Keep It Our little Secret

12: Sound Check

"Nate! Mate!? Have you forgotten something?"

It was Friday morning and Max was frantically leaving missed calls and voice messages to Nate.

"Nate, the phone..", Selena tried to lift Nate's arm from her back. Nate pulled her in closer and planted  a soft kiss on Selena's nose.

The phone rang again and this time with frustration, Selena quickly grabbed and answered it.

"Hello!"

"Hello, Selena? Where is Nate?", Max sounded angry.

She looked under her stomach to see Nate still fast asleep. She crossed over him and got out the bed.

"Nate! Wake up. It's Max", she pushed him back and forth.

When Nate didn't respond, Selena tried to kick him but failed again.

"Max, you there?"

"Yes! I am here. Why are you whispering?"

"Nate is not getting up? Are you here already?"

"Yeah, Like an hour ago", Max scratched the back of his head,trying to find a Taxi.

"Should I come pick you up?", Selena had no idea how she would but still offered her hand.

"It's fine, I am getting on a Taxi now", He didn't sound happy. It wasn't the wait that bothered him but the fact that he had deadlines to meet and now he was late for a meeting., "I'll see you later, I am heading straight for my meeting, try to get Nate to attend as well".

"Got it!"

Selena put the phone down and angrily went and pulled the blankets off Nate.

"What the..!?"

"Get up!", Max is pissed and he wants you at the meeting ASAP!

Nate rolled around in bed, then paused to look at Selena.

"What day is it?"

Selena was grabbing her towel about to enter the shower, "It's Friday"

"And time?"

"11am"

"WHAT!", he quickly jumped out the bed and headed straight for the shower"

"Nate! Wait", but Selena was too late as he was already in the shower and the door was locked.

Two hours later

"So you seriously will be staying grumpy the whole weekend?", Nate asked as he followed a very pissed off Max to the lift.

Max got on the lift and quietly pushed 'G' as Nate put on his puppy dog eyes.

"Grumpy with you but not Selena".

"What!? Why? She was in the fault as much as me", Nate wasn't pulling off a good case.

"At least she still offered to help even though she had no clue how to", Max put his hand in his pockets and walked out the lift towards Nate's car.

Nate stood quietly until he noticed the doors to the lift was about to close. He quickly ran out and opened the door for Max, trying to mock him.

Max showed no expression even though seeing his brother try was exciting him.

As the brothers left the car park, Max looked down at his phone to see three missed calls from Selena. He called her back and immediately heard a hello.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, just checking if you made it to the meeting on time", Selena sounded apologetic.

"I was a little late but we got through it. Be ready we have to head straight to the venue for sound check"

"All good with Nate?"

"We will talk later", and with that Max hang up the phone.

Selena was worried. She wasn't a big fan of tension between people. She was already stressed about her marriage lie and now she was in between two brothers childish fight.

Moments later

Selena greeted Max with a big hug and was relieved to see him by Nate's side.

Nate entered after Max and hugged Selena, then whispered in her ear, "Help me!"

Selena looked nervous and tried to start a conversation, "So, what happens in a sound check?", She then realised she had asked the most stupidest question ever.

Both the brothers turned around and looked at Selena and then to each other and burst out laughing.

"Way to kill the tension Sel!", Nate went up to her and kissed her forehead.

"But you know that was so uncool of you?", Max added.

"I was tired from the night before. We were still adjusting to the time zone. Trust me, you will be going through the same tomorrow morning", Nate handed Max a bottle of beer.

"But really, what happens in a sound check?", Selena still stood in one spot.

That Night

Selena sat at the front row seats and she saw two handsome men pull off a great show. She was star struck by Nate's appearance. She could see the girls on the side stage were also starring at the brothers with googly eyes and the assistant director of the show was trying to make conversation with Max.

"Babe all good?", Selena was too focused on Max that she hadn't noticed Nate standing in front of her.

"Hmm, Yeh! All good. We good to go? I am hungry".

"We should be wrapping up soon. Let me go get Max".

As they headed out the backstage, Max bumped into a familiar face. Their shoulders brushed and he turned around to say sorry. The blonde curly hair, the sun kissed tan and the soft floral scent. He knew he made a mistake turning around.

"Sorry about that", the girl turned around to meet Max's eyes, "Hey", She was as stunned as he was.

"Hi there Victoria", Nate greeted Max's ex wife, looking very stiff.

"Hi Nate", she looked at Max, "Hope you have been well Max".

Max was outraged. He did not need to see her face back in his life ever again. This was the reason why he avoided visiting New York.

Victoria's eyes shifted to a confused Selena.

"And you must be?", Her eyes scanned at Selena and Nate's hands intertwined together. 

"She is none of your concern, Let's go Nate!", Max turned Nate's shoulders around offering him to lead the way and get him out of here.

When they got in the car, all was silent.

"What the Fuck is she doing here?", Nate quickly grabbed the attendance folder of all the people attending the show. He quickly scanned the list and his eyes landed on Victoria's name. He ran his fingers across from her name and read 'Promotions coordinator'.

"She is part of the management. How did she even make it?", Nate was surprised. He suspected someone from her family must have given her a leeway. 

"Her uncle from her mother's side is the head. That's how she got in", Max's hand was balled up in a fist about to smash the first thing he saw.

Selena reached out and put her hand on his to calm him down, "It's okay, don't let her get to you. Remember, you showed her where she belonged and now it's over. She should mean nothing to you", But to Max, she was his downfall. He hated defeat and Victoria was his defeat. He also noticed Selena already knew about Victoria. 

"I am fine. Just need to stay away from her. You as well. I am warning you, she will try to find out everything about you which means putting our company at risk", Max gave a caring warning to Selena and she promised to always stay clear of Victoria's path. How? She wasn't sure.