by CL Rowell
“Are you okay?”
I looked up. A friendly looking girl stood in front of me, concern filling her eyes, and without intending to, I started bawling, “I drove all the way here to see the show and it’s sold out.” To my embarrassment, fresh tears welled up and streamed down my cheeks. “I hate my life!”
“I have an extra ticket.”
“Huh?” I blinked away the blur of tears, afraid to believe my ears.
“I said I have an extra ticket. You can have it.”
“But—the doorman said…are you a scalper?”
“No.” She giggled and held out a white rectangle with black writing on it. It was a ticket to the concert! “Come on, take it. It’s gonna start soon. Let’s go find our seats.”
Dazed, I stayed on her heels. When she handed her ticket over, I did the same—holding my breath, half expecting to be told it wasn’t real as they turned me away. Finding myself inside those hallowed walls, I started to babble, excited beyond belief. “Oh my god, oh my god, thank you sooo much! You’re an angel in disguise—I drove all the way down here from Conway, Arkansas, because my brother swore you can find scalpers on every corner, at every concert, anywhere you go, selling tickets—but no one was! I didn’t know what to do. I mean—drive all this way just to turn around and go right back home? I just wanted a hole to open up beneath my feet and swallow me up. I am totally in your debt.”
“It’s no problem. My friend had to cancel at the last minute and I know she’d have done the same thing.” She glanced at the ceiling, seeming inexplicably nervous.
Suspecting her friend wouldn’t have been quite as generous as she claimed, I offered, “Well, let me pay you something for them—I insist. And you can give the money to her if it makes you feel better. Third row seats aren’t cheap.”
“I wouldn’t even know what they go for,” she protested, motioning for me to take the inside seat. “She bought them as a surprise.”
More than a bit envious, I shoved a wad of folded bills into her hand and exclaimed, “Color me neon green! I need a friend like her! Anyway, here’s eighty bucks—I’m sorry I can’t give you the fair value for the ticket, but I still have to rent a room for the night, and get back home. I only budgeted for a seat in the nose bleed section—this is like manna from heaven.”
“Seriously, it’s no—“ The lights cycled, flashing a brilliant rainbow of colors, and everyone around us chanted, drowning her out.
Pulling her up with me, I stood with everyone else, searching the darkened stage for Phillip Smith, Jessie’s hot keyboard player and backup singer—and my future husband. Much too soon, the crowd sat down. I sat with them, so busy drooling over Phillip that I didn’t even realize she was still standing until the spotlight landed on her, almost blinding me and making my eyes water. It was really romantic. Their eyes met, he said something—and she took off.
What the hell? Jumping to my feet, I followed her, “Wait! What’s wrong? Where are you going?” Then she turned to face me. “Oh my god, you’re crying…what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“I-I-I can’t…I can’t be here. I have to go. Enjoy the concert.”
“What’s your name? Your number? I was hoping we could stay in touch—“
“Callie! Stop!” Looking through the doors behind me, I saw Jessie flying up the aisle, with a woman and a cameraman close behind. He was shrugging off the grasping fingers of adoring fans, refusing to slow down. “Callie—“
Callie? I’d been sitting with the girl Jessie was in love with? I turned to stare. “Callie? Wait, I—“
“I can’t—“ She shook her head, desperation in her eyes. “Not now.”
I nodded, knowing what I had to do “Fine—go…I’ll stall him. Look me up on Facebook—Julie Ryan.”
“I will.”
3
*
Taking a deep breath, I turned, ready to defend her decision to leave—and collided, face first, with a fast moving brick wall. Searing pain filled my head with vibrant shades of red to rival the crimson I could feel pouring from my indignant, most surely broken, nose.
“Oh, God!” I collapsed to my knees. “I think you broke my face.”
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Gentle fingers lifted my face up to the light, contradicting the harshness of his words, “You stepped right into my path.”
“I had to stop you.” I winced when I felt cool fingers brush along the bridge of my nose. “You would have caught her.”
“Damn straight, I would have caught her.” He moved to one side, grabbed my arm, and assisted me to a chair with the help of the security guard.
