Will & Rosie

Chapter Four

🎤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!"