Chapter 25: I’m Back
When Marshall has said how bad he was at surfing, Riley had expected it to be an exaggeration, but after hours of wading around in the water, he’d only managed to get stay on his feet for three or four rides. However, he seemed to have fun as she told him where he was going wrong and how to judge the oncoming waves. The weather had been much warmer that Michigan, despite the fall climate. As the sun started to set, and more people showed up for twilight walks along the beach, they called it quits. Riley was hardly surprised when they’d pulled in their boards and a woman walking her dog asked Marshall for a picture.
It was nice to have Marshall on her turf. When they got back, she’d cooked dinner and they ate around her crammed two seater table with mismatching chairs. The simplicity was wonderful. She felt like they never had to push their relationship, it always flowed so easily. There was never an awkward silence or a dull moment. He was like something from an old dream that had worked his way back into her life.
They’d had a quiet night in the apartment, lounging around on the sofa. They had the muted television on but neither had watched it. They’d spent hours talking but the last thing she remembered was falling asleep in his arms.
She felt herself stir, morning light burning her eyelids. She reached down and ran the cotton sheets between her fingers and rolled over. That’s when she remembered the night before and opened her eyes, sitting up. She could have sworn she’d fallen asleep on the sofa with Marshall. But here she was, in her bed, alone. He must have carried her to bed. Smiling and rubbing her eyes, she checked the time and saw that she was lucky enough to wake up early, not having set an alarm for her photo-shoot.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and supported her weight on her tired muscles. It’d been over a week since she’d surfed and doing it again so suddenly had worn her out. As she stumbled out into the main section of her apartment, she spotted Marshall in the kitchen chewing on buttered toast. Yawning, she went straight to the coffee pot, unable to focus until she drank her morning miracle.
“What time’s your photo-shoot?” Marshall asked, still in his track pants and shirt from the night before.
As Riley poured herself of mug, she wasn’t bothered with milk as she sipped at the beautiful rich taste of coffee. “Not until 9, but it will take a half hour to get to the city.” She felt the warmth spread through her body and immediately she felt more awake. As she glanced over she noticed there was an unfolded blanket on the sofa. “Did you sleep on the couch?” She instantly felt horrible about not arranging for a comfortable place for him to rest.
He just shrugged and polished off the toast in his hand, “Not stress, I’m used to it.”
She bit her bottom lip, feeling guilty. She didn’t even know how to make it up to him. “Did you want to come to the photo-shoot with me?”
He frowned, considering her offer. Although it would be nice to have him at her work, he might be uncomfortable or bored and god knows what kind of media attention it could attract. “I got a good start on a song I’m working on. I might hang back and get it finished.”
Nodding, she shoved some bread into the toaster for herself and sighed. It was probably for the best that he didn’t come along but it brought back memories of their photo-shoot in LA and how well they’d worked together. She missed their professional compatibility.
She spent the next half an hour getting ready, making sure she looked professional and enthusiastic. Just as she was slipping on her black flats she heard the door knock, knowing it would be Mark here to pick her up. To save fuel, they drove to the city together. Before she could even yell out that she’d answer it, she heard the door open.
Cursing, she swung out into the hall as Marshall opened the door to Mark, who was wearing a clean cut suit, looking surprised to see him standing there. He spotted her in the background but was distracted by the blonde man in his path.
Mark’s nodded at Marshall and stuck out his hand, they shook. “Nice to meet you, Marshall. I’m Mark, Riley’s manager.”
Marshall stared the man head to toe and nodded back. “Good to meet you to.” He stepped aside, letting Mark stride in like he owned the place.
“You ready, darlin’?” Mark asked.
“One second,” Riley insisted. “I’ve just got to get my bag.”
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Marshall had a rough time believing with the size of Mark. He’d imagined he was like Paul, his own manager: bald, with a beer gut. But Mark was over six foot and built like a brick. His suit strained against his body, but despite this, Marshall wasn’t intimidated. As Riley scooted off to the bedroom to grab her bag, Mark instantly gave him a hard stare.
“What are you doing here?” Mark asked harshly.
Marshall wasn’t threatened. “Road trip, how about you, darling?” He made a point of the fact that he didn’t like Mark calling her anything that personal. He’d already dealt with one asshole yesterday and he was damn ready to slug another one if he had to.
Mark got straight down to business, looking him square in the eye. “Look, I don’t care what you and Riley are doing. But if you hurt her, I will make sure you pay for it. She’s worked too damn hard and long to get where she is and doesn’t need anybody ruining it for her.”
Marshall squared the guy up, making sure he made it clear that he wasn’t afraid of him. Raising his chin, he stared straight back at Mark. “That’s not going to happen. And if you threaten me again, the only person who’s going to ‘pay for it’ is you.”
They stared at each other for a moment longer before Mark backed off. He even smiled. Marshall was confused as to what happened. Mark just clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re alright, man. As long as we’re clear.”
