Songbird (14 page)

I waited an hour after Nicholas laid down
before grabbing my phone and stepping out. I went over to his room
to make a phone call. Damn the early hour.

“Hello?” The voice was sleep filled and
annoyed.

“Ezra, wake up. We need to talk.” Annoyance
flooded me and carried in my voice.

“Christ, Bianca. Has something happened? What
the hell time is it?”

“Are you asking if something happened before
Nicholas struck Guy, trashed the vendor dressing room and assaulted
me or after he calmed down?” I asked adding ice to the words.

“Son of a bitch.” Something rustled. “Is Guy
all right? Are you injured?”

“Guy was a little dazed but is fine. I have
bruises that will take a few days to fade but I am also fine.
Nicholas is not fine. You lied to me, Ezra.”

“What are you talking about, Bianca?”

“Nicholas doesn’t want to be in the public
eye. He doesn’t want to tour. And from what I’ve seen, he’s got
anxiety issues off the charts that instead of fueling fear it fuels
his anger. When were you going to tell me about that?”

Ezra sighed. “He told you.”

“He kind of had to, since you know, he nearly
raped me in his fury.” Small lie but not really a lie at the same
time. If Nicholas had been any angrier and not been able to pull
himself in… Well, I didn’t want to think about it.

“Fuck.”

“This has gone way too far Ezra. He’s doing
everything he can think of to rebel and all because he’s not happy.
I can’t be a part of this anymore. Not like this.”

“You can’t fucking quit. Do you know what
would happen without guidance? Holy fuck. You have to stay.”

I hesitated only a moment. “I think there is
a way to prevent further outbreaks.”

“I’m listening.”

“The tour needs to be adjusted. He’s only
been out here one week and we’ve had to compensate fifteen thousand
dollars in damage.”

Ezra’s sigh was long suffering.

“Let me adjust the schedule. We need to cut
out some cities. We need to make this as brief as possible with
what we have. If he realizes he’ll be home sooner than three
months, he may calm enough to be bearable all the time, not just
some of the time.”

“That’s out of the question. He’s got
responsibilities.”

“That he doesn’t want, Ezra. He doesn’t give
a fuck about the responsibilities you’ve given him. They mean
absolutely nothing to him. He wants you to drop him. He wants badly
to quit. If you want to keep him, we need to find the middle ground
before he decides he’s just not going to get off the bus
anymore.”

“What are you proposing?”

“Let me adjust the tour. Let me spread out
some things. His anxiety is crippling and if we continue to push,
he’s going to break and it could be irreparable. He doesn’t like to
be in groups of people; he doesn’t leave his back open to a room;
he pulls away into solitude instead of participating. We can’t
change these things but we can make him more comfortable doing what
you need done. Tomorrow’s an off day for us. Let me write up a
proposal and we can go over it. I can make it worthwhile.”

“The temperamental bastard has you scared.”
Ezra sighed heavily.

“I’m not scared
of
Nicholas, I’m
scared
for
him. There’s no telling what he may do next in a
blind rage. What if it’s not one of us? What if it’s a reporter? Or
a groupie? What if it’s a young kid in the wrong place at the wrong
time?”

“Fuck.” He drew out the word to four
syllables. “Bianca you’re dramatizing. Nicholas isn’t that
dangerous.”

“He’s been arrested before and you did an
okay job of cleaning that up. But it’s there. He may not get off so
easy on assault charges a second time.”

“The tour can’t be adjusted.” Ezra’s words
clipped and his voice rose fractionally.

“Then I can’t stay. I’ll be flying home in
the morning. The bus will leave without me.” My voice was firm but
my hands shook. I couldn’t afford to lose this job but I would not
be the one bullying Nicholas into doing what he didn’t want to
do.

“Shit. Damn. Fuck. No. You can’t quit. This
is ridiculous. Tickets have already gone on sale. Vendors have
already been booked. Interviews already arranged. This isn’t
something that can be rearranged in a few hours.”

“I can. This is what I do, Ezra. This is what
I went to college for. This is why I could handle several Broadway
tours from an office desk in New York City. Let me write the
proposal. I’ll make it worth it.”

“You have until noon tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Ezra. You’ll have it before
then.”

“We’ll see, little girl. We’ll see.”

I reviewed my notes one last time. I hadn’t
gone back to bed when I returned to the room. There had been no
point when my mind whirled on overdrive. Instead, I had dressed
casually—as casually available—and I went to work on the
proposal.

By the time the sun came up over the bay, I
already had a rough draft finished. I checked in on Nicholas then
went out to the bus for silence to work. Nicholas may not believe
it but when he was in a deep sleep he snored too.

Now, at a little after nine, I had a finished
proposal and the guys were out at breakfast. Thank you, Henry, for
the quick text.

I sent the paperwork then made the call.

“You are one stubborn broad.” Ezra didn’t
bother with a greeting.

“I just emailed you my proposal with all the
adjustments, figures, profits and losses. I also did a comparison
to the current tour with projected figures as well, including the
damages that may or may not need to be compensated.”

“Do you sleep?” Ezra slurped something.
Probably coffee. The lucky bastard.

“When I have time.” My tired body didn’t feel
the cheeriness of my tone. I needed food and coffee but not quite
yet. “Which won’t be any time today if you approve my proposal.
I’ll have to make the calls and get all the adjustments done.”

