Today my life Begins

Chapter 20

Kiana lifted the pile of neatly folded clothes and placed them into the larger of the 2 suitcases laying on the bed. She tucked in her personal items and closed the lid, then zipping up both of them yelled for Bruno to come give her a hand. Bruno carried the cases down and stood them by the door. "You got everything you need sweetie?" he asked as he lifted the 1st case and carried it to the car. Kiana stood in the middle of the lounge eyes closed thinking, did she put her hair straighteners in....check. Now flight tickets, hotel confirmations, and the numerous files were all shoved into her over-sized bag. She picked up her hand-bag and slung the large bag over her shoulder, then grabbing her phone and laptop case headed out the door. Bruno waited patiently in the car drumming his fingers on the steering wheel to some random tune playing on the radio. Kiana slid into the passenger side and breathed a sigh. "You ready babe, you're sure you've got everything?" he asked as he started up the car. Kiana checked her bag once more "Yep it's all here, right let's go". Bruno pulled out of their drive and headed for the highway towards the airport.

Bruno chucked his keys on the counter and grabbed a beer from the fridge, kicking off his shoes he headed outside. Getting comfy on one of the lounge chairs he lit up a cigarette and taking a long drag blew out the smoke. He was missing her already and she'd only been gone 2 hours, he took another swig of beer and went to get a refill. Bruno spent much of the day sitting by the pool, it was late May and the days were warming up. He spent some of the day finishing a few tunes via his laptop, then had himself a flick through both his Twitter and IG accounts, laughing at some of the remarks his fans posted.

He felt a bit chilly, when he realised he'd fallen asleep and it was starting to dusk in. Glancing at his watch he saw it was 7.15pm, he made his way inside after having another smoke. As he rounded the corner into the lounge his phone vibrated in his back pocket. Pulling it from his pocket he saw Kiana's photo, sliding his finger over the screen he held it to his ear. "Hey baby you arrived safely" he asked her. "Yeah we actually got to the hotel a couple of hours ago, but I needed food and I've had a quick shower... and then I called you....to hear your sexy voice" she giggled through the phone. Bruno chuckled "So when does all the mayhem start then?" he knew she'd be busy over the next few days and probably wouldn't get many chances to talk to him. "It all starts tomorrow so I'm gonna get a good nights sleep and then bring it on... I'm ready". She puffed her cheeks out letting a huge sigh out, she knew she was gonna be run off her feet too, but she was kind of looking forward to it.. New York Fashion Week was always manic but so good. She would get to meet some very influential people this week and hopefully some very famous ones too.

The two of them chatted for a while each telling the other their plans for the next day. "So babe you're gonna be flying to Hawaii on the 7th June that's right yeah?". Bruno had made arrangements to fly to Hawaii and see his family before he set off on his tour. He'd be flying out on the 6th June and Kiana would follow on the 7th. They were going to spend maybe 10 days there before flying back to LA and pack up to start the tour. Kiana thought for a moment "Yeah that's right I'll meet you there on the 7th, don't you forget to pick me up at the airport babe". " I promise I'll be there what time's your flight due in?". Kiana thought for a minute "It's due at 2.30pm Hawaii time, er wait... um, no that's right it's definitely 2.30". Bruno shook his head forgetting she couldn't see him "Damn time zones I never remember them", after they chatted a while longer they said they're goodbyes and hung up.

The next couple of days Bruno spent in rehearsals, they weren't rehearsing as such just finalising the moves and changes. "I can't wait for these next couple of weeks" Kam half whispered to Duggy standing to his right as they finished going through Runaway Baby once more. Duggy laughed "Yeah my damned legs feel as though they gonna drop off, all these fucking dance moves". Bruno held his arm up "That's it men and we done, and I couldn't be fucking happier" he laughed. They all whooped and cheered they were off for the next couple of weeks till the tour kicked off. Eric walked over to Bruno and placed a hand on his shoulder " Everything's gonna be cool lil bro" he patted Bruno's shoulder reassuring him, he knew Bruno was still worrying about everything. Bruno smiled at his older brother " I can't wait to get fucking home bro, you know see mom and the fam" he chuckled. Eric nodded he couldn't wait either, the thoughts of just total relaxation before the chaos of life on the road hit them like a 2 ton truck.

Bruno had his third cup of coffee, along with some food Kiana had prepared and frozen before she left. He was flicking through the TV channels trying to find something decent to watch, he yawned again realising he was beyond tired he decided it was time to hit the hay. He crawled into bed the soft mattress and pillows cushioning his aching body, he contemplated calling Kiana but thought how late it would be there, he wrestled with idea for a few more minutes before finally putting his phone on the nightstand and flicking off the lamp.

"Jesus what the fuck" he said aloud as his phone rang out a familiar ring tone. Grabbing it from it's position on the nightstand he swiped the screen. "You better have a fucking good reason for ringing me at.... wait what the fuck is the time, Fuck me Tahiti it's fucking 3am what the fuck". He would have continued with his rant if Tahiti hadn't shouted at him through the phone "BRUNO SHUT UP, JUST SHUT UP AND LISTEN" she yelled. Bruno pulled the phone from his ear and was about to complain she'd almost deafened him, when he noticed her crying through the phone. "Tahiti what's up sis talk to me". Tahiti was sobbing uncontrollably on the other end but between sobs Bruno heard "It's mom Bruno..... it's mom .... she's.... she's had a ....she's had a heart attack.... she's in the hospital...Bruno you gotta come now". Bruno stared at his phone unable to comprehend what she had just said. "Bruno you there" she asked. Bruno came back to reality "Yeah T I'm here I'm on my way, does Eric know?". "Yeah Tiara called him he's coming too, B I'm gonna go I need to be with her OK". "Yeah OK I'm coming T I'm coming don't worry sweetie, it'll be OK". In reality he had no idea if it was gonna be OK.

Bruno ran around the bedroom like a tornado shoving on pants and a shirt, he pulled a beanie over his unruly curls shoved some toiletries, underwear and a couple of t shirts in a small holdall and grabbing his jacket, phone and keys left for LAX. As he pulled up to the VIP area he saw Eric, Cindiah and Liam getting out of their car he ran over. "Hey guys we got the jet I couldn't wait for a commercial flight I wanna get there ASAP", he stated as he hugged Cindia and kissed Liams little cheek. Eric carried the suitcase Cindia had packed while he had spoken to Tiara. "You got no luggage lil bro?" Eric asked as he handed the case to the security man to load up. Noticing Bruno was visibly shaking as he passed his hold-all to the man. Bruno shook his head " Nah no time to pack I just wanna get there". Cindia touched Bruno's shoulder " You ok" she asked him. Turning to her Bruno just shook his head afraid that if he tried to speak he'd break. They boarded the small jet and fastened in, soon they were up in the air on their way to their mothers bedside. Bruno's mind wandered back thinking of how his mother had encouraged him to follow his dream. All the times she'd secretly sent him money, when he was struggling to pay rent. The times she'd squeeze his shoulder and whisper in his ear "You're gonna make it big some day". His fingers slid over the heart tattoo with her name on it, thinking how she'd gone nuts about him getting another tattoo. How when he showed her it she smiled like crazy and gently ran her fingers over it, much like he was doing right now. How she'd kissed his cheek and told him it was beautiful just like him. Bruno swallowed hard, keeping his emotions in check. He closed his eyes and laying his head back against the soft leather seat began reciting a little prayer in his head, asking God to keep his meme safe.