When we got to the bar I followed him inside. He waved at the bartender casually and the man said
"The usual Shane?"
Shane shook his head no and said "Nah, I have company with me tonight. I need two waters tonight." The man laughed "I need two virgins for Mr. Shane." A waiter came over a few minutes later with two glasses of water. Shane smiled at the man as he walked away before turning to me. Was I seriously sitting here with man who had a regular "order" at a bar!? Apparently so.
It was quiet, and not a comforting quiet. The awkward kind. Finally he spoke up "So, do you seriously want to listen to my pathetic story." I nodded my head and he said "I'm gay." My mouth dropped, Shane Gray the man that always had the hottest models and actresses on his arm was... gay!? He laughed "No, I'm not. I just wanted to see your reaction, and that was priceless." I turned a dark shade of red and sat there fuming. This man, who I idolized, was a jerk!
He ran his fingers down the water that had condensed on his glass before saying "I'm in Connect Three, with my two brothers, we're actually on a huge tour right now. Anyway, about a year ago I was engaged to this girl, beautiful girl, you probably heard who, I just don't speak her name. I was madly in love with her when she informed me, two weeks before our wedding that she didn't love me after all. She thought she had, but one of her exes looked her up and they made passionate fiery love and he made her feel like she was on top of the world, and that no matter what I could never make her feel that way. It was the worst day of my life. Two hours later my mother got a call that our grandmother had passed away, I was always very close to my grandmother, she had cared for my dog quite a few years ago and that started a very close bond between me and her."
He wiped his eyes with his arm and looked at the floor before going on.
"That girl, that one from before came back to me two months later telling me she was pregnant. She swore it was my baby and when she sued me and took it through the court system she wanted money for all the expenses of an unborn child. It was not my child and I knew that. For a fact."
I looked at him "How are you sure?"
He looked at me and laughed "Because I have never had sex in my life."
I nodded my head embarrassed, oops.
"I lost all of my dignity for a whole month before she was told she HAD to get a paternity test and she admitted that the baby was not mine, nor was it possible in any way considering we had never engaged in 'sexual intercourse'." He rolled his eyes and stayed quiet before going on.
"Even though she said that my family had lost all faith they had on me, I had nowhere to turn to. I found alcohol and drugs. Scotch, Rum, Vodka, that beer stuff just isn't strong enough for me. I really like marijuana. It's so good, takes me off of this world. My mom caught me smoking some about a month ago, I haven't had any since, only because she constantly has people watching me. I have bad ass withdrawals right now. I drink twice what I used to because I need some way to get away."
I stared at him in shock, this was not the guy on the interviews.
He stayed silent for a while. "I told you there was no way you could help me."
I reached my hand out for his and grabbed his hands before whispering
"You need to stop, or, bad things will happen."
He scoffed
"What could possibly happen to me."
I looked him in the eyes and put it bluntly
"You need to stop, or you WILL die."
