A Story to Tell Your Friends

Thirty.

I scowled at my phone, pulling my jacket closer to my body. Tammy had responded to me, stating that she was going to meet me at the venue and just to leave her ticket behind. Apparently, the plans with Chris had involved reservations and concrete plans and she’d been unable to escape early. I’d done as instructed, but had sent an annoyed text back, which she had yet to respond to. I was outside the venue, eyeing up the line that had formed at the front door and trying to establish just where this back door Jack had referred to was. I took a breath, finally choosing to turn left, making my way around the building, while still avoiding the queue of people who had been waiting here all day.
I gnawed on my lip, when I finally reached what looked to be the door Jack had been referring to. There was a small group of girls huddled a few feet away from the entrance and two large, burly looking men stood at the door. Based on that alone, I was almost positive I was in the right place. I shuffled closer to the doors, in front of the group of girls and decided to wait instead of speaking to the doormen. I glanced at my phone, noting that I was in fact a few minutes late, thanks to fabulous LA traffic issues.
“Miss, you can’t stand there,” a deep, gruff voice stated. I looked up, a little shocked, seeing the pair of men eyeing me suspiciously. I gulped, unsure what to say. I’d seen enough movies to know that no matter what I told these men, they wouldn’t believe me and I’d have to leave.
“Um, I’m, uh, waiting for someone here,” I told them. “I was supposed to meet him right here five minutes ago.”
“You can’t stand there,” the bald man on the left of the doorway told me. I blinked, probably somewhat stupidly, at him. Like I said, there was no way I was going to be allowed to linger here for long. Jack really needed to hurry up.
“Well, where can I stand?” I asked, a hint of desperation lacing my voice. I was worried they would make me move far away and Jack would think I’d stood him up. The men pointed to the girls on my right, who all looked sullen and annoyed at where they had been forced to stand. I saw the girls whispering to each other, behind their hands. My eyes widened. “Can I just stay here for a couple of minutes? I’m sure he’ll be out soon.” The pair narrowed their eyes at me.
“And who do you think is coming out?” I bit my lip. This really wasn’t going well. I was going to say Jack, and they were going to tell me I was lying at make me stand with the other girls.
“Um, Jack,” I let out. I glanced at the girls, who seemed to pick up the pace of their whispering at my words. I looked away quickly, trying to ignore that they more than likely knew who I was. If they were waiting outside the doors and picked up on the mention of Jack’s name, I’m sure they knew everything. “He’s a guitarist for one of the bands.”
“And who exactly are you to this… Jack?”
“I’m, uh…” I hesitated, not sure who I was to Jack. We had still yet to discuss our actual relationship status, so I had no idea who I was to him.
“It’s his girlfriend,” one of the girls finally piped up, with the most typically teenage girl ‘duh’ voice I’d ever heard. I glanced over, smiling softly at the support she’d given me, thankful at least something was working in my favour. I suppose Jack’s announcement had its perks.
“Yeah, and I’m the Pope. You’re going to have to move, miss.” I rolled my eyes. I was trying not to act like a diva, but I knew I wasn’t winning this argument and I was beginning to feel a little annoyed.
Fine,” I huffed, moving toward the group of girls and folding my arms. “You want to show your face soon,” I grumbled at my phone, checking to see if Jack had text me yet. I figured if I was at the wrong door, he would have text by now asking where I was. The group of girls stared at me while I fidgeted with my phone. I glanced up, shooting a small smile their way, before looking back down at my phone. I half thought about texting him to see where he was, considering it had already been nearly fifteen minutes since he’d told me to arrive and I still hadn’t heard anything.
“So, you’re really her,” another of the girls said to me after an awkward minute or two. I looked up, trying to see who had spoken, only to be faced with all of them staring at me. I smiled meekly, nodding.
“Clara. It’s nice to meet you all.” The girls didn’t say anything, still looking at me. I scanned their faces quickly, seeing if they matched up with any of the tweets I’d read this morning, but drawing a blank. I suppose that one had been a long shot, but at least it would have clarified if they hated me or not. One of the girls finally cracked a smile at me after an awkward few seconds and I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn’t thought teenage girls could be so intimidating, especially now I was no longer in High School.
“Amanda,” she responded. “Can I just say, you and Jack are absolutely adorable. The things he says about and to you on Twitter, make me frickin’ melt.”
“You’re cuter than Alex and Lisa,” another girl nodded.
“You’re cuter than Alex and Jack,” a third chipped in. I felt my cheeks burning at their words. It felt weird to be in this situation, considering a month ago, Jack and I hadn’t even been speaking, never mind telling his fans about me.
“I mean, how did you even meet?” Amanda gushed after I muttered out a ‘thank you’ to them. I bit my lip. The actual story was corny as all hell and I didn’t know what to tell them.
