Chapter 83
“This thing again?” Liz groaned, looking around the cabin of Lucky’s plane.
“What did you expect? I only have one plane.”
She sighed and sat down next to him while Charisma retreated to the cockpit to discuss the flight plan with the pilot.
“Why did she have to tag along?”
“She’s my manager, Elizabeth, this is her job. Not everything is a set-up, you know!”
She frowned, looking away from him. “I know that, I was just hoping we’d get a break from this stupid act soon.”
“Sh, she’s coming,” he whispered, grabbing her hand. Normally, he would have kissed her, but after what happened back in the limo, he was trying to avoid doing that for a while. Things were confusing enough already.
“We should be taking off in a few minutes,” Charisma announced, taking a seat on the other side of the cabin and fastening her seat belt.
“Where are we going again?” Liz asked, staring out the window as they taxied down the runway.
“Pittsburgh,” Lucky answered.
“Oh, Spence, we should probably go over your itinerary now, while we have the chance,” Charisma suggested, digging through her notebook. “Let’s see, we should be landing there around 5:30, jump on the bus, then at 6:30 and at 7:00 you have quick segments to do for a couple of the local news stations. At 8:00, you have an interview with SPIN, it shouldn’t go much past nine.”
“I thought it was Rolling Stone today,” Lucky cut in.
“No, they’re on Sunday afternoon. They’re doing a cover story, so they needed time for the photo shoot and everything. Anyway, after the SPIN interview, you’re clear for the night. Oh, they’re all probably going to want to talk about your marriage, so if Liz wants to go with you, I’m sure they’d be thrilled. But, it’s perfectly understandable if she doesn’t. Most celebrities who marry regular citizens tend to keep them out of the public eye.”
Lucky nodded. “That’s not too bad for a night. But, I think it’s best if Elizabeth stays on the bus.” He turned to look at her, smiling at the petrified expression on her face. “Unless you want to go?”
She shook her head quickly. “No. Aren’t we getting hotel rooms or something?”
“Not tonight, we have to be in Philadelphia on Saturday, so we’re taking the bus straight from the show. Don’t worry, it’s a nice bus, there’s plenty of places to sleep,” Charisma assured her. Liz frowned, not sure she was going to like spending all her time on a bus.
“Tomorrow’s a little busier,” Charisma continued, figuring she’d get it out of the way in case she didn’t see him later. “You’ve got rehearsal in the morning while the road crew sets up, you’re doing a personal appearance at Tower Records at noon. That goes until 2:00, then you’re off to a couple of radio stations for some call-in shows, you know, the usual.”
“Mm-hm,” he mumbled, only half-listening as he scanned the magazine in front of him. He had quickly fallen back into the old patterns of life on the road, and most of the schedules were the same.
“You’ll have a break after that to eat and rest, then you have a soundcheck at 5:00, then you’ll get ready for the concert, which starts at 7:00. The opening act should be done by 8:00 or so, then they’ll reset the stage, and you should be able to go on by 9:00. The show should be over by 11:00, so try to limit yourself to only 2 encores, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Once the equipment’s taken down, we get on the bus and head for Philly. The schedule there’s pretty much the same. A few appearances, some radio shows, local interviews, etc. Your big days are Tuesday and Wednesday, when we’re in New York.” She looked over at Liz and smiled. “We’ll be in a hotel then.”
Lucky sighed and closed his magazine. “Okay, lay it on me. What are you doing to me in New York?”
“It’s just all AMA stuff. You’ve got some radio shows like always, one of the national morning shows, I can’t remember which one at the moment, um... oh, you’ve got Letterman and Conan O’Brien, too. Saturday Night Live wanted you as their musical guest, but you weren’t going to be in town long enough.”
“That’s okay, I’ve already done SNL twice. Let them find someone new,” he sighed.
“Hey, it’s good publicity, don’t knock it. Anyway, on Wednesday, you’re a guest host on Total Request Live at MTV, and that morning you’ve got to film a quick performance for All My Children.”
“What?” he asked, suddenly snapping to attention. “Come on, you know I hate soap operas!”
“Talk to David, he’s the one that booked it. Just be happy we’re not in California. General Hospital’s been begging you to come back.”
He groaned and rolled his eyes. “That’s why I hate soaps. I did that show for less than a month, and now that I’m famous, they won’t leave me alone!”
“You were on TV?” Liz asked softly, finally starting to realize just how popular her new husband was.
“It was stupid. One of the show’s characters runs a record label, so I agreed to play one of the recording artists for a few weeks. Now that I’m famous, they’re trying to capitalize off of me by begging me to come back and do another show.”
“Wow...” She couldn’t help it, she was impressed. Here he was, traveling all over the country, doing all these big shows, and he acted like it was nothing. He even complained about being on Saturday Night Live!
“So, um, while you’re doing all these interviews, what am I supposed to do?” she asked softly.
He shrugged. “Whatever you want. Explore whatever city we’re in at the time, stay in the bus, come with me... although, if you go with me to any of this stuff, you’ll probably end up being interviewed.”
“Not all of them. She could go to some of the talk shows in New York and sit in the audience,” Charisma offered, seeing that Liz obviously had no desire to be grilled by the press.
She turned and gazed out the window. “I’ve always wanted to see Letterman...”
~*~
Alexis stood in the elevator, replaying the day in her mind. Sonny had stayed for a little over an hour, and it had been one of the most intense hours of her life. She smiled and shook her head, trying to clear away the thoughts she was having. This was Sonny Corinthos! He was dangerous, he did illegal things, he was so sexy.....
“Stop it, Alexis!” she whispered to herself, stepping off of the elevator and turning the corner to her suite. “Whatever that was today, it can’t happen again. It was just a moment of weakness, that’s all.”
She sighed and unlocked the door, dropping her briefcase on the table before flipping on the light. She hung up her coat and turned around, jumping in shock when she saw that she wasn’t alone.
“How did you get in here?”
“I know the owner,” he answered slyly, standing up from the couch and walking over to her.
“I highly doubt that Ned let you in.”
“No, but I threw his name around.”
“Uh-huh. What else did you throw around?” she teased.
“Are you accusing me of bribery?” he asked, feigning shock.
Alexis blushed slightly, remembering her encounter with Sonny only a few hours ago. “Um, no, I just know how you work. Really, Jax, what are you doing here?”
He closed the distance between them and rested his hands lightly on her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes. “I miss you, Alexis. I thought maybe we could try again, do things the right way this time, instead of that crazy marriage we had before.”
She could feel her knees going weak as she met his gaze. “Um, what about...?
“Chloe?” he finished, smiling sadly at her. “There’s nothing going on with her anymore. We realized we weren’t meant to be. You’re the one I’m meant for, I’m just sorry it took me so long to realize it.”
“Oh, Jax,” she sighed, touched by his words.
“I’m in love with you, Alexis,” he whispered, gently pulling her closer, meeting her lips with a tender, lingering kiss.
‘Oh, God, what am I doing?’ she thought as she wrapped her arms around his neck to support herself as she felt her knees grow weak.
