Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story (42 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

The wind was cold and sharp as it rippled across the incoming tide.  Annie shivered and pulled the coat collar up against her neck.  ‘A few more minutes,’ she thought, as the disappearing sun began its sullen descent from the early fall sky.  She mournfully wondered when she would be back to the island to see another sunset.

Behind her she heard the crunch of car tires in the driveway and the slam of a car door.  Without looking, she knew it was Michael.  Her back stiffened at the thought of seeing him and she squeezed her eyes tight, visualizing his approach.

In her mind, she saw his tall, dark image pass between the sand dunes and the wind pushing his hair off his broad shoulders.  Then she hard the clomp of his boots as he made his way down the wooden boat pier.  She could clearly imagine the heavy swagger of his hips; his long legs encased in tight jeans, and an unzipped biker jacket flapping in the breeze.  She felt the thud of his suitcase hit the dock a few feet behind her and quickly wiped the tears that bit at her cheeks.  Deep furrows of frustration creased her forehead.  Her body instinctively wanted to turn around and greet him, but her strong will kept her gaze pointed toward the endless ocean.

“Hi, Annie,” he said in a composed voice.

She turned to face him and offered a weak smile.  “Hi.”

His eyes were full of emotion.  “I’m sorry.  I never meant to hurt you by not telling you about Lacey.”

Again she smiled weakly.  “I know.  But by not telling me, you made it harder than it has to be.”

“I know, I know,” he replied, his gaze dropping to the dock.

“I called Taylor and told her about you and me being married.  I asked if that was going to be a problem for Lacey.”

“And?”

Annie shook her head.  “She says she doubts Lacey will have a problem.”

“I didn’t think it would be.  It was a long time ago.”

“Taylor said she’d talk to Lacey for me but I’ll still have to deal with the initial awkwardness when I get there.”  Annie turned back to the ocean.  “All of this could have been avoided had you been honest with me.  It’s that simple.”

“I should have said something immediately, but I was afraid my past relationship with Lacey would effect your decision to work with them and I didn’t want that to matter.”

“They want me in New York to start work,” she stated, turning toward him again.

“Good.  I’ll fly down with you.”

“No.  I need to deal with this by myself.  The last thing I need is for you to make an already awkward situation worse by being there.”

With her stride full of determination, she headed for the house. 

Michael grabbed his suitcase and followed.  Inside, he dropped his bag on the floor and tossed his coat onto a chair.  His eyes watched Annie disappear into their bedroom.  His hands balled into nervous fists.

A few feet from the door Michael stopped in his tracks.  Neatly lined up against the wall were two packed suitcases and a small backpack.  He stomach began to knot.  Something didn’t feel right.

“Annie, what’s going on?” he asked.

“I have a plane to catch in a couple of hours for New York.”

“I thought you said you wanted to talk.”

“And we did.  Now I need to go to New York and iron things out with Lacey.  Once I get settled, I’ll call you.”

“Annie, I don’t like the feel of this.  It’s like you’re leaving me.”

She stood in front of him.  “I’m not leaving you.  But I do need some more time to process everything that’s happened over the last few days.  I’m still struggling to come to terms with it.  So let me go fix this and I will call you in a few days.  Okay?”

They rode in silence to the airport.  A thousand times he started to speak then changed his mind.  It all seemed pointless.  Annie sat beside him, silent too, lost in her own thoughts.

He found an empty parking spot near the terminal and brought the jeep to a halt, then cut the engine.

“What time does your flight leave?” he asked flatly.

She glanced at her watch.  “Not for another hour but you don’t have to wait.”

“I don’t mind,” he replied.

An empty stillness hung between them.  Michael stared blankly out at the tarmac.  From the corner of his eye he could see Annie fidget in her seat.

“Michael, I just need some time.  Is that okay?”

“It’s all right,” he replied softly.

She could hear the hurt in his voice and reached out, nervously touching his thigh.  His eyes dropped to his thigh and then placed his hand on top of hers.  “Take all the time you want,” he said, his eyes drifting up to meet hers.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

Another awkward pause fell between them and Annie glanced at her watch.  “Well, I guess I better go inside and let them know I’m here,” she said, stepping out of the jeep.  Michael pulled her luggage out of the back and set it on the curb, then signaled for a porter to come and collect it.

