A/N: Hi everyone! Happy Saturday! My family is off for a little vacation tomorrow to Sesame Place in PA so I figured I'd upload a chapter tonight! I'll send Big Bird and Cookie Monster all your love.
Chapter Ten
Famous Friends
Packing had gone as well as I had told everyone it would. I left myself one outfit for the morning before tossing everything else into my duffle bag. After hanging up with Tommy, I called Tristan back and lied to him that I had been on the phone with someone from the label about my wardrobe for tomorrow and that was why it had taken so long. He bought it, not getting upset about me basically ghosting him on the phone for my ex-boyfriend. I wished him goodnight, telling him I'd see him the next day during setup. I put everything together and headed to bed.
Only, there was no sleep to be had again. I tossed and turned, willing myself to fall asleep so that I would be rested for my concert the next day. I couldn't get my mind to stop thinking about Tommy though. I lay there, staring at the ceiling and wondering what I was going to do about my revelation. What was there for me to do? It wasn't like I could tell him. There was too much going on in his life right now to throw the blender that was my life into it. It wasn't just Tommy now. It was Tommy and two kids in tow. Plus, I had a boyfriend. And Tommy and I had gone down this road before the last time we had been down this road. Tommy had been the one who had made the decision then.
Sleep came a little bit around three and my alarm woke me up just before five. I groaned when it went off but I managed to pull myself out of the bed without hesitating. I showered quickly, getting dressed. I heard Billy moving around on his end of the house, telling me he was up getting ready himself. Grabbing my things, I headed downstairs and made myself a cup of coffee. I drank it while I double-checked that I had everything I would need, not wanting to leave anything behind. As I stood next to my bags, I saw out of the corner of my eye that there was a stack of white envelopes on the corner of the desks in the dining room. Final notice was stamped on the top one in red ink. Glancing over my shoulder, I checked to see if Billy was nearby. I didn't see or hear him coming. Reaching over, I moved it slightly and saw that it was from a mortgage company. I frowned. I thought Billy's Dad owned the house. At least he did when we were kids. Would he not have paid it off by now? Both Billy's and his Dad's names were on the envelope though. What did this mean? Was Billy going to lose the house?
Billy's footsteps on the stairs made me push the envelope back into place quickly. I knew it was wrong of me for snooping and if Billy wanted me to know, he would have told me. Billy came around the corner from the stairs, an overnight bag in hand. He smiled when he saw me, freshly showered and combed hair on his head. "Morning." He said chipperly, not at all like a guy who was about to be homeless.
"Morning!" I said back, walking over with my coffee. "All set for the road?"
"I think so. You sure about letting Tommy drive?" He asked, grinning over at me as he set his bag next to mine.
"Oh, Tommy isn't that bad. He was a racecar driver after all, right? I have all the faith in the world we will be in good hands." I replied, finishing my coffee. As I drained the cup, I heard a car beep from out front of the house. "Speak of the devil!" Peaking through the blinds, I saw a black minivan pulled up next to the curb where my rental once sat. The rental company must have taken back the rental car.
"I'll help you." Billy offered, grabbing my bag. I opened the door for him, helping him lock up the house as we headed out the door. The back window of the van rolled down and Xander's head stuff out.
"Uncle Billy!" He called out. "Are you excited?"
"Affirmative," Billy replied as Tommy climbed out of the van and helped Billy load the bags into the back of the van. I opted to keep my purse with me, wanting my phone nearby just in case something happened. I knew that Shayna was in the air somewhere and was due to land at some point. She'd be reaching out if she didn't see me somewhere near the venue when it was time for the meeting. The passenger door popped open and Ethan climbed out.
"Hey." I said, smiling at him.
"Hi. You can have the front seat." He said, holding the door open for me.
"Oh. That's okay, Ethan. It's your birthday trip." I said, waving my hand at him. He shook his head.
"No. I insist. We're only going because of you. You should sit there." He popped open Xander's door and climbed over him, crawling into the way back. Xander pulled the door shut and smiled up at me.
"Ethan showed me some of your concert videos last night." He said.
"Oh yeah?" I asked. He nodded.
"You used to be younger."
"Xander!" Tommy exclaimed as he walked around the back of the van with Billy. I laughed, nodding.
