Hot Southern Mess (Hide Your Crazy) (25 page)

“Don’t worry
, Molly; it’s not you he is pissed about,” Brantley snickered.

“I really have had enough of you
, Brantley. The sex was great, but having you open that damn mouth of yours over and over is a real turn off. So just wander off, find some chick to bang in the hallway, and call your wife later. We are done here,” I snapped, keeping one hand firmly planted on Reid’s chest.

“You seemed to like it
when I did you up against the hallway.”

It couldn’t have been a fract
ion of a second. But, before I could open my mouth and say another word, Reid’s arm shot around me and connected with Brantley’s face. A sickening crack was heard as the pile of shit crumpled to the floor. My eyes grew wide as the horror played out right in front of me. The leader singer of the biggest rock band just nailed another tour member because he couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut.

“Close your mouth
, Molly Anne; we have got to go,” Reid said firmly, using his other hand to grab my chin to make sure I was paying attention.

I couldn’t even speak at that moment, knowing damn we
ll this wasn’t going to go over well in the morning. Once again, Reid’s hands were tightly wrapped around my wrist as he pulled me to another back door.

“Reid
, slow down, my heels,” I whined, stumbling over my own two feet trying to keep up with his large strides. Suddenly, I was hanging upside down over Reid’s back, staring directly at his ass.

“I don’t have any panties on,” I
quickly gushed, failing my hands wildly about.

A groan came deep within Reid, as his hand swiftly went up to cover my girl
y-bits.

Well now, wasn’t that
an awkward situation.

Chapter 24: When the bottom falls out, be prepared for massive amounts of shit.

“That cock-sucker is unbelievable,” Reid roared once he set me down in the darkened hallway.

“I’ve got to go back out there,” I mumbled, pulling my too short dress down over my exposed ass.

“The fuck you do
, Molly Anne. That guy is an absolute dick wad. He had no business talking to you that way.”

“I have a job
, Reid! I’m not here because I want to be damn it. Fuck, well I might have a job tomorrow; depends on how much damage control I can manage tonight.”

Reid’s expression went
from sheer anger to a blank stare, in an instant flat. Just what I expected. Swoop in to play Prince Charming, then space out when I actually needed him.

“Whatever
, Reid, I don’t have time for this,” I grumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose to hopefully bring some clarity to my jumbled mind. Taking one last glance at Reid, I shook my head and pushed open the door, leaving him standing in the darkness alone.

It seemed like the altercation between the boys didn’t dull the party atmosphere, since the music was still blasting and girls were still dancing. At least I wouldn’t be blamed for the total failure of tonight.

I spotted the rest of BL quickly,
but Brantley was eluding my sight. I needed to find him to make sure he was okay, considering he took a pretty good right hook to the face. Every part of me screamed who the fuck cared if that man was hurt, but then, the logical side that knew this was still my job shouted ‘this is work.’ Getting involved with this man was ranking pretty high up on my stupidity list; almost taking a spot right under saying yes to a proposal.

“There you are!” s
hrieked Megan, looking completely frazzled and distraught. “Brantley was completely messed up, so I had one of the body guards take him back to the hotel.”

“Back to the hotel?”

“Was that not the right call? I couldn’t find you, and he was so intoxicated that I figured it was easier to get him out of here before he made a scene,” Megan gushed worriedly.

“No, that’s fine. Do you know where Tiny is?”

“I think he was headed out the side door a moment ago.”

“I hav
e to make sure Brantley is okay. Can you make sure the guys get rounded up in an hour or so?” I asked, glancing down at my phone. It was already a little after two, and lord knew nothing good was going to come of the night now.

“Of course.
” Megan nodded, offering a slight smile.

I hurried to the back door to find Tiny. Sure, I should probably stay and oversee the part
y, considering Stephanie wasn’t here, but just sending Brantley to the hotel alone made me feel like an uncaring super bitch.

Tossing open the door, I caught a glimpse of Tiny and Reid heading out the back door.

“Wait,” I yelled, losing all sort of coordination in those damn heels and falling not so gracefully to the floor.

I hit with a loud thud, moaning as my cheek smacked the hard concrete. And this was the reason I stuck to shoes with no heel whatsoever. Scrambling to my feet quickly from the fear of what was on the floor of this establishment; I ripped my heels off my feet and ran to the back door.

