A Heart that Hurts [Bill Kaulitz]

Chapter 6

She awoke early, the silence of the night still present in the dimly lit morning. The bunk she laid on creaked beneath her light weight as she rolled out of bed; her feet hitting the ground with a soft thud. Maggie pulled her suitcase out from the storage cabinets below and made her way to the bathroom. With the sun still on the rise, the bus was still deep in slumber. Her and a few others were the only ones awake, so the bathroom was unoccupied. It was the perfect opportunity for her to shower and wash away the memories of yesterday, while still thinking of the events that lay ahead.

She watched the water droplets roll down her arms, making their long decent to the floor of the shower. Her showering was over, but she relished the peacefulness of being alone; just her, her thoughts, and the sound of the water. She had a slight headache and her back hurt, though Maggie couldn’t think of a reason as to why. She guessed it was due to her not being used to the small tour bus bunk.

Her mind drifted from her physical pains, to that of Bill. She smiled as a picture of his laughing face materialized in her mind. She couldn’t figure out what it was about him that kept her so intrigued. The very thought of him made the butterflies that inhabited her stomach go crazy. Maggie didn’t know whether to love the feeling or hate it. She hadn’t thought of men in a way like this in a long while. Never actually. Maggie had never found a point in creating relationships when all the ones she’d ever known seemed to crumble around the edges.

She turned the water off and stepped out of the shower into the small steam filled room. She wrapped her fluffy yellow towel around her body and wiped the condensation off the mirror; revealing her nearly emotionless face. The hint of a smile visible

--

Elizabeth groaned and changed position in her chair. The sunlight streamed though the blinds that she’d forgotten to close and the lower level of the bus smelled slightly of dog; which woke her from her fitful sleep. The words that she had overheard Bill say the night before were swimming through her ears again, putting her in a terrible mood and she’d just woken up. She yawned loudly and stretched her arms over her head, attempting to swing her legs over the arm of the chair and to the ground at the same time; a plan of hers that was not very well thought out.

Elizabeth rolled out of the chair.

A high-pitched, short scream passed through her lips as she hit the floor with a thud. Her blankets followed her path, sprawling across her after sliding off the chair. The sound stirred the smallest of the dogs awake, causing the small terrier to yelp hysterically.

Footsteps could be heard racing down the stairs and soon the door to the upper level swung open revealing a wide eyed, half dressed Bill; a look of panic spread across his face. He glanced around the room, his sight landing on the tangle of limbs and furry green blankets; the pile being Elizabeth. Bill yawned and scratched at his bare chest as he walked over to his small, continuously yelping dog. He leaned over the child gate blocking the dogs from the rest of the bus and picked up the small animal; cooing quietly to her. Bill tucked the dog under his arm and walked back towards the upstairs door. Elizabeth had sat up, but had her face buried in her blankets; attempting to hide from Bill’s piercing gaze.

Bill shook his head and ascended the stairs back up to him and his brothers living quarters; leaving an aching and embarrassed Elizabeth on the floor.

--

The cityscape looked all the same to Maggie. Much of the staff was now awake and having their morning coffee; what would become their daily routine for the next two months. Maggie sat quietly in the passenger seat of the bus, staring out the window as Jimmy went on and on about the schedule ahead. The only thing Maggie caught from the conversation were the words ‘Bill’, ‘concert’, and ‘meeting’; she could only guess at what the three words had in common.

The bus slowly rolled to a stop outside a large building. Maggie was unable to tell what its importance was. She glanced over at Jimmy in confusion.

“You have a last minute conference meeting about the tour,” said Jimmy, answering Maggie’s unspoken question. “It’s just the band, the tour managers, and you two interns.”

Maggie nodded and stood up from her seat, mumbling a goodbye as she headed to the bus exit. A few heads turned towards her and watched her leave, but she only had her eyes on Jimmy. He smiled at her and mouthed, ‘See you later’, and opened the bus door.

She curled her fingers around the hem of her shirt and slowly walked down the path to the entrance of the building. She’d glanced up at the façade, only to find that there was no sign indicating the name or purpose.

The glass door opened to reveal a man that she didn’t know the name of. She smiled and nodded a thank you to the man and entered the building. Maggie was left to stand awkwardly in the lobby, not knowing where she was supposed to go.

She was busying messing with the ring on her finger when a familiar voice called out her name; an arm wrapping itself around her waist a moment later.

“Good morning,” whispered Bill into her ear as he pulled her in for a hug.

“Morning,” Maggie mumbled, her head now resting on his chest; her cheeks slowly turning pink. Bill was oblivious to Maggie’s discomfort and kept his arms around her, swaying slightly.

“So, how was your night?” he asked.

“Ok I guess, quite a small bed though; you?”

“Not exactly refreshing, I was woken up by one of the dogs barking.” He decided to leave out Elizabeth’s part in his lack of sleep.

“Oh.” Maggie pulled away from Bill’s grasp and looked around the lobby, “Shouldn’t we be going?”

“Probably, that’s why I was sent out here in the first place; to find you.”

They both glanced around the room; an awkward silence setting between them. They knew that they were late but neither of them made any movement towards actually leaving. Maggie because she had no idea where she was going, and Bill because he enjoyed any time that he got alone with Maggie; once they entered the conference room, it’d no longer be just the two of them.

The two were found by a not too happy Lisa, and after a scolding that neither of them actually paid attention to, they were lead to their destination. Bill squeezed Maggie’s hand softly before taking his seat with the rest of the band at the opposite end of the table. Maggie quietly slid into the seat next to Elizabeth and when back to fiddling with her ring.

“Ok everyone,” spoke Lisa. “we have a lot of information to cover in a short amount of time.” After that statement, everyone under the age of 30 tuned out and stared off into space, occasionally making faces at one another. Maggie watched the second hand of the clock spin around multiple times, concluding that Lisa had no idea what the word ‘short’ meant.

The door to the conference opened and Lisa abruptly stopped talking.

“What?” she shouted annoyed.

“Umm… there’s a guy on the phone looking for a Margaret Harrington? He says his name is Luke.”

Maggie’s head snapped up, a look of surprise and concern crossing her face. She looked over at the man at the door; it was the same man she’d seen earlier. From him she looked to Bill, and finally to Lisa. The latter sighed with annoyance and wave her out of the room. Maggie quickly stood from her seat and picked her purse up off of the floor; muttering incoherently to herself as she left the room.

Bill glanced from Maggie to Tom, trying to figure out what was going on. Tom shrugged and nodded towards Elizabeth, to which Bill leaned over and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Who’s Luke?” Bill questioned quietly, though he was uncertain if he wanted to know the answer.

Elizabeth shook her head and mouthed ‘later’, leaving a newly uncomfortable Bill to guess at the possible answers until the end of the meeting, and a jealous Elizabeth to love every minute of it.