Riley stumbled back into the room, digging through her bag. She looked up at both of them and smiled, nervously. “Let’s go.” As she approached, Marshall deliberately grabbed her around the waist and kissed her passionately. It was a win/win because not only did he get to rub it in Mark’s face, but he also got to kiss his incredibly hot girlfr- he stopped. She technically wasn’t his girlfriend yet. It was strange how easy it was to call her that.
As they said goodbye, he locked the door behind them and returned to the sofa. Writing in her apartment was nice in fact. It was a peaceful and quiet apartment building which made it easier to concentrate.
He glanced up at the ocean view and thought back to the day before. Riley had been so beautiful down at the beach. When she’d taken off her dress, wearing only that white bikini he lost his breath and had to look at the ground to stop himself from staring. Her smile still knocked him dead, over her body any day. She looked so happy, especially when she laughed at him when he fell off the board. And when she’d caught that wave on her own and he watched her clip the top of the waves and do a full 360, he was amazed by her talent. She was perfect in every way, even with the faint scars she had scattered across her body. He never asked how she got them.
Swallowing, he pulled his headphones back on and returned to focusing on a track he absolutely loved. He listened closely to the electric-guitar rhythms fraternizing with hip-hop-sensible drum patterns and pulled out the piece of paper he’d used on the plane, going over what he’d already written. The rhymes came quickly and he had to scribble them down as fast as he could so he didn’t forget them.
He spent a solid half an hour in his zone, focusing intently on the song and the complexity of them rhymes. It wasn’t until he noticed his phone buzzing on the coffee table that he removed his headphones. Picking it up, he knew it was Paul without even checking the ID.
“What up, Paul?”
“Hey, Em,” Paul sounded happy which only meant good news. “I just got off the phone with Papa Roach. He’s just confirmed the dates for the Tour we’ve been planning.”
Marshall sat up, interested and excited. They’d been talking about doing a tour for a while and getting Papa Roach and Limp Bizkit on board had been pretty easy. He’d really wanted Nine Inch Nails to be there too but he’d already invited Marylin Manson and he didn’t want to cause a feud between him and Trent Rezor. They had almost everything planned apart from the final few tour dates for shows in the US.
Paul cleared his throat, “We’re starting a little earlier than planned for the US tour. So from October 19-24 we’ve booked in East Rutherford, Buffalo, Worcester and Albany. Then there’s the Canadian Tour, like we talked about before we go back down to the states in Auburn Hills and continue as planned. Oh, and we finalized San Diego for November 26.”
Marshall nodded, motivated that everyone on the artist list could make the dates. It was going to be an amazing show, full of almost ‘mini-concerts’ from each artist. “How long is the Tour, from first show to last?”
Paul paused. “First show is October 19, last is December 19. So that’s three months before you have a good break over the holidays and you’re back in Europe in February for just over a week.”
Marshall smiled, “That’s awesome.” He started to think about how he was going to go without seeing Hailie for three months straight. Whenever he was away, they’d talk on the phone but it wasn’t the same as seeing her bright and beautiful face. And Riley… He sighed. How was he going to be away from Riley for so long? He hadn’t been able to let her return to Miami alone and that was only for a few days. Running his hand over his head, he wasn’t sure what to do. She wouldn’t be able to come on the road with him like Hailie could sometimes because she’d have to work. Unless…. His mind stared racing a thousand times the speed. Unless… he could get her a job on the road. Something that paid well.
“Hey, Paul, do we have any dancers for the show?” Marshall hinted, skirting around his real question.
Paul just barked out a laugh. “We have women in the show, yeah. Not dancers, mostly models and showgirls. They’re more crowd pleasers that anything.”
“How would you feel about hiring one more?” Marshall asked.
Paul didn’t sound bothered, “Sure, why? Did you have someone in mind?”
“Yeah,” Marshall said, smoothly. “She’s fantastic. But she’s going to cost.”
Paul sounded suspicious. “Are you talking about Riley Stuart? Because I know you-”
“You caught me,” Marshall smirked. “What do you think?”
Paul sighed, “For you, I’ll find a way to work her into the show, as long as she can agree to three months on the road. With your sorry ass.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Just one thing, kind of a big thing too,” Paul muttered. “We need a name for the Tour. We haven’t got something that’s right yet. We need punchy, edgy, something that really speaks to your last album.”
Marshall thought for a moment. Critics were always saying his last album was angry and that he should try and control it and this tour was mostly to promote his new album. “How about… The Anger Management Tour?”
Paul sounded impressed. “That’s… really good. I like that. I’ll just run it by the rest of the crew, but I think that sounds really good. I’ll call you later this week and fill you in on anything else.”
Marshall cut the connection and sat back on the sofa. He certainly had his work cut out for him. He only had a month until the first show… How the hell was he going to convince Riley to come on a tour with him for three months?