Dark affairs

By the second week we have established a routine.

Jack calls me at work when he wakes up everyday and I Skype with both of my boys as soon as I'm home and before they have to prepare for stage.

It is not much but it gives us the comfort of knowing the other person is there for you, even if it's only for a few minutes each day.

I still busy myself with activities and am now an expert on what's on in all of the city's museums, clubs, cinemas and venues.
I meet heaps of new people at every event and am for once doing good networking concerning my career. Still I wouldn't think twice and trade all of this for a lazy day with Jack in my bed, or Alex for the matter. Strangely I miss them both.

It is Monday week 3 when my boss Martin comes waltzing into my office with an unreadable expression on his face. Uh, uh, I think, am I in trouble? But then he forces a smile on his face.

"Michelle" he booms "we have a special assignment for you."

Oh, no, I think. That's normally code for 'nobody else wanted to do this' and I try to not look too disgusted.

"We want you to join the All Time Low tour as a Hopeless Records representative. You'll leave this Thursday and stay for a week until the tour comes back to LA."

It is not unusual for a label representative to accompany a band on tour but we mostly do this for young and upcoming bands that can not provide their own technicians and tour management.
This is certainly not the case with AllTimeLow, they have a massive crew on tour.
Also everyone in the label normally fights for a job like this and I'm never in anybody's good books so I usually miss out on stuff like this.

"Why me?" Is the only logical question I ask.

Martin's face twists uncomfortably he looks like he's having stomach cramps when he replies.
"You were explicitly requested from the band."

Oh, I guess I know who had a talk with Martin then!

"You will get all the info and travel documents later today from the front office, be ready to leave by Thursday morning."

You don't argue with Martin so I just nod and he curtly smiles and leaves my office. Guess he's not over the moon to have me going on tour then.

As soon as he's gone, I'm on the phone to the boys.

"Mickey!" Jack practically screams down the line. "We had this awesome idea."

"I know, Martin has just talked to me." I cut in.

"Yeah that way you get one week off work and neither the label nor the rest of the band can disagree to have you here." He explains proudly.

"You realise, they all know that you don't really need a label representative. That makes me look so bad, they already pretty much hate me in here." I complain. Okay that might be exaggerated but it's not completely wrong.

"But,-but, baby, don't you want to come see me?" Jack wails.

"No! I mean, of course I do but what am I gonna do with Max? I knew I shouldn't have got a puppy, my life is too chaotic for that." I want to slap myself.

"Wait a sec." Jack says and the I hear him shouting for Alex, who is on the phone only a moment later.

"Hey, Mickey, how do you like our idea, it wasn't even hard to convince Martin that we need label support on this tour, nobody's gonna suspect anything." He sounds so pleased with himself that I feel the need for a reality check.

"Hah, people are not stupid, they'll know I have more than professional relations with you. But anyway, I can't go, what am I gonna do with Max? I can't bring a puppy on tour, he isn't even fully house trained yet." I'm slowly freaking out.

"Ah, we thought this through, Mickey, you can bring Max to my house, Lisa is looking after our dogs, she doesn't mind taking Max for the week. You can drop him off Wednesday after work, it's all organised."

I just make a whining noise in the back of my throat, because I can't decline his offer but I really, really don't want to meet and have to talk to Lisa without Alex being there. It's gonna be so awkward.

"Okay, thank you I guess. " I sigh defeated.

"The pleasure is all mine" he replies and I can hear the smile in his voice. "Can't wait to see you in three days."

Oh my god, it's only three more days. "Uh, yes, okay, so I need to get all the urgent jobs on my desk done and then prepare for travel, do all travel bookings, have them checked back with management, spend time with Max and pack his things, pack mine, cancel all appointments for next week, reorganise my work schedule to make up for lost time. Clearing my fridge, Uh, uh...." I have scribbled down a list while counting the different topics.

"I hope all this effort is worth it." I joke.

I can hear Alex snicker. "We make sure it's gonna be worth your while, baby."

........

Time flies and before I know it Wednesday rolls around and with it the dreaded visit to Lisa.

I drive home from work to pick up Max's stuff. His favourite toys, his doggybed, his feeding bowls and a sack of his puppy food.
I stop at the park to play with him some more just because I want to waste some more time before I have to face Lisa but it is starting to get dark and I figure it is worse to keep her waiting.

When I arrive in their driveway, I get out of the car, carrying Max in one arm and his stuff in a big bag in the other.

I quickly scan their house and have to admit it is beautiful, but it also looks nothing like I expected Alex would live in. Maybe I don't know him as well as I thought or maybe he let Lisa choose the place she liked.

I quickly knock on the door, desperate to get the whole thing over and done.

I hear barking behind the door and a few moments later, the porch lights are turned on and the door opens. I take a deep breath. I realise I don't know if she knows about us or not. That doesn't help my nerves at all.

I try to put a genuine smile on my face and hope it doesn't look like a grimace. "Hey, Lisa, how are you?"

Her face is void of emotion but then she forces a smile and responds, "very well, thank you, Michelle and yourself?"
Oh god are we being stuck in formalities, now?

I give myself a push to be nice and pleasant. "I'm good, hey thank you so much for offering to look after my pup. I wouldn't have known what to do with my boss asking me to travel." I want to let her know it wasn't my idea to go on tour.

She looks at me for a second and counters, "well actually, I didn't really offer, Alex asked me to do this."

Looks like she wants to make sure I know she isn't doing this for me.

" uh, yeah, sorry, I - well I hope he will get along with your dogs, I mean, he's just a puppy, it should be fine."

I realise she has not asked me to come in yet and it looks like she is not going to, so I hold out the bag to her and ramble, "I have packed all necessities in here, i just go and get the food out of the car."
She grabs the bag and I scurry to the car trunk and get the pack. When I get back she holds out her arms for Max and I reluctantly hand him over after ruffling his fur and placing a kiss to his head.

"Uhm, yeah, so...I'll be back next Friday and gonna pick him up as soon as I get into town. And thanks again." I'm about to turn and get the fuck out of here when she calls me with a threatening tone.

"And Michelle, I don't know what your deal is but stay away from my man, you have no chance, he will always choose me over anyone else, we've been through too much together, I'm the most important person in his life. Do you understand?"
Her grey-blue eyes pierce into mine.

I gulp and look at her shocked, I had no idea she would get so confrontational. What do I respond to that?

"Uh, sorry, yeah, I need to go. Bye Lisa." I practically run to my car and jump in.

When I reverse out of the driveway she has already gone inside and closed the door.

Oh god, I'm so bad at these things, should I have denied everything?

Does she know Alex is cheating on her?

Did I look caught?

I slam my hands against the steering wheel groaning, this was exactly what I feared would happen and why I didn't want to go there.

Sometimes I really wonder if it is all worth it.

Notes

Mickey goes on tour! But Lisa uh oh!
Hope you are all doing fine! xx