"Roger, would you mind if I went back to performing? I think it'll do me some good." she asked looking up at him.
"Are you sure you're ready Baby? It's only been..." he started when she interrupted him.
"Roger, I'm ready. Please. I need to go back to performing. I need to join the land of the living again." she said looking up at him.
"OK Baby. I've been wanting to perform with you again for a long time. I miss performing with my girl." he smiled wrapping his arms around her.
"OK. I can start going to rehearsal with you tonight." she said looking up at him.
"I would love that Baby." he smiled leaning down to kiss her.
"How about we go to rehearsal and then go out to dinner afterwards? It's been a while since we've done anything like that." she suggested looking up at him.
"What about Collins?" he asked looking down at her.
"I think he'll understand that we need to have a night for just you and me." she smiled looking up at him.
"I would be honored to be seen out with my beautiful wife again." he smiled looking down at her.
"I'm sorry for the way I've been lately. It's not fair to you and I'm gonna change, OK?" she said looking up at him.
"Baby, I know you've had a really rough time lately. So have I. But it's you and me. I'm not going anywhere. We can handle anything. Even losing our son." he said quietly looking down at her.
"I know. It's just... I've been acting like I'm the only one who lost him and I'm not. You lost him too. I've been really selfish and I'm sorry." she told him as tears rose to her eyes.
"Bren, I love you and I know you love me. You haven't been selfish. You've just been dealing with it the only way you know how. It's OK. I love you anyway." he said bringing her head to his chest holding her in his arms.
"I do love you Roger. I love you so much." she said looking up at him as he wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I know Bren. Your love is the only thing that keeps me going." he whispered leaning down to kiss her.
"OK, how do I look?" Brenda asked coming out of the bedroom. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a black halter top. She still had some baby weight and was trying really hard to get it off, but it was taking a while.
"You look amazing Bren." he smiled looking up at her smiling.
"You really do Babygirl." Collins smiled looking up at her.
"Really? I don't look fat?" she asked looking over at him.
"No Baby, you don't look fat. You look amazing. Really." he smiled looking over at her.
"You are gonna rock the house." Collins smiled getting up from the couch as Roger approached her.
"Are you ready Baby?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I'm ready." she smiled looking up at him.
"Bren, I love you." he smiled looking down at her.
"I love you too Roger." she smiled as they left the loft and walked to the club. They got on stage and started performing. Roger couldn't help but smile at Brenda. It had been so long since he had seen his wife this happy, he was drinking it all in. Her smile always knocked him out and tonight was no different. As she sung the songs on their playlist, she looked at him frequently. He loved watching her. She was a vision. When they finished their first set, Roger took his guitar off and lifted her up into his arms.
"You were amazing Baby. I missed seeing you like that." he said looking up at her.
"I missed being like that." she laughed leaning down to kiss him.
"You are the most beautiful woman in the world." he smiled looking up at her.
"Thank you Roger." she smiled as he let her down.
"For what Baby?" he asked confused.
"For not giving up on me when I gave up on myself." she said looking up at him.
"I could never give up on you Brenda. I love you more than anything in this world. I have since the second I saw you. You have to know that." he said looking down at her.
"I do." she smiled wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him tight. They did 2 more sets before that went better than the first one. When they finished their show, they hung out for a little while. Roger and Brenda drank beer and laughed with the band.
"I'm gonna go outside with Joe for a minute. I'll be right back." he smiled leaning down to kiss Brenda before he followed his friend outside.
"OK Baby." she smiled watching her husband and Joe leave the bar.
"Hey, you were really great tonight." a man said standing next to Brenda.
"Thanks, really. I appreciate it." she smiled lifting the beer to her mouth to drink.
"I'm James." he smiled holding his hand out to her.
"Brenda." she smiled putting her drink down to shake his hand.
"Is that blond guy your boyfriend or something?" he asked looking down at her.
"Husband, actually." she smiled looking up at him.
"You look too young to be married. How old are you?" he asked looking down at her.
"I'm 20. We got married on my 18th birthday." she smiled looking up at him. He had dark hair and brown eyes.
"You got married on your 18th birthday?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah. Roger was going to school in Boston and on my 18th birthday he surprised me by driving to my house to ask me to marry him. We left that night and got married in Jersey." she smiled as Roger came up behind her.
"Baby, I got something for you." he whispered kissing her ear.
"Roger this is James. James, this is my husband Roger." she smiled looking back at Roger.
"Hey, I was just telling your wife how great you guys were tonight." James smiled holding his hand out to shake Roger's.
