The Secret That Intervened

by Lisa Marie Stum

  “Too bad Chloe’s sleeping,” I said, thinking about the guitar in my truck.

  She looked over to me. “Your presence is enough inspiration.”

  I watched as she immersed her brush in purple paint and quickly sketched out a silhouette of a flower. That she was able to take an image in her mind and put it onto canvas the way she did amazed me. She was just naturally gifted at it, and didn’t even hesitate as she made the strokes.

  I picked up a paintbrush and dipped the tip of it into yellow paint. Teasing her, I waved it near her cheek. She touched my nose with the tip of her brush.

  “Careful now, isn’t that what started it all?” she teased me.

  “No.” I lifted her chin and looked her in the eyes. “It started long before that, but fate intervened so we would have Chloe in our lives.”

  Chapter 18 - Erin

  A meticulously landscaped lawn stretched out around me as I made my way down the brick walkway of my parents’ English Tudor-style home. My suitcase dragged behind me, flailing about as it hit the grooves between the bricks.

  JT opened the back door of the small blue six-row school bus that the band had rented. I rolled the suitcase over to him, hesitating for a moment, before realizing the asshole wasn’t going to help me with it. I jammed the hard plastic handle down and crammed it between the equipment and other luggage that occupied the back half of the bus.

  Matt must have decided to be a jerk and pressed on the gas, because a wave of smoke came rushing toward me. I waved my hand in front of my nose to clear it while JT latched the back door.

  Shit, my box.

  “I’ll be back,” I said, before jogging to my black three-series BMW in the driveway. My father purchased it for my last birthday out of guilt for being away on a business trip instead of attending the dinner my mother planned for me. That’s how he was…always trying to control me with gifts and money.

  With no bills to my name (Daddy dearest paid ALL of them) and a weekly allowance of five hundred dollars, I was able to do whatever I wanted. Expectations? Shit, no one had any of me. Well, except my mother. If the bitch told me one more time that I needed to lose weight I might kill her. I was 120 pounds and I’m pretty sure that was an okay weight at any height. Then again, this was a woman who carefully timed her eating and purging so she didn’t lose any of the medicinal magic of the pills she devoured like candy.

  After popping the trunk open, I pulled out a small cardboard box that contained five bottles of alcohol. It wasn’t like we really needed that many, but I liked variety. Underneath it was a crushed bag of clothing that I had forgotten about completely. I slid the handles of the bag around my arm, hoping that there was something better in it than what I had packed.

  I looked back to call to JT to help me with the box, but the fucker was nowhere in sight, obviously already back on the bus. After cussing him out mentally, I rested the box under my arm and against my hip, then closed the trunk.

  Walking back down the driveway, I saw my mother arguing with the gardeners. I was sure that she assumed that they were too stupid to understand her, instead of realizing she was probably talking in a string of sentences that weren’t comprehendible…babbling on about the shit that would only ever make sense inside her own fucked up mind. I shook my head in disgust, and proceeded to the bus.

  I pressed the box tightly against my body as I gripped the handrail, careful not to drop it.

  “Whatcha got there?” Matt asked me.

  I curled my lip up. “Fun.” I slid the box onto the seat behind Matt, and then headed to the seat opposite JT, in the third row back. Resting my back against the side of the bus, I stretched my legs out and planted my feet firmly on the seat.

  “Are we picking up Cody next?” I pulled the hood of my black sweatshirt over my head and tugged on the strings. I’d been looking forward to having time with Cody outside of the Dark Horse. There was no way in hell that JT would care or even pick up on that fact.

  “No, Peyton and him are driving up together,” JT said.

  Talk about disappointment. I’d heard that he was now with Hailey officially. It stung worse than I ever could’ve anticipated. Now, I was on a mission to win at this and beat Hailey at her own game.

  I crossed my arms in front of me and let out a sigh. “Where’s Zach?”

  “We’re picking him up next.”

  As Matt drove off, JT pinched a small bag between his thumb and index finger and motioned for me to catch it. He threw it at me before I was ready. It missed my hands and landed in my lap.

