Band On The Run

Happiness is a butterfly

"So, even though it might have cost you your relationship, Under Pressure might just be the thing that will save all The Spares' music," Mark said conversationally. He hadn't even fully sat down for our morning meeting before he dropped that bomb.

My moth dropped open in shock. But that didn't last long before I was shooting apprehensive looks over my shoulder, finding that no one was within hearing distance, thankfully. Then I turned my eyes back on him, mustering up the nastiest look I could manage to fix him with where he was slouched in his chair. "Do you mind not saying that for the world to hear?" I hissed. "And, for your information, my relationship is fine."

Not bothering to attempt discretion, Mark's eyebrows shot straight up and over his glasses. Yet he only said calmly, "Didn't look like it the last time I saw you guys together."

"We'd been drinking," I said primly, "And emotions had been running high. It was bound to happen, but we're okay now. We talked on the phone last night after they played in Portland. Nick's excited for the Seattle gig because his whole family is coming out to watch."

That might've been the moment of 'The Lady Doth Protest Too Much' because Mark eyes widened continuously as I shared the information. In the end, he just blinked and shook his head slightly before saying gently, "Okay, I believe you."

There was only a beat of silence before a body dropped into the chair right next to me, and it had me jolting violently, pulling my focus away from Mark.

"What's Keely lying about?" Seth asked in a far too casual manner.

Mark and I shared a quick look of panic between us.

"Nothing!" I said, affecting my best offended tone.

At the same time, Mark said smoothly, "That she's actually going to show up for her sound check this afternoon. I'm only trying to keep her from getting strangled by Fiona. That girl is a second away from snapping, and there are a lot of cords around."

For half a second, I almost believed him. He even punctuated the words by shooting me a pseudo threatening glance before turning away to order from the waitress.

Seth's eyebrows rose as he glanced between us, trying to work out which once of us was lying here. Unable to handle the scrutiny, I buried my nose in the coffee I'd already ordered, making sure I didn't have to meet his eyes. But when I lifted my gaze, I found that his expression had smoothed and he was watching me with an almost amused look.

"You're a terrible liar," he informed me.

Apparently, he had no trouble believing that I missed sound checks regularly, which I supposed wasn't a lie, considering I did skip them quite often. So, I just rolled my eyes as dramatically as I could while also drinking coffee.

His response to that was to kick the toe of my converse with the side of his shoe, which had me jolting again, though this time I almost spilt the entire coffee over myself. "You dick," I gasped as I tried to steady my hand and keep all the liquid in the mug. The last thing I needed was yet more clothing with coffee stains all over it. I had a problem, I knew that, it was why I wasn't allowed nice things.

Apparently not interested in my cursing him, Seth had turned away from me. Instead, he was ordering a coffee for himself, sending the waitress a small charming smile that always made people swoon, and she was not immune. In fact, it looked like she was going to have to fan herself from being the focus of Seth Ryan's attention.

I couldn't very well blame her – I knew exactly how she felt – but I could blame him. I kicked him back, though I'd put a bit more force behind it than I'd intended and my aim was quite off, the blow landing on the edge of his shin.