When All Else Fails

“What. A. Man. Whore.” Taylor muttered as we watch the band’s lead singer check out all the girls, flirting with them with no shame at all. The other guys seemed indifferent about it though, like it’s something that happens every day. It probably does.

I heard Taylor scoff beside me. “And I can’t believe he actually got laid last night! Maybe it’s just some slut he met at a club. She probably has STD.” My jaw mentally fell to the floor, her words cutting through me. I opened my mouth to somehow defend the “slut”, but I decided not to say anything anymore.

She takes her time with the little scenes
Love notes reminding me
She wears red when she’s feeling hot
I have her but it’s all I got

She looks best without her clothes
I know a song it’s the way it goes
I don’t know what she sees in me
But I’m happy that she’s happy

“Jesus, those lyrics.” She commented once again with a shake of her head. I nodded my head in agreement, but I have to admit that his voice was really great. It was mesmerizing; his voice gets definitely sexier when he sings. Especially last night when… “What?” Taylor and I said in unison. John was now practically making out with a mannequin. A fucking mannequin!

I watched his every move, as he expertly moved his tongue on that mannequin’s face. I felt my face get hot as it reminded me of last night. When that tongue was on me. I shook my head at the thought. “I’m going to the bathroom.” I told Taylor before heading out of the set.

I grabbed my bag and walked out of the set in a very fast, awkward phase and I quickly found my way to the bathroom. “Fucking hell,” I sighed. I fixed my makeup and hair, since I looked like a total wreck. I thought of ways to kill time that doesn’t involve going back to the set. Coffee, I thought. I’m gonna get some coffee.

So that’s what I did. I headed out to Starbucks, texting Taylor if she or the guys wanted any. I walked, since it was only a few blocks away and I had time to kill. As I made my way there, I couldn’t help but think about my lingering attraction to John. I couldn’t tell if I was emotionally attracted, but god damn it was I attracted.

A few minutes later, I received a reply from Taylor listing off their orders. Only her and Pat wanted coffee though. When I finally got there, I mentally cursed since there wasn’t a line at all. I went up to the counter and recited my order, and it proceeded pretty quickly. In less than 3 minutes, I had 2 Peppermint Mochas, a Java Chip Frappuccino and a donut in hand.

I entered the building once again, expecting to see Taylor waiting for me at the lobby. She texted me that she’ll be waiting for me there since she’s gonna give me a ride home. When I reached the lobby, I couldn’t find a single strand of red hair that would only belong to Taylor.

Against my better judgment to stay there and wait for her, I aimlessly walked down the hallway in hopes of somehow bumping into her. I was kinda spaced out when I heard boisterous laughter in the dressing room. I didn’t know whose dressing room it was, but whatever.

I nervously entered the room, expecting to see complete strangers with judging eyes once I set foot in their dressing room. But luckily, what I found was my brother and some of the guys. “Ands!” Pat greeted. “There’s my coffee.” He said excitedly, taking the cup from me. “Sorry for uh, taking so long.”

He smiled at me and shook his head after taking a long sip. “Nah, I don’t mind. It’s Taylor you should be apologizing to. She sure needed her caffeine, complaining about how bored she was since the moment we got off set.”

“Oh, where is she?”

“Just down the hall. Third door to the right, I think.” I sighed in relief that someone knew where she was. “Okay, thanks!”

I made my way down the hall, casually taking sips from my drink. I immediately turned the knob once I reached the third door to the right. I quickly regretted my actions the moment I saw a very half naked John O’Callaghan intensely making out with one of our models. I could almost see his tongue down her throat. Ugh.

They both jumped from the creak the door made. I felt really awkward, holding my cup in hand as they both stared at me. I bit my lip and moved from my frozen posture. “I guess I should, uh… go.” I said, pursing my lips. John opened his mouth to speak and the girl just stood there, unsure with what to do. “No! Wait, don’t. Uhm, Taylor was waiting for you here. She just gotta go to the bathroom.”

“Stay here and watch you two play tonsil hockey?” I smiled tightly. “No thank you.”

I tuned on my heel, desperate to get out of the room when I bumped into someone. Literally. “There you are!” Taylor said to me. I took steps back to let her in the room. She dropped her stuff and picked up her coat. She looked at me apologetically. “Can you wait for me in a while? I just need to do something quick.”

I was hesitant at first, but judging by her looks she wasn’t gonna take no for an answer. “Okay, sure. Here’s your coffee.” I extended my hand to give her the cup and she muttered a thank you.

“Al, come with me. I kept on texting you 20 minutes ago!” Taylor exclaimed. Well, Al here was too busy with John’s tongue down her throat to respond to your text. I thought.

Al nodded quickly. She threw a half smile at John before following Tay’s steps. I listened to the door close shut and distant footsteps from both of them. I toyed with my bag strap, not knowing how to escape the awkward tension that hung thick in the air. But thanks to John’s ridiculously huge ego, it was soon gone. “Like what you see?” He stated cockily. My eyes darted up to his face, realizing that I was basically staring at his fully exposed torso.

“Wipe that smirk off your face.” Was all I could spit out because before I knew it, awkward tension was replaced with sexual tension. “And put on some god damn clothes.”

He only shook his head at me, and I rolled my eyes in return. “What’s up?”

“You don’t have to talk to me, you know. You can just ignore me and continue doing what you usually do… which I think is being cocky and arrogant so looks like I’m not gonna get some peace.”

“You and I both know that you love it.”

I scoffed. “See? There. You’re so full of yourself.”

“I’m not! I’m just stating words you said last night. How much you loved my co-“

“I said cocky.” I interrupted him, not wanting to hear all of what he was saying. “Stop flattering yourself.”

John nodded his head, failing to keep that smirk off his face.”So…” He rubbed his hands together then moved from where he was standing to sit on the couch. “What do you think of our band?”

I raised a brow, surprised he actually thought of something to talk about that doesn’t involve anything sexual. “Well, I honestly think you guys can play.” I said. “And I didn’t expect you to be good at singing.” I regret adding that to my statement because once those words were out of my mouth, we were back at square one.

“That’s not the only thing I’m good at.” He said suggestively. “Yeah, I can see you’re also good at flirting with girls and talking about your penis. So you can you just please stop for one second?” I shot at him. Luckily, before he could say another word, the door opened and there was Tay with her head peeked in. “Come on Ands.” I heaved a thankful sigh before heading towards the door. “Thanks for keeping her company, John.”
He smiled sweetly at Taylor before looking at me. “No, thank you.”

We quickly headed out and got in Taylor’s car. “So, what happened there?” She asked. “Ugh.” I rolled my eyes. “He’s so annoying and just full of himself. I don’t even know how I survived being in a room alone with him. Why would you do that to me? Leave me there and just… ugh.” I ranted. Taylor laughed at me. “He’s really that bad? Damn, I thought he was attractive. But cocky’s not my type.”

I snickered. “Yeah sure, and what’s your type? Oh yeah, Garrett.” I saw her cheeks turn to a slight shade of pink before shaking her head, brushing it off like she didn’t know a thing about what I was talking about. “Well speaking of Garrett, I almost forgot that he and his band mates invited me to a party at their place tomorrow night. And they, John in specific, told me to bring you along with me.”

“And he told me not to tell you he said that. That one I forgot.” She giggled. I felt my cheeks burn and my heart beat a little bit faster at what she said. But I decided to ignore it. “Oh, so do you wanna go?”

“Why not? We sure could use some new friends.”

“And some alcohol.”