Page 17 of Maggie

“Hi, Flynn,” she said as she walked by.

“Hey, Maggie,” he said and tipped his chin at her. His attention quickly turned back to Polly.

“I’m going to shower and head back to the bus, Pol,” Maggie said.

“Okay. See you soon.”

Maggie picked up her shower bag and left the dressing room. She crossed the hall to the shower room and locked the door behind her.

Maggie turned on the hot water to let it warm and stripped out of her clothes. She took her shampoo and body wash from the shower bag, placed it on a ledge in the shower, and stepped under the warm water. She turned the hot water nozzle until the water got so hot she could barely stand it. Maggie stood underneath the stream and let it pour over her.

The tour had been ongoing for months already. Thank god it was almost over for this tour. Maggie loved her life, but being on tour — being on the road — was exhausting. Lovely Oblivion was touring the United States by bus, so most of Maggie’s days were spent living out of a suitcase and her nights were spent sleeping in a bus bunk. The rare night spent at a hotel was a luxury, and the hot water from a shower in a stage locker room was a treat. She enjoyed the limelight — the interviews, performances, press releases, and so forth — but traveling and performing tours for years in a row was wearing on her.

She shampooed her hair and washed up in the steamy shower room.

The text message notification chimed on her phone. Maggie turned off the shower and grabbed a towel. She reached for her phone as she dried herself.

Wylder: What song do you remember most from prom?

She laughed and toweled off her face.

Maggie: I didn’t go to prom. I went to the anti-prom party my friend threw at the time.

Wylder: Lol. What was your most memorable song from there?

Maggie: Savage Garden, “Truly, Madly, Deeply.” My friends and I danced in a giant circle to it. It’s my most distinctive memory from then. You?

Maggie started dressing.

Wylder: Paramore, “The Only Exception.”

Maggie: That’s a very romantic song

Wylder: It was my favorite dance with an ex-girlfriend. A good memory, even though we haven’t been together in a long time

Maggie: A romantic at heart. Lol. Favorite book?

She finished dressing, picked up her shower bag, and headed out to the tour bus. Lovely Oblivion’s record label provided them a tour bus, complete with a lounge, kitchenette, bathroom, bunks, and back bedroom, which the band had given to Bex for the comfort of her growing family, which included her toddler, Chloe, and husband, Aiden.

She climbed the bus steps and pushed through the curtain that separated the driver area from the lounge. A leather couch lined one wall and a small dining booth sat against the other beside the kitchenette.

Maggie walked up the aisle to her bunk, threw her shower bag in, and climbed onto the mattress. She pulled the bunk’s curtain closed and settled into the dark, her phone screen the only light.

Wylder: The Catcher in the Rye. Please don’t tell my best friend that I didn’t say Lord of the Rings

Maggie: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Wylder: Awesome! I love anything Alice. I have a tattoo on my back of American McGee’s Cheshire Cat, from the video game

Maggie: You were wearing a suit when I met you. I didn’t see any ink. How many tattoos do you have?

Wylder: I lost count a long time ago. Both sleeves are complete, plus my back is basically covered. I also have a couple of stray pieces on my sides.

Maggie: What’s your favorite?

Wylder: I got black out drunk once and woke up with a panda bear, dressed like me, holding a bottle of whiskey in his paw. I don’t remember getting it, but I love it

He sent a picture of the panda bear tattoo. She laughed.

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