“Ahh, really. Hey, um, thanks for letting us have the room last night,” I told him.
“No problem. Listening to you two making out had me trolling Grindr for a hook-up. When I got back you were both out and I didn’t want to disturb you,” Leo said.
I think my face should just permanently stay red so no one would ever know when I was embarrassed. “You were listening to us?”
Leo waved a dramatic hand around the room. “Cheap, paper thin walls at Chateau shit. By the way, you might want to do something about the whisker burn all over your face,” he said, blowing me a kiss as he shut the bedroom door.
“Well good morning to you,” my mother said as I walked into the house. Today it was a walk of pride, no shame whatsoever.
“You know what? It is a good morning,” I replied with an arrogant smile, snagging a couple pieces of bacon off the tray on the stove.
“Oh, that reminds me,” she began. “Theresa wants to know if you guys are free to look at houses later today.”
I shot off a text in our group chat to the guys asking if they had time. “Would two work for her?” It’s easier to pick a time and tell them when to be here than it is to get their suggestions. They’d be all over the place.
“That’s around when I told her you’d be coming to life.” She smirked. “Mind if I tag along?”
“Only if you let me treat you to dinner afterward.” I missed hanging out with her plus she had a great eye for detail and will spot shit we’d miss while looking at the houses.
“It’s a date,” she agreed. Mother-son dates were a thing of the past and I missed them. Random day trips where we’d drive around and get lost, movies and lunch that usually consisted of too many sugary sweets from the concession stand. Hanging out, binge watching Star Wars or Harry Potter. Those were the days. Not a care in the world, no one to impress, just mom and me.
I woke this morning with Ely in my arms, feeling great. I hadn’t slept that soundly in I didn’t know how long. There was still unpacking and laundry to do today, the most tedious of chores. The majority of my shit came back from the festival caked in dirt. After scarfing down the plate of food Mom made, I got going on the chores portion of my day until the guys showed up. Deciding it’d be best to take my mom’s Ford Flex to look at houses because it seats seven, we loaded in. Us four plus Mom driving would fill her SUV up.
We met Theresa at the first house, which wasn’t in a gated community. We mentioned the importance of that to her again, plus it was dumpy and smelled like a frat house. There was no way the budget we had wouldn’t allow for something better. If we needed to up the ante a bit, we had wiggle room. After telling her that, she scratched the second house off the list and we followed her to a pair that were in the same cul-de-sac and were behind secured fencing that was guarded 24/7. These were much better and oddly enough, both had two master suites plus a den and two guest rooms with a shared bathroom downstairs. They were exact matches across the street from each other. I could see that coming in handy in numerous scenarios.
“What do you guys think?” I asked, standing in the open concept living room.
“Looks great to me. We’d have a shit ton of furniture shopping to do though,” David added.
“Yeah but that will be fun,” Mom said.
“Both of these houses are being offered for rent or purchase. I explained to the developer who owns them what you guys were looking for. He said if once you were in you decided you wanted to buy them to let him know,” Theresa informed us.
“Oh, right on, that’s definitely something to keep in mind.” It was nice to have options and I wasn’t a fan of moving, especially not in the summer when the temps hit a hundred and twenty.
“I’m ready to sign,” Chase said, we all agreed and after filling out the paperwork and paying the deposits we took my mom to dinner.
“Tomorrow we need to look at the studio spaces for rent that Easton sent us,” David said after finishing his sixth taco.
My mom had a flair for the dramatics as well, she laid the back of her hand across her forehead. “Oh thank God that drum set isn’t coming back to my house.” The guys laughed, she and Ely were gonna get along just fine.
Chase was checking his phone while the rest of us finished our food. “Hey guys, Easton just sent us a group text.” That had the three of us yanking our cells out.
“Holy crap, both shows sold out?” I said.
“What shows?” Mom asked.
“They booked us two local shows in December. Some guy has a couple of bands he’s trying to get noticed and asked our management team if one of theirs would be willing to be the headlining act. Easton thought it was a great way for us to get our new songs out there,” I told her.
“He sounds like a smart guy, seems you signed on with the right management team,” Mom said.
“You’ll get to meet him. He’s super cool and is engaged to Diamond, the drummer for Social Sinners. You’ll get to meet those guys too, they’re coming to the shows.” She looked away, but I caught her wiping a tear away. “Mom?”
“Your father would be so proud of you,” she said.
The swarm of emotions had me pulling her out of the chair and into my arms. “I love you, Mom.” I wasn’t ashamed to ever tell my mother that I loved her, no matter where we were or who was around.
“I love you too, Rhone.”
The guys took off as soon as we got back to my mom’s house. I hadn’t heard from Ely since I left him this morning, so I fired off a checking-in text:
Me: hey babe, how’s your day?
I tucked my phone away and started looking online at a few furniture places Theresa and my mom had mentioned. Theresa expected we’d hear back on the houses within the next twenty-four hours. Then we could order what we wanted, and have it delivered when we got the keys. What did the fact that I was stoked about buying furniture say about me? The bedroom I grew up in was packed full of boxes, I left just enough room to walk from the door to the bed, the boxes themselves were serving as my nightstand and desk. We had our old furniture in storage but decided today we were donating it. I should check and see if The Center accepted donations of used household items and furnishings. Would be nice to give back to those who help others, most notably, Ely.
Seltzer, Chase, David and I knew when we signed our contract with Masterson, we’d get paid but being thrown right into the lineup for the European tour we just came off of netted its own payroll. Being as green as we were, we figured we’d get a couple grand each in the end after all the expenses were recouped. Man were we surprised when the deposits hit our accounts. We’d been talking with Easton and he put us in contact with the accountants they used that could manage our money and guide us toward making some wise investments. I know we couldn’t play forever, hell, losing my dad due to the abuse his body took made that crystal clear. Granted, things had changed since then but one day I’d like to have a family of my own and being away from them eight months a year as something that I already knew at this early stage in the game I wouldn’t be down for. I needed to plan for the future.
Marriage.
Kids.
Family.
Couldn’t believe I was thinking of these things already. I mean, I was only twenty-one. Meeting Ely must’ve jolted my brain and kicked it into hyperdrive because now, I couldn’t imagine not wanting a future outside of music. Time to start making wise investments while I was young enough to enjoy the benefits they’ll reap.