  “Same thing as before?” I asked as I picked it up.

  He raised one eyebrow, furrowing the other as he nodded. I smiled and then tucked it inside my purse.

  ***

  I plopped my suitcase onto the queen bed next to the windows in the hotel room. JT tossed his duffle bag onto the table, and then took a seat in the chair next to it. He lit a cigarette and sunk back, forearms dangling over the arm rests.

  After unzipping my suitcase, I pulled out a pack of red plastic cups. I ripped off the wrapping, tossed it in the trash, and placed the cups next to the box of alcohol on the dresser. Snatching up the ice bucket, I paused and considered what I’d packed in my suitcase.

  “Shit, we didn’t bring anything to mix the alcohol with,” I said.

  “Little Miss Everclear can’t handle it straight?”

  “Of course I can, but I don’t want to get bombed.”

  “I’m sure there’s a soda machine next to the ice, genius.” JT flicked his cigarette into the ashtray.

  I didn’t bother to snap back. That he had just sarcastically called ME a genius made my life. Oh, the irony of the dumbest person ever known to existence saying that to me was not lost…not lost at all. Still laughing underneath my breath, I grabbed my purse off the bed and headed to the door.

  A maid had stopped her cart two doors down. “Can you tell me where I can get ice?”

  “No Ingles.”

  I held the ice bucket up and the maid pointed to the end of the hall and motioned that it was to the right.

  I filled the bucket with ice and then threw some change into the soda machine. As the can dropped, I heard footsteps approaching. I turned my head to the doorway and smirked.

  “Well, look who it is,” Jason said, leaning forward as he gripped the sides of the entranceway.

  “Hey, there,” I said, grabbing the soda from the machine. I laid it on top of the ice and took a few steps toward him. I swirled the bottom of his tie around my finger and flashed him my seductive look…eyes searching his, the bottom of my lip squeezed oh so lightly between my teeth. “Pretty sharp suit.” I kept my eyes on his, giving a slight tug to his tie. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was here all week for work, but I heard all of Milbourny would be here tonight, so I decided to stick around.” He looked me up and down.

  “Not all; your girl won’t be around.”

  “I figured as much.”

  I took a tiny step forward, our feet almost touching, intentionally violating his personal space even more. “Maybe we should hang out later?” I licked my lip with the tip of my tongue, then left my mouth parted slightly.

  “Maybe,” he said coyly as he eyed my cleavage.

  “Hmm.” I released his tie and ran my hand up his shirt. “What do you want?”

  He looked me over again, and sucked in a shallow breath.

  “I meant what kind of soda do you want? That’s why you came in here, right?”

  “I’ll take a root beer.”

  After dropping some change into the machine, I handed him the soda. “Thanks for not returning my texts,” I snapped at him.

  He looked at his watch. “Listen, I got to go. It was good seeing you. Maybe we’ll run into each other later.”

  “See ya.” I laughed, amused that I made him uncomfortable.

  ***

  The room buzzed with a cacophony of voices as I handed my license to the bouncer. I had gotten ready while JT
went to help the band set up.

  I placed my license back into my wallet and searched the room for JT.

  A girl with closely cropped red hair and a blonde whose hair was stick-straight stood next to him at the bar. The blonde’s hair barely grazed her shoulders as she leaned in to JT so she could hear what he was saying. Their body language suggested that they knew each other, and I was happy to have some potential new people to hang out with.

  I approached the bar and flung my purse over the chair next to JT. I leaned around him and extended my hand across the bar and introduced myself to the blonde and then to the redhead. The blonde’s name was Casey and the red’s was Lacy…mentally known forever to me as Clasey.

  JT grabbed his beer and told the girls it was time for him to go on. The shithead didn’t even acknowledge me before he left.

  I slid over to JT’s now unoccupied seat, next to the blonde, bringing my purse with me, and asked, “So, how do you guys know JT?”

