9am sound check was a killer after a heavy night!
Dex yawned as he followed Zach and CJ through the hotel lobby hoping that no one would recognize him, after less than two hours sleep and a huge amount of alcohol he was still drunk and looked far from his best! Luckily the lobby wasn't that busy, he pulled his cap down lower over his face and walked with his head down, bracing himself, he knew Mac was going to go mad at him but at least he wasn't going to get it as hard as Jesse was going to, he hadn't even made it out of bed for sound check, Dex thought being there would have at least won him a few points with Mac.
Mac and their security team were waiting at the front door
"Alright guys" he said as the band approached him
"Morning Mac" said Zach
"Hey" said CJ, Dex kept his head down
"Alright Dexter" said Mac, loudly, assuming he'd be suffering with a headache, knowing full well he'd been out drinking all night and was avoiding too much interaction.
"Yeah" replied Dex quietly
"What's that?" Teased Mac
"Yes! I'm alright" replied Dex a little louder, forced to glance at Mac.
Mac smiled, he wasn't going to give Dex a hard time he looked like he was suffering enough, Jesse on the other hand! Mac was going to let rip on him for missing lobby call.
"Guys get on the bus, I'm going to drag Jess out of his fucking bed" said Mac
The security team escorted the band outside to the bus. Ten minutes later Mac could be heard approaching the bus laying into Jesse, he stumbled up the steps into the bus to cheers and teasing from his band mates, followed closely by Mac who pretty much had to hold him up! He was still completely off his face, Dex wasn't even sure if that was only alcohol. He hoped for Jesse...and the bands sake that it was, but he had a bad feeling that it was something more. The bus sped away from the hotel heading for the venue, Dex' head was pounding. He always regretted a night out, he knew he wouldn't be at his best to perform tonight.
Sat staring blankly out of the bus window he got the feeling of de ja vu, he seemed to be spending his entire life on busses and planes at the moment when all he really wanted was to be back in England with Millie. He was desperate to take her to America to meet his family, he knew his mom would love her but between his relentless tour schedule and Millie's work commitments finding time to go was proving impossible!
Thinking of her, he pulled his phone from his pocket, still intoxicated his eyes couldn't focus on the screen and trying to concentrate made his throbbing head hurt even more, he couldn't text, instead he tapped the call button, pulling his sleeve down over the phone in an attempt to have some kind privacy. His heart began to race as he leant his head against the window and waited for the sweet sound of her voice.
She took a long time to answer
"Hello" came a familiar voice. Dex couldn't help but smile, he'd missed that voice, that accent. Her.
"Baby!" He gushed. His body instantly relaxed.
"Hey you" she replied, forgetting about the fact that she was supposed to be mad at him.
"Sorry I took ages to answer I've just come out of a design meeting" she explained
"Are you ok?" He asked
"Yeah.. Well. Kinda, I am but I'm all over the press here" she replied
"How come?" He asked, knowing they'd hardly spent any time together to do anything press-worthy!
"There's a huge picture of me on the cover of a magazine here and a big story inside about how we were secretly dating behind Lucie's back in Milan" Millie explained
"Ignore it baby, it's always totally made up, let it go over ya head" said Dex, totally un-phased by it, he was used to reading rubbish about himself all the time, it didn't get to him anymore.
"I will drop Lucie a text anyway but she'll know it's all garbage" he added
"Ok" replied Millie, still feeling pretty tense about the whole situation. She questioned whether she was going to be able to handle being in a relationship like this. This was the first test of it and already she felt like she was cracking.
"I miss you" she added, her eyes welled up a little which surprised her, she wasn't an emotional person, she figured it was probably the result of the stress of work, lack of Ricco to sort all her problems out and provide cuddles on demand and the fact that she'd been striped of her privacy all came at once and had finally got the better of her. Hearing her man's voice was just the cherry on top to set off her emotions. Dex could hear the quiver in her voice
"Sweetie are you ok?" He asked, wishing he could hug her right now
"You know if I could come to you right now I would, don't you" he added
"Yeah" she replied, wiping the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve and feeling pretty silly for getting upset, even more so in front of Maisie. She'd tried to project a confident image to Maisie but she was pretty sure that was wasted effort now.
"Listen Mil, if I can fly to England for a few hours at the weekend I will, I don't know for sure yet though" he added.
"Ok " she said, feeling slightly better at the small chance of touching him in the flesh in a few days
"I have to go into sound check now baby but I will call you later, before I go on stage, around 6pm, is that good for you?" He asked
"Yeah, anytime is good for me" she replied
"Cool. I'll talk to you later... I love you Amelie" his voice turning serious it sent shivers down her spine, it was the first time he'd used her full name ever, he never did, he was a babe, baby, sweetie kinda guy, and he hadn't just casually called her Mil or even Millie, he said Amelie, she felt like that meant something, she wished she could be that serious back, but she wasn't brave enough.
"I love you too babes" she replied, pretending to not even notice.
And that was it, he was gone again.
The working day had really dragged; looking at the clock on her desk she couldn't believe it was only 2.36pm! it had started raining and her office had quickly come over dark and dreary once again and her motivation was at 0! Feeling uninspired she was wasting time doing nothing.
