by S Gonzalez
Max nods. His body is rigid with tension. I can tell he is thinking up a hundred different ways of making Glen suffer. None of which will make any this better.
“Come on, let’s get back to the stage.” I grab his forearm and pull him with me but release it before I am visible from the stage. I don’t want Dominic getting the wrong idea about us.
“Fine, Emma. But I don’t like this. He is obviously crazy if he threatened you with all these people around.” Max’s voice is laced with concern and anger. He’s right. I know he is right but I can’t let Glen ruin my redo night with Dominic. Glen’s crazy ass will still be crazy after he’s gone. Max and I can kick it then.
The band finishes their last song and the crowd is alive with roars of chanting and applause. The entire place claps and whistles, myself included. Then, the stage suddenly gets dark. I observe Dominic pulling a black box onto the stage, placing it next to a lone bar stool. He turns to me and motions to me with his finger to come toward him, just like Patrick Swayze did to Jennifer Gray in the final scene of, Dirty Dancing. I shake my head. I don’t want to be on stage.
He cocks his head to the side and pats the top of the box; he wants me to sit on it. Completely
embarrassed I somehow find the confidence to do as he requests. Or should I say, Max pushes me out onto the stage before I can run away.
Fucker.
Rocco slips on stage and hands him his acoustic guitar, patting me on the head as he leaves the opposite way he came. Dominic slides the mic stand down, adjusting the height. The stage is still dark except for the spotlight that is only shining on us; as if we are in our own little bubble and no one can get in. I blink at the blinding light as I try to see the people below us. I can hear them hooting and hollering for an encore but Dominic silences them with a wave of his hand.
“This final song, I wrote for the lovely woman sitting next to me. She is very special to me.” He turns his head and flashes me his signature wink that makes my heart forget how to beat. “I hope you like it, Emma.”
The crowd goes wild as he strums his guitar. I know this song. I heard it last night in my room. He wrote the words? I smile adoringly as the words flow past Dominic’s lips.
All the nights we spent together, with the moonlight in your hair. It’s your face that I remember, but your kisses that I feel.
When I looked up you were gone, I didn’t get to say good-bye. I didn’t get to tell you,
I didn’t care about the lie.
I wanna taste you…I wanna feel you, Damn, I miss you…my Sweetness. Now here you are again,
my angel dressed in black.
I want to make you smile;
I want you to love me back.
You’re my vision of a future;
your kiss sutures my broken heeeaaarrrrtttttttt.
I can taste you…I can feel you, Damn, I missed you...my Sweetness. It’s getting late baby,
I don’t want to say good-bye.
The road is calling me angel;
I can’t even stay the night.
I will count the days ‘til I see your face again. Once last kiss for old times,
one last kiss before I gooooooooo….
I’ll wanna taste you…I’ll wanna feel you, Damn, I’ll miss you…….
My Sweetness.
Tears stream down my face uncontrollably. This is by far the greatest moment in my life. His words…I had no idea he felt that way. I feel terrible that I had a different perception of what he wanted from me yesterday.
I’m his vision of a future? He wants me to love him back? Surely he doesn’t love me, but it makes one hell of a ballad. He stands up, puts down his guitar, and grabs both of my hands. He plants a small kiss on my lips and I hear the crowd go crazy as the spotlight clicks off.
The MC concludes the show in the darkness of the stage and wishes everyone a safe journey home. We both laugh into our kisses not caring that everyone in the room is watching our silhouettes.
With weak knees, I follow him off the stage. I feel like I am walking on air. There has never in my lifetime been a more memorable moment. Ever. Dominic wipes my tears away and kisses me again. I can only imagine what a sweaty, teary mess I am. I must looks like, Frankenstein’s bride, by now.
“So I guess you liked the song,” he asks nervously. “Liked it? Dominic that was fantastic. Thank you.”
He pulls me against his chest and lifts me off the ground, spinning me as if I am weightless.
“Dominic. You’re lifting my dress,” I giggle.
“Shit, sorry. I got carried away.” He puts me down and I straighten myself.
“I’ll be right back. I need to use the bathroom.” I kiss him and weave through the crowd to the ladies room backstage. I look in the mirror and fix my face with nothing more then hard paper towels and some generic soap that is watered down.
I look at my phone and see it is just past midnight, I have only a few short hours before my rock god hits the road and I plan on making the most of this night. I exit the bathroom and hastily try finding Dominic, but I can’t seem to find him anywhere. I see Gabe with a middle aged man in a brown suit and he doesn’t look pleased. He sees me and excuses himself before heading in my direction.
I wonder what he would do if I just bolted out the exit door.
“Emma. You had a good time I presume. Judging from your stage performance it’s a safe bet that you are, Sweetness?” He takes a deep breath and scrubs his hands over his face when I nod and bite my lip. “I tried to keep you out of the spotlight tonight but it seems that everyone wants to know who the girl on stage is. I suggest that you and Mr. Ross leave out the back door while I stay here and do damage control. Perhaps if I can control the story, the papers won’t refer to you with vulgarity. Luke is waiting just outside the back door. Mr. Ross should be in the car already. Please have him back at his hotel by two o’clock tomorrow. The bus is leaving at four, and we need to finalize some things before he leaves.”
