Hot Southern Mess (Hide Your Crazy) (26 page)

I knew this tone from Reid, and it wasn’t one I wanted to fight this instant.

“Reid, Stephanie is going to fire me,” I
cried. I couldn’t just continue to sit here in this bed.

“I already took care of Stephanie, now I’m taking care of you,” he replied softly, letting the compassion shine in his eyes.

“What?”

“Molly Anne, you take care of everyone else on this tour. Who takes care of you?”

“I take care of myself just fine, Reid.”

“Really?
Cause you are at least ten pounds skinner than when we first went on the road, and have you seen your face yet?”

I cringed when he mentioned my face. I remember wiping out in the hallway of the strip club, but then the rest of the evening was jumbled. I dropped my gaze to the floor and si
lently shook my head no. I couldn’t argue with the fact I hadn’t been taking very good care of myself lately, considering my skinny jeans were loose on my small frame now.

“I’m not trying to be
mean, Molly Anne, but looking at you right now scares me. I refuse to let someone that I care about fall into oblivion. You mean too much to me to sit back and watch it happen. I already called Stephanie; your job is fine and we will meet back up with the band in Miami.”

“Reid, I can’t have you miss the tour for me,” I whispered softly.

“Were you not listening to me a moment ago? I said everything was taken care of. I’m not leaving you right now, Molly Anne, so you’re going to have to come to terms with it,” Reid said while punching the number for room service into the phone.

I was too tired to argue with Reid right now, and it really wasn’t worth it. I’ll let him ‘take care’ of me for the day, and then it will be right back to rock star Reid once again. One day wouldn’t kill me.

Chapter 25: Makeup wasn’t going to help my face.

I had finally ventured out of the comfy hotel bed and stood staring at my reflection in the mirror. Apparently, cement had no give to it; who would have thought. The whole right side of my face, from my chin to my eyebrow was a fantastic shade of purple and blue. My cheekbone was puffy and swollen, making it appear that I got into a fight. I can’t believe Reid sat here the last day looking at me like that. Pretty sure Quasimodo would run with a mere glance from me. Sad to say, this wasn’t the first time my face had taken a beating from my sheer lack of coordination, and probably wouldn’t be the last either.

Groaning, I grabbed a washcloth out of the basket on the counter and ran it under some hot water. I needed to wipe off the little bit of mascara that stained my chee
ks during sob fest two-thousand-thirteen. I scrubbed the left side of my face, then carefully set out to tend to the right; gently dabbing the black streaks that were starting to blend into the bruises.

“
You doing okay?” Reid asked, sticking his head inside the bathroom.

I tried to laugh. “I look like a monster.
”

“Well, I’ll admit you have looked better.”

“Ugh,” I moaned, dropping the washcloth to the counter in despair.

Reid smiled as he walked over
to the sink and picked up the cloth, gently dabbing it on my disgusting face.

“
It’s not that bad,” he commented, offering me a comforting smile.

“Easy for you to say.
You’re not the one who looks like the side of her face got smashed in.”

“Well,
it’s not the best look on you, but still sexy none the less.”

I let out a snort and rolled my eyes. There was nothing sexy about the way I looked right now. Glancing back into the mirror
, I almost didn’t recognize the woman standing before me. My body did look a little thin, and my skin had taken on an ashy appearance. I was a hot mess, and not in the good sense either.

“Reid, I don’t know what to do,” I said quietly, directing my eyes to the floor.

“Well, there is only one thing you can do, Molly Anne; you pick yourself up and deal with it.”

“Apparently, I don’t know how to deal with it. Look at me
, I’m a train wreck…………..choo-choo.”

Reid placed the washcloth back on the counter and grabbed my shoulders.

“Do you remember the first time we met?” he asked, pausing for an answer from me.

I simply nodded, keeping my gaze casted downward.

“There you were, getting the job done, and it didn’t faze you that I walked into the room, even with your ass hanging out. You let me know right off the bat that you wouldn’t put up with my bullshit lines, calling me out right there in that dressing room. You didn’t have your tits hanging out of your shirt, or so much makeup on that you made yourself a completely different canvas. Molly Anne, you were a girl who was proud of who she was, and wouldn’t let anyone tell her different.”