“I’ll be staying at Taylor’s apartment,” she said.  “I’ll call you when I get there.”

“I’d like that.”

She smiled weakly and then turned to leave.  Michael reached out and caught her hand by the fingertips.  “Come here,” he said, pulling her softly against his chest in an intimate embrace.  Her face fell easily into the bend of his neck.  Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply, drawing her sweet scent into his lungs as if he may never get the chance to do so again.  Despair tugged at his heart.  Her departing felt permanent and it killed him inside.

“I love you,” he sighed.  “Distance and time won’t change that, Annie.”

The next few days were filled with great highs but without having Michael to share them with, the victories were empty.  Most importantly, she and Lacey took advantage of the time and openly talked about Michael.  In the end, she felt comfortable with Lacey's history with him.  It was as Michael had said, a friendship with
benefits
and nothing more.

In a moment of clarity, Annie decided to share the secret she had been harboring for the last week.  It was a secret she had wanted to tell Michael before she left, but their fight had distracted her and she changed her mind.  Now, feeling the need to reveal it, she blurted it to Lacey.

“I’m pregnant.”

“What?” Lacey asked, nearly falling off the couch.

Annie shrugged nervously.  “I took a home pregnancy test before I came here and it was positive.  Michael doesn’t know yet.”

“Can I ask why not?”

“It didn’t feel like the right time.  We were fighting before I left.  How could I drop a bomb on him like that, and then leave?”

“You have to tell him,” Lacey said.

“I know.  I've been thinking about that a lot lately.  I
want
him to know.”

Lacey shoved the cordless phone into Annie’s face and left the room. 

Annie sat silent for several minutes, contemplating her words, then dialed the number for Michael’s cell phone before she changed her mind.  It was noon and she wondered if he’d be awake.  With each ring, her heart beat louder in her chest.  Finally, the phone was picked up.

“Yeah,” an agitated voice spoke to her.

“Brian, is that you?”

“Yeah, who’s this?” he asked.

“It’s me.  Annie.  Is Michael there?”

“Yeah, he’s sitting on the couch with the headphones on and his guitar twitching in his lap.  As if you’ve never seen him do that before!  I swear if that thing had a pussy, he’d be screwing it.”

She laughed nervously, instantly getting a visual of Michael in her mind.

“Annie, I want to apologize for our last conversation.  The last thing I wanted to do…”

“Brian, don’t worry about it.  I’ve fixed the situation and we’re all comfortable with the history.  No harm done.  Seriously.”

“You have no idea how bad I felt.”

“No problem.  Forget about it.” she exhaled.  “Are you two working on new material?”

“Always.  I came over a few days ago with my keyboard.  How’s New York?”

“Great, but very tiring.”

“Welcome to the big leagues.”

There was a silent pause in the conversation and Annie could hear the familiar twang of Michael’s guitar in the background.  “How is Michael?” she tentatively asked.

“Lonely.”  Silence fell again.  “He’s feeling pretty bad about your fight.”

“Me too.”

“Do you still love him?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then nothing else matters.”

“You’re right.”

“In matters of the heart, my dear, I’m always right,” Brian’s voice cackled, and with that comment, his five minutes of serious conversation had come to a quick end.  “Would you like to talk to him?  I’m assuming you didn’t call to talk to me.  Then again, maybe you did.”

“Yes, Brian, please put him on the phone.”

“Okay,” he replied.  “Hey, dickhead.  Your wife is on the phone,” he yelled at Michael.

A few seconds later Michael was on the phone.  “Hey.”

Annie shivered when she heard his voice, soft and smooth like satin.  “Hi, it’s me.”

“How’s New York?” he asked, getting up off the couch and going into his bedroom for privacy.

“It’s been a real challenge, but I love it,” she replied.  She curled up on a chair with her feet tucked beneath her and got comfortable.  “I’m exhausted from the practice schedule.”

