Chapter 4

Maria unlocked the door to her loft and entered. Geoff had dropped off Kathleen and Alex, before he had dropped off Maria. After he had done that, Geoff had gotten into his own car and left, presumably to go stay with either Kevin or one of his other college buddies. ‘We’ve been fighting a lot lately,’ Maria thought, as she turned on a light. She frowned when she saw bags, packed and ready to go on the floor in front of her.

"Sarah?" she called out. Sarah appeared, dressed and looking mad. ‘I don’t need this right now,’ Maria told herself. ‘Stay calm.’ "Going somewhere?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes I am. I’m going to stay with Emily, just like you wanted," Sarah answered. Maria sighed.

"Now? It’s close to two o’clock in the morning. I don’t think a trip to Boca Raton is a very good idea at this hour," she said.

"You want me gone and I’m going. Make up your mind," Sarah told her.

"You can stay here until Friday. You don’t have to leave now, right this minute. In fact, there’s no way that you’re leaving now," Maria said as she locked the door.

"Fine. I’ll stay until Friday. I can’t wait to go," Sarah said with an attitude. She looked around. "Where’s Geoff?" she asked.

"None of your business. Now, go to bed and you can call Emily and make arrangements with her tomorrow or today or whatever. I’m going to bed," Maria said as she walked tiredly to her bedroom. Sarah watched her go. Obviously, the party hadn’t gone well. Sarah smiled. ‘Poor Maria,’ she thought, not feeling particularly sorry for her sister.

O-Town entered their house in pretty high spirits. Jacob was feeling low-key, though. He couldn’t get the argument between Maria Carpenter and her jackass boyfriend out of his mind. It had been funny, yet disturbing at the same time. The guy seemed to have a very short fuse and he had almost gotten physically violent with Maria right there in front of everyone. Maria had stood up to him well, though. Jacob thought about the bandage that was on Maria’s hand. Had that been the result of another fight with Geoff?

"You’re quiet," Dan said, bringing Jacob out of his thoughts. "You’re thinking about Maria and her boyfriend’s argument, aren’t you?" Jacob looked at him as the group gathered in the rec room.

"And why would I be thinking about that?" he asked. Dan shrugged.

"I don’t know…maybe because it was one of the highlights of the night. That guy certainly caused a scene," he said. Ashley frowned.

"He’s a jerk, huh? I feel sorry for Maria. Why would she be with a guy like that?" he asked.

"It’s none of our business, guys. Drop it," Jacob told them. The last thing that he wanted to do was to get caught up in Ms. Carpenter’s personal life. The Mikes then got their attention.

"You need to pack. We leave early tomorrow morning. Don’t overdo it, but bring everything that you think is essential for the trip," Mike M. told them. The group nodded. "We’ll be back later. Now, go to bed."

"Yes, Dad," Erik said as he saluted the Mikes before they left.

"I’m tired, so I’ll see you fellows in the morning," Trevor said as he got up, slapped Jacob on the shoulder and ran upstairs to his room. Dan and Ashley soon followed. Erik and Jacob remained on the couch, just sitting, staring straight ahead.

"It’ll be fine, Jake. If you think that bad things are gonna happen, then they will. You need to stay positive," Erik said.

"And you need to stay focused. I think having that Carpenter woman and that stylist around is going to mess up everyone’s concentration," Jacob remarked.

"It sounds to me like you’re the one who’s thinking too much about Maria Carpenter. Relax, man," Erik told him as he stood up. Jacob stretched. "I’ll see you in the morning," Erik said. Jacob nodded as Erik went upstairs to bed. After a few minutes, he, too, got up and headed for the guesthouse. It was going to be a long three months.

Friday

"Somebody has to wake up Erik," Mike M. said, looking at Jacob, who was tying a red bandanna over his head. He looked at Mike looking at him.

"Why me?" he asked.

"Because you know how," Dan replied as he made his way out the door with his luggage. Jacob sighed and went upstairs to Erik’s room. He met Trevor, who was coming out of his own room with a large bag and a suitcase.

"Erik?" Trevor asked with a smile. Jacob just shook his head and barged right into Erik’s room without knocking.

"You thought I’d still be sleeping, didn’t you?" Erik yelled, as he turned to see Jacob standing in the room looking surprised.

