Missing You, Missing Me

by Paige, Tylor

  He looked up from his phone and frowned when he saw me. “What are you doing down here? Are the guys here?” He peered in past me but frowned again. I stepped aside for him to come in. He sighed when he realized Mark and Derek were gone. He paused a few steps in and stared at the bed Adrian was in. He then turned towards me with bulging eyes.

  “What?” I asked, moving further into the room to see. I burst into laughter. Adrian had taken off his shirt and tossed his pants and underwear on the floor right at Sam’s feet. He was clutching the blanket over his lap.

  “You two? Again?” He almost shrieked. In between gasping for air, I threw Adrian’s pants at him. He caught them mid-air and slid out of bed to slip them on. I turned away just in time that I only saw his bare ass and not any of his front.

  “Never. Again,” we both said in unison. Sam scowled and pulled out his phone.

  “Well anyways. I’m glad you’re here because I was going to make sure you all were ready for tomorrow. We head out at ten a.m. Everyone be showered. It doesn’t matter what you wear. Cleo, no makeup. Same old routine.

  I also wanted to tell you guys that I found out what the concept for the video is. It’s going to be big,” he said excitedly. I sat down cross-legged on the bed and Adrian did the exact same on purpose. Sam eyed us with annoyance before taking a seat on a chair across the room and continuing.

  “They hired a bunch of extras. I think they are going to have you guys performing for them,” he paused. “Also, I heard that Duchess, the Duchess, is going to be there.” My good mood deflated. Why was she going to be there? Did Ethan know?

  “Cleo, you’ll be kissing Ethan. Maybe another man too. Eh, it’s complicated. I’ll just let you be surprised,” he quickly finished when he saw me open my mouth to protest. I didn’t want to keep kissing every man they told me to.

  “Who do I get to kiss?” Adrian said, thankfully changing the subject. Sam looked up from his phone.

  “Pick an extra. But don’t get it on camera. I know both bands were part of this, but let’s face it. This is all about Cleo and Ethan. Hate to say it, but it’s the truth. We want to see them kissing. Not you. We can see you kissing anytime, anywhere, anyone for that matter,” he muttered.

  Standing up, Sam reminded us of tomorrow’s schedule. He made us promise to get the others there in one piece. I should probably get some rest, I yawned. Sleep meant going back to my suite. That put a pit in my stomach. Had Ethan gone next door, or back upstairs? I toyed with the idea of moving Adrian upstairs with me. On one hand, I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to sleep alone. On the other hand, if I was alone with Ethan that could lead to bad things.

  “Adrian, let’s go get Mark and Derek, and then we’ll go upstairs,” I finally decided. Adrian put his hands up in innocence.

  “Hey, I was just messing with Sam. I don’t know what you’re thinking but…” I took that moment to push him off the bed. He fell with a thump! Standing up, we went to find the other members of our band.

  Thankfully Mark and Derek were still in the room with Cruel Distraction. You could hear the music from in the hallway. I made Adrian go in after them. When they didn’t come out, I went in myself to remind both bands that if they didn’t sleep off some of their drunkenness that they would look like crap for the biggest video of our careers to date.

  The party goers, I assumed old friends or new fans all groaned and booed me. I flipped them off, and Mark and Derek followed me out. Before we shut the door, I heard someone say that I was right and they should probably get the party wrapped up. Told you, I thought. Ethan hadn’t been inside.

  We got them into their room. Now that Adrian was coming with me they each got their own bed. Once they were asleep, which wasn’t long, we headed upstairs. Before I opened the door, I paused to listen. I didn’t hear anything. My stomach was in knots. As much as I didn’t want to talk to him, I still hoped he was here.

  Happiness flooded me when I opened the door and saw him watching TV on the couch. Ethan turned, and his face brightened until he saw Adrian behind me. “Really?” He said, annoyed. I looked at Adrian, who threw his hands up.

  “I’m out,” he said, and turned right around heading downstairs. I tried to protest, but he was already gone. I trudged inside. Without speaking to Ethan, I went into my room.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to force myself to sleep. There was a knock and Ethan opened the door a few inches. I opened my eyes. “Am I really taking the couch? It’s cold out there,” he said, looking so disappointed.

