by A. K. Evans
Oh boy.
Demi didn’t seem to notice, not even when the man moved toward the front desk, looked at her name tag, flashed her a dazzling smile, and introduced himself. “Hello, Demi. I’m Cash.”
“Hi. I’m really sorry about what you just witnessed,” she returned. “That’s not a common occurrence. Well, the public fighting anyway. The cheating is more rampant than I care to admit. Anyway, how can I help you?”
Cash chuckled and answered, “Aside from giving me your number, we’re going to need a couple of rooms.”
“Rooms I can do,” she told him. “The phone number is not going to happen.”
Cash didn’t seem the least bit affected by her response. He simply grinned at her and pulled out a credit card. Demi took it from him and focused her attention on her computer.
Glancing back out in the lobby, I noticed Aaron had finally made the wise decision to move back to the elevators so he could return to his room and either stay there or put some clothes on so he could try to win his wife back.
Given that all the excitement had died down and the rest of the band, as well as their crew members, had kept their distance from Cash and Demi, I decided to do the same. It would have been nice to stand around and watch what happened with them, but I didn’t want to be obvious. Plus, I had a feeling she’d share with me anyway. So, I walked back into my office.
I’d spent the next twenty minutes responding to a couple more emails and confirming a few details for the wedding I had scheduled for this weekend. The next thing I knew, Demi walked into my office.
“If nothing else, this place isn’t boring,” I started. “What was that out there?”
She flopped down into the chair on the opposite side of my desk, and there was no missing the defeated look on her face.
“Demi?” I called when she made no move to speak.
Her eyes came to mine, and she said, “I can’t do this anymore, Sam. I hate this job.”
I shot her a sympathetic look and felt my heart break for her. She struggled so much seeing things like we’d just witnessed, and I hated that for her.
“Look on the bright side,” I urged her.
“There’s a bright side?” she asked.
I nodded. “The lead singer of My Violent Heart is seriously interested in you,” I pointed out.
Demi shook her head and adamantly refused any of that nonsense. “Nope. Nope. Nope. That guy would be the worst choice on the face of the planet for someone like me. Absolutely not.”
My brows shot up. “Not even for a little bit of fun?” I asked. “Who said anything needed to be some serious relationship?”
“Sam?” she called.
“Yeah?”
“Do you honestly think that Cash Morris is the kind of guy a girl wants to have just a night of fun with?” she questioned me.
My eyes darted back and forth as I tried to figure out what I was missing. “Probably not. But I think he’s the kind of guy that’s perfect for a girl who does want to have just a night of fun,” I told her.
“Okay, yes. He’s the kind of guy who’s down for that,” she agreed. “But what I meant to say is that I don’t think any woman ever goes into it with him hoping that’s all she gets. And the problem is, that’s all a guy like him is going to give. He’s a rock star, Sam. He goes on tour and has women falling at his feet. No way. No way do I want any part of that.”
“But I don’t understand,” I said. “I didn’t think you were looking for something serious.”
“I’m not. But I have a feeling a guy like Cash would make me want something serious. And I’d be a fool to think I could be the woman who’d change a man like him,” Demi reasoned.
Even though I thought Demi was spectacular and a man like Cash Morris would be lucky to know her, I could see her point. It wasn’t that I believed she wasn’t the kind of woman that a man should change his ways for; I just didn’t know if Cash Morris was that kind of man. And when it came to Demi, she deserved a sure thing.
“Point made,” I acquiesced. Following a brief stretch of silence, I asked, “You know what I think we need?”
“You mean other than new jobs?” Demi returned sarcastically.
I nodded.
“I have no clue.”
Grinning, I declared, “We need to take a trip to Granite so Cal can help us wind down from today’s craziness.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” she agreed.
“I’ll text him now,” I declared as I picked my phone up off the desk.
I quickly tapped out a text and sent it off to Cal.
Me: Demi and I are leaving work in five minutes. We desperately need the most potent stuff you’ve got.
Barely ten seconds passed before I saw the bubble with three dots pop up indicating Cal was typing out a response. A moment later, my phone buzzed in my hand with his reply.
Cal: You know I’ve always got you covered. Can’t wait to hear all about this. See you soon!
I smiled and lifted my gaze to Demi. “Cal’s ready for us,” I told her.
“Good. I think I might try to convince him to hire me while I’m there,” she started. “I can’t keep doing something that makes me feel this miserable.”
The moment she stopped speaking, her words hit me right in the heart. She was right. It didn’t make sense to continue doing something that wasn’t making her happy. I couldn’t have agreed more.
Maybe it was time I started thinking about getting my head back in the game… or maybe it was better in the clouds. That’s where I found my dreams last time.
Twelve
Samantha
“Wait. So you’re telling me this guy stood in the lobby of the hotel in little more than his underwear trying to justify cheating on his wife, something she visibly witnessed happening, just five weeks after she gave birth to their baby?”
