Queen For A Day

I was just drifting off to sleep when a thump outside my door awoke me with a start. I sat up too quickly for my head. And stomach. The baby kicked me, as if to remind me that it was still there.
“Sorry Bub.” I rubbed my baby bump affectionately. The door to my room suddenly opened and my eyes took a minute to figure out who it was.
“Cali!” Mikes voice was loud and excited. He sauntered in with his arm around Cooper’s shoulder. They were walking funny. “You should join us. We’ve been playing beer pong!” They were drunk.
“I can’t drink Mike. I’m pregnant.” I reminded him with a yawn.
“Oh.” He looked so disappointed. “Then come smoke with me!”
“Mike…. I can’t do that either…” Wow.
“Well what the fuck. Dude I’m glad I will never be pregnant.”
“Yeah me too.” Cooper put in. “Come dance with me Cali!”
“I’m trying to sleep actually.” I rolled my eyes at the two boys.
“Guys what the hell are you doing!?” Vic climbed down out of his bunk which was the closest to my door.
“We were talking to my girlfriend.” Mike laughed.
“Don’t let Alysha hear you say that.” Vic mumbled. I giggled.
“Wait! Cali’s MY girlfriend!” Cooper yelled, shoving Mike playfully.
“Why don’t we leave Cali to sleep instead of fighting about her relationship ok?” Vic didn’t drop his gaze from me. “Come on you two.” He turned and guided the guys back down to where the others where. I could hear music and people. Could they seriously be partying? It was only like, 6 o’clock in the evening. They’ll all be passed out by 8.
Vic walked back down the hall chuckling to himself. He glanced into my room.
“Thanks for getting rid of them for me.” I laughed.
“It’s ok, you trying to sleep?” he looked at the suitcases. “Here, I’ll move those for you.”
I didn’t say anything as he carefully picked up my bags and moved them out of the way. “How did you even get over those?”
“Hey! I’m pretty agile for a pregnant person.”
“Well I already knew you were flexible.” Vic winked at me and glanced down my body, licking his lips. Oh man.
“Vic!?” I threw a pillow at him then crossed my arms over my chest. The worst part was that I didn’t even remember anything we did on that night we spent together…
“I’m just messing around.” He laughed, catching the pillow and handing it back to me. I reached up to take it but grabbed his wrist instead, pulling him down, almost crashing onto the bed.
“Were you though?” I put my face up by his and whispered seductively. I genuinely wanted to know, but this was a fun way of finding out. I moved my head down and kissed his collar bone slowly, then bit down on the skin of his neck.
“U-um.” He stammered, letting out a hitched breath.
I continued kissing up his neck until I got to just under his ear. “Maybe I should refresh your memory.” I breathed. I moved in the bed and he stared at me with wide eyes. Then, as quickly as I could I rolled over to my back was towards him and pulled the blankets up under my chin.
“Goodnight Vic.” I tried not to laugh as I listened to him sit there for a few seconds.
“Damn you’re a tease.” He breathed out.
I rolled back over to him and laughed. “Sorry.”
He growled and got off the bed. “Well, unless you want to continue with that I think I better go back to my bunk. I’m getting tired too.”
He glanced at me one more time then walked to his bunk, not closing the door behind him. I watched as he pulled some clothes from his bunk then walked back to my room, closing and locking the door behind him.
“Roll over, I’m getting changed.” He laughed as I watched him take his top off.
“I’ve seen you naked Victor.” I retorted dryly, continuing to stare at his naked torso.
“Do you remember it though?”
“No.”
“So look away.”
“Ugh fine.” I lay back down and rolled over so my back was to him. A few seconds later I felt the bed shift as his weight landed on it. His arm wrapped around the small spaced between the top of my belly and my boobs and he pulled me against his bare chest, tangling his legs with mine. I sighed contentedly.
“Is this ok?” Vic asked softly in my ear.
“Yeah, I like this.” My mind suddenly went to Cooper, what would he say?
“Don’t worry about Cooper, he has his own bunk and we’ll be awake before him in the morning anyways. Plus. It’s not like you’ve cheated on him.” It was as if he read my mind.
“Ok.”
Vic kissed the back of my neck gently. “Goodnight beautiful.”
“Night Vic.”

The next morning I woke up next to Vic and honestly it was the best thing in the world. It was only 7 in the morning but we’d slept for more than 12 hours so I felt so energized. I blinked open my eyes and yawned, noticing the flickering sunlight shining through the curtains. Vic’s arm was still across my stomach and he tightened it and groaned, probably only half awake. I shifted my body so I was lying on my back, something I could only do for a few minutes at a time because of the weight against my spine.
“Vic.” I whispered, watching his cute sleeping face. His eyelids twitched and he scrunched up his nose, letting out another groan.
“Sleeping…” He mumbled.
“You gotta wake up. You need to be out of here before Cooper comes in.” I sighed. I didn’t want him to move.
“But I like it here. You’re warm.” He cuddled closer to me and kissed my cheek.
I rested my palm against his warm, tanned chest and sighed again.
“Cali I want to wake up next to you every day.” He murmured, kissing my forehead. His morning voice was deep and groggy and so sexy.
“Yeah, but you gotta go Vic, please.” I didn’t want him to leave, but I needed him to.
“Fine.” He let go and sat up, getting out of the bed and tucking the blankets around me again.
“You can go back to sleep.” He smiled softly and picked up his clothes from the floor. “See ya.” And he slipped out, closing the door without making any noise. I closed my eyes and smiled happily. This is how things should be.

