It was already nearing lunchtime by then, so we opted to go outside in the sun and spend an hour getting the basic moves down. Being professionals, they nailed it all quickly, and I asked them to think about feedback before the next rehearsal. Jill and Jessica finally left for the malls with the crew car and two of the guys tagging along, while Trina, Kate, and I took a walk around the adjacent park and ate lunch.
I headed back to my home for a shower, but Travis caught me at the door. “You’re a busy lady,” he drawled as he blocked my way. I nodded sheepishly, knowing I’d been putting him off and wagering if I could manage to do it any longer. Then, I wondered why I felt the need to put him off at all.
“Yeah, I somehow got a new task of choreographing a dance, and it’s taking quite a bit of my time. How have you been? The shows seem to be going well.”
“Going just fine. Biding my time ’til I can headline my own show instead of opening. I think you’re trying to change the subject, and I’m afraid I can’t let you do it again. Go to dinner with me tonight.” It was definitely not a question and felt pushy, which was on par with his usual behavior.
I swallowed and realized I needed to face the situation, totally out of excuses. “Sure, that would be fine, I—”
“Pick you up at seven.” He cut me off, tipped his hat, and disappeared. He certainly was different from anyone I’d dated. However, none of them lasted, so maybe it was a good thing.
I missed Jackson during the day between band practice, his work out, and my run over to use the laundry. We finally ran into each other as I stood in the full-length mirror at six forty-five, and he brought trays of steaming chicken Alfredo into the kitchen.
He whistled low when he looked over my sundress and peep toe heels. I quickly slipped on my jean jacket to make my look more casual. He looked confused and finally realized I was going out. “What’s the occasion?” he asked innocently.
My cheeks burned fiercely under his scrutiny, and I tried to sound normal. After all, I was allowed to date—I was even supposed to date. “Oh, I told Travis I’d go out with him at some point, and he finally pinned me down for tonight.”
Jackson’s disapproval was written all over his face. “Travis? Damn, Lexie, I thought I made it clear. I mean, can’t you see what I see? Shit.” He fumbled with the tray and turned his back to me as he cursed under his breath.
“Look, it’s just a dinner. We agreed dating would be a good thing. Remember, you had one with … Leslie, was it?” I tried to lighten the mood with the name of the girl he forgot, but it backfired.
He glared. “Is this because I went to the after-party in Muncie? You’re trying to get back at me, aren’t you? I knew you were upset, but I didn’t know you would go out with Travis.”
“What? Don’t flatter yourself, Jack Morgan. This may be a shock, but not all of my decisions have to do with you. I have a very limited dating pool here, so yes, I’m going out with someone you don’t like. But, since you brought it up, I do think it’s a little odd. You told me in Indy you didn’t miss the after parties at all, and then suddenly in Muncie you were raring to go.” I folded my arms and cocked my head defiantly.
“I don’t really miss it, I wasn’t lying. That doesn’t mean I won’t have a good night when I feel like celebrating every occasionally. Whatever. Go out and have a blast with that asshole. Just don’t come crying to me when he shows his true colors, ’cause I don’t want to hear it.”
We stood in a face-off with matching glowers until a knock startled us. I shook off my anger and grabbed my Coach purse, trying not to feel guilty for taking my birthday gift from Jackson on my date. He ignored me as I passed by and exited the bus quickly to Travis’s waiting arm.
Chapter 15
“You look great, Ms. Travis,” he drawled, grinning under his big hat and dressed in a sport coat over his button-down and dark jeans.
“You, too, Mr. McCoy.” I faked a smile back as I vowed to change my sour mood.
He led me to the Range Rover they towed behind his bus during the tour and he opened my door like a gentleman. He told me he tried to make a nice evening with his limited Google-search knowledge of Columbus.