“You’ll get used to it.  Are they still using that old warehouse for practice?” he asked, sprawling out on the bed.

“Yep, and it has several holes in the roof now.  It’s disgusting, but the acoustics are great.”

“Some things never change.”

“We played our first club gig the other night, down in the Village.  The gig was booked last minute, otherwise I would have told you about it.  A total surprise to the people that were there but they loved us.”

He could hear the excitement in her voice and smiled.  “That sounds great, Annie.  I’m glad it’s working out for you.”

“I like it much better than playing with my old band but I’d never tell them that.”

“It’s all about chemistry.”

A deafening silence floated between them.  Then Annie spoke.  “I’m sorry I haven’t called since the night I got here but I guess I wasn’t ready.”

“I wanted to call you but I also knew how much you needed the space.”

“I appreciate that.”

Another long pause and Annie’s palms began to sweat against the phone.  “I’ve spent a lot of time talking to Lacey this week.”

“Oh, great,” he sighed.

“No, it was good.  I had questions and she was really cool about it.  Everything is okay now.  I’m comfortable with it and so is she.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“I was wondering if we could get together this weekend and talk.  I have something that I really need to tell you.  I wanted to tell you before I left for New York but the timing wasn’t right.”

“Sounds intriguing.  Do you want me to come to New York?” he asked, feeling hopeful.

“Actually, I was thinking of flying up to see you, if that would be okay.  Taylor didn’t schedule practice on Friday, so I’ll be done tomorrow night.”

“Okay.  Sounds good.”

“Michael?”

“Yeah?”

“I
really
miss you.”

He closed his eyes and grinned, feeling relief washing over him.  “I’m glad to hear it, Annie.  I miss you too.”

“I’ll see you on Friday.”

“I’ll be here.”

Michael walked out into the living room with a smile a mile wide.  Brian noticed it and let out a loud catcall while clapping his hands above his head.

“Looks like it was good news,” Brian said.

“She wants to fly back here on Friday and spend the weekend so we can talk,” he said, flopping onto the couch and reaching for his guitar.  The smile was still frozen on his face.

“Friday is two days away,” Brian commented.

“I know.”

“You’re not going to wait until Friday, are you?” Brian asked, already knowing the answer.

“Nope.”

“Would you like to share a taxi to the airport?”

Both men broke out in laughter.

“You read my mind,” Michael smiled.

“I’ll call the pilot and have him meet us at the airport,” Brian suggested, already packing his things into his empty duffel bag.  “We’ll have him fly me back to Boston first, then take you on to New York.”

“Fine.  Let’s do it.”

The Lear jet received clearance from Martha’s Vineyard air traffic control tower and quickly taxied down the airstrip bound for Boston.  Michael and Brian were the plane’s only passengers.  It was nothing out of the ordinary for them.  They had logged enough frequent-flyer miles to bankrupt any commercial airline.

“I think the apartment in New York is empty, if you want to use it,” Brian commented, referring to the two-bedroom apartment the band collectively owned.

The apartment overlooked Central Park and was near the old Brownstone building where John Lennon had been murdered.  It was small and sparse, but very convenient for their many unscheduled visits to the city.  The accountant for the band had decided many years ago that owning an apartment was cheaper and safer in the long run than the costly room service charges at the downtown hotels in the city.

“I’ll see how it goes,” Michael replied, staring out the plane window at the tiny lights in the distance.

“Well, let me know what happens,” Brian instructed, as he departed the jet in Boston.  When the door to the jet closed, Michael found himself alone for the first time in days.

Michael had a limousine waiting at Kennedy International Airport and immediately headed to the warehouse where Lace was rehearsing.  He waited an hour outside in the car until he noticed a few people begin to exit the building, then he stepped out of the car and leaned against the door.  With his hands buried deep in his pockets, legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankle, he kept vigil for any sign of Annie.

Lacey came into view first and quickly disappeared in a small sports car, never noticing Michael.  Taylor and Annie came out next and were half way across the parking lot when Taylor spotted the shiny limousine parked off to the side.