Chapter 63-65

Bruno looked up at his face sniffing as he brushed his teeth a few days later.Holy shit, I feel like shit. He thought to himself as he brushed his teeth. He grabbed his phone to call Evie. He waited for her to pick up the phone whining in his head as he coughed. ”Evvveeee…..”

”Bruno? What’s wrong?” she asked him. ”You sound like shit.” she answered him.

”I feel like it too. What do you give Lucy when she’s sick?” he asked her.

”Ummm…Bru…that sounds worse than  just a cold, baby.” she replied. ”You need to go to the doctor.”

”I don’t need to go to the doctor…” he told her sneezing.

”If you don’t go to the doctor it’s just going to get worse and you leave in two weeks..” she said.

”I can do it! Just tell me what medicine to take, mommm.” he whined.

”I’ll bring you something after I drop Lucy off at my mom’s…okay?” she responded.

”Okaayyy…but hurrryyyy. I might not make itttttt….” he told her.

”Shut up, Bruno. Give me like an hour. And I can’t stay too long. I have to work today at 12.” she said hanging up the phone.

”Mommmm….do I get to see Bruno today?” Lucy asked her mother over the loud music that was playing.

”Not today, baby girl. He’s sick and I don’t want you to get sick when we’re going to go to Disney this weekend. Okay?” Evie answered her daughter as she parked the car opening the door for her daughter.

”But mommm…I’m super girl. I don’t get sick.” Lucy said holding onto her blanket that she brought with her.

”I’m your mother and you’re not seeing him today because you will get sick.” Evie told her daughter.

”But moommmm….” she cried as they walked in the room to see Katie standing at the kitchen sipping on coffee.

”What’s wrong Luc?” he grandmother asked.

”Bruno has a sinus infection and she’s not allowed to see him.” Evie said handing her mother the mail that they hadn’t gotten the night before.

”Lucy..let’s make him a get well card. Will that help?” Katie asked.

”Yeah! But I’m still tired…” she said rubbing her eyes dramatically.

”Alright…go in the living room and we can make him a card later….” Katie said waving to her daughter.

”Bye mommmma.” Lucy yelled as Evie walked out the house.

Evie quickly drove to the drug store running in her high heels and three piece black suite to the allergy medicine grabbing Dayquill and Robitussin for him.That should do it. She thought taking a hold of an pack of Advil as she walked toward the front of the store. She stood in line glancing at the National Enquirer. She picked it up flipping to the middle section seeing a random picture of Bruno…..and…and….her….in San Diego. ”Shit.” she said softly holding the magazine tightly.

”Ma’am?” the cashier asked seeing Evie start to shake.

”Oh…sorry…” Evie answered handing them the medicine and magazine.

”Do you have the rewards card?” the woman asked. Evie dug in her purse dropping the VIP pass to the last concert she went to on the ground grabbing the card that was on her keychain.

”Damn…yeah…yeah…here…” she said handing the cashier the VIP pass instead of the card.

”I can’t swipe this…” the cashier said inpatiently.

”Oh..damn..yeah….sorry.” Evie answered frantically taking the medicine running out the door. She looked around the parking lot becoming somewhat paranoid about the people she was around. Oh my god. What just happened?She sat in the car flipping to the picture she saw of them.

            Bruno Mars with a mystery girl having fun in San Diego at the fair. Who is she? We’ve   got everyone looking.

”Shit, shit, shit, shit shit.” she yelled as she pulled away from the parking lot driving the few minutes to Bruno’s house. She grabbed the plastic bag holding the magazine with her hand as she opened the door. She saw Bruno laying on the couch in front of the TV in complete misery.”Bruno..it’s just a sinus infection. I think you’re going to survive, boo.” she said handing him two pills as she grabbed the bottle of water on the table. He took the pills looking at her concerned.

”What’s wrong?” he asked her. ”You look like you just saw Sean…wait…did you? I’ll kick his ass…”

”No…no…no….you sound like Phoebe when she was sick and singing Smelly Cat…I can’t get over it….” she started to laugh almost forgetting about why she was freaked out.

”Eveeee…” he whined starting to cough.

She grabbed the bag flipping to the newspaper. ”Oh….”

”Yeah…so…that was almost as bad as seeing Sean.” she answered him.

”We’ll just have to be extra careful…” he told her.

”Bruno…I don’t care about us..it’s her….” she said pointing to Lucy on the edge of the picture standing next to Phil. ”that I worry about. I don’t want her to get involved in paparazzi. She’s 5 years old…”

”She’ll be safe, Geneva…” he told her in his scratchy voice touching her face to reassure her.

