Chapter nine: Never dreamed I'd lose somebody like you

The Vegas trip had passed, and as much fun that they wound up having, all the guys were glad to be home. During the trip Mike had explained to them about what had happened to him their first night there. With that story about how Trixie saved Mike's life, followed by the story about how the next night she consoled a weeping Micky after another run-in with August, the guys had a whole new admiration for Trixie. She had found her way into their close-nit family and to that they were more than glad.

Right after she had saved Mike's life, the two of them talked most of the night away. Before she remembered that she had ditched Marc and then left the room, Mike came to the conclusion that his love for her that he had tried to deny had grown. He now felt like a fool for even putting himself in that denial in the first place. Because now she was with that Marc guy. The more he thought about it the more he realized that he wanted to be with her. No. He needed to be with her. And if it weren't for this other guy and his foolish denial standing in his way, he would be with her by now.

That made him start to think about whether or not Marc was such a huge threat to him. Where did this guy even come from to begin with? He showed up out of nowhere and snatched Trixie away from him before he had a chance to make any real move on her. What was the deal with that? Maybe, perhaps, possibly, this all could have been a secret scheme of Trixie's to get things stirred up inside of Mike. If so then it certainly did its job well. But Marc was still there. Mike knew that since he was feeling this way about Trixie, he was going to have to do something about it, and that something was going to have to be done fast. He needed to get her to break away from Marc and look towards the one who truly cared about her. And this, he knew, would not be easy to do.

What he needed to do, he thought, was to make some sort of gesture that was going to win her over. Something that would sweep her off her feet. Something that would put that shining suit of armor on him. He didn't have a white horse to ride upon but Mike knew what he did have that would grab her attention; a poetic song writing ability and a guitar. Mike even had to laugh at himself for coming up with something so cheesy as serenading the woman he loved with a song. But at the same time he knew that this certain song he would write would be just the key to cause her to melt and forget all about that Marc Whateverhislastnamewas.

A smile came to his lips once he remembered her saying how much she loved the songs that he writes. That made him know for sure that this gesture he was going to make with his song was the best gesture he could make towards her. There was no doubt in his mind that this was going to work. He decided to waste absolutely no time, and start writing this song for her right away. The sooner he got it done, the sooner he could present it to her and steal her away from Mr. Skinnylittletwerp.

All day and everyday this task was on Mike's mind. He had quickly come up with a tune that which he had begun to hum throughout the day. He hummed it at the breakfast table, he hummed it in the shower and while getting dressed, he even hummed it while brushing his teeth. He hummed it so much that it was beginning to drive the other three guys crazy. When they threatened that they'd keep hostage something he held dearly if he didn't stop this obsessive humming, Mike decided to actually take pen to paper and write some lyrics to go with this tune.

Mike sat at the table that was against the far wall where the phone sat. He had his paper and a pen in hand and he was ready to write. His muse; the very lovely and petite American girl of Irish decent named Patricia McEuwin. And what a muse she was!

"Hmm hmm hmm da tee daa hm hmm da da da tee da…" He tapped his pen against the table as he thought "She owns… she owns and operates… hmm hmm daa…" He scribbled a couple lines down onto the paper before reading over them "She owns and operates her own sunshine factory… laa tee da da la hmm hm da da…" He paused briefly before scribbling some more words onto the paper "She owns and operates her own sunshine factory… painting smiles on dolls and then on me…" Again he paused to think before writing something else down. He crossed out a line he didn't think quite fit and then replaced it with another line "She's my sunny girlfriend and personality…" he paused with a smirk "Well she ain't my girlfriend but it fit the tune."

What he didn't realize while he was engrossed in his song in the making was Micky had entered the room. Micky walked over to the table behind Mike and looked over his shoulder at the paper.

"Hey what's this Mike?" He snatched up the paper and began to read it despite the fact that Mike tried to protest

"Hey give that back!"

"Is this a new song? What's this? Sunshine factory… smiles on dolls… something something about girlfriend… you need to fix your chicken scratch Mike. I can hardly read this."

Mike took the paper from Micky's hand "Good! I don't want you to read it anyway."