  “Where else would you sleep?” I snapped, harsher than I intended. He flinched and then his face hardened. A second later he strolled over and climbed into the bed. I sat up, my mouth open and I turned to him. “What are you doing?”

  He grabbed the blanket and pulled. “The suite was in my name too. You get that side, I’ll sleep on this side,” he told me. I was dumbfounded. Plopping back onto my side, I pulled the blanket back over to me.

  “Fine, but you stay over there,” I snapped. He laughed dryly.

  “Alright. I don’t think I’ll be the issue,” he said. I rolled over to glare at him.

  “What are you saying?”

  “Nothing. Go to sleep.” He told me and turned away, pulling the blanket back over to him. I let out a frustrated sigh and tried to relax. He fell asleep quickly. I could hear his breathing steady. I was still wide awake. I turned back to him. He looked so comfy. I had taken back the blanket, leaving him half uncovered. I took the time to admire him.

  He had toned all those muscles. His once soft, flat belly was now a hard six pack. I noticed his arms were harder, thicker. Nothing a stranger would notice, but someone who knew his body intimately could tell. I wanted to run my fingers up and down his chest, to trace all of his new tattoos. I shivered, a chill running through me. It was freezing in here.

  I wrapped myself in the blanket but still couldn’t get warm. I glared at Ethan. Warm and peacefully sleeping. I wanted his heat. Hating him for being right, I scooted closer to him and pushed my bare feet against his legs.

  He jolted awake. “Wha…” he mumbled and then looked down at me. I smiled apologetically. He smirked and with no hesitation pulled me into his arms. I snuggled close, and in moments I heard his breathing slow again.

  Letting the warmth of his body seep into mine, I closed my eyes, finally able to get some rest. I woke up to him stirring. I groaned and squeezed the arm holding me. “I hate you,” I moaned, my eyes still shut. Ethan chuckled, and I felt his lips on my neck. A shiver went over me.

  “I know,” he kissed my shoulder.

  “You’re a furnace.” I wiggled closer to his core.

  “I know,” his hands moved from my belly upward. His lips began to explore past my neck. I shivered with pleasure.

  The alarm that woke us started beeping again. We tried to ignore it, but the sound grew louder. With a sigh, Ethan pulled his lips away from my ear and shut it off. I sat up, embarrassed. Why was I letting this happen? He turned back to me with hooded eyes and that sexy smile. He tried to nudge me back down, but I put my hand up. He frowned.

  “Ethan, this is a bad idea. I don’t think we should… I have Chris, and you have Duchess.”

  “I don’t have Duchess,” he said sharply.

  “Really? She’s going to be at the shoot today,” I accused. He let out a frustrated groan and moved off the bed. I stayed on the bed while he hurried out. I heard the bathroom door slam and the shower start.

  We got ready for the day not speaking to each other. It wasn’t hard, most of the time he had been on the phone. Whoever was on the other side got an earful. I had a strong feeling it was his manager. “What made you think this was a good idea?” He demanded. “I don’t care. I don’t care. Kyle you better fix it. No. No! I’m not kidding.” He hung up, and the room grew silent. You could hear a pin drop. It felt terrible.

  When we got to the studio, we were all separated. Ethan and I got our own dressing rooms, while everyone else shared one. I was
disappointed that I didn’t have anyone to talk to while we were prepped. After Ethan’s phone call rant, word had spread like wildfire. I heard someone whisper that it was me who didn’t want her here. I didn’t, but I wasn’t the one causing a fuss.

  As soon as we arrived, Ethan walked in and stormed right into his dressing room, slamming the door. After stepping into my own, I heard someone say that Duchess’ room was also ready. Was she given a private dressing room for a music video that wasn’t hers?

  In my room, I found a rack filled to the brim with clothes. There were four women inside. Tammy and Linda for my hair, Christine for makeup, and Tonya was wardrobe. They all introduced themselves at the same time. They were all super bubbly, making my sour mood quickly disappear.

  “I love the concept. So romantic,” Tammy said as she brushed my hair.

  “What is it?” I asked. The girls all paused to look at each other with conspiratorial smiles.

  “Missed connections,” Christine said cryptically, causing the women to erupt into giggles.

