My Night with a Rockstar

by Mankin, Michelle

  “Oh, well, that’s a start.”

  “Apparently it was delivered to the wrong floor. The neighbor lady below us brought the package up this afternoon.”

  I stopped, a frown forming. “You’re a piece of work, dude.”

  “Don’t I know it. Look, I’m going to be honest with you—and please don’t get used to it—but I’ve been going through a rough time the last few months, feeling sorry for myself. I took it out on you, and that was a crappy thing to do. I wanted to say I’m sorry now just in case, you know, I don’t make it.”

  “Stop it, Chad. I don’t want your apology. Don’t assume you’re the only player in this dysfunctional relationship of ours. You realize I sometimes make stuff up just to start a fight with you, right?”

  “I knew it,” he chuckled, his voice cutting out toward the end. I could hear him weakening with every passing second.

  I squeezed around the toppled beam and got my first close up look at what Chad was dealing with…what I was about to deal with. And it wasn’t good. Chad wasn’t just buried in crumbled concrete and dust, he had actual cinder blocks holding him down.

  “I’m here,” I said, crouching down to eye level.

  “Can you please not make that face?” he said, wincing. “I’m already freaked out.”

  “Sorry,” I replied, heaving the smallest solid chunks of concrete off of him as I fought back a sudden onset of tears. Not here. Not now. My sorrow was the last thing he needed, so I swallowed the emotion and adopted a grimace. “Got my game face on now.”

  “Much better.”

  “Let’s start over,” I said, forcing a smile. “Hi, I’m Dani, and I’ll be your hero for the day.”

  Chad managed a half-cocked smile. “Not that I’m dissing your superpowers, but you wouldn’t by chance have a phone handy to call 911, would you?”

  I shook my head. “I wish. You?”

  “No. My best guess is it’s somewhere near the earth’s core by now.”

  I followed his eyes downward. Yeah, there was no phone. This was going to be a one-woman operation… and there was no time to waste. I continued with the rescue proceedings by creating a small pocket of wiggle room behind him, an area for him to lean away from the weight of the concrete boulders that were too heavy for me to move with one arm. With some of the pressure relieved, Chad dragged in deep, life-saving breaths, his first ones since the walls came crashing down.

  Before we could celebrate that small step forward, an angry fault line conspired to take us two steps back. The ground rumbled.

  Aftershock.

  Chad and I locked eyes, and I knew before he spoke what he was going to say.

  “Go!” he insisted. “Get out of here!”

  He was right. I should go. This was my life we were talking about. But what about Chad? I couldn’t just leave him to face his fate alone. With the earth quivering ruthlessly below us, I flung myself over him and together we rode out the lingering remnants of the half-hearted quake.

  When it was over, I lifted my head and cautiously looked around. Everything had pretty much remained where it had fallen, even the assembly of concrete stacked Jenga-style in front of him.

  “Okay, well…that earthquake was a bit of a pussy, wouldn’t you say?”

  He shook his head, not appreciating my workplace humor. “You never listen, do you?”

  Seems like we’d established that fact long ago. “I could say the same thing about you.”

  “I’m serious, Dani. If you don’t go now, you’re going to die in here…right beside me.”

  Like I didn’t understand the risks. I knew what I was doing, and no one got to decide my fate but me…and maybe that bitch Mother Nature. “Sure, Chad. I’m going to die. You’re going to die. But neither one of us is going to die today.”

  That silenced my quake date.

  “Let me hear you say it, Chad. ‘Dani is my hero.’”

  Never had he repeated back one of my lines correctly, and I didn’t expect it of him today either.

  “Dani is my hero,” he said.

  Well, I’ll be damned. Miracles did happen. I smiled, liking the sound of his submission. Victory at last.

  Resuming the dusty work, I dug for another few more minutes until I touched skin, making us both jump. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “No,” he answered, straight-faced. “Just my arm.”

  “Oh,” I laughed. “Making funnies now, I see.”

