A/N: Thanks for the continued reviewage, peops. For any and all that are worried about Jonah, please don't. I like the guy but never for Zoe, so that's not going to happen here, rest assured :) As for Zoe & Wade getting their second date, it will happen, it just might take a while, because where's the fun in a love story without a few complications, right? ;)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 14
"I cannot believe you're still seeing that guy." Gigi giggled into her mimosa. "Zoe Hart and the Southern rock guitar god. I so did not see that coming."
"It's not the way you're making it sound," Zoe insisted, rolling her eyes as she picked another piece off her bagel and popped it into her mouth. "Wade really isn't the kind of guy you think he is... or maybe he was," she considered, "but not anymore."
"So, it's even better than I thought," said Gigi, eyes sparkling with fun. "You tamed the wild man of Alabama!"
"Shut up!" Zoe laughed, shoving her friend in the shoulder. "Stop trying to turn my relationship with Wade into a bad romance novel or a dirty movie or something. It is not like that."
"Oh, come on, Zoe, it is so like that," said Gigi determinedly. "You talked about work for maybe a minute, you listened to me talk for five minutes max, and the rest of the time, it has been Wade this and Wade that. You're obsessed!"
Zoe opened her mouth to protest, but as her mind wound back over the conversation so far, she realised there really was no way to argue with what Gigi was telling her. She supposed she had talked about Wade quite a bit, about the one date they had, about the night he saved her from her own stupidity and the day they spent together after, about Candice figuring things out regarding the band's management and everything. It had been a very Wade-centric brunch considering the fact that he wasn't actually there and Zoe hadn't actually seen him in person for almost two weeks.
"I know it's weird, but I really miss him," she admitted, picking at her bagel some more but not really eating it at this point. "How is that possible when I've only known him a few weeks? God, we haven't even slept together yet. What is my problem?"
"Maybe that is exactly your problem," said Gigi, waggling her eyebrows and then busting up laughing at Zoe's expression. "Come on, Zo, don't you think that even you, Miss Prim and Proper when it comes to sex, is probably just looking for a little action and feeling antsy because you're not getting it?"
"Okay, first, I am not so prim and proper about sex," said Zoe, realising too late she was being a little loud in a public place and lowering her voice some. "You know as well as I do, I have slept with four different men in my life, four."
"Wow, alert the media." Gigi rolled her eyes.
"And second," Zoe continued, unabashed by her friend's teasing, after all, she was well used to it by now, "I do not just want Wade for... that," she said pointedly. "Although I am sure he is very good at it, and when it happens it will not be disappointing, I do actually like him as a person too."
"I'm very glad to hear that."
Zoe was startled to look up and realise who had just joined them at the table.
"Mom? What are you doing here?"
Candice settled her purse in her lap and snapped her fingers until a server brought her a mimosa and a menu. "I was passing by and saw you through the window. How are you, Gigi?"
"Just fine, thanks," she said with a grin. "Way less stressed than Zoe, that's for sure."
"I know, she's feeling a little neglected by this Wade Kinsella." Candice sighed as she reviewed the menu. "I told her, this is 2012. She does not need to sit around and wait for him to ask her out, she's quite capable of asking him, if that's what she wants."
"Uh, excuse me, I'm sitting right here!" Zoe told both her friend and her mom, waving her hands around in their faces so they couldn't miss her. "And I am not so stressed out about not seeing Wade," she insisted. "Yes, I miss him and it would be nice to get to see him, but it's not as if he hasn't tried to arrange a date with me, it's just that our schedules are fighting against us. Either he's busy or I am lately," she admitted sadly.
"Well then, perhaps you should get ahead of those schedules of yours," Candice suggested, calling back the server to place her order, before turning back to Zoe and continuing with what she was saying. "I assume you're not working tonight?"
"I am not," Zoe agreed, "but Wade is busy,"
"Yes, he's playing at a club," Candice agreed. "I was talking to Bradley Carlton earlier and he mentioned it to me. I believe it was The Profile?"
"Ooh, I love that place!" Gigi enthused. "Zoe, we should go there tonight, surprise your man."
Although Zoe didn't love the idea and would much rather find a night when she and Wade were actually free at the same time to go on a real date to a restaurant or the movies or something, she supposed that at least this way she would get to see him in person. Texts and phone calls just weren't cutting it anymore.
"I guess we could do that," she said, finding a smile as she thought on the idea a little more. "Yeah, in fact, let's definitely do that."
