Chapt.38

LUKE

Two damn days. Two days since I'd seen her on that damn beach looking like heaven on earth. She'd been laying there, oblivious to the world around her. She had not one single care in this world and then I'd shown was more than apparent that seeing me hadn't been on her agenda. Maybe my initial thought of her being here for the show was way off the then again why would she come to this beach town if she wasn't here for the show. Was it really just a big coincidence? She knew that I would be here.

I'd spent the last two days, since I'd seen her, with a beer in my hand. No matter what I did or how much I drank, I couldn't get Bailey off of my mind. That damn girl had me so twisted I didn't know which was I was going anymore. I either needed her in my arms or out of my mind, and the cold truth was, I didn't see either happening for me.

"Hey Luke, you planning on bringing ya ass up on this stage and mic checkin anytime soon," Michael said into his mic. "Or you planning to sit there babysitting that beer all damn day?" I flipped him a bird and chugged the rest of the luke warm beer before forcing myself out of the seat and onto the stage.

Walking on stage I grabbed my microphone and my guitar and did a half ass sound check. Ten minutes later I was back in the stands, yet another beer in my hand. I didn't even bother looking up when Michael sat in the seat next to ended up sitting in a heavy silence for at least five minutes. Just when I Thought the silence would go on, he spoke.

"So does this separation with Caroline seriously have you this jacked or am I reading this all wrong man?"

"Dude, you ain't even readin the same book."

"Okay so then tell me what it is. The last two or three weeks you've been out of your head about something and it we all see it."

I sighed and actually wanted to tell him everything. He was one of my oldest friend, we'd met in high school and attended the same college. He'd been in my band from day one of this crazy ride. I took a deep breath and said, "After we decided on the separation, well, look, I'm beginning to wonder if working things out is really worth the effort." Caroline had said those words to me a week ago. She was fed up with me and my life I think more than anything. "Maybe it's just time to move on in life."

"Who is she?"

I stood and chugged down the cold beer in my hand, tossing the empty can toward the direction of the trash can. "And you immediately damn assume that its another woman. Thanks man." I turned and started stomping away.

"Get your damn ass back over here. I was asking a simple question, one that you obviously don't want to discuss so we won't." I grudgingly turned and sat back down. "Thank you. So, have you heard from Bailey, how is she?"

He had to say her name didn't he? That one name that gave me chills and made my stomach act crazy. I shrugged, trying my damndest to act like her name wasn't an electric volt running through me. "Haven't talked to her," I said. "Why? Have you?"

"Nope. Did you two have a falling out? She pick Caroline's side or something?"

"Hell no, we're just fine okay. We just haven't talked lately. I'm sure she's busy back home ya know?"

I watched him smirk and he stood. "So that's who she is."

"What?"

"Your face man, it tells the whole story."

I felt a blush covering my cheeks. Surely it didn't tell the whole story. "I seriously doubt the whole story is written there." He handed me another beer that he'd grabbed from one of the vendors setting up and getting ready for my show that night.

Sitting back down he said, "So then tell me the whole damn story. It's me man, my lips are sealed. Whatever you say stays right here."

I sighed heavily and dropped my head to my hands. "She's just under my skin, stuck in my head. Damn it, I just, she isn't speaking to me, hasn't since she left the house the last time."

"Why? You two are like best friends."

"We may have hooked up. A few times." His eyes got wide and a slow grin spread across his face.

"Dude, you're falling for this girl!"

"Fast, and damn hard."

"It's gonna work out man. It always does. Now, come on. You got five minutes til they open those gates and chaos ensues."

I stood backstage, mic in front of me and my guitar in my hands. I heard the countdown and felt the part of stage that I stood on shift, then slowly start to lift up. I could see the lights and hear the screams of the fans. My heart was racing as it always did at this point of the night. As the stage rose higher I shuffled my feet there where I stood and absorbed the cheers, then I was seeing the audience. It only took a minute until I saw her face in the pit. Why avoid me and then buy pit tickets? And I knew she'd bought them because the tickets I'd left at will call were still there.

I couldn't take my eyes off her all night. My brain kept searching for a way to get her alone to talk after the show. My heart kept on searching for a way to make her mine.