“Hello, Love.”
“Hi.”
“Everything OK?” he asked.
“Fine.”
“April, what’s wrong?”
“Just a little overwhelmed,” I sighed.
“I’ve got to see you,” he said, “We’re taking the night off. Why don’t I meet you at your office when you get off?”
A couple shards of my heart reformed. Oh, Stevie. “OK,” I said with a slight hint of cheer in my voice.
“Great.” I gave him my address and told him I’d be out at 6. Then I took a break from work and went shopping.
It had been so long since I had 2 pennies to rub together. It was a big boost to the pieces of my heart just to let myself spend a few dollars. After quickly visiting three different boutiques near my office building, I realized that I couldn’t afford much. Yikes!
I forged ahead. One of the retail clerks seemed genuinely nice, so I just came out and asked her if there was a place nearby that was affordable. She said her favorite place was a little thrift store in Hell’s Kitchen. I went for it. Traffic was heavy, but my taxi cab driver, Kamran, had me there in just a few minutes. The store was small and narrow, but it was deep and stuffed with high quality used clothing. In 20 minutes, I had a sheer white blouse, and black skirt that fit me perfectly.
Thankfully, back at work, Janet had me running around all afternoon and the time seemed to go by fairly quickly. She was telling me what we would have to have done tomorrow, when I noticed the clock behind her said 5:55.
“Sorry, Janet,” I said. “I’m late. I’ve got to go.”
I went into the restroom and changed into my new outfit. I looked at myself in the mirror. Tired. Oh well. I had to forge ahead.
6:05 and I was walking quickly toward the elevator when I passed Janet’s door. “April,” she said, “can I see you for one moment?” I popped my head in her doorway. “Wow,” she said, “you look fantastic.”
“This old thing?” I said, tilting my head to the side.
“Go have fun, Dear.”
The ride down from the 43rd floor seemed to take forever. Did we have to stop on every single floor to pick people up? It seemed like that.
As I walked out the front door, I was anxious that he might not even be there. Then I saw him. He looked hotter than ever. He was leaned up against the granite wall, under the building’s address. The air felt erotic. I could feel both the summer and the winter in it. When he saw me, he rushed to embrace me and kissed me tenderly. More shards of my heart joined to the 2 that had managed to hold together all afternoon.
For hours, I had planned to play it cool, but I immediately looked at him and blurted, “I saw you with that blonde.”
“What?”
“I came to the studio last night,” I said on the verge of tears.
“You did?” He ran his hand over my head, tucked his hand under my hair and gently rubbed the back of my neck. More of my heart came together.
“I saw you out in front with that blonde woman. Don’t try to deny it. I saw you put your hand on her hip and I saw her kiss you on the cheek.” As soon as I said it, I felt like a stalker.
“Kimmy?” Stevie’s face opened wide with understanding. “Kimmy is Trey’s sister. She lives in Boston. She was just down to wish us luck.” I felt like an idiot stalker. “I love Kimmy,” he continued, “I truly love that woman, but there’s never been anything between us. I know her boyfriend, he’s a super guy. I’d never…” He looked me in the eyes and kissed me long and sweetly.
The shards of my heart came together like magic and shown with a beautiful light that joined the light from Stevie’s.
My lungs seemed to open up; I could breathe again. I was in love, at dusk, in New York City with a guy that was recording his first rock ‘n’ roll CD. We walked down the island of Manhattan, my feet not touching the ground.
Rocker (Rockstar BBW Romance) Page 7