Anything (Van McCann | CATB Fan Fiction)

8. Cloud Gate, IL

|Van|

"Hello?"

"Hey, sweet pea... It's me," I smiled into the phone, as I crashed my body on top of the hotel bed. I was still buzzing from our performance at the sweet, old bar called Schubas Tavern. My voice was fucked and the lads did try to convince me to pull out the gig. I insisted that we carry on and I was glad we did. I'd say, Chicago was a lot of fun. The crowd was absolute ace.

"Is that Emily? Hi, Emily!" Larry tried to grab the phone away from me as I dodged his childlike attempts.

"Hi, Emily!" John shouted, which was soon followed by Benji.

"Emily!"

"What's with all that noise?" Emily asked in a sleepy, sultry voice.

"Nothing. The lads are just jealous that I have a beautiful girlfriend that I am eternally devoted to," I laughed.

"You're drunk," she said.

"You're beautiful...." I retorted.

"You're horny," she yawned.

"You might be right," I told her. "Em? Have you thought about coming to New York?"

"It's late here now, Van... Can we talk about it other times? I need my sleep so I could function at work," she groaned.

"But you said the same thing last night. And the night before..." I sulked. It almost seemed like Emily was purposely avoiding my calls.

"Well, maybe if you'd consider calling me on a different time then I might say something different," she said. I could tell that she was serious by her tone.

"Come to New York. I'll have a few off days soon. You'll love New York. It's the vibes, the people. It's great!"

"No! Did you just say "vibes"? God, Van. I can't believe you just said vibes. You've changed," she laughed, but her laughter then transitioned into a deep sigh. "You're never coming back, aren't you?"

"What are you talking about? Come on, now. I am just inviting you to come over for the weekend," I said, feeling rather annoyed that the conversation was slowly turning into one of her protests of me being on tour.

"You're right. I'm sorry," she swallowed. "I really need to sleep again. Talk to you soon, yeah?"

"Alright," I exhaled. She then hung up and the line went dead. I had no idea why Emily was so moody. I initially thought that she was just having those monthly girly mood swings, but, I was beginning to think that it must be something else that was bothering her. I kicked my boots off my feet and tossed my phone onto the bed.

"Did she refuse your phone sex... again?" Larry laughed at his own joke.

"Nah, mate. I don't know. Something is definitely wrong with her. I just can't quite wrap my finger around it yet," I exhaled.

"Girls," Benji muttered. "They can be really weird and moody over the most absurd things. Like wrong ice cream flavour and shit like that."

"Benji is actually right. I used to get a silent treatment because I bought an ordinary bottle of juice instead of a cold pressed one. I mean, it's still juice, mate. It comes from the same fruit. I just don't get it," John said while playing some tunes on his guitar.