  He smiled, his face registering the first real signs of hope. I doubled down then, wanting to see more of that faith in his eyes. Unfortunately, the excavation wasn’t nearly as agreeable to the shard of glass still wedged inside my arm. With every movement, excruciating pain shot all the way to my fingertips. But the discomfort was all worth it when Chad’s arm finally emerged from the earth… and he used it to hug me.

  Both stunned and flattered, I slung my good arm around one of his broad shoulders and hung on tight. I half expected him to squirm away like a skittish cat, but Chad seemed to be in no hurry to let go. Although, to be fair, he was trapped in a hole in the earth. It’s not like he could really get away from my public displays of affection. He turned his head, his soft breath whispering into my ear, “You’re my hero, Dani.”

  Okay, I was in love. No, seriously. If we both survived, I’d be stalking the shit out of his ass.

  When we finally broke apart, things were different between us. We were no longer warring neighbors. Now we were full-fledged colleagues. And, working as a team, things moved faster, with his added arm strength helping to topple the concrete holding him in place. Within minutes, we not only had his other arm free but we’d also dug Chad out to his belly button.

  “Hey,” he said, his voice cutting through the silence. I looked up to find his long-lashed bronzed eyes ringed with red. His words splintered as he spoke. “Just so you know, I’m not going to forget this. What you did for me…”

  “You would have done the same for me.”

  “I would’ve tried,” he said, holding my gaze. “But I’m no you.”

  “No, that’s true.” I grinned, loving this newfound side of Chad Woodcock.

  “When we get out of here, I’m going to make it up to you in a big way.”

  “Yeah? And how do you plan to do that?”

  “By buying you whatever you want.”

  It was a weird thing for him to say. He lived next door to me, so clearly, Chad wasn’t bathing in cash. It made me realize I knew absolutely nothing about this man. I wasn’t even sure if he worked. Did he have family? Friends? No one ever came to visit him…ever. I studied him now, getting perhaps my first full and unobstructed view of his shaggy face, and to my surprise, he looked oddly familiar. Not the neighbor-next-door familiar either. There was something about him…

  “Oh, okay,” I chuckled, pointing to my mangled car. “How ’bout we start with that?”

  “Done.”

  My eyes widened. “Done? Just like that? You’re going to buy me a car?”

  “That’s right.”

  “With what money? Do you have a trust fund that doesn’t mature until you’re thirty or something?”

  “No, I’m a self-made millionaire.”

  I scoffed. More like self-made working-class poor, if you asked me. But what struck me about Chad was how effortlessly he could lie. All right, fine, I’d take the bait. “Wow, Chad, I had no idea I was living next door to such a big shot.”

  “That’s right.” He grinned.

  Our eyes met. Even entombed, Chad was so full of shit. “Okay, Moneybags. Since you’re waving your make-believe cash around, I’ll take a steel-blue Jeep Wrangler.”

  “Two or four doors?” he asked, acting as if this little fantasy of ours was reality.

  “Hmm…” I smiled. “What the heck, let’s make it a four.”

  “Sounds good. Four-door it is.”

  I glanced up, smiling at our little game, but surprised to find him not returning the gesture. I stopped digging, confused by ou
r conversation, but before I could question him further, Chad grabbed my wrist, and I could see the color drain from his face.

  “What?”

  “We’re done.”

  “What do you mean, ‘we’re done’?”

  Chad swept away a layer of dust to reveal a concrete slab pressing down on his upper thighs, the weight of which neither of us could hope to remove with our bare hands.

  He shook his head.

  “Oh, god,” I gulped, a stream of tears instantly falling from my eyes and cutting dusty ravines along my cheeks. “We can… maybe if…”

  “No. It’s time for you to go. Get help.”

  He was right. I knew he was, but the idea of leaving him alone and vulnerable pained me. We weren’t just neighbors anymore. As weird as it sounded, we were bonded now, his fate forever tied to mine. Decades might pass without seeing each other, but neither of us would ever forget.

  “Go, Dani. Find a phone. Call for help. I’ll be okay.”

  I stood up, hesitant but resigned. It really was the only way.

  “Okay,” I said. “But I’ll be back.”