The smell of coffee was what woke me the second time that morning. The sound of a coffee machine was coming from the front of the bus and there were a few voices that I couldn’t make out. I took off my blankets and got out of bed, throwing on yesterday’s hoodie and a pair of Ugg boots. As soon as I opened the door the smell hit me even harder.
“Ew why are you making that.” I groaned loudly, walking towards the kitchen whilst throwing my long dark hair up into a ponytail.
“Good morning Cali!” Jaime sung, obviously not caring if he woke the three passed out men lying in the front lounge.
“What are they doing? And why aren’t you hung over?” I questioned, opening a window to let some fresh air in. The smell off coffee was making me feel nauseous.
“I’m used to hangovers.” Jaime shrugged. “Plus I’ve already taken two painkillers and I’m drinking coffee. And those guys? They don’t know how to hold their liquor.”
I laughed, looking at my poor excuse of a boyfriend and the guitar and drum techs.
“Does Cooper drink often?” Vic’s voice came down the hall as he walked in. He gave me a small smile.
“Well I’ve never seen him drunk before actually. He drinks beer and whatnot, but I don’t think he gets drunk very often.” I answered slowly.
“Hmph.” Vic poured a cup of coffee.
“Ugh I hate that smell.” I walked back down the hall and quickly checked the bathroom, which was unoccupied, then grabbed some clothes from my bag and rushed back in, cutting Mike off as he tried to get in at the same time.
“Cali! I really need a shower!” He cried, rubbing his eyes which clearly had bags under them.
“Too bad.” I laughed, slamming the door and locking it. I ended up taking a quick shower, deciding not to wash my hair. I figured that it would be a little unfair to hog the bathroom for too long, especially after a night where pretty much everyone else got drunk. Even though I haven’t done that in a while, I remembered how important a shower the next day was.
When I walked back out to the front lounge most people seemed to be awake. Vic, Tony, Jaime and Cooper were sitting around talking loudly, the crew members were nowhere to be seen and Mike had rushed straight past me into the bathroom when I’d left. Spencer was sitting at a table sipping coffee and typing away at a laptop.
“Good morning.” I received a chorus of hellos as I grabbed a glass of water before sitting next to Tony on the couch. “So what are we doing today?”
Spencer spoke without even looking away from his laptop. “The first show is tomorrow, today is just for relaxing. We’re at the venue so we don’t need to go anywhere today. But you’re all free to do what you want.”
“I don’t really want to go too far.” Walking was too much effort these days.
“Yeah neither.” Vic put in quickly.
“I’ll stay here too.” Cooper smiled over at me. He was probably wondering why I didn’t sit next to him. I had kinda just wanted time to myself, but looks like that wasn’t happening.
“I might go exploring,” Tony looked at Jaime expectantly.
“Same, I’m sure there’s something to do around here other than sit in this bus.” Jaime nodded.
“I’m really craving pancakes right now.” I groaned, rubbing my baby bump. I noticed Vic and Cooper narrowing their eyes at each other.
“I’ll get you some Honey.” Cooper was quick in his response. It was actually kind of amusing seeing them trying to be better than each other. He stood up and patted his pockets, trying to find his wallet.
“Thanks.”
He came and kissed the top of my head, “Chocolate and cream?”
He knew me too well, “Yes please,”
“Jaime, want to go too? I want pancakes.” Tony stood up.
“Absolutely.” Jaime stood up. Vic and I watched the guys pull on their shoes then wave their goodbyes.
“I’ll be back soon Cali.” Cooper waved, glancing once more between me and Vic before sighing and leaving the bus.
“He’s just trying to impress you so you like him more.” Vic grumbled, folding his arms and scowling.
“Oh just leave it.” I sighed, standing up. “I’m going back to my room. I need to think some things over.”
Vic gave me a longing glance. He knew what I was talking about. I closed the door behind me and pulled my laptop from my bag. I needed to watch something. I scrolled through my movies for ten minutes without any luck. I couldn’t find the right movie to watch. I slammed the lid closed and grabbed my phone and earphones, plugging them in and listening to the demos of the songs Cooper and I had been working on. I sat on my bed, leaning against the wall and closing my eyes. I knew what I had to do now. I didn’t want to do it, I couldn’t bear the thought of broken hearts. But I really had no choice. The only problem now was trying to explain it to both Cooper and Vic. How did I even get myself into this mess in the first place? I felt trapped, no matter what I did it would end badly, and I knew I would feel so guilty. Hopefully the feelings would pass though. The walls of this cage will break soon. Maybe leaving San Diego will help me sort everything out. Hopefully this tour is a good thing.
Cooper came back with my pancakes about fifteen minutes later. He knocked on the door and came in slowly. I took out my earphones and grinned nervously.
“Thanks for this.” I took the bag from his hands and took out the container of six warm chocolatey pancakes. Yum.
“Anything for you Baby.” He sat beside me and looked at me weird. “Why have you been acting weird lately?”
I wasn’t expecting his question at all. I paused with a fork full of pancake hallway to my mouth.
“What?”
“You haven’t been as affectionate. This morning you barely even said hi to me. Usually you’d greet me with a kiss or something.” He looked so nervous which was unusual for him. Where was the confident guy I knew? Did I really mean that much to him?
“I’m sorry Cooper. But I think we need to talk.” I stared into his eyes and took a deep breath.

Notes

Can anyone guess what Cali's decision is??

Beth xx