Straight from the Heart

by Breigh Forstner

  Walker remained silent, and then I could hear him clear his throat. “You guys need something that’s hard hitting, gets peoples attentions. I think that’d be the perfect choice. I’ll get Richard Marx to call you and you guys could meet up in Detroit or in the area to shoot as soon as possible does that sound good?”

  “Richard Marx?” I mouthed to Tyler, who was on my other side.

  “He directed a few of our videos before.” Tyler whispered. “Brilliant with the camera.” I made a mental note to pull up old Everlasting videos that night on my phone when I got home.

  “Sounds good,” Cale told Walker. “Thank you so much for having faith in us. Bryn wanted to know how Brayden was doing at the label.”

  I shot him a dirty look. ‘No I didn’t!’ I wanted to say.

  “Haven’t you heard?” Walker asked us. “He took off. I haven’t seen him since a week after the dinner we had in Los Angeles with you. No sign of him anywhere. Strange. He was always on time and seemed to like what he did.” Changing the subject, he said “I better let you guys go. Got a couple of meetings with some of the other groups and make sure you keep in touch, okay?”

  We shouted “Okay!” in unison and said thank you once again.

  Once that phone call was over, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Except what Walker said about Brayden had my stomach tied into knots. He just packed up his stuff and left? Again? I didn’t say anything to the guys after the call and band practice, but I was almost 100% sure now he was the cause of Raptors injuries. But why? I didn’t understand it. I would have to dig deeper to find out why he could’ve done something so horrible, but I knew I wasn’t going to like the outcome.

  Back in town, Cale talked Louisa into letting him help cook in the kitchen for a couple of nights. Alberto Jr. was sick, so she agreed without any questions. When I saw him back in the kitchen with Alberto and the other cooks, I wanted to giggle. It was too hard to concentrate on taking orders when I could feel Cale’s presence in the restaurant, and his eyes on me.

  As I was finishing ringing up a customer, Rachel, one of the new waitresses, stood beside me and made a whistling noise towards Cale’s direction.

  “He’s from the band too right?” Rachel asked me.

  “Yeah he’s the lead singer.” I pointed out. “And my boyfriend.” I had hoped it would’ve crushed her hopes at trying to get into his bed, but there wasn’t a dash of sadness on her face. I learned quickly that she was the type of girl that would do anything to get a guy to notice her. Two could play that game tonight. I excused myself to give my last customer their change and sneak back to the kitchen area, knowing that Rachel was watching with disgust.

  I heard Cale telling a funny story about something that happened to one of his sisters when I wrapped my arms around him from behind. He jumped nearly a foot in the air, dropping the pan he had in his hand to the tiled floor. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” I murmured in the best seductive voice I could pull off, and he turned around to face me. “Just play along,” without warning him, my lips met his abruptly, giving Rachel and the other cooks a show. His hands slipped around to just below my butt, bringing me closer to feel his rugged body against mine.

  As I continued my assault on Cale’s lips, I peeked around to see Rachel’s mouth dropping and her eyes as big as baseballs. How’s that for claiming my boyfriend, huh?

  Cale stopped the kiss and looked completely dazed, stumbling back. “Damn girl, you need to sneak up on me like that more often,” he joked, and my cheeks went warm. The guys hooted and hollered at Cale as I kissed him on the cheek and ran back out onto the floor. Passing Rachel to start wiping down tables, I could hear her huff.. I had gotten used to girls blatantly flirting with Cale in front of me. The first show I played with them it was obvious girls loved that he wasn’t a complete bad boy, but he could still be a flirty smartass. All mine.

  The last hour of our shift Louisa kept coming up to me, telling me that Cale could come back anytime he wanted. I think it was because of his looks, but apparently she thought he could cook better than the others in the kitchen. I didn’t want to tell him that because he’d let it go to his head for sure.

  When I was taking off my apron and heading towards the break room, I saw I had a missed call from an ‘unknown’ number. Actually more than one, it appeared to be about ten. Before Cale met me back here, I wanted to listen to my voicemails.