“Tiny, wait,” I yelled again, watching him disappear into the back of the town car. The door shut swiftly, as I tried to clamber down the stairs to the alleyway.

The car started to pull away from the curb, as I waved my arms frantically over my head. “Stop,” I screamed while running after the car. The taillights li
t up red, and the car came to a halt.

“Thank god,” I sighed, resting my hands on my knees. Apparently I’m extremely out of shape to add to my awkwardness.
Fantastic.

“Molly?” Tiny’s voice carried through the night, as he got out of the car.

“Yes,” I whimpered, yanking down my stupid dress that once again was flashing my vagina to the world.

“Are you okay? What happened to your face?” Tiny rambled, quickly running back to me.

My face?
Reaching my hand up, I felt the swelling and silently cursed. This was going to look beautiful in the morning light.

“I fell.
Are you guys heading back to the hotel?”

“Do you need someone to look at it?” Tiny questioned, wincing as he brought a hand up to the side of my face.

“No, I just need to get back to the hotel.” I brushed his hand away, and wiped the hair away from the rest of my face.

“Okay,” he replied uneasy, glancing down at my bare feet. “Jesus
, Molly, where are your shoes?”

The tears were once again welling up in my eyes, but I refused to let them be seen.
Clenching my teeth, I forced a small smile and shrugged my shoulders, refusing to let my bottom lip start trembling.

“Come on.
” Tiny scooped me up in his arms to carry me over to the car. This evening was a complete mess, thanks to me. Not only did I cause an altercation between Reid and Brantley, but I also looked like a damn train wreck from carelessly meeting the cement in the hallway. If I wasn’t fired tomorrow from my lack of responsibility, then I just needed to quit. Maybe I wasn’t cut out for this world like I thought. Maybe, I needed to suck it up and conform to society; put the pearls on and move back to Georgia.

Tiny shifted my body in his arms and opened the door, bending down to slide me into the car. I felt a tear trickle down my swollen cheek as I fought my hardest to keep the rest contained.

“Molly Anne,” Reid’s soft voice sliced through the tension, instantly causing the little remaining control I had to combust right there before me.

“Molly Anne, what happened?” Reid stammered, grabbing my chin to force me to look at him. His eyes grew wide when he noticed my face.

I needed to explain to him that I just took a header in the ground, which is the reason I look
ed like a troll, but the tears were now freely flowing down my face.

“Breathe,” Reid whispered, gathering my body into his lap and holding me tightly.

I couldn’t control the emotions that were leaving my body. It was like a lifetime of regret, pain, wants, and desires were bursting out for the first time. Normally I had a good control on burying everything deep down inside, but for some reason tonight was the breaking point for it all.

“Molly Anne,
it’s okay. I’ve got you now.”

All I could do was burry my face deeper into the side of Reid’s jacket and quietly sob
, as my world continued to crumble. 

It’s amazing how many things you forget about until the earth decides to lay it all out for you. Year after year, problem after problem, I continued to stuff things deep down inside. Not having to deal with it out in the open was the only way I could survive. Sure, that was never the healthiest option, but it was a crucial task for the world I had to live in. Any sign of weakness would have given my family another reason to chip away at me. And, well, with all that I carried secretly, it wasn’t an option.

Eventually all things come to light. No matter how hard I tried to keep it all together, all it took was for
one night of misfortune to cause a mental break down. Keeping myself together wasn’t an option anymore; I had no control over my actions. The closest thing I could compare it to would be a dam breaking. A person spends hours upon hours creating this magnificent structure. You put all your time and energy making sure the erection is solid, thus providing yourself the illusion of everything being wonderful. Then, you go about your life, knowing that this glorious thing that you built was protecting everything you cherished and held dear.  So year upon year, you continued to let it hold everything up for you. Letting the water pile up on the other side; choosing to not deal with the dangers that sat only on the other side of the wall. Living in a fantasy world, the place you created.

