Married to a Boy-Band

17

Rachel and I sat next to each other typing quietly on our laptops. The four guys were doing some sort of live video feed for their fans. They were answering fan questions, but really all I heard was a lot of giggling. Harper was in one of the bunks taking her nap. There was a rush of loud laughter and I glanced over at them. They were all squeezed into one booth, shoulders pressed tightly together. They seemed so young in that moment. They were young. It was hard to believe how successful they were already.

“So… I was thinking… We need a nanny out here in LA,” I said quietly.

Rachel glanced over with wide eyes.

“Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

“I mean, I don’t know what you have going on in Michigan, but if you wanted to come out here we’d love to have you.”

I couldn’t quite read the expression on her face.

“So…?”

“Of course I want to come! Are you crazy?” she said.

She pulled me into a hug. Ever since our awkward brunch Jude had been much warmer to her. There was still tension between them, but it wasn’t quite so bad. I realized that I didn’t know much about her.

“What do you do by the way?” I asked.

She laughed, a loud happy laugh.

“I’m a beautician.”

John’s ears perked up when he head this.

“You know they’re looking for a hair and makeup artist for these guys, right?”

I hadn’t even known that. What would a hair and makeup artist do for guys?

“What? Really?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah. I’ll put in a good word for you.”

Rachel’s eyes were wide.

“That would be awesome,” I told her, grabbing her arm.

“Shut up!” Chase called from where he was sitting.

He turned in his seat and shot us a wink. They were still doing their live video. I rolled my eyes to Rachel and turned back to the email I had been writing. I had been trying to explain to my boss why I wasn’t coming back to work. I finished up my email and clicked over to Google.

Just for fun, I typed in my name. Pictures from my Instagram and some badly shot fan pictures showed up in the images section. Underneath that was my Wikipedia page, which had sprouted up while we were on tour. I guess you could say I’d truly made it now that I had a Wikipedia page.

I was surprised to find that someone had a whole blog dedicated to me. Mostly, the person just talked about how lucky I was and posted pictures from my Instagram. However, as I scrolled through, I realized there was a blurry picture of Chase and I walking together hand in hand. Underneath it was a screenshot of some tweets that the fans we had met that day had written. ‘THEY WERE HOLDING HANDS!!’ one of them read. I clicked off the page, feeling a little weird. I hadn’t signed up for any of this. I wanted to go back to the time when you could Google my name and come up with nothing. I was glad that the tour was ending soon, but I had a feeling that this really was just the beginning of everything, especially when it came to my blossoming relationship with Chase.

 ***

“Is this seriously all you want me to pack?” I called.

Jude peeked his head into the room. Loose curls fell out of the beanie that he was wearing. He glanced down at the tiny suitcase that was only partially filled with clothes.