Chasing Melody

by Erin Cristofoli

  Laughing, I clinked my beer to his. “Yes, it did.”

  “See, that’s what I feel every night we perform. I get asked a lot why I chose to do what I do, what I love about it, but it isn’t so easily described. Picture what you felt just now; that rush of adrenaline. Then you add in the energy from the crowd – it’s like fuelling a fire. We all crave that feeling. I mean, the tour is exhausting, yes, and there are days when I wish I could be in the comfort of my own home, but the feeling I get when I first step out here, is like nothing else. More than anything, I wanted to try and let you to experience a little bit of that. If I had known just how damn good you are, I would have insisted you play with a bigger audience.”

  “Yeah, that is not going to happen,” I laughed. “But I do appreciate that you shared this with me. Thank you for going to all of this trouble with me, it was really thoughtful.”

  He shrugged. “I really only asked you to come with me because I needed someone to save me from myself with all the food I ordered. If you had not been here, I would have eaten it all. I mean, you really did save me from a whole lot of indigestion.”

  I put my beer to the side and slid down until I was lying back, looking up to the rigging and rafters beyond that.

  “What are you thinking about?” he asked, leaning down closer to me.

  “You’re a good guy, Chase.”

  “You didn’t think that about me when we met.”

  “No, you know I didn’t, but to be fair, you didn’t think much of me either.”

  “What you say is true, but I have good reason for that. It’s not easy for people to get into our tight knit group. I have to protect Ivy, but it’s also easier. It takes a while for people to show their true colours, and I would rather be a jackass to start and weed all the bad seeds out. But this is all getting way too serious and we’re supposed to be having fun. Do you want to know what I am thinking about right now?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows

  He didn’t wait for me to answer, leaning in the rest of the way and placing his lips to mine. It was like he’d lit a match, and I needed to be closer to him. Pressing my body into his, his hands roamed over my body, his tongue teasing against my lips. I wrapped one of my legs around him, giving him room to get closer, pressing his erection against me.

  I leaned back slightly to take in a breath.

  “I want you closer, Elle, not farther.”

  “I have to breathe sometimes too, ya know.”

  He shrugged. “Breathing is highly overrated.”

  With that, he grabbed my leg and rolled, pulling me on top and pressing firmly against me. He dropped his head back with a moan. “That’s better.”

  Leaning back, I let Chase use his hands, and I rocked my hips on top of him. The heat between us was rising, we were losing control… until we heard the exaggerated sound of someone clearing their throat. I squealed and tried to get free, but Chase rolled us over until he was on top of me.

  “Uh, excuse me sir,” the voice stated.

  “Yes?” Chase replied calmly.

  “I’m very sorry, sir, but we are doing the final checks around the place before we close it down for the night. I was told to let you know.”

  “Ah okay. We’ll be out of here in a couple of minutes.”

  “Very good. Thank you, sir.”

  The man’s footsteps faded away.

  Chase looked down at me and we both burst into laughter.

  I gave him a shove and he grunted, losing his balance and falling back. Hopping to my feet, I held out a hand.

  “What are you doing lazing around, don’t you know people are waiting on us?” I joked.

  He smirked and took my hand, letting me help him to his feet. Bending, I began to grab as many pillows as I could manage.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “Uh, cleaning up, I thought that was obvious.”

  “I can do that tomorrow,” he protested.

  “Nope, tonight. Right now. People are going to be working tomorrow to get ready for the show. There is no need to have them tripping on pillows.”

  With an exaggerated sigh, he grabbed our garbage and headed off down one of the aisles and disappeared.

  “Uh, Chase?” I called out after the time seemed to drag on.

  Suddenly, all of the lights except for the one spotlight shining down on me went out.

  “That’s not funny,” I called out again.

  Nothing but silence. I’d had enough of this creepiness. I took one step before I nearly jumped out of my skin, letting out a shriek as hands grabbed me from behind.

  “Where are you going?”

  I spun around and smacked him in the face with one of the pillows. “You’re a jerk, you know that?”

  He chuckled and wrapped his arms around me, kissing me sweetly. “I know, but that was fun.”

  “Ugh, okay, let’s go.”

  He picked up the blanket and the remaining pillows and we strolled back to the bus, Chase purposely nudged me along the way. I returned the favour with a hip check.

  Claire looked up from her phone and grinned widely as we boarded the bus.

  “Did you guys have fun?”

  “God no,” Chase said, rolling his eyes. “Worst night ever.”

  “You are such a bad liar.” Claire laughed. “What about you?”

  Trying to hide my smile, I replied, “What he said.”

  “Okay, okay. I get this hint, no kissing and telling. I will only say one thing – the flush in your cheeks, Elle, and the twinkle in your eyes, Chase, it’s really nice to see. Goodnight.”

  She left the bus and we dropped all that was in our arms onto the couch. Chase pulled me down on top of it all with him.

  “I’m not ready to go to bed yet, are you?”

  I shook my head as he nuzzled into my neck.

  There was something that I had been wondering about for some time, but I wasn’t sure how he would react if I asked him about it. Between his busy days with the band and our breathtaking sexual escapades, it’s not like there had been much time.