Sooner or later
the structure was going to break. Nothing was made to last forever; no matter the materials you might use. If you don’t maintain the integrity of the construction, it’s going to burst at the seams. You might not see it at first; slowly the water starts to drain upon the life you have created. Things get wet, but you try and clean up the little water damage. Once again, reassuring yourself that the damn you built was strong, it could hold anything.  Then those little cracks turn into larger ones, letting the water flow freely. At this point, one should start some serious repairs, knowing that a little spackle wouldn’t hold it together forever.

But one doesn’t. You continue to evade the
problem; pretend that it couldn’t happen to you, and walk away. Running from Georgia was my spackle. Sure, it solved some of the obvious problems, but it didn’t take care of the cracks. So now, when the dam crumbled, and water flooded my life, how was I going to soak up the mess that I continued to ignore for so many years?

I really couldn’t say how long the car ride over to the hotel was, but then again, I don’t remember getting out of the car and walking into a room either. My world was so clouded and jaded from all my emotions hitting me at once that deciphering what to do next, was a mental task I was not up to battling yet. With the tears long gone from my eyes, I laid my head down and let the darkness take over. Falling into a deep sleep was the only way to help ease the pain of my shattered life.

The room was still dark when I opened my eyes, but I could hear a hushed voice on the other side of the room.

“No, Stephanie, I’m not leaving. Cancel the Jacksonville concert; I really don’t give a fuck. She needs to sleep, damn it. She has been running ramped for you these last two months with only a few days off to herself. I don’t care if you can do it, Stephanie; she isn’t you,” his voice snapped in the darkness.

“Let their dumbass band play then. Political Downfall is not
my worry right now, it’s Molly Anne. If you were here to see that she has been busting her ass for this tour, this wouldn’t be an issue. Fuck, Stephanie, I hardly see her eat anymore because she is always doing something for you! Do you realize how skinny she has gotten these last couple of weeks? She was already thin, now she is a walking skeleton. She needs a break, and that is what is going to happen. We will see you in Miami on Tuesday.” Reid tried to keep his voice quiet, but his temper made that a lost cause.

“Oh and Stephanie, she is keeping her job.”

I heard Reid collapse into a chair as a deep sigh rushed out. I hated being a problem for anyone, and clearly I was causing a huge one. I wanted to say something; tell Reid to just go and I would be fine, but the words never came. My body was too heavy to move, and my mouth stayed closed. Once again I closed my eyes and let the sandman carry me away.

“Molly, you need to eat something,” Reid’s voice purred next to me. Sluggishly, I opened my eyes, letting them adjust to the light coming through the curtains.

“There’s your beautiful eyes,” came his voice as he gently swept the hair away from my face.

“I feel like death,” I managed to spit out, realizing my mouth was like the Mojave
desert.

“Let me help you up,” Reid gestured, pulling back some of the blankets I had been buried in.

Swatting his hands away, I just shook my head. “I can do it.”

Reid stayed silent while handing me a cold glass of water. Eagerly, I brought it to my lips and gulped the contents down. My head felt like I had been on a drinking binge, making its pain evident in my entire body.

“Thank you,” I mumbled, closing my eyes to try and lessen the pounding in my brain.

“You need to eat something and take these,” Reid commented, holding out two magical blue pills that would make my world much more tolerable to deal with.

“I’m not hungry, but I will take those.”

“You will eat
, Molly Anne; you look like shit.”

“Well
, aren’t you mister nice guy this morning.” I glared, grabbing the pills and tossing them into my mouth.

“What do you want to eat?” Reid questioned, picking up the phone for room service.

I had no intentions of eating. I needed to make sure my job was still intact, considering I just went to sleep last night without securing the future of my job. Grabbing the rest of the bedding, I tossed the covers back and swung my feet over to the side of the bed. My world started to spin slightly, as I clutched the sides of the bed tightly, praying this would pass quickly.

“Really
, Molly Anne? Get back in bed, and I’ll send some dinner up.”

My eyes grew wide when he uttered t
he word dinner. Holy shit popsicles! Did I really just sleep an entire day away? “I’ve got to get to work, Reid; I can’t believe I slept that late,” I panicked, rushing to stand up off the bed.

My legs almost gave way when I got to my feet. Luckily
, Reid was there to catch me before I got aquatinted with the hotel floor.

“Sit down,” his voice threatened while guiding me back onto the bed.