Daylight

Pet’s POV

“Jay-sus!” Joe hissed, rolling off me and landing neatly on the floor. “Is that…is that who I think it is?” he demanded.
“Shit,” I swore, “what the hell? How would anyone even know we’re here?”
Joe had turned on the light, blinding us both temporarily. However, I could see he looked faintly guilty. “Tom knew,” he admitted.
“Shit!” I said again. “Remind me to silence that brother of yours when we get back.”
“After I’m done with him, you mean,” Joe remarked.
The pounding on the door grew even louder.
“C’mon, you guys, iss not funny, lemme in, I wanna party too!” Sal yelled.
I grabbed my robe and stalked to the door, unlocking it and pulling it open forcefully. Sal almost fell into the room; she’d been sitting with her back against the door. She lay on the floor and looked up at me.
“Hey, dude, how’s it going?” she asked.
I just shook my head. A few seconds later, the elevator doors opened, and there stood Tia and Mo.
“Jesus, Sal, there you are!” Mo shrieked, getting to her knees and pulling Sal back up into a sitting position. I noticed that all three of them were in their pajamas.
“What the hell are you all doing here?” Joe asked angrily, startling my bandmates.
“Shit, Joe, didn’t see ya there,” Mo said. “Tom told us about this place, and we figured since tomorrow’s a night off, we’d come here too.” She nodded at Tia, who seemed to be trying to disappear.
“That doesn’t tell me how Sal found our door at this time of night,” I hissed.
Mo flushed a little and laughed weakly. “My bad, I left her alone for a few minutes and she fucking drank everything in the minibar.” She rounded on Sal, who looked like she would nod off any minute now. “You asshole—we have to pay for all that shit now! And you didn’t even fucking leave anything for me!”
A door creaked open across the hall. “We better get inside, before hotel security shows up and tosses us out on our asses,” Joe stage-whispered. “Come on, ladies.”

Sal suddenly made a dash for the bathroom—and made it just in time, by the disgusting sounds coming from behind the door.
Joe shook his head again, and I fell over onto the bed, rolling onto my side and closing my eyes.
The bed sagged next to me, and I opened my eyes to see Tia’s pajamas next to my head.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
I shrugged but said nothing.
She leaned closer to me. “You asleep?”
“No.”
“We didn’t want to barge in like this,” Tia persisted.
I groaned. “Obviously, Sal was out of school the day they taught manners. Especially the part about not barfing in someone else’s bathroom late at night.”
“Yeah, and definitely the part about not drinking everything in the minibar,” Tia giggled.
I sat up abruptly. “You know, that’d be funny if it wasn’t true,” I hissed.
She lowered her voice. “Are you upset because we disturbed you, or because she made herself sick drinking?”
I sighed. “A little of each, actually,” I admitted. “This whole situation sucks.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied. “And I should tell you—you look totally hot in that nightgown.”
“And that’s not a creepy thing for you to say to me, is it?” I asked Tia, rolling my eyes.
Tia was immediately embarrassed. “Shit, I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I nodded over at Joe, who was now helping a groaning Sal lie on the other bed, and lowered my voice. “It’s okay,” I muttered. “He thought so too.”
Tia stood up. “Mo, let’s get her outta here,” she announced. “She can do the rest of her puking in your bathroom.”
Mo shrugged. “Works for me. It’s not the ideal situation, but,” she nodded at Sal, “it never is. C’mon, Sal, let’s get you into the nice, slow elevator and carry you ever so gently upstairs.”
“I’ll help you,” Joe offered. “Let me get me shirt on, and I’ll be right there.”
Tia’s phone chimed; she’d received a text. Three guesses as to who it was from. She texted back quickly, and then said to everyone else that she’d stay with me while Joe went up with Mo and Sal.

Once Joe and the girls were gone, I turned back to Tia. “Why does she keep doing that shit?”
“No idea. She’s fucking herself up for no good reason.”
I got up and started pacing. “Goddamn, she’s gonna take us with her. This shit’s gotta stop.”
Our drummer shook her head. “You know how Sal is: she never thinks she has a problem. Everything’s fine, you know? Except when it’s not.”
“What are we gonna do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Tell Shoshi?”
“She must have some idea,” I mused. “But I hate to throw this shit at her when she’s so close to leaving, you know? I don’t wanna stress her out any more, she has to rest for the baby.”
“Maybe we can just babysit Sal?” Tia suggested. “Have the Madmen help us?”
I sighed and flopped back on the bed. “I don’t know, I can’t think any more tonight.”

In a few minutes, Joe came back alone.
“Thanks, Tia, for keepin’ Pet company,” he said softly.
“No problem,” she said, waving her hand. “See you guys in the morning, huh?”
We said a half-hearted goodnight and got back into bed once we’d locked the door again.
Joe put out the light and held me close. “Pet, I’m sorry about tonight,” he whispered.
“You’re sorry?” I asked in amazement. “What did you do that messed things up, exactly? Cos I seem to remember Sal drunk at our door.”
He sighed. “Luv, gettin’ angry ain’t gonna change things,” he reminded me.
I tried for a deep cleansing breath, but I was still too mad. “Yeah, I know that in my head, but I can’t make the rest of me believe it.”
He kissed me. “We can still make a night of it, if you’re willin’,” he offered, then yawned.
Once I got a look at the clock, I saw how very little of the night was left. “No, that’s okay,” I murmured. “No use in wearing ourselves out; we have a long drive tomorrow.”
“Well, just remember,” he yawned again, “I love you.”

That was the only thing he could’ve said that would make me feel better—and it did.
“I love you too,” I answered, and fell asleep soon after.