Under the Influence

VIII.

May 25th 2000.
New York, New York.
Detroit, Michigan.

"Amy I swear to god. If you flip out, we'll be leaving straight away". The three of us stood outside D12's hotel room patiently waiting for someone to answer the door. Amy was fidgeting around beside bursting with excitement, unable to keep still.

"I know, I know! I'll be on my best behavior I swear" she reassured me in a breathy voice.

"You'd better be because-" before I could finish my sentence the door swung open and we were greeted by a smiling Proof.

"Cassie! And friends!" he beckoned us into the room which not only had D12 in it but also some people I recognized from various times I'd been with Marshall. Proof rested his arm across my shoulders and turned his attention to the girls "What are you names?"

"This is Jordan and Amy" I gestured to the two individually. Jordan politely smiled at him whereas Amy looked absolutely starstruck, and she hadn't even met Marshall yet. Proof laughed and winked at Amy which visibly startled her, her eyes practically turning into saucepans.

"Why don't you guys go to the kitchen and get drinks? Help yourself" Proof kindly suggested to break the ice. Jordan thankfully dragged Amy away as she seemed incapable of moving by herself.

"I'm going to go find Marshall" I stepped away from Proof's grip.

"Hold up" he grabbed my arm stopping me. "Sorry about earlier today, Marshall can be a real idiot sometimes. He didn't mean to be shady, no pun intended".

"We sorted it out. It was just a bit of a misunderstanding".

"I think you're good for him Cassie, you're what he needs. He will fuck up again but he is a good guy. Keep that in mind, yeah?"

"Thanks Proof" I brought him in for a friendly hug. He was an extremely loyal friend to Marshall which I found admirable. "Can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure".

"Can you keep Amy occupied tonight? I don't want her to get to close to Marshall to be honest".

"I'm sure I can figure something out" he chortled.

"Oh I'm sure you will". I excused my self from Proof's presence to go find Marshall, where I spotted him facing backwards to me talking to Kuniva. I crept up behind him as quietly as I could, placing a finger over my lips to signal to Kuniva not to blow my cover. Jokingly I pinched Marshall's ass to give him a fright, causing him to jump a little bit.

"Yo what the fuck" he spun around a pissed off look on his face. Kuniva grinned at his reaction and laughed into his beer as Marshall's expression lightened when he registered it was me. "Cassie? When did you get here?" whilst he was talking to me he reached his arm behind him and pulled the finger at Kuniva.

"Only a couple minutes ago. Two of my friends are here too, somewhere" I signaled to the room.

"Come sit down here with us" he pulled me over by the hand to the couches were D12 and some other were sat. Out of my peripheral vision I could see Amy and Jordan emerge from the kitchen with a bottle of Jack Daniels and glasses in hand. They hesitated in the doorway unsure of their next move until Kuniva and Proof walked over to them and sparked up a conversation.

"I need to go get a drink, I'll be right back" I whispered to Marshall as he absentmindedly nodded to me, too engaged in conversation with Denaun. I opened the kitchen door and was nearly knocked over as someone was attempting to exit at the same time. "Oh shit!" I tripped over my in my heels falling right onto a poor unsuspecting girl, making her spill her drink down the front of her top. "I am so sorry" I gushed.