Destroy Rebuild

I heard Alex lean against the frame of the bathroom’s entrance in our hotel room. We were back in Las Angeles for their album release party. Future Hearts had only been out for a few days and already it exceeded their expectations. I turned from my makeup bag, catching the gleam in his chocolate brown eyes.
“Well hello, gorgeous,” he smiled as his eyes traveled down my body covered in a shimmery rose gold skater dress and a pair of strappy black heels.

I gazed at his grey button up and the turquoise tie sitting on top of it, down to his tailored black slacks and black dress shoes. “Back at’cha, handsome.”

He stepped towards me and massaged my shoulders as he looked at our reflection.

“I just spoke to my mom. Will’s doing great. I sent him our love.”

I nodded. I was very uncomfortable with leaving Will in Maryland for the weekend. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Isobel and Peter, but it was a huge step to not see him for days. At the same time, we didn’t want to have him struggling like he did the first time we came to California. We wouldn’t be here long enough to be worth messing up his schedule and although we both hated it, we thought it would be better for him if he stayed. I offered to decline my invitation as Alex’s plus one, but he said if I didn’t go he wasn’t going either. I could tell he was serious, and he couldn’t just not go to his own album release party. But I missed our son like crazy.

“Well, that’s great,” I sighed with a firm smile.

Alex continued to stare at me through the mirror, and I eventually broke the eye contact to apply my lipstick.

“Hey, Whit?” he said quietly.

I looked at him briefly to let him know he had my attention.

“I know you miss Will, and I do, too. But do you think we could try to enjoy tonight? I think we both deserve it.”

I looked back at his reflection. His expression screamed concern for some reason, and I twirled quickly to take his hands in mine.

“Baby, this is going to be one of the best nights ever,” I smiled, shaking my head slightly.

“We’re going to have a great time. This is for you and the guys. You’ve worked so hard and now it’s out for people to hear and they love it. I wouldn’t dream of spoiling this for you. It’s too much of an honor that I’m even here for me to ruin it with separation anxiety.”

He kept his straight face for a few moments before cracking, a toothy grin slipping into place. “They do love it, don’t they.”

“I told you,” I winked. “Best All Time Low album ever.”

The hotel phone rang from the bedside table and Alex hurried to answer it. I brushed some hair over my shoulders before spritzing on hair spray.

“The limo’s here,” he yelled over his shoulder as he slipped into his black blazer.

I quickly dabbed some perfume on my wrists and spread it to my neck. After pulling on my black coat and grabbing my clutch, I followed Alex out the door to the elevator. The ride down was quiet as we were the only two occupants. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him looking at me mischievously and before long his hand was resting on my thigh before slowly making its way up.

“No,” I hissed as I swatted his hand away.

He grinned and bit down on the corner of his lip. He moved from beside me to in front of me and pressed his body against mine.

“Come on, baby,” he moaned, “let me love on you.”

“Stop,” I giggled as I tried pushing him off me.

I’m not sure if it was the new setting of the elevator, the thrill of possibly getting caught, or the way he was moaning my name as he gripped my hips, but I was soon giving in. My lips latched on to his and my hands went under his blazer to rake down the fabric of his shirt. He pressed his pelvis into mine and his fingers glided up my thigh, lifting the bottom of my dress with them. I had to break the kiss while I panted as his hand crossed from one leg to the other, stopping briefly on my center.

Neither one of us felt the elevator stop, but I pushed Alex back when I heard a ding and the door slid open.

“Whoa,” the new passenger laughed. “Take it easy, kids.”

I was far too embarrassed to look at the man that caught us amid some serious PDA.
Alex turned slowly, then blew out a breath of relief.

“Joel,” he laughed. “What’s up, dude?”

I slowly lifted my eyes and gasped a little too loudly when I realized it was Joel Madden from Good Charlotte. My cheeks flamed red as both he and Alex stared at me.

“This is my girlfriend, Whitney,” Alex said as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

“Hi,” I said as casually as I could.

“Joel,” he smiled as he extended his hand.

I was mentally taken back to middle school when I was sure I would marry that man someday. I felt my hand get clammy as I shook his.

“So, you and Benji coming to the party?” Alex asked.

