'Moonlight'

13

Whatever happened in the car is forgotten as soon as Stevie sees Lindsey at the airport. She jumps out of the car, running over to him and throwing her arms around his neck. He smiles a little sheepishly, kissing the top of her head. I turn away from them both, looking around for Kesi. She bounces over from the other car, hugging me tightly.
"Was it okay?" she says worriedly.
"Don't ask." I reply, flatly. She sighs, but takes my hand as we walk into the airport. There's already a scuffle between Stevie and the Ticketing Agent. Stevie is huffing and stomping her heels, while the Ticketing Agent is calmly trying to explain that 24 bags of luggage is just a tad too much for one person.
"I'm Stevie Nicks! It's a private plane!" Stevie is arguing, which is a fair point, but the Agent isn't having it.
"Ms Nicks, i'm sorry but we simply cannot take 24 pieces of luggage onto the plane, for one person."
More likely they can't be bothered, but i don't think anyone could be bothered lugging 24 suitcases of shawls and platform boots onto a plane. Stevie huffs, turning to Lori for assistance. Lori shrugs, since she has no management over Stevie's luggage situation. None of us do, we're just here for Stevie herself. Lindsey clears his throat, stepping forward. He's much more intimidating than Stevie, with or without stacked platform heels.
"Ma'am, let her have the luggage. She's Stevie fucking Nicks, she should be allowed whatever luggage she wants."
The Agent hesitates, but caves under Lindsey and Stevie's intense stare.
"Alright, yes. 24 pieces of luggage it is."
Stevie laughs loudly, spinning around to kiss Lindsey. He pats her awkwardly on her shoulder before walking away to talk with the Pilot about something. Stevie watches him go, staring after him blankly. It takes all of my might not to laugh out loud.
After a few more minutes, we're boarding the plane. Me and Kesi sit a few rows back from Stevie and Lindsey, on the other side of the aisle, so we're further from them, but can still see them.
"Have you ever flown before?" Kesi asks. She's squeezing my hand tightly with nerves, and i realise she probably hasn't flown before.
"Only once or twice. But it's easy, really." I say, trying to reassure her. She isn't fully calm, but she stops digging her nails into my hand after takeoff, so that's good enough for me. After a while I glance over at Stevie and Lindsey. Stevie's busying herself in her journal, scribbling down what is most likely lyrics for a new song. Her upcoming album isn't finished yet, but Fleetwood Mac's recent album, 'Mirage' is due to release in about 2-3 weeks. Hence the tour. Lindsey is staring off into space, tracing patterns on Stevie's arm with his thumb distractedly. She seems bothered by this, since trying to write in her journal and keep her arm on the armrest for Lindsey can't be easy. Eventually she huffs irritably, pulling her arm away from Lindsey and is able to write in her journal properly. He grumbles, getting up for the bathroom. Stevie looks up as he stands, grabbing his hand to hold him back. She whispers something to him, but i can't hear what she said. Lindsey nods, squeezing Stevie's hand briefly before making his way to the bathroom. I wonder what it is she said to him. Was it about the tour? Was it about a song she's working on? Was it about me?
Stevie moves to get up, presumably for the bathroom aswell, but Sharon sits in Lindsey's seat, thrusting a fashion magazine in Stevie's face. Stevie is suddenly invested in the magazine, grabbing her pen and circling various things in it. I tear my gaze away from her, nudging Kesi gently to make sure she's okay.
"How you feeling? About the flight?" i ask her. she raises her eyebrows, as if she's just remembered she's on a plane.
"Well, it's... i mean, it's easy, like you said."
"Mhm, it's okay, see?"
she nods, shifting over to rest her head on my shoulder. i sigh contentedly, till i catch Stevie watching me out the corner of my eye. What does she want? i want to ask her, but Kesi is quite comfortable with me now, so i don't want to disturb her either. Stevie turns away after a few seconds, going back to the fashion magazine with Sharon.
I probably fell asleep on the plane, because before i know it everyone's causing a riot as we're landing. Kesi is already awake - she was the reason i woke up with her excited whispering in my ear.
"Pierre, let's go!" was the first thing i heard before i was fully awake. I yawn widely before i get out of my seat, a little dazed from the feeling of flying for so long. We all stumble off the plane, me and Kesi desperately trying to avoid the hassle with Stevie's luggage at Baggage Claim, successfully. Kesi pauses to talk to Sharon briefly. I frown as they both glance over at me several times, and Sharon hugs Kesi momentarily before we get into the cars to take us to the hotel. Strange.
We're driven to the hotel after Stevie sorted her bags, and this time Kesi is in the car with me, thank god. She's becoming more excited with every next place we go, but seems unusually quiet. Jet lag maybe. We get out the car excitedly, stepping into the hotel lobby. It's like something from a dream. I feel like i am dreaming, honestly. Stevie stops beside us, saying hello to Kesi absently as she fixes a black lace shawl around her shoulders. Kesi smiles in return, apparently still too nervous to speak to Stevie properly.
"Pierre, Kesi, come here."
I follow Lori over to the desk, without Kesi, who is too busy tying her shoe lace. Accepting my room key gratefully, i return to where Kesi is standing and grab my bags before heading up to the room with her. Sharon and Lori follow us to our hotel room, making sure we're definitely okay before skipping off to their room. I exhale deeply, closing the door after them and unzipping my suitcase, starting to unpack. Kesi sighs, flopping down onto the bed.
"You okay?" i ask, hesitantly. i don't want to bother her even more than she seems. "you're not unpacking."
"Mhm.." she mutters, but i know that means the opposite of okay. i approach her carefully, stroking her hair gently to rouse her a little.
"Kesi? What's up?"
"Pierre, leave it." she snaps, sitting up abruptly. i take a step back, my eyebrows raised.
"Woah, okay-"
"Don't 'woah' me here, please." she says, standing up from the bed. "i'm tired, i feel out of place, and you say 'woah' when i'm clearly not okay?"
"I-" i'm speechless. i've never been in a relationship before, i don't know how to deal with arguments like this. i knew something was wrong with her, but i didn't realise i was a contributing factor.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know-"
"of course you don't know. You're too busy drooling over Stevie to even spare me a glance, Pierre."
"What?!" i say, horrified.
She huffs angrily, pacing up and down in front of me.
"Pierre, why did you bring me here?"
"What? What do you mean?"
"Answer me! Why did you bring me here?"
I'm feeling more sick with every word that's spoken. I don't know what to do or say. So i don't say anything.
"Pierre, I'm sorry, but i want to go home."
I just stand there, my mouth hanging open in shock. wasn't she excited to be here about an hour ago?
"We weren't even an official couple and you asked me to come on tour with Stevie. I felt so delighted that you finally asked me to do something real with you." she says, crossing the room to pick up her bags.
"Kesi, don't. Please. I don't know what I did-"
"Well, Sharon already knows I'm leaving. I told her when we landed." she interrupts. "you're not a bad person Pierre, and neither am i, but i have to leave."
"So you're just... leaving?"
"Yes. What does it look like I'm doing?"
She gets even more angry when i don't say anything again. Maybe if i had the words, i could have made her stay. But she slams the door and storms out of the hotel before i can fully process what just happened. It all happened too fast, too soon. Why did it happen? I guess I'll never know. I curl up on the bed and fall asleep a few hours later, feeling like i've been punched in the gut.