Old friends
I own nothing...
Meeting the fans, interacting with them, has always been one of the things I enjoy the most. I enjoy seeing them, talking to them, taking photos with them. I love hearing how our music has affected them in one way or another. I really like doing this, just not on my personal time. That's why we started doing meet and greets before our shows.
When we have a meet and greet, we let the fans come back stage and spend some time with us. Just us and them. We talk to them, we give them autographs, and we take pictures with them. I look forward to this, usually. Today, however, has been a little difficult.
I'm not having any fun. I'm just ready for it to be over and we still have a while to go. The lines are long and I find myself being short with fans. I can't concentrate, and I've been snapping at both Shane and Tommy. Why? Because Angela is sitting over in the corner with Janet, our assistant, watching every single thing I do.
I find myself watching what I say, what I do, how I act. I don't want to be too flirtatious. I don't want to be too friendly. I don't stand too close in any of the photos. I'm not being myself and it pisses me off. And I don't want to give her any reason to get mad at me.
It's my fault, too. I invited her to sit in with us. It was my idea. She wanted to go to the aquarium with Danielle and Jay, but I asked her to come with me because I didn't want to be away from her.
We hadn't seen each other in almost three weeks, so I had her and Jay come to Atlanta to spend the weekend with me. Danielle had decided to tag along. They'd flown in last night and went straight to the hotel from the airport.
We played in Charlotte yesterday, and we slept on the bus while it moved to Atlanta. When we got here, I went to the hotel to meet them. We spent the morning together. We had breakfast, then we went to the Atlanta Zoo to see the pandas that everyone was talking about. Jay really liked that. Then we went back to the hotel to just hang out for a while. I had to be at Phillips Arena at 4 o'clock, so I asked her to come with me. Dani took Jay to the Georgia Aquarium, and she's going to come back here for our 8 o'clock show.
Looking down at my phone, I see that we still have over an hour before we can leave to go to sound check. I put a fake smile on my face and look up at the next person in line, she's like the majority of the fans that come to meet us. She's in her early twenties and she's pretty enough, with her blonde hair and her blue eyes. She has a nice, curvy figure, too. And I like what she's done with one of our Tour shirts, with the sleeves cut off and cinched at the back, showing off the Residue tattoo on her hip just about the waist band of her low cut jeans.
I give her a more genuine smile, compliment her on her tattoo and sign the front of her shirt, just above her left breast. She asks for a hug, so I lean in and give her one, keeping my hands high on her back. I watch as she moves over to talk to Shane and Tommy. Glancing over at Angela, I see that she's busy on her blackberry and not even paying attention to me. Maybe I should just relax and enjoy myself.
A few more fans move through the line, laughing and joking with us. As the line for autographs dwindles down, the last few people standing in front of us, I hear someone call my name. Looking up, I see the familiar face of Cynthia Hargrove looking back at me. She still looks the same, maybe a little leaner, wearing a tight top and short skirt, just like in high school.
"Hey, Catalano. Long time, no see." She leans in for a hug.
"Hey, Cyn. What you been up to? I haven't seen you since I left Three Rivers." I like Cynthia. She'd been a good friend to me. I slept with her on and off for a while, but we never had anything serious. And it was way before me and Angela got together.
"I live in Atlanta now. I moved here a few years ago with my ex husband. After our divorce, I decided to stay." Realizing that my hand is still on her arm, I drop it to my side. I glance over at Angela, seeing that her head is still down.
Cynthia stands there chatting with me for a little while. I hear her say something else, but before I can answer her, my phone vibrates on the table beside me. Looking down, I see that Angela, who is sitting across the room, has sent me a text.
"Is that CYNTHIA HARGROVE?" Rolling my eyes, I ask Cynthia to excuse me for a minute. I text her back. "Yeah, so?" Looking back to her, I see her look up at me then back down to her blackberry, typing away. "So, you have other fans waiting. Wrap it up."
