Beautiful Crazy

'Til She Changes Her Mind Says Lets Stay On The Couch And Watch TV

The faint glow from the clock on the nightstand showed 1:30am.  Night 1 of the tour was a success and Maren was grateful to finally be alone and back in her hotel room. It wasn't long however before the weight of the day became too much.

Earlier, while running a bath Maren slowly began to sob. It wasn't the emergency landing, or that she came really close to messing up the first show. It was the look on Brian's face by the elevator.  Maren tried blocking it out the whole night, even doing her best to avoid backstage and the green room. As she sat on the floor in the bathroom sobbing, Maren realized it was all her fault. If she never ran none of this would be happening. A bottle of wine later and after texting with Kelsey for a little while, Maren finally succumbed to the exhaustion from the day.
_____________________________________________

The power flickered off and on a few times so he opted to take the stairs. Last thing he needed was to get stuck in an elevator again, seeing as how well that went last time.  Even after a few drinks, he took two steps at a time as he climbed the stairs up to the 5th floor. Maren had always texted the guys her room number so that they would have it, and this tour was no different. The lights flickered in the stairwell followed by another loud clap of thunder, which caused Brian to move a little faster, finally reaching the door to the fifth floor, not far from where he was headed.
____________________________________________

Startled awake, Maren turned on the bedside lamp as she sat up. "Shit," she whispered under her breath as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. Her shirt was slightly damp.  Ever since Maren was little she was terrified of thunderstorms at night when she was alone. It was something she could never shake as an adult. Much like her singing, it was something no one really knew.  The light flickered off and on a few times causing Maren to rush out of bed and get dressed. She didn't care that it was 1:30 in the morning, she threw on a pair of yoga pants and her hoodie as she headed towards the door.  She didn't want to be alone in her room during the storm, even if she was in a hotel surrounded by rooms filled with other people.  Turning the door handle, she pulled open the door to her room..

_____________________________________________
2 years ago

Season 5 of Impractical Jokers had just finished production and Maren found herself invited to the wrap party the guys threw each year for the crew. Maren was about 10 months into her job and wouldn't pass up the the opportunity to become better friends with the other people the Jokers spent the majority of their time with. Surely they had plenty of stories to tell.

"Mulligan is in tha house!" Cha's voiced announced loudly when Maren walked in to the bar "I was hoping the boys invited you! Let's get a drink in your hand!" The party was in full effect, the drinks were flowing and the music was loud.

"Maren!!" Sal shouted in her direction which caused Brian to turn his head also.  Taking a swig of his beer he turned back around and continued throwing darts at the board.

"Sally boy, congrats on another season!" Maren said leaning into give him a hug. "Thanks for the invite!"

"Thank you, glad your here babygirl. You ready for the next road trip??" Sal questioned as he sipped the drink in his hand.

Maren chuckled and smiled," Depends.. Hey Sal lemme ask you something?" Maren glanced over in Brian's direction then back to Sal, she whispered. "Do you think Brian and I will ever get along?"

Sal leaned back and slowly smiled at Maren as he put his hand on her shoulder, "Mulls, come on. You weren't born yesterday!"

Maren looked on confused, "What? What do you mean?" She quizzed Sal.

Sal smiled and shook his head, "Nevermind Mar.. yes you and Brian will get along one day. I promise you that." He said placing both his hands on her arms. He winked at her and walked away.

Maren smiled at him and then looked in Brian's direction. He was still throwing darts with a few of the production assistants.

"Can I get a Yeungling, bottle please?" she ordered from the bartender and placed down some cash.

Grabbing the bottle, Maren made her way next to where Brian was standing. "Hey. Thought you could use another one of these." she said handing Brian the beer bottle.

Brian looked down at it and then  smiled  up at her, "Thanks. You play darts?" He motioned towards the board.

"I mean, I can try!" she said handing him her drink. Taking the dart from him, she threw it clumsily, missing the board entirely.

Brian laughed, "Well, we found something you suck at Ms Tour Manager extraordinaire," he joked.

"Wait wait, no.. lemme try again. I can do this," Maren said rolling up her sleeves. "Actually, why don't we put a little wager on this!??" Maren raised her eyebrows in his direction.

"You sure you wanna do that Maren?" Brian smirked at her as he continued taking swigs from his beer.

Maren had seen that smirk a thousand times from him.  It was dripping with cockiness, but somehow still managed to be endearing. There were plenty of times where she imagined completely wiping that smirk off his face.

"Yeah. Let's see. If I win, you have to stop being such a dick on tour. If you win.. well.." Maren started to say and then her voice trailed. She grabbed the darts quickly from the table and fired them off in succession towards the board. All 3 of them hitting the bullseye. "You won't win, so..." Maren said slyly shrugging at him.

Brian stood there with his mouth wide open, looking from the dart board to her and back to the dart board.  Maren did a little victory dance in front of him. "Wow. Maren Mulligan. Didn't think you had that up your sleeve!" Brian said shaking his head a little. He wouldn't admit it, but he was in awe right now.

"There's a lot you don't know Brian," Maren winked as she sipped on her drink.

"Hmm. Well, what else then Mar? Tell me something, no one else knows!" Brian played along. After all, this woman surprised him once already tonight.

Maren laughed as she tapped her lips deep in thought, "Alright Quinn, let's see .." Brian looked on pleasantly amused by this woman for once.

Walking over towards him, she grabbed his beer from him and finished it off, before leaning in close and whispering "I'm afraid of thunderstorms at night. If anyone ever makes fun of me for it, I know who to come see." A huge smile spread across her face as she winked up at him. "Have a good night Brian!"

A small smile spread across Brian's lips as he watched Maren walk away from him and join in with the rest of the party.  He looked around quickly to make sure no one caught the smile on his face or the way he watched her walk away