Chapter 18 Fair to Middling

Nico

As I landed in New York City, I was extremely grateful for both Michael Drummond and the private plane he had booked for my flight from California. We usually flew on commercial flights whenever feasible in order to minimize our carbon footprint. I didn't give a fuck about the environment, or harmful emissions affecting the climate right then though, if it meant I avoided the goddamned paparazzi at LAX, and nosy fuckers gawking at me on a plane.

Lana had flown with me to continue prepping me for my appearance on the show. She had done her best to shut down the most blatant of the lies that appeared online today. She and Michael had issued cease-and-desist notices to several bloggers and tabloid sites, demanding they take that shit down. I heard words like "false and defamatory" tossed around, along with "civil suit" and "libel for defamation of character." It wouldn't really make a huge difference whether or not they complied. Their goddamned lies were out there, and the damage was done.

Luckily, since the security footage from the hotel had been released, along with a statement from the hotel manager confirming that their security staff had been forced to intervene, the tide of public opinion was turning my way again. Of course, there were some who would never believe the truth, no matter what proof we provided, or how many lawsuits we filed. Honestly, as long as Allie believed me, I didn't much care what anyone else thought.

Matt, Tony, and Josh had also flown with me, partly to show their support, and partly to keep me from losing my cool and knocking the shit out of the first person to stick a camera in my face. Michael had hired a bodyguard to come with us as well. He was built like a tank, had a military crew-cut, and looked like his face would crack open if he ever attempted to smile. He was on the security team that had worked with us before from time to time and was really a nice guy. Scary looking fucker, though.

I did not want to do this damned interview. I didn't like doing those even when I wasn't in the middle of a cluster-fuck. This was going to suck donkey balls, there was no doubt about it.

After arriving at the Late Night Live studio, we were all shuffled into the green room. I had just enough time to grab something to eat and drink from the catering table set up in the corner before a production assistant came to take me for hair and makeup. It didn't take much time. I allowed them to put on just enough makeup to cover up my dark under-eye circles and make sure my skin wouldn't look washed out or oily on-camera. The make-up artist tried to flirt, so I shut her down and got out of there as quick as I fucking could.

The interview turned out to be less of a shit-show than I had imagined. Lana had convinced the host to limit his questions about the after-party and the redheaded bitch, and she had given me instruction on what to say if he went too far.

I was surprised when Thomas Landry actually cooperated. After we traded the usual bullshit pleasantries, he made a brief mention of it, of course. There was really no way to ignore the fucking elephant in the room.

"So, Nico, you had a great night last night. You won the Grammy for 'In My Dreams' - great song, by the way. You had a lovely date on your arm. It looked like you were having a great night celebrating your award, until the after-party ended." He looked from me, then out at his audience. "I know you all saw the pictures, so I have to ask..." He turned back to me, trying to look sympathetic. "What happened, Nico?"

As Lana and I had rehearsed, I gave him the overview of how everything went down. I didn't mention the kiss or Allie specifically, and for his sake, Landry was lucky he didn't either.

"So, you didn't realize it had been caught on camera until you woke up this morning?" he asked.

"No, man, I had no idea it had made headlines. I went to sleep thinking it was just an interaction with an overzealous fan, no big deal, really. Then I woke up to find that picture all over the tabloids, all over the social media sites, and all these crazy rumors and outright lies being passed off as the gospel truth. It was just really frustrating, for everyone involved."

"Have you had to deal with that kind of thing before, Nico?" he continued, steering the conversation away from the redhead and Allie, thank God.

"Yeah, a few times. I found a woman waiting in my driveway once, a couple of years back. She stripped naked while I was calling the cops. That was a bizarre night. But, luckily, 99.9% of our fans are incredible. We love to meet our fans and get a chance to talk about music or whatever. As long as those interactions are polite and respectful, it's a great thing for all of us to experience." I flashed a grin at the audience. "Moral of the story folks, just keep your clothes on and your hands to yourself if you run into me, and it's all good." They laughed and clapped, just as they were supposed to.