Reid grabbed my chin and once again forced me to look into his eyes.

“Molly Anne, you are something special. Start believing that.” Reid quickly let go of my chin, and walked out of the bathroom.

I had
been wrapped up in myself for so long, that I think I completely lost sight of who I really was. I wanted to make things happen, conquer the world, do things completely on my own. But, in the end, was that really me? Had I been so hell bent on being so different, someone the exact opposite of what my family was, that I lost sight in who the real Molly Anne McGlenister was?

For the next day I couldn’t shake the conversation between Reid and
me in the bathroom out of my head. It wasn’t that he called me special, but the fact that I really started to question who I had become. I battled with the whole identity crisis matter when I was younger; finally settling on who I thought I wanted to be. Now, looking back, I have been just playing a part in whatever society I believed to fit. I was lost in my own world, with no one to help save me.

“Please buckle your seatbelt for the remainder of our journey,” a flight attendant said to me in passing.

“Thanks,” I replied, clipping the belt together then going back to staring at the window. These last two days had done wonders for my mood; but still inside I was a complete and utter mess. Reid had been nothing but a gentleman, but I wasn’t holding my breath for a miraculous change in his demeanor. Sure, he wanted to take care of me now, but once we got back on the road I was bound to see the other side of him come out. Call me cynical, but leopards don’t change their spots. Maybe that’s why I’m so screwed up.

“You ready for the show tonight?” I asked Reid, glancing over at his seat.

“Yeah, I guess.” He shrugged, looking back down at the Spin magazine in his hand.

Good talk
, I thought to myself. Seemingly, I left caring and compassionate Reid back in Atlanta.

The weather in Miami was hot and humid. Growing up in Georgia made me use to the nastiness of the South’s weather, but being away from it for the last couple months really made me wonder how people survived down here. I peeled off my long sleeve black shirt, and used it to wipe the sweat that formed on my collarbone.

“Gross,” I muttered, sticking my hand between my bra to wipe the boob sweat away. Pulling my
ball cap lower in my head, in effort to hide my bruises, I picked up my bag from the cart outside and headed for the waiting town car.

“Is that butt sweat
, Miss Molly?” Tiny joked as I walked in front of Reid and him.

“Oh stuff it,” I snapped back, casually tossing the bird over my shoulder.

“That a girl,” Reid cheered.

“Hurry it up
, boys; I need air-conditioning,” I shouted back at them, basically speed walking to the cool oasis ahead of me.

The guys just laughed as I reached the door handle, yanking it open to feel the cold blast from the interior smack me in the face. “Perfect,” I moaned, smiling from ear to ear.

“Scoot over,” Reid instructed.

“I’m not riding bitch,” I stated firmly. I hated riding in the middle. Being sandwiched between two people in the heat was probably one of the most uncomfortable things imaginable. I wasn’t a huge touchy feely kind of girl
, anyway, and not having enough space had my anxiety level riding high.

“Don’t expect me to sit in the middle,” Reid scoffed, tossing me a dirty look.

“Just get in, you lovebirds; I’ll sit up front,” Tiny laughed, walking around to the other side of the vehicle.

“Problem solved,” I mocked, sliding into the cool car and sliding over to my seat.

Reid climbed in after me and sat down with a wink, reaching out to run his thumb over my lips.

Really?
Just when I thought I had him all pegged for rock star Reid, this side of him magically appears. How in the world am I ever going to figure myself out when he has me running laps trying to figure him out? And men claim women are complicated, sheesh.

“Hey, stop fidgeting,” Reid exclaimed as he reached for my hand in the car.

I had been picking at my already super short nails for the last ten minutes, completely nervous about seeing everyone. I hadn’t spoken to Stephanie since the morning of the Halloween party, and
, well, that was three days ago. Reid claimed I still had my job, but for how long?

“I’m not fidgeting,”
I spat back, ripping my hand out of his.

“Tell that to your poor fingernails. Do you have any left?”

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes and watched as we pulled into the arena. Butterflies were swarming around in my stomach, as I took a long drink from the water bottle I had; hopefully drowning the bastards.

“Let’s go,” Tiny directed, climbing out first, and then walking around to open Reid’s door.

“Stop worrying.”

