The Only Girl in the Band

The Only Girl in the Band...[Part 27]

"Hey, Vanessa. I'm sorry to hear about your dad. How's he doing now?" Paul asked.

"He's doing all right; still really weak. The doctor's told him to get some bed rest for a bit," I replied.

"I'm glad to hear he's all right," Paul said.

"How'd you hear about it?" I asked. He swallowed. The boys shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Uh..." he mumbled. He reached onto his desk and handed me his laptop, which was open to an article about me. I set my phone on his desk and studied the laptop. It showed a picture of me walking out of the hospital with Mae. I looked horrible in the picture. My face was all blotchy and I looked as if I hadn't slept in days. I glared angrily at the article.

"They're really going to follow me to a hospital?!" I exclaimed.

"I called them and told them to leave you alone..." Paul said.

"Are they at my house right now?" I asked abruptly. He blinked.

"I...I don't know. They shouldn't be. I told them not to follow you," Paul explained.

"God, I am going to be so pissed if they're at my house. My dad does not need any stress right now! He just got out of heart surgery. Those sons of bitches..." I hissed.

"Calm down, Vanessa. I'll be sure to tell them the situation, but they really shouldn't be at your house," Paul said.

"Why can't the stupid paparazzi just leave me the hell alone?" I asked.

"They're paparazzi. It's what they do," Liam said. I glared at him.

"I'll handle it," Paul said once again. I handed him his laptop again and he set it on the desk. "Ok, so now to discuss what I called you here for," he said. "The last album did pretty good for a first album. So the record said that they'll take you on for your second one, if that's cool with you guys," he said. We nodded. "All right. That said, you guys should probably get to writing some new songs. Cobra Starship called us and they said they'd like you guys to open up for their US tour starting at the end of February. If you all are up for that, I can let them know," he said.

"That'd be great," Caleb said.

"Yeah, for sure," Ian agreed. The rest of us nodded as well.

"Great. So definitely think about having one or two songs written by then. We want to give fans something new to look forward to," Paul told us. "Vanessa, Marc Jacobs wants you to model an outfit for Teen Vogue. Up for it?" he asked me.

"Sure," I said, not really caring. He marked it on his list.

"Ummm...other than that, here are a list of places and dates that you'll be playing at. We have to get back in the habit of performing," Paul told us, passing out papers to us with places all over California that we would be performing at over the course of the next few months. "And finally, the best news," he paused. "You guys are playing at Ryan Seacrist's New Year's Countdown in Times Square," he said. This bit of news was the only that got a good reaction from us.

"No way?!" Liam exclaimed.

"Are you serious?" Cameron cried.

"This is so awesome," Caleb said, looking down at the paper at the December 31st/January 1 date.

"All right. That's about it. Do you guys have anything to talk about with me?" he asked, looking around at all of us. We shook our heads. "Ok, I'll let the paparazzi know to leave your family alone. Other than that, you guys are good to go," he said. We all got up to leave. I walked out, looking through my purse for my keys. As I rummaged, I realized that I had left my phone back in Paul's office. I took the elevator back up to the ninth floor and walked down the hallway to Paul's office. As I approached the door, I heard voices coming out of the room. The door was slightly ajar and I could see Paul sitting behind his desk, his head in his hands looking frustrated. I leaned in to listen more closely and heard Ian's voice speaking. I blinked. Ian?