“Yeah, man, for sure,” Joel nodded. “I just have to wait for Nicole to get ready and we’ll be on over. Benj might be a little late. Cameron had some TV special today and he wanted to show support.”

“Awesome,” Alex nodded.

“You guys are going, too, right?” he smiled. “Or were you just going to ride the elevator all night?”

It felt like my head was going to explode from all the embarrassment.

“What can I say, man?” Alex laughed nervously. “You caught us.”

Joel nodded and sighed as he said, “Lovebirds.”

Thankfully the elevator hit the ground floor and I was the first to sprint off. We parted ways with Joel and Alex led me out to the limo. I was quiet as we rode, trying desperately to regain my composure.

“You ok?” Alex chuckled.

I shook my head. “I cannot believe I met Joel Madden after he caught me sucking face with my boyfriend in an elevator.”

“Is that bad?” he asked as he shifted towards me. “Is Joel a big deal to you or something?”

“You know how much I love your band?”

“Yes,” he said slowly.

“Good Charlotte was that band for me before you guys were,” I huffed.

He nodded, then portrayed offense as he said, “And Joel was me.”

My eyes narrowed towards him playfully. “What makes you think you’re my favorite?”

His eyebrows shot up. “I better fucking be!”

“Of course, you are,” I laughed. “You’re just too damn cute not to be.”

“I better fucking be,” he mumbled again under his breath.

I rolled my eyes and looked out the window at the bright lights and soon I was daydreaming about the elevator. It amazed me how easy it was for him to get me going. He knew all the right places to touch and kiss, it was inevitable that I wound up putty in his hands. The thought got me worked up again and without warning I jumped into his lap, straddling his waist.

“Oh, fuck,” he gasped as I twisted my fingers into his hair and jerked his head back, connecting my lips to his exposed neck.

I sucked and bit on patches of skin, leaving mauve colored kisses in my path. Alex tried to stifle a moan by biting his lip as I lifted my kisses up to his ear lobe. I felt him reach under the bottom of my dress and tug on the sides of my panties. I rose to my knees and maneuvered around as he slid them off, untangling them from my heels and throwing them to the floor.

Just as I was about to dive in for a heated kiss, Alex’s phone rang from his pocket, stopping me right before our lips connected.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he groaned as he fished his phone out. He looked at the caller ID and his eyes lit up briefly. “It’s Greg.”

I quickly slid off him, my stomach churning. We hadn’t heard from Greg in a little over a week, which was odd considering we usually heard from him every other day about the status of the house we were trying to buy. I hate to admit how hard it was for me not to get my hopes up about it. When I initially agreed to putting in an offer, I forgot that other people could try to outbid us. We currently had one other competitor that always countered our offer with a much heftier one. I felt terrible every time Alex retaliated with more money, but I knew he wouldn’t like it if I complained. But the waiting game was torturous.

“A million?!” Alex bellowed, a look of disbelief painted over his features. “Shit.”

He was silently pinching the brim of his nose as Greg spoke more. Alex shook his head and sighed heavily.

“Yeah, that is a lot,” he nodded and his gaze shifted to me briefly. “Do one point one.”

I waited patiently for Alex to explain what happened after he hung up. His mood took a turn for the worse, and I was suddenly nervous.

“So?” I finally asked.

It took him a moment to look at me, but when he did he said, “They countered with a million dollars. But I added a hundred thousand to it.”

“A hundred thousand?” I stuttered. “As in $1,100,000?!”

He nodded once. “And I don’t want to hear a word about it.”

“Well that’s just too bad,” I scoffed. “That’s a lot of money, Alex.”

“I know that,” he said slowly through clenched teeth. “But what choice do I have? Do you want me to back out and give up our dream home?”

I stared at him silently. I didn’t want him to do it, but a selfish part of me wanted him to keep fighting for it. I shook my head, ashamed of myself.

“Ok, then,” he huffed. “I’m not going to stop. But I am going to stop taking these calls around you so you’re not up my ass all the time about the price,” he said, his voice trailing off with a smile.

I tried to force one back, but the number kept flashing in front of my eyes. He turned towards me as we pulled up to the venue.

“Stop thinking about it and just let me do what I have to do,” he said quietly.

Notes