“But she didn’t want to be caught.”
“Why not?" He stared at me, wide-eyed, looking like I had just punched him in the gut.
"I don't know. I only met her a half hour ago. She seemed scared to death, though. Did y’all have a fight or something?"
"Hell no! That's the first time I've seen her in years." I stared at him, not bothering to hide my confusion, and he just shook his head. “It's a long story."
"I'm not going anywhere."
He laughed, his eyes sparkling, “Yeah, but I still have a show to do, and you need to see a doctor about that nose."
Horrified, I shook my head hard enough to bring fresh tears to my eyes, “Not happening. Fuck my nose. Do you have any idea what I had to go through to attend this concert? I drove all the way from Conway, Arkansas, hoping to find a scalper, only to discover that they don't allow them on the property. My mother is throwing me out for sneaking off, and I'm sure she fired me from my job at the flower shop, too. All I have now are the clothes on my back, a few things in a bag, and my car. One broken nose isn't keeping me seeing this show unless—“ I grinned, shrugging, “You're willing to send your keyboardist with me to the hospital?”
“Send my… what the hell kind of concert would that be? I can't put on a show without my keyboard player and one half of my backup singers. I’d be booed off the stage. People would demand their money back."
“Well then, I guess we’re at a stalemate, aren't we?” I crossed my arms, looking smug.
“The hell we are. Pinch your nostrils to stop the bleeding—I’ll be right back."
“Like I said—ain't like I'm going anywhere." I stuck out my tongue as he walked away. Moments later, I heard him on the microphone. I couldn’t believe my ears. What a doll!
“Do we have a doctor in the house? A paramedic? Hell, I’d even accept a nurse practitioner. We had a bit of an accident, and a young lady is sitting in the lobby with a broken nose. She refuses to go to the hospital unless I send my keyboard player with her, and that's just asking for trouble. You all came to hear us play, and we can't do that with a third of us gone, now can we?"
“No!" the audience roared, taking him by surprise at their enthusiasm.
"I'm a paramedic." A young man shouted over the crowd as he hurried up to the edge of the stage, bobbing in and out of my field of view in the milling crowd.
“Can you set a broken nose?” Jessie winced and pulled away as the microphone squealed.
The other guy said something I couldn’t hear. Assuming it was an agreement, I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted, “Jessie, you better bring that cute keyboard player along with you, too—cuz I'm telling you right now, I'm going need somebody to hold my hand for this shit."
Before I—or anyone else—realized what was happening, Philip vaulted the keyboard, leaped off the stage and hurried up the aisle. Coming to a stop in front of me, he smiled shyly, “You requested my presence? How may I assist you, my lady?"
“Oh!” Be still my heart! I found myself at an uncharacteristic loss for words. Blushing, I stammered, “I, uh…I, you—wow, you look even better up close and in person than in your pictures.”
"Thanks." He gently brushed my hair off my face, wincing as he picked strands from around my nose, “You're not so bad yourself. Love the hair. It's very eye-catching—I don’t think I caught your name?”
“It’s Julie.”
“Nice to meet you, Julie. I’m Phillip.”
“I know.” I stared into his eyes as butterflies tickled my insides.
Seconds, or maybe minutes or even hours later, Jessie cleared his throat. “If you two love birds are done with the mutual admiration party, maybe you'll let the paramedic in there to do his job, and we can get on with the show?”
My face as red as the cranberry log my mom served every Christmas, I gasped, mortified. “Oh, yeah. Sorry!” and waited for Phillip to back away, disappointed that he couldn’t stay, but trying to hide it.
To my surprise, I heard, ”I’m going to sit here, out of the way, and hold her hand for moral support.”
“You are?” I latched on to his hand, blinking back tears of gratitude and relief. “Thank you!”
“Of course you are." Jessie rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Should I call for a fiddle to serenade you while we make a sold out venue wait for the concert they came to see?”
“No need to be an ass about it, just because she likes me, and not you."
“I already knew she liked you, idiot. If I’m being an ass—and I’m not—it’s because you’re holding us up.”