  “Bryn Michelle. This is your mother and father. I understand we have not spoken since the ‘incident’ back in June. We have been trying to find you to speak to you since then, but apparently you have been on some sort of an escapade. I wish you would call us. You need to come back home and stop living some childhood fantasy that will only last for so long. You need a stable life Bryn, not shacking it up in a filthy downtown apartment and on a bus with horrid men you barely know. If you don’t return our call by tomorrow, we’ll be forced to call police and file a missing persons report. This has gone on for far too long.”

  I felt the tears roll down my face instantly. Not for the reason that I hadn’t heard my mother’s voice in months, but for the fact that somehow she knew what I had been doing since I left. How did she know? It must’ve been Ethan, I thought to myself. He was the only person that my parents might have talked to that knew where I had been.

  I had to pull myself together. I could never speak to them again. No I take that back, it would take me a long damn time before I ever go back to that house and speak to such degrading people. Just as I wiped the stray tears for the last time, Cale knocked on the open door.

  “What happened? Are you okay?” He rushed to my side and knelt down in front of where I was sitting.

  Letting out a sniffle, I nodded. “Yeah, it was just my….uh…parents….”

  Cale’s mouth opened and formed an O shape. ‘So you’re saying the parents that treated you like shit your whole life, finally contacted you after all this time?”

  “It wasn’t pleasant. I’ll just leave it at that.” I snapped, tucking my phone back into my purse and standing up. “I’m ready to get out of here.”

  Before I could leave, Cale blocked the entranceway. He drew me in for a hug, kissing me on the forehead. “I’m going to go back to the apartment with the guys. Will you be okay?”

  “I’ll be good. Sleep it off and get back to work.” I shrugged, walking with Cale hand in hand as he kissed me goodnight after hurrying to my loft to beat the rain. “Love you.”

  The look in his eyes said it all. His amber eyes were bright and filled with pure happiness. “I love you too, Bryn.” Running towards the van, he looked back at me once and waved. Why was it that just a single wave from Cale Pelton made me ache between my legs?

  ****

  Walker stayed true to his word and got ahold of Richard. By the next Thursday, we were on the riverfront by the Renaissance Center in Detroit meeting with Richard Marx, music video guru. Since the meeting with Walker, we had been practicing every day for hours on end. Tyler fit in really well with the group the more we played each song. It helped that he was good eye candy too. He’s already told me stories about how Cale was always trying to work out extra hard so he could have more muscles than him. I would never tell Cale that though, I’d turn into another ‘Lucy’ situation.

  The Detroit riverfront was so beautiful in the morning. The sun was just rising in the east, leaving a reflection on the water, making it as shiny as a new diamond. I leaned into the railing, my body facing the water, taking in the early morning smell. Might’ve been the fish in the water, but I had never woken up and was able to see a view this amazing.

  “Nice isn’t it?” Tyler stood beside me, mimicking my body position. He rested his elbows against the metal railing, letting out a sigh. “Been down here quite a few times lately. It never gets old to wake up to a view of the water.”

  “I know. It’s nothing like back home. You don’t see huge boats like those out there floating along. I could get used to this.” I admitted. Our town was along
a river, but most of the time it was shades of browns, and on a good day maybe blue.

  “It’ll be fun today. Plus Richard’s a good guy. He’s already been talking about the idea for the video, it sounds epic.” He patted me on the shoulder and stood up straight. “Don’t let that guy go. Cale. He lost Lucy because of my stupid ass, but I promised myself I wouldn’t have feelings for another one of his girls again. He’d throw me in the damn river with ankle weights chained to me.” Tyler chuckled, and walked away. I joined the guys where they were setting up equipment along the sidewalk.

  “It’s good to meet you Bryn. I’m Richard Marxx.” An older guy, probably in his late 40’s, greeted me. He had sandy blond hair with a huge goatee that went down to his chest, and wore a pair of large aviators to cover his eyes.

