🎤Will🎤

With the make-up brush sweeping along my under eyes in an attempt to hide the heavy bags, I tapped away on my phone and told Jen- my sister- I was free to do family dinner next week. Both my parents lived in Oxford with my twenty-four-year-old sister and her six-year-old son; Max. I didn't have a house myself, seeing as I was never in one place long enough to justify forking out for one. Sure, I had the money. I had enough money to buy five houses even but it just wasn't worth it. Not when I lived out of hotel rooms and tour busses most of the time.

"Eat up, O'Connor!" chimed Johnny, throwing yet another salad concoction my way.

Suzy narrowly avoided a near head-on collision with my face as I tried to catch the flying object. Thankfully, it landed on my lap and as I begrudgingly dug in, we went over my interview questions for this afternoon's interrogation, painstakingly so. It was my first TV appearance since the trial and I was shitting myself something fierce. I just knew the car accident would be brought up, even though we'd asked for the mention of Simon Montgomery's death to remain a non-topic.

"You've got this, man. The nation loves you," ensured Johnny, kissing my sweet arse.

I offered him a sarcastic smile and continued chewing on my leaf mixture.

"Hmm."

"Winters mentioned you're in a brighter mood today. Any particular reason why?" he asked, moving for Suzy's benefit when he occupied her working space.

I stared at him for a moment, truly thankful I had a man like him looking out for me and the lads. Johnny wasn't much older than us but was a helluva lot wiser that was for sure. He'd been an event organiser when we approached him with the opportunity to manage us. At the time, we were still a small-time band starting out and I held a lot of respect for the man who gave up full-time employment to take a chance on us.

"I went to his grave yesterday."

"You did?" he questioned, growing concerned. "Were you seen?"

"No, I went late afternoon," I explained, appeasing him slightly. "I did bump into Rosie though."

"The daughter? Shit man. What she say?"

"Not what you think," I insisted, closing my eyes when instructed to do so by Suzy. "It was actually a pretty pleasant conversation. She was...honest."

Johnny blew out a dramatic breath, clearly intrigued.

"And that's what's got you on cloud nine, has it?" he asked, suspiciously.

"Not exactly cloud nine but it's what got me happier," I stated, blinking both eyes open. "I think it did us both good."

Memories of mine and Rosie's conversation came flooding back, prompting the immediate return of my smile. Our small chat had by no means been sweet but it certainly proved revolutionary for me. If anything, her slightly sassy attitude had been refreshing. I was so used to people comforting me in ways I didn't deserve. I was a grown man who wasn't afraid to be told that what he did was wrong and just once I wanted someone to say it.

"That's all we want, Will. For you to be happier," smiled Johnny, offering my shoulder a firm nudge.

"Will O'Connor," interrupted a woman's voice over by the door. "You're on in five."

"Cheers," I replied, disposing of my rabbit food. "Let's get this show on the road," I declared, shooting Suzy my usual thanks and Johnny my 'this is gonna be a shit storm' smile.

The man merely laughed in response and decided to humour the situation by taking the piss.

"Break a leg, O'Connor!"

A broken leg would be less painful.

####

"And obviously these past couple of months haven't been easy on you. Can you tell us how you've been dealing with things since the car accident?" asked Jillian, the presenter of Chat Daily.

Her prim and proper blonde bob swished with her every movement and clung to her bony cheeks like glue. She may have seemed sweet on the outside, but our team specifically said no questions regarding the accident and had she listened? Had she shite!

"I think out of respect for those involved we should attempt to discuss other things. We can all agree that the family of Simon Montgomery deserve privacy at a time like this. And besides, this isn't about me and how I'm coping. I am not the victim here," I calmly stated, warning the blonde with daring eyes.

"I agree the family deserve privacy. Have you had any contact with them at all?

Is she for real?

"I'm not sure you understand the concept of privacy but it generally means not talking about a situation," I laughed, disguising my anger with a joke. "How about we chat some more about the up and coming tour?"

Thankfully, that seemed to steer conversation elsewhere and for the remaining twenty minutes, all car accident related topics went untouched.

"Sorry about that, Will," she apologised, after the cameraman yelled cut and we were officially off air. "I had my boss talking in my ear the entire time and I have to do as he says," she added, seeming glum.

"I get it," I ensured, not buying her excuse at all. "Just mention to him that I won't be doing an interview with this show again. My team met with your team for a reason and if you're going to ask what you want regardless, then what's the point?" I scolded, taking it upon myself to remove my microphone. "Have a good day, Jillian and in the future, think about the mental well-being of others before you impose on personal matters."