  “I’ve been wanting to ask you about something,” I began.

  He lifted his head and looked into my eyes. “Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good.”

  “Well, I guess it depends on how you take it. And you don’t have to feel any obligation to talk if you don’t want to. I’ve been wanting to ask about Ivy’s mom. I know it’s none of my business,” I said quickly, “but I can’t help but wonder how a guy like you ends up on your own with such a wonderful kid.”

  He let out a long, slow breath.

  “Ivy’s mom. Well, her name was Jessica and she was a fan originally, just before we got noticed. We fell for each other and instead of being apart from each other, she decided to come on our first tour in the States with us. It was an insane experience. We headed down the west coast, and we were surprised that we were getting the attention we were; we even received invites to some pretty cool parties. Unfortunately, some of those parties also had plenty of drugs going around. It’s where she first used. I’ve never been into that shit. I knew she tried it, but I made it clear that we couldn’t be doing that and be successful. When we got home from the tour, we settled into what I thought was going to be a good life.

  “It wasn’t long before we signed our major record deal, and the band was flying high. We busted our asses and it was paying off. Jess really only liked the partying side of it. What I didn’t realize at the time was that she had made some bad connections and fell into the drugs hard. I made her go into rehab. After she was clean for about six months, we found out that Jess was pregnant. I thought things were going to work out. But Jess was pretty clear that she wasn’t happy about the pregnancy.

  “When Ivy came along, it opened up my eyes to what I wanted life to be like. I was head over heels for that little girl from the very start. Jess, however, struggled. She was depressed and moody and our relationship began to falter. We were fighting all the time. For Ivy, I would do anything. One day I
came back from a recording session and found Jess passed out, a needle on the couch beside her arm where she had injected herself. Ivy was in her crib crying. That was the last straw for me.

  “When she sobered up, I told her we were through and that she had to get out. She thought she would take Ivy to try and get back at me, but there was no way that I was going to let that happen. I took her to court for custody. That day, as I approached the courthouse for the proceedings, I saw her sitting on a bench. She’d come there high, Elle. I couldn’t understand it. I told her that I wanted her to relinquish all of her rights for Ivy. I’ll never forget the look in her eyes that day. You would think that any mother would fight no matter what for her baby. But Jess only gave me her price. I only agreed because I knew it would be best for Ivy.”

  My heart broke for Chase. I sat up and straddled him, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him tightly to my chest.

  “I’m so sorry, Chase, I really am.”

  He shrugged. “I feel sad for Ivy because she will never know her. She was a good person before the drugs.”

  “Do you know what happened to her?”

  “No,” he replied, and he began to hug me back. “She walked away that day and no one has seen her since. I couldn’t even tell you if she is still alive. I always hoped that she would get the help she needed, but I think she was probably in way too deep.”

  I don’t know how long we stayed wrapped up like that, silence falling over us, but it was comfortable being in his arms. After a time, he lifted us up and I thought the moment had passed. Instead, to my surprise, he shifted us until we were lying down on the couch together, his chest pressing against my back.

  “Thank you for sharing your story with me, Chase,” I whispered.

  He squeezed me closer. “Thank you for letting me lay that all out. I hope I didn’t ruin our evening. I really did have a good time tonight.”

  I turned over and brushed my lips over his. “I did too.”

  “Would you mind if we just stay like this for a little while?” he asked quietly.

  I could feel he needed this, that he needed me. I wasn’t about to turn him away.

  It wasn’t long before his breathing grew heavier, and I knew he had drifted off to sleep. I waited a little longer so I didn’t wake him, and because I liked how it felt to be in his arms, but then I slowly slipped away from his body, covering him up with a blanket before heading to my bunk for the night. Learning of his past had unlocked a whole new set of feelings towards him. I hated that he had been hurt like that, and my heart wanted to heal him, to make him forget. My mind, however, knew that it wasn’t really my place to do that. What we had, while it was amazing, it was also not necessarily for the long-term. I had to keep reminding myself of that so I wouldn’t get too attached. A little late, Elle.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Elle

  “So, I was thinking…”

  “Oh yeah, what about?” I replied.

  Chase and I were sitting cuddled up on the couch watching a Disney movie, Ivy on one side of him, I on the other. He had his fingers entwined with mine. Two weeks had passed, and we had zigzagged our way through some smaller venues down the coast until we’d finally arrived in California.

  He leaned closer to whisper in my ear. “I’d like to take you to dinner tomorrow night.”

  I couldn’t help but be a little surprised by his suggestion.

  “Why?”

  He laughed. “Because that is what people do sometimes when they like each other.”

  “Yes, I know that, silly. It’s just that it’s not exactly like we defined anything between us, I don’t expect dinners and stuff,” I explained, waving a hand between us.

  “I don’t think that we need to. Come on, don’t give me that look, Elle, I don’t mean that in a bad way. Things are great with us. Let’s just keep on doing what we are doing. I know I want to see where this goes.”

  He squeezed my hand, lifting it to his mouth to lay a kiss upon my fingers, the simple gesture melting my heart and calming my insecurities.

