Chapter 4

My hand was painful beyond belief and my brain was racing in too many directions. “Who?” I asked again, still in a slight state of panic. He said his name again, but I wasn’t able to process it. I was standing dazed in front of both of them, and the music overhead began to disorient me to the point of confusion.

No, I won’t let this happen. I can handle this… I have to handle this.

“Um… I gotta go back upstairs, sorry for interrupting… this,” I said, waving around whatever this downstairs bar was. They looked at each other quickly, and then back at me with a calculating look. The man stared at me intensely for a moment, and for some reason I felt a sense of calm wash over me.

No, this is fake. He’s trying to convince me…

“Megan, let us help you. You seem a little dizzy… confused, perhaps?” His words conveyed a strange combination of suggestion and caring. I stumbled slightly as I reached behind me to the railing. They both stretched out their hands to steady me, but I cringed.

Then it happened again.

You can trust me, his voice said, but his lips hadn’t moved. I shook my head hard, trying to clear out the cobwebs and confusion.

“She’s frightened, Geoffrey,” the woman said. She took a small step back and stretched out her hand to tug at his sleeve. I took one last look at him before I ran for it. There was a familiarity to his face, a kindness that showed around his eyes, a gentleness in the way his hair fell to one side of his face. I racked my brain, trying to remember where I had first met him, but it was hopeless. I tried to bolt up the stairs, but once again my lack of coherence and balance betrayed me and I fell face-first on the landing. Instantly I saw stars, but what should have been extremely painful was only a slight pressure. I quickly realized why.

“Megan? Easy does it,” his lips breathed on my ear.

Who the hell is this guy? The coolness of his hands on my head eased the slight ache, and I knew I couldn’t run now if my life depended on it. I lay flat, motionless, as he carefully lifted me up and carried me.

I floated between space and time then… but I wasn’t alone. Images flickered like an old movie house, flashing before my eyes. I was very small, staring down at my small hands, which were covered with dirt and filth. I looked around me and instantly recognized where I was. I was four years old and in the collapsed cave. Toto, my scrappy little dog, was standing guard, trying desperately to pull on my sleeve, hoping to free me from the rubble. Then Toto looked up and barked once, sitting down next to me with his paw on my arm. I tried to turn to see who he was reacting to, but my rescuer’s face wasn’t very clear. Except for his eyes; those deep, sapphire-blue eyes…

Hold on a sec! That was him! The images began to fade as I reached up to touch his face. Wait! How? I heard my little-girl voice begging him to stay.

We will meet again, love. Go now… remember me. Remember me. His lips had moved but I heard no sound from them… it was only in my mind. His haunting, unspoken words were frightening at first, but I felt the love behind them. It was something I’d never felt before, but I couldn’t deny what it was. Then everything went dark. I could hear Toto barking, and then I heard a voice barking orders—screaming them, actually.

It was too many voices, too loud. What the hell is going on? Oh my God, I hurt all over! My head was pounding…

“I found her!” someone cried as I opened my eyes and realized my hand was frozen in midair, reaching for a vision that was no longer there. Ian and a waitress I recognized were kneeling next to me in the drab, dark storeroom. I dropped my hand and tried to sit up.

“Whoa, Megan! Not so fast. You’ve got a nice goose egg there,” Dawn said as she pressed an ice pack gently on my forehead. She had curly, thick red hair, and I remembered she was studying social work. Ian had folded his apron and was putting it under my head—which felt like it was about to split open.

“What the hell happened?” I asked—and then I heard Ashleigh’s signature
stilettos charging down the hall. I quickly fought off their hands from holding me down and tried to sit up, groaning.

“Move, everyone! Let me through!” she ordered, and everyone moved aside. “Megan, what happened?”

I took one look at my hand and realized that it was real: the stairs, the creepy guy and girl, the blood… “I’m fine,” I snarled, feeling around for my shades. “I fell coming up the stairs, that’s all. I split my hand on the shelf over there.” I gestured to the wall.

Their silence alerted me. I looked up after I put my shades on.

“What stairs?” she asked.

“The ones through the doorway behind those shelves. You know, over there.”

They all looked awkwardly at each other, then back down at me. “Maybe it’s a concussion?” Dawn suggested.

Ian just shrugged his shoulders.

“Just ask Geoffrey! He helped me up the stairs—along with the girl from the band.”

“And where did you see him again?” Ash asked, helping me stand.

“Down the stairs, at the lower bar.” Why was she asking these stupid questions?

“You met Geoffrey… downstairs?” she repeated back to me again.

“Yeah, like I said.” I tightened the bar towel on my hand.

“Honey, let’s get that head and hand checked out,” she said. The others started whispering.

“What?” I barked as some of the stragglers left us.

“Meg, there’s no downstairs, no lower level bar,” she said quietly.

“Yes there is. What are you talking about? You built this place…”

“Yes, a fact I’m well aware of. And Geoffrey is out front with the DJ—and has been for a while now, spinning and mixing.”

“Uh…. no. He was downstairs. He helped me up here. I hit my head.” The goose egg was growing larger by the minute. I glanced out to the hallway where people were passing by. I noticed the girl from the band again and pointed.

“Just ask her! She was with him.” I held onto the doorway, trying to regain my balance.

“Hey, Pepper,” Ashleigh called out.

The girl turned. “Oh, hi Ash. Great opening!” She came over and gave her a hug. An exotic looking woman—tall, dark-skinned, and full-figured—followed close behind.

