Page 90 of Down Beat
“They love you. You made a good impression the first time they met you.”
“I was a bitch the very first time we met,” she says with a hint of humor.
“And I was a right cunt, so we’re equal.”
“Rey.” Her loose fist collides with my chest. “Watch your language. There are kids on this plane.”
Right. Woops.
“Guess I shouldn’t make any moves on you then, huh?”
She lets out a disgruntled sigh, but I know she was thinking about it. Fuck knows I was.
The journey through the airport to get her luggage is predictably boring and even more frustrating when some idiot announces to the whole fucking terminal, it seemed like, who I am. Seriously. Half these people probably don’t listen to rock music. And if they do, another half again more than likely stick to the old classics.
I’m not that much of a big deal. Not outside our tour, anyway.
“What are you doing here, man?” the guy asks as though we’re old college buddies. “I saw you had to cancel a show, but didn’t expect to find you here. Thought you were sick, dude.”
“I’m traveling,” I say bluntly.
He nods, as though I just explained the theory of relativity. “Business?”
“Well.” I rub my nose as I grimace at the fucking absurdity of this. “The rest of the band aren’t here, so I’m gonna go ahead and let you work that one out for yourself.”
Tabby tugs on my arm, her bags now at our feet. “Come on.”
I snatch the duffle before she has a chance to grab both that and her violin case. Fuck. I travelled with the clothes on my back. Not as though I have anything to carry. Least I can do after being an asshat last night is help her out.
“Give me that one, too.” I yank the case out of her hold, much to her disgust.
We make it nearly to the terminal exit before Rick shows his face.
“As if this whole asinine thing wasn’t enough of a fucking pain in the ass, now you make me find parking here when it seems like every goddamn plane in the country has touched down.”
Huh—Rick grew some balls overnight. “How’s Wallace?” I thrust Tabby’s luggage at him.
He juggles the two, allowing her to take one from him. “Murderous.”
I rip the duffle bag from her and damn near throw it at Rick. “She doesn’t carry anything. Got it?”
“Rey,” she snaps. “Don’t be such an asshole.”
I forget she’s only known Rick for all of a minute in the scheme of things; he hasn’t had time to get on her nerves yet. “Fine.” I take the bag and sling it over my shoulder. “Where’s the car?”
“Parking building.”
I throw the guy a blank stare. “Haven’t you got a driver sitting in the fucking drop off lane?”
“No driver.” He glares at me as we step out into a much warmer climate than the one we left. “Dad’s making you suffer for this shit, Rey.”
Fuck me gently. “Like that, is it?”
“You cost him thousands, changing the tickets to tonight.”
Kitty throws me a cautionary glance. I shrug. Not much we can do about it now.
“No driver, no entertainment allowance, nothing unless he approves it first.”