He throws me a look and I know he’s reluctant to leave his sister. I mouth “I’ll stay with her,” though I’m not sure how that’s any more reassuring to him, and he nods to me, and then pulls himself to his feet and sighs.
“Of course I can, a Grammy Award winning artist’s job is never done. Milady?” he says to Hailey, holding out his arm. She laughs as she curtseys and lets him lead her down the hallway to her room.
I get up and lock the door and dim the lights.
“Anca.”
“Marius, whatever it is you want to say, can it wait until tomorrow? I’m… I’m so tired.”
“No… no. It can’t.” I run my fingers through my hair. There’s a little dried blood at the back of my ear that I hadn’t notice before. I wipe it on my pants and turn back to Anca, who’s laying back against the cushions, her eyes half-closed as she watches me.
“Come here,” she says, reaching out her arms.
I walk over, settling down next to her on the couch, careful not to jostle her in case I hurt her. I run my fingers along the line of her jaw; her eyes close as my fingers reach her mouth, trembling over the softness of her lips. I pull away and she murmurs something I can’t understand.
I lean in, my ear right by her lips. “What is it, Anca?”
“Stay with me. Please. Stay with me tonight.”
“I’m not going anywhere, baby. I’ll be right here,” I whisper back.
“Promise?”
“A hundred thousand times.”
“I’m so tired,” she sighs, curling up against me.
I tuck the hair behind her ear and kiss her gently on the cheek. “I know. Just sleep. And when you wake up, I’ll be right here.”
***
She doesn’t sleep well. Every sound from the street makes her stir. At some point during the night, I carry her to the bed, laying her head on the soft pillow seems to help, and she finally settles into a deep slumber. I watch as her forehead smooths over, as she succumbs to sleep. And I succumb to the nightmares of what might have happened if we’d been too late.
It’s only just daybreak when I feel someone tap me on the shoulder. I open my eyes to see a sleepy Brad standing by the bed in a robe, gesturing for me to follow him. I slide quietly out of bed, making sure Anca is covered up and follow him to the outer room.
Everyone is there. Dennis, the rest of the band, Cadence, Hailey and Emily. The women look like they’ve been up all night.
“What’s up, guys?” I ask, rubbing my eyes. I can’t have been asleep for more than two or three hours.
“We need to do some serious damage control. It’s going to be all over the headlines about your fight on stage last night and Anca’s…”
“What? Her kidnapping?”
“No, the media don’t know about that, somehow we nipped it in the bud.”
“Then what?”
Emily cringes and looks at Hailey who sighs.
“Well, see for yourself.” She reaches into the folder she’s holding and hands me a newspaper.
The front page is a picture of me punching Jez on stage last night. With an insert of Anca kissing me at the outdoor concert in Nice. But it’s the headline that stands out, “ROCKY TIME IN THE CHAMBERS FOR ROCK CHAMBER BOYS” with the subheading ‘Little sister who stole bandmate’s heart, fails to steal the show.” I scan the article and it slams Anca for being some sort of groupie and causing a rift in the band. Mentioning her stage fright and then running off. It also incites ticket buyers to try to get a partial refund because they didn’t get what they paid for.
“This is utter and complete bullshit. Take care of this, Hailey. It’s your job,” I remind her.
“She knows. She’s been up all night killing the story where she can from popping up, but we can’t do it all,” Emily cuts in.
“Well, who cares. It’ll all die down by next week.”
“No, we need it to die down now. This whole tour was to support our album release, and we’re already getting calls about reducing orders and less airplay. We need to talk about what we’re going to do, and it has to start now.”
I can’t believe this. After everything, we’ve been through, I have to worry about what the public is thinking?
“I don’t care, guys!”
“Maz,” Sebastian starts but I cut him off.
“Don’t you even- I was there for you guys when your sex pics came out,” I wave my hand toward Cadence, “and how many scandals has Jez been in?”
“Marius, we had to do damage control then and we have to do it now.”
“And what do you have in mind exactly?”
“Well, there are two ways. One, we have to separate the band from Anca and the relationship as much as possible. Or two, show that we’re behind her 100%… but she needs to prove them she’s up to the challenge. We might have to do a special concert, or have her do the radio rounds for a few days.”
“No. She’s not a fucking show pony. I know she can do this. So do you.”
“Marius, we know. But it’s about reassuring everyone else.”
I scrunch up the newspaper in my hand, thinking about the beautiful, sweet woman in my bed right now. Her ankle and body bruised, her spirit broken. And all I can say is, “Everyone else can go get fucked. I’m not putting any more pressure on Anca now. You do what you have to. I’m going back to bed, because I promised her, when she wakes up, I’m going to be there.”
I turn and leave, closing the bedroom door behind me and climb back into bed, pulling her warm, sleeping body against mine.
“Mmmhmmm?” she murmurs, her lips against my chest.
“Shhhhh, go back to sleep, sweetheart. You’re safe. I’m here.” I whisper. And I’ll never ever leave you again, I promise her.
Anca
The sun is way up high in the sky by the time I wake up. Everything feels warm and bright. I look down, and a slightly furry arm is wrapped around my side and I smile, pushing back against the body next to me in bed.
Marius nuzzles his chin into the crook of my neck, his cheek slightly scratchy, making me squirm.
“What’s up, wriggly?” he murmurs, his voice still thick with sleep.
“Me, finally. It must be close to 11 a. m.” I say, interlocking my fingers with his.
“Who cares? Let’s stay in bed, order a greasy cheese pizza and watch rich people bitch about each other and eat $60 salads.”
“You mean… you and your bandmates,” I giggle.
“You little witch, you!” Marius rolls me onto my back, pinning my arms over my head as he tickles my chest with his chin.
“No!” I squeal as I squirm, with no intention of being let go.
“Oh yeah, you know you like it, sexy musician beard rash all over your neck, so they know you’ve been ravaged by me and my $60 salad-eating mouth.”
“You make it sound so sexy, tell me more,” I purr.