Chapter One
It had been a mistake to let her have a chair with spinning capabilities. She had the attention span of a gnat under normal circumstances, but add something like a spinning chair to the mix? It was not a good combination. It had started innocently enough, just swaying back and forth gently in the chair, though that hadn't last long. Within minutes, it had turned into a full blown three hundred and sixty degree turn.
"Gracie! Are you listening to me?" Came a clipped question from the front of the room. A small pair of hands slapped the table, fingers gripping at the edge, as she attempted to stop herself.
Gracie DeWitt glanced up guiltily, pushing her brown hair behind her ears, trying to focus on Johnny long enough to give him an apologetic smile. It was way too hard to do so when there were three of him. She shook her head and pressed her hands against her eyes, trying to focus her vision.
"I uhh...I actually missed that last bit," she said, giving him a sheepish smile. Several snorts were heard from around the table, and a huge scowl quickly replaced the innocent smile she'd plastered on her face as a crimson blush crept onto her cheeks slowly. She slid down in her chair slowly, mildly embarrassed by getting caught.
Johnny let out an exasperated sigh, closing his eyes, and his hand going up to rub his forehead. He opened his eyes up and gave Gracie a look that clearly stated he was ready to get out of there, and that he didn't find her antics amusing at all. Seeing the disappointment on his face made her slouch down farther.
"I need you at 100% and right now, you're giving me less than half of that. We have a lot of stuff to cover, and I need you to pay attention to this. Otherwise, you're going to be the first one to come running to me tomorrow, wanting to know what was going on," he said, in a less than friendly tone. Gracie bit her bottom lip and looked up at him. She gave him a little nod and readjusted herself in the chair, opening her planner back up, trying to make amends by showing him that she was ready to pay attention.
Chris smirked when he saw the serious look on Gracie's face. She was his partner in crime, someone who was really on his level. He'd never seen her look so depressed in the year he'd known her! He reached over in front of Joey, smacking him playfully in the face as he grabbed a piece of paper that was being unused. He pulled it back to him, pulling the paper into his lap, crinkling it as quietly as possible. He kept his eyes on Johnny, making sure that the older man didn't stop speaking, and grinned when he succeeded in getting the paper into a tight little ball. He looked to Johnny once again, and waited until the older man turned his attention to another member of the crew, before Chris tossed the paper at Gracie, hitting her square in the jaw.
Her eyes widened as she looked down at the paper, and then they narrowed again as she looked up at Chris, pointing a finger at him in warning. She chunked the paper back at him.
"Gracie!" Johnny barked. "We just discussed this!" He said in an aggravated tone. "How many times do I have to ask you to pay attention to me in one sitting?" He shook his head. "You know, normally, I try not to get on you, but we're leaving tomorrow for a tour. This is it Gracie. I don't know what I have to do to make you see how serious this is, and how important it is for you to pay attention. Especially when this is your first tour as head costume mistress."
Gracie had been brought into the mix at the very end of the previous tour. She had been recommended to Johnny by Marina Dobson, the woman who for the last four years, had been the costume mistress for the group. She had informed Johnny that when her contract expired, she would not be renewing her contract for personal reasons. She'd recommended Gracie and had suggested that Johnny bring her onto the tour while she was still there, so that she could walk her through everything.
Johnny had been extremely hesitant to hire Gracie at first. She was so young, and he had been worried about how she would be able to handle the hectic life on the road. However, as many doubts as he had, Gracie had quickly showed him with her talent that she was quite capable of taking the job full time.
"Well," Johnny said with a sigh, "I think we've gone over everything that's necessary for tomorrow. I want you all here no later than 5:15 tomorrow morning," he said, looking pointedly at Gracie. She scowled at him, already annoyed enough with the way he'd singled her out during the meeting. She didn't appreciate the way that he was doing it now as well. "If no one has any questions or concerns about tomorrow, or about the tour in general, then I guess we're done for the day. Please don't forget to pick up a copy of the bus schedule and room assignments for the hotel," he said, waving a stack of papers in the air, before plopping them back onto the table. There was quite a bit of shuffling as everyone packed up their belongings and then headed out the door, the sound of crinkling paper filling her ears as everyone grabbed the necessary schedule.
"Hey Gracie?"
She looked up from her bag at the sound of the voice, glaring slightly when she saw Chris standing there.
"You got me in trouble today," she accused with a huff. As usual, she was one of the last to leave the room, as she liked to take her time. She stopped what she was doing and leaned back in the seat, her arms crossed over her chest, a slight pout on her lips. Chris gave her a small smile.
"I can make it up to you though," he said with an impish grin. He grabbed her chair, rolling it around a little. "There's this great little incline in a hallway upstairs that we can test this baby on," he said, a mischievous glint in his eye.
