By the time the girls completed their meeting, they had to immediately rush back to the venue to start prepping for their show. Through sound checks and makeup, Billie still hadn't heard anything from Ezra. Part of her felt it was strange that he didn't find the need to reply, while the other part was hellbent on believing that this was just how he acted once he got bored with the women he was pursuing. Perhaps she hadn't captivated his interest enough.
As the girls make their way into the green room before their set, Billie is even more surprised that the male is still nowhere to be found. Although they had only been around each other for a few months, it felt out of character for Ezra to avoid a chance at a few drinks before a show. Part of her begins to worry that he's outright avoiding her or worse.
As she peers around the room, Billie's line of vision lands right on Monte. He's already approaching her with the kind of smile that makes her melt. "You look beautiful," he greets before saying hello to the rest of the girls.
"Thank you," Billie hums before offering him a drink. The male shakes his head, hand shaking the camera resting against his chest thanks to the strap around his neck.
"Sorry, gotta keep my wits about me," he offers with a chuckle as Ambrose makes his way over to greet the group.
"Don't tell me you're gonna make up another excuse as to why you can't come out with us tonight," Ambrose teases with a grin before offering a playful pat on the photographer's back.
"Depends on what kind of trouble you're getting into tonight," he replies with a shrug before motioning to Billie, "and what she wants to do."
"Well, obviously I want you to come," Billie replies honestly before raising her brow at the drummer, "But that would mean I'd actually know what we're doing."
"Sky and I have a friend who lives in this huge penthouse down in SoHo," Ambrose explains, "He's this big fashion designer that does a lot of avant-garde shit, but he wants to celebrate us being in town."
"Shit," Daria remarks, "That sounds cool. We're definitely in." All the girls nod in agreement. Actually, the idea of a party packed with mutual friends would make for a great opportunity to poke around and see who is interested in their proposition of starting a record label.
"There'll be a lot of creatives there, which I'm sure your nerdy ass will use as an opportunity to network," Ambrose teases Monte before waving at Sky from across the room and excusing himself to greet her.
"You should come." Billie smiles up at Monte, the idea of them spending the evening together causing her heartbeat to quicken. It's amazing how one glance back at her is enough to turn her into a giggling schoolgirl.
"I wouldn't mind going," he replies with a grin. A wave from one of the roadies waiting by the door causes his attention to shift. "Sorry, I gotta go set up. See you out there."
She can't help the stupid smile plastered on her face, which causes the rest of the girls to snicker. "What?" Billie questions with reddening cheeks.
"You're totally whipped," Sloane points out, "I can't believe he's got you acting like you're fourteen." She moves to mimic Billie's suggestion for him to join, which causes the singer to physically cringe.
"Well, I think it's cute," Callie gushes, "I wish a guy paid attention to me like that."
Daria's mouth drops before furrowing her brows. She begins to offer a correction before Billie shoots her a look and interjects, "I think you'd be surprised how many guys are interested in you. You are the one with the most fan accounts, after all."
Of course, that causes everyone to chuckle. As the girls continue joking about the thirst trap edits of themselves they've seen around, Billie barely remembers that she's yet to hear or see from Ezra.
✧*:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ✧*:·ﾟ
Their set went well, per usual. While Billie typically stays back to chat with the guys and catch a glimpse of the lead singer, she feels no need to do so tonight. If he wanted to play cat and mouse, then he could come seek her out for the game. Truthfully, Billie isn't sure she has much fight left in her with Monte making things so seamless.
Why bother putting in the effort for some meaningless sex when she had something blossoming with someone else?
Grand Motel's performance goes well from what she hears, which immediately crosses off another excuse for him ignoring her. If he was sober enough to perform, then he certainly could have replied to her text.
The girls were ready to attend the party well before the concert was over, which gave them the perfect excuse to head over early and start mingling. When they arrived, there was no denying that the penthouse was rather huge and extravagant. Moreover, the decor was a mix of modern and eccentric that spoke to the owner's taste.
Billie spent a majority of the first hour chatting up a few artists and producers before deciding to devote most of her attention to Monte, who had been observing the art plastered on every inch of the walls.
"This one is cool," Billie muses, eyes fixated on a photograph of a young woman adorned in nothing but tulle.
"The pictures he has in here are insane," Monte agrees, still in awe of the collection.
"You know, you could do something like this if you wanted," she nudges him gently with a smile.
Monte breaks his attention away from the art to offer her a teasing grin. "What? Be rich and cool in a big penthouse like this."
"No, I mean doing this type of photography," she clarifies, "You know, instead of taking concert pictures."
"Trying to get rid of me so soon?" He teases once more.
"Not at all," she assures with a chuckle, "But it seems like work for you rather than a passion."
"Don't get me wrong," Monte assures, "I like my job, and I like the kind of lifestyle it brings. I want to be on the road and really living. But I always thought I'd do photojournalism. Guess this is kind of like that."
"I think you should go for it," Billie encourages, "I mean, the girls and I have been thinking about doing our own thing in the music industry, and none of us will know unless we try."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he admits after some thought, "I'm not exactly in a rush to start working towards it. But I guess I maybe gave up on the idea along the way. I like the art scene, though. I think there's a lot of power in what people like girlcrush are doing."
"That's sweet," she muses before moving to squeeze his hand, "I'm going to get a drink. You want anything?"
