HARLEY

A job with the band. How did I get so lucky?

Ace had put in a call to Devon before he left and organized a meetup between us for tomorrow. Devon had seemed open to the idea of me helping him, and I couldn’t be more excited. Minus the part where I was going to have to tell Ron that I’d be off his roster for a while. That would not be an easy conversation. Ron would probably scream, yell and get all up in my face…maybe I’d ask Tony to back me up while I talked to Ron. I should also probably find a sub to cover for me, too. At least if I went to Ron with a solution for being down one dancer, maybe he wouldn’t freak out too much.

These were the thoughts that crowded my mind as I waved at Ace, watching him drive off to with Jax. After we’d been together for the last time, Ace had confided in me about rehab. Lying in bed, brushing my hair back, he’d told me the truth.

“He’s my best friend, H. You know how it is. You’d do it for Aria too, right?” He asked.

What could I say? “In a heartbeat.” I nodded.

The reality was that Jax was afraid of failure. Terrified that he would disappoint Aria, he didn’t want anyone to know where he was. And I could definitely understand that. So, I agreed to keep his secret too. Ace and I were the only one who knew where the guys were and what they were doing. Although Ace did have hopes for a couple of song writing sessions once Jax was a bit more stable.

It was a good thing. Jax definitely needed rehab. He was a walking addiction by the band’s standards and although she hadn’t said it explicitly; I was pretty sure that Aria felt the same. Also, if I was being honest, despite my own craziness and recreational drug use, Jax needed rehab by my standards, too.

Although this was supposed to be for eight weeks, I couldn’t see Ace lasting that long. If I knew anything about that guy, I was positive that he was going to be there for Jax and still find his way back to me. I fucking loved how intense he was and despite my freak out when he said he didn’t want me stripping… I kinda liked it, too.

Once they were out of sight, I took some time to clean up. When Ace and I were holed up in my apartment together, we did nothing but fuck, order takeout, smoke fat joints and do it all over again. After a few days of this, my place looked and smelled like a literal garbage dump. I opened all the windows, washed the dishes and counter tops, threw out all garbage and vacuumed. Then I lit a scented candle and headed for my bedroom. After stripping the bed and putting on clean sheets, some more vacuuming and finally, a good scrub down of the bathroom and it was a million times better than before. I was starting to really like this new version of myself. I’d never found a reason to keep things clean and tidy before. That type of attention to detail used to make me think of the home I grew up in. A facade of beauty that kept a dumpster fire of chaos and pain under wraps. It just always seemed so fake to care about one’s home. Like as if a clean, beautiful home could erase any wrongdoings by its occupants. That might have been true then… but based on my level of happiness staring at this freshly cleaned up space, I might have to admit that perhaps it no longer held true for me.

Once I was done, I paged Tony at the club and waited for him to call me back. I didn’t have to wait long though, my phone rang within a few minutes.

“Hey there, my girl!” His booming voice wafted out into my ears.

“Tony!” I squealed. “So good to hear your voice, my friend.” I grinned.

“You’re on the schedule for tonight, Har…” Tony said slowly. “Are you coming in or sending Aria again?” He chuckled finally. “Ron hates when you don’t ask first, but damn, does he ever love Aria, too. Always trying to get her to sign a contract.” He laughed again.

“Yeah, I know… but no, uh… I’ll be there tonight.” I assured him.

Not to dance, though. I mused.

“I did page you for a specific reason though…”

“Ah… and here it comes!” Tony chuckled.

“You know me too well, Tony.” I laughed. “Yes, I need a favour. I need to take off some time. Like a lot of time… eight weeks, to be exact. But I promise I’ll be back after that. I have to tell Ron tonight and, well, I was kinda hoping that you’d be by my side when I did.”

“So, you need some muscle to back you up?” He chuckled.

“Pretty please?” I begged.

“Anything for you, sweetheart, but you gotta tell me why… I don’t care what reason you give Ron, but I need the scoop!” Tony demanded.

“Absolutely!” I agreed.

“Okay then, come by the club in the afternoon and we’ll chat. I want all the juicy details, baby girl!”

“I’ll have to jet out by three though… I have an appointment.”

“No worries. We’ll get you in and out on time.” Tony answered.

“Okay, done!” I grinned. “See you later, my friend.”