“Look, I know you’re eager to meet them but could you sit down for five minutes?”
Andy White, personal manager and organiser of Annabelle Hawkins, asked that said musician as he watched her pace back and forth, breathing into her hands and running her hands through her hair repeatedly. He himself was sitting in the ‘lounge’ area of the bus, spread across a comfy cushioned chair which wrapped round a table which people usually ate at.
“Pacing ‘round and making me dizzy isn’t going to make them appear faster you know, Nana.”
The twenty-six year old shook his head, going back to staring at his iPod Touch. Andy was tall and quite well built for someone whose job consisted of looking after someone else’s life and not their own. He had thick brown hair with natural blonde highlights, sparkling blue eyes and a strong face. The hands that glided over the little screen were large, though they didn’t look like they had done much physical labour.
“I can’t help it.”
‘Nana’ responded, though her pace considerable slowed. She couldn’t sit down; she had too much energy bubbling up inside her. If she could she would have gone for a run, but she wouldn’t. She hadn’t to wait for them; January Thaw. A fresh band from the back end of Chicago, much like Annabelle herself had been when she had first been starting out. Annabelle herself had been touring the US before she had met them, but had been without a loyal, proper support band. Now a deal had been sighed; January Thaw was going to be travelling with Hawk until the end of the touring season. And they were supposed to be arriving at the touring buses that morning.
It was five minutes before the designated time.
“They’ll come, Nana. They have to. They signed the contract after all, even if all of them weren’t that willing.”
“What!?” Andy almost slapped himself across the face as Annabelle stared at him, panic evident in her expression.
“Look, forget I said that. They have to come, Nana. If we don’t we’ll sue their asses.”
“No we won’t!” Annabelle responded sharply, spinning on her heel and almost glaring at Andy. “It’s their choice whether they come or not. I only want them if they want it; I refuse to blackmail them like that.”
“Okay, okay... Just chill a little, yeah?”
There was a tense pause in the bus as Annabelle had turned to stare back out the window above the sink again, almost burning a hole into the entrance of the car park.
“...Yeah.” She responded slowly, before her gaze shifted to the floor and she began to pick at her painted black nails.
“Sorry I snapped at you like that, Andy...”
“Its okay, Nana. I’ve seen you in the morning after all.” Andy joked, attempting to lighten up the mood. He flashed his smile as brightly as he could at Annabelle but could only see a forced twitch of a smile back before she reverted to her apprehensive expression once more. He felt his own smile falter a little, as he watched her go into a deep concentration.
“They’ll come, Nana...”
“...I hope so, Andy. I really hope so.” Annabelle replied, looking up and running a hand through her short red hair. She waited a moment, watching intently, before giving up and heading towards the kitchen area of the bus, feeling thirsty. Andy watched her, in her black skinny jeans being held up with a studded white belt and her bright blue t-shirt with the Superman insignia and let out a sigh. Even her Pac Man socks were cute. If she didn’t wear quite so much eye make-up in such deep colours, she’d be just his type. It didn’t really matter anyway. Andy never mixed business with pleasure. Shaking such thoughts from his head he gave her a smile as she wandered back with a bottle of water and thankfully, she smiled back.
“Can you just move for a sec? You’re sitting on my hoodie.”
“Oh, soz.”
He apologised, shifting his weight so that she could pull the grey zip-up hoodie with the white zip and drawstrings from underneath him.
“I might have farted on it though.”
“Better not of, or I’ll fire your ass.” Annabelle replied with a cheeky grin as she pulled on the hoodie, stretching the sleeves as far as they would go so they could cover her hands. She then picked up her water again and walked back through the kitchen, towards the door. Fondling round in her hoodie’s pocket, she felt her cigarettes and her lighter in turn. She needed a smoke.
“Annabelle!” Andy suddenly cried, jumping up and running to the window. “I can see one of them!”
“What!?” Annabelle almost screeched, hurtling back down the bus and staring out the window with wide eyes, praying Andy wasn’t playing a cruel joke. He wasn’t.
“Oh my god!” She cried, jumping up and hugging the tall bloke, before she spun round and darted towards the door, flinging it open and flying out onto the tarmac with only her socks on.
Andy giggled behind his hand as he watched her through the window, almost tripping over her own legs to get outside and watch the figure approach the bus. Realizing she probably looked like an idiot and as the ‘professional’ she was supposed to be setting an example, Annabelle straighten up and cleared her throat, wrapping her hoodie tightly around her frame to protect her from the morning chill and waited as patiently as a hyperactive child could wait for the best candy shop in the world to open it’s stores. Andy could barely suppress his laughter at the sight of her almost jumping for joy on the spot.