“I’m a little shaken up, but I will be alright,” she said.
“There’s always one that tries to mess up a good night,” Janye said.
“I bet he wishes he hadn’t after Bruiser got hold of him,” Kemara chimed in, and we laughed.
“I don’t know what I would have done if he didn’t step in when he did. That man was a lunatic,” said Alise with her voice still a little shaky.
“Hell, with that crazy motherfucker making threats to bother you again, you may need to hire Bruiser as your personal bodyguard. I know I’d love to have him personally guard me, whew,” Jayne said as she fanned herself dramatically.
“Calm down, sis. I don’t need anyone to guard me,” Alise said to Jayne. “I refuse to allow a crazy person to have me running scared.”
That sentiment didn’t quite reach Alise’s eyes, which were wide and fearful. It was natural that she was afraid this man would come back for her, hell, I was too. His eyes had a wildness in them that made it seem as if he wasn’t the type to give idle threats, but more like the kind of man to don a machine gun and wipe out a roomful of people because he had a fucked up, lonely life.
A
s I thought these things, Alise seemed to come to her own conclusion. “With the way the world is these days, I might look into getting some security,” she stated thoughtfully.
“I’m just saying, Bruiser is the man for the J-O-B,” Jayne repeated, dramatically spelling out the last word.
I shook my head at Jayne’s antics then turned to Alise. “You’re going out and doing more shows. You’ll be meeting more people who will try to get in your space, so you have to be more mindful of who’s around you. I mean, your brand new single is on iTunes that’s selling at number ten, right after Kane Brown. Maybe it’s time to stop acting like you’re not a big deal. You’re a big fucking deal celebrity, and you’re my friend,” I gushed.
“Listen to you being all supportive and protective,” Alise said, offering me a warm smile. “Thanks sis.”
“But you are a big deal. I would hate to have to escort you to your gigs, ready to hit someone with a beer bottle if they try to bother you, but you know I will do it.” I laughed.
“Not before I knee his ass,” Jayne said and laughed.
The rest of the crew joined in the laughter.
“Okay, I’ll check into Bruiser’s company and see if he has someone that can go with me to my events and see me home safely on those nights,” Alise agreed.
“That’s all I’m saying,” Jayne said with a wink, and we all sighed in relief to know our friend was taking measures to protect herself.
“Just think about it. If you have crazed fans at this level, wait until you hit #1 on iTunes,” I said.
“Well, let’s just drink to you hitting that number one spot soon!” Kemara chimed in, and we raised our glasses to that.
***
Jeb
“It’s a good thing we went outside with Bruiser. He would have broken the asshole in two if we hadn’t held him back,” Channing said of my friend and bouncer who was in rare form tonight. He was known as Bruiser for a reason, but since he’d been working at Club Elite he hadn’t dismantled a man the way he did the regular who tried to attack Alise. The poor guy had no clue of the danger he’d put himself in.
“I know, man. That shit was wild. It took us both to hold him back even after the man was cowering and begging for his life. I don’t know where all the extra rage came from tonight, but Bruiser was in a zone,” I said, closing the door to my office. I had already talked to Bruiser and sent him home to cool off.
“So we’re just going to pretend we didn’t see him drooling over Alise as if she were a bag of Lays the entire time she was on stage performing?” Channing asked.
“Huh?”
“Yeah, you would have thought she was the last ham sandwich on Earth.”
“And we know how much he loves ham,” I said, laughing. “That time you got the last piece of his mother’s ham at Thanksgiving didn’t turn out well for you,” I teased Channing.
“Ha, ha, ha… Anyway, our boy is pussy whipped, and he hasn’t even gotten any yet,” Channing stated.
Bruiser peeked his head into the door. “Jeb, the front door needs smaller bills.”
“What are you doing back here, man? I told you to take the night off,” I said.