“Sure. I am sorry, Mr. Hernandez. I didn’t know he was going to do that. I was trying to stay out of view.” I rush out trying to explain before he fires me.
Gabe takes another deep breath, clearly trying to be as calm as he can. “I know, Emma. I am not mad at you. I am just asking that you leave before it gets worse. I will take care of the PR side to this and give a statement, that you and Mr. Ross are old friends who reconnected recently. You will need to be more discrete with your personal life in the future. You do realize that now, right?”
“I do now. Yes, sir. I am truly sorry for causing you to have to do damage control.”
“That’s fine, Emma. Just go.”
I give him a curt nod and scurry off towards the back door. As I open it, I look behind me and see Gabe watching me leave. For a second, I could swear I see a ghost of a smile perk up on his lips. Before I can figure it out he exhales sharply and walks back to the stage area where I see security holding back the press.
When I get outside I see Luke standing next to the back door of the car with an aloof expression. When he sees me, he opens the door and I quickly retreat inside.
“Hey you, there you are. I was wondering where you ran off to. Gabe said I could find you out here.”
“Did I mess up, Emma? Mr. Hernandez was kind of pissed that I pulled you up on stage,” He looks upset and worried. I don’t want him to worry so I downplay the severity of what he did. Even I know, from a PR perspective, Gabe has just been thrown into the lion’s den. The press is not going to rest until they get every juicy detail about my relationship with Dominic.
“Don’t worry. He will take care of it all.” I waive off.
“Where to, Emma.” Luke asks after climbing into the drivers seat.
“Are you coming home with me or are we going to your hotel? Gabe told me to have you back by 2.”
“Your place. I am sharing my room, so we won’t have any privacy there,” he says with promising eyes.
“Luke, we are going to Hill Tower.”
/> “You got it.” Luke glances in the rearview mirror and I hit the button so the privacy glass slides up. Luke doesn’t need to witness anything that is going to happen back here.
“Now.” I sit straddle him, digging my knees into the leather seat as he adjusts himself to a more comfortable position. I settle on his lap and brush the hair away from his forehead with my finger. “You wanted privacy. Now what will you do with me?”
“Well. We can start by picking up where we left off last night and see where that takes us.” He says as he cups my behind and pulls me closer. His soft lips feel like rose petals on mine. I pull my hands into his damp hair to deepen our kiss and before I know it we are all lips and tongues.
When he has stolen every last breath I have, I pull back and rest my forehead on his. “So. The song. You liked it?”
“I told you, it was fantastic,” I answer, smiling.
“Good. I am going to add it to our set list. The band likes it too and we agreed that a ballad would break up the album. Is that ok with you? It is your song.” “My song? You wrote it.”
“For you. You are my, Sweetness, therefore it’s yours.”
He wrote a kickass song and he is actually seeking my approval to use it? He has to be the sweetest man I have ever met. How he manages to tug at my heart and undo me with his words I will never know.
“But it is your song. You can do whatever you want with it. I would be honored if you put it on your album.” My face falls and I look down. His intimate words replay in my mind.
I mean seriously, I just saw him again two days ago, after five years. I don’t expect love at first sight but I admit, its nice that someone like Dominic can make me feel…special.
“Hey, why are you frowning? If you don’t want me to play it, I won’t. Just tell me.”
“No. No. It’s not that. I just…do you mean those things.”
“Of course I do. You are my inspiration. That song took me less then 24 hours to write. That never happens. I didn’t realize how much I missed you, Emma, until I saw you again. I know we were only together for like a month, a long time ago, but I liked you then, and I like you now.”
“You love me? You want me to love you back?” I ask in a small voice, embarrassed by my question and almost afraid of his answer.
“Um…well…maybe, some day. I did have to take a little creative license to make a good song.” He chuckles.
“I’m your vision of a future?” I am bright red, now. I know I am. My ears and cheeks are on fire with each question I ask.
“Emma. You are an awesome person. I don’t know where life will take us but I want us to be friends, no matter what. More then friends actually, but I can’t ask you to sit by and wait for me while I am on the road. I don’t expect you to sit by the phone and put your life on hold while I am out living mine. That’s not fair.” That was a very mature answer. It is obvious that he though about this a great deal. And I can’t think straight with his crotch rubbing up against me.
I try and climb off and he stops me. “Where you going? Stay here. I like looking at your face this close.”
“I was just trying to eliminate the sex part of this so we can have a serious conversation.”
“There is no need for a serious conversation. Tonight, I just want to enjoy you. Wherever life takes us, it takes us. We can call and e-mail and text. I will be back before the holidays to record the album. Then, who knows.” He shrugs. “I want you to live your life, baby. Go out, have fun, even go on a date if you meet a nice guy. But I don’t want to hear about it. It would shred me to think about some other dickheads hands on you. But I get it. You are a young, attractive woman and I completely understand that you will have needs when I am gone.” I can tell he is trying to play it cool but his eyes are telling me otherwise. There is no way he would be cool with knowing I am on a date any more than I would be, knowing he is. But he’s right. We are both young, and starting a relationship while he is so far away is unfair. To both of us.
