Learn to Fly (5 page)

“
Carl
gave me the low down on what's allowed on the buses and what's not,”
she gestured to the checklist in her hand and motioned for him to
follow her inside the bus. She pointed out the items as she listed
them, “You have all your gear and favorite foods on board. A
fully stocked fridge with soda and
water,
”
she emphasized, “and not the cheap kinds, mind you, but the
good stuff.” Luke followed her through the interior of the bus
as she showed him where the sheets and and towels were located. “And
I went ahead and programmed my number in your phone.”

Luke looked down at
her hand and saw her extending his iPhone towards him. He took it
and his thumb slid across the face as he tried to figure out what to
say. Why did her presence muddle his thoughts?

“
So
you can call me when you need anything,” she smiled at his
blank face and bit her bottom lip. Probably to keep from laughing at
his total lack of cool.

“
You
didn’t have to do all this for me.” This was the first
time they had really been alone and Luke was aware of the close
proximity they were in, standing in the main lounge of the bus. It
was unnerving. And intoxicating.

Lenny laughed, “Not
just you, all the guys,” she shook her head slightly at his
expression, “I already gave the others their phones. You're
just the last one to finally wander down here.”

Luke stared at her,
realizing she was only doing her job. Taking care of him, of them,
was her job. He looked down at the phone in his hand. They had a
working relationship. She wasn't a groupie. She wasn't flirting
with him. She wasn't treating him like a rock star.

“
And
I already gave the big speech to everyone else so I might as well
give it to you too,” Lenny continued, her blue eyes taking on a
serious glint, “Carl told me that there is to be no booze or
babes allowed on board.”

Luke felt a smirk
beginning on his face and he tried to repress it. He wanted to make
a joke about how that meant she was already breaking the rules, but
he figured she probably didn't place herself in the 'babes' category.

“
Don't
make that face,” Lenny took on a scolding tone. “I'll
be around to inspect regularly and I have no problem being the bad
guy.”

“
You're
really taking this job seriously, aren't you?” Luke tried to
keep his statement from sounding condescending.

Lenny arched an
eyebrow at him as if she was expecting a challenge.

“
You
have my full support,” Luke tipped his head towards her and he
thought he detected the hint of a blush starting low on her neck.
But maybe he was wrong about that too.

She gave a small,
sideways smile that nearly melted Luke on the spot. When she turned
to leave the bus, he automatically followed her.

As they stepped down
into the humid July evening, Lenny turned and pursed her lips. She
narrowed her eyes and Luke braced himself for what he thought was
going to be an admonishment for him looking at her butt as they had
exited the vehicle. He thought he'd diverted his eyes before she'd
noticed, but now he wasn't so sure.

“
What?”
Luke asked innocently.

Lenny sucked in a
breath and hesitated before taking a step closer to him. Luke
reflexively inhaled her scent and hoped she didn't notice. If she
did, she didn't say. She held his eyes for a beat.

“
I
know I don't know the whole story about what happened with Mike...”
she spoke slowly and Luke could tell she was trying to find the right
words, “but I really admire how you all are supporting his
sobriety by keeping alcohol off the buses.”

“
We're
a family, and family's support each other,” he explained
simply. It really was that simple and he was thankful that she had
reminded him of that. Of the real reason they were embarking on this
possibly disaster-filled adventure once again.

“
I
don't have parents or siblings or anything like that,” Luke had
no idea why he felt the compulsory need to spill his life secrets to
her, he didn't even know her. He could say it was something in her
eyes that he trusted. Or the way she turned her head slightly when
she was listening to him that signaled his words were safe in the
space that existed between them. “These guys are more than
friends to me. They
are
my family.”

She reached up to
touch her lips, like she wanted to ask a question but had to stop
herself. He was curious what she would ask; what direction her
questions would take them in this impromptu albeit personal
conversation.

Lenny's eyes drifted
to something over his shoulder and Luke knew she was suddenly very
far away.

“
Yeah,”
she agreed, her voice rough. And then, as if realizing where she
was, her eyes snapped back to his and she pulled the clipboard to her
chest protectively. “Well, I'm pretty much done here for the
day,” she began to back away from him and forced a smile. “You
better get some rest tonight, you have to be amazing tomorrow.”

Luke gave her a nod
as she departed quickly, heading for the hotel. He wondered what had
spooked her. Maybe that was in his head, but it seemed like
something was on her mind, and damn if he didn't want to follow her
and ask her what it was. He didn't understand the impulsive need he
felt to keep talking to her. Figure her out, let her figure him out.

“
Ah,
hell,” he muttered to himself. Sticking his phone in his back
pocket, he watched Lenny's blonde hair disappear through the
entrance. He thought about trying to catch up to her but he waited a
few extra minutes to let her get ahead. He didn’t need to know
where she was going. Probably to her room. He didn’t need to
know which room was hers. He didn’t need to think about her at
all. In fact, he should probably try to stay as far away from her as
possible. She worked for them now, and sleeping with her, while that
would probably get her out of his head, wasn’t a good idea.
Not to mention the fact that he'd be starting out the tour with the
same bad decisions that had plagued him all during the last one.

