The Hook-up

Chapter 205

Early the next morning Bruno turned his head to glance at his phone to see what time it was. Ten more minutes. He thought to himself reaching for Lauren to hold her for the last few minutes he had with her before he left for the next few weeks. She smells so good. He thought drifting back to sleep with his head on his shoulder suddenly awakened by his blaring early 90s ringtone.

"Ugh. Bruno. Turn it off..." Lauren groaned. "Go back to sleep. It's too early." He ignored her getting up to get dressed slipping on his clothes quietly getting out of the room as his wife slept through him getting ready to leave for the airport. He let the dogs out and fed them all while holding onto the baby monitor. It's 4...they don't get up until 6...he thought to himself as he dug through his bags to make sure he had everything he needed. After mentally checking off his list of things that he needed he walked back toward the babies' room to see them one more time before he left. Bruno leaned down to kiss both his children keeping an eye on them as he watched them sleep for a few minutes before hearing his phone buzz to let someone into the house to take him to the airport.

"I'll be there in a second...." he said to no one in particular taking one last second to look at Eza and his bright red eye. "Hang in there, Ez. You'll make it..." he whispered turning to see Dre waiting for him.

"Ready dude?" Dre asked.

"Let me go see Laur one last time." he said still half awake. "Laur...." Bruno bent down to wipe the air dried curls away from her face.

"Go back to sleep..." she whined opening her eyes halfway to see him awake. "Are you leaving?"

"I am. I will call you later tonight. I love you." he said kissing her lightly.

"Be safe, Brunz." she told him turning back around grabbing his pillow instead of his body.

"I will." he whispered walking out of the room.

**

By the middle of the day Bruno was sitting in a brightly lit room in jeans, a plaid shirt and converse that Lauren had picked for him. He leaned back to close his eyes still a little tired from the traveling.

"Bruno!" he heard a perky accented voice.

"Oh. Hi!" he stood up to introduce himself to Miranda Kerr who was going to be interviewing him. "How long do we have until we start?" he asked.

"A little bit. I needed to escape the lights and also wanted to hear all about your babies." she said with a smile.

"Oh..right..hang on..let me show you..." he dug into his pocket to get his phone flipping to the pictures he and Lauren took of them the day before.

"They look so much like you, Bruno..." Miranda said almost gushing over the twins.

"They look like Lauren, to me..." he said going into a story about the way they differed from him. "They're amazing."

"I know." Miranda told him. "Just wait until they get big. You'll be dreaming of the times when they weren't walking and talking..." she joked with him.

"But at least I will be able to sleep.." Bruno joked with Miranda.

After a few more jokes they filmed the small interview for the show Bruno was taping. They left the room together and Bruno talked to the models and complemented all of them as he left to go find his band mates.

"Bruno!" he heard a familiar voice yell for him.

"Nooooo..." he whined under his breathe turning dramatically to see Damaris walking toward him, wearing bright purple heals that made her look even more done up than usual. She clicked her shoes toward him hugging him. She kissed him on the cheek whispering hello in his ear. "Hi Damaris." he reluctantly reacted pulling away from her.

"Come talk to me..." she said pulling him to a set of comfy chairs where the audience would sit the next day.

"I don't really need to talk to you...." Bruno said eyeing the empty corner where his band was supposed to be.

"Oh, Bruno. Come on. I just wanted to see how the babies were." she said with a smile sitting down with him.

"Everything is fine. We're fine." he told her.

"What's bothering you?" she asked him reaching toward his chair to pull him closer.

"Us." he told her. "My heart stopped when I saw you. It shouldn't be that way. I need to stop..." he said to her.

"Calm down..." she said stretching her feet out to take her phone.

"Calm down?" he asked a bit upset. "Are you serious? I spent almost the last month with my wife defending myself and my actions and how I wasn't even going to see you while I was here and not even 5 hours later you're here. And as much as I love my wife, you are driving me crazy by just standing there...." he admitted.

"Then what are you going to do?" she asked him reaching for her phone pretending to text someone instead snapping a picture of their feet sitting near each other.

"I'm going to get up and leave and tell you that I hope you enjoy the show and hope that I don't see you until after this thing is over. But I know that's not going to happen." he told her standing up from the chair.

"I'll see you tomorrow night!" she smiled at him as he walked away toward Phil who was waiting for him with one of the models he had met earlier.

"Don't fuck it up, bro." Phil told him as they walked out of the venue.