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I pushed myself up from my chair. "I should get going, my flight leaves in two hours."
"Safe travels," Roman said.
"Bring us back a souvenir?" Ripley joked.
"I'll bring you back six of them," I said. "Seven if you count me."
"Of course we would," Ripley said with a grin. "See you on the west coast."
"I wouldn't miss it," I said. The next couple of days were going to be hectic at best. With any luck, there wouldn't be too much to sort out and we could just get back on with the tour. The guys still had the west coast of North America and then the rest of the world to tour.
With any luck, everything else would run smoothly.
2
Hayley
I made the flight by the skin of my teeth. I took the time on the way to the airport to send a message to the group chat I had with the band.
To the surprise of no one, the first one to respond was Jett, the Rock Dragon's drummer. He apologized that he couldn't meet with me, saying he had plans to have dinner with his girlfriend and her family.
Strike responded a minute or two later with a similar apology.
Next was Nate, who reminded me he was playing at the Children's Hospital tonight, something he'd asked me to organize.
The next message was from Strike who asked why he wasn't invited to the Children's Hospital.
I responded telling him he could go if he wanted to but he replied that he preferred to spend time with his girlfriend anyway. Strike, being Strike, then added an eggplant emoji, followed by a hot face and a donut.
Jett reply to that with a face palm, which would have been my response too if it wasn't unprofessional of me to do that.
I put my phone aside while I boarded the plane and got comfortable in my seat. When I checked it again, there was still no response from Cord, which was no surprise. He rarely responded unless he had to.
There was also no response from Jude, the man of the moment himself. That actually was surprising. He was usually good about staying in communication. Either he was avoiding me or he was busy with Melanie. Was that her name?
Fortunately, there was also a message from Axel saying he'd pick me up at the airport. I thought about responding that I'd take a ride share or a taxi, but it was his sister so I might as well get the information from as close to the horse's mouth as I could get. So to speak.
I accepted his offer, then turned off my phone and put it away as a woman with a young child, and a baby walked down the aisle of the plane.
The man in the seat in front of me muttered something to his traveling companion about crying babies, and I caught his glare as she stopped beside him.
She looked up at the numbers on the overhead lockers before giving me an apologetic look and waving her older child into the seat next to me.
He scrambled over and sat down, huge eyes turned towards the window. He couldn't have been more than about four or five years old, with a tangle of blond hair and an adorable button nose.
"You need to put your seatbelt on," his mother told him.
He grabbed up either end and looked at them, then at her. She was trying to maneuver herself into her seat with the baby in her arms. If I had to guess, I would say the baby was about six months old.
"Would you like some help?" I asked. "Looks like you have your hands full there."
"Just a little," she said, looking grateful. "My grandmother doesn't have long and we have to fly back. I hope we get there in time." She looked close to tears. It might be worry, anxiety over traveling with two children, or both. Either way, she needed all the help she could get.
"I'm so sorry." I leaned over and clicked the little boy’s seatbelt together and adjusted it for his size. "There you go, safe and sound."
He grinned at me. "I'm five," he declared.
Of course I had to respond by widening my eyes and gaping at him playfully. "My goodness, you're so big. I bet you're an amazing big brother?"