”I hope so….” she said pushing his hand away from her. ”Go to the doctor. I’ll come by tonight to check on you.” she said standing up to walk out the door.

”Thank you for taking care of me, Evie.” he answered her.

”You’re welcome. Get better, Smelly Cat.” she replied kissing him on the cheek to go to her internship.

Evie sat in the back of the courtroom scrolling through her phone as she observed a rather typical civil case that she had been part of researching.Hmmmm…she thought to herself seeing a new video of Bruno pop up online. She clicked it muting the volume. Ha. I knew he’d go to the doctor. And he didn’t even text me to tell me he was going. 1 point Evie. She smiled as she finished watching her supervisor win the case. As they walked out of the courtroom her supervisor, Rob asked them his team if they wanted to grab drinks before the day ended.

”I would love to, y’all, but the boyfriend is sick and needs me to take care of him.” she sighed. ”But I’ll make the next one.” Evie said as she started walking in the other direction.

”That’s too bad.” David, another intern, said shaking his head.

”Hey now..I went out last weekend, too!” Evie exclaimed.

”It still breaks my heart, Counselor.” David joked with a wink. Evie just decided to turn around and avoid the flirtation to go to her mother’s house. She put on a pair of sunglasses she had stolen from Bruno’s dresser that morning stepping out onto the busy Los Angeles street catching a handful of cameramen wandering around the courthouse. I didn’t hear about any big cases today…she thought burying her head in her phone texting her mother that she would be at her house soon. She turn around hearing a noise knowing that she had left the courthouse and toward the parking garage alone. She turned to see someone holding a camera behind her. Fuck shit damn. ”Excuse me is there something I can help you with?” she asked the man.

”Yeah…you’re the girl that was with Bruno Mars in San Diego.” the guy stated.

”I don’t know him. I’m sorry.” she said getting into her car shaking her head. ”Fuck!” she screamed as she drove away from the photographer who continued snapping pictures of her.

She sat in traffic listening to the radio as she drove to her parents’ house to see Lucy before she went to Bruno’s house. She parked the car in the driveway hearing Lucy’s laughs in the backyard. She walked through the house seeing a pile of papers on the kitchen table full of colors. She did not get all the kids to do this…she picked up the pile of Get Well Soon, Bruno!cards walking in the backyard. Lucy turned from the sandbox seeing her mother. She jumped up running to her mother. ”Mooommmm….this one is mine…” she dug through the papers pulling out a bright red one written in yellow marker. ”It says…Get…w-e…”

”Well…” Evie said to her daughter sitting on the patio chair with her daughter. ”And what else?”

”Get well…and….I miss you….love….Lucy.” she said triumphantly.

”You’re so smart!” Evie hugged her daughter. ”Luc…I’m going to go give Bruno these cards, okay..and Mimi will take you to school tomorrow.”

”Mommmm…I missss yooouuu…” Lucy answered hugging her mother tightly. Evie kissed her head pulling her daughter’s arms off of her. ”I don’t want you to gooooo…”

”Lucy…hang in there, honey. I’ll see you tomorrow and the next day and the next day…” Evie said walking into the house with her daughter. ”And you get to have a sleepover with Bella tonight.”

”Okayyyy…” she said sadly sitting on the couch next to her cousin Rebecca. Rebecca grabbed Lucy tickling her. ”Bye momma!” she exclaimed.

Evie got in her car turning up the radio again diving to Bruno’s house. She drove down the narrow streets seeing more cars than usual near Bruno’s house. What the hell? She thought to herself. The cars started slowing down near his house. She was very confused by the traffic getting out of the car slowly. She glanced toward the front of the house seeing the same photographer that had spotted her at the courthouse. She looked the man dead in the eyes staring at him as he snapped a picture all while other cars drove by. She opened Bruno’s door seeing him sitting in the same place he was earlier in the morning. ”Did you know that there are cars driving by your house and paparazzi are trying to get me?”

”What? They’re out there?” he turned around shocked. ”I went to the doctor and came home…oh…oh….no….” he started stuttering.

”What’s going on?” she asked him.

”I tweeted my address by accident this morning….” he said in same shocked tone.

”So now everyone knows where you live and you’re gonna be on the Star Map?” she asked him.

”Well, hopefully just that…” Bruno said.

”It’s kind of shitty.” she answered him. ”The guy found me at work.”

”He what?” Bruno asked shocked starting to cough through his statement making her touch his face feeling how warm he was.

”Let’s not worry about that now..you need to get better.” she told him running her fingers along his messy hair.

”Eveee…I feel so shitty.” he told her.