  I was never interested in the stuff JT told me about himself, but what other’s had to say certainly interested me…a lot.

  “We met him at a show three years ago,” the blonde said.

  “Do you know why he moved out of Philadelphia?” I asked, hoping they would spill the details. The only thing I really knew about him was that he liked booze, drugs, alcohol, and sex. Oh, and that his full name was Jacob Tyler.

  I couldn’t contemplate why he would move from a place like Philadelphia to Milbourny. He told me he was “looking for a change.” His reasoning never rang true to me. I often went with my gut about people, which more often than not was right.

  “Well…” the girl hesitated. “No one really knows for sure. There’s rumors, of course. The other band members said it was a falling-out.”

  The redhead interrupted, leaning toward me with a surreptitious look, implying she was eager to tell a secret. “Some people say it was the drugs he was doing.” She looked around, and then lowered her voice. “Other people say that girls were complaining about him.”

  I shot her a curious look. “So, do tell more.”

  “But we’ve never had any issue with him,” the blonde interrupted, and flashed the redhead a look that warned her not to continue. I couldn’t see her entire facial expression, but I could tell by the side of her face that she had raised her eyebrows, and also noted the way she had slightly lowered her head while doing so.

  I decided not to push my luck and encouraged the girls to go dance with me instead. The last thing I wanted was to spend the night hanging out with people from the Dark Horse. We twisted our way through crowds of people, pulling our drinks close to our chests as we made our way to the front of the stage.

  ***

  Jason passed by me and Clasey as we stood in line outside of the bathroom. I told them to text me when they got closer and then followed behind him into a smaller room that was fairly quiet in comparison to the room the band was playing in.

  “Jason,” I called out behind him.

  He stopped, turned around and searched through the crowd to see who was calling his name. “Oh, hey,” he said when he spotted me. “Come to the bar with me.”

  At most, the room had twenty people in it, and there was no need to shout simply to have a conversation.

  “I owe you for the soda you bought me earlier.” He ordered beers after we took a seat at the bar.

  “Have you seen Hailey?” Jason asked.

  Why the fuck was he asking me about Hailey? So sick of everyone’s obsession with that bitch.

  “Interesting you ask. Cody and I were seeing each other until she arrived back in town.” I rolled my eyes. “I think she found out and got jealous. She’s just manipulating him like she always has. And it’s just another passive aggressive attack at me. Whatever, at least I own my shit.”

  He shot me a dismissive look. “I figured she’d run to him,” Jason said, grabbing his beer from the bar.

  I looked him over. He had on a pressed shirt and black dress pants. “Why did she leave New York? I heard you kicked her out.”

  “Nah, it was a mutual agreement. She was ready for something I wasn’t.”

  I got the feeling he was telling me the truth, albeit not the full truth.

  “Oh? Did she want to get married?” I asked, prodding for information and some gossip to spread around.

  He looked away and then dropped his head. “I’m not in the mood to talk about it.”

  My phone beeped…it was Clasey, letting me know that our turn was up. “I’ll be right back, save my seat.” I didn’t want to go, but I would surely have pissed myself in the next two minutes if I didn’t.

  ***

  If there was one person that could have made me feel better about the Cody situation it was Jason. But I wasn’t interested in that… I wanted to see if I could get a reaction out of Cody…a jealous one. It had certainly worked for Hailey.

  After using the restroom I returned to the bar to find Jason. He was still sitting where I had left him. I approached him from behind and whispered in his ear, “Remember the last time?” I spun his chair around. He grabbed me by the hips, pulling me against him, his hands finally resting on my ass. I had a great ass.

  “Let’s go dance,” I said.

  I’m sure the memory of the strip tease I did for him the day he moved to New York flashed into his mind. I was his type…in bed.

  I led him by the hand and searched the room for a spot where Cody would surely spot us, certain that jealousy of Jason was what had made Cody so nuts about Hailey. The wall next to the entrance was the least crowded; he could’ve easily picked us out of the crowd, especially from his vantage point.