~*~
Gracie pulled into the parking lot of Jive Records at 5:35, twenty minutes later than she was supposed to. She had just ten minutes to check in with Johnny and get her things loaded. She threw her car into park, cringing when her transmission groaned in protest. She jumped out of the car, slamming the door as she hurried around to the back to throw the back hatch open as she struggled to reach her bags. With a groan, she stepped up onto the back bumper of her old Ford Explorer and leaned over the back, trying to reach her things. She squealed and nearly fell when she felt a pair of hands grab her sides.
"Christopher, I'm going to kill you," Gracie threatened, not even bothering to look at the offender.
"Nope, try again," a voice said. Gracie's eyes widened as she glanced over her shoulder at JC, who was grinning at her. She blushed a little but gave him a small smile.
"Sorry, I thought you were Chris," she said sheepishly, turning her attention back to her belongings.
"I think I should be offended," was the dry response. "How about you hop down off of there and go let Johnny know you're here before he has a heart attack?" JC suggested. "I'll grab the bags for you," he offered with a smile. She returned the smile as she stepped down.
"Thank you SO much!" She said with a smile, as she hurried over to where Johnny was, his arms crossed over his chest. It was obvious that he was not pleased with her. Several times, Johnny had been tempted to fire her on the spot. She was never on time, and she definitely had an attention problem. The only thing that had saved her job thus far as the fact that she was damned good at what she did, and she was a good person.
"What time did I specify yesterday, Gracie? What time did I tell everyone to be here?" He asked, looking down at her. Normally, he was much more laid back, and she got away with only a brief scolding. She didn't think she'd be so lucky this time.
"I know Johnny, but it's not my fau--"
"Save it. It's never your fault, Gracie! Look, you know I like you. You know that I love having you on this crew, but if you don't straighten up, I'm not sure how much longer you'll last."
All of the color drained from Gracie's face. She knew that part of his attitude came from being so stressed out about the tour, but the threat scared her.
"I'm sorry," she said in almost a whisper.
"Get on your bus. We're running late enough as it is," he said coldly. With her head lowered, Gracie walked back to the third bus, the one that she'd be on.
"Hey, everything okay?" JC asked, looking at her. She just shrugged.
"Thank you for your help," she said softly, lifting her eyes to look at him. "I appreciate it," she said, giving him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her small waist and held her against his chest in a hug for a few seconds, before he released her.
"Well, I guess I'll see you in a few hours," he said with a small grin. They had an 18 hour trip in front of them, traveling from Florida up to DC, though they made several stops along the way. Gracie nodded and gave him a weak smile before she turned her back and walked up the steps to the bus. She was not in a very good mood at all now.
~*~
Several Hours Later...
JC trudged slowly to the back of the bus, trying to escape Chris. He'd been dealing with the ridiculously hyper man for the last two hours, and he had decided that he needed a break to possibly get some sleep. He climbed onto his bunk and then pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, dialing a familiar number.
"Hello?"
"Hi baby," he cooed in response, a ridiculously goofy grin on his face at the sleepy greeting he'd received. He knew it was pretty early still, but he figured she wouldn't mind talking to him. He needed her, even if it was just her voice.
On the other end of the line, Andrea Dowdy groaned inwardly. She pushed her short blonde hair out of her face and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she rolled over onto her belly on the bed. She glanced over at the clock with a sigh.
"Hey Josh...where are you guys at?" She questioned, though she didn't really care to hear the answer. She still couldn't believe he'd called her so early, though a quick glance at the clock revealed to her that it wasn't that early. She gave a semi annoyed sigh as she brought her hand up to rub her sleepy face.
"We're still on the bus," was the reply.
"I thought I told you to call me when you got to Baltimore."
"Andrea...we're going to DC, not Baltimore."
Once again, she rolled her eyes. What did it matter to her where they were going?
"Which reminds me," he said with a weary sigh, "I know we've discussed it before, but I was really hoping you'd reconsider and fly up here."
She bit her lip. She really wouldn't mind getting out of Florida. She'd originally told him no because she knew she wouldn't be able to take 18 hours on the bus with the others. She had a severe problem with the other members of the band, especially Chris. She could hide her displeasure for only so long, but she knew 18 hours would be testing it. However, since she'd be flying out...
"If you make all the arrangements--"
"Seriously? You'll fly up here?" The goofy smile on his face was evident through the phone line. She almost rolled her eyes at the thought of it.
"If you set everything up, yes I'll fly up there and meet you for your first show," she agreed, rolling over onto her back.
"Oh thank you so much, Drea! You won't regret it! I promise!"
"We'll see about that," she thought as she said her goodbyes, and pulled the covers up, willing sleep to take over once more.
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