“Maybe, maybe not, but you are acting like I am some sort of philandering sex crazed schmuck.”
“What about Abby?”
“What about her?”
“Don’t act like that Ty. The girl moved here...from New York...for you. Do you really want to mess this up?”
“How am I going to mess this up?”
The sound of three females laughing causes the both of us to look at the door. Ann pushed the door open and walked in with Marie and Cath right behind her. Cath bites her lower lip and smiles as she waves to me.
I wave back to her.
“That’s how.” Jack mutters.
I turn towards him and roll my eyes. “I think you are really misinterpreting things here.”
“You’re not in to her?”
“No! I love Abby. She’s the one I want to be with. I don’t want anyone else.”
Jack studies my face for a moment. I raise one eyebrow and shake my head as if to say “What?” He shakes his head and looks away as Dean and Noah walk in the room and head over to where we are sitting.
“What are you two girls talking about?” Noah asks as he pulls out a chair and turns it around to sit backwards on it.
“Jack believes that men and women are unable to be friends without having a snog and a bonk.” I say.
“That’s because Jack has done extensive research in that area.” Dean leans back against the wall, clasping his hands behind his head.
“Excuse me, but I am engaged to the same woman I have been with for nearly two years!” Jack exclaims.
Dean laughs. “Yeah now but what about when we were at university? You spent a lot of time-”
Jacks mouth drops open in shock. “I was studying!”
“Yes I know. I walked in on you “studying” a couple of times with girls from the gymnastics club,” Dean pulls his hands out from behind his head and moves two fingers on each hand up and down as he gives air quotes. “Don’t know why I continued to room with you. You’re an animal.”
“My guess would be because no one else would room with you.” I say.
“Okay guys, we are going to get started in a minute here,” Collin claps his hands together twice as he walks up to us. “Tyler, didn’t you say you know how to play the piano?”
I nod. “The tenor sax as well though I am not quite as good on that.”
“He’s also very accomplished on the kazoo.” Noah jokes.
I turn to him, jabbing my finger in his direction. “Hey now, that is a highly underrated instrument.”
“Focus please,” Collin says as he snaps his fingers. “The pianist we hired has just backed out. We would like to get this done today. Do you think you could do it?”
“Yes, you’re laying that down today?”
“We are. I can give you about thirty minutes to go over the sheet music.”
“I only need fifteen.”
Collin hands me the sheet music. “Thirty minutes Tyler. That’s it. I can’t give you more time than that so use it wisely.”
He glances between the four of us before walking off.
“Alright then, I’ll be at the piano if anything urgent shall arise.”
With sheet music in hand, I walk over to the recording studio where the piano is set up. Domino and Bash are sitting right inside the doorway of the control room discussing Dominos girlfriend who, from bits and pieces I have gathered, is a complete nightmare.
“Hey mates, mind if I use the piano for a bit?”
Domino nods his head towards the piano. “You go on ahead and do watchu gotta go sticks.”
I open the door to the main room and set the sheet music on the piano before sitting down on the bench. I entwine my fingers together and straighten my arms, flexing them out in front of me before unclasping them and opening and closing them a couple of times. Running my fingertips along the keys, without making any noise, I find middle C and tap it a couple of times before going through the music. I play the song slowly a couple of times, memorizing the notes as I go along.
After playing for about twenty minutes, I test myself to see how much if the song I have retained to memory. Setting my fingertips lightly on the first few keys I need, I close my eyes and suck in my bottom lip as I start to play. This is one thing I love about playing an instrument such as the piano. You can close your eyes and get lost in the music. You can’t really do that with the drums. You just end up looking like a severely uncoordinated monkey beating barrels with sticks.
I’m about halfway through the song when I feel the leather top of the piano bench shift as someone sits down next to me. I keep playing with my eyes closed, pretending as though no one has just disrupted my moment of serenity.
“That was beautiful. I didn’t know you could play piano.” Cath says softly when I finish.
“What can I say? I’m a classy guy.”
“How long have you been playing?”
“The piano since I was four. My mum played and she was good. I mean like really, really good.” I start playing Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor. “She insisted I learn to play. My dad plays the guitar and the keyboard. Music has been engrained in me since birth.”
She scoots a little closer to me. “What about the drums?”
“The drums I started playing when I was ten after seeing Rush in concert. I decided that night I was going to be the next Neil Peart. I broke two branches off of a tree in the yard, which I got into loads of trouble for, and starting beating them on anything that didn’t move. After months of begging my parents I got my first drum set from Father Christmas and, when they saw that I actually had some decent rhythm, they signed me up for lessons. I’ve been steady playing ever since.”
“Do you have any other secret musical abilities that I don’t know about?”
“I can play the tenor saxophone.”
“Really?” Cath laughs. “Now that surprises me. When did you start playing that?”
“It was a few years ago. I was eighteen. There was this girl that trained at the music conservatory my mum worked at. Her name was Penelope Davies. She loved jazz music and she played the clarinet. I always saw her chatting up this bloke that played the tenor sax. So I decided to learn how to play. I had this massive plan that I was going to impress her, she was going to fall madly in love with me and we were going to make all kinds of beautiful music together.”
