I'm with the Band

Chapter 15: No Love in LA

After 41 hours of sleeping in a tiny bed, eating cup ramen, listening to stories about Frankie's "glory days", watching Levi slaughter thousands of the undead and several vicious rounds of Monopoly Deal, the bus finally reached its first destination. 

The giant black vessel pulled into the massive parking lot of Cine5, a studio located in the downtown core of LA. The greyscale building stretched for what seemed like a mile beyond the length of the parking lot, casting shadows on surrounding buildings. The atmosphere was definitely different here, with people running around in all different directions working on their assigned tasks. Everything seemed so new and artificially shiny under the glow of the afternoon sun. People were dressed in the latest fashion trends showing off their new Balenciaga coats and matching polished Prada boots while carrying boxes of props and artwork off to their assigned departments. I looked down at my black jeans and thrifted coat and frowned. Listen, I'm the last person that would care about what I'm wearing in a crowd, however when you're next to someone who's sporting vintage, Jun Takahashi merch worth your entire life savings, yeah you're thinking about what you look like. 

"Leighton darling, Frankie, oh and of course Levi my love. Welcome back to LA!" A cheery yet strained voice came out of a twig-skinny women walking our way. Her lips were stuck in a permanent O from the botox in her mouth. Her cheekbones were so high up on her face they looked like they were trying to run away. Her forehead was stuck in place, daring someone to try and move it from its tight, cemented spot. Her body swayed with her Gucci knee high boots and matching single-breasted felt coat of the same brand. I couldn't help but to wrinkle my nose at her, I could smell her Burberry perfume from the other side of the world. 

"Mindy darling, you are looking as gorgeous as ever," Frankie returned the greeting as I stopped myself from saying "are you sure about that" in a John Cena voice. 

She went in for a hug and the the three boys gathered around her embracing her briefly in a warm greeting. "Look at you all grown up, I feel like I haven't seen you boys for ages. I got everything ready for you just liked you asked, you are going to love the new concept for the music video. Follow me this way. JARED, JARED HONEY." Mindy gestured for a young boy in a security outfit to hustle over. "Jared honey, go bring the tour bus around to the back and tell Teddy that his coffee and massage will be ready for him in the lounge, once that's done show the intern here the holding area until we are ready to start on set." I looked behind me as she gestured towards me but realized too late at what she meant when she insinuated that I was merely just an intern working for Kill Klub. I cringed as Leighton stopped dead in his tracks. 

"Oh, um Mindy, she's with us." Leighton grabbed the sleeve of my coat and pulled my forward to stand in a square formation in front of Mindy. "This is my girlfriend, Autumn." 

Mindy's eyes squinted, but her eyebrows stayed completely still in place. The botox really does wonders to turn an average looking person into a complete netherworld alien in terms of looks so if that's what you're going for, I highly recommend her doctor. She pursed her lips into an even more defined O. "I see," she said in a fake cheerfulness, "Jared tell hair and makeup we have a code red coming in." 

Frankie stifled a laugh while Levi looked over apologetically to me. Leighton hung his head. Was he embarrassed of me? I mean I was surprised and grateful that he introduced me as his girlfriend but does he have second thoughts surrounded by all these rich high-life, fashion forward folks about my plainness? I certainly didn't belong in the artificially glam world of LA, I couldn't help but to wonder what Leighton was feeling. I looked down at my clothes again and cursed in my head. I had a very, very bad feeling about this. Levi's words about Leighton had played in my mind hundreds of times on the tourbus and they echoed through my frontal lobe as the four of us were led through the large metal doors of Cine5 and straight down a long corridor to hair and makeup.