by JL Paul
He turned his head, staring out into the darkness as the sound of the gentle waves slapping the beach lulled them into silence. She sipped her drink, waiting for some sort of response from him.
As if reading her mind, he turned toward her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “I have to say, Rookie, that you are an unbelievably strong person to go through that and still be as positive as you are.”
“I…,” she said, ducking her head. “I don’t want you thinking all that about me. I cried plenty of times. I was scared. I had no clue what I was going to do from day to day.”
“I understand that,” he said. “But you’re a positive person now. Some people, well, they’d not come out of that so … Let’s just say that some people would turn to drugs or alcohol or something like that.”
She grinned. “I could never do that. I mean, my dad played in a cover band and one of his band mates OD’d. I remember Mom explaining to me what happened and how dangerous drugs were. I was only a kid but I still remember that. It stuck with me.”
“I wish I could have met your parents,” he said.
“Me, too,” she said. Taking a deep breath, she turned toward him, causing his arm to fall off her shoulders. “Now tell me something about you – something that I haven’t read about in a tabloid.”
“Me, huh?” he said. “Hmm. Well, there’s not much to tell. I married early – nineteen – and divorced three years later. Melanie and I are still friends, though. I have an older sister who has two boys and is pregnant with her third. My parents are divorced. Mom lives in Florida and Dad is overseas with his computer company.”
“Yeah, I kind of already know that stuff,” Sidney said, frowning. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
Holding his glass to his lips, he released a breath before drinking. He set his glass on the table. “I don’t really talk to my dad, much. Our relationship isn’t close, although I suppose the only reason why is because he’s so far away.”
She tilted her head.
“Not juicy enough, huh? Want something to blackmail me with?”
“I wouldn’t blackmail you,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“I know,” he laughed. “How about, this: My real name is Robert Francis Rosston.”
“Oh,” she said, stifling a giggle. “Robert Francis. That’s…nice.”
“Don’t laugh,” he warned. “I’m named after both of my grandfathers.”
“I’m not laughing,” she said as a giggle escaped. “Okay, maybe a little. Sorry!”
“Yeah, okay,” he said, hugging her to his side. “Let it all out now.”
She laughed fully, her head light from the alcohol and his nearness. His scent, a mixture of rain and the outdoors, invaded her brain, intoxicating her more than the margaritas.
“Let’s finish our drinks and then we’ll get some sleep,” he said, releasing her from his embrace. “Don’t call a cab. I’ll run you home in the morning.”
She agreed, shaking off the disappointment of his withdrawal. She had to get a grip on these weird feelings – and she had to do it fast.
Four
As Rob and Chad busied themselves with writing, Sidney picked up as much slack as she could. Lexie, who mostly handled the Human Resources Department, pitched in, helping out when she was able. Hectic though it was, Sidney returned to her little apartment every night exhausted but satisfied. She’d always found solace in hard work and never shied away from it.
Thursday evening, after an especially tense day, she sat at the rickety table in her minute kitchen with an open notebook. She stared at the pages, words and melodies whirring in her mind. After a few minutes, she started to jot lyrics, the words just flowing through her fingers to her pencil and onto the page. The words, mere expressions of the jangled emotions clogging her heart, began to sketch scenes of heartbreak and unrequited love. As she wrote, she envisioned Rob singing the words on a stage and, as another scenario popped into her head, she could see a girl singing alongside him.
Her pencil froze over the paper as she frowned. “Hmm,” she said. “A duet. Yeah. That could work.”
She rubbed the eraser over two sections and refined the words. Quickly, she mapped out notes and rhythms, wanting to record them before she lost the sound in her head. The microwave clock numbers flipped and changed, marking time. When at last she looked up, it was well past midnight but her new song was pretty much roughed out and just needed a little refining and editing. Happy, she tucked her notebook back into her bag and headed off to bed.