  “No, you won’t.”

  “Yes, Chad. I’ll call 911, tell them where we are, and then I’ll come back.”

  “Dani,” he sighed. “You have to get as far away from this building as you can.”

  “I won’t do that,” I answered stubbornly.

  “It’ll be worse for me if I have to worry about you coming back here. Look, I’ll make you a deal. If you promise me you won’t come back, I’ll promise you that I’ll come out of this alive.”

  I understood that he didn’t want to be responsible for my death any more than I wanted to be for his, and if it made Chad happier to think I wasn’t coming back, then so be it. With my fingers crossed behind my back, I replied. “I promise.”

  “Thank god.” He let a breath out. “She does listen.”

  I caught his eye. “Don’t get used to it.”

  “Never. See you on the other side.”

  I nodded, turning to leave.

  “Oh, and Dani?” Chad called out to me. “Tell them RJ Contreras is trapped in the parking garage.”

  I spun back around, puzzled. “Wait, RJ Contreras—from AnyDayNow? Why would I tell them that?”

  Chad raised a brow as he waited for me to catch up.

  My mouth dropped open.

  Oh, my god—that wasn’t Chad Woodcock.

  RJ

  World’s Worst Lois Lane

  Darkness fell on the parking garage. The fractured hole in the ceiling above had served as my only source of light, and now that it was gone, I’d been swallowed up in blackness. My best guess was I’d been trapped inside for more than three hours, and still no bulldozed walls. No first responders calling my name. No signs whatsoever of any help coming my way.

  It was hard to rationalize the reason why. I knew Dani was trying—that she’d put everything she had into getting me help—but what if there was no help to be got? What if the world outside of the parking garage was worse than the one inside? Visions of an apocalyptic landscape took shape every time another aftershock rattled my brain. With each bleak hour that passed, I could feel my future fading away.

  Come on, Dani. Be my hero.

  She really was my only ally in this fucked up reality. Still, she was a highly iffy safety net. I wasn’t even sure if Dani had made it out alive. With my neighbor navigating her way to freedom through unknown conditions, anything could have happened between here and the point of extraction. That was assuming there even was a way out—one that wasn’t blocked by mountains of concrete and steel.

  But no, I couldn’t think that way. If anyone could make it out alive, it would be scrappy Dani Malone, a woman who wasn’t afraid to be brave in a world that had, minutes earlier, tried to claim her. There really was no better advocate. If Dani made it out of this parking garage, I knew she’d be tirelessly campaigning for my release, using that mouth of hers for good, not evil.

  I was in awe of this woman evolving before my eyes. Never would I have thought the little fireball I enjoyed igniting day after day had the fortitude of a warrior. But there she was rolling up her sleeves and digging me out of hell. Everything I ever thought I knew about her had to be revised. This woman was stronger than I’d ever given her credit for. Just the way she handled an emergency made me think she’d either been a hostage negotiator in a previous life; or perhaps dealing with small kids all day gave her an amazing ability to assess and react to stressful situations. But whatever it was that made Dani so kickass in crisis was what I wanted—no, needed—in my life. I’d been fragmented for too long, and Dani was the precious metal that could solder me back together again.

  Of course, there was no guarantee the girl would even have me. Clearly, I had some explaining to do. Like why I’d treated her so badly for so long. The simple answer being that I wasn’t a good person; never had been. But then, look who my role model had been growing up. Was it any wonder? It wasn’t like I’d had sturdy, selfless men in my life to show me the way. Everything I’d learned about treating women with respect had come from a man who treated his own without an ounce.

  Coming into fame and fortune as a teenager hadn’t helped the situation either. The women I met were enablers, putting up with my shit for the opulent benefits it afforded them. If they left me, they left the lifestyle too. So, they stayed until I inevitably kicked them to the curb for a new woman and a new cycle of exploits. But Dani had no attachment to that life. She’d only known me as Chad, a down-on-his-luck asshole with anger issues, and yet, with everything on the line, she’d risen to the occasion, choosing kindness and compassion over her own wellness and safety. I didn’t deserve her devotion, I knew that, but somehow, I sensed her act of selflessness could become the stepping stone I needed to become a better man. A more patient man. A more loving one.

