My first attempt at fanfiction. I have a general idea of where this story is going. I apologize for any errors, english is not my mother tongue.
I do not own any of the characters, CW does.
I´m tired, I´m so tired. I´m physically exhausted. I´ve been touring Europe for the past 18 months and before that I finished my third album. I have seen enough airports, concert halls, small town venues and stadiums to last me a lifetime, well for now, anyway. What I need is a good long holiday.
A few weeks back the best of offers occurred when my best friend, Lavon Hayes, invited me to stay with him in Bluebell, Alabama.
I´m Zoe Hart, a professional singer and dancer from the best city in the world, New York. I go by the stage name Zora.
My mother, who is also my manager/pr-agent, has been pushing me to renew my record contract. That would mean another three to five years of touring, a new album every year and I just can`t do that anymore. Dad, as usual, has no opinion of the matter.
It is not just that I´m tired, I´ve also found out I´m loosing my voice. The doctor told me that if I don´t stop singing I could loose my ability to hold a tune permanently. This is not a small case of laryngitis, it is severe damage to the vocal cords. That´s why I need a holiday. I need to figure out what to do next. Maybe I´ll be like Lavon, retire in Alabama. Who am I kidding, I´m not able to retire. Maybe I`ll just judge song contests, beauty pageants or whatever. Hell, I could even create some festival of my own. Do they do festivals in Bluebell? That could be a new thing, knowing that dad, with all his connections, would be a huge help. Lets not jump there, not just yet.
So, finally, I´m on a plane, with no specific plans, on my way to Bluebell, Alabama. Lavon Hayes is a former NFL player and now the mayor of Bluebell. We met at one of my parents extravagant parties years ago and immediately hit it of. Not romantically, but more like long lost relatives. That´s where we are now, best friends. He invited me to stay, for as long as I wanted to, on his plantation. If I didn´t want to stay up in the big house, he had a nice little carriage house, all for me. I do have to share the pond and the fuse box with the guy in the gatehouse, a Wade Kinsella, the caretaker of the property. Lavon ensured me there will be no problems since Wade was visiting his brother in New Orleans.
We finally touch ground in Mobile and I can´t wait to see Lavon. He´s 6 and a half feet tall so he´s hard to miss. During the ride he fills me in on the town residents. I´m really eager to meet his girlfriend Annabeth, she sounds like a sweetheart. There is also Earl, Wades dad, George, the town laywer and fiancé of Lemon Breeland, Belle Extraordinere. Brick Breeland, Lemons father and town doctor. The other town doctor, Harley Wilkes. I make a mental note to go see him. Shula, the cat lady and Dash DeWitt, self proclaimed journalist, theater director and blogger. Him I might just need to stay clear of. Rose Hattenbarger, a teenager in love with all things New York, I´ll surely like her. Tom and Wanda Long, a newlywed young couple. Those are just the ones that pop out most in Lavons stories.
I can´t stop staring at the beautiful little house by the crystal clear pond when Lavon stops his SUV. Sure, it is a bit run down, but it is nearly 200 years old. Outside the sun is shining, a light breeze catches the hem of my skirt and twirls with my hair. The crickets and the frogs and the birds and the...serenity. I take it all in with an awe. This is going to be perfect.
"You need to watch out for Burt Reynolds if you decide to wander" he told me and carried my bags inside.
Burt Reynolds? What, here? Really? Why? Dosn´t he live in LA?
"Burt´s my gator, he lives in the pond and is quite used to sleeping under the steps of the carriage house. Well, I`ll see you later, let you settle in and what not".
And with that he was gone.
The following week I went to bed early and slept in late, during the sunny days I swam in the pond, did not meet Burt, and just sat on the porch reading. I was really enjoying doing absolutely nothing and talking as little as possible. I had yet to wonder the streets of Bluebell and meet any others. Lavon said he had put the plantation on quarantine for a rare and infectious condition so I could have peace and quiet. How sweet is that.
By the end of the second week I felt like a new person, I was rejuvenated and had gotten a nice tan along with sun kissed streaks in my hair.
"You ready to meet the good people of Bluebell?" Lavon asked one morning when we had coffee in his kitchen.
I had not seen very much of him ´cause he is the mayor and he did have his ´mayoral duties´ to attend to. I suspect he felt a bit neglected by his house guest. After all, I did come to see him and I did want to spend time with him. I had seen Annabeth on occasion when she came or left. We silently waved and smiled a hello, but other than that I had yet to meet anybody else.
"Lead the way and show me to your people" I said cheerily as we stepped out.
"Look at you girl, I hardly recognize you. All relaxed, tanned and smiling. If I may say, you do look happy. Are you happy?"
