Pieces

Despite having worked all day and needing desperate sleep, I stayed up through the night. It was six in the morning when I gave up on sleep and got out of bed. I tossed on a pair of leggings and a thin pull-over hoodie. I tossed my hair up in a loose and messy bun, too tired to bother with it.

I made my way out of my bedroom and grabbed my phone off the charger. I put a kettle of water on the stove to make tea before sitting down on the couch, holding my phone in front of me. I groaned and unlocked it, dialing a number I hadn't in such a long time.

"Violet?" Mom answered, shocked her daughter was calling her.

"Hey, Mom," I smiled.

"What's wrong?" She asked and I laughed.

"Nothing, Mom. I'm fine," I assured her and she sighed, "I have some news for you."

"Oh? What's that?" She questioned, still obviously trying to get over the shock that I was calling her.

"I'm going to be in Vegas this weekend," I told her and there was a thick pause. I awaited her answer as she shuffled out of whatever room she was in, and I heard another door close.

"As much as I would like to see you, Violet... Is that a good idea?" She questioned.

"Not like it matters. It's for work. I have to go to a convention with my boss," I explained briefly and she sighed heavily.

"You should tell him, Vi. He can't possibly ask such thing from you."

"I'm not going to tell my boss," I stated firmly.

"You know Craig is out all the time. He's constantly looking for you, Violet. You're not safe if you come here," She was firm with her decision, but I was also firm with mine.

"I have a bodyguard," I stated, "Kind of... He's Zack's bodyguard but he won't let anything happen to me, Mom. Craig couldn't put a finger on me with these guys around. He's too much of a coward."

"You of all people should know not to underestimate him, Violet," She stated darkly. I could feel my lungs start to close up as her words sink in, "Don't come here."

"I have to, Mom."

"You're letting your pride get in the way of your safety!" She finally snapped. I knew she was holding it in all along. She really wanted to shake me by the shoulders and scream at me for being so stupid. So naive.

"Maybe I am. But I'm safe, Mom. I'm safe now," I promised, "Bye, Mom. I'll see you next weekend," And I hung up before she could protest.

It was the sound of the tea kettle that set me off. I jumped nearly a hundred feet in the air, letting out an ear-splitting screech as the kettle began to suddenly whistle. I fell off the couch, body heaving in deep breaths as I looked up to the stove. I shakily stood and walked over, turning the burner off before grabbing a mug from the counter. I grabbed a bag of tea from the cupboard and quickly poured myself liquid comfort.

I sighed, taking a sip before setting the mug down. A part of me knew Mom was right. Vegas wasn't the place for me. It never was. But I wasn't about to tell Zack all of my secrets. I liked my job, and I refused to let this get in the way of anything. I was going to Las Vegas wether it was good for me or not. Zack would just never know.

-

When I reached the studio Zack was no where to be found. His guitar still hung on the wall, but I could hear the music of the new album drifting through the walls. I glanced at the clock, seeing it just strike nine and he was late. Zack was never late.

I walked into the recording area, earning a collective of waves from the guys, "Hey! Did Zack tell you about Vegas?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, he did. He was saying something about a convention," I noted and he nodded.

"Val's been dying to know if you're going or not. She claims she can't go to Vegas without another girl to keep her company," He smiled.

"Let her know I'll be her wingman," I winked and he gave me a playful glare. Unlike Amber, I got along well with all of the girls involved with the band. Val was around the studio the most, so I knew her the best. Michelle was a close second. Leana and Lacey weren't around as much, but that didn't make them any less friendly. In all honesty, the Avenged family was the nicest group of people I had ever met.

"So, where's Zack at?" I questioned and Brian looked over at me with an annoyed look on his face.

"He'll be late because he's 'working out some things with Amber'," He mocked in an annoyingly high-pitched girl voice. I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "Apparently he can't leave the house without fixing this with her. The usual."

The guys certainly didn't enjoy Amber's presence in their friend's life. They were polite to her, and they always would be, but that didn't mean they liked her. The girl was a gold-digging tramp in their eyes, and they would never understand why Zack felt the need to be around her.

The other girls weren't as polite. Val, having known the boys the longest, was the mama bear of the group. No one messed with her boys and got away with it. She felt like she didn't have to be polite to Amber when she was around. She got what she deserved, in her opinion. Still, Matt would occasionally have to calm Val down whenever something irrationally rude left Amber's mouth.

"Yeah, she wasn't very happy last night with him," I said and made myself comfortable on the couch next to Johnny. I pulled my knees up to my chest, pulling my phone out to text Zack that I was at the studio.

"Ouch, what happened this time?" Johnny asked as he continued to play several riffs from his bass.

"Eh, nothing important," I shrugged and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, nothing important. C'mon, he's just going to tell us when he gets here," He stated, earning a collective amount of agreements from the boys, including Dan and the Berrys.

"Oh, hush," I scolded, "He got in trouble for calling me a," I had to a struggle remembering the word, "Unattainable woman?" I questioned, "Whatever that means," I scoffed, though I remembered the definition well. I wasn't going to confess to Zack calling me hot.

