《Upstairs down》


 beginning of a very bad day

    It all started on one of those days when Lacie Peters wished that she has stayed home. "Why me?" She demanded of the universe when a strong gust of wind took her umbrella and flipped it inside out. It was raining cats and dogs and she had decided today was the perfect day to wear her brand new, now see through, blouse.


    She had managed to roll out of bed early enough that if she hurried she would have enough time to stop at the gym and spend an hour on a stationary bike before work. She dragged her feet as they sloshed around in her soaked shoes and by the time she staggered her way into the lobby she only had a half hour to actually work out.


    After changing into her adorable work outfit she was disappointed once again to find someone was using her favorite bike. the one with a wide seat.  Lacie cringed as she climbed onto the one with the tiny Uncomfortable seat that rode up her crack. She complained to herself for the entire half hour.


    Her favorite coffee spot was only a block from the office. She perked up at the thought of coffee and ordered her usual, only to be told they were out of the unsweetened almond milk. Lacie was about to hold her nose and chug it black when some guy in a red leather jacket with a band logo on it saved her the trouble by walking into her and spilling said black coffee all down the front of her already soaked white blouse.


    "Jerk!" She yelled after him. Without turning around he flipped her off and kept going. She decided that was the cherry on the top of the shit Sunday that was her morning. "Chin up," she told herself. "At least there is no way this day can possibly get any worse."


    When she finally made it into her office she was ready to give up on life. "I should have called out." Lacie groaned to herself as she threw her busted umbrella and empty coffee cup in the trash. She grabbed some napkins off the side bar and began to blot at her ruined shirt when she realized that someone was in the waiting area of her office


    "You." She said accusingly. Red leather jacket jerk was lounging in one of the comfortable but stylish chairs, his long legs hung over one arm and his head flopped back over the other.


    "Me?" He perked up, looked around, and then pointed at himself.


    "What are you doing here?" She demanded. "Was destroying my new blouse and depriving me of my coffee not enough? Are you here to make me lose my job next? Who are you?" She sputtered.


    "My name is Cooper Tomson, and I have an appointment with Holt at nine" he said letting his neck go limp and looking at her from upside down again.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "Its only 8, and Mr. Carelton won''t be here for another half hour." She told him while taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself.  If he was here to see her boss, and was calling him by his first name than he had to be important.


    Lacie had only started this secretary job a week before. She¡¯d wanted to work in the music worlds for as long as she could remember. But she hadn''t been one of those little divas who dreamed of being the next Beyonc¨¦. She wanted to be a high powered business executive. The kind that found new talent, plucked them out of obscurity, and made them stars. But that required connections and status. So she had to start at the bottom, as a secretary to one of those powerful men.


    "Its cool, I''ll wait." He told her. He was shaking his feet and bobbing his head in what had to be the most uncomfortable position in history.


    "Suit yourself." She mumbled. Lacie sat at her desk and opened Mr. Carelton''s schedule for the day. He did in fact have an extra long meeting scheduled for 9am, but the notation said ''upstairs down''. She drew in a gasp, finally recognizing the red leather jacket jerk.


    He was the lead singer to a band she had been in love with for the past ten years. A pop/punk style band with fast songs that made her want to dance and slow Songs that touched her heart. this jerk was the guy who wrote them? She was so disappointed, but not surprised.


    The members of upstairs down had bad reputations for pulling stupid rock star stunts that had made their last 3 managers quit and the record label threaten to cancel their contract. They had become a liability. They were being sued by a few different organizations for some of the more stupid things they did, like spray painting swear words on the sides of a limo after the limo company''s owners had been rude to them.


    Lacie sat back in her seat and studied the man. At 5 feet 9 inches He wasn''t exactly tall by most standards, but compared to her short stocky five foot five frame he towered over her. He had dark black hair, that despite his being in his early 30s showed no hint of gray. She wondered if he dyed it. He had an angular face and his nose was a little bigger than what most girls would consider handsome, but that nose was the reason his voice was so freaking perfect.  She knew he had hazle colored eyes from a poster she''d had of him hung up in her dorm room in collage.


