𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹 𝟯: 𝗔𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻 𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿

Chapter Twenty Five

Serena's P.O.V.

March 21st, 2020. The last performance of my Without Him tour. The thought of this being the last show made me visibly upset. It would most likely be another year until I would go on tour again. Unless I got lucky by the popular demands of fans and producers. But the chances of that happening were unlikely, as my career was still taking off and hadn't broken through to the mainstream media.

The bus pulled into the Toronto lot that morning. The same one where T.J. and I had said our goodbyes to our families. "Alright, you sure you got everything you need? Your bag? Your cash?" I asked as I finished packing my clothes into the tiny suitcase. "Yep. I think that's everything," T.J. assured. We walked towards the front, thanking Mr. Edgar for all the driving he did for us. As T.J. walked down the stairs and out of the bus, I reached into my wallet and handed him a ten-dollar tip.

"For me?" he asked, meeting my gaze with a look of surprise and confusion. "Yes. Thanks again for driving us around on this tour. It means a lot," I nodded before walking out. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mr. Edgar had a grin on his face. It was safe to say that I had made his day with my kindness. "Alright, so, we'll drop off our bags backstage, and then we'll get them back after the concert," I said to T.J. as an Uber driver drove us to the small music hall.

The person managing the hall had let us in when we told her who we were. She gave us a tour around the small venue, telling us that we could set up the merch table right in the lobby. The woman seemed really nice. But from the faint purple bags underneath her eyes, she appeared to be tired. The crew wouldn't be there until 6:00 pm, so we had a while to explore the area as we waited for the show to start.

"Can we get breakfast at Denny's? I'm starving," T.J. asked. "Of course!" I nodded. The restaurant was about a block away from the hall. So we didn't have to worry about calling yet another Uber. It was nice eating a hot and fresh meal at a restaurant again. For the majority of the tour, T.J and I were trying not to spend so much before we made it back home. So, our breakfasts would consist of convenient store donuts and honey buns with orange juice. With the exception of eating out in Montreal.

"And, I'll also get the strawberry banana smoothie," I said as the waitress finished taking our order. "Alright, girls. Food will be out in a little while. I'll get those drinks for you," She smiled, taking our menus before walking off. I reached into the pocket of my jeans, pulling out my phone, and sent a text to Aidan, letting him know that I was okay. From the texts, he seemed excited to see me later that night.

Because the tour bus was back in the lot, the arrangements to get back home were that I would be taking an Uber back to the hotel. T.J's parents were going to pick her up and take her back to their house. Aidan had promised that he would meet me at the hotel front, wanting to see me the first chance he got in two whole weeks. Soon, our breakfast came out, and the moment the plates had been set down, T.J. dove right into the food, cutting up bits and pieces of her French Toast.

As I finished eating, a little thought crossed my mind. Even though everything with the stalker seemed scary and ominous at first, Aidan now had a member of law enforcement involved. The fear and paranoia had faded away from me. And I felt comfortable enough to do the meet and greets again. "Hey. After the concert tonight, I want to go back out there and meet the fans," I said, looking T.J. directly in the eyes. Her eyes widened with surprise at this statement.

"B-but w-what about the stalker? I t-thought you were scared for your safety," She babbled. "I am worried about the situation, but Aidan's taking care of it, remember? Someone's working with us on the case. No doubt he's trying to figure out who the culprit is right now," I assured her, reaching across the table to grab her hand. She let out a shaking breath, her eyes were still widened with surprise, but after a small smile from me, she seemed to relax.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you," She sighed. "Nothing's going to happen to me. I promise," I gently squeezed her hand before going back to eating our breakfast, which was quickly starting to get cold.

*******

Aidan's P.O.V.

"Alright, Aidan. They're going to need you on set in about forty minutes. So, we need you to head to hair and makeup, alright?" One of the producers instructed me as I walked into the studio. "You got it," I nodded, giving him a thumbs-up before I rushed to my trailer and put on my costume. I was anxious to get my part of filming all done for the day. I wanted nothing to get in the way of seeing my girlfriend. 

I was thankful that Steve was letting me get off of work early. He would usually save those for when someone had a family emergency or got injured on the job. So, I was feeling lucky. I walked into the hair and makeup trailer, seeing Emmy sitting in one of the nearby chairs as one of the stylists, Christina, worked on her hair. "Hey, Aidan! Come sit right here!" Kimberly ushered. I took a seat in her chair, and she wrapped a black bib over my clothes. "Alright, so we're gonna have to give it a little trim, but other than that, you will be good to go!" Kimberly said, staring at our reflections in the mirror.

It didn't take that long at all. At the maximum, 15 to 20 minutes. "Alright, and you are done," She smiled, removing the bib from around my neck. I thanked her and left, heading back to my trailer to grab this week's script. I took my phone out of my pocket, charging it. But, as I was walking out, I got a message. It was from Serena's Instagram. She had taken a picture with T.J. outside of what appeared to be Denny's with the caption, "Just finished breakfast at Denny's, about to get ready for rehearsal. If you're around, please join us at Danforth Music Hall! 💖"

I was becoming giddier by the minute. Her show started at 7:30 pm and ended around 10:00, and because I was getting off early tonight, it meant that I had time to get things set up for when she came back. I was going to shower her with hugs, kisses, and sweet mumbles in her ears. I hope she has fun tonight. I thought to myself before I set the phone down and walked out the door, heading to the set.