"Yeah, yeah. You are very right. Sadly, I'm just the same height now." I gave Tommy a reassuring smile before climbing into the passenger seat. I heard Tommy give Xander a lecture under his breath as I pretended to be interested in something in my purse. Billy climbed into the other seat next to Xander as Tommy walked over to the driver's door. He climbed in, smiling at me. I saw he opted for a white t-shirt and a green flannel today over a pair of light blue jeans. It brought me back to high school, sitting in the front seat of his car just trying to get a moment of alone time from everyone, people and monsters included.
"How'd you sleep?" He asked in a tone that was loud enough for just me to hear.
"Okay. And you?"
"Eh. Not the greatest but enough to survive the day."
"Are you going to be okay to drive?" I asked. He nodded.
"I'll be fine. I had two cups of coffee. I'll get you there safe." He shot me a wink before putting it into drive. He checked the road before pulling away from the curb. Soon, we were going into traffic and heading towards the outskirts of town.
About an hour into the drive, Shayna called me to see where I was. I let her know that I was on my way. She texted me the address of the hotel and where the meetings for the executive meeting would be when I got there. She also let me know that the reservation for the hotel rooms was set and that she had a cake specially ordered for Ethan. I thanked her the best I could without letting the carload of eavesdroppers overhear me. I told her I'd see her soon, hanging up before shoving the phone back into my bag.
"Everything okay?" Tommy asked, looking over at me.
"Yeah. My manager just wanted to let me know where I needed to go for my meetings before everything gets all crazy." I said. Billy and Xander were in deep conversation in the middle seat about something to do with a Pokemon card while Ethan was listening to his cd player in the way back.
"What are your meetings about?"
"Just going over everything with the concerts; ticket sales, budgets, songs, do's and don'ts. All that boring stuff. I only have one meeting at the beginning of the tour thankfully. Shayna usually handles most of it and I just sit there nodding my head."
"Must be one of the boring parts of being a rock star." He smirked at me. I snorted.
"I'm not a rockstar."
"You're close enough. Screaming adoring fans, sold out concerts, groupies."
"Groupies?" I laughed. "Trust me, I don't have any of those."
"So no men just throwing themselves at you at every show?" He asked, switching lanes. "No country cowboys tossing their cowboy hats at you in hopes of catching your eye?"
"I guess I've never noticed." I replied. "Maybe my security deserves a raise."
"Or Tristan scares them off." I rolled my eyes.
"You really can't help yourself, can you?"
"I'm sure he's wonderful, kind, and caring." My head snapped up to look over at him when he quoted the letter. Tommy looked at me confused. "What?"
"What did you say?"
"That I'm sure Tristan is a great guy." He glanced from the road to me quickly. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah." I stammered. I turned to look out at the road in front of us. Maybe I had misheard him. Would Tommy purposely use the same words I had to break up with him to describe Tristan? He wasn't the same guy from the letter or anything. We had discussed the letter a long time ago. Why suddenly bring it up now? Perhaps I was being paranoid about it.
"So how long have you guys all been friends?" Xander asked, poking his head between the seats.
"Well, Uncle Billy and I have been friends since I moved here when I was 14 but Kim and Uncle Billy have known each other since they were about 5." Tommy said, glancing at him in the rearview mirror. "Same with Uncle Jason, Aunt Trini, and Uncle Zack."
"What did you guys use to do when you were younger for fun?"
"Oh, you know. Normal kid stuff." Tommy said. I smiled, shifting in my seat to look back at Xander.
"We used to rollerblade, play basketball, volunteer. Stuff like that." I said.
"Uncle Zack and Uncle Jason said you used to be in this club for Dinosaurs." Xander said.
"You could say that." Billy said. He and I exchanged a look that I also shot at Tommy who bit back a smirk.
"We learned a lot about prehistoric creatures and their powers." I stated. "It was a neat club."
"I hope Angel Grove still has a club like that when I'm old enough." He said.
"Over my dead body." Tommy muttered. I snorted, smiling at him.
"You could always start one if not." Billy said. "You can do whatever you put your mind to."
"I hope I can have friends like you guys have." Xander said, sitting back.
"You will, buddy. Trust me. You'll find friends that will help you through life like these guys did with me. Some of them won't be there forever and that's okay. Others will be. Sometimes, you get lucky and you'll find friends that last a lifetime. Those people are the ones that come into your lives and never leave for a good reason." Tommy glanced over at me. "Because they're meant to be there."