    He might not have ''Disney prince charming'' vibes. But his good looks coupled with that amazing singing voice and pure musical talent made him irresistible to most women. Lacie had been drooling over him for the past 10 years. Here he was, in person, in her office, and she just realized that she was staring at him with a dreamy look on her face. She had to shake herself out of it.


    Cooper Tomson was not the first famous person she''d ever met by a long shot. In the week since she had started this job she had met several rock and pop stars a day, and she hadn''t made goo goo eyes at any of them. One of the qualifications for this job was that she had to be able to remain composed and not squeal like a fan girl at every celebrity to enter the office.


    Mr. Carelton chose that moment to come striding through the door. "Hold my calls Mrs. Peaters, I have an important meeting to get ready for at nine and¡­" he traied off when his eyes landed on Cooper. "Oh, your here." He said in a almost cold manner. He looked over at Lacie and took in her disheveled hair and destroyed shirt. "And causing trouble I see."


    "How did you know that was me?" Cooper demaned. Mr. Carelton just gave the rock star a look that said he would blame a sudden fire in the building 3 doors down from them on Cooper.


    "Come with me, we might as well get this over with." The older man said and led the way into his office. Once inside they closed the doors and the blinds, something Mr. Carelton only did when he had a migraine. Apparently he Cooper Tomson was the human embodiment of a migraine for Mr. Carelton.

 Im in!

    The yelling started almost immediately. She could see from the shadows on the door that Cooper was standing up, waiving his arms about theatrically. He was definitely a good showman.  Lacie was unable to concentrate on fileing or filling out forms with that comution going on. They argued for at least 20 minutes before they got it all out and Cooper finally sat down.  She wished she could understand what their muffled voices were saying.


    The intercom beeped and Lacie jumped. "Mrs. Peaters, could you come in here for a moment please?" Mr. Carelton asked.  She didn''t bother to answer via intercom.  She just got up and went into the adjoining office.


    "You wanted to see me sir?"


    "Yes, have a seat please.  You two have met?" He asked, moutioning towards Cooper.


    She said "yes" at the same time cooper said "no". Her boss raised and eyebrow.  "We bumped into eachother this morning and then he spent a half hour lounging in my waiting area before you arrived." She explained.  "Also, I am aware of your client list and I know who he is."


    "Lacie Peaters, meet Cooper Tomson. Cooper this is Lacie, my new secretary.  Lacie, Cooper is my nephew. "  That bit of news was not expected. It exploded in Lacie¡¯s head like a bomb.  She was screaming internally ''SHIT!''. She tried desperately to remember weather or not she had called Cooper ''red leather jacket jerk'' to his face or if that had only been an internal rant.


    "I can see that you are surprised, most people are. Honestly our familial relation is the only reason he hasn''t been booted from the labe and replaced in the band. You are aware of his reputation as a ''bad boy'', are you not?"


    Lacire really didn''t want to answer that. But they were both looking at her expectantly "yes sir, I am."


    "Good, and since all of my paperwork crosses your desk I am sure that you are aware that due to Cooper''s misbehavior Upstairs Down has recently lost their 3rd manager this  year."


    It wasn''t a question but she answered anyway "yes sir."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He looked at her for a good long minuet, her palms started to sweat and she wondered if she was about to be fired because she had yelled at his nephew for bumping into her. "When you were interviewed for this job there was a notation in your file that you have high ambitions for the music world. You want to move your way up from Secretary to talent scout and executive.  Is that right?"  She gulped to swallow her suddenly swollen tung and nodded.


    "Those are difficult positions to achieve in this industry, Mrs. Peaters, especially for a young woman."


    "I know sir, but I am willing to work for it."


    "That is good to hear.  Because I have a new job opportunity for you, and if it works out well it will come with a pay raise and promotion.  In this opportunity you would get a first hand look at how a national tour is organized and ran. You would meet a lot of people, make connections that could help you in your career, and make an ally out of me.  What do you think of my offer?"


    Lacie wasn''t stupid. All of that sounded too good to be true, and he hadn''t exactly explained what the new job was. "What exactly is your offer sir?"  She managed to sound calm and cool when she really wanted to jump out of her seat and tell him she would do whatever he was asking to get the kind of perks he was talking about. But things like that always came with a catch, especially in the music industry.


