"Wait wait wait!!" I pulled Brian back from the door before he opened it. I checked myself over, pulling my t-shirt over my stomach and smoothing my hair back down. I grabbed my compact out of my handbag and made sure my make up wasn't ruined.
"You look gorgeous," Brian kissed the top of my head and took my hand. "You ready?" I nodded and followed him out of the room, praying that nobody would clock us.
I couldn't believe what we had just done. I'm no prude, not by a long shot but that was a risky move to make. Anybody could have walked into the room while we were...distracted. But fuck if it wasn't sexy as hell. I stood by the bar and watched him as he circulated, talking to reporters and other VIPs. He certainly did look more relaxed now. I blushed and bit my lip as images flashed through my mind.
"What are you smirking at?" I was so caught up that I didn't notice Sal and Oli come to the bar.
"Huh? What? Nothing..." I muttered, shaking my head to clear it. Oli looked at me curiously. Suddenly she gasped and her hand flew to her mouth.
"No!" Shit. I shook my head at her, silently willing her to keep her mouth shut. She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into a corner, telling Sal we would be back in a minute.
She rounded on me, whispering furiously. "Shae Anderson. I know for a fact you have not left this building since we got here, so would you care to tell me ALL the details of how and when you have found the time to have sex?!"
"How do you do that?" I complained. She had this knack of just knowing when I had had sex.
She grinned. "It's a gift. Now spill it." She was silent as I quickly ran through what had gone down.
"Seriously Ol. Fuuuuuck." We both laughed as we walked back to Sal.
"Sorry dude," Oli punched Sal's arm. "Emergency girl chat." Sal gave a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.
"You ok there Salvatore?" I asked gently.
"Uh, yeah. Just...erm..." He stuttered.
"Nervous as hell?" I chuckled.
"Yes..." He breathed.
"You're gonna do fine." I said, linking my arm through his. "Come on, let's go find the others."
Time was getting on and they would soon need to go down to the stage for the live show. Before the actual punishment, there was the episode. Oli and I had decided to join the crowds for the episode but come back up to the VIP for the actual punishment. Oli wanted a good view, but I didn't think I could stand below them and watch. Everyone was preparing to bustle the guys off, so I grabbed Brian's hand and squeezed. "Good luck," I whispered, smiling.
He squeezed my hand back. "I got this," he grinned. "Especially now I'm so relaxed." He winked and I burst out laughing.
We rounded up the others and with a chorus "Good luck!" they were off.
We stood outside in the freezing New York night and watched the episode on the big screen. After about five minutes, Oli nudged me. "That's one of the writers," she nodded in the direction of a tall, skinny guy with quite frankly, awesome hair. "Sal was saying that he's done like a pre show thing online and is doing a post show one as well. His name is Casey. He's hot." She grinned.
I rolled my eyes at her, just one more guy to add to her never ending list of crushes. I glanced at the stage, they were just about to cut to a break so I told Oli I was going to get drinks. We were fortunate enough to have been given use of the free bar so we were going to make the use of it. Plus I needed some Dutch courage if I was going to meet Brian's parents.
I got served quickly, and made my way back to Oli. The rest of the show went quickly and before we knew it, it was over. Joe had lost, so he had to wear a costume for his walk. Obviously, they went for Captain Fatbelly. Oli grabbed me and dragged me to towards the side of the stage. The guys were there, all looking incredibly nervous. Murr was visibly shaking, Sal was quiet and Brian was taking swigs of whiskey straight from the bottle. I got his attention, and he came over to me. I was very aware of all the eyes around us, so didn't want any public displays of affection.
As he stood on the other side of the barrier, I slid my hand into his and squeezed. "Good luck" I said, smiling. "Don't drink too much." He smiled weakly before turning as the stage manager called his name.
"I'll see you after, Quinn." I have his hand another squeeze and wished the others luck.
Oli and I made our way back to the VIP area. I bagged us a space at the floor to ceiling window while Oli went to the bar. I felt almost as nervous as they guys, and all I had to do was watch. We had a good view of the wire and one of the large screens.
We watched the screens as the results of the "team" hashtag was announced. I may have squealed slightly when Brian was announced as the winner. That meant he got to pick the order they went in. He picked Murr to go first, then Sal, then Joe with himself going last. I could have kicked him. My heart was going to give out before he had even walked.
Then it was time. We watched as Murr was raised up to the podium, the terror clear on his face. "I just want to give him a big hug..." Oli muttered as we watched. He finally made it onto the podium, and after a few tense seconds he started to walk. I held my breath. He took a few steps, then seemed to get pulled back by the harness, causing him to fall. "What the fuck?!" Oli exclaimed. "How is that fair?!" She ranted on while I continued to watch Murr swing like a monkey along to the other side.
Next up was Sal. He seemed to be in his own little world as he was raised to the podium. It took him a while to get out of the crane lift and onto the podium. We could hear the others guys shouting words of encouragement. I chuckled hearing Joe calling him Ja'Crispy. Then he was off. Again, I held my breath. He was doing it...he took 6 or 7 steps before falling. It looked as if he had gone about the same distance as Murr, maybe he had got caught by the harness as well?
Joe climbed onto the platform to a chorus of "Larry! Larry!" He looked ridiculous but seemed to have a little more confidence than the others. But once he was ready to go that changed. You could hear over the microphone that he was saying he knew he couldn't do it. He took one step, then backed off. Tried again. Then in a clear "fuck it" move, he went. He only took a couple of steps before he fell, Captain Fatbelly was soaring through the air.
There was only Brian left to go. None of the others had made it. My heart was pounding in my chest as I watched him being raised to the platform. "Breathe Shae." Oli muttered, slipping her arm round my waist and squeezing.
"I can't." I gasped. I could barely catch my breath. I gnawed at my thumb nail. "I don't know if I can watch this, Ol." Yet I couldn't turn away.
I let out a strangled laugh as I heard Brian shouting that his legs were shaking as he prepared to walk.
I had my hands to my mouth as he started, muttering "oh my god, oh my god," over and over. He was half way across when it looked like he was going to fall. He managed to right himself and get all the way across.
The whole place went crazy!! Everybody was screaming and shouting and cheering. He had done it! He'd got all the way across. I let out the breath that I had been holding and started jumping up and down excitedly and hugged Oli. "Oh my fucking god! He did it!! He really did it!!" I was so proud of him. I turned back to watch the screen as it showed him on the other side of the tightrope. To say he looked elated would be understatement of the century. I wanted to be with him right then, but knew I'd have to wait. I ran to the bar and ordered a large whiskey, which I downed in the hopes of calming my still-pounding heart. When I got back to the window, Brian had just touched down on the ground again. Immediately he was surrounded by his best friends, hugging and congratulating him. I smiled down on them, realising then just how much I had come to love that crazy bunch.