  Everything my father was not.

  Father. I used the word loosely. The man had raised me and I carried his name, but he wasn’t blood. I was the result of a ‘break’ in my parents’ marriage, a time when they were legally separated and awaiting divorce. As she reluctantly told it, Mom had had a dalliance with a faceless, nameless drifter after he’d helped her with her broken-down car one stormy night twenty-five years before. With two little boys in tow and pregnant with me, my mother had gone back to the man she was in the process of divorcing and begged his forgiveness. And, that man had become my father.

  What would he think of me now, trapped inside this concrete tomb? Of course he’d say what he always said. That it was my fault. That I was stupid. Weak. A fucking failure. Yeah, I got the message loud and clear. I was the bastard child. Thanks, asshole. And yet still I pandered to the man, to my mother, to my brothers. I paid their mortgages and their cars and the lifestyles they hadn’t earned. Why? Pressure. Loyalty. Survivor’s guilt. They’d ask me how I could live the rock star life knowing they struggled to pay the bills. But they only struggled because they’d stopped trying, preferring to live off my good graces over slaving away at a full-time job. But the money was never enough. They were always asking for more. Always wanting.

  And if I wasn’t swift enough with the monetary relief, they did things—really shitty things—like selling me out for a quick buck. My oldest brother had even written a tell-all about me to cash in on my fame. Maybe if he’d actually told the truth—the whole truth and nothing but—I would’ve respected him more. But that wasn’t how my brother had chosen to tell the story of my life, of his life, and of the family secrets we’d all sworn to protect.

  One thing was for sure: none of them would ever have stepped in front of a moving train to save my life like Dani had done. What did it say about me that a woman who was barely more than an acquaintance cared more about me than my own family? Come to think of it, why did she care? It certainly wasn’t for my winning personality or my eight-figure bank account or my famous face. Dani had no clue who I was, that much had been evident from her stunned reaction hou
rs earlier when I’d shared the jaw-dropping news.

  “You’re RJ Contreras?” she queried, her lips pursed in utter distaste.

  “Yes,” I confirmed.

  “You?” she queried again.

  “Yes,” I reconfirmed. “I think we’ve established that already.”

  “No. We haven’t established shit,” she snapped back.

  I raised my brows, surprised by her anger. Most girls just dropped to their knees in worship. But not Dani. Never Dani. She wasn’t most girls.

  Stomping back over to me, she bent down and grabbed my face, tilting it from side to side as I patently waited for her to confirm my identity. Finally, she let it go and backed away.

  “Well, isn’t this a treat,” she replied, not appearing the least bit pleased. “RJ Contreras in the house.”

  “In the parking garage, yes,” I corrected, her humorously unstable reaction causing amusement to sweep over my face. “You know, you really are the worst Lois Lane ever. I mean, I thought Margot Kidder was bad, not being able to tell that Clark Kent was actually Superman because he took off his glasses, but you…Dani…Jesus. You really have no excuse.”

  “Uh-huh,” she grimaced. “You have no idea how much I want to kick dirt in your face right now.”

  A grin hitched the corner of my lips. Dani was like a wild animal, her reactions so primal and authentic you wondered if she’d been born into a pack. It was what had drawn me to her in the first place. She didn’t hide her flaws, nor did she care to be perfect…although being right, well, that was another story. In the ritzy world I inhabited, Dani’s straightforward approach was a refreshing change of pace. I wanted her energy in my life. Needed it. Especially if I was committed to making a change. Which I was. You didn’t escape death just to go back to being the same shitty human you’d always been. No, if I lived, I’d be different. Better. Like Dani.

  My mind wandered back to those last seconds with her standing above me with a disappointed frown on her face, and all I could think was, ‘Get in line, babe.’ There was plenty of that dissatisfaction to go around.

  “Um…Dani?” I said, taping my wrist. “The clock is ticking. End of the world, remember?”