A Cherry Sunset

Somehow, I got talked into actually changing my hair. I was terrified at first but after one of December’s pep talks, I was ready. It was cut above my shoulders now and my bangs were feathered a bit more. Tom had left us for a brief moment and December had also used that to her advantage to talk me into the dye job. So not only was I missing most of my hair, but the remainder of it was a bright red color.

It was different but I sort of liked it. December gushed about how hot it looked and Tom agreed with her in a more polite way. I was anxious to see Oliver’s reaction so it really wasn’t a surprise that after Tom dropped me off I practically ran into Oliver’s flat.

I bit my lip once I stepped inside and slipped my shoes off by the door. “Oli?” I shouted with a little anticipation and let my eyes search over the apartment.

“Yeh alrigh’ Em?” Oliver’s voice came from the couch before he sat up and turned toward me. His eyes widened a bit as his mouth fell open. I smiled and took a few timid steps toward him and the couch. He slowly recovered from the shock and started to smile back at me as he stood up. “Dee got a’old of yeh, eh?” He chuckled and I dropped my head a bit so my bangs covered my eyes.

“I know it’s a bit extreme. Normally I wouldn’t do anything like this on my own. It’s all Tom’s fault honestly. He left me with Dee and the hair stylist so that he could go use the loo and I just kind of got talked into—,” my words stopped as he cupped my face, tilting it back some so he could softly press his lips against mine. It was a soft simple kiss that still managed to take my breath away when he pulled back and rested his forehead on mine.

“Yeh look beautiful, Em, no matteh wha’ coleh yeh ‘air is.” He grinned and ran his up through my short hair. “’S real soft teh.” I giggled and leaned up to kiss him again. It was a little deeper this time since his fingers were still playing in my hair and I was clutching his sides to keep my balance. He pulled back first again and brushed his lips against mine playfully. “Yeh simpleh amazin’.”

My insides squirmed as I giggled again, harder this time though. “I’m glad you think so.” I smirked as I put my arms around his waist and hugged him to me. “Cause I think you’re kind of fantastic.”

He laughed and hugged me back tight. “Come lay with meh.” He rubbed my back before grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the couch.

“Only if you say please.” I teased as he gave me a look over his shoulder. He stretched out on the couch, like he was before, and tugged on my hand until I kind of fell on top of him. He smirked as he situated us so that I was partially lying on his chest and partially squeezing my butt in between the back of the couch and his body. He kept an arm around me and rested his hand on my back while I placed my hand under my head on his chest.

It was a marvelous moment. We didn’t get alone time like this when we were on tour. There was always someone around and there was hardly any space on tour. But in Oliver’s flat, we could just enjoy our company and relax. It was so nice. And then my phone started ringing.

I groaned at first and so did Oliver before I slowly started to get up. Oliver protested for a moment before he let me go. I wiped at my eyes, pushing the sleep that had slowly been taking over away, and shuffled my feet toward the bed. My phone was in my bag that was still beside the bed, where Oliver had first dropped it. I groaned again once I saw it was my bosses name across the caller I.D.

“Hello?” I ran my hand through my hair out of habit and pulled on one of the longer pieces.

“Hi Emily. It’s Mark Harmon. Do you have a moment?”

“Of course, Mr. Harmon. What can I do for you? Was there a problem with Victoria and I’s books?” I furrowed my eyebrows and glanced over at Oliver. He was still lying down, eyes staring at the television and a few pieces of hair falling in his eyes.

“Oh, no. All of your work was perfect, as always Emily. In fact, that’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

“It is?” Now I was more confused.

“You’re the best of the best, Emily, and I have a proposition for you.”

My stomach turned uneasily. “Okay. What’s the proposition?” Oliver glanced over at me with his eyebrows raised and I just shrugged at him.

“Well, I know we just sent you on your break, but there’s been a sort of an emergency.” Now it made a little more sense. “We have a new employee out on tour currently, and the person that was supposed to be mentoring her and teaching her the ropes just quit. There’s only about one and a half weeks left of the tour, but we really need someone to go out there and make sure the newbie knows what she’s doing. And since you are the best, we were really hoping you would fly out and join the tour for these last two weeks. There will be a bonus offered, and you’ll be given extra time off afterward. We really need you on this one, Emily.”

I frowned as my head swirled. It was a little too much. “Um, can I – can I think about it, Mr. Harmon?” I closed my eyes and bit my bottom lip.

“Sure, sure. That’s understandable, but Emily, we do need an answer soon. We need someone out there within a day or two.”

“Okay.” I exhaled and opened my eyes. “I’ll get back to you soon, Mr. Harmon. Thank you for letting me know.”

“Certainly, Emily. You have a wonderful afternoon.” I almost snorted at the thought as I hung up and tossed my phone back down to my bag. My hands went to my hair again as I tried to focus.

“Emileh?” I nearly jumped out of my skin as I snapped my eyes to Oliver. He was sitting up, his arm slung over the back of the couch, and his hair was sticking up in the back. He was just precious. Looking at him eased the tension in my chest.

“Hmm?” I started toward the couch again and sighed once I was sitting at his feet.

He sat forward and arched his eyebrows. “Who was tha’?”

“My boss.” I bit my bottom lip.

Oliver smiled a bit. “An’ yeh boss called fer …” He trailed off and waited for me to finish.

I glanced at those charming hazel eyes and then I just kind of blurted it all out. “He wants me to go back on tour, early. Apparently this girl was teaching a new kid and then up and quit and now the new kid is dragging the tour down. He wants me to fly out and finish mentoring for the last few weeks of tour.” I bit my bottom lip again after I finished. I was starting to put everything into perspective. I didn’t even want to leave Oliver to go home, let alone to go back to work. I should have just said no before I hung up.

“When do yeh ‘ave teh leave?” He questioned as his small smile fell into a slight frown.

“I don’t want to leave.” I mumbled and glanced at him again. Oliver sighed.

“’S yeh job, Emileh. Don’t not go ‘cause of meh.”

“It would actually be like me doing my job a favor.” I corrected him and he rolled his eyes before reaching for my sides. He pulled me closer and stared into my eyes.

“If yeh were still ‘ome, would yeh go?” I scrunched up my nose and he chuckled softly. “Course yeh would. ‘S yeh job an’ yeh real good at it. ‘S okay if yeh want teh go on tour, Emileh.” I wanted to tell him how much I didn’t want to go, but my mouth just didn’t seem to want to work. “We can work through it, jus’ like we were ‘fore.”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t want to leave you.”

He rested his forehead against the side of my head and sighed again. “I don’t want yeh teh leave, eitheh, Em, but maybeh yeh ‘ave teh. ‘S yeh choice, an’ yeh know eitheh way,” he paused. “Eitheh way, it’ll be okay, Emmeh.”

We stayed like that for a bit, just being quiet. His arms were still loosely around my waist and I couldn’t really imagine myself somewhere else. I thought about how much I missed him while I was in California. Leaving now would be like that all over again. But then, I would have to leave eventually. This just had me leaving a little sooner than expected, which maybe was a good idea.

“Hey Oli?” I pulled away from him a bit so that I could see those warm hazel eyes. “You think after tour I could come back here again?” I asked hopefully and he grinned before kissing me again. I was giggling when we pulled apart.

“Yeh betteh bring yeh arse back.”