“No. Just tired.” He took another long breath. “I don’t like it here, everyone on this tour sucks. The label wants me to be something I’m not and it scares the shit out of me. I miss you—I miss my friend and you act like you couldn’t care less.”
“That’s not true. I miss you, too. I was just worried because of what happened the night before you left.”
“We were both fucked up. Okay? It was little slip, one I don’t regret. You’re beautiful and amazing and I’ve never wanted anyone more in my entire life and I wouldn’t even call it a slip if it weren’t for the fact that you want nothing to do with me in that way.”
“You’re being irrational and little melodramatic.”
“Am I?” His tone was icy at best.
“I don’t want to fight with you while you’re away. Please. Let’s talk about the shows.”
In a completely pragmatic voice he began spewing information. “We’ve done San Francisco, now we’re in LA so Second Chance Charlie can shoot a video. We’ll do a show here in a few days, then San Diego and back to LA for the studio stuff. I don’t even know why we’re here, we could have come home between shows. It’s a joke. The drummer they got me sucks and Nate is being a whiny bitch about it. The food we eat is terrible, everyone on this tour is fake, Sonja being the queen of fakeness, but still everyone kisses her ass. She wanted me to go onstage and play guitar on a some stupid fucking song she wrote when she was twelve and I said no, so she stomped around before the show until Frank finally told her that I couldn’t play the song, which was a lie. I could play that fucking song in a coma, I just refused. And that’s it, nothing to write home about.”
“Hang in there, buddy, you’ll be headlining your own shows soon.”
“I have to go. Say hi to everyone for me. I’ll call you later.”
There was silence. I think we were both searching for the right words. “Bye, Will. Be careful.”
“Bye. You too. Lock up, pet Jackson for me.” And then he hung up.
Another week and half went by; I barely spoke to him. Apparently he was busy having dinner with the spoiled brat who annoys him because it was all over the gossip magazines. I stood in the corner market staring at a picture of him leading Sonja out of a swanky restaurant in LA. His head was down and it was nighttime but he was wearing his sunglasses. Sonja was smiling happily at the cameras. The caption read:
Sonja seen with her older man at LA hotspot “Fray.”
His name wasn’t listed in the caption, but there was no question it was Will. I stared at the picture, hoping that his face would come to life and look up so that I could see that he was pissed off for having to drag the little brat out. Instead I had to live with the possibility that she had grown on him and he was protecting her from the photographers.
My eyes welled up. I glanced behind the counter at Benton, who looked at me compassionately. He slid a mini bottle of tequila across the counter toward me and then pointed to the chocolate bars and nodded. I took my tequila and chocolate home where there was a message from Will waiting for me.
I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. Call me, okay, baby? I talked to Jenny, she said you’re fine but I want to hear your voice. I ignored it. I drank my tequila, ate my chocolate bar and went to bed.
At the café the next day, I told Jenny about the magazine and she told me to get over it, but I didn’t… and I didn’t call him back.
A couple of days later as I walked home from the bank, I passed a familiar face on the street. I stopped in my tracks, turned, and scanned his features while he did the same. It was Jason Bennett, but all grown up. He was the one and only kid in the Village I hung out with during those summers with my father. He’d lived across the street from Kell’s until I was twelve, when his whole family moved to South Africa. I was heartbroken when they left. We remained pen pals for a couple of years, but eventually lost touch.
“Mia Kelly?”
“Jason? Oh my god, I never thought I would see you here again.”
I reached up and gave him a hug and then leaned back and studied his face. I grabbed his chin. “You’re handsome.” Jason was short and very skinny with dark brown hair. He didn’t have any standout features, but he had a chiseled jaw and he was a much better-looking adult than he was a kid.
“You’re gorgeous, but you always were.”
“Thanks. It’s so good to see you. How are you and what are you doing here?”
“I’m fantastic. I wanted to bring my fiancé here to show her where I grew up.” Just as he said that, a striking Asian woman walked out of the corner market and stood next to him.
“Laura, this is the Mia I told you about. Mia, this is Laura.”
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” She stuck her hand out and I shook it and smiled. I noticed she had a very prominent English accent and Jason’s accent was similar but more subtle.
“It’s nice to meet you, too. Have you guys been over to Kell’s?”
“We were just headed there. How’s Pops?”