Under the Influence

XVII.

December 16th 2000.
Tampa, Florida.

I sighed and dropped my clipboard onto the desk. "That's still not right Kiara! Those are not the same colors as we had on stage last night" I called out up to lighting booth. Kiara nodded and ducked back down into the booth, fiddling with the settings. "Em!" he stopped joking around with the guys at the sound of my authoritative 'work mode' voice. "Can you walk into the center stage please?"

He comically saluted me and marched in rigid steps onto the stage. "Yes Ma'am!"

"Do you see how dark that is Kiara? You can't even see him!"

"How about now?" The lighting changed back to the lighter blue it usually was and revealed the ridiculous faces Marshall was making at me, which made Proof and Denaun burst out laughing.

"Thank you".  I sent her a thumbs up and turned back around to check we were meeting the time schedule I'd set. We only had a few more days left on the tour till we all went on Christmas break and we were currently stationed in Tampa, Florida. So far this was my favorite tour I'd ever been on. The idea of rock and rap had come together so fluidly and created an amazing show that the fans went wild for. The feedback had been all positive which was a good boost to my ego considering I was responsible for almost every detail. However, we were all collectively very tired and my patience was wearing extremely thin with my staff. I didn't have room for any errors and they knew that. I jumped slightly at the feel of Marshall's arms snaking around my waist as he kissed my neck sweetly.

I softly giggled as he nibbled at my ear. "Marshall we're in public".

"So? Let all these people know" he murmured into my hair whilst his hands gripped my thighs.

"Come on". I pushed him away with a smile and he sat on the edge of the desk I was working at.

"So how's it going boss?" He cheekily smiled at me, earning an eye roll. He knew how much I hated being called that by him, so he used it at every opportunity to wind me up.

"Pretty much perfect. Better if Kiara would do her damn job right..." I muttered letting the work perfectionist get the better of me. He laughed and picked up the piece of paper I was looking at, quickly skimming it over before getting bored and placing it back down. "Speaking of, I'm going out with some of the crew members tonight okay? Marshall?" His nose was buried deep into his phone as he texted what looked like Kim back.

"What?"

"I'm going out tonight".

He nodded absentmindedly. "Uh yeah, all good. I gotta go call Kim".

"Everything alright?" I asked, concern etched over my face. Kim was finding it difficult at the moment caring for the girls all by herself which meant Marshall was checking up on her often, which I thought was amazing. They needed to support each other and I was overjoyed that they were finally in a place where that was even possible.

"Yeah everything's fine. I'll see ya later". He quickly pecked my cheek and walked off in the direction of the dressing rooms, immediately calling Kim.

*****

Today had been long and stressful. Marshall was in a bad mood after his phone call with Kim as she was upset, which put me in an incredibly awkward situation. Not only did I have to work but I also had to check up on Marshall and stop him from worrying about Kim and the girls too much. We just had to get through these last couple of shows and everything would be fine again, at least that's what I tried to tell him.

"What you getting all dressed up for?" Marshall asked through a yawn as he chucked his hat across the room and threw him self onto the bed. Proof had told me he really struggled with the performance tonight, and I didn't blame him. It had been a tiresome few weeks.