"Grace!" Howie exclaimed, running towards his girlfriend from across the lobby. He wrapped his arms around in her in a big but gentle bear hug. "I've missed you so much!" He whispered in her ear.
Grace pulled away for a second and looked up into his eyes. She laughed. "God Howie! You just talked to me last night!" He wrapped his arms more tightly around her waste and kissed her forehead softly.
"I know, but I haven't touched you in over two weeks," he replied. Grace rolled her eyes a little and looked back into his face. He was looking at her with concern.
"What is it?" She asked. "You're looking at me funny."
Howie brushed his thumb lightly over the slight scratches still lingering on her face. Grace caught his hand in hers and held it. "Not all the tissue has quite healed yet."
"Hey Grace!" A voice called from behind them. Grace looked over Howie's shoulder to see Brian and Nick walking towards them. She pulled away from Howie to give each of her friends a hug.
"Hey guys," She smiled. "Great to see you again."
"You too, we've been missing you," Brian told her.
"Yeah," Nick agreed. "Cynthia's been going nuts!"
Grace laughed. "Cynthia's the best . . . I'm sure she did fine without me getting in the way."
"Then of course, there's Eric and John and Mark and Sue and Greg and-" Brian ticked off the names of their security team members on his fingers, until Grace interjected, pushing his hand away.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Grace nodded. "Been there, done that, I'm sure they were fine. Where is everyone anyway?" She glanced around for some of the other girls, a bit surprised that they hadn't come down to meet her.
"Well," Brian started. He glanced at Howie. "We um, kind of are, um, missing a sound check right now . . ."
Grace's eyes went wide.
"So we kind of got them to stay there, and you know, take our place for a bit," Brian continued, not quite meeting Grace's gaze.
"You know, they need their practice too," Nick finished for him.
Grace gave all three of them a stern look. "Guys, you should have told me! I would have booked a later flight."
"Actually, we have interviews later," Howie told her.
Grace rolled her eyes, remembering their busy schedule. "Still, I didn't mean to be an inconvenience."
"You? An inconvenience?" Howie scoffed. "As if!" He imitated their teeny bopper fans.
"What? You think we like sound checks?" Nick asked dubiously. "Not very bloody likely!" He put on an English accent.
"Yeah, you gotta know, we were just using you to get out of it!" Brian told her. "That's all your good for anyway!" He started leading the group toward the front desk so Grace could check in.
"Nice to know I'm good for something, piggy," Grace snapped back with a smile.
"Me?" Brian asked incredulously. "Me? No, not me! Nick, that's Nick!"
"Hey!" Nick cried. "She wasn't talking about build, she talking about that whopper of a nose you got there!"
Brian looked hurt. "Don't make fun of Mr. Big-Runner!"
Howie looked at him with distaste. "You named your nose?"
"I know a lot of men who name their penis, but your nose?" Grace joked. "You really do worry me sometimes Brian . . ."
Howie glanced at his watch. "I hate to break up this little war you guys are having, but we have to get back to the sound check in fifteen minutes . . ."
"Oh, you have to go?" Grace asked. The guys glanced at one another.
"Yeah," Brian said slowly. "We do . . ."
"Will you be okay?" Howie asked Grace.
She gave him a look. "Of course I'll be okay. I'll be better than okay, I'll be great. Now go, or you'll be late getting back."
Howie gave her a quick kiss goodbye. "I love you, I'll see you for dinner, okay?"
Grace nodded. "For sure. I love you too."
With a few last waves, Howie, Nick and Brian hurried to the other side of the lobby where some guards were waiting to escort them back to the Blossom Music Center to continue their sound check.
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