”Lay down….I’ve got some moves you’ve never seen before…” she responded. ”Take off your hat too…”

”What are you doing? Trying to seduce me?” he asked her.

”Well, you might want to sleep with me after I work my magic, but no.” she answered him taking his hat off looking into his eyes placing her fingers along his eyebrows. ”Close your eyes and take deep breaths. And I swear…if you get hard I’m done.” she told him.

”I’m not….” he was interrupted by a sneeze.”Promising anything.” he smiled closing his eyes feeling her rub her fingers along his eye lids. ”That hurts….”

”Just be patient. It will get better.” she moved her fingers to the other side of his face repeating her motions on his left side then moving her fingers to his nose. She grabbed his shoulders making him sit up. ”Open your eyes.”

”But you’re not naked.” he told her as he opened his eyes.

She ignored his statement pointing to the floor. ”Sit there. I gotta get your shoulders and head.” she told him.

”What are you doing to me?” he asked her.

”It’s called acupressure. The places I’m massaging are where your sinuses are. I’m opening them up. That’s why you’ve been sneezing so much since I did it.” she moved her head from him as he closed his eyes to sneeze again.

”Oh.” he sniffed sliding down in between her legs.

”Now lay your head down. Relax your neck.” she instructed him running her fingers along the middle of his head down to his shoulders almost pinching them. ”Okay…I’m done.” she told him as she moved her legs onto the couch. He stood up starting to sneeze almost on command.

”Holy shit.” he blew his nose throwing the Kleenex in a pile. She patted the couch telling him to lay down. He laid down placing his head in her lap looking up at her with his red eyes. She ran her fingers through his hair trying to make him feel better.

”Just go to sleep, Brunz. It should be better tomorrow.” she told him as she started flipping through the tv stopping on a rerun of Teen Mom. she continued to play with his hair hearing him start to breath lightly sound asleep.

Later in the evening she lifted Bruno off her lap to go take a shower before falling asleep next to him. She took a quick shower grabbing one of his shirts after towel drying her hair. She walked quietly toward Bruno who was still sound asleep, now snoring. She ran her fingers along his face kissing him lightly. ”Wake up, Brunz…” he looked up at her trying to smile sneezing instead. ”Eww…” she responded wiping the debris from her face.

”I’m sorry…” he said looking down at her. She rubbed his shoulders as he stood up walking with her to the bedroom.

”You forget I have a 5 year old…if that grossed me out then…well I’d have problems.” she told him patting the bed for him to lay down. ”Lay down….” she watched him stretch his arms out rubbing his head half awake.

”You know you’re ridiculously cute when you’re vulnerable.” Evie said laying in the bed next to him.

”Then when I get better I’ll try to look more vulner….” he was interrupted by a sneeze. She leaned back from him as he sneezed coming back to kiss him on the head.

”Good night, Smelly Cat.” she said turning around facing the other direction like she always did.

**

Evie heard her alarm go off early in the morning pushing Bruno away from her seeing him still asleep. Shit, that medicine worked.  She thought to herself running to the bathroom to brush her teeth and put her hair up in case he did wake up. The door squeaked as she came out of the bathroom making him wake up.

”Eve?” he asked in his normal voice.

”You sound better, boo.” she said putting on her shirt.

”I’d be better if you stayed here with me…” he sniffed trying not to sneeze.

”Not happening.” she told him struggling to get her shoes on. ”Oh…and there’s something from Lucy on your table.” she answered grabbing her keys walking out the door.

Bruno stretched his arms standing up to go see what she had left him. ”I swear…” he saw the pile of construction paper picking it up flipping through the folded pieces making him smile.  She really is a cute kid.  He thought to himself placing Lucy’s card off to the side to hold on to.

**

Evie sat at the crowded desk flipping through papers humming some random song that Bruno had played earlier in the week. She sat across from David, who obviously had a thing for her. He looked up at her starting to talk. ”IS THAT THE Black Keys?” he asked ”I think they’re gonna be at Coachella next year.”

”I don’t know…it just popped into my head.” Evie answered trying to ignore him.

”Oh…because me and a group of friends are probably going this year…we always go and you’re more than welcome to come.” he smiled at her.

”David, I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow. Do you really expect me to know what I’m doing in April of next year?” she asked back rudely.

”Hey, I was just trying to be nice. Your taste in music is pretty rad.” he answered.

”Well thanks.” she said looking down at her phone pretending to check her phone for messages interrupted by Dana who ran into the conference room.

”Evie! Did you see this?” she asked handing her a copy of another magazine. ”That’s you!”

