Here
we are in the room full of strangers, Well, I have to follow you Blaming it all on the nights on
Broadway
Standing in the dark where
your eyes couldn't see me
Though
you didn't want me to.
But that wont stop my lovin you
I
can't stay away
Singin them love songs,
Singin them straight to the
heart songs.
Blamin it all on the nights on Broadway
Singin
them sweet sounds
To that crazy, crazy town.
Missy Mellon had grown weary Paul being gone so much; she'd left her own hometown to initially be with him, but he'd spent so much time on the road himself, she'd gotten to a point in her life where she had started wondering why she'd put her own dreams on hold.
She'd found out about a show that was slated to hit Broadway through her previous agent and gone to New York to audition. Missy had been thrilled when she got into the show; it hadn't been for the part she'd initially auditioned for, but another one that the producers had found her more suitable.
It wasn't a huge part, but it was a Broadway part nevertheless, and she had given it her all, garnering herself great reviews from even the toughest theater critics. She was once again in her element.
Now Missy was on stage at least five nights a week doing what she loved; she still loved Paul, but was no longer going to put her life on hold for him.
Little had she known that one night, Paul had shown up in New York; he'd had a show down in Albany earlier that day, but had taken the liberty to drive straight in once that had been over.
He needed his Missy back, or at least needed to know where they stood.
He now stood off to one side to watch her in a dark part of the theater, where he wouldn't be so easy to spot neither by Missy nor anyone else.
Now
in my place Well, I have to follow
you
There are so many others
Standin in the line;
How
long will they stand between us?
Though you
didn't want me to.
But that wont stop my lovin you
I can't
stay away
After the show, Missy and the rest of the cast had been greeting several friends and a few theatergoers. Paul had noticed she'd been in especially animated conversation with a blond man for a long period of time, smiling, laughing, nodding.
Had he been replaced already?
Thinking back to those last days, maybe he should have taken Missy up on her offer to go on the road with him. She'd left her own town and friends and put her own goals on the back burner to support his career, after all, and he hadn't appreciated it much at the time.
Patient and supportive as she had been, even Missy had had her breaking point, especially after she began hearing things about him and some of the divas, none of it which had been true, and he had planned to explain that to her once he'd come home.
Then the day finally came when Paul had returned from the overseas tour, and instead of Missy being there, both she and her belongings were long gone, on her way to New York, and only a note was left behind.
PL,
I can't go on this way anymore. I'm not getting any younger and there's still things I want to do in this life. Between that, and now me having landed a role on Broadway, and some things that have gotten back to me about some of your dalliances on the road, I honestly think it's best that it ended at this point before we both end up doing something (or not doing anything) we might regret later.
I still care for you very much and wish you both personal and professional success in life. Someday, I do hope you understand why I did what I had to do and it was a long time in coming. Please take care of yourself, and for the love of God, don't try anything stupid.
Much love,
Missy xo
Now, after a little over an hour she finally spied him, excusing herself from the blond man.
"Hi," Paul said, managing a smile.
"What are you doing here?" Missy asked. "And how did you get in without a ticket or a pass?"
"Guy at the door is a fan," he replied. "He kind of waved me in acting like he didn't see me, especially after I told him I knew you."
"All right, but really, why are you here?"
"We need to clear some shit up, Missy."
"I thought I made my point known before I left."
"In some note. You couldn't stick around long enough to talk to me?"
"Honestly? No. Rehearsals were starting that week and I had to leave. Besides, it wasn't like you gave a damn when I was around anyway, after I gave up practically my life to come down there and be with you because you'd complained about the distance between us."
"But you knew I traveled and said you were okay with it. Were you bullshitting about that after all?"
Missy shook her head. "No. That I could understand, but there was the other stuff about—"
Paul cut her off. "You mean to tell me a few dumb bitches planted stuff in your head about me and a few slutty divas, and you believed it all? I didn't know I was that untrustworthy. Jesus, Missy, did you honestly think I'd stoop that low?"
"I didn't know what to think, quite frankly. I mean, I'm not exactly like those kind of—"
"Which is exactly why I chose you in the first place. You're nothing like those chicks or anyone else that's done everything from fawn all over me to chase me everywhere. You're a natural lady with your own mind, can carry on a conversation, have a talent and a brain. Doesn't that say enough?"
"I guess so," she replied. "But I'm not going home with you. I have a contract for the entire run of this show and have no intentions of backing out."
I
will wait,
Even if it takes forever;
I will wait,
Even if it
takes a life time.
Somehow I feel inside
You never ever left my
side.
Make it like it was before
Even if it takes a life time,
takes a life time.
"So I'll wait until your contract expires. I want to work through this and maybe get shit right this time."
"You're really serious about this, aren't you?"
"Yes. By the way, who's the blond guy you were talking to for a long time?"
"Wow, talk about being paranoid. Justin is a cast mate, and we got to be friends after my roommate introduced us at the first rehearsal. He and Ann had shown me around New York when I first got here."
"Oh…okay. Just wondering."
"I'm sure you were," Missy smiled a little.
"So when your contract is up…." Paul began.
"I'll think things over," she responded. "And perhaps we can go from there."
Several months later:
After mulling it over in her mind and a few long talks with Ann, Missy had come to a decision; she would be going back to Paul in Texas once the show closed in a few weeks. Ann had pointed out that if he hadn't really cared, he neither would have come all the way to New York to see Missy in the first place on that fateful night nor had kept in contact with her all the time after that.
Perhaps she had jumped the gun in presuming things when she should have been more trusting; he'd given her that courtesy, shouldn't she owe him at least that much? Missy now considered herself lucky to have gotten a second chance, and she was going to take it.
Paul too was willing to compromise; though Missy wouldn't go on the overseas tours, he'd been happy to have her with him on both the US and Canadian ones when she wasn't going to be doing her musical theater work up in Dallas once she'd finished her stint on Broadway. Instead of being clear in New York this time around, Missy would be only two hours away, yet doing what she loved when they weren't traveling together.
He also vowed not to take her so much for granted as he had before and she'd promised to come to him if something she'd heard was bothering her and get it cleared up before she believed anything. Missy had trust issues, but she was willing to work on them.
Even if it takes a life time, takes a life time.
New York wasn't all it was cracked up to be anyway.
Nights On Broadway lyrics by Bee Gees, 1975.