  They dressed me in a white dress shirt and tie, with a red plaid skirt. My lips were ruby red, eyes dark with eyeliner and black eyeshadow. After they freshened up the pink in my hair, they threw a wig cap on me and set a dark brown wig on my head. I was looking at the 16 year old version of me. They covered up Ethan’s name with concealer. I protested, but they assured me that Ethan was getting his covered too, just for a small bit of the video.

  Finally, they took a step back announcing I was ready. I stood up and went to the set. There was a stage, and our instruments were set up. The black curtain behind everything was spray painted with the words “battle of the bands.” All of the extras were dressed like fans. They chatted while waiting for filming to start.

  I looked around for my bandmates. I wanted to laugh. It was like stepping through time. We were all teenagers again. Mark had a long blond wig on his head. They gave Derek a beanie and Adrian was wearing baggy pants and armbands. Wow, we were huge dorks.

  Moments later Cruel Distraction stepped out. They were dressed similarly. Ethan was wearing tight jeans, a ripped black shirt, and spiked bracelet. They had laid on the eyeliner super heavy and had spiked his hair up. Most of his tattoos had also been covered. The other guys looked similar to him. This was pretty hilarious. Half of us looked amused, while the others looked embarrassed. Ethan was scowling.

  The director, a middle-aged man with dirty blond hair and warm eyes, came over and introduced himself. His name was Paul, and he was a big fan he told me. He called both bands over and began explaining what he wanted us to do.

  “Okay Cleo, this scene is pretty self-explanatory. We are going to play one of your old songs to perform for the battle of the bands where you and Ethan first meet. He’s going to be standing in the wings. Arms crossed checking you out. You see him and kind of pause, smile, flirt a little. Don’t stop singing. Then we’ll trade bands and have Cruel Distraction play, while you, Cleo, are on the sidelines talking to one of the extras. Ethan, you get determined to win her. She looks over and sees you and eyes you like bring it on. Got all that?” We all agreed more or less and got into place. I stood at the front of the stage and waited for my cue.

  They started to play our song. I started jamming and pretending to sing. Seconds later “Cut!” was called and the music stopped. I looked around confused, and then I heard the yelling.

  Searching the room, I found the cause of it. Ethan and Duchess. Ethan was screaming at her. Her arms were crossed over her chest, while his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. Everyone turned to watch them.

  “Why are you here?” He yelled. She smirked.

  “I thought you could use a little help. You throw in a real celebrity, and your video shoots to the top.”

  “We don’t need you. I don’t want your help.”

  “We? Or her? I’m not stupid!” She screamed.

  “Me! I do not want you here. Can I make it any clearer?” He shouted.

  “I’m staying. Just be glad it’s me and not her husband,” she said, not caring who heard. The blood drained from my face.

  “Someone get them apart!” Paul shouted, and suddenly two giant men came up behind Ethan. He rolled his eyes and stormed off. Duchess looked quite pleased with herself. She turned to look at the crowd that had gathered. She flashed her smile and bounced off to her dressing room.

  We waited another five minutes for Ethan to return. He was significantly calmer. Apologizing, he went to his marker and we started shooting again. The music blared, and I started singing again. I relaxed and let myself enjoy the moment. I wasn’t going to let her presence ruin today.

  I saw one of the crew members motion for me to look to my left, I did so and saw Ethan standing there. He was smiling at me, his eyebrow raised. It felt real for a moment. I returned his smile and turned back to the stage. We did this a few more times before trading spots.

  When it was my turn, I locked eyes with Ethan as I rubbed my hand on the cute extras arm. His jaw tightened as he turned away. They loved it. I secretly loved it too. Something inside told me that his jealousy wasn’t strictly for the cameras. That was real.

  Next, they filmed me taking his hand and leading him away. We had a few quick kisses, then a montage of us doing stuff together. We had to change clothes three times just for this part. Changing the outfits went quickly, but changing wigs was a pain in the ass.

  Then they put us in front of a tattoo parlor. It was dark, as if night time. They had me sitting on a short cement wall, lip syncing. I was wearing a wife beater and short mini skirt. Ethan had a leather jacket and jeans, his hair pushed back like an old school greaser. They had removed our makeup on our necks, we would be revealing our tattoos to the world.