We rolled into Pasadena an hour later, Tommy parking in the VIP parking area of the parking garage. The hotel was a 40-story tall structure attached to the convention center, the parking garage in the back. Once we were parked, the boys grabbed all of the bags from the back of the van. I tried to get my own but Ethan insisted on carrying mine. The Pasadena Convention Center wasn't the biggest venue I've performed at but it was a decent-sized one. The entire outside of both the hotel and the venue were slated in a blue-toned glass that shimmered in the sunlight and made it hard to tell what was windows and what wasn't. The parking garage was painted a similar color with matching grey tones to match the accent of it. My meeting was also in the hotel so I walked with the group, heading towards the elevators. We crammed into the double doors, doing our best to not jab elbows or suitcases into each other. We managed to hit the button for the bottom floor and rode it down.
"Woah," Xander said, looking up at the tall buildings as we exited out onto the sidewalk from the parking garage after filing from the elevator.
"Dude, we have buildings like this in Angel Grove." Ethan said, nudging his brother.
"Yeah, but we don't live here." He replied. Tommy smirked over at me and I grinned.
"Kimberly?" Billy asked from my left. I shifted to look at him as we walked towards the hotel. "What are the schematics of your sound engineering setups?"
"Billy, I haven't the faintest idea what you even asked me." I laughed. "But I will be sure to introduce you to our sound guy during set up this afternoon. I'm going to give you guys the grand tour backstage so you can see what happens to make a concert actually go on. First, I have a private lunch planned for us. Then all of that is followed by a special little mission for you if you're up for it."
"What is it?" Xander asked, running ahead of me. He walked backward so he could look at me as he walked.
"Well, I do my meet and greets before my shows. Since this is the first one, the label is having me perform a little show before it for the fan club members and a couple of the kids from the Make-A-Wish foundation. I could really use a couple of volunteers to help out with that if you're feeling up to it."
"You help with Make A Wish?" Tommy asked. I nodded.
"Every concert, I try my hardest to include someone from there or at least a couple of kids that they might know who would want to come."
"We'd love to help out any way we could." Billy said.
"Yeah!" Xander said excitedly.
"Glad to hear." Ethan opened the front door of the hotel and our group entered. To my dismay, I saw that there were two men with cameras hovering in the lobby. I swore under my breath, wondering how they knew I'd be arriving this morning instead of last night. I had hoped with my tour bus being here already, they would have thought I was already here. When we walked into the large lobby, the two men jumped up from where they were sitting in grey cloth chairs near a wooden coffee table and came jogging over, taking pictures.
"Kimberly! How are you feeling about the show tonight? Are you excited about the tour kicking off?" One called out. I gave him a small smile, putting myself between him and Xander now, not wanting the kid to be on the front page of any tabloid.
"If you guys let me check in quick, I'll give you a decent picture and a statement, how about that?" I said over my shoulder.
"We've heard that before." The other one said as our group headed to the front desk. The woman looked up at the commotion, frowning when she saw the paparazzi.
"Security!" She called out. From around the desk behind her, a larger man in a white shirt and black pants appeared. He walked towards the guys, grabbing them by the arms.
"Aw, c'mon! We're just making a living here." I heard one of them say as the guard pulled them towards the exit. I could still hear the sound of his camera taking picture after picture. I dared a glance in Tommy's direction and saw that he was giving me a look of apprehension. I had never given the thought of him or the boys getting caught up in that when we arrived here. Guilt hit me like a freight train.
"I'm so sorry about that." I said, giving Xander a gentle squeeze of his shoulder.
"Are you kidding? That was awesome!" He said, smiling. Ethan nodded.
"That was the real paparazzi, right?" Ethan asked.
"Yeah, it was."
"Neat." He breathed, looking after them. I grabbed my wallet from my bag, heading up to the counter.
"I'm sorry about that, Miss Hart. They must have snuck in here when I was checking someone in." The woman said.
"It's alright. Not your fault." I said. "I need to check in under my alias. Miss Crane." She typed into the computer.
"I have two rooms under that name for one night." She said. I handed her my ID with my actual name on it. This was something that celebrities learned to do to dodge the press and others from learning where they were. Shayna taught me about it when I started having paparazzi tailing me at every place I was staying before I had an actual functioning tour bus. She typed the information from the ID in before handing it back. She also handed me the receipt and two room keycards. "Breakfast is at 9 am tomorrow morning and if you need anything at all, please do not hesitate to ask."
"Thank you." I said, smiling at her. I turned to the boys. "Let's go, gentlemen." We turned, heading towards the hallway that lead to the elevators. I spotted the conference room up the hall a little more where I would be meeting shortly. It was also where I saw Shayna standing. She was looking down at her phone, texting something into the Blackberry. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt with my face on it, an original tour t-shirt. She loved the classics. Shayna looked up when our group entered the hallway, a smile crossing her lips when she saw me.
