Chapter 3 Making Plans
Mya and I worked quickly, arranging flights and accommodation, transport and a few extras we wanted, to make everything special for everyone. We only had three nights because of everyone’s work commitments.
“Alright, check this before I press to confirm the numbers, Alfie. Lily, you, Jack, me, Dave, Emily, Lennon, Cody, Uncle Rick and Emma…is that it?”
“No, you need to add Henry, Jed and the two guys from XrAid’s security team. Better check with Rick, Lennon and Cody in case they have women in tow. Hell, book it now and get an extra two cabins. We can sort the other stuff out later. ”
Punching the tablet again, she glanced up at me and smiled widely, obviously excited.
“Eek, Jack and Lily are going to poop in their pants when they find out what we’re planning.”
Smiling warmly at her youthful choice of words, my mind drifted momentarily to the fact that I was planning a trip for a group of people.
During my late teens, I’d been a bit of a loner when I wasn’t with the band.
I’d never really felt like I belonged to a big crowd of people before I’d met Lily.
But it felt like we were like family. Alright— a pretty dysfunctional family and as much of a family as three groups of wayward rock bands and my Lily’s group of friends could be.
Surrounded by good people, I realized that life was more important than work.
They were the family I chose, real people in a world where life got pretty surreal for some of us otherwise.
Being in a famous rock band or living with someone who was, wasn’t easy.
Everyone we were close to felt the pressure.
Plus, if I was an ass, or one of the others was, there was no shortage of scathingly honest remarks from people we trusted when it mattered.
Mya squeezed my arm with excitement and dragged me out of my daydreaming. I chuckled at her enthusiasm and leaned over to hug her.
“I owe you, honey. I’d have been lost trying to arrange this by myself. I’d have had my PA make the arrangements, but I want it to be a complete surprise, and I couldn’t trust that one of the others in the team wouldn’t pick it up and mention it to Lily.”
Standing up, Mya leaned over to grab the red woolen cardigan from the back of the chair. I hadn’t seen her take it off. Pushing her hand into the sleeve she widened her eyes and gave me a small smile again.
“I’d better make myself scarce before Lily comes back.”
As she walked to the door, my cell began to vibrate in my pocket. Fishing it out, I saw it was Rick.
“It’s Rick,” I stated, and swiped the screen to accept his call.
My heart almost stopped when he said he was in the foyer with Lily. They were on their way to the elevators. My alarm that Lily had returned so quickly, and that Mya was still standing in the apartment must have been written on my face.
Mya instantly grabbed my forearm and mouthed, “What’s wrong?”
With only twenty-four hours before our trip, I didn’t want all our efforts to surprise Lily to have been in vain.
We’d been working on this for nearly a week; pulling the dates everyone was available and where we were going.
I shook my head in astonishment and began dragging Mya toward the door.
My mind was in chaos, and I was too short on time to explain what was going on.
Once outside the suite, I headed in the direction of the stairs pulling Mya by the hand and hung up on Rick at the same time.
“Lily, Rick, elevator, quick. Stairs, thank you. I’ll call you later.”
With that, I opened the door and pecked her on the cheek. I pushed her through the doorway into the stairwell and slammed the door shut behind her. As I turned, the elevator door opened, and Rick escorted Lily out, which meant I was behind them walking back to the suite.
“Boo!” I shouted from my makeshift hiding place. Lily jumped, and Rick punched me in the stomach.
“Ouch! For fuck’s sake, Rick, can’t you take a joke, dude?” I asked, hunched over with my hand rubbing my stomach to soothe the pain he’d left there.
“Alfie. Damn! You scared the shit out of me sneaking up on us like that,” he said.
Lily piped up in Rick’s defense and stared pointedly at me, “Alfie you should know better than to do something that stupid. We have enough surprises dealing with the fans to last us a lifetime, never mind you jumping out like that. Whatever possessed you to do that?”
Lily turned on her heel. Her hair swished behind her as she made her way into the penthouse.
Rick smirked at me, shook his head and stared at me with an incredulous look on his face before following suit.
I rubbed my aching abs again as he walked ahead, and I made a mental note to avoid any real altercation with him in the future.
Luckily, I had hidden everything as soon as Mya and I had finished talking to the travel company.
