Out of The Box Regifted (39 page)

Tears fall from Brian’s closed eyes, as he grips Todd’s arm, “I know man.” His voice cracks. “I know.”

Tommy turns to face Brian and is nervously shaking his foot. “Brian, man you’re like a brother to me. Avenue’s drums will always be yours. We just want the old Brian back.” He wipes his tears away, as Emily comes to sit on the bed, placing her arms around him.

Brady sits on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands and wrenches, as he sobs through his words, “Bri, we weren’t there for you and I’m fucking sorry. We fucking should have helped you. Christ, I’m so sorry...” He’s overcome and fights to continue, as Emily gently rubs his back to calm him.

He moves onto the bed and sits face to face with Brian, taking his hands, “Please get off this shit and come back to us. We aren’t Avenue without you dude, and you KNOW it.”

Shivering and teeth clattering, Brian starts crying. He leans in, looking up at Todd and whispers, “I…I can’t do this...I’m…” He starts to sob, as Todd sternly reassures him, “Yes Bri, you fucking can do this, and you will.”

The next morning, Jeff arrives and Ash’s phone rings at 5am. He quickly gets out of bed, walking into the sitting room, trying not to wake me, but I still hear their conversation.

I hear him yawn. “Morning Jeff - so you’re here?” He grabs a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt, laying them on the chair. “Okay let me throw on some clothes and I’ll come down. Give me five or ten minutes.”

Ash calls Tommy and asks him to let the guys know. The plan is for them all to go to Brian’s room, where Todd has spent the night. They’ll all leave via the stairs and out the back, to avoid any unwanted press. Ash has arranged for a car and security to escort them to the airport, where his plane will take Brian and Jeff to the rehab facility. My heart is beating out of my chest and I take deep breaths, as Ash kisses me goodbye. He wipes a tear from my cheek. “Liv, honey this is what Brian needs. Everything is gonna be alright, I promise you. I’ll call you once we get to the airport.” He hugs me tight and I realize that he is in total control of the situation.

After he’s gone downstairs, I get a text from Todd. ‘
D-day Olivia. Say a prayer and we’ll call you.
’ I text him back with an emoticon of a thumb’s up. He texts me back a heart.

I can’t go back to sleep. It’s impossible, so I text Emily, who is awake as well. She texts back immediately.
‘Coffee please????’

The guys are all back around noon and we all go for lunch. Brian is off and in good hands.

With Brian obviously on the minds of everyone today, it feels like a family member has just left. Rowdy keeps us amused, and is relentless in his attempts to lift our spirits. “I can play drums guys. I’ll fill in, you’ll see… I’m not Brian, but I promise, I won’t let ya down. Brian will be back better than ever really soon.”

The girls, Ash, and I pile into the limo he’s gotten to take us to the venue for the show. There’s an eerie silence in the car. Everyone has a melancholy feeling with Brian on their minds, and thank God Emily gets us out of our funk. “So, tonight we’ll celebrate Brian. We’re gonna party and have a blast. Is everyone in? Come on. Let’s cheer up. Our guys are depending on us and we’ve got to do it. Olivia, you’re the dancer in the bunch. I’m counting on you to get us started. And Ash, you’d better get out there too. Kyra and I will follow your lead.” Kyra shakes her head, and we all toast a glass of champagne to Brian. Ash kisses me and whispers in my ear. “You’re gonna have to get us going hon. I promise you a Giant after party.” With one hand, he’s holding mine and is gently rubbing my leg with his other. The venue is packed and once again, Avenue does not disappoint. Rowdy’s a great stand in and I don’t think they miss a beat. No mention from the band to the crowd that Brian isn’t there. A female singer from the Devil Dogs seductively walks over to where Todd is standing. She puts a finger up to his chin and he firmly puts his arm around her, pulling her into him, looking like a skilled tango dancer. She’s gorgeous, with very short spiked jet black hair and is wearing a sexy very revealing black leather studded bustier. Her legs are the longest I’ve ever seen and the fishnet hose accentuate it. As she dramatically pulls away from his hold, she raises her head cocking it and slowly walks over to a stool. The room is quiet and you can hear the click click click of her stiletto heels slowly walking across the stage. The lights go down and she’s sitting on a stool, with her legs spread to the side. As the music starts, I recognize the song as
Just Give Me a Reason
. She’s got an incredible voice and you’d swear it was Pink, if you didn’t know better. Emotional in her singing, the lights shine on Todd, who appears angry, and sings the words of the song into her face. Knowing what’s happened between him and Kyra, I feel he’s singing this to her.