It sounded crazy when he put it like that, so it was no surprise Cal was dumbfounded by what he’d just heard. It had been more than an hour since I’d witnessed it, and I was still trying to come to terms with it.
Demi and I had arrived at Granite a little while ago and immediately shared the story of what had happened with Cal. This was not, of course, before he made sure we each had a drink in hand as we gave him all the details.
“That about sums it up,” Demi clipped from her stool beside mine.
“Well, I can see now why you needed a drink,” Cal said. “What a nightmare.”
“I felt so bad for that woman,” I started. “I mean, in any situation, walking in on your spouse in the midst of his cheating would be horrific. But she had a baby five weeks ago, and now she’s going to be dealing with a divorce. I can’t even imagine. I hope she’s got a support system.”
In saying that, I realized just how much I hoped it was true. I wasn’t that far off from my break up, and though I still had lingering feelings of sadness about it, I felt fortunate in comparison to Chasey. I knew I had Demi and Cal, and that was huge. I really hoped she had someone because I was sure she’d be struggling otherwise.
“So, how did it end?” Cal pressed. “You’re talking about divorce. Did she say that? Was the side chick there?”
I looked over at Demi. She didn’t seem even remotely interested in answering her cousin’s questions, so I took it upon myself to share the details. “The other woman wasn’t there. Or, at least, she wasn’t down in the lobby during the shouting match. My guess is she was planning to hide up in the room until he got back. Anyway, you won’t believe how it actually ended.”
“What happened?” he asked.
I licked my lips, leaned forward, and bubbled, “Beck from My Violent Heart walked right up to the woman and asked her how he could help her.”
“Beck from My Violent Heart?” he repeated.
I nodded.
“What?”
There was no use trying to fight it. I burst out laughing. It was as though the reality of that hadn’t hit me until I shared it with Cal.
My V
iolent Heart.
How was it possible they’d been standing only a few feet away from me not that long ago?
After I settled myself down, I spent the next few minutes explaining what happened between Beck, Chasey, and Aaron. When I finished, Cal went from feeling a bit surprised by everything I had already shared beforehand to entirely stunned by this new information.
After giving himself a moment to process all that I’d shared, he questioned, “Okay, so not only do you have this entertainment of being able to watch this husband and wife fight right at the end of the workday, but you also have My Violent Heart walk into the hotel? In what world does this happen?”
“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” I returned. “But that’s not even the best part.”
“There can’t be more,” Cal insisted. “This is already unbelievable. I’m pretty sure you’re making this up just to fuck with my head.”
Shaking my head with a grin on my face, I shared, “I’m not. And Cash, the lead singer, is completely, totally infatuated with Demi.”
Cal’s eyes flew to his cousin. “This is nuts,” he announced.
“It’s not happening, so don’t get any ideas,” Demi muttered. “I have much bigger problems to deal with right now.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked her, his brows pulling together with concern and curiosity.
There was a long stretch of silence as she stared at him. I could see something working behind her eyes. Pain. Goodness, there was so much pain there. I always knew her mindset about things like we’d witnessed today, but for some reason, I couldn’t recall ever seeing such anguish in her face.
“I can’t do it anymore, Cal,” she rasped. “I need to get out of there.”
Cal’s carefree mood vanished as sympathy and understanding washed over him. He reached out and took her hand in his. He gave her a squeeze and asked, “How can I help you?”
God, he was such a good man. The way he cared and always tried to be encouraging was one of the best things about him.
“Give me a job here,” Demi begged. “Please. I’ll do anything. I don’t care what it is, as long as I don’t have to go to work at the hotel any longer.”
“What would you want to do?” he wondered.
She sighed but didn’t take long to consider her answer to his question. “Honestly, anything. I’ll serve drinks to the tables. I’ll clean the bathrooms. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
Hearing Demi like this was difficult. I knew she always talked about the two of us getting away from our current jobs, but it wasn’t until that very moment that I realize just how much it was affecting her and how much she needed this change.
I wanted to help her.
And I was pretty sure I could find a way to do that while also making myself extremely happy in the process. The only issue was that I knew it was going to take some time before I could make it happen.
Unfortunately, before I had the chance to speak up and share my news, Cal spoke.
“I don’t want to burst your bubble, but I think you should know that you’re just as likely to witness similar situations here, Demi,” he pointed out. “In fact, it’s much more likely that you’ll see it here more often than you do where you are now.”
“But at least I won’t be actively helping people cheat,” she reasoned.
“You aren’t helping them,” Cal assured her. “You’re just doing your job. What they choose to do once they’re in that hotel room is on them.”
“It still feels icky,” she maintained.
“So why don’t you do the entertainment side of it?” I suggested.
Demi’s head snapped in my direction, as did Cal’s. With both of them wearing horrified expressions, they responded in unison, “What?”