Thomas Landry laughed, as the good host he was, and agreed. "I think that advice will keep you out of a lot of trouble, not just when meeting a celebrity." he said to the audience with a wag of his finger. We all laughed again, as intended, and he moved on to a clip of the movie with my song playing during the scene, then showed a clip of my acceptance speech. After a plug for the new album, I was free to get the hell out of there. As the show went to a commercial break, I stood and shook hands with Landry, gave a wave and a big smile to the audience, and left the stage. Lana and the guys were waiting for me in the green room, and we left to check into our hotel. Not wanting to deal with the general public, we decided to order a late-night snack from room service and called it a night. I texted with Allie briefly before going to sleep but didn't want to bother her too much when she told me James was there. I knew he would look out for her.

We met up in the hotel lobby early the next morning in order to head back to the private airstrip for the flight home.

Once the plane was airborne, the flight attendant offered us a selection of breakfast items. I settled in with the biggest fucking cup of coffee she had, along with two egg and sausage breakfast sandwiches, a bowl of yogurt and a fruit cup. Now that the worst of the drama was over, my appetite had returned, and I was fucking starving.

After an hour or so, Lana was typing away on her laptop with earbuds in. Matt and Josh were in the back of the plane, playing a video game on the TV in the bedroom, and Tony and I were talking quietly.

"Have you talked to Allie this morning?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, with the time difference, I didn't want to wake her up. My Nonna called me bright and early though." I said with a chuckle. "She told me she was glad she saw me on Late Night Live last night. She said she had assumed I was dead, since I hadn't answered any of her calls or responded to any of her texts yesterday, so she was glad to have proof of life."

Tony laughed. "God, I love that woman. So, what did she have to say about the whole thing?"

"Well, she said Allie looked beautiful at the Grammy's. That the kiss looked to be 'fair to middling' - and said that I could do better." Tony choked at that. "Then she told me I should have throat-punched the redheaded hoebag and ripped her fake tits off."

"Oh shit!" Tony gasped out between shouts of laughter.

"She also thought it would have been funny if the bitch had fallen on her ass, and her butt implants had popped. I could have done without her asking if Allie and I have played 'hide the cannoli' yet, though." I said with a shudder.

"Oh shit...stop...I can't breathe!" he howled, clutching his stomach.

"Well, you asked, motherfucker," I said.

"Yeah, I did. I won't make that mistake again," he said, still chuckling. "Have you decided what you want to say to Allie? I know you two haven't talked much since she got those flowers from Liam the other day."

"Shit, don't fucking remind. I'm still pissed about that," I grumbled.

Tony looked at me questioningly, "So, what are you going to do about it? What if she decides to go out with him again?

"I don't know what I'm going to say to her, or what I'm going to do. Has she said anything to you?" I asked.

"I'm not going to betray her confidence, Nico. If you want to know what she thinks about him, you need to ask her."

"Fair enough, I can respect that, I guess." I said begrudgingly. "I've gotta be honest, as hurt as I am that she's been dating, I think I'm more fucking hurt that she didn't tell me."

"Sorry, man. I think she just needed to talk about it, and I was there," he said.

"I get it, and I'm glad she had you to talk to. I just wish it had been me she talked to."

"And if she had?What would you have said? he asked.

I knew exactly what I would have said. "I would have told her she couldn't go out with him because she's mine. I would have told her that the idea of her dating another man makes me crazy. I would have told her that I love her, and I want to be the only man in her life. I would have told her that I want to be the only man in Gracie's life. And then, I would have kissed the shit out of her. And it would have rated better than 'fair to middling' on my Nonna's damned kiss-rating scale!"

He nodded, with a huge smile on his face. "Well, OK then, I guess you know what to do when you see Allie after all."

When I just looked at him, he laughed. "You're welcome, asshole," he said with a smirk. "Glad I could help you pull your head out of your ass and figure that out."