"Well Lavon, I can not contradict that. These few weeks have been a lifesaver, literally. I have not been feeling like this in a long time, maybe even ever. Yes, I am happy" I beamed up at him as we walked down the road leading us to the center of Bluebell.
"Then let me introduce you to the best Po´boy on this side of the Mississippi, at the Rammer Jammer."
You could have heard a pin drop the moment we stepped in, all eyes focused on us. Well, mainly on me. I felt a bit uneasy until I heard a familiar voice.
"Oh darling Zoe, so good to see you after all these years" Shula came up smiling and gave me the biggest hug.
How did Lavon fail to mention that the crazy cat lady was my old singing teacher, well, maybe he didn`t know. After that I could sense relief in the rest of them. Someone of their own knew me, I was not a stranger anymore. I even got a few nods and hellos.
Lavon led me to a table and gave me the menu.
"Lavon, my man, what´s up?" I heard a voice behind me.
"Wade, you´re back boy, how you been."
I turned around and my jaw dropped. There was nothing Po´ about this boy. He was drop dead gorgeous. Sandy blonde hair, bottle green eyes, dimples and stubble, tall and muscular, lean like a god. He was wearing faded bluejeans and an unbuttoned red plaid shirt over a white tee. I think I started to drool. This was obviously Wade, my neighbor across the pond. I could feel the blush rising my cheeks as he looked at me, eying him, a slow smirk rising on his lips.
"If you ever need to borrow a cup of sugar or anythin´, you know where to find me" he said winking at me.
Oh, I was so going to start baking or taking sugar with my coffee.
During the weeks after Wades return home I was settling in a comfy morning routine, running, taking a swim and having breakfast at the mayors. What I did not count on was Wade being around all the time. He accompanied me running, "so you don`t get lost, princess" showing me new routes to run and new sites to see. "I bet you didn`t wear a swim suite before I came along" he said one morning watching me by the pond. "I wouldn`t have minded, not one bit" he said with a wink, before leaving for Lavons. By the time I got there he had made breakfast, my favorite, coffee, Eggs Benedict and fresh orange juice.
We chatted for about an hour before he asked me "so Zoe what kind of fancy job do you have that lets you take a vacation for what it seems to be an endless amount of time?" I hadn´t really hidden the fact that I was a preforming artist, but I had also never been very clear about it.
"Well, I`m actually in between jobs at the moment, figuring out what to do next."
"OK, but what is it that you really do? You`re not some sort of secret agent or ax murderer are you, or one of those super sonic space surgeons?"
"I can assure you I´m none of those" I ansvered laughing.
"I do some singing and dancing of sorts, just taking a break from that."
"You work at a stripclub!" his eyes light up.
"Eww, no!" I could understand that me putting it that way might lead him to believe just that.
"Oh, ok, so backup singer and dancer?"
"Something like that, yeah." Thankfully the subject was dropped at that.
Later that evening we all went to the Rammer Jammer for the Open stage-night. This ought to be intrresting, seeing some local talent. I caught my self enjoying the evening. There actually was a lot of talented performers. Who knew that George, the stuffy lawyer, was a decent singer. Tom and Wanda would have given Fred and Ginger a run for their money as well. What really blew me away was Rose, the girl can sing! And Annabeth, the poetry she wrote was really romantic and very personal. Lavon will have to watch out, she´s in for the kill. There were some other performances, but nothing special. Something or rather someone that stood out though was Wade, he played the guitar when George sang, keyboards with the house band for Tom and Wanda dancing, soft tunes on the flute when Annabeth read her poetry and the grand piano for Rose. I knew he was a good cook and Lavon told me he built the Rammer Jammer with his father and brother. That made me wonder what else his hands were good at.
I was about to find out the following morning.
I was doing one of my regular dance routines on the back porch when the floorboards caved. I gave a shriek of pain falling and scraping my legs. Almost immediately Wade came running
"Zoe, Zoe where are you?"
"I`m out back"
He sprinted round the corner and I could see he was wearing old denim cutoffs and sneakers. God he´s hot, was by then the only thought running in my mind.
"What you gapin´ at girl, lets get you out of there."
He then proceeded to examine the boards around me
"I`ll need to go get my tools for this, hang tight".
Tears were running down my face and he stroke my chin with a surprisingly soft hand "you´ll be alright" and kissed my forehead. Wade came back with his tool belt and some towels.
"You wrap this around your legs while I bust you out of there."
Said and done. He carefully lifted me out of the now giant hole in my porch and sat me down in an old green wicker chair. "I`ll just clean these up and we`ll go see doctor Wilkes about those legs of yours".
He gently wiped my legs, sending chills up and down my spine. Those hands felt like magic.
Thoughts?