Smiling at them, I explained, “The live bands have been a huge success here from what I can gather. I’m also well aware of the fact that they take a lot of hard work and preparation. Demi could focus her time and attention on not only securing bands to come and play here but also promoting those shows. It could be huge for both of you. Beyond that, there are the events you do, like the special holiday celebrations or the yearly anniversary of the opening of Granite. Demi could figure out how to really take those events to the next level. And considering my line of work, I’d be happy to lend some advice whenever it was needed.”
“That’s a really great idea, Sam,” Cal praised me.
“Thanks,” I replied. Then I added, “And what’s even better is that Demi’s got the perfect opportunity now to prove just how good she can be at this new job.”
“How so?” she asked, her hope and curiosity evident.
My smile turned into a devilish grin. “Like I said before… Cash is totally infatuated with you. I don’t know why he and his bandmates are here in this small town, but I’m guessing there’s some touring happening. Anyway, I think it’s worth having you take your shot. Based on how Cash looked at you, I think you could probably talk him into convincing the rest of his band to play a show here at Granite.”
“I want to say that sounds impossible because I can’t imagine something so incredibly huge happening here at Granite,” Cal put in.
Unfortunately, despite his excitement and my encouragement, my words had instantly dashed all of my best friend’s good thoughts about this job opportunity. The look of disbelief was written all over her face.
“That is definitely not happening,” she advised. “First, it’s likely they’ve already got a lot on their plates. Second, the idea you have in your head about Cash and me is ridiculous. And last, I’ll repeat, it’s not happening.”
I threw my hands up in surrender and replied, “I’m just saying… the guy was certainly intrigued.”
Demi rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Yeah. Probably because he’s not used to anyone turning him down.”
She made a good argument, but I had a feeling it was more than that. Maybe that was naïve of me, but I believed she was the kind of girl who deserved to have a guy who’d chase after her despite her indifference to him simply because he thought she was worth it. The idea that Cash could be that guy for her was a nice idea.
“Look, I’ll make a deal with you,” Cal chimed in. The moment Demi brought her eyes to his, he shared, “If you seriously consider this and genuinely decide you want to make the switch, I’ll hire you. And I’ll do that whether or not you do me the huge favor of trying to get My Violent Heart to play here.”
“Are you serious?” she asked.
“Of course,” Cal confirmed.
“Can I sweeten the deal?” I chimed in.
Their eyes came to me, and I said, “I can’t officially do anything about it just yet because it’s not actually feasible at this moment, but if you get into this with Cal and it’s not working out, or if you’re just looking for something extra to do, I’d be happy to have you working with me.”
Demi scrunched up her face. “I really don’t have any desire to stay at the hotel. As it is, I’ve already made up my mind to do this here at Granite, and I’m dreading the two weeks I’m going to be putting in there.”
Shaking my head, I replied, “You misunderstood me. If you’re leaving there, I’m not going to want to stay there permanently either, especially when that was never my long-term goal. But I can’t leave it without a plan. I’ve been thinking a lot over the last couple of days, and I think I want to start up with my T-shirts again. I really want to try to make it happen.”
“Oh, Sam, that’s great news,” Demi declared, smiling for the first time since the showdown at work.
“Thanks, Demi. I think your talk the other day helped to put things into perspective for me,” I returned.
My eyes slid to Cal’s, hoping he’d have some kind of reaction to the news. I was expecting it to be positive, and what he gave me far surpassed that.
“I never thought you should have closed it and stopped making your shirts to begin with,” he started. “If there’s anything I can do to help, you know where I am.”
>
“Call me first,” Demi demanded. “I’m the one who needs the job.”
That made me laugh. In turn, Demi laughed. And Cal… he simply watched the two of us with a smile on his face. As was usual, the man knew exactly what to do to help us unwind from a tough day at work. Maybe that was simply him being really good at his job; maybe it was just that it was only Cal who could do that.
Either way, in my case, it had been a couple of tough weeks, so it made what he did even more special. And I was beyond grateful to have him back in my life like this.
“Can I talk to you for a minute about something?” Cal asked.
I looked around and tried to figure out why he was asking such a silly question. I was the only one there since Demi had just left Granite a few minutes ago, and nothing was stopping him from talking to me.
To top it off, it was a Thursday. Cal had walked away a couple of times to tend to a few patrons and a couple of things for his staff as well. The bar was busy to the point that it was steady but not so much that it was overwhelming.
Even though it seemed obvious to me that he could, I still answered, “Sure.”
He scanned the area around me before he settled his gaze on my face and said, “I was just recalling the conversation you and Demi were having about this weekend. I know you have to work that wedding on Saturday night, but I was wondering if you had any plans on Sunday.”
“Um, well, I’m off, but I’m pretty sure Demi is working on Sunday,” I told him.
Cal grinned at me and clarified, “I wasn’t asking about Demi’s plans. I was asking about yours.”
I sat up a little straighter. “Oh,” I murmured. “I’m off, and I don’t really have any plans.”
He stared at me a few beats before he shared, “I’d like for the two of us to spend some time together.”
My body froze. I was caught completely off guard.
Cal wanted to spend time alone with me?
“Uh…” I trailed off.
