Chapter 11
The email came before I had my morning coffee the following Tuesday. I had spent Monday pushing the feeling of Luke's hand on my knee out of my memory. Luckily Tom hadn't brought it up, remaining his normal charming self after rehearsals.
Those worries had no room in my mind when the email alert came through.
An official invitation to attend the iLove Music Awards.
My eyes tried to inhale the email. I couldn't believe it!
But shit, the show was mere weeks away. Much more last minute than would be ideal for preparing my outfit, but I couldn't care less—I was going to my first awards show!
My phone lit up with a call from Katie before I could call her myself.
"Did you see?"
"Oh my God!"
I screeched into the phone.
The elation was all-encompassing. I couldn't get enough breath in, my hands shaking as I tried to talk to Katie about logistics. I heard something about stylist this, makeup that, just nodding as I pictured the night, so incredibly soon. I couldn't help but laugh that I was still in my shitty shoebox apartment, clothes strewn on the floor.
Tom was my next call after Katie finished up, my calendar now filled with new appointments to prepare for the show.
"Babe, we're going to the iLove Music Awards!"
I was almost screaming when he answered.
"Hahahaha, I take it you're excited!"
His low laugh was warm and affectionate.
"Um, yeah!"
I almost screamed again.
"It's my first awards show!"
I realized as I said it that Tom had already attended and won a Grammy, in addition to countless iLove awards over the years. The overly successful prick.
"Wow, am I lucky to be your first red carpet date,"
Tom's voice grew a bit gruff with desire.
"I'm the lucky one,"
I gushed in more ways than one.
"Come over to my place before rehearsal,"
Tom demanded.
I checked the time: 8:47 a.m. Rehearsals started at one. Plenty of time.
"On my way!"
The morning consisted of lots of riding, no horses involved.
Katie was picking me up to take me to a stylist she thought would be a good fit by the end of the day.
We immediately agreed upon leather for the event. Especially given the summer tour and my relationship with Tom, we wanted to lean into the whole rockstar angle. Even though my music was definitely more pop than The Band's, that didn't matter.
We discussed black eyeliner and dramatic curls, along with promises to loop in Wood, Tom's manager, to get his stylist to coordinate.
Unlike their usual appearance together as a foursome, the guys would be splitting up for this red carpet. Tom and I would show up together first, followed a few minutes later by Luke solo, then followed by Mick and Hunter. The goal was to coordinate everyone's outfits but make the respective groups distinctive. And keep Mickey and I apart, though no one would say that out loud.
I was impressed with how coordinated this all was, truly step by step, every stitch and lash planned for.
The stylist had me practicing smiles in front of the mirror, going for "not too much teeth"
and "not annoyingly coy"
and "stop looking constipated." Fun...
We ultimately landed on a serious expression to go with the rockstar aesthetic.
The leather mini dress was basically created on my body, the skill apparent as pieces were pinned and placed, pulled and formed around my curves with careful precision.
We landed on a super dark red, thinner and softer leather, wrapping around me tightly and giving me the craziest cleavage. I felt slightly like a stuffed sausage, but I could see how hot I was in the mirror. I loved the aesthetic, and I supposed I had to get used to the public's gaze.
I somehow dragged myself to rehearsals after we finished up, with promises to return a week later for fittings.
---
The day of the awards came before I was ready. Katie had gotten me into a spa and esthetician the day before, and every inch of skin felt scrubbed raw and plump and pink.
I went into my head the morning of, waking up just a few minutes before the nail person was knocking on my door.
Katie arrived to chauffeur and chaperone my time in the hotel prep room. Makeup, hair, shoes, getting into the dress. It was all a lot of poking and prodding that I would much rather hide within myself for.
I was also hiding from the nerves. There were about to be so many eyes on me. Tom was stupidly famous with so many hardcore fans. It felt so irrelevant to us whenever we were together, but I knew our little privacy bubble had to be burst.