Todd and this singer are passionately exchanging words of the song, when Todd comes to the end of the stage dropping to his knees singing, almost begging into the microphone, looking into Kyra’s eyes and screams the words in harmony with the female singer, “
We’ll come clean.
” Girls are screaming and moving towards the stage. Todd is oblivious and all he’s got on his mind is Kyra. She’s crying and he holds his arm out to her. She blows a kiss to him, as he gets up and gives two fingers up.

The crowd roars, as the two singers embrace after the song. The lights go off and we’re all left stunned. I’m seeing duets in the future for these two.

We party after the show at the hospitality suite for a short time, and then Ash and I head to our room, as we say our goodnights to everyone. I can tell that Ash is worn out, physically and mentally, so we climb into bed and fall asleep almost immediately.

The next day, we head to the studio for the video shoot. How they’re going to do this without Brian, I don’t know, but the crew seems to have everything under control. The guys are all shirtless for the first take and I’m in awe. I feel bad staring, but the artwork on their bodies is incredible - absolutely incredible. Tattoos adorn their muscular bodies and the crew is there to powder, apply makeup, muss up hair and make them look their best. They have Todd in an almost nude pose. He is totally uninhibited and is playing for the camera. Kyra is standing by me, gushing with giddiness. She has a fan girl look on her face, as she playfully knocks into Emily. “He’s such a good looking guy. Isn’t he flippin hot? And to think he’s mine.”

They’ve got him straddling a motorcycle with only minimal, and I mean minimal, clothing on. He’s smiling at us, throws a wink and wittingly sticks out his tongue, definitely enjoying being the center of attention. They take several shots of him in different poses. Some are pretty risqué.

Next up is Tommy and they’ve got him shirtless, in tight low slung jeans, leaning back in a chair, with his foot propped up on a crate, looking down at his guitar and his head cocked to the side. He’s got a serious, but sultry look. I’m not sure about these sexy poses, but Emily and Kyra seem fine with it. Ash nudges me and motions me with his head to walk where we can talk privately.

Standing with his legs spread and his arms crossed, he looks over the top of his glasses, with a look of displeasure. “What the hell are they doing? I thought this was supposed to be a music video, not a sex shoot.” He’s uncomfortable and definitely not impressed.

I laugh and hug him, while patting his cheek. “Chill out Dad. It’s called publicity. Besides, Emily and Kyra seem to be fine with it.”

We stay at the studio the better part of the day, and when the shooting wraps up the guys are ushered off to the bus to bring them back to the hotel. They go in the back entrance, since there are fans in the lobby. It seems like their fan base is growing by the day.

I’m sad that we’ll be leaving in the morning and they will be off to yet another destination. I just can’t wait until we’re all home for the holidays. By Christmas we’ll have a grandbaby and new reasons to celebrate. Ash said that he would love to have Christmas at our new condo in Houston, and I’m looking forward to it.

The flight home is sad and I’m gonna miss our guys, but up next is the trip of a lifetime. Ash and I are headed to Paris. I’m going to make damn sure that his birthday is something to remember.

Passport? Check. All packed? Done. Excited? YES.