  “Okay, now I want you to make out. You guys are madly in love with each other. Are you guys good?” Paul asked. Ethan shrugged and turned to me. I gave a thumbs up.

  “I’m ready whenever,” I said, tired. I felt like we had been at this for hours.

  We got into place. Ethan placed his hands on my neck and hips. I grabbed his neck, pulling him between my legs. The director yelled action, and the song began to play. He pressed his forehead to mine, and I smiled up at him. We kissed and then I opened my mouth to make this scene as hot and heavy as they asked. It felt very technical and not even a little sexy. They were continuously shouting at us to move this hand, turn that way.

  Suddenly, I felt something hard press against me and without thinking I grabbed him and pulled him closer, almost desperate to kiss him. He went with it. His lips suddenly dipped lower, and he kissed my tattoo. I shuddered. Suddenly the director yelled cut. We both pulled away quickly. That last kiss was real.

  Ethan mumbled an apology and turned away from me to adjust himself. There were chuckles, but we quickly moved on. Next, they wanted me to be leaving. I had a duffel bag in hand. We were arguing. He punched a wall and broke down as I turned and left.

  Next, we started shooting the “missed connections” my style team had mentioned. I came to visit him and found him flirting with another girl. He surprised me with roses only to see me receiving flowers and kissing some other guy. A model named Andrew. When we tried to make it work, we would argue again. I was told that this would all be on the screen in between shots of both of the bands performing the song.

  That was the easiest part of the day. Just performing the song. The rest of the afternoon was spent in and out of wardrobe. It was tiring. With all the craziness, I had all but forgotten about Duchess and her role in the video. Finally, I was told that I had one last outfit change. I sighed with relief and hurried into my room. Tonya was so excited; she was almost bouncing.

  When I was ready, she came back with a humongous white gown. It was beautiful. A strapless ball gown with a sweetheart neckline. It wasn’t super elaborate, but it was still gorgeous. Once the dress was on, they went to work on my hair and makeup. I got to take the wig cap off, and she brushed and fluffed out my pink locks. Then she wen
t to work shaping it into big, soft curls.

  When they slipped my veil on, I gasped. I was beautiful. With the help of my team, I got to the set. This stage was a church. It was small, with all of the extras in formal wear standing in the pews. Black and baby blue flowers covered every available space. It was beautiful and made me a tad bit uncomfortable. I was swallowing hard at the whole scene in front of me until I looked up the aisle and saw Ethan.

  Dressed in a tuxedo, they pushed his hair back and took off all his makeup. He cleaned up well. He was so handsome. My heart began to race. He stood there, tall and lean, with his hands folded in front of him, waiting patiently.

  Paul walked over and started to talk, but I didn’t hear him for a solid minute. I couldn’t take my eyes off Ethan. He was striking in that suit. Paul snapped his fingers in front of my face, and I turned my attention to him.

  “Cleo, you there? I know it's been a long day, but we’re almost done. Okay. This scene is easy. Just walk up the aisle, smile and be happy. You’re going to get up to Ethan and then give us a cheesy grin. It’s the happiest day of your life. He’s going to lift your veil and then frown. So are you. When we get the shot, we’re going to replace him with Rich over here, and then we’ll replace you with Duchess.

  When you realize you’re not up here with Ethan, falter in your smile. Maybe look past him, over his shoulder, like you’re not really there,” he ordered. I nodded and glanced around. That’s when I saw Richard, another good looking, dark haired, light eyed man; and next to him stood Duchess.

  Duchess also wore a wedding gown. Her hair was dark, like my natural color. Her dress was bigger, more elaborate and I'm sure more expensive than mine. She was wearing gloves and a mini tiara. I instantly felt like I was dressed in rags compared to her. She was breathtaking. She saw me looking and smiled smugly. I was handed a bouquet of black roses, and then the same guy went over and handed her a bouquet of red roses that was easily three sizes bigger than mine. Wow, it really was her show. I was nothing.

  I looked away quickly when Derek came and tapped my shoulder. Turning to him, I forced a smile. He and my other bandmates had been cleaned up as well to stand with me as my brides men. I loved it.