“You are a machine.” Clicking was load enough
that I guessed he sat at a computer and was reading my
proposal.

“All in a day’s work.” I rubbed exhausted
eyes and then gave in and closed them for a moment.

I listened to Ezra shuffle, sigh, and curse
and then just generally bitch at the unfairness of the world in
general. I was right and with the facts in front of him he couldn’t
deny it. However, he could deny my proposal which would force my
hand and I’d have to quit.

“All right.” He huffed. “Your proposal is
sound and your percentages of profit are higher. We’ll do this your
way. Go to bed, Bianca. I’ll get the assistants here to make the
calls and get the job done. You’ll have the final details to work
out by five tonight.”

“Fine. I’ll announce the adjustments to the
crew at eight? Will that be all right? I’ll have to make follow up
calls for the changes to Las Vegas and go from there. Thankfully,
Obi is here and hasn’t left for Phoenix yet.”

“Same process as before Bianca. Only using
your proposal. It’s probably a good thing the record label contract
only says he has to tour. Not how many cities or for how long.”

“He’ll be thrilled to find out he’s going
home in five weeks instead of eleven.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“This will work. Small doses and baby steps.
We can get him turned around.”

“I always thought it was just stage fright.
That it would go away.”

“Anxiety is a serious medical condition. It’s
not something that should be dismissed lightly or ignored
altogether.”

“We’ll use your press draft as well. It’s
sound.”

“Thank you, sir. I appreciate you taking the
time to listen to me.”

“Nick was my first you know. He let me manage
him in high school when we were just a bunch of fools that didn’t
know any better.”

“I didn’t know.”

“He liked larger crowds back then, when he
was on stage. Something about the eyes didn’t matter when they
couldn’t be counted.”

“So he displayed anxiety then too.”

Ezra sighed. “I guess you’re right. I’ll send
over the new schedule by five.”

“Thank you, Ezra.”

“Get some sleep.” He demanded again and the
line disconnected.

I sent a text to Obi telling him Phoenix was
canceled and to await further orders before setting the phone aside
completely.

I kicked off my shoes, and decided I just
didn’t have the energy to go into the hotel. I crawled into my
bunk, and since I was alone, shimmied out of my skirt and let it
hit the floor. As an afterthought I pulled off the gun holster and
shoved it between the mattress and frame by the window. I was
asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Something warm and smelling disbelievingly
like Nicholas was wrapped around me. I sighed and didn’t have the
energy to lecture him on decorum. Again.

I heard a guitar though. Which meant I was
either alone in bed and that wasn’t a warm, firm, male body draped
over me—hey a girl had to have dreams—or it wasn’t just Nicholas
and I in the room. I bet on door number one. Dreams were after all
only dreams.

“Please tell me that’s a blanket or
something.” I didn’t open my eyes.

“It is. My bed is farthest from the door. The
jackals I call friends were bowling in the hallway. Didn’t want it
to wake you. If I’m bothering you I can step out.”

Well his kindness was new. Wary of it I
pushed an eye open and looked towards the origin of the sound.
Nicholas sat in a chair by the window with an acoustic guitar in
his lap and the blinds open enough to illuminate him but not spill
into the rest of the room.

I pushed up slowly and ran my hands through
the tangled mass of hair that fell into my face. I clearly
remembered having it pulled back. And, I looked down at myself
frowning, I clearly remembered falling asleep on the bus in my
dress shirt not what suspiciously looked like one of Nicholas’s tee
shirt.

“Don’t shout at me yet.” Nicholas glanced up
from his guitar. “I found you out cold on the bus. I brought you in
and paid one of the hotel girls to change you for bed.”

He was weirdly subdued and I didn’t like it.
“Who are you and what have you done with Nicholas Walker?”

He laughed a little and shrugged. “Days off
relax me. I don’t feel so ready to explode.”

Bingo. Anxiety. I was right but I didn’t say
anything about it. He may not even know that he had social
anxiety.

“What time is it?” I rubbed my eyes and
looked around for my glasses.

“A little after four.” He stood and picked up
something from the table next to him and walked over. He placed my
glasses on my face with careful consideration.

“Thanks.” My brows drew together as the rest
of his words sank in. “Bowling in the hall?”

His grin was fast and beautiful. The dimple
winked. “Caught that did you?”

“They better not have broken anything.” I
shoved off the blankets and frowned further when I stared at my
sweat pant clad legs. I hadn’t brought sweatpants.

“The pants are mine since your legs are
fantastically long. I couldn’t find the flannel get up you wear to
bed.”

Right. And he was never getting these clothes
back. Sorry about his luck.

“It’s in the laundry bag. Shit.” I pushed
up.

“Relax.” Nicholas sat on the edge of the bed.
“Guy remembered it was the wash day. We brought the bags in and the
hotel should have the wash back to us in the morning before
the…whatever is scheduled for the morning.”

“The bed sheets,” I began.

“The reason we were on the bus and found
you.” Nicholas stood and flicked a finger against my nose. “It’s
supposed to be your off day too.”

“Ezra and I spent the morning in a conference
meeting.” I spoke over my shoulder as I sleepily shuffled to the
bathroom.

“Your phone’s been buzzing almost nonstop
since I plugged it in. But you’ve got a password on it so I have no
idea what you’re so popular about.”