  “Nice to finally meet you.” I smiled genuinely.

  “We’re setting up our first shot now. I want to get a straight shot of you playing ‘You Were Young’ all the way through with the riverfront in the background. But mainly be you. This is your first music video with these crazy boys, so smile, make faces, whatever works for you.” Richard smiled, showing off a gold front tooth.

  So I got my guitar tuned up, even though the guys said we didn’t have to technically ‘play,’ just look like we’re playing along with the song. The first take was shaky for me to say the least. I was getting used to all of the film crew standing behind Richard telling us where to stand and how to move, but after a couple of takes, I was finally getting used to the camera following every movement I made.

  Even though Cale was lip synching through the mic as the camera pointed directly at him, I could die listening to his voice.

  Once upon a time I thought we were perfect

  Like Romeo and Juliet we were unstoppable

  But little did I know it’d be just a fucking fantasy

  You were playing the damsel in distress so perfectly

  Then you left without a warning…

  You were young

  Couldn’t know any better

  Hearts got so attached

  Didn’t know any better

  I was in love with this song. From the moment Cale showed me this song and thanks to Gates suggestion, I sang lead on some of the lyrics. I knew what the lyrics were about, and I couldn’t wait to bring his lyrics and music to life.

  We took a quick water break, and it was back at it. Almost through the song, I could feel the cameras zooming in closer on me as I opened my mouth to sing. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that I thought to myself.

  Richard yelled action, and now I was in the spotlight.

  You said it’d be forever

  But you were young

  And we were too fuckin high

  On what we thought was true

  I wish it could’ve been you

  But the bottle took my place

  I continued singing harmony with Cale through the rest of the song as we played our instruments even though we really didn’t need to. It helped me get into character, and by our very last take of the day, my face was beat from being outside all day.

  “This is going to be so good.” Richard rubbed his hands together, walking up to the group. “Great job today guys. I think we got everything we needed. I’ll just get the other bit from your sister, Cale, and I’ll fix it up and be in touch.” Cale shook Richards hand firmly and told him thank you. We wanted to add a story to the video, not just us playing by the Detroit riverfront, so Cale volunteered his younger sister Sadie and her boyfriend Nate to play the part of the destructive young couple. I thought it was crazy at the time, but when they explained it to me how they’d edit the video so it cut from the band to them, I was sold.

  It was getting closer and closer to the release date of the album. After shooting the video, we decided to name the album “New Beginnings.” It fit in a way. This was the first album I recorded with Everlasting, the first time in months since Tyler has been back, and everything was looking good for us. Walker kept in contact with us, scheduling interviews with Alternative Press, Rock Gods Magazine, and a few other indie magazines. It wasn’t like Everlasting was unknown, because a lot of places we went when we were on tour with Ignite the Flames, people asked for the guys autographs every time.

  My turn soon enough.

  Chapter 17: No Ordinary Love

  “They want us to perform with Ignite the Flames?”

  Cale was having another one of his meltdowns. He’d been having them more frequently ever since the video shoot. It wasn’t like he was over reacting, but certainly enough to piss all of us off. Walker had called us and said that the Rock the Children foundation for children with cancer wanted us to perform at their annual charity festival the day our album released.

  With Ignite the Flames of course.

  Me? I was looking forward to it. I loved the idea behind the charity, founded by Ace Patterson’s dad, legendary rocker Harley Patterson, after Ace’s little brother Carter died of brain cancer when Ace was 5 years old. Every year they put the festival on in the downtown Pontiac area where some big named bands would get together and perform over three days to support the cause and raise money for local children with cancer.

  “What’s the big issue, bro? We spent a whole tour with those guys.” Luke tried to mellow Cale down, but he pushed Luke towards the wall of our practice garage.

  “I don’t give a shit. Charming tried putting his hands on Bryn way back when. I don’t trust the fucker.” Cale was seething, his hands curling into fists.

