A Matter of Perspective

17 - Amy

"Dianne Buswell! Get over here!" Amy shouted, her Welsh accent echoing through the large photo studio that was quickly filling up with Strictly Come Dancing professionals and celebrities, fresh off their holiday break. Amy watched her friend with the bright red hair whirl her head around as she threw down her bag in the corner, trying to find the source of the voice yelling her name.

"Amy!" she shouted, somewhat hoarsely, once her eyes landed on one of her very closest friends, jogging across the studio, arms wide open for a hug. She paused halfway across the floor to let out a hacking cough, straightening to continue running, a smile still on her face.

Amy took a wary step back, "Still sick?"

Dianne shook her head, "Just a little cough still lingering...flight did me no favors."

Amy nodded hesitantly, stepping forward to accept her Aussie friend's big bear hug, rocking back and forth as they both hummed with happiness to finally be reunited.

"How are you besides the cough?" Amy asked as she pulled back, noticing her friend looked a bit more tired than usual. "How was Oz? How are Mark and Rina? How's Joe?"

Dianne giggled at her friends barrage of questions, "I'm good! Well...jet lagged as hell, but good. It was a really, really nice trip. My parents are good...hanging in there, you know. And Joe is...well Joe is amazing, as usual."

Amy nodded, "I'm so glad he was with you. And I'm so sorry about your Pop."

Dianne features dropped before she quickly pasted on a smile, "Thanks Ames. I'm just glad we could spend Christmas with him."

Amy studied her friend. She looked tired. Obviously jet lagged, but there was also a little bit of stress in those big brown eyes of hers. It was something she knew Dianne always worked carefully to conceal - but after the many tours they'd been on together, Amy could always tell when something was bothering her.

"Are you okay? Really okay?" she questioned, her voice quiet so the surrounding pros wouldn't hear.

"Fine," Dianne tried to widen her fake smile, failing miserably as her eyes remained blank and exhausted.

As she turned away, Amy was met with a quick memory of the last time she'd seen the same expression on their first headlining tour...

~~~

"You good, Di?" Amy asked her friend  after sound check in the small theater in a rural town they'd be performing in that night.

It was the middle of their joint headlining tour, Here Come the Girls, and they'd been on the road for a month, with very few off days sprinkled in between. Everyone had been feeling the exhaustion begin to creep in, but were doing their best to combat it with mini naps while traveling between shows. Everyone, that is, except for Dianne, who on this particular trip, had been plugged into headphones the entire car journey , working to edit her next YouTube video. The winding rural roads had done nobody favors, but Dianne seemed to be affected the most, her face looking paler than normal as they'd finally exited the cars a few hours later. Now, following sound check, Amy noticed Dianne didn't look much better.

"Fine," Dianne replied in a tired voice. "Just a bit of a headache."

Amy exchanged a concerned look with Chloe, who had also been keeping an eye on their friend since arriving an hour ago, "Want some pain medication? Ben has some in his bag."

Dianne shook her head, "No, I'll be fine. I need to go finish that edit..."

Amy watched her turn and walk, a bit zombie-like, down the hall, disappearing into the dressing room. Shaking her head, she turned to Chloe, "We need to keep an eye on her. She's acting weird...not herself..."