As the band played the final chord of the song, Wade looked up at Bradley and wondered why their manager was looking so uncomfortable. After all, it was his idea to have Sippin' Whiskey take a shot at this one, even though it was a little more ballad and a little less rock and roll than a lot of their usual stuff. Wade had argued at first, not because of the style of the song, but because it was his own work and not originally intended for anyone else's ears. Bradley had come across him strumming it backstage before a gig a few nights back and asked why he never heard it before, then the whole story had come out.
"I've been working on it a while, off and on," he had explained, just about as awkward as he had ever been about anything. "I had the lyrics in my pocket a while and a tune in my head but... well, it's nothin' I planned on sharin' or anything like that. I mean, the guys know I write my own stuff sometimes. Personal, you know? I figure, we ain't so much acoustic most of the time and... and honestly, I'm not sure how I'd feel havin' to stand by while Mark sang it instead of me, you know?"
He wasn't making much sense, Wade was well aware of that, but he had his reasons for what he was trying to say. Of course, things got clearer for Bradley when he asked Wade if he would play the whole song for him and he did. By the end, he was smiling so wide that Wade wondered if his face wouldn't just split in two any second.
"So, it's a song about Zoe," he said with a look, not asking a question but making a statement of fact.
Wasn't exactly as if Wade could've argued with him if he wanted to, because it was absolutely true. It was entirely a song for Zoe, not that she had ever heard it. Nobody had until that day, nobody was ever really supposed to, but then Bradley started talking about how it could be a hit, a little bit of something different for the band, and a great opportunity for Wade to prove his metal as a song writer.
"I know what you said about letting Mark sing lead like he usually would, but would you at least be willing to let him try it out? You can say no, I just think it could be great for the band."
Wade meant to argue, he really did, and it wasn't as if he wasn't altogether good at fighting his own corner when he had to, but Bradley made a lot of good points, and honestly, Wade was pretty proud of the song he had written. Seemed a shame not to share it with the world.
Now, as the band practised the song one more time, Wade was just starting to feel a little more comfortable with Mark singing his lyrics for Zoe. Strangely, it was Bradley that seemed less happy about it at this point.
"You know, what?" he said, walking up to the stage. "I like it, I do, but there's something that's just not quite right. Mark, how would you feel about letting Wade sing lead on just this one song?"
There was practically an audible collective gasp from the rest of the band at the sound of that question. Wade was amazed that Bradley was even trying to get Mark to agree and was not looking forward to the explosion that followed. Seemed Clayne and Jordan were no less eager to be in the middle of it all, visibly backing off in the next few seconds.
"I sing lead," Mark reminded Bradley, his pointer finger shoved in his own chest. "Always have, always will. That's the way Sippin' Whiskey was built."
"Oh, absolutely, I understand that." Bradley nodded. "But I was just thinking, for this one song, maybe we change things up a little. You know, it would give you that extra break between songs, and with all these gigs you guys have been playing lately, I think it's for the best. I mean, we overwork those vocal chords and you end up out of action, then we're really screwed. I'm just thinking of you, man," said Bradley, clapping Mark on the back and smiling like the kindest, most considerate buddy there ever was.
Wade hid his smirk behind his hand, as well as the laugh that followed, when Mark suddenly found himself agreeing with Bradley's plan. Grinning like a fool, he turned to glance at Wade and then at the rest of the band too.
"That cool with all o' you?" he checked.
"Sure." Jordan nodded.
"No problem here," Clayne agreed.
"I'll sing it, if it helps you out, man," Wade promised him, biting his lip in the very next second to keep from smiling too much or all out laughing again.
The second Mark stopped looking at him, Wade glanced at Bradley and his manager tipped him a wink and a grin. He really was a good guy.
"I think I forgot how good they were!" said Gigi, yelling over the increasing volume of Sippin' Whiskey's latest song. "I absolutely forgot how hot your guy is. I mean, seriously, wow!"
Zoe only laughed at her friend's enthusiasm, gazing up at the stage at the man in question. Wade really was so good to look at. There was no way Zoe had forgotten that, or any of his other positive attributes either, but she had missed him, so much. Unfortunately, for as long as he was up on stage, seeing him from afar was the best she could do. She only hoped that when the band grabbed a break, she would be able to get a few minutes of his time, but Zoe already knew it wouldn't really be enough. She wanted a real date, a dinner, a lunch even, an afternoon or evening, better yet maybe even a night with Wade. Damn, she wanted it so much she could cry.
