Waiting for Never - Post Malone

Stay

Suddenly he stops in his tracks and Marli almost walks into him. She sees he is standing in front of her mini. "This yours?" he asks looking over his shoulder at Marli, and she nods. "Keys please," he says putting out his hand and she places the keys in his palm. "I will get you a new car," he grumbles and turns to one of the mechanics, "get rid of this," he instructs as he throws the keys. Marli makes a move and catches them mid-air. "Um...no Thank you. I would like to keep my car. I worked hard for it," she explains. Austin looks at her with a thoughtful gaze and then breaks out in a grin. "OK. But you won't drive it again and it's not coming to Utah," he says. He holds out his hand for the key and Marli places it in his palm once again. He throws it to a mechanic. "Park it in the garage please," he says then continues walking and Marli follows him to the back of the house, she can hear barking in the distance. "So as my PA part of your duties would be to baby my dogs when I am not around, they thrive on attention. You good with that?" Austin asks. Marli nods her head even though she has never been a dog person. She has never even had a pet. She is sure she can handle walking and feeding three dogs occasionally, it can't be that much work. They round the corner of the house and Marli stops short when she comes face to face with three great big creatures - those are not dogs.

Austin bends down and rubs the first animal that has come bounding toward him. It's big, black, at least 150kgs, and looks like a bear. "This is Otis, he is a Newfoundland. Big boy but a real softy," he says. Next, he rubs an enormous grey and black dog that Marli is sure is a horse. "This boy is Colt, my Great Dane," he says with a smile. Marli feels something cold on her foot and looking down she can see a fat caramel-colored dog sniffing her foot, when it looks up at her all she can see is squished face. "And this girl is the love of my life, Willadeene. She is a British bulldog," Austin says going down on his haunches to give her a rub too. Colt comes up close to a frozen Marli, sniffs her then licks the side of Marli's face. She lets out a little squeak and hides behind Austin. He sets off into a laughing fit. But finally pulls her out from behind him. "Better get used to them, they will be your best buddies...I guarantee that it will only be a matter of time till you are completely in love with them all," Austin assures her. But she is not so sure. By 4 pm Marli is seated in Austin's plane in-between Colt and Otis and across from Austin and Willadeene while Jonas is sitting near the back of the plane with Austin's extensive guitar collection. Part of Marli is sure she should be feeling at least a little nervous, but she does not. Not even a little bit. She is excited and feels content like she has been part of this life, part of Austin's life, the whole time. Right now on this plane high in the sky, she feels at home, she is scared to admit that it's because of Austin.

But, it is because of Austin.

~

Utah is not what Marli hoped it would be - it was nothing like she expected. She has a ton of work as Austin's PA, everyone wants a piece of him and Marli has her hands full with nasty vultures. Wow, is all she can say about the music industry. She thanks her lucky stars for Jonas, as should Austin. She learns over the next 5 months that Jonas is very protective of Austin, he is wary of anyone who looks in Austin's direction. Jonas and Austin fight in the privacy of their home. He would tell Austin the same thing over and over again, "I love you man, but you are a fucking idiot." But then she would have to hold back a giggle at how defensive Jonas would get if anyone even hinted that Austin was not a top-notch man. He would square up to them and say, "you are not now nor will you ever be half the man Austin is." He always has Austins back. Austin was lucky, in Marli's opinion, to have Jonas and over time she too starts to realize that the longer she stays the more Austin seems to need her too. The problem with this is Marli gives to Austin freely and it's the dependence on her that she hopes Austin continues to nurture. It's not healthy. By the end of the fifth month, Marli is as tightly connected to Austin as Jonas is. Austin has a way of captivating a person. He is charming when he wants to be. Utah and Austin have become Marli's home. But it's a bit of a love-hate relationship. When he is good he is amazing but when he is bad he is nasty.