”Damnit.” she sighed taking the magazine reading the similar caption, but this time with her name in it. ”I don’t understand..I didn’t see anyone there when we were there…” she answered searching her name in Google quickly finding it pop up on his forum’s website a few other websites. She clicked on his forum seeing girls comment on not liking her already, actually liking her and having heart attacks because he wasn’t single anymore. She smiled at them handing the magazine back to Dana. ”I saw it yesterday.” she answered.

”What are you going to do?” Dana responded.

”Nothing.” Evie answered. ”If they’re gonna be all up in my shit, they’re gonna be all up in my shit. Whatever. I’ll deal with it.” she answered.

”Wait..what are you two talking about?” David asked.

”It’s really none of your business, David.” Evie answered going back to work continuing to check her phone. She texted Bruno about it but he didn’t answer. She figured he was in the studio or doing interviews so it didn’t bother her.

”Alright, whatever…but your phone background is a picture of you and Bruno Mars…so I just figured that’s what it was about.” David answered her.

”Whatever.” she shook her head walking out the door with Dana. As she closed the door behind her she could hear David mumbling something into his phone.

She finished the day going to her mother’s house to pick up Lucy. She and Bruno hadn’t made any plans so she drove home making them dinner starting to read for her one class the next day.  As she was about to get Lucy into the bathtub she heard a knock on the door. I swear to God. She thought to herself as she opened the door seeing Bruno holding three ice cream sundaes in his hand. He handed her one smiling at her. ”For you, my lady.” he said kissing her on the cheek.

”Bruno!” Lucy exclaimed running over to him to hug him. ”Did you get my card? Did you?” she asked him.

”I did. It made me better right away.” he answered hugging her.

”You have ice cream!” she said taking the ice cream from his hand biting into it as her mother handed her a plastic spoon from Bruno’s hand. Evie pulled him away from Lucy into her bedroom.

”What are you doing? It’s late!” she shouted at him.

”I didn’t get to see you today…” he said in a calm voice.

”You could have called me and waited for her to go to bed. She’s not going to sleep now.” Evie answered him.

”Eve…I….I didn’t even think of that…” he admitted.

”Well, if you’re going to be part of our lives you need to realize she’s 5 and not 25.” she snapped at him.

”Evie…what are you talking about?” he asked shocked by her reaction. ”What’s wrong?”

”Bruno… I know you’re not going to be here every single day and I know that you’re trying…but she needs to keep a schedule, even if it’s summer. And when she starts school you can’t just show up at 9 o’clock with candy because you missed us. She won’t be able to get up in the morning…” she explained to him.

”Eve…I’m sorry. I should have called.” he told her touching her cheek.

”Don’t even think of kissing me, Booger boy.” she smiled at him hearing Lucy near the door.

”Don’t get mad, mommy.” she told her mother holding onto Bruno. Evie wiped the chocolate off of her daughter’s face taking the ice cream from her hand.

”Let’s get you into the bathtub. Then Bruno can read you your story.” she said watching Bruno playing with his phone while she walked Lucy to the bathroom. ”I’ll be right back, Lucy…” she told her daughter after she handed her daughter some toys to play with.

”Babe…I have to go soon…” he told her in a sad tone. She stared at him trying to figure out what to say.”Don’t be mad…it’s for the show in Vegas…”

”I know what it is. You don’t have to tell me. You’re here..but you’ll be n the studio..and then you’ll leave again for Europe and then you’ll go to Narnia and then….” she started to get upset at him. He placed his fingers on her lips telling her to be quiet.

”Shhh…Eve…come on. It’s just hard now. You made it through the toughest part. Hang in there.” he hugged her tightly making her feel better. He saw Lucy walking out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. ”Lucy?” he asked making Evie turn around.

”I’m ready for bed now.” she told them.

”Okay…hurry up…” Bruno said pushing her toward her bedroom while Evie went into the bathroom cleaning up the big puddles her daughter had left. She sghed throwing the wet towels in the hamper in the middle of the hallway seeing Bruno sitting in the bed with Lucy with his arm wrapped around her reading the same story he did every single time with the same inflection and same silly tone making Lucy laugh at him. ”The end….” Bruno said putting the book down.

”Bruno…when are you gonna leave again?” she asked him. ”I don’t want you to leave again…” she said to him.

”In a few days, but it’ll be quick. Like a few days…” he answered kissing her head starting to stand up. ”Good night Lucy.” he turned off the light seeing her stretch her body out to go to sleep. As he walked down the hallway he saw Evie sorting through the dirty clothes. He hugged her from behind leaning in toward her ear. ”I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow.” she smiled at him feeling him let go quickly. She turned around seeing him walk toward the door.

”Good night, Smelly Cat.” she told him as the door closed.