"Hey!" She called, waving before jogging towards us. "I was just getting ready to call you."
"Hey. We just got here. I was going to help them get to their rooms and then come back down." I explained. "Everyone, this is my manager, Shayna. Shayna, this is my friend Billy, Tommy, and Tommy's sons Ethan and Xander."
"It's nice to meet everyone." She said, shaking Billy and Tommy's hands. "Kim has told me so much about you in the last few days that I feel like I know you already. Especially you, Mr. Superfan." She smiled at Ethan. "Boy, do I have the day planned for you."
"Really?"
"I sure do! But yes, have Kim bring you to your rooms and get settled in. Kim, be back here in ten minutes."
"Yes, ma'am." I said. She waved again before we headed into the elevator. The doors closed and we headed up to the tenth floor. We unloaded again, taking a right towards rooms 511 and 512. I handed a keycard to Tommy and a keycard to Billy.
"Where are you staying?" Tommy asked as we stopped outside their rooms. Tommy handed his card to Xander who he would be rooming with.
"I'm going to be on my bus tonight." I said. "Figured I might as well use it since it's here. Plus, we head out for our next stop around nine so that way I don't need to worry about packing anything up."
"Oh." He said and I could hear the disappointment in his voice. I felt it too. I didn't want to think about what tomorrow morning brought. It meant having to leave and not having a reason to bring Tommy with me. Xander unlocked his room as Billy unlocked his and Ethan's room next to it. Tommy, Xander, and I walked into their room and Xander let out an excited gasp when he saw it.
"Wow!" He said. "Look at the size of these beds!" He ran over and jumped onto one of the king-size beds in the room. I had to say that Shayna had outdone herself. It was a double king bedroom instead of a double queen as I had imagined. There was a dresser with a TV on it. On the small table in the corner, there was a large basket filled with snacks, cans of soda, a big tub of popcorn waiting to be made, and a couple of movies. There was a door that connected the two rooms and there was a knock on it. Tommy unlocked it, opening it. Billy stuck his head in, smiling.
"You should see this." He said. He stepped aside so that we could enter the room. When we did, I saw that it was filled with balloons that the staff had filled with helium, the strings hanging from the ceiling. A large one that said SWEET 16 was in the middle of the room. There were presents wrapped on the table along with a stack of t-shirts that I saw had my face on them, new shirts from the tour. There was also a basket of snacks in here but there was a tray of cupcakes and an edible fruit art piece as well. Shayna had really gone above and beyond.
"There's enough sugar here that you won't need to worry about sleeping tonight." I said, grinning over at Ethan who was sheepishly playing with the string of one of the balloons.
"Thank you. For all of this." He said quietly.
"It was Shayna, really." I explained. "I asked her to get the rooms and a cake. She always has to show me up. It's a complex really. I'm glad you like it." Glancing at the clock, I realized I needed to head back down. "You guys get settled in. I'm going to take care of some boring business stuff. When I get back though, we'll get down to some fun."
"Okay!" Xander called, pulling at some of the balloons. I gave them a little wave, heading out the door. I was halfway up the hall when I heard footsteps behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Tommy coming.
"Kim!" He called.
"Hey." I said, stopping by the elevators. "What's up?"
"Thank you for doing all of this. It's fantastic. It really is."
"Of course, Tommy. I love spending time with the kids and I'm glad they are having a good time." Reaching over, I hit the button for the elevator.
"I don't know how I'm ever going to thank you enough for this."
"You don't have to. Just have fun tonight. It's thanks enough for me. I promise." He sighed.
"Just, no more surprises, okay? I'll have to buy the kid the moon to compete at this rate." He said, the elevator doors opening.
"It's not a competition, Tommy. All I got him was a couple of tickets and a t-shirt. But I promise, no more surprises." I stepped into the elevator. "Unless the new car in the parking garage counts." I teased.
"Kim…."
"I'm kidding! Relax, Tommy. You haven't done it in forever I think you've forgotten how to. Take a deep breath and just remember what you came here for."
"I'm going to try my best." He said. Seeing Tommy as the ball of anxiety he was now was such an oddity to me but I understood it. Well, I would understand it if we had actually talked about him rather than the kids.
"Good. Now, go save me some Reese's from your children before they eat them all from those baskets." I hit the ground floor button and the doors closed.