"How is it that my brother and my best friend are both employed by Post Malone and I'm over here working a boring ass nine to five!" Sofia exclaimed over facetime after I broke the news to her about my new job.
I chuckled lowly and shook my head at her mixture of excitement and envy as she rambled on about lucky I was to work for a famous rock star.
Her voice drowned into a blur as I let out a long and heavy sigh of frustration. I couldn't help but feel nervous about my first day which was right around the corner. I only had a few more days to pack essentially my entire life into two suitcases and mentally prepare myself for what was to come.
Included in my email from Dre was my formal offer letter of employment, along with the details and locations of the remainder of the Runaway tour and a daily itinerary.
I stressfully ran my fingers through my unbrushed hair while I finished packing my luggage.
I don't know what is what about this new job but I was anxious. I wasn't a exactly rookie to the lifestyle but something I couldn't put my finger on made me feel highly strung. Working along side movie stars was no walk in the park but concerts every night in different states? This was a completely different ballgame.
Of course I was calm and collected on the outside during my interview due to the simple fact that I wanted this job. But now that I managed to get it, I was second guessing my skills and ability to actually go through with this.
"You look like you're going to be sick Lena! What's wrong?" Sofia asked, breaking me out of my deep hole of overthinking as she noticed my sudden change in facial expression.
I huffed as I couldn't seem to hide any type emotion from my best friend. She knew me like the back of her hand after knowing each other for nearly fifteen years. However, it also didn't help that when something bothered me, it was written all over my face.
"I don't know Sof. I guess I'm just worried about a new environment. New people that I don't know. I hope I get along with everyone while also being able to be successful my job. This is the highest position I've ever gotten and I don't want to screw it up." I shrugged. "A part of me is thinking that this tour life is way over my head and I haven't even started yet." I briefly closed by eyes and inhaled a deep breath.
"Lee you're smart and hard working and good at what you do. And you get along with everyone, you know that! Plus you have Adam! He says everyone on tour is amazing and supportive of one another and Post Malone is the nicest sweetest guy ever to work for so don't even sweat it. You'll be great. Everyone will love you. You can do this." Sofia smiled widely as she tried her best to calm my jittery nerves.
I let her kind words sink in before I cleared my throat to respond .
"Thank you for always being there for me love. Seriously your pep talks are the best. What the hell would I do without you?" I grinned at Sofia, thankful for girl that was basically like a sister to me.
"Honestly you would probably be fucked." She answered without a hint of humor on her face, before bursting out with laughter.
*****
It was near one in the morning and my head began to horribly ache as my plane from LA finally landed in the city of Portland. The flight was more than comfortable as I was perched up in first class with unlimited food and drinks.
However, my absolute fear of flying along with the apprehensive butterflies doing backflips in my stomach did not make for the best combination while I was up in the air.
I made my way through the busy bustling airport, quickly stopping to search for my baggage. I lugged my two overloaded suitcases, one in each hand as I made my way to the exit of the terminal. I came to halt, just before I fumbled to pull my phone out of back pocket.
Just as I unlocked it, I heard my name being yelled from a short distance. My head instantly shot up to search for where the voice was coming from, to be met with a very familiar face.
"Lena! Holy shit come here!" Adam called as he made his way towards me through the small crowd of people outside of the arrival area.
"Adam! Oh my god it's been too long!" I exclaimed as I grabbed onto my suitcases to meet him at the curb. I threw my arms around him once I reached him and squealed in excitement.
It had been about six months since I had seen him, which was a while considering he was constantly traveling to LA for work. Adam had always been like an older brother to me, since I grew up next door to him and Sofia. He visited me as much as he could whenever he was in my area, but lately with how busy he's been, it's been quite some time since we've caught up.
"Here let me take your bags." He offered as he led me to an all black Escalade parked nearby.
"Thanks! And I can't tell you how grateful I am for you helping me to get the job. I literally could not have gotten it without you." I expressed as he opened the backseat of the SUV for me to get inside.
He closed the door after I climbed in and rushed over to the other side.
"Lena stop, you're more than deserving of this job and you know it. All I did was slightly talk you up, that's all. I knew you'd get hired." He grinned as we rode quietly away from the airport.