"Yeah. Do you blame me? You never get up on time. What the hell?" Jacob asked and frowned when he saw all of the clothes that had been laid out on Erik’s bed. "You cannot seriously be thinking of bringing all of that." Erik looked at the bed as well and shrugged.

"I was actually seriously thinking of bringing all of that," he said as he added to the pile of clothing.

"Whatever, dude. Just so you know, with three ‘guests’ on board there won’t be a whole lot of extra room on the bus," Jacob told him.

"It’s gonna be the five of us, the two Mikes and the three women. That’s only ten. It’s a twelve-bunk bus, man. That leaves us two junk bunks. Plenty of extra room," Erik told him.

"It’s great to know that you know how to add," Jacob said as he rolled his eyes and left the room. ‘I do not want to go on this trip,’ he said to himself as he passed Ashley’s room. He backed up and entered the room just as Ashley was coming out of the bathroom, obviously having just finished doing his hair.

"Love the hair," Jacob said with a smile. Ashley laughed.

"Thanks, Jake. I’d say the same to you, but your hair is always covered," he said as he carefully folded a few more shirts and put them neatly into his suitcase.

"Need any help?" Jacob asked. Ashley nodded and handed Jacob a bag, which he threw over his shoulder. Ashley zipped up his suitcase and followed Jacob downstairs.

The Mikes were going over some last minute details while the guys loaded their luggage into a limo. They were going to meet the bus in the Trans Continental Studios lot where the band’s rehearsal studio was located.

"Is Maria meeting us here?" Trevor asked.

"I think so," Dan answered. He looked at his watch. "They should be getting here soon." Jacob grabbed his guitar and put it in the trunk of the limo.

"Well, if she’s not here on time, I say we leave her," he said as he walked away.

"Shit! I’m going to be so late!" Maria shouted as she ran out of the loft with the last of her bags. She was usually good at packing, but for this particular trip, she had no idea what to bring, so it had taken a lot longer. She saw Susan’s car pull up, Kyle’s Mercedes right behind her.

"Are you all set?" Susan asked as she got her suitcases out of her car and hurried over to Maria’s Jeep.

"I wish. Last night, everything was packed, but this morning I remembered a few hundred things that I had forgotten to pack," Maria said. Kyle joined them and smiled.

"You’re going to do a great job. I have faith in you, Carpenter. Don’t forget that," he said. Maria hugged him tightly.

"I know and I will try to make you proud of me," she said. Kyle nodded.

"Darling, I’m already proud of you," he said softly. Maria hugged him tighter. She missed her father and Kyle, although younger than her father, had been like a surrogate father to her in so many ways.

Maria pulled away from him and he kissed her on the cheek. "Take care and if you need anything, confer with Susan. I’ll be back from my trip in a couple of weeks," he told her.

"I’ll be fine," she said. Sarah came out with the last of Maria’s luggage.

"Here. This is the last one," Sarah said as she put it into the Jeep. Maria saw Alex’s car pull into the lot. She turned to her sister.

"You call me as soon as you get to Emily’s, okay?" she said. Sarah nodded and stood awkwardly as Maria hugged her. Sarah wasn’t a ‘huggy’ person.

"What about Geoff?" Sarah asked quietly.

"I spoke to him last night and he’s returning here later. I also talked to Kathleen and she’s going to stop in to check on Heathcliff from time to time," Maria replied. She didn’t trust Geoff one hundred percent to take care of her affairs, especially with things the way they were between the two of them right now. He hadn’t apologized for the argument at the party and Maria could really care less. She was focused on her job and if he had a problem with it, then that was too bad. Maria was going to do what she had to do…she didn’t have time to worry about Geoff.

Alex arrived and after she had put her luggage into Maria’s Jeep, the three of them, Maria, Susan and Alex, got in and headed for O-Town’s house.

"We’re gonna be late," Jacob mumbled as he sat half in and half out of the limo.

"So what? We’re always late," Trevor said, smiling.

"They have five more minutes," Mike C. said, looking at his watch. Just then, Maria’s blue Jeep came speeding down the street and with a squeal of tires, she pulled into the driveway and came to a stop, barely missing the group’s black, Chevy Tahoe.