"Oh please," Matt scoffed, "Val calls you hot stuff all the time. We both do!" He smiled and I shifted uncomfortably. So they did know what it meant? I was just out of the loop.

"Yeah, so what Zack has a hot assistant? She'll get over it," Johnny shrugged and I sighed heavily, looking up towards the clock and hoping Zack would show up soon with something for me to do.

"No need to creep her out guys," Dan scolded, "I'm sure she got enough shit from Princess Amber," He mocked. I gave a smile towards Dan, silently thanking him. Besides Val, Dan was always one to defend me. Especially when Zack found his high horse every so often, and sometimes felt the need to ridicule me. Dan was always there to set him straight.

It was then that a very disoriented Zack came into the studio. He looked a mess and I automatically knew what happened. Amber had left him once again, and he wasn't taking it any better than the last time. There was an inaudible groan from everyone in the room, but we could all see it on each other's faces. A collective look of it's your turn to take care of him was sent to everyone.

Zack walked past us and towards the tech room where his guitars hung. I rolled my eyes as everyone looked at me expectedly before I stood up, "I'm going," I mumbled as I followed Zack.

He had his head against the wall, using all of his strength to hold back any tears he had within him. His guitar was in his hand, a fist wrapped around the neck of the interment. I walked over and gently grabbed the guitar, "Put that down before you snap it," I stated softly and his grip loosened. I took it from his hand, setting it down on a nearby stand.

He brought his fist up and hit it against the wall, not enough to hurt his knuckles, but enough to relieve some stress. His eyes were slammed shut in pain and I could see the smallest of tears trying to fight their way out of the corner of his eye, "Zack," I sighed softly.

"Please leave me alone," He whispered.

I rolled my eyes. He was being the sentimental Zack today. The one of many different Zack Baker's I had come to known over my three-month employment, "Zack, Hun, it's going to be okay," I stated sweetly.

"It's not," He choked out, desperately holding in sobs, "She left me."

"Again," I reminded him, "And she'll come back." She always does, much to my dismay. Amber was a virus. You could get rid of her for a while, but she always crawled her way back into Zack's lap, and it was annoying.

"She was so upset with me, though," He said softly, barely a whisper, "First last night... and then I had to tell her about Vegas," He explained and I winced. That definitely would have set her off. Amber purely disliked me. In fact, she loathed me.

The girl was dumb as rocks, which was why Zack couldn't have her as his assistant anymore. She wasn't consistent enough. She was in love with him one week, and hated him the next. One week he'd have an assistant, he'd be hopeless the next. It was a routine that he grew sick of, then he found me. Amber hated my existence the moment she ran into me on my first interview with Zack. She knew he would hire me, and thus her hatred began. Since then she's made it apparent to make my life hell.

The girl would purposely mix up orders, just so I'd have to redo them again. This only meant that I was around Zack even longer trying to fix her mistakes. But like I said, the girl is just plain stupid.

"That's it," I muttered. Sweet talk wasn't going to get Zack to stop being a girl, which meant I was going to have to pull out the big guns, "Are you going to stop being a little bitch and actually get some work done today?" I asked.

He simply lifted his head to turn to me, only so he could glare, before going back to resting against the wall. So he obviously needed a little more push than I expected. But I was used to this. Working for Zack was probably the same as taking care of a two-year old.

I roughly grabbed his shoulder and turned him around before pushing him against the wall, he adverted his eyes to the ground, "Hey," I snapped, "Look at me," I ordered and he brought this eyes up shamefully, "You're a grown-ass man, Zack. Some little twat has once again stepped on your heart. I get that you're heartbroken. But you can't let this bitch get inside your head. You have a god-damn album to record and you have four other people in that studio waiting for you."

"But, Violet," He started and I cut him off by punching his shoulder roughly. He winced, bringing his hand up to his arm to rub it soothingly.

"Not 'buts', Zack. Get your ass out there before I have to drag you out," I glared. I knew that would get him to move. I've done it before on two occasions. I literally had to drag Zack out of the office and into his living room once. The other time I had to drag him into the studio. Zack knew I was not in the mood to play his games today.

He hung his head and grabbed his guitar, shuffling out of the room like a child that had just been slapped on the hand. The guys welcomed him with smiles, which cheered Zack up just the slightest. He'd be like this for a few days before he was back to normal, or Amber was back in his life.

The truth was that working for Zack was a lot more than I expected. Not only was I working over twelve hour days, I was his personal therapist once a month. I learned quickly that Zack was not an average guy. He was obviously in desperate need of attention and love, something Amber gave him. But when she wasn't around, he was a lost puppy just waiting for her to forgive him. It was quite sickening, if you asked me. It was the most annoying thing I had ever encountered.

Still, in the three months I've worked for Zack, I realized that I didn't like seeing him hurt. There was a lot more underneath Zack than people saw. I suspected that even his best friends didn't realize the demons clawing inside of Zack. I knew deep down that there was something more serious going on with him, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. Still, that wasn't going to stop me from trying to make him feel a little better. He was my boss, but he was my friend.