Besides, she didn’t
seem like the kind of girl to crawl in bed with a rock star. She was
better than that.

And that's exactly
why he wanted to explore that gorgeous chaos he could see behind her
blue eyes.

Luke made it up back
to the top floor without seeing Lenny again. He quietly changed his
clothes and headed to the hotel weight room. Maybe an hour of
intense sweating would help sort out his confused desires.

An hour accidentally
turned into two. Even though he kept repeating to himself to stop
thinking about her, Lenny was all that filled his thoughts. Where had
she come from? What was her story? As he burned out his bodies
reserves on another dropset, he realized he knew very little about
this woman they had so readily invited into their lives. That was
going to have to change.

***

Lenny showered and
dressed quickly, opting to skip pajamas and wear her jeans and grey
V-neck tee to bed. It would save time in the morning. Sleeping
fully clothed wasn’t anything new for her anyway; it was
practically a way of life living at higher elevations. She combed her
long, wet hair and twisted it into her standard braid. Just as she
was finishing brushing her teeth, she heard a knock at her hotel room
door.

She crossed the room
and looked through the peep hole. It was Carl, pacing in the
hallway. She grimaced and unlocked the door to let him in. As he
entered, she could smell cigarette smoke mixed with his aftershave.

“
Hey,”
she greeted casually, “what’s up?”

Carl strode across
the room without saying anything. It was obvious from his behavior
that he was looking for something. He scowled at Lenny, surveying
her appearance and that of the yet to be used bed. The persistent
frown on his face relaxed somewhat.

“
What’s
going on, Carl?” Lenny tried again, but she already knew the
answer.

“
I
wanted to check to see if you were alright,” he lied.

“
No,
you wanted to see if I was
alone
.”
Lenny corrected and the corner of her mouth pulled up into a
half-smile as she shook her head. She crossed her arms and leaned
against the closed door.

Carl gave up the
act, “Well, yeah.”

“
I
understand this whole scenario is new for you, but you’re just
gonna have to trust me.”

“
I
trust you,” he took a breath; “it’s those other
hooligans I have a hard time with.”

“
Carl,
I appreciate the over protective father routine, but I can really
take care of myself.” She gently tugged on his arm and led him
to the door. “Get some sleep, big day tomorrow.” She
opened the door and he walked into the hallway. He turned to say
something else and she interrupted, “Goodnight, Carl,”
then closed the door.

***

Carl stood in the
dimly lit, empty hallway for a moment and then started to the
elevators. He trusted Lenny, even more so now that she had basically
just thrown him out. She was a strong young woman, no nonsense,
focused. And she wasn’t going to let anyone push her around.
He pressed the button and waited. With a “ding!” the door
opened. Exhaling a relieved sigh, Carl entered the lift and leaned
against the wall. This tour might be successful yet. The boys
appeared to be more centered than ever, and with Lenny on the inside,
Carl felt like he could relax a little.

When they had come
to him months ago, asking for him to return as their tour manager, he
had flat out refused. However, he'd known most of them since they
were tots and their persistence wore him down. They made a lot of
promises. No drinking, no girls, no drugs. And they refused to do
the tour without him, so the label had offered him an obscene amount
of money.

It had seemed that
their hiatus had given the band the time and space they needed to
figure out how to be musicians again. They were dedicated to the
creative process and claimed to have no interest in their
previous...temptations. Carl only halfway believed them. He wasn't
a complete idiot, they were terrific liars, that's why he needed an
inside man, so to speak.

Carl had agreed to
their request and then he started his own search. He needed someone
who the band would trust. Someone seemingly innocent and innocuous.
Someone they would invite along if they were getting ready to trash
the entire eighth floor of a swanky hotel. But this someone would
have to have loyalties to Carl, at least enough so he could try to
stop whatever destruction the band had in its sights. Because when
it came down to it, Carl loved these guys like brothers. Okay, maybe
more like cousins. He wanted to see them succeed, not crash and
burn.

He was about to give
up hope when Lenny had breezed into Jerry's office. She was perfect.
Carl couldn't describe it; he had a feeling deep in his gut that
this girl was the answer to his prayers. Of course, that didn't mean
he thought the next six months were going to be a prance in the park.
Carl had gone to Lenny's room to make sure she was keeping up her
end of the bargain. He was wonderfully relieved to find out that she
was alone. Extra point in her column.

The door opened to
his floor and he strode more leisurely to his room. As he got into
bed and closed his eyes, he acknowledged the ridiculous feeling of
excitement he was getting. He hadn’t felt this much
anticipation for a tour since Double Blind Study was still a garage
band. It felt good. And right.

Last night’s
show had gone perfect. Playing poker until early morning with his
oldest friends had been a welcome change from the infamously crazy
after-parties of the last tour. And no had one mentioned Lenny’s
looks, or even her gender for that matter. Maybe they didn’t
notice. This might work after all.

***

Lenny was the first
one awake. She tucked her small travel duffel into the compartment
on the crew bus and hurried across the street to the tiny coffee
shop. The wonderful aroma filled her nose and woke her up just a
little bit more. She ordered enough coffees for the bus drivers,
herself and Carl. Shifting the large order into a more manageable
hold, she headed back to the waiting buses.