Dinner was at a quaint Italian place, probably a local favorite, with a unique menu and dark lighting. We were able to keep polite conversation going until he took the liberty of ordering for me—my wine, entrée, and dessert. It caught me off guard, and I couldn’t decide what to say, turning very quiet. I guessed he hadn’t heard about the whole women’s liberation movement. I learned more about his childhood in Oklahoma and how he got started in a local karaoke competition. I asked questions, nodded, and answered the questions he asked me, but I felt disconnected. It was like watching my date from outside my body.
When the waiter cleared our half-eaten tiramisu away, Travis ordered two coffees for us, dragging the meal out even longer. I balked at him and finally tuned back in. “Did you already forget I’m not a coffee drinker?” I asked pointedly.
He smirked. “No, I remember everything about you. I think it’s my duty to bring you over to the dark side, though. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
I raised both brows. “As a grown adult, I’ve made a conscious choice not to get addicted to needing coffee in my body, and I have no desire to start now. I will just excuse myself to the restroom while you drink yours. I’ll meet you at the door.” I shoved my chair back and huffed toward the back of the restaurant while he looked after me in shock. It may have been dramatic, but it was my breaking point after his ordering for me all night.
I took my sweet time freshening up and used a minute to check my phone. I had a text from Jackson.
I didn’t mean what I said. I will always be here for you. I will also break his f-ing face if he hurts you. Please be careful.
I smiled immediately at his words and then bit my lip when I realized it was the first non-forced smile I had all evening. I texted him back.
Careful is my middle name. I promise to be back at 10:30 so we can fit PT in tonight. BTW—thank you.
I sighed and pushed open the door toward the lobby but ran smack into Travis instead, waiting outside the ladies’ room. I had an “O” of surprise on my face, and he held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, I get it; I was being overbearing and presumptuous. Let me start again?” he asked innocently.
I sighed. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean any harm. I may be too independent of a girl for you.”
“No, I love that about you, really. C’mon, I have a horse-drawn carriage picking us up. Let me make it up to you.” He gave his gleaming white smile and put his arm out for me to take. I relinquished, deciding I needed to give the date a fair chance.
“Alright, I do have to be back to the bus at ten-thirty to … finish my job tonight.” I used semantics to make my excuse seem professional.
He paused at the door and looked at me with a flash of anger, biting out, “I didn’t realize you had a curfew.” I stared, trying to gauge him when he smoothly changed his expression to an amused one. “But, I guess I can oblige you this time.”
My brow furrowed, wondering who this guy really was. Then, he whisked me up a step and onto a seat of the waiting carriage. I nearly laughed at the cliché of the romantic horse carriage in Columbus, of all places. I was sure only tourists and first time dates went on these things, but after all, we were both. It was after nine o’clock, and darkness had enveloped the streets with quaint street posts lighting the area now.
He sat snugly next to me and alternated between pointing out scenery and quizzing me. At one point, he put an arm around me, and at another, he held my hand awkwardly. I found myself constantly thinking of what Jackson would do on our first real date. What questions would he ask me? Would it feel this weird to be snuggled close to him? No, it wouldn’t, but that ship had sailed. I needed to try to find a connection to my current date, instead of daydreaming. He was too busy telling me why he deserved to headline his own show to notice how distracted I was.
The carriage stopped back at the restaurant an hour after it started and relief washed over me. As we climbed out and he paid the driver, I noticed he chastised him about something, just like he’d barked at the waiter a few times. I mentally put another mark in his “cons” column.
The drive home was more relaxed as I realized I’d survived a date, but I also felt guilt for my lack of participation. He quieted as we pulled in behind his bus right on time. It hit me that he may try to kiss me good night—surely not, when I had shown no sign of being interested. I jumped out of the car quickly when he turned to look my direction, leaving him to fumble open his door and meet me on my side.
“Geesh, Lexie, slow down. Let me walk you to your door.” Another flash of anger. He made me feel I’d been rude, so I fell into stride with him silently.