Just as she’d drifted off to slumber, her landline rang, bringing a groan to her lips as she tossed back the sheet and stumbled to the kitchen. Seeing an unfamiliar number on the display, she decided to let the call go to voicemail. She waited until the red light flashed before lifting the handset and punching in her code.
“Sidney, I don’t know why you feel the need to ignore me,” growled a rough voice. Sidney bit her lip. “We have things to discuss. You can’t just take off for California and not talk to me. That’s no way to treat someone you love. Call me back at this number so we can talk about this. I know you’ve been under stress so I’ll forgive you this time – but only if you call me back right away.”
Slightly shaken, she deleted the message before replacing the handset and sinking to a kitchen chair.
“How did he get this number?” she mumbled, her face in her hands. She took several long, deep breaths, steadying her strumming pulse.
Of course he’d found her. He wasn’t an idiot – he knew how to use the Internet. She’d been the stupid one to not choose to make her number unlisted. She should have figured that a man like Grant wouldn’t let her slip away that easily. He was going to grumble and moan and possibly threaten her until he was satisfied that he’d gotten the upper hand. She could change her number but maybe it was best to let him get it all out on her voice mail. Once he was satiated, he’d move on to the next unfortunate soul and leave her alone.
Hoping she was right, she stumbled back to bed.
***
“Let’s try it again the other way and see how it sounds,” Rob barked as he situated the sheet music on the stand in front of him. “I think it will work better.”
“You’re the boss,” Bruno said, shooting a wink at Lexie and Sidney who were sitting on the piano in the rehearsal room, watching the magic unfold.
Lexie’s phone beeped, signaling a text. Her eyes widened as a laugh escaped her lips. She’d been texting most of the morning, giggling at messages and snorting while sending a reply. Sidney hadn’t a clue to who Lexie was conversing and didn’t want to pry. She figured it was one of Lexie’s many friends.
The band started playing again, attracting Sidney’s attention. She couldn’t keep her eyes from drifting to Rob, though when she caught herself outright staring, she shifted her gaze to one of the others, hoping that Lexie hadn’t noticed. Fortunately, Lexie was consumed with her text conversation and barely paid much attention to what was happening around them. They’d both taken a welcome break to watch Society Lost rehearse their new music. It was a sort of learning experience for Sidney who hadn’t had much opportunity to watch music develop in this way. She drank it all in, committing it to memory for future use.
“All right,” Rob sighed once they’d finished the song and he’d made some notes, “let’s call it a day. We can pick up tomorrow where we left off.”
“No problem,” Paul said as he set his guitar in a stand. “Tracy is chomping at the bit to do furniture shopping.”
“Ha!” Bruno said, spinning a drumstick in his fingers. “Sucks to be all domesticated and shit, huh?”
“Jealous?” Paul asked, lifting a brow.
“Not in the least,” Bruno said as he walked around his drum set, still spinning a stick. “I am a confirmed bachelor. Lifelong member of the Bachelor Brotherhood.”
“Is there such a thing?” Chad asked.
“No,” Paul snorted. “Well, maybe in Bruno World there is.�
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“Whatever,” Bruno said. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Same time?”
“Yeah,” Rob said, slightly distracted. His phone was beeping, indicating several text messages. He stared at the screen, reading each one, a crooked smile appearing on his lips.
“I knew it,” Lexie leaned in to whisper to Sidney. “I just told Mel that the guys were done for the day and she immediately starts texting Rob.”
“Mel?” Sidney asked, her heart sinking.
“Melanie,” Lexie said. “Rob’s ex-wife. They may be divorced but they text all the time. They still have a thing for each other.”
Sidney nodded, not trusting herself to comment. Besides, by the moony, glowing expression on Lexie’s face, it was quite obvious that Lexie hoped for reconciliation between her cousin and his ex.
“You’re friends with Melanie?” Sidney asked as she slid off the piano, wanting to get back to work to avoid this conversation but unable to stop from asking.
