Between Songs

by N. Kognytao

  “Come on, baby,” he murmured, one hand going around her to rub her swollen clit.

  That proved to be too much.

  Her body snapped, her muscles clenching tightly as her climax took control. The blinding pleasure stopped the scream from leaving her mouth as every muscle in her shook with the intensity. She was held in the heights of pleasure for what felt like an eternity, her body clenching and relaxing with each wave of ecstasy.

  Through every moment of her orgasm, Braydon continued thrusting, pushing it to the absolute maximum, making the sensations nearly painful. For a brief moment, Leah wondered if she could die from too much pleasure.

  However, as the spasms slowed and she found it possible to breathe once more, Braydon stopped, his hips jerking as his own orgasm led him to letting out a loan moan, his body leaning over hers and his breath tickling the sweat-slicked skin of her back.

  He, too, slumped as he came down from the high, gingerly pulling out of Leah and reaching up to untie the scarf, tossing it aside as she fell, boneless, to the couch, licking her lips and swallowing hard over and over again as she tried to catch her breath.

  Once he had removed the condom, he turned her onto her side and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight as her eyes fluttered shut and she slipped into the warmth of his embrace.

  * * *

  Leah woke late the next morning, her muscles more sore than usual and her eyelids heavy. She stumbled to the living room where Braydon was sitting on the sofa, reading something on his laptop. She could tell he was not writing because his headphones were nowhere in sight and his expression was not drawn in concentration.

  He lifted his eyes when he saw her, completely unaware of the way she was studying the couch imagining the incredible experience they had both experienced there the previous night.

  “Morning,” he greeted.

  “Morning,” she repeated. “Is there coffee?”

  He nodded, pointing into the kitchen.

  Once she had retrieved a cup of coffee, she went to the living room and sat next to him, glancing over to see him reading an article about historical marriage rules in Europe. She assumed it was research for another book.

  “What are you going to do today?” she asked.

  “Probably work on the next chapter or two,” he admitted. “What about you?” he asked, turning to her with a small smile. “You probably feel a little more relaxed today.”

  “I think tired is a better word,” she teased.

  “At least you got out of your head a little.”

  “I actually think I’m going to take your advice and see my family before rehearsal,” Leah said.

  “I think that’s a great idea.”

  “You know,” she said, turning to Braydon, “you never really talk about your own family.”

  He shrugged one shoulder, his eyes turning back to the laptop screen. “You know about my step-sister being married to Tim Gracie. My parents are always jetting to different areas of the globe, so I don’t see them much.”

  “…that’s it?”

  “Pretty much.”

  She was not satisfied with the answer, but nodded, pursing her lips, figuring she would learn more in time. She could tell from the tone in his voice that there was a lot more to learn about his family than he wanted to admit.

  “Okay,” she said, figuring it was better to let the subject drop.

  Once she had showered, she kissed Braydon and left around the middle of the day. Since she was already closer to downtown, she took the bus to the law office where her mother was a secretary, walking into the building and obtaining a pass to go through the elevators and up to her mother’s offices.

  When she approached the front desk where her mother was working, she turned to her with a broad smile.

  “Hello, how can I—” Her eyes went wide and she lunged upright, leaning across the desk and hugging Leah tightly, even though it caused her to catch herself awkwardly on the desk between them. “Oh my goodness, what a surprise!” she gasped.

  Leah took her mother to lunch at a bistro on the next block that they used to go to between her shifts at the grocery store. It was not until she was back in the bistro, smelling the vinegar and toasted bread, that she realized how much she missed their mother-daughter lunches. She ordered what she had always ordered, greeting Anthony behind the counter as she always had, and sitting in the spot she and her mother had always occupied before.

  She felt as though she had time traveled, and with all the positive feelings that returned to her, the negative also returned. Most of the time when she and her mother had been in the café, they were talking about what the doctors had said about Meggie’s condition and what was next in her treatment. She remembered the darker feelings of worry and stress at wondering if her sister had the strength to endure the harsh treatment.

  However, somehow even those negative feelings that returned to her made her smile. They had made it through those times as a family, and in many ways, they were stronger than ever. That café had been a part of them building a stronger foundation for their lives.

  “What are you smiling about?” Anne asked her daughter.

  “I’m just realizing how much I missed having lunch with you.”

  She took her hand, her grin growing. “Me, too,” she admitted. “But I have to admit, I’m thrilled at all the exciting things happening in your life.”

  “Thank you, Mom,” she said. “But…if it’s alright with you, I’d rather talk about what’s going on with you, and Meggie, and Dad. I feel like I’ve been away for too long.”

  She listened to his mother talk, only partially taking in the words, more focused on her nervous habit of twirling the end of her hair, or the way she added salt to the ketchup for her fries, and the other little details that made him recall all the shared memories with her mother. She had always surprised Leah with her resilience and positive attitude, but she never realized until she was smiling happily with her at lunch how much that had shaped her behavior. Her positive attitude had taught Leah that things always turned out for the best with the right attitude and the patience.