"Yeah, she's awesome, isn't she?" he asked smiling down at her.
"Yeah, she's great." James smiled looking down at Brenda too.
"So, what do you have for me?" she asked looking up at Roger.
"Come here." he smiled taking her hand and leading her outside. "Joe gave this to me. He said it rocks." he smiled holding a marijuana cigarette out to her.
"Is this pot Roger?" she asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, Joe said it's excellent." he smiled looking down at her.
"What's so excellent about it?" she asked looking at it.
"Let's smoke it and find out." he smiled looking down at her.
"OK." she smiled as he lit the joint and handed it to her. As they handed it off to one another they got high. The effect hit Brenda very quickly. She started feeling like her head was really heavy. Roger held her in his arms and kissed her neck. "Roger, I'm feeling really lightheaded." she whispered looking over at him.
"You're high Baby. It's OK. Just let it take effect." he smiled running his fingers through her long blond hair.
"I love you Roger." she mumbled leaning against his chest.
"I love you too Bren." he smiled as they enjoyed their high.
"Are we out of shit?" Roger asked looking around the bedroom.
"Yeah, sorry Baby. I think me and Collins smoked the last of it this afternoon." she told him sitting on the couch with a notebook on her lap.
"OK, I'm just gonna have to get more from Joe. Do you wanna go out and do something tonight?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I'd really like that. What do you wanna do?" she asked looking up at him.
"Maybe hang out around the corner." he suggested sitting next to her.
"OK. We could do that. When are you meeting up with Joe?" she asked looking up at him.
"I gotta call him, but I'm probably meeting him across town, like usual." he said looking down at her.
"OK. So I can meet you at the bar later." she smiled looking up at him.
"OK Baby. I'm gonna go call Joe and then I have to get more guitar stings and picks. But I'll be there OK?" he smiled leaning down to kiss her.
"OK Baby. I love you." she smiled tilting her head back.
"I love you too Bren." he smiled kissing her again, but this time longer and harder than before.
"Roger, I thought you had things to do?" she asked looking up at him.
"It can wait. I wanna make love to my beautiful, sexy, amazing wife." he smiled leaning her back on the couch and they began to make love.
"Hey Brenda. Where's Roger?" James asked as Brenda entered the bar.
"He had a couple of things to do, but he's meeting me here later. So what's going on?" she asked looking up at him.
"Nothing much. Just hanging out. Do you want a drink/" he asked lifting his hand to the bartender.
"Um.. yeah. I could go for a drink." she smiled looking up at him. "I'll be right back." she said before going to the bathroom. When the bartender placed the beer on the bar, James looked around to make sure no one was looking before he put something in her drink. The next morning Brenda woke up in hers and Roger's bed. She didn't remember what happened the night before, but she didn't think she drank that much. She got up out of her bed and had a raging headache. When she went into the main room, Roger was sitting on the couch playing his guitar.
"Hey Baby. I'm sorry about last night. Me and Joe got into something. But I'll make it up to you, I promise." he said putting the guitar down and going to her.
"It's OK. Um... what time is it?" she asked holding her head.
"Almost noon. How much did you drink last night?" he asked looking down at her.
"Not much. At least, I don't think I drank that much. But I don't remember." she said looking up at him.
"You're not gonna start getting drunk all the time again, are you?" he asked looking down at her.
"No, I'm not. Maybe I should go in the shower. It might make me feel better." she said looking up at him.
"OK Baby. If it doesn't why don't you lay down and I'll take care of you today." he suggested before leaning down to kiss her.
"OK." she smiled before going into the bathroom. As she ran the shower she began taking her clothes off. She noticed a couple of bruises on her upper thighs. She looked at them intently trying to remember where she had gotten them. The more she looked at them the more the events of the night before flashed back to her. She leaned against the wall and slid down it as she began crying softly. "Oh my God." she whispered putting her hands over her mouth so Roger wouldn't hear her. She remembered James kissing her and him bringing her to the side alley of the bar and them having sex. She couldn't believe it. She cheated on Roger. But how did it happen? She had never thought about cheating on Roger before. She loved Roger and he was the only man she ever wanted to be with. The only thing she could think of was that James drugged her. That's why she didn't remember anything from the night before and that would have been the only way she would have sex with him. It wasn't her fault. She took a breath and wiped her face before stepping into the shower. She scrubbed her body furiously to get clean. Roger couldn't know. If she told him, it would kill him. Since she was drugged, she decided not to tell him. It would do no good telling him. All he would want to do was kill James and she didn't want Roger getting into trouble. So he would never know.