I paused at the step and wondered how I could gracefully end the night. “Thanks for a nice evening, Travis. I’m sorry I have to run—”
He grabbed my hand and kissed the top. “I don’t want you to turn into a pumpkin, so you better get inside. I hope we can have another chance.”
I smiled noncommittally and rushed through the door, leaning my back against it as it closed and letting out a breath.
Then, I noticed Charlie and Jackson sitting on the couch, both staring openly at me as a baseball game loomed on the TV overhead.
“That good of a date?” Charlie boomed his laughter. “Well, I can see my work here is done. I held your hand while you awaited her safe return, and here she is.” He grunted as he shifted his large body off the couch and lumbered to the door, pausing to throw his beer can in the trash.
I scooted over to let him out, tipping my head. “See you, Charlie.”
Jackson eyed me with interest as I, in turn, eyed the coffee table littered with more cans. He shrugged. “Had to pass the time to wait up for therapy. How was it?”
I leaned on the kitchen bar and tried to sum it up. “Well, I managed not to call him the wrong name.”
His weak smile told me he understood the rest of my sentence—even though I was thinking about someone else all night. I returned the same sad expression and changed the subject quickly. I told him four warm up exercises to start on as I headed to the bathroom to change into my pajamas.
I was glad to see he had channel surfed and found an Adam Sandler movie, The Waterboy, to watch. We slowly eased into laughing, finally forgetting about my dating trial as the next hour of therapy progressed until we were rolling by the last “You can do it!” line in the movie.
The morning brought a welcome fresh start as I felt new excitement for rehearsals at the arena. I woke early and brought breakfast back, happily missing a run in with Travis. I knocked on Jack’s door and told him it was time for therapy before I had to leave. We knocked out a quick session, and I quizzed him on his work out precautions again as he headed over to the gray bus with his tank and gym shorts on.
The girls met at the Jeep, where I became the one nominated to drive. I said a quick prayer I wouldn’t wreck the beloved vehicle and we piled in. Kate read me directions off her phone, and we found the arena within twenty-five minutes, but drove to several sets of doors before finding the correct entrance. A security officer had us sign in and showed us to a spacious dressing room with mirrors on three walls, a counter top along the other, and a few folding chairs.
We did several dry runs with all of us in a single line and then with two lines, one with two and one with three. We finally recorded ourselves and sat down to watch it back, analyzing and making small changes. It almost seemed too easy to master, but we figured it was created for the masses to learn during one song and for everyone to be able to remember. We decided to dedicate the next day to figuring out how to perform it on stage. We drove back to the park in time for showers and lunch.
The sisters took the crew car again to explore the area, while Trina, Kate, and I took our food to a remote picnic area. They took turns grilling me over my date with Travis. I tried to explain how interesting I found his behavior and asked if they thought he was odd.
“Hmm, I wouldn’t mind him ordering my food if we were in a foreign setting, and I was clueless—like in the movies. Otherwise, it’s pretty creepy. I really don’t like his rudeness to the server and driver, either. That’s not a good sign,” Kate advised.
Trina added, “What’s up with these angry vibes, too? Not cool. Who does that on a first date? He sure looks good on paper, but I wonder what’s underneath.”
I pursed my lips, contemplating. “I hope I didn’t come across as rude. I could understand his anger if he knew how distracted I was all night.”
They assured me he wouldn’t have known; girls are masters at multi-tasking what’s in our heads versus what we show. Then, I saw their eyes widen, as if in disbelief, as they looked past me. I was confused—until I heard him.
“Well, there you are, finally. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were hiding from me.”
Chapter 16
Travis stood behind me and made me turn and squint up into the sun.
“Hey,” I said casually, “We had rehearsal earlier and have been here ever since. What’s up?”
He tipped his hat to the girls, looking uncomfortable. “Ladies, mind if I steal her?”
We looked back and forth at each other and I gave a slight nod of my head. Trina made a point to say, “Sure, but, remember I’m coming by the bus in a few minutes to show you that thing.”