    "Smart girl." He nodded his approval. "I need you to babysit the Upstairs Down."


    "What? Her? You''ve got to be kidding me!" Cooper jumped out if his seat.


    "Normally I wouldn''t be too worried about them being without a manager for a few months while I sort out a new one. Except that they are leaving on a national tour next week,  and that does not leave me with enough time to find anyone to do anything. With Cooper''s misbehavior and now I''m hearing about some kind of creepy stalker, I just can''t let them go alone."


    Lacie sat straight up in her chair, her eyes wide. She could feel perspiration dripping down her back, or was her hair still dripping from the rain? "What exactly does babysitting entail?"  She needed to know.


    "You would be traveling with the band. They already use 2 busses, so there will be plenty of room for you.  You will be on the bus with Brandon and Cooper. I need you to stay close to the guys, watch them. Make sure they don''t get into any more trouble and keep your eyes out for anything out of the ordinary.  They guys are too busy and have their heads stuck up their own asses to understand how serious this is." He looked at Cooper.  "His being my nephew won''t save him this time. If he gets into one more lawsuit, the label will drop the entire band."


    "this is bullshit and you know it Holt!" Cooper slammed his hand down on his uncle''s desk. Lacie didn''t flinch.


    "Your behavior this past year is what is bull shit." His uncle told him. "So Cordie left you, so what! get over it and stop acting like your twenty three instead of thirty three.  This is the end of the line Coop. Behave, listen to Lacie, who I doubt ever got so much as a detention in her life.  Just stop being stupid, stupid!"


    Cooper turned to Lacie. "She didn''t say she was taking the job." His eyes were alight with mischief.  "You don''t want to be cramped on a tour bus for however long it takes him to find a competent manager  with a bunch of strange men. We burp and fart, scratch our junk and leave our underwear on the floor.  You''ll be away from your family, or you husband. Not to mention how dangerous stalkers can be." He looked down at her empty ring finger and frowned.


    "Boyfriend. " she told him with a smile. And I grew up with brothers,  your farts don''t scare me.l, and neither do fan girls." She looked at Mr. Carelton. "I''m in."

 One hell of a ride on bus2

    A week later Lacie found her self standing in a parking lot in New York city surrounded by trucks, cars, vans, and busses. People were scrambling to put away last minute additions to the equipment and get in place to leave. They had to make it to their first concert in Albany with enough time to set everything up and do all the testing that came with a first show.


    It had been an easy spur of the moment decision to say yes to Mr. Carelton. The next week was the longest of her life.  explaining over and over to her family and her boyfriend, Rob, why she felt she had to do this.  They didn''t like it. The band had a bad reputation,  a woman traveling alone wasn¡¯t safe, she would miss her niece''s birthday.  If anyone had come closest to changing her mind it had been Rob.  They had a five year plan, that did not include her spending several months traveling across the country with a Rock band.


    Rob had decided a long time ago that he wanted a house, a wife and a family by the time he turned 30.  He wanted them to work on their careers now, so they could afford a cute house in the suburbs. Then they would have 2 children, close together in age so they could play together in the back yard with their golden retriever.  It was a good solid plan.


    Lacie wanted kids some day. She wanted a house,  a husband,  and a dog (the breed didn''t matter to her as much as it did to Rob).  She had agreed to his plans, because they made sense.  Rob wasn''t drop dead gorgeous, he didn''t make her swoon, and he had never managed to learn what a clitorus was.  But he was a good man who had offered her everything she wanted.


    Almost everything. She wanted more of a ten year plan.  She wasn''t sure she''d be ready to have kids in the next few years, and she needed more time to get to where she wanted to be in her career.   So when Rob had tried to put his foot down the night before, and told her he was forbidding her to go she''d walked out of his Apartment and told him she''d call him from the road.


    "You must be Cooper''s babysitter lady." A man said walking up to her. He had short blond hair, pretty blue eyes, and a goatee. She recognized him immediately as the band''s piano player, Brandon scott.


    "Thats me." She put down her bag and held out her hand "I''m  Lacie Peters" he shook her hand and picked up her bag.


