Five Years of Fame [COMPLETE]

3. The Aftermath

Fall, Year 2, Month 8

In response to her urgent request, Kelly was informed of two things. One: that the arena did not have a medic on staff. And two: that calling for an EMT would be unwanted and unnecessary bad press for the arena. To both of these, Kelly responded to the arena manager with an effective "Screw you and your 'bad press'" and then promptly called her own ambulance.

Kelly was waiting by the elevator with the larger of the two EMT's who had shown up and was ready to catch Reeve when she collapsed. The large EMT had to call out "Make way" as all available crew, back-up dancers, and musicians had crowded around them, gawking and whispering to one another.

Kelly followed in the EMT's wake, feeling the eyes of every person nearby as Reeve was carried to her dressing room. The second EMT was on standby with an oxygen mask and an IV drip for fluids.

Conscious once again and able to walk leaning on someone, Kelly somehow managed to get Reeve into an awaiting car and then back her house. It was tough going as Kelly struggled to remember the exact address and then had to dig through Reeve's bag to find the right key. All of this she did while Reeve leaned heavily upon her shoulders.Â

Reeve certainly knew how to make her new assistant feel needed.

Once in something resembling pajamas and in bed, Reeve slept for twenty-four straight hours. Kelly checked in on her every hour on the hour for the first six but made it every three when Reeve started letting out light snores.

Kelly found herself alone in a stranger's house with very little to do. So she found things to do. The fridge was disgusting and nearly empty so Kelly started there. Once the kitchen was spotless, Kelly moved onto the rest of the house, avoiding the vacuum, afraid it might wake up Reeve, currently asleep on the second floor and on the other side of the house.

When the house was in pristine condition, Kelly finally addressed the issue of what she hesitated to call her bedroom. It seemed to be someone else's but it was the only other furnished bedroom in the house and so it was where she had stored her things her first day. She moved the few personal items and the forgotten Harvard sweatshirt into the lowest drawer in the bureau and hung up her clothes in the closet.

The doorbell rang just as Kelly was settling in to take a nap. Reeve was still asleep, Kelly had a three-hour window in which to finally catch up on sleep.

She found it was mid-morning somehow when she opened the door and found a young man with dark curly hair and glasses was standing at the door.

"Uh, hey. Is Olivia in?"

"Who are you?"

He was short, comparatively but met Kelly's height. He tried smiling when he spoke but concern was in his eyes. He seemed unable to stand still without bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. He leaned forward a bit to look past Kelly into the house.

"I'm Anton. I'm a friend of Liv's. I was just stopping by to check on her. I know she's had a few tough days."

Kelly couldn't see a camera and he was too honest to be a journalist. She decided to believe him.

"Miss Keller isn't available at this time but I can take a message."

Anton seemed like he was trying not to smile at her formality.

"Uh, yeah, okay. Just tell her I stopped by and that I'm worried about her. I heard what happened at the show last night and I just wanted to make sure she was okay, see if there was anything I could do to help."

"I've got it handled. Thank you for your consideration. I will make sure she knows you stopped by."

He spoke as Kelly was starting to close the door on him, leaning to the left to peek around before she slammed it in his face.