“And what were you doing, when you flew out here and ran her over?”
“Ran her over?” Jessie reared back, surprised, “Ex-fucking-scuse me, but I did not run her over. She deliberately stepped right into my path!”
“Hey now, play nice." My eyes bounced between the two of them like the ball in a high speed tennis match. “He’s right. I did. Besides, Jessie likes Callie."
“The girl that ran off?”
“Ye—“ I felt something cold brush across my face and jerked my head back. It was the paramedic, attempting to remove the blood crusted around my nose and mouth. “Oh…hi. I forgot about you.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” He sighed, then continued, “Hold still now. This might hurt a bit—and hopefully he won’t hurt me for doing it.“ The poor guy blotted sweat beads from his brow with his arm and eyed Phillip, visibly nervous. His movements gentle, but fast, he finished cleaning my face with a damp cool cloth, and then realigned and reset my nose, stuffing it with gauze.
“Ouch!" I exclaimed, blinking back tears and hoping I didn’t look too dorky with medical tape covering my nose, “That hurts.”
“Sorry. I warned you…kinda.” He glanced at Phillip again, “Please don’t hit me, dude.”
“Kinda?” I sat still, my body rigid, hoping he could see I was glaring through the puffy swelling I could feel around my eyes.
“Yes, kinda—I said hold still, this might hurt—“
“As you were cleaning my face!” I felt Phillip squeeze my hand and my anger started to evaporate. Realizing he was right, I took a deep breath to apologize, but he started to speak before I could.
“Well…I thought you’d have an idea of what I was going to do. On the bright side, I’m almost done." Putting actions to words, he finished dressing it and jumped to his feet, obviously relieved to step away from me. Smart guy.
I gingerly felt my nose and around my eyes. “Thank you. Do I owe you anything?”
“Nope, it’s fine. I got to meet the band so we’ll call it even.” Packing up the emergency kit the manager let him use, he added, “You’ll want to get that checked out with your personal doctor as soon as possible, but I don't foresee any problems. It was a fairly straight forward, clean break. Take ibuprofen for pain if you need it, and ice will help with the swelling.” Looking around, hopeful, he asked Jessie, “On with the show?”
“Yes, indeed!” Jessie pumped his fist in the air, “The show must go on. Let's go!"
Philip stopped in midstep. “Wait!”
“What now?” Jessie howled, plunging his fingers through his hair, frustration obvious in every line of his body.
Turning to me, he asked, “How will I find you after our set?”
I smiled, delighted, ignoring Jessie as he pantomimed pounding his head against the doorjam. "I'll be around."
“Yes, but where? I just found you. I don’t want to lose you again, and New Orleans is a big place.“
My heart melted. “Aww, how sweet! Well…I have to get a room for tonight.” I raised both shoulders and my hands in a—I hoped—casual shrug. “Where are you staying?"
“Right next door at The Blue Orchid Inn.”
“Oh, that’s just great.” Jesse threw his hands in the air, “Thanks. Now the whole world knows. We'll be overrun by fans. We won't get a wink of sleep because people will be banging on the door all night.”
Philip rolled his eyes, “The security guard we hired will keep any curious people away. We’ll be fine—besides, these guys seem pretty cool, so far. We haven’t been mauled yet.”
“Yeah, well, don’t forget about what happened in Chicago…”
“Apples and oranges.” He slapped Jessie on the back, “Chill-ax, bro. Southern people are more laid back.”
“Can we finish the concert, now?”
“One sec…” He turned to face me. “I just had a brilliant idea. You need a place to sleep, and I have an extra bed in my room—“
Jessie interrupted, “You mean Leo’s bed?”
Unfazed, he waved the words away. “Leo can crash in your room. You don’t need both of those beds.”
“And if I bring a girl back to my room?”
“Me! Pick me!”
He laughed, blushing, as several feminine voices immediately piped up, volunteering.
My jaw dropped. “You’re cheating on Callie?”