"Yeah," he replies, "You've got me liking those tequila sodas. So, one of those, please."
She nods before slipping back into the crowd of people towards the bar set up on the other side of the living room. As she requests the drinks, a growing murmur of voices alerts her that Grand Motel has finally shown up.
Her head turns towards the entrance. Though she's not surprised to see Jude and Ambrose, the sight of Ezra nearly knocks the wind out of her. She takes a moment to catch her breath, eyes running over his demeanor while she's still concealed by the mass of people.
The sight nearly causes her stomach to sour. He looks like a ghost, eyes sunken into the dark bags adorning his sockets. His complexion is nearly white, lips pressed together in such a way that he looks as if he's holding back tears. Yet, his expression is devoid of any emotion. Ezra looks worse than she's ever seen him. He looks empty.
Part of her begins to feel guilty for all the stories she had been conjuring up to justify his lack of a reply, but it's clear to her now that he is going through something. Yet, no one around him seems to notice or care. In fact, everyone is more concerned with snapping a picture or offering him a few rounds of shots, which he gladly takes.
The guilt bundles up inside her as she stands there stupidly with two drinks in her hands. She can't stop herself from looking away. Still, he's not in the least bit concerned about who is watching or who is here.
The feeling, of course, does not last for long. It takes about two minutes for a familiar face to find her way over to the male. Billie can feel her stomach twist when she realizes it's the girl in the elevator who had asked her to pass along her number to Ezra. Here she is, which clearly means he had reached out.
The thought makes her sick, but for a completely different reason. Now, the femme is ill with rage and some foreign feeling.
Finally, she pulls herself away from the scene and heads back over towards Monte, who is still consumed by the art.
As the night progresses, Billie finds herself growing with jealousy. As much as she attempts to spend the following hour or so networking and being with Monte, she finds that her attention is constantly flickering over towards Ezra.
He's been seated in a particularly posh couch with the brunette perched on his lap for most of the evening. His hand rests on her thigh without much thought, and it's clear this is the girl he's chosen to take home tonight.
He doesn't care about anyone here at this party. He has to know Billie is here too, but he hasn't tried to seek her out once.
Hell, her and Monte had even walked past him and his little entourage to explore the penthouse further, and Ezra didn't even look her way. Perhaps he had given up that night they were texting and decided she wasn't worth the time or effort.
That notion should make it easy to ignore him and devote all her attention to Monte, who has been nothing but attentive the entire night. In fact, he had even stolen a few chaste kisses since they arrived at the party when no one was looking.
Yet, her mind remains stuck on Ezra and the way he allows that girl to run her hands through his hair and trace those tattoos she desperately wanted to know the stories behind. The worst part is that Ezra has this contented expression plastered on his face. He came in looking practically deflated, and now he's nearly back to his lively self. Well, as lively as Ezra Moore can be.
A few drinks have entered her system when another hour passes, and the thought that he had replaced her again with the same girl doesn't stop smoldering in her mind.
"I think I'm going to head out," Monte offers over the music they party has decided to turn up more and more over the course of the evening. She can almost feel the bass pounding against her chest.
"Already?" She pouts, realizing she's wasted the entire evening worrying about Ezra instead of the guy she came with.
"Yeah, I gotta do some work," he sighs, "I wish I could stay here with you, but you're welcome to come back with me."
"I should stay here," Billie reluctantly replies, "The girls and I are trying to talk to a few more people before we leave." Though, it's clear that everyone is far beyond the mental capacity to network. This party is in full swing by now, and Billie knows not much work will be done.
"Besides, I said I'd play mom tonight."
Monte chuckles at the comment, hand reaching to cup her jaw before pressing a soft kiss against her lips. She nearly forgets everything she's worried about in the moment, hand reaching to touch his. "Good night," he mumbles as he pulls away, "Text me when you get home."
She nods before walking him out and then heading back into the party. When she returns to the main living room, the femme is surprised to see that Ezra has moved from his position on the couch.
In fact, she can't seem to find him anywhere. The home was huge enough that he easily could've been hiding in plain sight. But, of course, Billie couldn't seem to locate his entourage or that brunette anywhere. She knows it's more likely that he left with her. Hell, maybe he had been gone for quite some time, and she just realized now.
He took someone else home again. She shouldn't be jealous over it, and she knows how hypocritical she looks. But Billie doesn't care.
He's exactly what she thought he was from the beginning, and she had been too blinded by lust to see it. This is Ezra Moore.
She figures it's better to realize this now rather than at the end of the tour. In the grand scheme of things, devoting a few months to pining after some asshole isn't all that bad.
Still, it doesn't make her feel any better. If she's going to spend the rest of the night wrangling the girls back on the bus, she'd need another drink and a comfortable seat. But first, she desperately needs to use the bathroom.
She attempts to use the ones located on the first floor, but all of them are occupied with a few people waiting outside. No part of the house had been specifically mentioned as off limits, so she dares to climb the stairs past a few people to the second floor. The first door she tries is locked, but the next down the end of the hall opens.
"I'm pissing!" A familiar voice barks at Billie before she can stop herself from opening up the door entirely. She barely has time to register Ezra bent over the bathroom counter with his back facing the door. Typical.
The baggie and credit card splayed out on the marble is hint enough that he's not using the bathroom for its intended purpose. "Do your lines somewhere else," she spits, "I actually need to use the restroom."