Things We Do At Night

Part 26

(Gene POV)

"Who are you talking to?" Gene asked, buttoning his white dress shirt.

Shannon jumped and turned, looking at the bassist as though she had seen a ghost. The two had two rules while on the road. The woman was not to answer any hotel telephones while with Gene, and not approach him if she saw you hanging around the band. He checked his hair in the wall mirror before moving forward into the room. Shannon.

"I forgot the rule, I'm sorry." Shannon stuttered.

"Please tell me it was Paul, or one of the other guys. I really don't want to fight with you, when this is the last night at least for a few days that we will see each other. You know I have to deal with that bitch with kid gloves." Gene replied, sitting down on the small couch.

"You probably won't be dealing with her much longer. She said she will be here later tonight. I also heard Paul's voice in the background." She said,

Gene leaned forward on the couch and folded his hands in front of his face, like he was saying a prayer before he continued the conversation. The bassist tried to keep his anger in check, knowing that this situation would eventually arise. He looked over at the woman, seeing the scared look written across her porcelain white skin.

"You are leaving tonight. Go pack and Tony will get you to the airport. Go home and be with Nick for a couple of days at the house while I deal with that bitch. Though you may have made this all a little easier with answering the phone. By this weekend we will be a semi-normal family." The bassist said.

"Stop hiding me from everyone! The band knows what's going on between us and I've had to raise our son around this stupid little lie. Paul even treated me like some groupie because of her, and he dated Tracy for years. You need to choose now, me and your son, or her. You may like the control factor you have here but now you are fucking over your best friend and that's going to fuck up your first love, money." Shannon said, sternly.

Gene stood up from the couch and took two steps toward the bed, grabbing the woman by the arm and pulling her to her feet. Shannon attempted to pull away from the bassist, only making the man tighten his grip. He opened the door and pushed the woman out the door. The bassist rolled his eyes as Shannon started crying, knowing it was a facade. The two of them stared at each other until heavy footsteps grabbed Gene's attention. Looking to his left, Gene caught Tony walking toward him with a few sheets of paper in his hand.

"I was just about to go in and call you, big guy. What did you find out for me?" Gene asked.

"Oh, we can talk about this tomorrow at the meeting," Tony replied, awkwardly glancing at Shannon.

"Don't be silly! I'll look at this stuff and we will talk about it when you get from dropping Shannon off at the airport." Gene replied, snatching the papers.

"You are serious about sending Shannon home? Why not just sit down with Paul and Y/N. They are three blocks from here," Tony said, immediately turning red at the slip up.

Gene pulled Shannon into a hug and kissed her cheek, feeling the worry leave her body for the moment. He pulled away and winked at her, then pointed down the hallway. Shannon glared at him and then stormed away from the two men, cursing under her breath. Both men watched until the sound of the woman's hotel room door slammed shut, before Tony turned back to the bassist.

"Give her thirty minutes to pack, and then once she is on the band's plane, get back here. We've got some plans to make, and I need to make a phone call to my dear best friend." Gene said, walking back into the hotel room and shutting the door.

He looked down at the papers from the tour manager and chuckled. Seeing a picture of both you and Paul walking hand in hand as you came out of a hotel room. Gene flopped down on the bed and put his hand behind his head. Everything the bassist would need to catch you with Paul was right under his nose. The bassist knew he would need to catch you doing something with Paul so he could blame the hook-ups with Shannon, and the breakup with you and him because of your cheating. Gene leaned over to the end by his bed, grabbing the telephone.

Grabbing the phone and looking down at the paper one more time, Gene punched the number into the phone and listened to it ring. Feeling his smile growing wider as a man on the other line answered with the standard hotel greeting. Gene pulled the phone away from his ear to clear his throat before speaking.

"Yes, can you please connect me to room 636, please," Gene said.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir, they have asked us to take messages for the guest, until tomorrow morning." the man replied

"I don't care what my brother told you to do. He needs to know they have admitted our mother into the hospital after an accident. Please put me through to his room now!" The bassist replied.

Gene crossed his leg over the other one and listened for a moment to the man muttering something to another person. The bassist held the phone close, listening to his ear, trying to make out what the employees were saying to each other. A few seconds later, a woman's voice came across the line and made the older man grin as she gave him a different number to reach the singer. Gene grabbed the pen that had been laying next to the phone, quickly scribbling down the digits on the piece of paper in front of him. Without another word, Gene hung up the phone, laughing out loud.

"This game has just begun. If Paul thinks me catching them together is going to make me break it off, he's lost his mind." Gene said out loud and dialed the next number.