"That was close," Trevor said with a grin. Maria jumped out of the driver’s seat and ran around to the back of the Jeep to start removing the luggage from the trunk. She had on jeans and a black tee shirt. Her hair was in disarray and it looked like she had just gotten up. An older, attractive, woman got out of the passenger side of the Jeep, while Alex climbed out of the back.

"Hello. I’m Susan Martin, Maria’s assistant. You can call me Susan," she said in greeting as she walked over to the Mikes. Mike M. took her hand and shook it gently.

"It’s a pleasure. I’m Mike Morin and this is Mike Cronin. We’re the group’s managers and that’s O-Town, from left to right, Jacob, Ashley, Erik, Trevor and Dan," he said, indicating the guys. Susan smiled at them.

"It’s nice to meet you boys. Sorry if we’re a little late," she said.

"No problem. We were just finishing loading the guys’ things," Mike C. said as Maria and Alex came over, luggage in hand.

"Which limo?" Maria asked. Mike M. pointed and the girls lugged their stuff over to the limo. Maria shot the group a dirty look.

"Don’t attempt to help or anything," she said.

"We won’t," Jacob shot back with a smile. Maria had an urge to slap him.

Erik ran over and took a bag from Maria’s hands. "I’ll help," he said and smiled at her. Maria smiled back.

"Thank you. It’s good to see that at least one of you is a gentleman," she said, glaring at Jacob, who pulled his feet into the limo and disappeared from her view. The other guys helped with the rest of the luggage. The group piled into the limo with Jacob, while the Mikes, Maria, Susan and Alex went in the other one.

"Young man, do I have to lecture you on proper manners?" Dan said jokingly to Jacob, who just stared at him.

"Man, this is gonna be so bad if we don’t get along with them. Let’s just all get along!" Erik implored with a smile.

"Please don’t hold hands and start singing folksy, peace songs," Jacob told them.

"I’m feeling the love, though," Ashley said, smiling. Trevor reached over and hugged him. Jacob closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the seat. He was smiling, though.

"Really, Jacob. Why are you being so mean to Maria?" Dan asked. Jacob opened his eyes and looked at him.

"I’m not. God, why is everyone so serious. Fine. I’ll apologize for hurting her sensitive feelings," he said.

"You should or else she’ll write that Jacob Underwood of O-Town is a total and complete jerk," Erik said.

"And why should I care?" Jacob asked. Erik slapped Jacob on the side of the head.

"Dude, don’t make the group look bad," he said. Jacob hit him back.

"Dude, don’t hit me," he told him.

"Stop it!" Ashley yelled and the guys all laughed, even Jacob.

"Alright. I’m sorry for the way that I’ve been acting, but I don’t trust her. She hates us and she’s gonna write a crappy article about us. I don’t want anyone dragging us through the mud. We’ve gotten a lot of bad reviews already and we don’t need another article telling the world how bad we are," Jacob said.

"She doesn’t hate us, dude. She just doesn’t know us. It’s two different things," Erik said. Dan nodded.

"He’s right. Just be yourself, well, sort of yourself. I don’t know, ignore her if you have to!" he exclaimed, exasperation in his voice.

"That sounds like a plan," Jacob said as he closed his eyes once again.

Maria was resting. She was trying to calm herself down before they arrived at the bus. ‘I can’t let him get to me,’ she thought. Jacob was being a pain in the ass on purpose and she didn’t know why.

"Are you okay?" Susan asked. Maria opened her eyes and looked at her. She nodded.

"I’m fine. Really," she said. Susan smiled.

"This is going to be fun, Maria. You brought all of your equipment, right?" she asked. Maria smiled.

"Yes, Susan. Do you really think that I’d forget that stuff? I packed all of that last night. If I forgot anything, it will probably be my clothing or some toiletries or something," she said.

"Hey, Maria, don’t worry about Jacob, okay?" Mike C. said. "He gets moody sometimes. He’s also a private person and is still getting used to the world knowing every little thing about him. He’ll loosen up as the trip goes along."

"I’m not worried about him. I have a job to do and if he doesn’t want to cooperate, that’s fine with me. He just won’t be a big part of my article," Maria said and closed her eyes again. Susan looked at the Mikes and shrugged. Alex smiled as she looked out the window of the limo. Maria could be a stubborn brat and when she didn’t get her way---look out.