  Somehow, she was able to teach that lesson to her daughter yet again even as she talked about trivial drama with two of the other secretaries in the firm.

  Once their lunch was over, Leah took the bus across town and waited for a half-hour in a park across the street from Meggie’s school for her school day to end.

  When she saw her leave the building with her bright pink and black backpack, talking lightly with her friends, she ran to her, sneaking up behind her and hugging her tightly as she squealed in surprise.

  However, when she saw Leah, she half-screamed once more and hugged her tight enough to hurt her.

  “What are you doing here?” she gasped.

  “I wanted to spend some time with you.”

  “Oh, we were going to go to the movies,” Meggie said, motioning to her friends. “Wanna come?”

  “Are you alright with your big sister hanging around?” she asked.

  She took Leah’s hand and yanked her with her and her laughing friends to the bus.

  Leah happily paid for Meggie’s ticket as well as tickets for her three friends. She also paid for their popcorn and snacks, but she did not think much about the generic plot of the romantic comedy she had be dragged to see.

  Instead, she tried to remember the last time she had been in a movie theater. It had been so long that she could not remember.

  What she did remember was sitting next to Meggie’s hospital bed, talking to her about how they would go to the movies every Thursday when she was out of the hospital since she loved movies so much. At the time she had made the promise, she was not sure her sister would live long enough to see another movie in a theater.

  However, there she was, on a Tuesday afternoon, with her friends from school, watching a silly movie and enjoying the life she had had to fight for with every ounce of strength. It was all Leah had ever wanted for her.

&
nbsp; With Meggie healthy enough to enjoy life as she should, Leah was able to think more seriously about the toll her treatment had had on her own life. Her entire family had felt strain and stress, desperate to help Meggie through the battle against her cancer. Whenever Leah felt that she could not handle the stress, she would put her headphones in and listen to music. It was her escape, her own form of alternate reality, made up of bars and beats that allowed her to escape into emotions that replenished her mental strength.

  Without it, she was not sure she would have been strong enough to tell Meggie that they would go to movies when she was better. However, she told herself that she would have to take her to movies more often to make good on her promise to her little sister—hopefully her schedule would allow it.

  She went home with Meggie and immediately offered to take her family to dinner. With her new paychecks, she was able to take them to a nicer restaurant that they had only ever been to on special occasions. They laughed and talked and drank and only briefly talked about what she was doing. She always steered the conversation back to what was going on with the family, pushing away all thoughts of the Outdoor Show and allowing herself to be Leah Dillon for the time she was with her family.

  Of course, after dinner, she had to rush to rehearsal, but her thoughts were deeper that night and her energy felt more subdued. She was not sure if it was exhaustion or nostalgia that caused her to feel so calm during the run through.

  Everything felt lighter and yet more profound when they wrapped up rehearsal and agreed to meet the following night for dress rehearsal and the announcement of the poll results. As Leah walked away from the stage, a realization washed over her—it did not matter if she won the poll or not. She had already won far more by being at the Outdoor Show at all.

  She started back to the dorms, but stopped just outside the door, looking up at the full moon in the sky and smiling to herself. Somehow, things felt right. She had gone back to her roots, to where her love of music had started, and had become reconnected with what she wanted to do and what she wanted her life to mean.

  But there was one other place she had to go.

  When she stepped off the bus, another more exciting sense of nostalgia washed over her. She moved easily through the darkened streets to the park at the top of the hill, walking toward the railing that allowed her to look over the twinkling lights of the city. That park had always reminded her of Meggie, but that night, another person was on her mind.

  She stepped onto the bottom railing and raised herself up, trying to picture herself flying over the city.

  “Are you trying to fly again?”

  A broad smile broke over her face and she turned around to see the figure sitting at the top of the plastic slide, smiling at her. Slowly, she walked to him, feeling warmth spread through her chest.

  “I’m always trying to fly,” she answered.

  “What are you doing here so late?” Braydon asked, watching her from the top of the slide as she stepped onto the bottom, gripping the edges and climbing up to him, ascending quickly to keep from slipping.

  “Going back to the beginning.”

  When she was right in front of him, she leaned close and kissed him, feeling the way he smiled against her lips.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dress rehearsal went very well and all artists were pleased with their performances and how flawlessly they could move from one stage to another.

  At the end of the run-through, the musicians lingered onstage while the final changes to the video, camera feeds, and transition music were made under careful direction from the stage managers, technical directors, and Tim Gracie. However, everyone was eager to know who had won the fan poll to impersonate 4U and Leeta.

  Finally, when everyone was almost at their wit’s end for waiting, Mr. Gracie walked onto the stage and asked everyone to sit and relax.

  “I know that everyone is dying to know the results of the poll, so I’ll put you out of your misery,” he said with a knowing smile. “The votes were calculated and the winner to play Miss Leeta Jones is Mr. Sean Omiata,” he looked at the young singer who smiled broadly and fell back on the stage with a huff of relief as his friends congratulated him. “And, to impersonate 4U, the fans voted for,” Mr. Gracie pointed, “Miss Leah Dillon.”

