Book 1: She's A Little Runaway (Izzy Stradlin)

Twenty-Eight

● Reyna ●

A month has passed once again and it’s time for the guys to join Motley on their tour. I still have no idea if they want me to join them or not. They leave in three days. To be honest, I don’t think that I could be away from Izzy for so long. I would miss him way too much.

I haven’t been on tour since the Shout At The Devil tour with Motley. From what I remember of it, it was a hell of a lot of fun. However, this time around I would be completely sober. If they even want me to go, that is. Wow, I am really overthinking all of this.

Since the label found out about the tour, they decided to have a “professional manager” for the guys. As if I don’t have enough experience. Working in a bar gives you plenty of connections and experience! At least, that’s what the guys kept telling me. So, for now I am a co-manager. However, anytime we go into the studio for something, I always end up getting the guy they replaced me with coffee. I may work in a bar, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy fetching people’s drinks! 

Sadly, the guys are all too busy to tell the guy to stop treating me like a waitress. Hell, in the last meeting I have no fucking clue what legal stuff was discussed! I bought a legal textbook that potential lawyers have to get for college for this reason. Now I’m spending all of my breaks and barely getting any sleep trying to make sure they aren’t getting screwed out of their money.

I think Duff has had it handled, since he’s done exactly what I did. We went to the bookstore together to get the books. He knew what happened to The Runaways and didn’t want that happening to them. 

Man, the band taking off sure is stressful. The entire band seems to be loving their newfound success, though. Well, except for Izzy, but that’s only because he’s super shy and hates attention. I guess we’re lucky that Axl managed to get MTV to play the Welcome To The Jungle video during the graveyard hours. Thank God that teenagers never sleep at night.

I don’t even flinch as the door bangs open, letting the loud yelling and laughter flood through the apartment. I don’t move from my spot at the table. I don’t even move my head from its position so that I can look out the window. There is just too much to think about and all this lawyer junk is making my brain feel fried. Now I remember why I never finished highschool. 

“And dude, just like that she took her pants off.” I hear my little brother say in the hallway. I resist the urge to shake my head. I know he’s only a couple of years younger than me, but I hate hearing him talk like that. In my mind I see little Stevie, not the man that he has grown into.

Slash and Axl laugh, sitting down at the table as well. Still, I don’t glance at them. I can see the two men out of the corner of my eye, but that’s about it. Are Duff and Izzy even with them?

“Are you ready, darlin’?” Axl asks in his deep voice.

This captures my attention. What could these idiots be planning this time? I turn to look at them. To my surprise, Izzy and Duff aren’t with them. That’s strange. “Ready for what?”

“Tour!” Stevie giggles excitedly. 

A small grin tugs at my lips. Stevie’s laugh never fails to make me smile. “No, not really.”

This makes all three of their smiles drop. “What do you mean?” Slash speaks up through his mop of curls.

“I’ll just miss you guys, is all. It’s definitely a great opportunity and I am so happy for you. It’ll be lonely around here without you guys bursting in at all hours of the day and night.”

“What are you going on about?” Slash asks, pushing his hair back. The top hat he always wears falls cricked, making me laugh.

“I’m staying here, aren’t I? The label signed you a manager that actually knows what they’re doing. You don’t need me to drag along with all the stress the tour is gonna give you guys.”

They’re all silent for a few moments. They glance at each other and then burst out laughing. This makes me feel like I said something wrong. My cheeks heat up, giving me the urge to cover my face. They didn’t need to laugh if I said something stupid.

“You’re kidding right?” Axl says through the chuckles.

“Of course you’re going with us!” Steven pretty much yells.

Slash leans his arms on the table, putting his face in his hands. “You’re our actual manager. Besides, it would be hella boring if we didn’t bring you along.”

“Is it okay with the label? I’m sure they have some kind of say in who you bring along.”

“Nope. I looked through our tour contract and there is absolutely nothing that says we can’t bring whoever we want along,” Duff’s voice rings through the kitchen.

I look up, smiling as I see that Duff and Izzy have finally made an appearance. I am very curious as to what the hell they were doing. Izzy grins back at me, lighting up a cig. Duff joins us at the table, pulling some papers out of a professional-looking briefcase.

I narrow my eyes at the tall blonde. “Is that really what you decided to spend your new label money on?”

Duff only shrugs. “I thought it would be a good investment to have for our legal papers.”

I just nod, placing my head in my hand. He looks over the papers in silence. The rest of us stay quiet to allow him to focus. Izzy finally walks over and takes a seat beside me. He takes off his sunglasses. He pulls the ashtray closer to him to dump the ashes. 

“Okay,” Duff says after what felt like an hour. “I just double checked and there is, in fact, nothing that says that we can’t bring along anyone we want. So yes, Rey, you are coming on tour with us. We need you around to keep us in line.”

For some reason that makes all of them start laughing, even Izzy. I glare at them. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It just means that you like to boss us around sometimes,” Stevie grins. “Especially when we want to do something dangerous.”

“Of course I’m not gonna let you idiots kill yourselves! That’s just common sense!”

That makes them laugh even harder. I roll my eyes at them. “Stop laughing at me! There is nothing remotely funny about that!”

They don’t stop.

Ugh, am I sure I can handle being on a tiny bus with these guys for months on end?