I’d felt smug with what we’d managed to accomplish.
As far as I was aware, there was no evidence in the penthouse of Mya or the holiday.
Allowing myself a knowing smirk, I closed the door behind me.
When I’d turned to address them, something caught my eye on the console table.
Mya’s purse. Shit!
Lily and Rick were standing with their backs to me in conversation. I stood frozen, deciding what to do about grabbing the purse from the table. What if they turned around and saw me with it in my hand? What the fuck could I say?
My internal struggle lasted a split second, but in my mind it felt like a lifetime.
All I could see was the purse. I had no choice but to hide it.
Swiping it from the console table I ran into the bathroom.
I swung the door shut with force and locked it.
Lily’s small fist hammered on the door immediately, her voice was anxious.
“Alfie, are you alright? What’s wrong, honey?”
“It must have been those mussels we had last night,” I lied.
My voice sounded pathetic when I’d tried to sound unwell.
Meanwhile, I held the leather purse close to my chest, my eyes frantically scanning the small tiled room for somewhere to stow it.
Everything in there was fitted; fucking modern bathroom design.
Shit! Shit! Shit! Even the shower was clear glass and nowhere offered refuge for the purse. There was only one thing left to do.
Quickly, I rifled through Mya’s purse and took out her credit card wallet.
Everything else in it was immediately replaceable.
Gingerly, I lifted the lid of the toilet cistern, being careful that the lid didn’t knock against the body of it.
I flushed and stuffed the small bag inside before the weighted ball dick let it refill.
Once I was happy it was low enough, I gently replaced the lid.
My heart raced. I rang Mya’s phone to tell her I had the purse in case she tried to come back.
When she answered, I’d whispered as quietly as I could and hung up before she could reply.
I briefly reminded myself that it would make a good story once everything was out in the open, and I ran the faucet to wet my face.
Unlocking the door, I left the bathroom and wandered back into the main seating area of the suite.
Lily and Rick turned to me with concern etched on their faces.
“Jesus, Alfie. What’s going on with you? One minute you’re joking, the next you’re ill? Damn, if I knew I could make you shit just by punching you, I’d have done that a long time ago. I told you I thought you were anal about things didn’t I?”
I smirked at Rick’s comment and wandered over to the closet, too preoccupied with the bulge in my back pocket instead of my front for a change.
Slipping my hand inside the closet door I felt around for my leather jacket and found the pocket.
I dropped Mya’s credit cards inside and breathed a long, audible sigh of relief.
Rick took that as me being frustrated and laughed loudly.
“Alright you two, I’m out of here. I don’t do pissed-off-and-angsty, Alfie. I’ll see you both at dinner later. I have two more interviews, and I’ve got to find time to get laid. Don’t be late for tonight.”
He walked to the door then turned around and waved his hand back and forth between Lily and me. “If you’re planning on getting it on, start now. I hate being kept from my food.”
Lily’s jaw dropped in shock at his blunt comment, but Rick was being…
Rick. He always said exactly what he meant without a thought about how it might affect others.
Rick left, and I strode toward Lily, circling her face with my index finger.
I couldn’t suppress the wicked smile that played on my lips.
She looked adorably flustered for someone that spent her life in the limelight being ogled by male fans.
“Lily, you need to stop with that blushing girl, you know what it does to me.”
She knows because she inevitably ends up with no panties on when I see that flushed look on her face. It got me every time.
“You’ve made a remarkable recovery for someone whose guts just fell into the toilet,” she threw back.
I hurriedly told her that I’d pulled a stunt hoping that Rick would leave so that I could have her all to myself. Lily leaned toward me reaching up on her tiptoes and planted a small kiss on my mouth. Her wet tongue tantalized when she ran it along the seam of my lips, and I snapped.
Valuable playtime flashed through my mind. I surprised her by sweeping her off the floor and with her body in my arms; I walked to the bedroom. I threw her playfully on the bed and landed beside her, then rolled her to lie on top of me.
“Alright, where were we before you had to run out and leave me adjusting my swollen dick in my pants?
Lily pulled herself free and repositioned until she was sitting astride me. Flicking her hair back, she smirked and began the slow painful process of unbuttoning my shirt while she stared into my eyes.