The Only Thing I Ask

How she wished she was with them right now. Touring all over Asia. Kissing Brian again. Tasting his mint and cigarette flavor lips again. After the concert, they pretended to not talking to each other in front of the band. They both were having a hard time keeping straight faces. Their glances often met, even when Brian was listening to a briefing by their tour manager, and Michelle was checking up on the amps.

When Michelle walked pass by him to help the roadies clear the stage arena, he was glancing over, peeking, and couldn’t stop himself from smiling. Amazingly no one in the band noticed it.

When they were at the airport, ready to take off to Japan, the first Asian country they were visiting, Michelle and Valerie were also there. Seeing them off. Valerie gave Matthew her goodbye kisses and Michelle hugged each one of them. But she hugged Brian last.

When she hugged Jimmy, she heard Jimmy said;
“I’ll miss you sweetchunks. I’ll buy you souvenirs.”
“Aw..thanks Jimmy. You’re the best.”
“And also, I know.” Jimmy said in a low voice. Only she could hear it.
Then he simply parted and walked off. Michelle was speechless. Did he really know something?

Brian pulled her into his comfortable embrace in just one swift move. She got lost inhaling his cologne scent, secretly.
“I’ll buy you the world.” He whispered.
“Stop competing. You already won.” She whispered back. Brian gave her the widest grin when he parted away from the embrace. She longed for his kiss, but they were in public so they had to hold back.

“Good bye Val, Michelle. Take care of her while I’m away.” Matthew gave his one last request before they all entered the departure hall.

That was the last time Michelle saw Brian. It’s been a week now. She had never felt so incomplete in her life before. They hadn’t kept in touch at all. They were probably really busy.
“Hey, Val. You’re okay?”
Valerie, who was curling up in a sofa looked up to her sister.
“Yeah. Why do you ask?”
Michelle took a seat next to her.
“Did you miss him?” She fished for information. Actually she was the one who was dying from missing Brian so much.
“Of course. But we Skyped every night, so it’s okay.”

Michelle suddenly felt raged. Oh no. Was she suddenly turning into some jealous bitch now? She thought that they were so busy, Brian had no time to keep in touch with her at all. But Matthew is the leader of the band! He could make some space in his precious time to Skype with Val! Why not Brian?

“You Skyped?“

All kinds of unwanted thoughts ravaged her mind in just mere minutes. Maybe he’d forgotten her already. Meeting a bunch of beautiful Asian girls, sleeping in a weird and erotic city, having girls throw themselves at him. He must be in heaven. For a moment Michelle felt a rush of regret for actually missing him.

“Yeah. Skype is where you can-”
“I know what Skype is!”
Valerie raised her eyebrow, looked a little taken aback.
“Whoa, what’s wrong with you?”
Michelle chuckled nervously. She hated the jealous bitch who’s been living in her now.
“Nothing. I thought they’re busy?”
“They are. But Matt always finds his time to chat with me.”
“Why?”
“I dunno. Maybe because he loveeess me?” Valerie battered her eyes at Michelle. Jealous bitch as she was, she still laughed at her sister’s funny expression. She gave up fishing for information a minute later and got up from the sofa. But she stopped halfway when she heard a familiar ‘bing’ sound on Valerie’s Macbook.

“Heyy baby!!” Matthew’s voice suddenly soared through her speakers.
“Hey hun!! Wow, what time is it there?”
“It’s 11 pm. How are you today?”

Michelle stood beside Valerie awkwardly for an amount of time. After she gave it some thought, she figured, what the hell. She missed him a lot. Michelle slowly sat down again, and Matthew can see her from the webcam view.

“Hey Michelle! Haven’t seen you in ages!”
Michelle chuckled. “It’s only been a week, Matt.”
He laughed. “Well, we’re missing you guys. Wished you guys were here.”
“How are the others?” Mainly Brian, she secretly thought.
“They’re good. Asleep though. But I couldn’t see Brian anywhere. Probably out for smoke.”
Probably out to whore around. She cursed in her mind.
“Why didn’t Brian use this thing to contact us?” Oh Valerie, you read my mind! Michelle thought when Valerie suddenly asked the one question she’d been dying to know.
“He’s a tech idiot. He doesn’t even own a computer. The highest technology he got is the wah-wah pedal for his guitar.” Then they all laughed.
“I heard that.” A voice suddenly interrupted in Matthew’s background. Michelle’s heart started pumping faster. Eager to see his face. Deep down she was sighing in relieved he didn’t fuck around with some Asian girls.
“Michelle, please don’t let Hellwin sponsor him any more wah-wah pedal.” Matthew jokingly said this, and it made Brian rushed over to his side. His face suddenly cramping up the view when he pushed Matthew aside.
“Michelle? Hi!” he couldn’t control his eagerness to see her.
Michelle too, couldn’t help but smile. She waved back.
“Bout time, Haner! Tech idiot are you now?”
“Am not! You’re the tech idiot!” They pretended to fight in front of Val and Matthew.
“Says who? I know how to Skype, at least! Look at you. Like a monkey who never saw a webcam before.”
“What? How do you look at this thing?” Brian kept cramping up the view because he didn’t realize that the webcam was right above his head.
“Dude! Stop pushing. This is the camera!” Matthew pointed.
“And you two need to stop fighting.” Valerie added. Michelle held back her smile. So did Brian.
“But I need someone to fight with! I’m bored!” Brian leaned his head on Matthew’s shoulder.
“Then get your own Skype!”

Matthew and Valerie pushed them away to have the Skype by themselves. Michelle missed him even more now that she saw his face, smiling brightly to her. Why didn’t he have her phone number already?

****************************************************************************************

It’s been almost a month now. All Michelle could do to take her minds off Brian was buried herself in work. But her work revolved around him. Those Hellwin amps reminded her of their unforgettable first kiss. And these guitars, surely reminded her of the moment he became Brian’s fan. Sometimes she wondered, did Brian ever thought about her?
Sure they weren’t dating, plus she once turned his dating offer down. He’s free to do as he pleases. He might have been fucking around and hooking up with groupies everywhere while they were on the road. That single thought made her heart dropped.
“Hello? Earth to Michelle?”
Michelle flinched. Wendy was standing in front of her, waving.
“What is it, Wendy?”
“Your sister.” She pointed to Valerie who happened to be there in her nurse outfit. Looked like she just got off from work.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have a surprise.”
Michelle frowned. “What kind of surprise?”
“Ta-dahh!” Valerie brought out two rectangular piece of paper in her hand. Michelle took a good look at it and realized that they were plane tickets.

“Where are you going?”
“WE, Michelle. Where are WE going. We’re going to Malaysia! Their next concert will be there!”
Michelle raised her eyebrows. She didn’t know what to think. Her heart was racing, pumping adrenaline faster, so eager to see Brian’s perfect face. But her mind kept pushing, kept thinking negative thought. Brian wasn’t hers. She didn’t have the right to feel jealous, let alone ran into his arms.
“Are you coming?” Valerie asked, made her come back again.
“I-I-I really shouldn’t…”
“Aw come on, Mich! Of course you’re gonna fight with Syn, but the others, they all missed you! Especially Rev. He’s a big fan of yours.”
Michelle smiled at the thought of Jimmy. He was more like a brother than a friend. She eventually said yes, and soon they were packing to leave.