  I began to dance seductively with my back almost against the wall and then guided Jason’s hand toward my ass. I grabbed the back of his head, pulling his lips to my neck. I slid my head to the side and looked at Cody on the stage.

  Cody danced around while singing. Swarms of people were in front of the stage. I doubted he would see us. Then he looked right at us, and his eyes held mine. He threw the microphone down and jumped from the stage, disappearing into the crowd. JT picked up the microphone and continued the song.

  Suddenly, Cody broke free from the crowd and charged toward Jason. I jumped aside. Cody gripped the back of Jason’s head and slammed the side of his face into the wall.

  The band went silent, and every head in the room turned at the commotion as the regular lights came on. The bouncers were quick to restrain Cody, and escort Jason out of the bar.

  Cody screamed, “You fucking come anywhere near her again, I’ll kill you!”

  That’s really not the reaction I’d expected. I thought flirting with Jason would get Cody’s attention later, after the show. I didn’t think he’d actually attack Jason. That’s not to say that I cared that Jason got hurt, because I didn’t care at all. But I was shocked I was able to elicit such a strong response from Cody. Rivalry was awesome.

  Clasey was quickly at my side, asking me if I was okay.

  “Let’s go outside to smoke a cigarette.”

  The girls agreed.

  Lacy handed me a cigarette and then her lighter.

  I lit my cigarette and sucked in a long drag.

  I exhaled a stream of smoke. “That was scary.”

  “What the hell happened?” Lacy asked.

  “I don’t know. I was dancing with a guy I used to hook up with, and then out of nowhere Cody charged him.”

  “Jealousy?” Casey asked.

  “Definitely,” I said with the most satisfaction I’ve felt in a long time.

  Chapter 19 - Cody

  Peyton and I left Philadelphia as soon as the Saturday night show finished. I had apologized profusely to the owner of the bar, told him it wouldn’t happen again and explained the reasons why I flipped like I did. He’d had something similar happen to his sister and understood, but he told me stuff like that couldn’t happen again.

  I spent the day on Saturday hanging out with Peyton in the city. The
rest of the band had stayed up late partying. When we were setting up the equipment for the second show, JT told me that Erin thought I’d attacked Jason because of her. My only response to that was, “Man, she had absolutely nothing to do with it.” Girl was weird, and I wished I had never slept with her.

  “See you later,” I said to Peyton as I shut the door to his car. I tapped on the hood before jogging to Hailey’s door. She knew I was going to have Peyton drop me off at her place instead of going home.

  I slipped off my jeans and pulled off my T-shirt. Slipping under the covers next to her, I caught the scent of her hair and the faint sweetness of her perfume. I slid my arm underneath her and my other arm around her and pulled her tight to my bare chest.

  The love I had for her defied everything I previously thought was possible. Thoughts of her invaded my mind non-stop and I would do anything in the world to make her happy. I’d been saving up for a ring for her, which was why I’d wanted to perform at the venue in Philadelphia. We had earned five times what we would have earned at the Dark Horse.

  I’d planned on proposing to her under the oak tree on her birthday. The prior week I’d bought a journal. It had a white cover and the edges of the pages were trimmed with silver. I planned on cutting into the center and placing the ring there. I’d already written, “Will you marry me?” on the top of the first page. All there was left to do was save up the money for the ring.

  I kissed Hailey on her neck.

  “Hi,” she said before turning around.

  We repositioned ourselves so she was lying on my chest.

  “You must be exhausted,” she said.

  “I am, but at this point I’m just going to stay up. My schedule is so damn difficult as it is, I don’t want to throw it off by sleeping all day. I just wanted to be next to you. It’s all I could think about since Friday night.”

  She looked up and kissed me. It wasn’t an easy thing to be in bed with her, especially with wanting her the way I did. But I needed her to know that I wanted her heart, mind, and soul first. Of course I thought about sex. A lot. But that’s all that existed in my prior relationships, if you could call them that. Just lust. No missing the other person, no kind of emotional depth, and certainly no connection that made my heart race every time I felt it.