"Ok that's me done today" she said to Maisie.
"Soph will sort you out some stuff to do for the rest of the day" Said Millie, packing her stuff into her bag. There was no point being there when her head just wasn't in it. She was worried that being with Dex was going to cause her career to nosedive
"Ok" replied Maisie
"Oh Mil, have you got those sketches you said you'd show me on your phone? Can I send them to myself, I want to work on my sketches tonight" Said Maisie with a sweet smile.
"Yes, I'll send them to you. Put your number in my phone" Said Millie, handing Maisie her mobile
Millie packed up her files and shoved a pile of folders into her bag
"Finish sorting those files for me Mais and Soph will tell you what to do next" Said Millie
"I'll see you soon" she added as Maisie handed her back her phone and she walked out of the office.
She was so distracted; she'd worked so hard to get to where she was. After today she really needed to knuckle down, in reality Dex working away should have fit in perfectly with her career allowing her lots of time on her own to focus on work, it was just her mind preventing it, she needed to figure out how to switch it off.
"Soph, tell Mr Salvatore Ricco's asked me to go and sort out some problems at the London store, I'll be back in on Thursday" she lied, as she rushed past reception and out of the front door clutching her work files to her chest. She felt bad lying but she knew no one would question it or check up on her and Ricco would cover for her. She just needed to work from home for a day or two until she sorted her head out.
Stuck in stand-still traffic, the rain was hammering down on the windscreen, Millie leaned over the steering wheel, she yawned, her mind wandered, what was Dex doing right now, what was he thinking about? She couldn't imagine being in his thoughts, little Millie Vine, a nobody, sat in a traffic jam in the rain wishing she could get home and throw on a onesie!
Millie wasn't an impulsive person at all, she was a planner, she didn't do anything if it wasn't on a schedule but it suddenly dawned on her that she didn't have to go into work for the next couple of days, there was nothing stopping her from jumping on a plane and spending 24hrs with Dex in Copenhagen. Well nothing apart from absolute fear of doing something so crazy and spur of the moment. It was always Dex that hopped on a plane and flew for hours for 5 minutes with her, he was used to doing things like that, it was second nature to him but to her it was a big deal! She was overcome with a mixture of nerves and excitement. Could she do this? Should she do it? Was she able to get on a plane alone, her fear of flying aside could she even navigate the airport alone?! She'd never flown anywhere on her own before, but she wanted to see him in the flesh more than it scared her as she considered the pros and cons in her head. No con was going to supersede the chance of a night with her man. Despite a battle in her head the entire way home she knew he would win and she was going to do this no matter how scary it seemed.
She rushed through the front door and straight up the stairs, packed a quick bag and grabbed her passport from her bedside drawer, she scribbled a quick note for Amber to let her know where she had gone and she was straight back out the door.
Despite the building nerves in the pit of her stomach she was wired on arrival at the airport, she pushed her wet hair away from being stuck to the sides of her face from the rain and stood on the pavement outside for a second, she needed a moment to prepare herself as the reality of what she was doing had started to set in, but it wasn't so much the impulsive decision as the impending flight that was scaring her now. She hated flying, just the thought of it made her feel sick but with a jet-setting boyfriend she had to face her fears sooner or later or she was never going to see him, it wasn't fair that it was always him coming to her.
She was ready, well, sort of. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she pulled the front of her denim jacket together a little over her plain back jersey pencil dress
She was cold and certainly not dressed appropriately for the weather but she knew adrenalin would kick in and she'd be sweating on the plane and she wanted to look nice for when Dex saw her so she was wearing a dress no mater what the weather threw at her.
Millie's tense body could finally relax as the wheels touched down, she was relieved that it had been a reasonably smooth flight and even more relieved that she'd got on the right plane and survived! It was over and she could get off soon! The excitement began to build in the pit of her stomach, she was going to see Dex in the flesh soon, she looked at her watch 6.47pm, it dawned on her that she had no idea where he was! He'd be going on stage shortly, but she didn't have a clue where he was performing!
Waiting in baggage claims, she pulled out her phone and looked on the bands website for their tour schedule. She took a screen shot of the address, it was going to be easier to show it to a cab driver than to try and pronounce that name she thought.
After having her phone switched off on the plane her texts began to come through, not having time to read them all now she glanced at the first one
Ari
Mils, are you around this weekend? If you are please come dress shopping with me, I'm having a major meltdown about the lack of time! Call me. Love Aria xxxx
Ooh yay! Thought Millie, she couldn't wait to go dress shopping with her big sister, her wedding had been a total shock to Millie, they'd been engaged for years, Millie didn't think they'd ever actually get married so when Aria called her just a few weeks ago and said they'd booked the wedding for 6 weeks time, it came as a complete surprise. Millie was excited, she loved a big family get together. She just hoped Dex could come, it would be the perfect opportunity for her to introduce him to all of her family.
The baggage carousel seemed to have gone round full circle at least three times since she got there, with no sign of her bag! With just one small bag she wished she had carried it on the plane with her instead.
