Paparazzi were not the only people outside. It seemed that news had broken that Chase Malone would be performing tonight, and the entire block of Riverside East was flooded with fans wanting to catch a glimpse of him. Police now had roadblocks and barriers up, but it had taken some doing to get some semblance of order.
When Krista had arrived and seen what a crazy scene it was, she’d felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. Then, as she’d stood off to the side and watched Chase walk the red carpet, she’d felt even more off balance. Hundreds of flashes were going off simultaneously as he stood and posed then did random interviews with entertainment news teams who had also set up camp earlier today in front of the venue. The entire time, he seemed totally at ease. Not shaken in the least. Which, she guessed, made sense considering he had been doing this for so long.
She didn’t think she could ever get used to it. Nor did she want to. Part of Krista’s fight or flight was starting to kick in big time, but she kept hearing her mom’s words in the back of her head. “If it’s real love, then it’s beyond worth it.”
Krista loved Chase. That was a fact. And she knew now that it was real love. Not that she’d ever had any doubt, but if she’d had doubts, these past few weeks would have squashed them like a bug flying into the windshield of a car going ninety miles per hour.
The door to the green room squeaked as the knob turned, sending her heart into flutter overdrive. All night, she’d just wanted a moment to say hi to Chase. She needed to look into his eyes. To see him. The real him. She was hoping it would give her an anchor to hold on to in these choppy waters she was treading in, barely keeping her head above the surface.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times she’d attempted to make that happen, she’d failed. It seemed that she just couldn’t get near him. So many people wanted his attention. He was being pulled from one introduction to the next. She’d watched his facial expressions to see if she’d picked up on any tension or stress, and it surprised her to say that she hadn’t. Just like on the red carpet, Chase seemed totally at ease.
The door swung totally open. “Got it,” Tully said into an earpiece as he entered the room. Without Chase.
Krista tried to quickly mask her disappointment by putting on a smile. It wasn’t Tully’s fault that he wasn’t Chase. He was just doing his job and, from what Krista had observed, doing it really well. Tully always seemed to be one step ahead of whatever Chase needed.
“Hey, Krista,” Tully greeted her as he speed-walked across the room.
“Hey, Tully,” Krista smiled.
“Okay, so every night before a show, Chase spends an hour or so alone in the green room to get his head on straight and tuned in.”
Krista looked at the small round clock hanging on the opposite wall. It read seven thirty. Chase went on in one hour at eight thirty. So that meant Krista needed to go. She tried not to be frustrated. This was his job. She got it. She’d asked him to leave when she’d been working with Abby.
It did tick her off a little bit though that she’d been escorted back here, per Chase’s request, almost half an hour ago and now she had to leave before she even saw him. She wasn’t some groupie who was hanging out so she could try and hook up with him. He’d had Tully bring her here. She hadn’t asked to come back here.
“Okay,” she said, heading towards the door.
“Where are you going?” Tully asked, sounding a little panicked.
“You said he needed to be by himself, so I’m leaving,” Krista snapped as she continued heading out the room. She didn’t want to take out her issues on Tully, but she was not in the mood to have to spell things out for him.
“Yeah, and then I said that tonight, he wants you with him and that in all the time I have worked for him, not even his bandmates were welcome during his prep time.”
Krista stopped. “You did?”
“Yeah,” Tully said as he stepped in front of her, blocking the door.
“Oh. I guess I stopped listening after you said he wanted to be alone.” Krista rarely felt embarrassed, but it seemed like tonight was just chock-full of rarities.
“Are you okay?” he asked with concern.
In the span of one night, she’d turned into an overwhelmed, embarrassed fidgeter. No. She was definitely not okay.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Krista assured him as she made her way over to the couch.
On the way, she grabbed one of about thirty bottled waters that were sitting on the table. She sat, opened it, and took a swig like it was a cold beer on a hot day.
“Copy,” Tully said into the headpiece as he turned and opened the door, and in walked Chase. Tully slipped out, and before he shut the door, she saw her cousin’s security team stationed outside of it.