“Bite me.” I snapped.
Clearly I was going to be on edge this afternoon.

I brought my hand up to the side of my face, hoping to shield myself from the people milling about in the parking lot. I knew I would have to explain the mess of my face to everyone inside, and would rather not tell the story five million times.

Keeping my head ducked low, I slinked to the stage door.

“Molly Anne,” Reid’s voi
ce jumped, yanking me backward into his arms.

Quickly, I glanced up to see the stage door swing suddenly open. Had I been standing there I would ha
ve had a door smashed into the other side of my face. A wonderful addition to my already horrible look.

“Thanks,” I muttered, scampering in the open door.

“You are a complete natural disaster,” Reid exclaimed, shaking his head.

“Just call me hurricane Molly. I’m going to find Stephanie,” I said quietly, pulling my hat down again.

“It’s going to be okay Molly Anne,” he promised, placing a soft kiss to the undamaged side of my face.

“Yep,” was all I could
say. Maybe this was the side of Reid that I was going to be blessed with from now on.

I flashed a smile as people gawked at my face while walking by. I really should come up with some unbelievable story on what took place, considering no one was going to believe me that I just fell, anyway. Maybe a wild peacock flew into the side of my face; or better yet, it was a ramped squirrel who started chucking nuts at me.

“Holy shit
, girl, are you okay?” Danielle shrieked as I turned the corner into wardrobe.

“Hey there.
” I forced a smile.

“What happened? I know Stephanie said you needed a couple days, but please don’t tell me someone beat you?”

“No one beat me, I just had an uncoordinated moment,” I stated, shrugging my shoulders and angling my face out of her direct line of vision.

“Okay,” Danielle said quietly. The look in her eyes told me that she didn’t believe me, but I hardly doubted anyone would. If they would have known me in my younger years, there would have been no question on how it happened. Once, during my horrible pageant years, I was doing a turn and completely fell off the stage and into their display Christmas tree. My dress somehow became so entangled in the ornaments and lights that they had to haul the whole tree and me backstage to cut me out of it. Awkward things
like that always happened to me; I was one big walking disaster.

“Have you seen Stephanie?”

“Last that I heard she was going to ‘kick Brody’s ass’ for hiring a stripping cowboy to show up at her work.” Danielle shrugged.

That sounded about right. Without proper supervision, these boys caused chaos, and a stripping cowboy sounded right up his ally.

“Thanks.” I smiled and headed out to find BL’s dressing room.

I thought about stopping and yelling that yes, I did get beat up Santa Claus decided I was on the naughty list and Rudolph nailed me with his antlers considering every one and their damn mom turned and gasped at my damn face. But instead, I forced a smile and continued forward. Sure, I looked insane with a smile plastered on my face, but did it really matter, anyway? People were going to talk and assume the worst, might as well let them come up with some creative story to talk about.

I could hear Stephanie tearing into Brody from the hallway. She was a no nonsense type of woman, and Brody was constantly flipping her shit.
Even if my day sucked, this should at least bring me some entertainment watching her lay into him.

Pushing the door open, I
couldn’t contain a grin that spread across my face. I loved watching that two year old get lectured, almost as much as I loved Simon.

The door clanged shut louder than I thought it would, making everyone in the room turn and state at me.

“Holy shit
, Molly! Who beat the crap out of you?” Brody said loudly as the others continued to stare.

“Your mom.
” I glared. That comment normally got at least a small laugh, but now silence filled the room.

“Hi Stephanie, what needs to be done?” I asked, forcing myself to stand tall and act like nothing was wrong.

“I, uh………………………….um,” Stephanie muttered, still staring at the side of my face.

“I was practicing my swan dive and forgot there was cement under me,” I said quickly, hopefully smashing the weird feeling hovering around the room.

“You realize your face doesn’t bounce, right Molly?” Brody once again commented, trying hard to contain his laughter.

“Do you guys have no respect? What in the fuck did I say earlier?
” Reid barked, his eyes narrowing as he swept his gaze across the room.

“
It’s fine, really. Looks worse than it is,” I said firmly.

“Yeah, I’m sorry Molly. I hope you are feeling better. How about you check up on PD and make sure eve
rything is kosher in their room?” Stephanie apologized, clutching her clipboard tightly against her chest.