I was soon wrapped in the leather dress, hair in messy curls and lips very pouty. The tightness of the dress felt like a constricting reminder of the eyes that were about to be on me.
But the way Tom eyed me as he walked into the hotel room made me forget all about what we were about to do.
"Wow."
He looked me up and down, kissing my cheek before holding my hand up for me to twirl.
"Good work, Katie!"
He smiled widely at her, his warmth infectious to all.
She blushed and nodded. But I couldn't care about anyone else in the room because Tom was kissing me, lipstick be damned.
I heard annoyed groans from the makeup artist and Katie, but who cared about professionalism, my man was here.
Once he had kissed me so senseless the entire room felt a million miles away, Tom pulled back, smiling down at me devilishly.
Katie cleared her throat loudly. I laughed, turning back to Katie with Tom pulling my back to his front. Given how tight his pants now felt against his crotch, I could figure out why he was keeping me pressed against his front. No need to scandalize Katie.
Luckily, the lipstick hadn't been destroyed, and the little bit on Tom's mouth was hot.
Once Katie had us pulled apart long enough to get my thinking brain back online (versus my very thoughtless horny brain), I noticed how handsome Tom looked.
He was in a classic suit, his belt and tie both wide, his neck somehow looking thick and extra rockstar-ish with the crisp lines of the white shirt. His classic black Dr. Martens were the only sign he wasn't a Wall Street banker, aside from his general aura.
His shoulders looked so wide; the suit fit him perfectly. God bless the tailors of Hollywood.
"Stop staring at each other like that,"
Katie barked at us, which finally brought my gaze up to Tom's, where I saw the same look of admiration and hunger I was sure I was expressing.
"Let's go, let's go."
Katie poked my back, forcing me to grab Tom's strong arm teetering on my heels as we started walking toward the hotel parking lot, where a massive black SUV waited for us.
Tom held my hand for the ride, letting me sink into my inner quiet place the way I do before any performance.
"Walk me through this one more time,"
I looked at Katie, attempting calm as we pulled up to the venue, feeling very out of my element. Tom held my hand and kissed my head, waiting for the go-ahead for us to walk out of the tinted SUV.
"You walk with Tom to the red carpet right there,"
Katie pointed.
"People take pictures for thirty seconds. You and Tom just be your natural, in-love selves. Answer one or two questions, keep walking the same direction with Tom, and I will meet you there."
Katie was such a needed presence, her calm voice putting my nerves in a near trance as I attempted to soak in her and Tom's confidence. At this point, I was so trained and prepped I think I could do this in my sleep. Nonetheless, I felt nauseous.
"Okay, here we go," Tom said.
"In three, two, one,"
Katie counted down into the earpiece, security opening the door next to Tom. I was immediately blinded by the sharp flashes of camera lights. Thank God my training kicked in as my face went stoic rather than flinching.
Tom and security got me out of the van, modesty intact, as the noise started to overwhelm me too. The photographers were yelling Tom's and my names. I just focused on Tom's hand in mine and trained my eyes on the red carpet ahead, walking as naturally as possible with the hottest man alive on my arm.
Tom paused us in front of the background wall, putting his arm around my waist as I sank naturally against him. We turned and smiled at the cameras, turning at various angles for the different photographers.
"You're doing amazing,"
Tom's warmth evident in his voice, quiet in my ear. I turned my gaze to him to smile widely, feeling suddenly much more at ease as our grins and gazes met each other's.
We were soon ushered over to the reporters asking questions after the photos were taken, and I heard our names being called in every direction. Luckily Katie and Wood had given us an order that everyone was following: E! News, then MTV, then People, then the official iLove's red carpet correspondent. They were lined up in that order too.
"Tom and Aria, you two look lovely tonight,"
the E! News host started.
"Thank you,"
we both responded graciously.
"I love your dress,"
I added, eyeing her black sparkles with awe.
"Thank you,"
the woman blushed, our energy dancing nicely together.
"So Tom, how excited are you to have your girlfriend on tour with you? I know fans are gushing about the concept."