“And was Penelope impressed?”
“Not even a tiny bit. She not so subtly suggested I stick to the drums,” I shake my head and laugh. “I saved for months to learn how to play that bloody instrument and just like that all my hard work, my hopes and dreams...dashed in an instant.”
Cath scoots closer to me again, moving in so close this time that our legs brush together.
“Just so you know I wouldn’t turn you down if you did that for me.” She says seductively.
“I have a girlfriend.” I reply.
“I know that.” she says, making no attempt to move back.
“I’m in love with her.”
“I know that too.” The irritation in her voice rings out loud and clear.
I open my mouth to say something else, but as I do, the door swings open and we both jump like we were caught doing something we shouldn’t be doing. Collin walks in with Ann and Noah following behind him. I glance back at the window to the control room and see Jack, Dean and Marie standing with Domino and Bash. Jack is staring straight at me trying, I’m sure, to telepathically remind me of the warning he gave me about Cath earlier. Maybe he is right and she is interested but my heart and affections are with Abby and no one can change that.
“You ready Tyler?” Collin asks. “I want to get the piano laid out and then get Noah and Ann in to the sound booths.”
“Ready.” I say. I turn to Cath. “Hey, there’s actually something I wanted to talk about when I’m done. Mind if I come looking for you?”
“Sure, I’ll talk to you when you’re done.” Cath says as she rises and walks out of the main room, gra
bbing Ann by the arm as she walks by her and pulling her out the door with her.
Noah sits down on the stool inside of Sound Booth A and Collin walks back into the control room.
“Alright Sticks,” Bash’s voice booms through the speakers. “Go ahead whenever you’re ready.”
I turn back around towards the piano and start playing. I’m a few bars in when Bash interrupts me.
“Could you do that again but a little slower this time?”
I nod and start over going through the entire song this time. Bash has me play through a couple more times before he tells me they are satisfied with what they have so far.
“Nice job Sticks.” Ann says as she passes me on her way to Sound Booth B.
“Thanks Pipes, now go in there and make my work sound totally ace.”
Ann laughs. “Of course, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I walk into the control room and glance around but I don’t see Cath. Jack and Dean are sitting at the control panel with Domino, Bash and Collin listening to Ann and Noah sing. I don’t want to ask them if they know where she went because I don’t feel like catching flak from Jack about it.
I manage to slip outside without anyone noticing or, at least, if they did notice they chose not to say anything. I spot Cath and Marie sitting up against the oak tree where Cath and I wrote Drowning the other day. Cath and Marie give me matching Cheshire cat grins as I walk up which makes me wonder what they were talking about.
“Hello ladies.” I say.
“So...there was something you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Uh yeah,” I shift back and forth from foot to foot trying to figure out the best way to broach the subject. “Did you ...uhm...did you tell Abby she was fat and that you have a problem with her?”
For a moment Cath’s face turns to stone and she looks angry. Then, all of the sudden, her face softens and she starts to laugh. “Seriously? Wow! Tyler, I was just joking around with her. I’m so sorry, I had no idea she would take what I was saying seriously!”
“Yeah, she was a little upset.”
“I don’t even know what to say,” Cath shrugs her shoulders. “I really am sorry.”
I don’t even know what to say right now. Abby wouldn’t just make stuff up about Cath that wasn’t true. She’s not the kind of person. At the same time, though, I don’t understand why Cath would make stuff up either. It can’t be a coincidence that Abby and Jack are saying the same things about Cath either...can it?
Chapter Seven – Abby
“Do you ever worry about how busy we’ve been and are about to get?” I ask Tyler as he walks into the kitchen.
He frowns at me. “I guess I haven’t really thought about it.”
I spin around and stare at him. “You haven’t thought about the fact we’ve barely seen each other since your show the other night and that we are going to see each other even less once my bakery opens?”
Tyler crosses the kitchen, opens up a cabinet, pulls out a mug and pours himself some coffee. He turns to me and smiles.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I guess I didn’t realize how busy you were going to be but I really don’t think you need to worry about it.”
“Why’s that?” I ask.
He sets his mug down on the counter and moves over to where I am standing. He presses his body into mine, his fingertips grazing up the sides of my hips before settling on the curve of my waist.
“Because you are always on my mind.” He whispers in my ear.
He feathers kisses across my cheek before softly pressing his lips to mine. I slide my hands up his stomach and chest, rounding over his shoulders and massage the back of his neck with my fingers as our kiss deepens. Pulling me closer to him, he wraps his arms tightly around my waist. Breaking our kiss, he leans back slightly and licks his lips.
“I have to go,” He looks down at me and sucks in his bottom lip. “If I were you, I’d be dressed and ready to go by five.”
I raise my eyebrows. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“Cause the hottest drummer around is taking you out on a date.”
“Ooooh is Fabrizio Moretti in town?”
“Wrong drummer.”
“Hmmm...Rob Bourdon?”