Chuckling, I move back over to Cynthia. "Sorry about that, Cyn. Just something I needed to take care of." Reaching up, I touch her on the arm again. "It was nice seeing you. Hang around for a bit and I'll have them sit you on the side stage, if you want." I don't know why I did that. I know Angela is going to bitch about it later.
"Yeah, that would be great Jordan. My friend Amy is with me, is that ok?" She smiles at me and motions over to her friend.
Glancing back at Angela, then to Cynthia, I say, "No problem. Let me finish up here and I'll talk to the stage manager." Pointing to Angela I say. "You remember Angela, don't you?"
Cynthia looks over to her, frowning ever so slightly, before hiding it. "I remember her. I thought you guys were divorced."
"Yeah, well, we're back together now. She and Jay, our son, are here for the show tonight. I'm going to have them sit you with her. Why don't you go over and say hi." Watching what looks like disappointment cross her face, I move over to the next person in line. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her walk up to Angela, her friend in tow.
Angela stands, giving me a dirty look before greeting Cynthia. They stand talking while we finish up. We don't stop until the last person has an autograph. Making our way over to the line for pictures, Shane says. "Jay, is that Cynthia Hargrove?"
Laughing, I say, "Yep, that's Cynthia." And Angela isn't liking it one bit.
"Dude, why did you send her over to Angela? You do know that she's going to kill you, right? See how she keeps looking at you?" Yeah, I see it. But she shouldn't have said anything in the first place. I'd been on my best behavior before that.
"Whatever. I was being good. She sent me a text message while I was talking to Cyn. She told me to 'wrap it up', so I asked Cyn to hang around and I sent her over to say hi." I haven't seen that girl in years. Why would that bother her?
After we pose for pictures with everyone in line and the room is clear, I head over to Angela, Cynthia and her friend. Slipping an arm around Angela's waist, I give her a squeeze. The look she's giving me would have normally scared the shit out of me, but I know she won't stay mad for long.
"So, Jordan, Cynthia says she and Amy will be sitting with us on the side stage." Biting her lip, she looks up at me and waits for my reply.
"Yeah, It wouldn't be right to make her sit out there, you know. She's a friend and we take care of our friends." I can feel her tense up. Smiling at Cynthia, I say, "It's been a long time. Maybe you guys can hang around for a little while after the show so we can catch up."
"We can stick around. Can't we, Amy?" Cynthia says as Shane and Tommy walk up.
While Cynthia is greeting the guys and introducing Amy, Angela is pulling me aside. "Jordan, what the hell? Do you think I want to hang out with one of your ex girlfriends all night?"
Yeah, I knew this was coming. "She's not one of my ex girlfriends. She was just a friend and what's it going to hurt for her to sit with you? I haven't seen her since high school. Do you want me to be rude to her?"
"Yeah, she wasn't your girlfriend, just your fu..." I pull her to me and kiss her so that she doesn't finish the sentence. For several seconds, I hold her against me, moving my tongue against hers. Remembering that there are others in the room, I let her go.
When I pull back she slugs me in the chest. "God, I hate when you do that." Tucking her hair behind her ear, she rolls her eyes. "Ok, I'll suffer through it, but you owe me for this."
Grinning down at her, I say, "Yeah, and I'll pay up later." With my arm around her shoulder, we move back to stand with the others. After talking for several more minutes, Janet comes in to tell us they're ready for us on stage. Kissing her cheek, I whisper to her. "I gotta get to sound check. Just be nice to her, ok?"
Leaving her with Cynthia and Amy, we head out the door.
As we make our way backstage after the show, I'm not sure what to expect when I get to the dressing room. I mean, I never expected Angela to become buddies with Cynthia, but I didn't expect the two of them to be openly hostile to each other either.
At one point during the show, I looked over and Angela was sitting beside Cynthia. A little while later, I looked over and she was standing against the wall, looking at Cynthia like she wanted to kill her. Cynthia had her arms crossed and her friend Amy was saying something to her. Jay and Danielle looked like they were having a good time, oblivious to the tension between the two women.