We caught up for the rest of the car ride and became so wrapped up in our conversation that I forgot to even ask where exactly we were going.
I stopped mid-sentence as we came to a full stop in front of what looked like a house. My brows furrowed in confusion as I was somewhat expecting a hotel.
"We're here." Adam said before he got out of his side and made his way to the trunk to grab my things.
"We're staying here?" I asked curiously as I made my way outside of the car and looked over to him.
"Yeah, it's an Air B and B for all of us on tour. There's two shows here in Portland plus a few nights off so a house made more sense than a hotel." Adam explained.
"Gotcha." I responded, a yawn escaping my lips as I followed him to the front door.
I was secretly hoping everyone was sleeping so I could meet them all when I was more put together and freshened up, but who was I kidding, from all the stories I heard from Adam, everyone liked to stay up and party.
It was to my surprise when we walked into an extremely quiet and dark house, with no one in sight.
"Everyone was pretty beat after tonight's show, I guess they all went to bed. You'll get to meet the team tomorrow." Adam said quietly as he showed me around the place, finally leading me to the room I was going to be sleeping in.
"Thanks for picking me up Adam I appreciate it."
"Of course don't mention it. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Goodnight." I whispered before I shut the door behind me.
I let out a sigh of relief that I didn't have to interact with anyone as of yet, as I was much too tired and needed to get some sleep.
I discovered the connecting bathroom in my room and took the opportunity to take a much needed late night shower before I turned in for the night.
After I stepped out of the steamy bathroom, I dried off and ruffled through my stuffed suitcase. I then quickly slipped into a small tank top and a pair of shorts to sleep in.
Figuring no one else was awake, I didn't bother to cover up with my robe as I slipped out of my bedroom to grab a glass of water from the kitchen.
I tiptoed quietly, careful not to make any noise as I finally made my way to the fridge. I opened it and bypassed the abundance of Bud Light cans to reach for a chilled bottle of water. I screwed off the cap and took a long sip, still standing in front of the open refridgerator door.
I was too busy chuckling to myself about the tower of beer to notice the presence of someone else in the room.
I closed the door and turned around, only to gasp and nearly spill my opened water bottle all over the floor.
"Holy shit." I exclaimed, clutching my chest as I stood against the counter in pure shock. My chest heaved uncontrollably and my pulse pounded back and forth throughout my body.
I let my myself take in the sight before me as I absorbed the image of who was standing across from me.
There was dark ink scattered across his entire body which was bare from the waist up.
My eyes lingered from the tattoos on his torso and traveled up to the infamous "Always Tired" written just below his sharp blue eyes which were curiously following my every move in the slight darkness of the room. I watched as they dropped down, slowly eyeing me from head to toe.
His curly hair was a disheveled mess on top of his head and he stood before me in nothing but a black pair of boxers.
His eyes finally made their way back up to meet mine as we stood in silence. Neither of us spoke a single word as we continued to stare at one another, as if we couldn't break the eye contact if we tried.
I bit down on my bottom lip, unsure how to break the ice between us.
Fuck, this was definitely not how I wanted to make my first impression.
"I'm Lena. I'm the new hire on the management team." I spoke up, my voice trembling as I spoke.
I took a step forward and extended my hand to shake his.
He looked down at my hand before glancing back up at me.
He stretched out his arm, taking my small hand into his own. I inhaled sharply as I felt his warm skin connect with mine.
"Austin."
He replied in a smooth quiet tone. His voice was low and raspy as he glared at me. His pink lips remained serious without even a hint of a smile as he let go of my hand.
"I'm sorry if I woke you up. I was trying to be quiet." I lightly chuckled.
His face remained hard and emotionless as he finally broke eye contact with me.
"It's okay." He mumbled, walking past me to help himself to the fridge. I turned around to face him, despite the feeling of awkwardness between us.
"Well it's nice to meet you, I'm looking forward to working with you. I guess I'm going to head to bed. Goodnight." I said with a half smile at my lips, trying to salvage our unexpected encounter.
I watched him clench his jaw, his deep blue eyes boring into mine once again.
"Goodnight Lena."