Trouvaille

Chapter 3

Meeting Sierra, Luke, Michael and Crystal, was very nerve wracking, strangely. Nikki would have thought that she'd have been more awkward around Calum, considering she'd read and written smut about him, but talking to Calum was easy. Ashton was with his family, but the rest of the band was there, and they were pretty fun- even though they seemed a little drunk. She was used to drunk people, though.

When she and Calum walked into the house, they were sitting around the kitchen counter, talking about something. They had been very welcoming, Crystal pulling up a chair and pouring her some juice. They hadn't been very questioning about her, which she appreciated- if there was one thing she hated, it was having to answer questions about herself. Which was a pretty weird thing for an actress to hate.

SOon, they had moved from the kitchen to some other room, where they were now lounging on some really comfortable couches. Luke and Sierra were sprawled on the floor, and Michael and Crystal were cuddling on the couch opposite, Moose and Southy with them. Calum had sat down on a couch, and Nikki had sat down on the other end of the sofa, head on the armrest and legs tucked up underneath her.

Nikki was warm and comfortable, and getting really sleepy listening to the others talk about something new they were working on, and about somebody that they used to know. She had just closed her eyes when Crystal asked her if she had work the next day.

Nikki had to think about it- her brain seemed to have stopped working. 'Umm, no? I don't think so, I hope not.' Tom was working on a new movie, so their shooting schedule had been planned around that, which meant she got some breaks, but which also made it harder to figure out which day she had work.

'You're sleepy,' Calum said, poking her leg with his.

'Mmm hmm,' Nikki agreed, stretching her legs out. Her phone buzzed once under her, then again before erupting into her loud alarm tone. She dug it from under her, and looked at the phone- it was telling her that she was due at set in half an hour for makeup. She hadn't realized it was 6 am already, and she had clearly forgotten that she had work today.

'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,' she jumped off the sofa, running her hands through her hair, frustrated. It would take her at least 45 minutes to get to set, and she was still wearing her clothes from the night before.

'What's wrong?' Calum asked, looking up at her with droopy eyes.

'I DO have work today,' she exclaimed, 'I have to be on set in half an hour! Oh crap, I gotta go.'

NIkki grabbed her bag, and brought up the Uber App on her phone, when Calum dragged himself up from the couch and told her that he'd drop her. She resisted, telling him he was too sleepy to drive her there, but he said that he had to go home anyway to Duke, and so he'd drop her. 'Don't waste time waiting for an Uber. I'll drop you. Let me get my keys.'

Luke, Sierra and MIke were already asleep, and Crystal bid them a sleepy goodbye as they climbed into Calum's car and left.

'How long do your shoots go on for?' Calum asked, stifling a yawn.

'I think it's a long day today,' Nikki said, 'we're behind schedule because of Marvel moving up the schedule for Tom's new movie.'

'Oh,' Calum said, 'Is it fun? I've always watched the bloopers of these shows and it always seems like so much fun.'

'Working on the show is amazing,' Nikki smiled, 'It's real fun if you like who you're working with, but a nightmare if you don't, but I guess you'd know that as well.' She leaned over to poke him in the arm.

'Yeah,' Calum said, 'It is. Working with other bands has really shown me how blessed I am to work with my brothers.'

'Yeah,' Nikki said, leaning her head against the window, 'I love Tom and Zoe.'