“Keep it up and you’ll be sitting on the sidewalk eating breadcrumbs with the pigeons while I’m dining on the finest steak in town.”
“Well then, I look forward to our date.”
Tyler bends down to kiss me once more before grabbing his drum sticks, banging them on the counters and walls on his way out.
The thing with Tyler is, just because he mentions eating the finest steak in town, doesn’t mean that is what we are actually doing. I typically wait to see how he dresses for a date before I get dressed myself. I started doing that after the time he told me to dress to the nines and then we went sphereing. I had fun, don’t get me wrong, but if I’m going to roll down a hill in a gigantic see through ball, I’d rather do it in jeans and not in my little black dress.
We do have a lot of fun together though. We went zip lining once and I, well I’m actually quite terrified of heights, but I did it anyway and we ended up having the best time. He never tells me where we are going when he plans dates. It’s always kind of exciting to see what he comes up with.
I pull out my cellphone and send him a text to see if I can get any sort of clues as to how I should dress. I get a response almost immediately.
Tyler – You could wear jeans or you could wear a dress.
Me – Wow Ty...That is SO helpful!
Tyler – Your sarcasm is incredibly bewitching.
Me – Just like your inability to seriously answer a question.
Tyler – Hey! You told me that was all a part of my boyish charm!
Me – Don’t you have drums to tap?
Tyler – As soon as you stop harassing me...wear the prettiest frock you own.
At exactly five o’clock, I am dressed in a black eyelet dress with a white belted bow and black heels, waiting anxiously for Tyler to get home. I sit down on the couch and flip through a magazine while I’m waiting. Ten minutes later, I hear the door open and close and I see a flash of blue as Tyler runs past me yelling “Sorry I’m late! I have to change my trousers!”
I’m still trying to figure out what just happened when he reappears wearing black slacks, a grey button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a black vest.
“You look beautiful,” He says as I stand up. “Maybe we should stay home instead. We can call for Chinese takeaway and I can ravish you until you can’t stand it anymore.”
“Hmmm...that sounds tempting but we can do that any night.”
Tyler places his hand on the small of my back. “Well, my lovely, I hope you are prepared for an evening of good food, refreshing spirits and possibly dessert so delectable you will want to be sick.”
“Sounds romantic.”
“Terribly.”
~*~
Tyler groans as he wipes his mouth with a white linen napkin. “Now that is what I call a top notch steak. Best I’ve ever had.”
He raises two fingers to get the waiters attention.
“We’ll take the check please my good man.” He says as the waiter appears at the side of our table.
“But of course.” The waiter replies.
I scrunch my nose. I never really know what to expect from Tyler. He’s like a cross between a frat boy – well, if there are any frat boys with tattoos and blue hair – and a proper gentleman. One minute he’s challenging people to back flip competitions off of roofs and into pools and the next minute he’s grocery shopping for our elderly neighbor. That’s one thing I love about him. He’s impulsive and compassionate and he acts like he doesn’t care what people think about him but really he does care...a lot.
Tyler signs his receipt and slips his credit card back into his wallet. His fingers slid across the table and he picks up my hand, drawing it up to his lips for a tender kiss.
“Are yo
u ready for something totally amazing?”
“Always.”
He doesn’t let go of my hand as we stand up and he leads me out of the dining room. I start to walk towards the exit but he pulls me towards the coat check window.
“What are you doing? We didn’t check anything.” I whisper.
“Just trust me.” He whispers back.
We walk up to the coat check window where a bored looking attendant is standing, flipping through a magazine..
“Name?” She asks.
“Hemingway.” Tyler responds confidently, as if that really were his name.
The attendant’s eyes flicker to the right. We move over as she discretely glances around.
She walks over and pulls back the burgundy colored curtain. Tyler walks through, pulling me behind him quickly. He leads me down a stone hallway that is lit by a few dim sconces hanging on the wall. We walk towards the end of the hallway, which looks like it is just a dead end, but there is a narrow staircase off to the left that is hidden so well, you could walk right by it if you weren’t looking for it.
As we walk down the staircase and come to a plain metal door, I start wondering if Tyler is just goofing around. I keep thinking we are going to open up the door and find ourselves outside in an alley. I certainly didn’t expect to walk through that door and find myself transported back to the prohibition era.
The walls are covered in striped burgundy wallpaper and maple trim. Portraits of people dressed in clothes straight out of the roaring twenties are displayed through the room. Crystal chandeliers are lit just enough to provide a romantic ambiance. Leather couches and wingback chairs are placed throughout the room and give it a feeling of exclusivity. There are poker and black jack tables in the back and the band on the small stage is playing the amazing sounds of Clarence Williams, Bix Beiderbecke, Jimmy Dorsey and Jelly Roll Morton.
I turn to look at Tyler with wide eyes. “Is this supposed to be like a speakeasy?”
Tyler grins. “Pretty ace isn’t it?”
“Completely ace! How on earth did you find out about this place?”
“Why do you look so shocked like I am some sort of uncultured buffoon?”
I give him a look.
Always in my Heart (The Subzero Series, #2) Page 5