Kate added, “And its girls’ night tonight, don’t forget!”
I muffled my surprise, knowing they were giving me many excuses to avoid plans with him if I wanted to. The jury was still out.
He held out a hand to help me up from our table, and we strolled along the path back toward the campsite. “So, I wonder how big an ass I made of myself last night?”
He caught me off guard, and I burst out a laugh, covering my mouth to avoid an answer.
“No, really, you can tell me. I’m so rusty, I don’t even know what I rambled on about. I wanted it to be perfect, and I got frustrated when it wasn’t.”
I relaxed my shoulders and turned to look at him. His honey-colored eyes were sincere, and his mouth turned down at the corners. “I’m probably the rustiest person alive, so I don’t need to judge anyone. I think—I mean, I’m just not sure …” How to tell him he has an impossible task of measuring up to my dream man and it’s probably better to let it go?
He rushed to stop me. “I know you have plans tonight, but how about tomorrow? One more chance?” He took my hands, and I felt his guitar string calluses, so similar to Jackson’s.
I looked at my feet, debating and realized I would never be so direct as to just say no. I carried the curse of always being afraid to hurt someone’s feelings. “Okay, sure.”
The relief on his face rewarded me, and I had a promise of a much better date as we parted ways at the black bus. I poured myself into my case study for a few hours until Kate called to make plans. We decided on a chick flick, and all five of us girls laughed and cried together at the movies, as if it was a weekly ritual.
I was back by ten o’clock and finished another round of PT with my handsome patient. He and Andy had to drive into the city the following day for hours of interviews and a record store signing again. I was glad for rehearsal as an excuse to miss the throngs of groupies pawing at him. I omitted the news of date number two, as well, since I didn’t feel like fighting. I knew I couldn’t avoid it forever, but I would put it off as long as possible.
The videographer arrived on Thursday morning and met us at the arena to get footage for the music video. I set the girls up to dance and backed my way out of the shot, when they turned on me.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jessica demanded. “You better believe you’re in this video.”
Jill dragged me back into the frame as I protested. “Oh, no, I’m the choreographer; you guys are the performers. I get to watch from the side now.”
“Fat chance. You�
�re in too deep. You need to be in the video and you’re going to premier it on stage with us,” Trina added to the mutiny.
I shook my head vehemently as we debated back and forth until the videographer got impatient and said, “Look, I texted Jack, and he said Lexie is in it. Let’s go.”
I sighed and resigned myself to be a good sport. He shot several angles with us in different formations and using the mirrors as well. It wound up being a fun day for all of us, and even he was even grooving with us by the end of the session. The shots were meant to be quick snippets mixed into the concert footage. We were all dressed in casual, fitted workout clothes, and it would serve as a good contrast to the stage wardrobe. The next day, he planned to get footage of the band rehearsing the song, and we’d all perform the longer version.
At noon on the dot, I called Ashley to see if I could catch her at lunch. We played phone tag for the last two weeks and communicated through rambling voicemails and novel-like texts. I gathered she was currently bored, had broken up with another guy, and had stayed busy hanging out with her sister and working. She’d heard pieces of the tour drama from my long messages.
She answered with a shriek. “Hey stranger! I miss you so much. Glad you caught me. I’m going to take my phone outside so we can talk. Tell me everything.”
I laughed at her enthusiasm. “Oh, Ash, I miss you, too. I cannot believe we missed each other’s calls with our crazy schedules.”
“Whatever, whatever. Life is same old here, but, I have got to hear more about the dance, and the date, and your hot roommate.”
I filled in the details of the last two weeks and how the dance had come along with the rehearsals and video. It dismayed her that she would see my dance and me on CMT one day soon. She was not convinced about the end of my relationship with Jackson after his letter, but she approved of us taking a break to help us learn the lessons we needed.
Muse: ( Groupie Volume 2 of 2) Page 9