“I work for Hopeless,” I told them. It was mostly true. While we had met before my first day, Jack and I wouldn’t even be speaking if I hadn’t worked there.
“And you fell madly in love with him? I can totally see that.” I snorted at the version of events they had created. It definitely hadn’t worked like that.
“No. Well, yes, but no. Alex and Lisa basically herded us together until we admitted we liked each other. He bought me pizza to convince me to go out drinking with the guys, and, well, aside from the tour, we’ve been basically inseparable ever since.” I shrugged, brushing over the fight we’d had during the time he was away. While I appreciated that these guys just wanted to know the story behind a member of their favourite band meeting what they’d told themselves was his girlfriend, I didn’t feel like telling them all of Jack and I’s dirty little secrets. The girls gushed at me for another couple of minutes, asking for all the information they could think of. I answered their questions, though kept most of the details to myself for my own sake, if no one else’s. I finally heard the door swing open and Jack walk out from between the two doormen and scowled. He was nearly 30 minutes late. He looked from side to side, frantically trying to locate me.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he cooed when he finally spotted me with the girls and began to walk over to me. I continued to scowl at him.
“It’s nearly six, Jack. I should have just waited and come with Tammy.” I folded my arms once again. He stood in front of me, grinning sheepishly, oblivious to the stares of the other girls. I wanted to melt when he called me ‘baby’ and the sweetness in his voice when he’d said it, but held firm. He’d asked me to come early, then had been late.
“I’m sorry. Sound check ran over and Alex hid my phone an hour ago, because I was being a, and I quote, ‘needy loser who needs to stop gushing over his girlfriend’.” I snorted lightly, picturing Alex saying that exact thing, while probably responding to a text from Lisa.
“Yeah, because Alex can talk.” Jack grinned widely as my arms unfolded and I wrapped them around his waist. He threw his arms around my shoulders, kissing the top of my head softly. I froze for a second, pulling away from Jack when I thought over his words. “Wait. What do you mean, girlfriend?” Jack glanced to my right, noting the girls who were stood there and shifted uncomfortably. I’d almost forgotten that there was anyone other than Jack there.
“Yes, Clara, you are my girlfriend. Believe it or not, I don’t go around telling my fans about every girl I meet, nor do I get waffles for just anyone.”
“What if I don’t wanna be your girlfriend?” Jack tensed up visibly, looking at me wide eyed. I let a smile spread over my face, seeing just how panicked he looked at my words. He let out the breath he’d been holding when he saw my smile.
“So, you’re happy to be my Yennefer, but not my girlfriend? Okay, Clara, I see how it is.” I chuckled softly at his words, grabbing his hand and turning to the rest of the girls.
“I’m going to go guys. It was nice meeting you,” I smiled. “Thanks for keeping me company while this ass hat was standing me up.” The girls stared at Jack and I in awe and I bit back another laugh, realising that the looks they had was probably how I had looked yesterday meeting everyone else. I nudged Jack lightly, who let go of my hand and started to speak to the girls. I bit my lip as I watched the five of them spit out as many words as they could manage in their current star struck state, as Jack talked with them easily, taking pictures with them quickly before turning back to me. It hadn’t been more than a couple of minutes, but the girls all looked ecstatic as Jack backed off and took my hand again, bidding them farewell.
I held back the urge to grin smugly as Jack walked by the doormen holding my hand while they said nothing. I knew they were just doing their job, but I did feel a little smug at proving them wrong. Not that getting inside the building earlier would have helped at all, nor keeping myself away from the girls.
“So…” I started once Jack was leading me through the hallways. “Since when was I your girlfriend?” I didn’t want to make a huge deal out of Jack’s remark, however it had taken me a little off guard. I figured that out of the pair of us, it would be me that brought it up first, not Jack in casual conversation. I mean, yes, I’d admitted to being in love with the man on more than one occasion, but I’d never dreamt he thought of me as his girlfriend.
“Jesus, Clara,” he laughed, looking down at me from the corner of his eye. “I’ve pretty much thought of you as my girlfriend since before I went on tour. I mean, I know you didn’t exactly get the memo, but when a girl is all you can think about, she’s your fucking girlfriend.” I pursed my lips, remembering what I’d said to him when he’d left. Of course he’d been annoyed about it. Hell, if I’d thought of him as my boyfriend (instead of panicking and thinking he didn’t want me), I’d have been pissed if he’d said what I had.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered.
“We said enough of that last night,” Jack sighed. “I didn’t exactly put it out there, you know? Besides, I knew how jittery you were about our relationship, I should have said something. But, enough of that. You know now.” I grinned brightly up at him, tugging on his arm so he would stop walking and I could place a kiss on his lips.
“Well, that’s fine. I’ll just introduce you as my boyfriend from now on without freaking out first.”
♠ ♠ ♠
Okay, it's taken me thirty chapters, but we've finally hit official relationship status.