I've Got Your Picture, I'm Coming With You Part 2
As always, I don't own anyone, none of this is real, blah blah blah, you know the drill.
I settled back into my seat on the plane and looked out the window. I’d had to kiss a lot of ass at work to get here, homeboy had better appreciate it. Not that there was ever a visit that Jack didn’t appreciate.
When I was 25, Jack had been having a hard time, whatever girl he’d been seeing had dumped him three days out from the European tour. And he was getting sick. Whoever booked that tour was stupid anyway. Who books a tour for Europe in December, so that the boys were flying back to the US two days before Christmas? I’d flown in for the tour, helping out where needed to earn my keep, and was flying out the same day as the boys. The last show of the tour was in London, four days before Christmas. We ended up snowed in at the hotel. It was amazing to have a white Christmas, especially in London with the coolest group of boys a girl could know, but I know it wasn’t the way they’d wanted to spend Christmas. I personally was over the moon, snow beats out a scorching Australian Christmas any way you look at it, but the boys just wanted their families. Entirely understandable, so I’d tried to make our hotel suite as homely as possible, and we’d done our own Christmas, secret Santa style, presents under $10 to make it easier, and we sat and watched bad Christmas movies and the falling snow all day.
The next time I’d visited them, they were on tour in the US, and I’d had a snowflake tattooed on me. Whenever someone asks, I say it’s because I’m in love with winter, but really, it’s because of that Christmas, and the amazing trip that it was. All the crap that I’d had to put up with from my family because I’d missed Christmas was so worth it, just like all the crap I was going to get from work about this trip was worth it. Anything to make sure Jack was okay.
---
I constantly forget how much I hate LAX as an airport. The nightclub’s kinda okay, but the airport sucks. After about 3 hours of trying to get from the international gate where I landed, through customs and back through the domestic security to catch my next flight, I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was get on the plane and sleep. It was another 3 hour flight to get to the city, and the venue, for tonight, and Matt still didn’t know I was coming. I’d told Jack that I would be at a conference all weekend, out of phone range and I’d call him when I got home. Little white lie. I would be out of phone range alright, but on a plane, flying to see him. My current dilemmas were staying awake until I’d boarded the plane, and whether or not to call Matt now, or when I landed. I decided on when I landed. There would be less time for him to freak out, less chance of him spilling the beans, more chance of a surprise attack on Jacky when I got there.
After finally landing in the destination for that night, I rang Matt as I waited for my suitcase to appear.
“Hello?”
“Hey Matty. Act like it’s venue business and walk away from the guys for a second, okay?” In the background, I could hear Matt telling the boys he had to take this call, and not to burn the venue down.
“Okay... what’s going on?”
“Umm, I’m at the airport.”
“Which one?”
“The one in the same town as you. I’m attempting to surprise Jacky.”
“Okay. And you’re calling because?”
“I didn’t book a hotel, and I have a suitcase. Unless you want me to show up at the venue with it, I need help.”
“Okay, I can do that. Give me five minutes.”
“Thanks Matty.” I hung up the phone and waited for my suitcase to appear. Hell was going to break loose if it had been lost. My phone started ringing.
“Hey Matty.”
“Hey. Okay, your name is down on Jack’s room at our hotel. He was rooming by himself tonight, not even Alex wanted to be around him when he doesn’t have the option of ringing you to cheer him up. Do you have a pen?”
I settled back into my seat on the plane and looked out the window. I’d had to kiss a lot of ass at work to get here, homeboy had better appreciate it. Not that there was ever a visit that Jack didn’t appreciate.
When I was 25, Jack had been having a hard time, whatever girl he’d been seeing had dumped him three days out from the European tour. And he was getting sick. Whoever booked that tour was stupid anyway. Who books a tour for Europe in December, so that the boys were flying back to the US two days before Christmas? I’d flown in for the tour, helping out where needed to earn my keep, and was flying out the same day as the boys. The last show of the tour was in London, four days before Christmas. We ended up snowed in at the hotel. It was amazing to have a white Christmas, especially in London with the coolest group of boys a girl could know, but I know it wasn’t the way they’d wanted to spend Christmas. I personally was over the moon, snow beats out a scorching Australian Christmas any way you look at it, but the boys just wanted their families. Entirely understandable, so I’d tried to make our hotel suite as homely as possible, and we’d done our own Christmas, secret Santa style, presents under $10 to make it easier, and we sat and watched bad Christmas movies and the falling snow all day.
The next time I’d visited them, they were on tour in the US, and I’d had a snowflake tattooed on me. Whenever someone asks, I say it’s because I’m in love with winter, but really, it’s because of that Christmas, and the amazing trip that it was. All the crap that I’d had to put up with from my family because I’d missed Christmas was so worth it, just like all the crap I was going to get from work about this trip was worth it. Anything to make sure Jack was okay.
---
I constantly forget how much I hate LAX as an airport. The nightclub’s kinda okay, but the airport sucks. After about 3 hours of trying to get from the international gate where I landed, through customs and back through the domestic security to catch my next flight, I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was get on the plane and sleep. It was another 3 hour flight to get to the city, and the venue, for tonight, and Matt still didn’t know I was coming. I’d told Jack that I would be at a conference all weekend, out of phone range and I’d call him when I got home. Little white lie. I would be out of phone range alright, but on a plane, flying to see him. My current dilemmas were staying awake until I’d boarded the plane, and whether or not to call Matt now, or when I landed. I decided on when I landed. There would be less time for him to freak out, less chance of him spilling the beans, more chance of a surprise attack on Jacky when I got there.
After finally landing in the destination for that night, I rang Matt as I waited for my suitcase to appear.
“Hello?”
“Hey Matty. Act like it’s venue business and walk away from the guys for a second, okay?” In the background, I could hear Matt telling the boys he had to take this call, and not to burn the venue down.
“Okay... what’s going on?”
“Umm, I’m at the airport.”
“Which one?”
“The one in the same town as you. I’m attempting to surprise Jacky.”
“Okay. And you’re calling because?”
“I didn’t book a hotel, and I have a suitcase. Unless you want me to show up at the venue with it, I need help.”
“Okay, I can do that. Give me five minutes.”
“Thanks Matty.” I hung up the phone and waited for my suitcase to appear. Hell was going to break loose if it had been lost. My phone started ringing.
“Hey Matty.”
“Hey. Okay, your name is down on Jack’s room at our hotel. He was rooming by himself tonight, not even Alex wanted to be around him when he doesn’t have the option of ringing you to cheer him up. Do you have a pen?”