  Luke steadied himself and pushed Cale back square in the shoulders as hard as he could. “You need to chill out. None of us need this shit, Pelton. Whatever is with you and Damon needs to be squashed. If you want to back out of the festival, by all means do it. But I’ll be damned if you treat us like you’re the fucking king.” Luke readjusted his thick glasses and crossed his arms in front of him.

  Cale started pacing back and forth, not saying a word. He kept his head low so his hair was covering the rest of his face.

  “Just let him be, Bryn,” Luke whispered in my ear, draping his arm around my shoulder. “He can’t get away with these bull-shit tantrums over stupid stuff like Damon Charming.”

  I felt at ease and leaned into my friend. Cale had me shaken up; I didn’t know what to think. I needed to stand by the man I was in love with, but enough was enough.

  Tyler walked up to Cale and stopped him from pacing. He whispered something to him that I couldn’t comprehend, but whatever he said made Cale stand up a little straighter and calm down.

  “I’ll call him and let him know we’ll do it,” Cale mumbled, snatching his cell phone from on top of one of the practice amps and walking away to place the call. He came back a couple of minutes later with a satisfied look on his face. “We’re headlining the last night, lady and gentlemen!”

  “No fucking way,” Vince said, sounding surprised. “The last night’s the biggest crowd. Holy shit, I can’t believe it.”

  “Why’s the last night the biggest crowd?” I asked out of curiosity.

  “Because that’s saved for the bands that are like rock royalty. Last year frickin’ Harley Patterson headlined. He’s a damn god,” Vince joked.

  “Yeah. Walker said it sounded like it’ll be us and Flames headlining, and Ace is performing a few acoustic songs after us as kind of an encore, but he wasn’t sure,” Cale replied, running a hand through his sweaty hair. Then he faced me. “This is huge, B. Festivals are crazier than putting on a whole tour.”

  “Not too much longer.” I smiled. “We’ll have to figure out what we’re playing.”

  We stayed at the warehouse until we had a list of songs to perform for our timeslot at the festival. I had never worked so hard in my life and it seemed like it was paying off. My first album, headlining a festival, another tour? I don’t think I could ever get enough of this. When we were locking up the warehouse and heading home, I got a text from Lucy.

  Lucy: BRYNNNN! Can’t wait to see you in a
nother week or so girl. Missed you!

  Me: Miss you too, Luce. It’ll be good to finally see another girl instead of being cooped up with these boys recording.

  Lucy: Same here. Let’s do lunch before the festival.

  Me: Oh for sure. Love ya

  “Who were you texting?” Cale asked, raising one of his eyebrows.

  I turned around and handed out my phone. “Just your ex,” I replied sarcastically. “Who just happens to be excited to see me.”

  Cale laughed and rolled his eyes. “Leave it to Lucy to be friends with my now girlfriend.”

  “What, is that so bad?”

  He shook his head. “I’m slowly learning to let that shit go. That’s all.” And he left it at that, picking up my guitar case and taking it out to the van. Before we all piled in, he pulled me aside the van. “You realize I’m staying with you tonight, right?”

  I smirked. “What makes you think that? You must think you’re my boyfriend or something?”

  Leaning down to kiss me on the corner of my lips, he let his lips linger to tease me “Because it’s been a long day and I think I need some alone time with you, in your bed, just the two of us.” I knew what he meant. Pelton and his boastful attitude thinking he was going to get something out of me…which he knew he always would.

  I smacked him on the ass and ran to the driver side of the van. “We’ll see about that!” I yelled, slamming the door before he could kiss me again.

  When we got back to the loft, I told all of the guys they could stay on one condition.

  “No way in hell!” Cale tried to sound furious, but his incontrollable laughing took its place. “A guy that would willingly watch this crap you women call ‘romantic’ is messed up in the head.”

  “Come on, it’s a good movie!” I egged him on. I told the five of them they had to sit and watch The Last Song with me, since I had just bought it and hadn’t had a chance to watch it yet. “It’s before she turned into a wrecking ball…please?”