“I can’t cheat on her—you saw her run away. It can’t be cheating if she’s not even willing to be in the same room with me.” He dropped his head and sighed, giving in. “Fine. Whatever. Leo can crash in my room and you can take the extra bed in Phillip’s room—assuming we ever finish the show. Happy?”
“For real?”
“For real.”
“Thanks, Jessie.” Standing on tiptoe, I kissed his cheek. “Callie is a lucky girl—even if she doesn’t know it, yet.”
4
*
After the concert, I followed the security guard to the back entrance and waited for Phillip. From there, we headed to their hotel rooms, where Jessie ordered pizza for all of us. If I’m honest, I felt a bit weird, being the only girl in the group, but when they treated me like one of the guys, I relaxed fast.
It wasn’t long before the food was gone. I could see the guys were worn out and wanted to go to bed. Every time one yawned, they all did, like a trio of copycats. Soon, I was joining in, and my eyes were getting heavy, too.
“Tired?” I nodded, and followed Phillip through the connecting door to his room. I felt my muscles tense when the door closed behind us, wondering what would come next. All feelings of drowsiness faded, and I was hyper-alert. It didn’t last long.
“How’s your nose?”
I felt it, my movements careful. “Sore. I have some ibuprofen that the paramedic gave me. Is there anything to drink?”
“Water. Did you bring a bag?” He bellyflopped onto the bed closest to the bathroom and rolled onto his back. “I have shower stuff and a t-shirt you can borrow if you need it.”
“Crap! My bag.” I perched on the edge of the other bed. “I should probably go get it, and pull my car closer. Where are you guys parked?”
“We’re in a tour bus.” He informed me, smirking at me like I should have known that. “Not exactly gonna fit in one of those tiny parking spots.”
“No shit!” I laughed at the image. “Still, no car? Must suck.”
“Not really, with taxis—and now, Uber.” He sat up, mirroring me. “The bus is sitting out back, behind the venue. It was easier to just walk over.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”
“I can go with you, if you want to move your car closer to the inn,” he offered, “Keep you safe from the hordes. We can grab some ice for your nose, and a couple sodas, on the way back up, too—I’m still a little thirsty from the show
and you need to take those pills.”
“You sure?” I bit my lip, wincing when my brow tried to furrow with concern. “Between the two of us, I don’t think I’m the one the hordes would go nuts over.”
“Don’t feel bad.” He leaned over and tousled my hair, clueless. “They don’t go nuts for me, either—Jessie and Leo are the stars of this outfit. I’m just the keyboard player.”
“Do you really believe that, or are you just being modest?” I stood up and crossed to the door, blocking it with my body as I waited to hear his response.
“Modest about what? I just stated the facts. With me, what you see is what you get. I’m nothing special.” He spread his hands and looked down his t-shirt and jeans clad form. “No bulging muscles, no movie star good looks—just plain ol’ me. But, it doesn’t bother me, if that’s what you’re worried about. I think I’m the lucky one. I can go anywhere I want, and no one recognizes me.”
My jaw dropped. “You really do believe that.”
“I don’t just believe it. I can prove—“
Without over-thinking it, I stepped closer and pressed my lips to his. Suddenly, my heart pounded in my chest like I’d run a hundred yard dash. Pulling back, I pressed his hand over my chest. “Feel that? Feel my heart racing? That’s because of you. Not Leo. Not Jessie. You. When I refused to turn my car around, even after Momma said she’d throw me out if I didn’t—that, too, was because of you. Well…” I giggled, breathless, “It was because of the concert, too—but it was mostly you.”
“I—“ Staring at my mouth, he slowly leaned in, giving me plenty of opportunity to pull away. I wasn’t going anywhere, though. Not even if the whole building was engulfed in flames. I thought I heard him whisper “I’m glad,” just as his lips met mine, but I wasn’t sure because right then, my mind went blank and I collapsed against the door. His arms and body were the only things holding me up.
We were almost the same height. We lined up, mouth to mouth, chest to chest, and hip to hip, and I moaned when I felt something hard cradled against my mons and lower belly. My lips curved against his, and I arched my hips to get closer, inviting more.