“Oh, yeah,” Lexie said as she hopped down. “Me and Mel have been friends since high school. That’s how Rob and Mel met – through me. It was all so cool high school back then – me and my cousin’s best friend dating and my cousin and my best friend dating.”
“Oh, I see,” Sidney said, forcing a smile.
Lexie looped her arm through Sidney’s as they left the rehearsal room and headed for the elevator. “I can’t wait for you to meet, Mel. You’ll love her. She’s so fun.”
Sidney’s stomach lurched but she managed to keep her face passive. “Yeah. Um, where is Melanie now?”
“San Francisco,” Lexie said. “She works for a high end department store. She’s in charge of buying fashion or something like that.”
“Oh,” Sidney said. “That sounds interesting.”
“Yeah, she was always into clothes and stuff,” Lexie said. “She’s been with this particular store for years. I guess now they’re thinking of opening a boutique in LA and she might move back here to run it.”
“That would be wonderful for you,” Sidney said as the elevator doors opened, depositing them on their floor. Sidney paused in front of Rob’s office, hoping to signal the end of the conversation. She had work to do. Lots of work. Work that she wanted to focus on and nothing else.
“It would be wonderful,” Lexie said. “She only comes to town about once a month and then usually, she hangs out with Rob.”
Sidney smiled as she opened the office door. “I need to get these reports done for Rob. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Okay,” Lexie said with a little wave. “Let’s do something this weekend.”
“Sure,” Sidney said, slipping into the office and shutting the door. Leaning against the cool wood, she closed her eyes, gently banging her head. How had she managed to get herself into such a situation? She was jealous because her friend, who also happened to be her boss, was texting his ex-wife? She didn’t want to hear that they still had feelings for each other. She didn’t want to even think that they might reconcile.
“Stupid idiot,” Sidney said, not entirely sure if she meant herself or Rob. Moving away from the door, she walked around the desk and sat, turning on the computer. She brought up the stats she’d been working on and forced her brain to concentrate. She didn’t want to think about Rob’s private life. She didn’t want to think about how ‘fun’ Melanie was. She didn’t want to think about Rob and Melanie spending time together.
Tightening her ponytail, Sidney stared at the screen, compelling her mind to study the stats and process them. Just as she was about to reach her goal, the door swung open to admit Rob, cell phone pressed to his ear, a weird little smile on his face.
“Yeah, sounds good,” he said, freezing when he spotted Sidney at his desk. “Um, give me a call that Friday morning and let me know what time you’ll be here.”
After a quick goodbye, he ended his call and tucked his phone into his pocket. “Sorry, Rookie, I didn’t know you were in here. I’m not disturbing you, am I?”
“No,” she said, prodding her lips into what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Just working on the stats that you wanted.”
“Oh, good,” he said, dropping into the chair in front of the desk. “What have you got so far?”
Sidney turned the laptop so he could read the numbers on the screen. She briefly explained them to him while he listened, his eyes following her finger as she pointed.
“Not too bad,” he said as a slight frown of concentration marred his face. “I was hoping for something better but I wasn’t expecting it to be this promising.”
“This new band already has a following on their website,” Sidney explained. “I’ve been tracking their followers and the comments. It’s optimistic.”
“Great. Their first single made it to the top ten and I’m hoping the next single we release will do just as well,” Rob said, leaning back in the chair. “The CD is set to be released next week.”
“What about that young band that you found?” she asked, ignoring the intensity of his blue eyes.
He grinned. “Two of them are about to graduate and their parents are insistent that they finish high school before they sign.”
“Wow, that young, huh?”
“Yep,” Rob said. “The other three are a year or two older and they are willing to wait a month or two.”
“Are you willing to wait for them?” Sidney asked.
“Absolutely,” Rob said, rubbing the side of his face with his hand. “They’re good, Rookie. I mean really good. I don’t want someone else to snap them up before we get them to sign. They’re committed to us as of right now. I just hope they don’t start shopping labels while we wait.”
