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Sebastian
For the next couple weeks, Maelie was never far from Sebastian’s side, and that was exactly how he wanted it. They spent their nights and mornings at his place, separate for the afternoon, and then they would do it all over again the next day. It was the closest thing he had ever experienced to bliss.
She never failed to surprise him, and the sex somehow kept getting hotter. It didn’t seem possible, but he wasn’t going to complain.
The best part of it all was that he was pretty sure she felt the same way. Sometimes he would catch her staring at him with such emotion in her eyes that it would hit him square in the chest. He never knew what to say to her in those moments, so he covered up his cluelessness with kisses and prayed she wouldn’t catch on.
His family had loved her, which was no surprise, so much so that his brothers hadn’t teased him once and Lula and Gabi had already taken her out for coffee. More miracles.
That particular Sunday morning, they were lying around on his sofa with the whole day stretching before them without anywhere to go. It was rare, and he looked forward to keeping her to himself for an entire twenty-four hours. With her head on his lap, she was explaining the latest section of the book she was writing and how she was struggling with the formatting.
He listened contentedly until his phone rang, momentarily spoiling the moment. The only person that ever called him was his mother, so he reached for the phone and nearly dropped it with surprise when he saw the caller ID.
“What?” She pushed herself up into a sitting position when she saw the shock on his face. “Who is it?”
“Jerry.” It came out dumbfounded. They were only three months into his six-month grounding. He hadn’t expected to hear from him for a long time. “My band leader.”
Her eyes widened with understanding.
Somehow in that moment he knew that with Maelie next to him and Jerry on the phone, his two worlds were about to collide, and whatever happened on the phone could very well change them both.
“Go on.” Her voice sounded tiny. “Answer it.”
He met her eyes and felt everything shift under his feet as he swiped the phone and held it up to his ear. He felt sick, sideways. “Hey, Jer,” he said into the phone. “I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”
“Seb, my man.” Came the low baritone voice he would recognize anywhere. “How are you doing?”
“Pretty good, pretty good.” His mind was reeling with a thousand different things. “How are you; how’s the band?”
“Good, I’m good.” He paused. “But the band isn’t.”
Seb’s breath caught as he waited for Jerry to continue.
“It just isn’t the same without you, man.” There was a bunch of noise in the background and he could hear Jerry yelling at whoever it was.
He smiled, life on the road was always loud. So fucking loud. Jesus, he missed those guys. “Well, I could have told you that,” he joked, attempting to remain cool.
“If my memory serves me well, you did tell me that.” He laughed. “But the reason I’m calling is to see how you’re doing. Are you doing well? Have you been, you know ...?”
Seb knew what the trail-off meant. Jerry wanted to know if he was still drinking. He almost laughed; once Maelie entered his life, alcohol had pretty much disappeared. “Actually, I am doing amazing.” He winked at Mae, who had maneuvered slightly away from him with an expression he couldn’t identify. “I haven’t had a drink in a little over three months.”
“Oh, that’s awesome, man, really, really awesome. I mean, James is a great guy and all, but he just doesn’t have your chops.”
Seb’s heart raced, and he stood from the sofa with a sudden shot of adrenaline. “Come on, Jer.” He started his usual pacing around the living room. “What are you trying to say?”
“Just that if you’re better. And I mean all the way better ...” He paused with a deep sigh, and Seb happened to catch Mae watching him again. She looked sad, but he ignored it for the moment with a shake of his head.
He needed to concentrate on this call; this was the call. The call he had been waiting three months for; the call he thought he’d have to wait three more for.
Jerry finally went on, “Then, I’d like for you to fly out and meet us in Tokyo next month, right around April first. That would give you a few weeks to get your things in order. We just have a few shows left in Germany before we have a break, I think we can survive a little longer.”
“Jerry, I—”
“But,” he interrupted, “this is only if you are completely better, man. I don’t want you coming back and fucking up again, because you won’t get a third shot.”
Seb felt all the blood start to percolate through his body. Just a few weeks, he could be back on the road with the band in just a few weeks! He punched the air in triumph. “I swear, man, I have never been better. I won’t let you down.”
“So, is that a yes?” Jerry’s authoritarian tone had shriveled away with a touch of desperation.
“Yes,” he nearly shouted. “Yes, fucking yes. I’ll be there April first. With bells on if you want.”
Jerry laughed. “Just bring your horn. Man”—he blew out a breath—“I’m so glad you’re coming back. I’ve missed you.”
He couldn’t help the smile coming through his voice. “Me too, man, I’ve missed you too. I’ll see you in Tokyo.”
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Maelie
Maelie felt something profoundly shift the moment he took that phone call. All the happiness had drained out of her, and she couldn’t help feeling ever smaller as the phone call went on. Couple weeks? Tokyo? She was supposed to have three more months before she had to deal with this.
She felt horribly cheated.
The second he hung up the phone, he was a whirl of excitement, telling her all about how they needed him and how he would get to go back in just a couple of weeks. Could she believe it?
She did her best to smile and be happy for him, and if it didn’t come off as genuine, he wasn’t paying enough attention to notice. He began spouting off about how cool Tokyo was the last time he had been there and all the trouble they had gotten into and how much he had missed his bandmates.
She watched him with wide eyes, wondering who this man was that was wandering erratically, gesturing with his hands as if he were discussing the most important thing in the world. He was nothing like the man she had been on the couch with mere minutes ago.
He talked like this for nearly thirty minutes before she pushed herself up off the couch. “I’m happy for you.” She paused his pacing with her hands and kissed his cheek, but he barely noticed. His thoughts were so far away from her that it didn’t really matter what she did.
“I’m going to head home for a bit,” she told him, heading to the bedroom to change her clothes. Her heart hurt, her head hurt, and she was afraid she would cry in front of him. That was not allowed.
“What? Why?” He followed her to the bedroom.
She pulled on her jeans. “I just feel like I need to go home and work on the book.” She covered the crack in her voice with the zip of her fly. Hoping he would stop her, he rent her in half by tapping the wall.
“You know, babe, actually, that’s perfect because I’m going to need to make some travel plans, book a flight, you know ... all of that.”
Holding back the disappointed tears that desperately wanted to spill, she gave him a tight smile. “See, perfect,” she pulled on her shirt.
“Like your ass,” he commented playfully, but it fell dead on her ears as she sat to pull her shoes on.
He watched her, clearly missing the heaviness in her, and followed her back into the living room. “Have a good day, beautiful,” he told her, kissing her on the lips. “See you tonight?”
She bit her lip so it wouldn’t tremble and nodded. “See you tonight.”
Her tears fell the second the elevator door closed.