"Hey, could I at least have your attention while he's on stage?" said Gigi, waving her hand in Zoe's face.
"You brought me here so I could see him," she reminded her friend. "Remember?"
"Could I forget?" Gigi rolled her eyes. "But I would also like to remind you that I do not currently have a guy in my life, so help a friend out, okay? You really think his band-mates are out?"
"Unless you're looking for a one-night stand, I think so." Zoe nodded. "Besides, if anybody was going to get the drummer to commit to more, I think it would've been Victoria."
"Uh-uh, no chance," said Gigi as she swallowed a large sip of her drink. "Vic moved on already. She and that guy at her work are totally having an inappropriate office relationship right now."
Zoe made a face at the way her friend phrased it. "Ugh, I don't think I could. I mean, dating someone you work with? That could get so complicated."
"I didn't say they were dating." Gigi giggled. "Just being inappropriate in the workplace," she said with a look.
"Sounds like fun to me," said a new voice.
Zoe looked up fast and her eyes went wide when she realised who she was staring at.
"You," she said, shaking her head. "Are you following me?"
"No, ma'am," he promised her. "Just a lucky coincidence."
Gigi turned on her stool to see who was there and smiled widely when she saw the man stood behind her.
"I don't think we've been introduced," she said smoothly, holding out a hand for him to shake. "Gigi Godfrey."
"Jonah Breeland," he replied, picking up her hand and raising it to his lips to kiss. "Pleasure to meet you."
"Jonah is a doctor at the hospital," Zoe explained. "We work together."
"Wait a second," said Gigi, looking from Jonah to Zoe and back twice. "He's not... You have two Southern gentlemen in your life by coincidence? He doesn't know Wade?"
"No," said Zoe at the same moment that Jonah said, "Sure, I do."
"Hold on a second, you what now?" asked Zoe, shaking her head. "You do not know my boyfriend."
Jonah followed suit and shook his head too. "I'm sorry, did you just call Wade Kinsella your boyfriend? Wow, things really have changed."
Zoe opened her mouth to say something else, but never got the chance. Sippin' Whiskey's latest song had come to an end and Mark, the lead singer, instead of announcing a break, was explaining that it was only him who was stepping off the stage for now. Apparently, Wade was going to sing the next song.
"Wait, what?" Zoe gasped. "He never sings lead."
"Apparently he does today." Gigi shrugged, grabbing Zoe's hand a second later and pulling her from her stool with such a force she almost fell. "Come on, you don't wanna miss this!"
Zoe couldn't even find a way to argue with her, because Gigi was absolutely right, she really did not want to miss it at all. They arrived in front of the stage just as Wade started strumming the opening chords of a much quieter song, though with all the people between him and Zoe, and the look of serious concentration on his face, she wasn't surprised he didn't notice her. It might have helped if she had warned him she was going to be here tonight, but Gigi had insisted that would spoil the surprise, and like a fool, Zoe had believed her.
Of course, all these thoughts and more completely evaporated from Zoe's mind when Wade started to sing. She had heard him before, both with the band and by himself, but only ever little pieces of songs, nothing like this. His voice was as good in finding a melody as it was at any other time and he sang the words like he really meant them too.
It wasn't hard for anyone who knew Wade or Zoe to realise the song was for her. Lyrics about dark hair, big brown eyes, and what sounded like a real sassy personality. Zoe didn't think it made her fat-headed to assume it was about her anyway. She knew for sure when he hit the chorus and suddenly his eyes found hers across the crowded club.
In a lot of ways, it was a terrible cliche, but Zoe didn't care. She was practically hypnotised as Wade continued to play and sing just for her, sincere in every note and every word, she was sure on that.
Though Gigi was bouncing at her side and crowds of people surrounded her still, Zoe just didn't see or hear any of them. She only knew her guy up there on stage and had real tears in her eyes that she couldn't control as Wade played the final notes of the song and smiled down at her. It really was as if nobody else existed in the whole place, despite the fact the club was packed out tonight, and just about everybody was suddenly applauding and cheering for Wade Kinsella.
Maybe Zoe ought to be proud of him, and later on, she probably would be, but for now she was just completely bowled over by how amazing Wade really was, how much he clearly cared about her. If what she was feeling for him wasn't love, then Zoe had no idea what else to call it.
To Be Continued...