  I nodded. “Okay, sure. A night out will be fun.”

  The next evening came quickly and, the weather was a bit on the cool side. Even still, I’d put on a dress for our night out, partially at Claire’s insistence. She’d offered to lend me anything that could be found in her closet, but while it was sweet of her, I’d declined. I’d managed to find an opportunity to sneak away on my own for a bit of free time when we were in Seattle. While exploring the city, I’d happened across some amazing little shops and for the first time ever, I’d let myself splurge a little bit of my earnings on some cute new items.

  I don’t know if it was nerves or just because it was cold outside, but I quickly bundled myself up in a calf length, subtle dark blue tartan coat before Chase had even come out of his room. When he did, my jaw dropped. He always looked amazing, but the view of him all done up in a navy dress shirt that touched each chiselled inch of his torso and a pair of black jeans that hugged his ass was over the top. I motioned for him to turn around.

  He smirked and did as he was told. “You like?”

  I nodded. “It’s a very different look for you.”

  “I’m at a disadvantage. I don’t get to see how you look under that coat of yours.”

  “You will.”

  He glanced at his watch. “We’d better get going.”

  Slipping on a fedora that rested low, covering his eyes, he held out a hand for me while grabbing a leather jacket with the other and we headed off the bus. A few minutes later, we were both sliding into the back of a waiting car, Joe sitting in the front seat.

  “So where are we going?”

  He just shrugged with a smile, opting to lean in to silence the question with a gentle kiss.

  When we arrived at Huntington’s Steak House a short time later, I was stunned.

  “Oh my God, Chase, this is too much.”

  “I wanted to take you to the best restaurant I could think of. Is this okay?”

  I nodded silently as he guided me inside. We were whisked off right away to our waiting table, which that was in a quiet corner near the back of the restaurant.

  Chase placed his hands on the back of my coat, helping to ease it from my shoulders. He whistled under his breath. I turned around so he could see my whole look.

  “Wow, Elle, you look amazing. I never would have guessed what you would have been wearing.”

  I’d chosen a look straight from the 60’s with a skin-tight swing dress with a low-cut scoop neck, accentuated by a bow and a slit up one thigh of the pencil skirt.

  As we settled into our chairs, a waiter approached swiftly, and I suspected it was because they knew who Chase was. He ordered us some wine as I took a look around.

  “This place is stunning.”

  It looked like a mix between a rustic steakhouse and an ultra posh restaurant. The walls were a deep grey-blue, gold frames staggered around the walls with black and white images of trees and waterfalls. The grand chandeliers somehow matched perfectly with live edge tables and a large bar to match them. And while the décor was a good mix, one look at the menu solidified that this was a place that an everyday person like me could never afford.

  “Elle,” Chase’s voice pulled me from the sinking feeling that was setting in. I mean, we were so different, completely different worlds. My eyes shot up to his, his smile warm. “This isn’t everyday for me. I just wanted us to have a nice night out, without any interruptions.”

  I gave myself a little mental shake and decided to change the subject.

  “Okay. Chase, how did you get into music?”

  “High school. I excelled in the music program and a couple of buddies and I decided that we should start a band.”

  The waiter interrupted us to take our order. A steak and lobster for Chase, and roasted chicken with butternut squash ravioli for myself. When we were alone again, I pressed him further.

  “You were saying you started a band in high school?
How did that go?”

  He laughed. “It didn’t for a long time. But we were young. Eventually two of my friends went their separate ways when it came time for college. Stixx and I stayed together. We wanted to keep the dream alive, so we added Brant and Ewan. We played all of the house parties we could, eventually convincing a couple of local bars to take a chance on us. That was how we got discovered. We got lucky and we’ve been busting our asses ever since. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

  Chase and I talked easily thorough the whole meal, him pressing me on my high school and college memories, all the while savouring each bite of food as well as each other’s company. He surprised me with picking dessert for us, a rich chocolate caramel brownie with ice cream, simple but decadent. The first spoonful he took, he stretched out for me. I watched him with a smile as I took his offering in my mouth. It was heaven.

  When the bill was taken care of, Chase stood and helped pull out my chair. His hands lingered on my shoulders as he helped me with my coat. He was a perfect gentleman. I watched him pull on his coat, returning his hat to his head.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you about the hat,” I said.

  “It’s my attempt at a little bit of added anonymity.”

  Just inside the front doors Chase paused. “I’d like to take you somewhere else now, if you don’t mind. I think you’ll really like it.”

  I was in no hurry, enjoying our evening, so I nodded. Joe was waiting outside with the car and soon we were driving off to the next mystery location. A short time later, a glance out of the car window had my mouth dropping.

  “Where are we?”

  As the sun grew heavier in the sky, even in the brightness that remained, I could see the lights of what looked like a boardwalk shining brightly.

  “We’re at the Santa Monica Pier and Pacific Park. I thought maybe we could go take a walk down the pier.”

  I looked around and, while I was excited, there were a lot of people.

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded and smiled sweetly. “I want to go do something completely normal. Besides, Joe is here in case we need him.”