“I’m sure you charmed them just fine,” Sidney said.
His left brow rose. “Charmed them?”
“Yes,” Sidney said, a flush warming her cheeks. “You can turn on the charm on cue, didn’t you know?”
“Hmm, I guess I didn’t realize,” he said.
“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I’m sure you use it to your advantage.”
He laughed a deep, throaty laugh that sent her heart to her neck. “Okay, Rookie. Whatever you say.”
Something inside of her twisted, as though unscrewing the lid off a jar of butterflies, setting them free to flutter inside her chest. This was not good. No, not at all.
***
When she let herself into her apartment that night, her head was pounding with every step she took. She hurried into the kitchen, grabbed a glass out of the dish drainer, and filled it with cold water from the tap. Sipping the water, she opened a cabinet to retrieve a bottle of pain reliever, popping on into her mouth and chasing it down. Setting her glass in the sink, her eyes drifted to the phone where the little red light was blinking.
“Wonderful,” she said, lifting the handset to retrieve her messages.
“Sidney, I don’t appreciate your game playing. I told you before that I don’t chase women. If you want me, then you’d better call me tonight. I’m tired of waiting around, trying to figure out what you want.”
She deleted the message before it finished and played the next.
“Sidney, stop being a little bitch. I know you got all pissed because of that last night we were together but what the hell do you expect? If a guy and a girl are going to be together, then they’re going to have sex…”
She pressed the delete button with a shaky finger just as his voice grew louder. The next two messages were more of the same, accusing her of playing games and cheating.
Once every message was erased, she replaced the handset and leaned against the counter, wondering what she should do. Sure, she could call the police but what would they say? That he’s a hurt young man who is just expressing his pain in voice messages? He was still in Indiana while she was across country in California. Which brought up another point – which police department would she call, anyway?
Comforted by the thought that he was indeed all the way across country and not able to
make good on his threats, she ambled to the living room and sank to the sofa. Yeah, he was so far away and it frustrated him. She was out of his reach and therefore out of his control.
Resting her head on the back of the sofa, she closed her eyes, recalling the day she’d met Grant Perthe at the Colberry School of Music. Tall and handsome, he’d caught her eye immediately but her interest hadn’t been perked until he spoke to her in a gentle voice, complimenting her on a piano piece she’d performed in class one day.
After that, they’d met frequently for coffee, discussing class and classmates. He’d seemed so fun and open and sincere. He’d finally asked her out one snowy, January day and they’d gone to the Civic Center to hear a local orchestra. Afterwards, they’d walked the paths around the Center, not mindful of the cold, talking about life. So hungry had she been for love and romance, she’d opened up to him, explaining about her last foster family and how Hugh Edmund had stumbled into her bedroom on more than one occasion, drunk and feeling amorous. Grant had been horrified, wanting to know where this Hugh lived so he could “kick his ass.” Touched, Sidney had assured him that, although Hugh had touched her inappropriately, he’d never escalated to the point of no return. She’d run off before that could happen.
He’d been so kind and warm, tentatively holding her close to his side. She had thought, at that moment, that she was falling in love with him.
Things had gone wonderfully. He’d call her, send her flowers, and take her out. Then, after a month of dating, she applied for the internship. That’s when things began to change…
Shaking her head, she wiped out the memories. She’d left that life behind – no need to relive it.
Her headache still present, she decided to soak in the tub for a bit, hoping to wash away the stress of the day.
As the hot water and the fragrant bubbles covered her body, she closed her eyes, allowing her limbs to relax. A tiny smile formed on her lips as she let her mind free itself of all worries. She focused only on scenes from faraway islands with brilliant blue waters and pale, sandy beaches. She could almost hear the cries from the gulls, diving for fish and circling the ocean. Her breathing slowed to a calm, easy flow, letting impurities and negativities leave her body.
