So Fragile Yet So Devious

It was two months later before she could fly out to see him but they kept in touch via text, email, and nightly phone calls. All of which added to Jim’s mounting suspicions which Corey continued to deny.

“Hey. I’m not gonna make the fan club signing today.” Corey told them casually and rather suddenly.

“What? Why not?” Josh demanded to know.

“I’m picking Alex up from the airport…..’

“Who’s Alex?”

“Mick’s sister.” Jim said answering for him.

“Yeah,” He nodded. “I was just about to leave to go get her.”

“How long she staying?”

“Couple of days. Not long. She’s got classes next week.” He explained then checked the time. “I really really gotta go. I’ll be back later.”

He stood around in the airport terminal anxiously scanning the faces of the passengers as they filed past him trying to find her. He finally spotted her grabbing her luggage of the carousel and smiled to himself. When she looked up and waved at him, he ran over to her.

“Here. I got those for ya.” He said scooping her suitcase out of her hands. “I’m excited for you to see the show.”

“You have no idea how bad I needed this weekend away.”

He tossed her bags into the back of the rental car and they took off. The guys were still doing the meet and greet when they got to the venue so he figured he’d show her around and show her all their gear.

“This is so cool.” She gushed and hooked her arm with his. “I can’t believe I’m just now getting to see all this.”

He laughed and then tried to show her his guitars when some fans, who’d just left the meet and greet spotted him. There were only a handful of them so he stopped to sign some autographs and take a few pictures. Being both understanding and proud of her friend, Alex stepped back to give them all some room. Unbeknownst to her, Roy was approaching at a quick pace and he nearly knocked her over when she backed up into him.

“Shit. Sorry.” He said grabbing her arm to help her regain her balance.

“Oh, it’s cool. I shoulda been watching what I was doing.”

He looked up at Corey as he talked to the group of fans and nudged, “I knew they’d catch him somehow. He can’t get out of a meet and greet that easy.”

“It’s kind of bizarre.” She admitted. “I’ve never seen him with his fans or anything before. He really cares a lot about them, doesn’t he?”

He nodded and somewhat joked, “He’d probably do anything for them. But shhhh, don’t let them know that.” She chuckled a little and the drummer found himself lost her in her smile. “So, uhh, you must be Alex?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess I am.” She smirked but still kept her eyes locked on her best friend.

“He mention anything to you about the party tonight after the show?”

“Hmmm.” She thought for a second. “No, he hasn’t actually.”

“Oh, well you should see if he’ll bring you. It’s gonna be a blast.” He smiled friendly. “Hey, I gotta go get ready but I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah, I’ll be here.” She waved.

“So, I guess you met Roy.” He said suddenly. He’d managed to break away from the fans to rejoin her. Actually, he’d seen Roy talking to her and pulled himself away.

“Oh, yeah, He seems pretty nice.”

“Yeah, he’s ok for a drummer.” He winked. “So, What’d you two talk about?”

“Oh, he just about plowed me over.” She chuckled. “He said something about a party tonight?”

“Oh, yeah, I wasn’t planning on going to that. Thought we could go do something else….unless you want to go check it out.”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “It might be fun.”

Later that evening, she stood outside their dressing room as the other four men filed out but saw no sign of Corey. Poking her head inside, she saw him pacing back and forth across the room while he sipped on a glass of water. His face was a little pale like he might be sick.

“You all right?” She asked suddenly and somewhat startled him.

He nodded and waved her inside, “Just nerves I guess.”

Her eyes shimmered with her smile, “You still get nervous?”

“Yeah,” he answered with a little bit of laughter behind his voice. “Could I have a hug?”

“Definitely.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and his arms laced around her tightly. “You’re gonna be great.”

“Thanks. I needed that.” He sighed and seemed more relaxed. “I guess I better head out there. Come on.”

She followed him out and took her place at the side of the stage to watch the show. Watching him perform absolutely astounded her. She thought she’d nearly died when he grabbed his acoustic to play one of their new songs ‘Through Glass’ and dedicated it to her.

“What’d you think?” He asked as he came off stage and grabbed a towel to wipe his face with.

“That was so good, Faith.” She told him truthfully.

“Come on, I’ll get a shower. And we can go to that party.”

As excited as she was to go to the party with him and the guys, truth be told, she was a bit nervous. She didn’t know anyone else there and just hoped that she didn’t make a fool of herself in front of everyone. She followed Corey wherever he went and he was sure to introduce her to most of the people he knew there. He’d excused himself to go to the bathroom for just a minute leaving her standing there by herself. She wasn’t sure if she should try and talk to anyone so she decided she’d just stay still and wait for him.

“Hey Alex.” She heard a voice call from behind. She turned swiftly and saw that Roy, whom she’d met earlier, was standing behind her.

“Oh, hey, What are you up to?”

He lifted his shoulders, “Having a drink. Can I ask why you’re standing in front of the bathroom?”

“I’m waiting on Corey.” She informed him with a slight nod of her head.

“Oh, are you two umm….” He trailed off. She wasn’t sure what he meant so she just looked at him confused. “Like…are you together?”

“Oh!” the light bulb went off in her head finally. “No, we’re not. That would be ummm…no. yeah. We’re not together. Just friends.”

He nodded and stood there in front of her in an awkward silence. He couldn’t believe she was that beautiful yet she and his bandmate were just friends. He knew Corey must be completely oblivious to her attractiveness. Seeing as how she’d they weren’t together, Roy figured he would try his luck.

“You wanna maybe have dinner tomorrow night?” He asked. She didn’t say anything immediately so he began to ramble. “We have tomorrow off so we wouldn’t have to wait until late to go…”

“Umm.” She thought for a minute. “I guess so. Yeah, what time?”

“Around 8?” He asked with a hopeful smile.

“Sounds good. See you then.”