Ray of Sunshine

Now that the tour was officially over, Nikki was anxious to get back home to Cali to await Matty’s return the following week. It had been so long since the couple had gotten to spend any real time together. They Skyped of course, but close living quarters on the bus made it hard to have a conversation without Lauren hearing; that is, if she was on the bus at the time. Lauren had a way of disappearing when she heard Matty’s voice coming from Nikki’s laptop. She had joined in before at their invitation, but after the small talk was over, she would excuse herself and go to the front of the bus, where she would sit on the floor in front of the couch with her laptop, notebooks, and pens. Nikki called this The Zone, because her friend would put her headphones in and focus completely on whatever she was working on. A lot of the band’s lyrics came from The Zone. Nikki smiled, sure that this was exactly what her friend was doing right now while she was waiting for Matty to get on Skype.
DING!
Nikki jumped at the notification, and accepted the Skype call from Matty. When his face filled her screen, she couldn’t help but laugh. “What the crap, Matty?”
Matthew St Claire ran his fingers through the pink wig atop his head and cooed, “Don’t you like it? I had it done specially for you.”
Nikki shook her head, trying to control her laughter. Matty had a very strong sense of humor, and he was always thinking of ways to make her smile. “Is that so?” she played along.
Matty chuckled and returned, “Anything to make my baby girl happy.”
“Oh, you definitely do,” she replied with a smile. “So where are you guys?”
“On our way to Nashville,” Matty answered, taking off the wig and moving the camera away from him so that she could now see the whole room around him. “I find this very ironic. We have a sold out show in the heart of the city of country music.”
Nikki shrugged. “Just goes to show that not all southerners are the same.”
“Well that certainly is the case with you and your friends.” Matty cocked his head to one side. “And for that, I am very thankful, because it brought us together.”
He could be so sweet sometimes, Nikki thought to herself, which is why she loved him so much. She blew him a kiss.
He smiled and blew a kiss back. “So you guys are on your way home?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “Three hours out actually.”
“That close?” Matty let out a whistle. “You guys are really making good time!”
“Yeah, Bruce and Joe are as ready to get back as we are,” she noted. “I’m ready for you to be home too.”
Matty pouted, earning a huge laugh from Nikki. “Hey that reminds me,” he said suddenly. “The guys want to meet the rest of the band next weekend. You think they’ll be down with that?”
“Oh, Lauren sure will,” Nikki responded with a slight chuckle. “I’m sure the others will be happy to come. Just let me know where and when so I can tell them.”
“Well, Johnny was thinking. He and Dylan and I share a house on the beach. Plenty of room for everybody to hang out, and of course the water is close enough to run right into, so if you all want to come out, I’ll text you the address later,” Matty told her.
A knock on the door caused Nikki to look up. “Come on in, Lauren. We’re just chillin.”
Lauren entered the room, closing the door behind her. “Sorry, my pen ran out of ink. I forgot to bring more,” she said, rummaging through the desk. “Hey, Matty,” she greeted.
“Hey Lauren, we were just talking about you,” Matty said with a wink.
“Oh?” she responded, finding her new pack of pens and closing the drawer. She stood upright, facing the laptop. “I can’t imagine why.”
“We were actually discussing hanging out at his and Johnny’s beach house next weekend,” Nikki informed her.
“Oh, wow, that’d be great!” Lauren said excitedly.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Matty said with a smile. They heard a knock on his end. “What?”
The girls saw the door open behind him, and in walked Johnny. Lauren inhaled sharply. Nikki raised her eyebrow and smiled at her friend.
“Oh,” Johnny said with a smile. “I didn’t realize you were busy, Matty. I also didn’t realize you had two girlfriends.”
Matty laughed and replied, “You know very well that Nikki is the only girl for me. This is her best friend and band mate, Lauren. I thought for sure you’d recognize her,” he teased, winking at his friend.
Johnny didn’t respond. His eyes were focused on Lauren. This was not lost on Matty and Nikki, who shared a grin before Nikki broke the silence. “And Lauren, that, as you know, is Johnny.”
Lauren nodded. “Hi,” was all she could manage. What was with the butterflies all of a sudden?
“Hi,” he returned. “It’s very nice to finally meet you. I daresay we will get the chance to meet in person soon, if these two have anything to say about it,” he added. “Matty’s been trying to set this up for ages now.”
“I asked them to join us at the beach house next weekend,” Matty told him.
“Well that sounds like a wonderful idea.” Johnny said with a huge smile. “I tell you what, I’ll grill hot dogs and hamburgers, or steak, or whatever you want.”
Nikki looked up at Lauren before answering, “I’m pretty sure anything you make will be fine with all of us.” She nudged her friend’s arm. “Right, Lauren?”
“Right,” she answered, her voice normal. “Food is food.”
Johnny laughed. Oh boy. He could already tell he was going to enjoy getting to know this girl. “Indeed it is. Where are you guys headed?”
“Cali, actually,” Lauren answered. “Our last show was last night in Phoenix. We’re actually in Cali now, we’re about three hours out of LA.”
“Hey, Matty, you feelin sick bro?” Johnny asked him.
Matty looked up at his friend, puzzled. “No, why?”
“Because if you were feeling sick, we could go home,” Johnny explained.
Matty laughed. “Now you know they’ll never let us get away with that bro.”
Johnny shrugged. “I’m very convincing.”
“Well then why do I have to pretend to be sick? Go be convincing!” Matty was still laughing. He turned back to face the camera. “Ok girls, we’re gonna go before Johnny ends up coming up with a legit plan to get us back home sooner.”
Nikki pouted. “I’m with Johnny on that one.”
“I know, babe. I’ll call you later?”
“I’ll be waiting,” she replied, blowing him a kiss.
Matty blew her a kiss and signed off.
“You two are just so cute!” Lauren teased.
Nikki raised her brow and faced her friend. “You and Johnny are just as adorable. I couldn’t help but notice the way you two couldn’t keep your eyes off each other.”
Lauren frowned. “Excuse me?”
“Hi Johnny,” Nikki mocked in a weak high pitched voice. “I’m surprised he heard you. Maybe he read your lips, considering how hard he was staring at you.”
Lauren rolled her eyes and walked to the door. “I’m going back to my writing now. Have fun with your imagination.”
“Oh, I will,” Nikki called as Lauren shut the door behind her. She turned back to the blank screen on her laptop and smiled. “I will.”