Eat a dick!

I proceeded to leave the startled woman alone with her festering thoughts and motioned for Johnny to hurry the hell up.

"We're leaving," I stated, growing furious by the second.

"I thought as much. The car is already waiting," he replied, on it as far as reading my mind went. "I've also taken the liberty to cancel any other promotional on goings with the channel. Bunch of tossers!" he raged, tearing the poor intern a new one.

The getaway car was thankfully stationed just outside the buildings back exit and wasting no time what so ever, I climbed inside and awaited Johnny's arrival.

"Drive!" he instructed, upon finally joining me in the back seat.

The blackout windows ensured a smooth execution and although a mere five minutes away from the hotel, it was essential we followed all procedures. Only last July were me and the lads caught up in an ambush when we decided to grab a Burger King, thinking nothing of it. Little did we know, our fans had also shared the same hunger for burgers that night and were delighted when we showed up, completely unmanned. It had been a fucking mess to say the least.

"You okay, man?" he asked, turning his steel gaze my way.

Johnny was the very definition of 'hard as nails'. He had tattoos tracing all surface area of his skin and piercings in places I dared not think about. His girlfriend, Roxy, was a rockabilly chick and a perfect match for the man who, although cursed like a sailor, had the intelligence of a genius. They met last year in the States and continued their relationship long distance. She was mainly based in LA, running her own fashion firm, but occasionally visited and often joined us on tour over there. She was a nice addition to our small family and matched Yazmin's sarcasm something rotten. Yazmin was our publicist and the two loved getting together to cause mayhem, regularly resembling that of women up to no good.

"Fine, I just hope she wasn't watching," I expressed, running a hand over my tired eyes.

"Who?"

"Rosie," I replied, shooting him a 'are you fucking dumb' look.

"Mate, I don't think goody-two-shoes is gonna tune in to watch Will O'Connor talk about his up and coming rock tour."

"Fuck you," I snapped, unsure as to why. "Her name is Rosie."

"Alright, keep your knickers on," he laughed, seeing straight through my need to lash out.

I didn't like him referring to her in that way. So what if she was sweet? It wasn't a bad thing.

"I need a drink."

Thankfully, it wasn't long before we were back in the hotel lobby, searching for Yazmin high and low. The woman was a firecracker at best and would know how to best address the situation. She had handled the entire court case like a real trooper and did so by remaining respectful to all those involved. That had been my main requirement- protect Simon's family.

"Sugar, what'd I miss?" she asked, joining us at the bar.

"The bitch outright asked him on live TV about the trial. After we told her not to," fumed Johnny, riling up the redhead before him.

"Ouch. They can suck my non-existent cock," she stated, settling those intense eyes of hers onto mine. "You alright?"

"Fine, I was expecting it," I ensured, grabbing my whiskey neat from the bartender. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

The pair shared a fleeting look; no doubt at my choice in drink with regards to what time it was in the afternoon.

"What? It's five O'clock somewhere, right?" I smirked, needing this hit more than I needed my next breath.

"Fine, but I'm cutting you off after one. And I've emptied your room's mini bar," smiled Yazmin, proud as ever. "Come on, Johnny, let's discuss next steps. And don't let him sweet talk you into giving him more drinks," she warned, aiming her demand at the young barman.

The two left me to fester in my thoughts and mere moments away from downing the amber liquid in one, something unexpected stopped me. Rosie Montgomery appeared before me in my mind's eye; all pretty faced and loaded with that sweet, sinful figure of hers.

Honour my Dad; don't insult him by wallowing in self-pity.

I bet a girl like her didn't even know how fucking hot she was. Gorgeous smile, knock-out legs and an arse to kill for. Her positive outlook on life also made her extremely attractive but none of that mattered. I stood as much chance with her as I did at getting Matt to quit smoking.

Rosie was far too good for me anyway. She deserved better and was probably waiting for something far more realistic in life. A real man. The type that worked in an office environment and was around long enough to shower her with kisses and cuddles. The type that saved himself in a sexual sense. Not some whiskey drinking, man-slut who killed her fucking Dad because he simply couldn't stick to the goddamn speed limit.

Fuck!

I was headed down a slippery slope and I knew of only one person who could help me out. Call me selfish, call me delusional but I needed to see her again.

I needed her intoxicating presence near me.

Rosie.

####

Oh, things are about to get realllllly interesting.

Will is a man who goes after what he wants...and I think he wants our Rosie. ;)