  Most of the older artists clapped and turned to the newcomer in the company, smiling, genuinely happy for her. It took Leah an embarrassingly long time to realize exactly what Mr. Gracie had said. The others from her band were clapping her on the back and congratulating her, also thrilled that they would be able to perform during the parody. However, Leah was so stunned by the announcement she almost did not hear what Tim said afterward.

  “Now, the audience will not know who won the poll. That will be revealed during the performance, so these performances need to be incredible. You will need the blow them away but also make them laugh,” the CEO continued. “I ask that Mr. Omiata and Ms. Dillon stay with their respective teams so we can run through their stages. Everyone else, please go home and get some rest. We only have one more day of rehearsal where we will run through the ending performances as well. Be safe on your way home.”

  Most of the seasoned artists were pleased to be heading home and their teams packed up and left the stage easily. Leah and his band, as well as Sasha Omiata, lingered while Mr. Gracie motioned a few others on stage in the time it took for everyone else to clear out.

  “This is awesome!” Keith said, smiling from ear to ear. “With all this stage time, we’re going to get even more exposure.”

  “It shows we’re already getting a lot of attention,” Carson added. “It was a public poll and you were picked.”

  Leah let out a breathy laugh, shaking her head.

  “I honestly did not think I would win,” she said strongly. “I’m…I don’t even…how?”

  “Makes sense,” Alex said, walking up to them as the stage cleared.

  “How does it make sense?” Leah challenged.

  “Most of the big artists in the Outdoor Show are older and everyone knows what kind of music they put out. Of the four younger artists that were on the poll, your energy most resembles 4U. Anyone who saw the promotional videos saw that.”

  She realized how fortunate, yet foolish, it was not to watch the other promotional videos on the poll. She was about to ask about how they decided what to put in the promotional videos when she caught sight of Glaring Nights walking away from the stage. Hayden’s stare was so dark that Leah actually felt cold fear run through her. Alex saw Leah staring and turned to see the other band walking away bitterly, though it seemed they had no intention of leaving the performance area.

  “Don’t let them get to you,” Alex murmured.

  “Ms. Dillon,” Mr. Gracie called, motioning to her. Leah jogged to her boss standing at the edge of the stage as Sasha also approached the CEO. “Do you mind if we rehearse with Mr. Omiata first?”

  “No, that’s fine.”

  “That’s probably going to be the set list as well,” Mr. Gracie continued. “We’ll know for sure when we see both stages and see what will fit better with the flow of the concert.”

  “Okay,” Leah said. “We’ll just wait over there,” she pointed, smiling at Sean, who she had briefly spoken to back stage during run-throughs.

  “I’m going to have to borrow Carson for this stage as well, at least for tonight and tomorrow. We’ll see about the show itself,” Mr. Gracie added. “The original keyboardist’s wife just had a baby so I don’t know that he’ll be available for the performance.”

  “I will send Carson over.”

  Leah jogged back to her group and told Carson to see Mr. Gracie before moving everyone off the stage to sit in the rows near the technical booth while Sean began planning and practicing his parody stage.

  “This is amazing,” Leah chuckled. “I wonder—”

  She stopped when a phone was suddenly shoved under her nose, the screen alight with a video of a concert.

  “Wha
t’s this?” she asked, taking the phone from Alex.

  “Research,” the manager said. “Watch 4U’s stages and take what you can from these recordings. Otherwise we’re going to be here all night.”

  “I’ve religiously studied 4U,” she assured. “I am pretty sure I can mimic him.”

  “She really has been obsessed since middle school,” Aaron teased.

  “Watch anyway,” the manager insisted.

  The four musicians crowded around the phone, watching the various concert recordings of different songs, clicking through different videos and watching the legend of RM Entertainment perform. While watching the videos, Leah felt the same sense of wonder wash over her that she had felt when she first saw videos of 4Ever performing, captivating everyone. Leah’s own energy swelled and she became more excited than ever to imitate her idol. She wanted to pay respect to 4U while also play up everything she thought made the singer unique and awe-inspiring.

  Time passed quickly and the group was so focused on the videos of the performances that they hardly noticed the rehearsal taking place in front of them. When they finally did look up, they were surprised how quickly Sean was able to pull together a stage that both resembled and made fun of Leeta, who was notorious for staying very still on stage and leaning back with her microphone above her as she belted out powerful vocalizations with her songs. Sean was both singing the song in the same fashion while also contorting and making fun of the severity at which Leeta performed. It had most of the older artists who knew Leeta smiling broadly.

  There were many of the other performers seated around the audience area, watching the rehearsals, both out of curiosity and to see the kind of energy that would be put into the performances so they could match the atmosphere. Glaring Nights was among the spectators, though Hayden most of the time glancing over at Leah and grinding his teeth together.

  Whenever his manager saw that, he would tap Hayden’s arm and shake his head, reminding him to let go of his anger.

  Finally, Mr. Gracie told Leah and the others to come to the stage for their rehearsal.