"It's honestly the luckiest thing ever,"
Tom smiled down at me. As rehearsed as this was, I could tell how genuinely he meant it.
"We actually started dating before I knew she would be our opener this summer. I can't tell you how ecstatic I was when I found out she'd be joining me."
"And she is such an unbelievably talented singer and artist. The way she sees the world feels like magic to me."
He finished, finally peeling his eyes from mine and returning them to the host and camera.
I, for one, already felt lightheaded from that. And horny.
"Wow, that is so romantic,"
the host seemed to go off script herself at that one.
"And Aria, how excited are you to be releasing your first studio-length album in a few short weeks?"
I smiled at the camera, trying to refocus on the task at hand.
"So excited,"
I affirmed, feeling heat rise to my cheeks.
"Sorry, I'm still swooning a bit at what Tom just said,"
I blurted out without thinking.
"Me too, girl,"
the host joked, Tom's and my eyes continuing to dance with each other, his expression soft and loving as always.
"Pick up Aria Weber's debut album The Hope, and watch The Band on tour starting this June,"
the host concluded, Tom leading me down the line while winking at me briefly.
The remaining three interviews were much more rehearsed. I still couldn't believe I had gone off script, praying it came across as cute and relatable rather than... I don't know what else, something bad.
And it was quickly time for us to walk off the carpet. Of course, cameras would be on us all night, but thank God it wouldn't be quite so crazy as that was.
Tom pulled me into his side as we were ushered to our seats.
"So proud of you, baby,"
he murmured into my hair.
"I love you,"
I said back.
I was lucky that I was so stupidly in love with Tom and found that very distracting, or I would have been freaking out walking to our seats. Everyone who was anyone in LA was here. As in, like, the big A-listers.
Tom's easy charm made every interaction easy, the little twinkle in his eyes putting everyone at ease immediately. I don't know how someone wouldn't fall in love with Tom. His shaggy hair cut styled more intentionally, his suit stretched perfectly across his wide shoulders. His lips crinkled his eyes as he smiled, dimples framing the warm easy smile with the slight pink of my lipstick against his day-old stubble.
We were quickly reunited with The Band, Katie having set up the seats so I was between Luke and Tom, furthest away from Mick. I still really hadn't gotten to know Hunter yet; something was intimidating about his piercing eyes, bright blonde hair, and posh English accent. But everything else was so overstimulating and interesting, it was all I could do to focus on Tom and my immediate surroundings.
Some singer finished performing when the announcer started speaking.
"Tonight we are joined by the very handsome Tom 'Axe' Severson and his beautiful new girlfriend Aria Weber."
The cameras zoomed in on us, with extra cameras panning toward us. Luckily, Katie had prepped me for this. With all the press thus far, there was no way we wouldn't have a camera on us the whole time.
My practiced, plastic, plastered smile stayed on my face politely, just like Katie taught me. Tom and I were already holding hands, so we just kept that up.
"We all know The Band's tour is coming up, and Aria's first full studio-length album is coming out before then, is that right?"
Tom and I both nodded.
Oh my God, my album had just been mentioned at the iLove Music Awards! I could only freak out in the back of my mind, acting cool as a cucumber as the cameras stayed pointed our way.
The rest of the night was gone in a blaze, Tom's hand grounding me all the way back to our SUV with Katie waiting inside.
"I love you,"
he murmurs in my ear. I finally let out the breath I had been holding.
"We did it,"
my smile widening as I turned to meet his gaze.
"We did."
His exuberance matched mine.
We made out shamelessly for a minute despite Katie's presence, everything feeling better than a dream.
We skipped the after-party, electing to go home and fuck.
"You're the best, Katie, thank you, thank you,"
I gushed as the SUV dropped us off at Tom's sprawling house.
"You're a star, love."
She kissed my cheek.
"And don't ruin your dress!"
she called after me.
Tom scooped me into his arms, carrying me like a bride, my ass no doubt halfway out of the dress. The leather garment didn't make it past the entryway.