My Old Friend

Chapter 21

FAITH POV: We sit in the dressing room, trying to come off of our performance high so we can properly function. 

"That was amazing..." I say, lying down on the couch. Keith laughs. 

"Yeah, that was pretty fun wasn't it?" He starts to laugh. 

"Absolutely." I start to laugh myself. I hear giggles coming down the hall as my manager, Ryon opens the door. 

"These little munchkins wanted to see you two after that kick ass performance. That was awesome guys!" He says. I smile, but it fades as I realize who else is in the building, probably infuriated with me. 

"Hey, Ryon. Can I talk to you for a moment?" I ask, after giving the girls their hello kisses. 

"Sure thing." He says. We walk back into the bathroom. 

"Tim's here." I say quickly. 

"What?" He asks in shock. 

"Tim's here. He knows I'm here because he saw me perform..." I say, beginning to panic. He tries to comfort me, but it fails. "Ryon, what if he takes the girls? What if he finds out about the girls?" I start to cry. 

"He won't. I can go ahead and get them out of here and take them around town, that way he won't see them, or go to your house and see them." Ryon says. I nod as he quickly goes to get the kids. I take a second to pull myself together, and I walk back out to Keith. 

"He's here isn't he?" Keith asks gently. I nod. 

"I didn't know the kids were coming... It's just scary knowing they were that close..." I say, feeling light headed. 

"It's alright now, honey. Ryon's taking them where they'll be safe, alright? And I'll stick by your side to make sure nothing else happens." He says, taking my hand. I smile. I really do love him... We walk out to do press, and of course, manage to cross paths. 

"Audrey..." I hear him say from behind me. I don't turn around. I keep walking as Keith looks back. Keith puts his arm around my waist as we enter the press room, and hopefully disappear in the crowd of reporters. 

"Faith! Faith can we please have a moment?" A CMT reporter asks. 

"Sure!" I answer. 

"Of the three awards you were nominated for, did you think you would win all of them?" She asks. I laugh. 

"No way! There is tons of talent in this town, and it's nights like these where you realize how gifted and diverse music really is. I'm just so blessed that I have such amazing fans and team. They are the ones who really won these awards." I say. She smiles and moves on to the next question. 

"You and Keith obviously have a great relationship on stage and off, as we saw him walking you in here. Could we expect to see a ring appear soon?" She asks. I shrug and laugh to tease her. 

"Who knows! Anything can happen, right?" She smiles. She begins to ask me another question. The camera is on and rolling when Tim grabs my arm. 

"We need to talk." He yells over the chaos in the press room. The report looks intrigued. 

"Do you two know each other?" She asks, the camera turning towards us. 

"Yes--" Tim starts. 

"No--" I contradict. We look at each other. He gives me a frown. "Our managers are close." I make an excuse. 

"Oh yeah..." Tim says, sarcastically, paying no mind to the reporter. 

"I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse me." I say, as Tim practically drags me out of the room.