Backstage Smiles

Chapter 16 -- Brooke

Sixteen — Brooke

The flight was twenty-four hours, but it felt like a week by the time we landed. I should've been used to day-long flights at this point, but I still couldn't seem to fall asleep on a plane. Sara, thankfully, slept as easily as if she were in her own bed. She snuggled right up next to me—I had raised the arm separating our seats—and snoozed for half of the flight.

Once we landed, I managed to herd everyone together and into our respective vehicles. The four band members stumbled, bleary-eyed, onto their tour bus and promptly fell asleep, while the crew got into their rented cars. I dragged my luggage onto my own tour bus, Sara and Glenn already playing hide and seek.

I had to admire the bus itself; the tour manager had done a good job in picking out buses. There was a small entryway that doubled as the dining/seating area. As I walked towards the back, I took note of the small kitchen and bathroom, followed by the bunks, before opening into the back lounge that Michael had told me so much about. It was his favorite area of the bus because he could connect his xBox to the massive flatscreen.

I claimed one of the middle bunks for myself, and a bottom one for Sara. If she fell out of the narrow space, I didn't want to risk a concussion. The space above our two bunks was reserved for extra storage, and the other three passengers took the other wall of bunks.

Before I knew it, we had arrived at the venue and my job really began. I kissed Sara goodbye and left her with the sitter before heading inside. I took a deep breath and plastered another smile onto my face.

~~~~~

I collapsed in a heap in the stage manager's chair backstage three and a half hours later. Everything was ready for the show to begin. The band was in their dressing room doing whatever it is they do to prep for the show, and the opening act was in the wings tuning their instruments. The stage, lights, speakers, and other instruments were pre-set onstage with a half hour to spare. It was utterly exhausting, but I would never trade it for a nine-to-five.

Since I had the extra time, I went off to find Sara. The sitter had brought them into the space, but I had no clue where they might be beyond that. I decided to try searching the extra dressing rooms. This place had been build to host award shows, so the amount of dressing rooms was endless. It's just my luck that I happened to run into Michael using one of the empty spaces for a few more minutes of sleep.

"Oh, sorry," I said once I saw him.

"It's fine," he replied. His voice stopped me from leaving right away. He sounded almost defeated.

"Hey, buck up," I said with a lame attempt at a smile. "It's the opening night of your world tour. Shouldn't you be excited?"

He cracked a smile, but it didn't seem genuine. "That's what the guys were saying. They banished me here to get some rest, to see if that snapped me out of my funk."

He didn't look at me, just kept his gaze trained at the ceiling. He had dyed his hair since our split to a uniform gray. I tried not to think of the possible symbolism behind the color choice.

I looked at the ground and bit my lip. "You'll figure it out," I finally said. "Maybe the adrenaline from performing tonight will help."

"Maybe," he murmured.

I left him alone, not able to look at his depressed expression any longer, and continued my search for Sara. I didn't have to look too much further than the stage, as it turns out. Kenny—the lighting guy—chased her and Glenn towards me across the space.

"Mommy, this place is huge!" she shouted as she jumped into my arms. Man, she was getting heavy; I wouldn't be able to pick her up for much longer. "Do I get to play here every day on vacation?"

I shook my head with a smile. "No, but you'll get to play on stages in other places too."

She and Glenn cheered as I set her down. I had to laugh at their boundless energy and they chased each other through the seats.

"They look more alive than you right now."

I turned to see Ashton eating nachos behind me. He offered them to me and I took a few.

"They haven't been awake for over twenty-four hours," I told him. "Plus I'm pretty sure they had more than their fair share of sugar today."

"You don't sleep on planes?" Ashton asked. "Huh, Mikey's the same way. It almost makes me hate traveling with the guy."

"It's just really uncomfortable," I said. "The seats don't recline enough for me to sleep. I don't understand how the rest of you do it."

He shrugged. "We hardly get enough sleep as it is, so we have to take what we can get."

I nodded and watched Sara and Glenn evade the babysitter for a few minutes. The space was set to open, and soon the seats would be filled with screaming fans.

"You should probably get back to your dressing room," I said to Ashton. "Make sure the rest of the guys are there too, okay?"

"Sure thing." He turned to leave, dumping his remaining nachos into a trash can just off stage. "Hey, Brooke, quick question." He turned back towards me. "Did something happen between you and Michael? He's not telling us anything. And he's been kind of out of it lately."

My face fell, but I just shrugged. "It just didn't work out between us," is all I said. "If he wants to tell you more, he can. But that's all I'm saying about it."

~~~~~

By the end of the show, all of the guys were a sweaty mess. The four of them made a beeline for their dressing room once they ran offstage, which made my job much easier. It was a lot less challenging to direct the crew to pack up without the four of them constantly underfoot. We were packed and ready to go in less than an hour, which meant I got to go to bed much earlier than I had originally scheduled. I gave the all clear and had one of my assistants herd the bands back to the buses while I triple-checked that we had everything.

By the time I got to the bus, Sara was already asleep. The sitter had done a good job getting her and Glenn bathed and tucked in while Kenny and I were working the show. I brushed her hair away from her eyes to take in her peaceful face. She had definitely taken my life in a different direction than I had planned, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.