“Few things, Mr. Rock and Roll. One, I must tell you that I haven’t slept with anyone in about a year and a half before last night. So as far as needs go, I have batteries if needed. Two, it sounds like you just want my permission to sleep with every girl that flirts with you-“
“Emma, I told you last night. I don’t do groupies. I haven’t slept with anyone in about eight months. I am not asking for a free pass. We are not dating, so I don’t need your permission. I am just trying to be honest and forthcoming with my expectations.”
“You done?” I stare into his green eyes that are reflecting off the passing headlights through the tinted windows.
He gives me a nod.
“And three, I agree. Friends with benefits is probably the best way to approach this. I won’t tell you if I date, but please do me a solid. I don’t want to see you in the gossip pages with some bimbo every other day, huh. Oh…and…” I grab the sides of his shirt in my fists.
“Don’t you dare, bring another girl up on stage and sing her my song. Got it?”
“Got it. I wouldn’t dream of tainting YOUR song with anyone else’s likeness. You are my Sweetness and the song is yours. Scouts honor,” he says as he solutes me. I pull on his shirt and kiss him hard just as the car stops outside of Hill Tower.
The whole way up the elevator, down the hall, and into the apartment we are groping and teasing and kissing. We get to my room and begin to undress each other in a hurry. I trip when I attempt t take off my shoe and fall on my bed. Laughing at my clumsiness, Dominic bends down and removes my other shoe. He pulls my hands up so I am standing in front if him, trying very hard not to just rip at the material between us. He twirls his finger in the air suggesting I turn around. I feel his hands looking for a zipper or a way to peal this dress off. I shake my head and point to the side. He unzips the dress that is damp with sweat and pulls it over my head. When I turn around I feel him drinking in every inch of my body. I feel very devilish standing before him in red satin.
I return the favor by removing his shirt over his head, then his belt, and finally, undoing his pants I push my hands around to the back of his jeans to squeeze his tight ass before gliding my hands down his toned legs.
“Shower?” I whisper to him still on my knees in front of him. He nods and yanks me up by my arms before slapping my ass when I turn in the direction of the bathroom.
We are both sweaty and hot from the concert and the summer humidity. I step around him in the bathroom stripping my panties and bra off along the way and throwing them in his direction. I turn on the shower and glide under the warm water. Dominic doesn’t join me right away. Instead he watches me thorough the glass with a strange look on his face.
“Are you just going to stare at me or are you going to join me.”
“I haven’t decided yet,” Dominic says with a grin.
“In that case come in here and get a better look,” I say as I push open the door. He steps in and I shift so he can put his body under the showerhead. I grab my body wash and rub it in my hands creating a rich lather. I rub my way over his stomach and chest, enjoying the feeling of his skin under my fingertips. He is still just standing there watching me with this silly smile on his face allowing me to properly soap him up.
“What?” I say, matching his goofy grin.
“You are so beautiful Emma.” He runs his fingers down my cheek and across my jaw. “I have seen your face every time I close my eyes since I saw you on Wednesday.” He looks desolate now. I don’t want him to be. I want him to be happy. Tonight is about us being happy.
“You, I am going to miss. You sure know how to sweet talk.” I say timidly while continuing to wash under his arms and over his shoulders.
“I am not sweet talking you. I told you, I really like you. Since I saw you at the bar you are all I can think about. Not being able to see you for months is going to be hard. I want us to talk every day. Even if it’s just for a few minutes.”
I stop rubbing and grab the body wash again as I
smile, trying desperately not to squeak my delight like a giddy teenager. I put more soap on my hands and pull my arms behind his back so I can wash him while pressed up against his chest.
“I will miss you, too. I thought about you over the years sometimes. Wondering where you wound up. Circumstances beyond our control kept us apart before. Maybe this is our second chance. We just have to hold on. I won’t be waiting by the phone, but I won’t be searching for someone to fill my time with either. I want to spend my time with you.”
Dominic smiles and kisses my lips before grabbing my sponge and the body wash. He lathers up the sponge and washes me the same way I did him. His hands feel like they were made to be on my body as they glide up and around me, sending shivers down my spine.
“Ok that’s enough. We are clean now. So let’s get out and get dirty,” he laughs as he reaches for my breasts from behind.
I wiggle free and grab two towels off the warmer. He wraps the towel I hand him around me and grabs the other towel from me to dry my hair. I take the towel off my shoulders and begin to dry him. We both continue to smile at each other when our eyes lock every now and then. I grab the brush from the counter and brush my hair quickly while Dominic dries himself more thoroughly.
When he finishes he walks over and spins me around causing my towel to fall to the floor. He scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder, completely shocking me; I try to wiggle free but it is all in vein. His grip is tight around my legs and ass.
“Stay still.” He slaps my still wet ass.
“Owww…easy, baby.” When I get to the bed he slides me down his body and looks at me like I am the last drop of water in the middle of the desert. His eyes look right through me and into my soul.
