Spin Me Around

Chapter Three

By the time the buses started pulling into the lot behind the Omni Corpus Christi Hotel, the three of us had well and truly had enough of one another. Lenny and Ellie had been bickering since the moment I'd woken up and there was no signs of it stopping.

They had argued over what movies we could or couldn't watch, Ellie couldn't stand the smell of Lennys feet after she'd kicked off her shoes, Lenny couldn't handle the sound of Ellie chewing, Ellie was threatening violence because Lenny kept making over exaggerated gagging noises every time she picked up a chip, and all the while, I had to be the mediator. It felt like I was back home in Myrtle Beach standing between Max and Simi while they threw punches at each other over my shoulders.

The only reprieve I seemed to get was when Ellie had to excuse herself to the front area for an hour to have a conference call with Morgans manager; Phil.

We were going to be staying in Corpus Christi for a whole four days before the first show was scheduled, so Ellie and Phil had booked us all rooms at a hotel. Ellie had a few radio interviews and a guest appearance on a country music podcast lined up for me, with an appointment for new in-ear monitors stacked in at some point too.

"Alrighty," Ellie exclaimed, suddenly less of a sibling vibe and more tour manager. "Emme, Phil just let me know there are a couple fans around outside the hotel... So when we pull up, Jimmy is going to be waiting for you and he'll take you straight inside where Phil and Morgan will be waiting for you. Do not stop to talk to anyone." She tapped her phone screen a few times before continuing. "Lenny will grab your duffle and Jimmy will come back for your bags." She stood up and headed towards the front area again, yelling over her shoulder; "Be ready in two!"

The bus came to a grounding halt a little while later and I had barely enough time to shrug my jacket back on and grab my phone before Ellie was all but shoving me towards the front door.

"Straight inside!" She reminded me as the door swung open.

As I suspected, Jimmy was waiting for me at the bottom of the steps. There were a few girls standing a couple of feet behind him but none of them had noticed the doors opening yet.

"Come with me sweetheart, Phil and Morgan are already inside." Jimmy helped me step down onto the concrete just before the girls behind him looked up and spotted me. They started to scream and rush forward, all of them shouting things at me that I couldn't quite make sense of. "Sorry girls, Emme has to get inside!" Jimmy yelled over them.

"Jimmy-" I started but was cut off.

"Don't talk, just walk," Jimmy muttered quietly into my ear. He wrapped his arm around me and basically frog-marched me across the lot to the hotel doors where Phil was waiting for me.

When we got to the door, Jimmy pushed me under his arm while Phil quickly ushered me inside. He put his hand on my back and gently guided me across the floor to the front desk where Morgan was already waiting for us.

"But what about Jim-"

"Jimmy's okay," Phil assured me. He pointed over his shoulder to where Jimmy was now standing with his arms crossed between the hotel doors and the growing throngs of girls outside trying to get in.

Morgan hummed beside me and leant back against the counter with his arms crossed. He looked at ease and I noticed he had changed his clothes since I'd seen him this morning. Before, he had been wearing a pair of shorts and a singlet with flip-flops, but now he had changed into a pair of white wash jeans, boots, a white t-shirt with a backwards cap pushed down over his mullet. I watched him watching the crowd, his lips twitching up at the sides.

"They here for you or me?" He chuckled, giving me a sidewards glance.

I looked from him to the crowd of girls and back again, taking my time before I answered. "I think they're here for you, baby."