“I don’t know if I could stand that noise all day.”
“Not that many people come and go, but I’d like you to know when they do.”
“Thanks, boss. I appreciate you looking out for me after all this time.” She gave me a little smirk.
“What’s going on to have you so focused on one thing?”
“Trying to get all of your details lined out for the trip. I know you like a clean schedule to work from.”
“Yeah, that’d be great. I hope the band doesn’t have other ideas. You know I like to be flexible to work around them.”
“Right. I talked to the people over at 13 Recordings this morning to get any last-minute changes.”
One reason I loved this girl, she always took care of the little details. “Great. Thanks for handling all of that. I hope there’s not too many.”
“No, very few actually which surprised me. I guess when you’re dealing with a mega-band like Steel, plans are pretty much etched in stone. Can’t have any snafus with thousands of tickets sold.”
“That’s true. All of the venues will be sold out if they aren’t already.”
“Yeah, I looked online, and most are, so tons of fans will make it interesting for trying to get some of the types of photos I know you like to do. Price of playing huge venues.”
I headed to my office as I spoke. “The best thing about them, though, is the large stage they can work with for setting up special effects and various levels. Gives me new perspectives to work with.”
My phone rang from the number I needed to block. “Hello. Who is this?”
“Nice way to greet me, sugar.” The soft drawl coming over the speaker made my lady bits stand up and take notice. Damn, I needed to get laid if all it took was hearing his voice.
“Oh, hello. I didn’t know it was you.” I sank into my comfy leather desk chair with a smile on my face.
“I tried catching you before you left. Why didn’t you wake me?”
I felt my stomach drop from the guilt. “I knew you needed some restful sleep with the tour about to launch. It’s going to be a long four months for the band.”
“We’re used to it. I wish you’d have let me kiss you goodbye, but you’re right, it was probably for the best.”
“Oh?” His comment surprised me. Did he not want me hanging around?
“Yeah, if you’d have come into my dark bedroom and started kissing me, I’d probably have pulled you in and rolled until you were under me. All sorts of dirty things come to mind when I consider what I want to do to your luscious body.”
“Uh… oh, okay.” Did I mention my lady bits had already stood up and taken notice? Yeah, now they shifted to high alert. “Well… I guess I’m sorry I didn’t stop then.”
“Great answer, sugar. Sounds like we’re on the same page.” He chuckled. “It’s going to happen so be prepared.”
I swallowed hard as I considered his idea of dirty things. Damn, I needed to visit with BOB.