Getting frustrated and impatient, she finally spotted it, pushing her way to the front of the crowd gathered around the conveyor belt she began to panic slightly that she wouldn't get there in time and would look like an idiot having to wait for it to come round again! Remembering that this was one of the very reasons she didn't do things alone! Struggling to pull her heavy bag off the moving belt she'd have done anything to have Ricco with her right now! Managing to grab it she threw her bag over her shoulder and turned to walk away, catching the eye of a group of teenage girls beside her who stared right at her for a few seconds before whispering amongst themselves. She knew they knew who she was, being recognized was a weird feeling for Millie, it made her feel more vulnerable and alone than she already did. She pulled her sunglasses down from her head in an attempt to hide from any more of Dex' fans but wearing sunglasses inside the airport only drew more attention to the fact that she was hiding herself. She walked quickly through the airport terminal building, her heart beating fast, palms sweating she couldn't wait to get into the safety of a cab outside. 'This is the first and last time I am ever doing anything like this alone!' She told herself, her pace quickened as she spotted the exit ahead.
Just a few steps from the door she jumped as a girls voice called her name from behind her. Stopping dead in her tracks she turned around the group of several teenage girls were rushing towards her
"OH FUCK" thought Millie, not knowing how the hell to deal with it! What did they even want?! Dex wasn't with her. She could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest, a lump had formed in her throat as the girls approached her all trying to talk at her at the same time.
"Amelia!, your Amelia, right?"
"Where's Dex?"
"Is Dex coming?"
"Is he with you?"
"Woah!!" Said Millie, overwhelmed by the interrogation!
"Slow down!" She added
"Is Dex with you?" Asked one of the group excitedly
"No.." The excited expressions on every girls replaced with disappointment.
"He is here already, but not travelling with me I'm afraid" she added, improving the expressions on most of the girls face with the news that he was at least on the same soil. She relaxed a little bit as she realized it was just a bunch of teenage girls who lusted after her boyfriend, as weird as that was, it wasn't threatening. She noticed one of the group was wearing a t-shirt with Dex on the front, she exhaled deeply, feeling in over her head.
"Look Millie, look!" Said one of the girls,
"I've got your boyfriend tattoo'd on me" she said, lifting her t-shirt to reveal a palm size portrait of Dex on her ribs. Millie gasped
"Oh my goodness!!!" She had no idea what to say, she'd never seen anything like it! It was beyond crazy!! There was no way the girl was even legally old enough to have a tattoo!
she was never going to find this stuff normal
"Let me take a picture, I'll show it to Dex" she said, pulling her phone from her breast pocket. The girls squealed at the thought of their idol seeing the tattoo. But in truth Millie was only taking a photo because she'd never seen anything quite so insane!!
"What hotel is he staying at?" asked one of the girls, a huge grin on her face as if she thought Millie was actually going to give away that information!
"I actually have no idea! I'm trying to find that out myself" replied Millie, she wasn't lying!
"He's probably just sleeping on a tour bus somewhere" she added
"Can you give him this?" Asked another girl, holding out a notebook with Dex' name scribbled all over the front, reluctantly Millie took it from her, before she really had a chance to look at it another two girls pulled out gifts from their bags
"Can you give him this too please? It would really mean so much to me! We saw him at the show last night but he didn't come out after so we didn't get the chance to give him our gifts" Said the little dark haired girl, she couldn't have been any more than 14!, which slightly creeped Millie out
"Err, yeah" she replied, when really she wanted to say 'No, bugger off, he doesn't want all your shit!' But she knew she couldn't. Taking a rolled up piece of paper from the third girl she attempted to get away.
"I've gotta go, sorry girls" said Millie, taking a step back from them
"I'll make sure he gets these" smiled Millie, holding up the handful of gifts she now had to lug around with her. The girls faces instantly lit up at the thought of their idol seeing what they'd made for him. Millie's mind instantly took her back to that room where she first laid eyes on him, when she, like the group of girls was just an infatuated fan, she too would have done everything to get something to him, to just know that she existed! She let her guard down a little, suddenly feeling powerful she had everything these girls wanted and more, it wouldn't hurt to give them a little something.
She pulled her phone from her pocket again
"Hey so what are your names so I can tell him who these things are from?" Asked Millie, sending the excitement level of the group instantly rise!
"Oh my gosh!! Umm, I'm Freja" "Isabella" "Kirstine" "Sofia" "Rosa" answered the group, Millie tried to type them quickly into her phone but barely managed the first two!
"Do any of you have a Twitter name so he can say thank you?" Asked Millie, sending the girls into a mini frenzy as they argued about whose Twitter handle to give!
"@FrejaMadsen" replied the girl at the front, the obvious dominant in the group. Millie pretended to type it into her phone, knowing full well there was no chance he was going to tweet anything! But at least she'd probably made the group of fans happy for now.
"I gotta go, nice meeting you all" said Millie. As she turned to walk away she could hear their camera phones snapping photos of her.
Pushing through the doors she was relieved to be outside, out of sight of the girls she shoved all the stuff they'd given her down into her bag and queued for a taxi.