“Yeah it is. Hey, were you just with Geoffrey?”

“Nope, Tracy and I grabbed a couple of your free drinks, hope you don’t mind,” she said, looking back at her friend, who was downing the last of her drink. “They’re de-li-cious!”

“No, of course not,” Ash said. “I’ll catch up with guys in a moment.” As they walked away, I thought I heard a Jamaican or islander accent from Tracy.

“Ash, I don’t know why she’s lying. She helped me—she got me this towel, for Christ sake.”

“Meg, calm down! You know what? It doesn’t matter. Let’s just get that hand taken care of, all right?”

I was beyond talking at this point, so I followed her to the break room, where she broke open the brand-new first aid box and rushed into it, digging around frantically. “There has to be a bandage somewhere in this mess.”

“Here, give it to me. I can do this in my sleep.” I flipped through the stack and pulled out the butterfly strips, then opened my hand. Luckily only one stitch had popped.

“I got this, Ash. Go back to doing whatever you were doing. I’m so sorry… about everything. You know I’m a klutz.”

“That’s normal for you. But what’s not is you hallucinating.” She pecked my cheek, shaking her head. “Besides, I’m not going anywhere. I wanted to introduce you to the band… and my partner.”

“God, right now?” She did her best pouty face and I caved. “Fine, hang on. Just let me wipe this clean.”

I finished up as quickly as possible and she led me to the band’s dressing room. She introduced me to each band member, and I hoped that she wasn’t going to quiz me on names anytime soon. My head was killing me and my hand was throbbing, though I knew from experience that part of my headache was the sheer stress of being forced to meet people.

I stepped away to the side to grab a Coke from the caterer’s table, wondering if it was time to call it a night and head home, when I saw him. I watched him part the crowd of groupies, they all took a step back, clearing a path for him. He was naked from the waist up and was towel drying his shoulder-length hair as he walked. Sweat still clung to his lean but muscular torso, accentuating his abs and pelvis above his low-cut jeans. He waved off several girls who were trying to get his attention, zeroing in on Ashleigh, who had just stepped beside me to grab a glass of champagne off the table.

Or maybe it wasn’t Ash he was looking at. His eyes locked on mine, and by the way he was coming towards us I suddenly felt like I was a target. It took some effort to break away from the stare down we were having.

“Ash—it’s great to see you,” he said, hugging her as they exchanged air kisses. I stood there quietly, tapping my foot nervously and trying not to act interested. I couldn’t help but notice the way he moved, very smoothly and politely… and a little arrogantly.

“Geoffrey! That was a smashing set, all the way around,” she said, handing him a glass of champagne. “I think we can easily say tonight has been a success!” She tipped her glass in a toast with his, and then she turned to me. “Megan, may I introduce you to Geoffrey Drake, lead singer extraordinaire—and my partner in The Stage.”

He extended his hand as I did my best to keep my mouth from dropping open. Oh my God, he’s her partner? No wonder she was able to sign The Darkness. I adjusted my shades and gingerly took his offered hand.

“Megan, is it?” he said.

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you, Geoffrey.” Then I immediately clammed up, trying hard not to stare at his body while convincing myself that I wasn’t interested in him at all.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Ashleigh has spoken a lot about you.” The heady scent of his sweat was making me feel a bit fuzzy in the brain, as though I hit my head somewhere. Oh yeah, I guess I did just hit my head…

“Has she? I can’t imagine why,” I said, now feeling slightly annoyed. Who did this guy think he was? All that and a bag of chips, I suppose. Sure, he had a great voice, rockin’ body, dreamy eyes—if you’re into that sort of thing—but I’m not, I had to remind myself. I took another swig of Coke, and looked away from him.

Then I thought I heard him say something like, She’s back to her feisty self. This will be a challenge.

I looked directly back at him. “What’s going to be a challenge?” I asked, somewhat confused.

He raised his eyebrows, and a look of surprise crossed his face.

“Megan, what are you doing?” Ashleigh whispered.

“He said something, didn’t you hear—?” Uh, oh. She had that look again, like I was off my rockers. Great, I must be hearing voices again… which means I was totally embarrassing Ash in front of her partner. I needed to smooth things over. “Sorry, guys. I’m just feeling a bit loopy from that fall in the storeroom. I think I should go home now. It was nice meeting you, Geoffrey. The music was great, seriously. Ash, I’ll catch up with you tomorrow. Good night.”

I tried to slip by as gracefully as possible, but I felt his fingers touch my arm. “If you’re not feeling well, perhaps I should offer you a ride home?” His voice had lost all its initial bravado, and was now replaced with kind concern.

Ashleigh looked positively giddy at his offer, so I quickly flashed her a “no way” look with my eyes. Then she did the unthinkable. “What a great idea, Geoffrey. She’d love that!” Then she hugged me and whispered in my ear, “Just give him a chance. He really is charming.”

I was too tired to argue and besides, I’d shot down so many of the prince charmings that she tried to steer my way that maybe just this once I could make an effort. “Sure. I’ll wait out front,” I mumbled, then tacked on a hasty “Thanks,” remembering to be polite. I said my goodbyes to the others as I made my way outside, contemplating getting into a car with a total stranger—who could turn out to be a psychotic sociopath. What’s next, the bogey man will be waiting for me at home?

Let’s pretend I didn’t think that.