"Why? Is it personal?" Micky asked with a grin

"No. I just started on it and I don't want to reveal it to anyone until it's finished."

"Anyone? Or Trixie?"

"Mind your own business Micky. Hey shouldn't you be practicing how to set up your drums for a RIGHT handed drummer?"

"No they suit me just fine how they are."

"Yes. Now you've only got to learn how to play them." Mike snickered

"Oh very funny." Micky rolled his eyes. Mike shot him a look that told him to "scram", which he promptly picked up on "Alright. Alright I'm going. I'll leave you to work now." He said before walking away

"That's all I ask for."

Mike went back to writing and Micky sat on the spiral staircase with a book. This caught Mike off guard but in that moment he felt he was on a roll with his song. So he wasn't going to question it. Davy and Peter entered the house, by the way of the balcony, having just stepped off the beach. They looked at Mike who was quietly writing and then at Micky who was quietly, and very strangely, reading.

"So what's going on here?" Asked Davy

"Shh!" Was Mike's only reply

"Micky you're reading?" Peter asked in surprise

"Shh!" Micky replied "Mike's trying to write a love song to Trixie."

"I am not!" Davy and Peter ignored Mike's retort

"Since when do you read, Micky?"

"Since… shut up Davy."

"Jeeze…" Said Peter "What's with you guys?"

Micky threw his book at Peter but it missed him "Damn it Peter you made me lose my place!"

Peter stood wide eyed and picked up the book. When Micky started laughing Peter realized that he was only kidding around and then relaxed.

"Sorry Micky." He laughed too

"So let me ge' this straight." Davy started "Mike is writing what might be a love song for Trixie, and Micky is, or was, reading a book on the stairs. That makes complete and total sense."

"I only thought I would do something quiet so I wouldn't disturb Mike while he was working. But since you guys came in, I think that ship has sailed."

"Oh. Now that makes a bit more sense."

While this was happening between Micky Peter and Davy, Mike had gotten frustrated over the distraction they had caused for him. He picked up his paper and pen and then headed into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him. As long as he was away from them he knew that he would be able to get some work done. Mike was bound and determined to finish this song faster than any other song he had ever written. He wanted to make sure that Trixie heard it the moment he had it finished. After a little bit he left the bathroom, only to grab his guitar and taking it back into the bathroom with him. He only came out periodically when one of the guys needed to go in there. But soon, after writing and re-writing, and strumming on his guitar, Mike was satisfied with his complete song.

Mike went over to the phone and dialed Trixie's number with a grin. After a couple rings he grew nervous, feeling as though she wasn't going to answer. He was about to hang up, thinking that it was just going to keep ringing, and then he heard her soft voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Hey Trixie. It's Mike."

"Hi Michael. What's going on?"

"I was wondering if maybe you would like to come over."

"Well I would actually. But I can't. I'm in the middle of packing."

"P-packing? May I ask what for?"

"Um… Oh shoot I meant to tell you guys this sooner. I'm moving."

Mike's stomach fell into his shoes "Moving? Where?"

She let out a very slight sigh "San Francisco."

His heart joined his stomach "What on earth are you going to do all the way out there?" he tried not to sound as though he was hurt

"Well… Marc asked me to move in with him…"

Mike could not believe what he had just heard. This was the last thing he even wanted or expected to hear from her. Anything else that came next from her mouth went unheard by Mike. He had grown numb and didn't know what to do.

"Well I hope you have a good life in San Francisco with him." He couldn't even bring himself to say Marc's name "I guess I'll talk to you later when you aren't so busy." He hung up, trying not to seem upset

He looked at the freshly written song in his hand and felt like he wanted to throw it away. His chance with her, as he felt it right then, had been lost for good. He had been hurt and very disappointed by the unexpected turn of events and didn't know how to handle it. His eyes turned to the lyrics on the paper in his hand and he felt his heart beating once again. Right at that moment he decided that he was not going to let himself be defeated by this. He still was going to be determined to fight for the woman he loved. He decided that just because Trixie was moving across state with another guy, he had not yet lost her. This he would not stand for.