It’s finally Wednesday, June 12th, 5:10pm. Flight 667 from Chicago O’Hare to Paris. Our flight, Ash said is going to be 8 hours and 10 minutes. I’ve never been on a flight over 2 hours. Another first for me. What do you even do on an 8 hour flight? I’ve downloaded books onto my Kindle, and will resolve to get some good reading done. Lainey gave me the name of an author she’s just read named Diane Rinella, and sent me the link to her trilogy, which is perfect. I consider myself a quick reader and love books written in a series! Before they make us turn off our phones, I check in with my Lainey and tell her I’ve downloaded the books. “Mom, I gotta warn you it’s a very controversial subject, but her books are amazingly well written and you’ll love them. Let me know what you think.”

Once on the plane, sitting in business class, we settle in. Ash playfully puts his forehead to mine then looks at me, smiling, “Liv, I can’t wait to show you Paris. It’s the most romantic city in the world and I promise honey, I’ll show you every damn corner of it. I’ve got lots of surprises planned and you won’t be disappointed.”

I plant a huge kiss on his lips. “I’ve got my own surprises planned as well. I can’t wait Ash.”

He looks at me with a questionable look on his face. “Surprises for me?”

“I’ve been known to throw a few too, Mr. Harper. Just you wait.” I bite my lip and giggle, as I think about the surprise I have planned for him.

I read, snuggle, read some more, listen to music and in no time, we land in Paris. I’d fallen asleep and Ash nudges me awake. “Honey, wake up sleepy head. We’re landing shortly.”

I gaze out and watch the plane land. Anticipation and excitement are boiling over, and I must look like a kid in a candy shop.

We arrive at 8:20am, Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. My heart is racing, as Ash ushers us off the plane to get our luggage. We’re met by a driver, who takes our bags and escorts us to a beautiful Phantom Rolls Royce limousine, complete with Hermes detail. This is just incredible. I’ve never in my life been inside of a Rolls Royce, much less a designer series. I’m excited, as I jump into Ash’s arms, wrapping my legs around him. “Ash this is so…” He cuts me off mid-sentence, by twirling me around and looks at me lovingly, “Liv, this is so you.” He brushes my hair back from my face and looks at me with those oh so sexy eyes. “I want to show you Paris first class honey. Everything we’ll be doing is gonna be over the top and I just hope you love it.”

I plant little kisses playfully all over his face, as the driver watches, grinning.

“This city is as beautiful as you are, Sunshine. I want you to savor every moment, take it all in and know that every single thing I have planned is to make you happy.” He sets me down, as the driver stands patiently by the car door, then bows as he helps me inside.

The drive to the Four Seasons George V Hotel is magnificent. Ash sits lengthwise in the seat and positions me to sit at the other end, facing him. There is champagne for us in the limo and we toast to us. With our feet touching, he hands me a glass, then taking his own says “Liv, this is to us to the life we’ll share. To the woman who completes me, in every single way.”

I put my fingers to my quivering lips, as he continues, “You’re everything to me and I love you so damn much. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being my soul mate and thank you, for being the woman everyone envies.” We toast our glasses and I have tears in my eyes.

“Ash, I love you with every breath I have and I hope you realize that. You are the sexiest, most wonderful man and I have to thank
you
for loving me. My life was so crazy and messed up, but you found me. Somehow, you rescued me, gave me life, gave me breath and I swear on my life, I owe you everything.” I move toward him and lay my head on his shoulder. “Liv, let’s just have a good time, forget all the problems we have and let me show you how much you mean to me. Are you down for that?”

I nod; I’m so ready for this.

We check in, and our suite has a breathtaking view of the city. We’re treated like royalty and I’m bursting with excitement…ready to set out and see this magnificent city. Ready, until Ash insists that I take a nap. He takes my hand and leads me to the bed, while pulling the covers back. “We’ll have plenty of time to do sightseeing, Sunshine. You need to take a little nap. We’re booked on a Seine River cruise this evening and…” He looks over his glasses at me, “And you need to be rested.”