    "Cool. You''ll be riding on the bus with coop and me. Follow me."  He led her over to the two giant tour busses with the band''s logo and name painted on the side. "The busses are pretty much identical. We''re in bus two." He pointed to a small number 2 painted above the corner of the door.  She was sure that information was going to come in really handy on this trip. She didn''t want to walk onto the wrong bus and look like a fool.


    She followed him up the stairs and looked around at her new home for the next few months.  It was a very comfortable motorhome, with a small living area that had a large tv and several video game consoles.


    Further back there was a small kitchen. Then there was a row of bunks, 2 on either side, about the size of twin beds with curtains that could be drawn shut for privacy. Stolen story; please report.


    "Me and Coop already have the bottom bunks. But you can take your pic of the two top ones. There are some shelves and drawers in the bunk for you to put your stuff away. The bathroom is in the back. we cleared off a shelf forll you in there too." Brandon said, looking quite proud of himself for being the one to give her the grand tour.


    "Thank you, I really appreciate it." She put her bag on one of the bunks and started pulling stuff out. At least she knew that one of the guys was tolerable.


    "The other guys can''t wait to meet the girl who is gonna try and keep coop in line." He said with a laugh.  "Unfortunately we are running late and need to hit the road ASAP. So you settle in and we''ll do the introduction thing later."


    "Where is Cooper?" She looked around, not seeing any sign of anyone else on the bus.


    "Right here. " he said as he climbed the stairs onto the bus.  "Just can''t wait to start babysitting me can you?" He threw his bag onto the bunk directly beneath the one she had chosen.  She wondered if it would look cowardly to swap sides now.


    "I just wanted to make sure you weren''t out in the parking lot having an orgy with the groupies that are getting ready to follow us across the country."


    "Most of them don''t travel the whole way with us. We lose some and gain some at each stop." Brandon said unhelpfully.


    "Good to know, considering one of them is probably your stalker we should pay close attention to who is staying the entire time. And which ones are acting creepy."


    Brandon shuddered "to be honest, most of them are pretty creepy."


    She nodded. "Noted.  Since I''m ninety percent sure that you can''t get into much trouble on the bus I am going to settle in and let my family know that we are leaving now." With that she climbed into her bunk.


    Cooper snorted. "I think she just issued me a challenge." He told his childhood friend.


    "What exactly are you thinking?" Brandon didn''t sound too enthusiastic.


    "I''m gonna go find some trouble."


    "You do you bro. I''m gonna go play the new Madden." The two men headed in opposite directions.


    The bus hadn''t been moving for more than fifteen minutes when the commotion started. Horns were honking and girls were screaming.  Lacie thought that maybe this was normal. Fans would react to seeing their favorite band''s tour bus going down the road...wouldn''t they? Then the bus swerved and she almost fell out of her bunk. That couldn''t be good.


    Her mind raced. the stalker might have escalated. she might have gone from the creepy letters, poems, and "gift" she had been told about, to cutting the break lines on the tour bus. Lacie climbed to her feet and went in search of answers.


    It didn''t take her long to figure out what was wrong.  Cooper had popped the vent out of the bathroom ceiling and was sitting on the top of the bus waving to everyone and smiling.  "Seriously?" She demanded, hands on her hips.


    "What?" He looked down at her. " I wanted to make sure I lived up to my reputation for you. I am a bad boy after all." He laughed and waved at another passing car.


    Lacie grabbed cooper''s ankles and gave a yank. He fell back into the bus landing on top of her. "Ooof. If you had wanted me to get on top of you all you had to do was ask." He winked.


    "What the hell man?" Brandon demanded. He pulled Cooper up and then reached down to  to help Lacie to her feet.


    "What?" Cooper asked. "I''m just playing my part. I''m the bad boy."


    "Grow up man." He shook his head and turned his back on his friend. Leaving Lacie and Cooper standing together in the bathroom.


    "Your uncle seemed to think all of this, every crazy thing you have done in the past year, was because of a break up?" Lacie wasn''t pulling any punches.  Maybe if they could figure out why he was behaving this way they could fix it.


    "Don''t try to get into my head." He snapped.  "And that''s not fair. It wasn''t all my fault."


    "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, trying to to pry again. I''m a good listener." He walked away and disappeared into his bunk.