When we walk into the dressing room, Angela is sitting on the counter in front of the mirror and Cynthia and Amy are sitting on the sofa together. Danielle and Jay are no where in sight. No one is saying anything, but everyone is frowning.
Walking up to Angela, I say, "What's wrong, Red?" Leaning against the counter beside her, I look over at the other two women. I know this isn't going to be good.
"Why don't you ask her what's wrong? She's your guest, so she should tell you what she said to me, in front of your 8 year old son, no less." Her voice gets louder as she goes. Oh, shit.
Laying my hand on her leg, I give it a squeeze. "Hey, calm down."
Shane, who had walked over to sit at the table says, "What'd you say, Cyn?"
Looking a little sheepish, she glances over to Angela and says, "I wasn't thinking about your kid, ok? I'm sorry. You just pissed me off."
Angela smirks, "Yeah, well same here. You still crossed the line."
This is just great. Shane says, "Will one of you please just tell me what was said? I think we all get that you're pissed off at each other."
Sighing in frustration, Angela jumps down off the counter. "You know what, forget it. She's not worth it. I'm going back to the hotel and forget I ever had to spend any time with her."
As she starts to walk by me, I take her hand and pull her to a stop. "Don't leave. Let's talk about it. I don't want it to ruin our night."
"Look, Angela, I'm sorry. What I said was uncalled for. We're just going to get out of here. Thanks for upgrading us, Jordan." Cynthia gets up and heads to the door, Amy following behind.
After they leave, Shane and Tommy look at each other and start laughing. Tommy shakes his head. Walking over to Angela, he bends to kiss her on the cheek. "Hey, Angela. It's good to see you." Turning to Jordan, he says, "I'll see you in the morning, bro." He walks out the door.
Shane doesn't budge. "Tell us what she said, Angela."
"I heard her telling her friend about all the trips to the boiler room with Jordan. I tried to ignore her, but she was telling her, in vivid detail, about a trip with him to a certain house on Cloverdale. You know, the house. When I told her to shut the fuck up, she laughed at me and mentioned the time I went to that god damn house." Angela turns to look at me. "She asked me if you were as good as you used to be. I may have called her a slut or something like that." Wow.
Shane, now laughing, says, "Come on, Angela. You know she was just pushing your buttons. Don't let that shit get to you."
"Well, having her tell me that Jordan was the 'best fuck she'd ever had' in front of my 8 year old wasn't cool." Oh, really? She said that? Oh, yeah, she said that in front of Jay.
"Babe, let it go. It's not worth wasting your time over. She's gone and you probably won't ever see her again. What did Jay say? Did he even understand what she said?" I'm trying not to laugh, but it's really hard. And Shane isn't helping with his perpetual smirk.
"God, Jordan. That is so not the point. No, I don't think he did understand what she said, but just the fact that she said it should be enough." Rolling her eyes, she says to me, "Thank you for inviting her to sit with me. I really, really enjoyed it."
Wrapping my arms around her, still trying not to laugh, I press my lips to hers. "I'm sorry. Don't be mad at me. I didn't know she was going to do something like that."
"I'm not mad at you. She just pissed me off, ok? And I didn't need to know that you took her to that fucking house after what I did. That made me feel real good." Leaning her head against my chin, she says, "I know it was a long time ago. I'm not even mad about it. I just didn't want to hear your friend saying shit like that."
Shane, walking over to us, says, "I'm heading back to the bus. It's been real fun, Angela. Later, Jay." as he's walking out the door.
"Let's go. I need a shower and I want to see Jay before he goes to bed. Then I'll make you forget all about the stupid shit I did as a teenager." Taking her by the hand, we walk out the door, leaving Cynthia Hargrove behind.
Don't forget to review...I know this isn't the best chapter. I blame it on this stupid summer cold that's taken hold of me...Thanks for continuing to read! ~gagirl29