Out of the Shadow

by J. L. Paul

  “I need to call him,” she said as she opened her phone.

  Jamie placed a hand over hers and carefully closed the phone. He took her chin and forced her to look into his face. “Call him in a little bit, okay? Right now he’s probably a bit angry so he’s needs a second to cool off. Call him in a bit and tell him all that gooey ‘I love you’ stuff you two do and he’ll realize that his jealousy is unfounded.”

  She processed his words and allowed them to sink in before giving him a curt nod. She relaxed and smiled. “Okay, you’re right. I’ll do that. Now come on and meet these girls so they can drool over you and quit talking about Cole.”

  He laughed, strolled over to the table, and snatched a cup of punch as he fixed the girls with his most charming smile. Ally just watched him, grateful that he’d taken the heat off of her, and rethought his words. She would call Cole and soon, before he got too busy to be able to talk. She’d smooth things over and reassure him that she only wanted him.

  But when she hung up the phone later after a rather brief conversation, a bucket of lead settled in her stomach. Things had been strained, to say the least, and the end of the tour couldn’t come soon enough for her – or their relationship.

  Chapter Nine

  Cole located a quiet corner in the hotel’s dark restaurant and spread the file before him. He’d called Rhys Redden earlier that day and requested facts and figures from the tour and Rhys had happily supplied them to him, via the hotel fax machine.

  He ordered a cup of coffee and a piece of pumpkin pie from the peppy waitress then set about studying the statistics of each show. A small grin tugged at his lips as a surge of pride and joy shot through him. They were getting there, slowly but surely.

  Rhys had had the insight to hire someone to monitor and count, using venue turnstiles, how many people showed up early for the shows, in time to see Out of Control open for the big bands. He also had someone in the seats, observing crowd reactions, seeing how many people actually watched the opening act instead of going for one last smoke, one more beer, or one last bathroom break before the main ticket band came on stage.

  And the numbers were encouraging. They’d increased slightly with each show. And the little clubs that Out of Control had hit alone, those stats were mind-blowing. People were coming out to see them. Maybe curiosity was getting the better of them and maybe they were only coming because of Out of Control’s relationship with Tight Control, but they were staying for the music.

  Cole thanked the waitress when she returned with his order and stirred cream and sugar into his coffee. His heart was light and his mood was through the roof.

  The tour was winding down and when it was over, they’d take a short break before flying back to L.A. to work on the new CD. He was excited about that, too, for he loved working in the studio more than touring. He only wished he could take Ally with him.

  His heart twitched when he thought of her. He’d been a little short with her lately out of no fault of her own. It was his stupid, petty jealousy that had caused it. He needed to call her or something, show her how sorry he was and let her know that he did trust her. Her friendship with Robby Redden was innocent and he needed to drill that into his brain. She’d grown up with three boys and adopted them as her best friends and as a result she’d always felt more comfortable in the presence of the male species than the female.

  His lips peeled away from his teeth as a smile stole over his face. As soon as the tour ended, he intended to take her away for a weekend – just the two of them. Jamie had found the perfect place and Cole had been able to book a tiny, private cabin. They could spend the entire weekend in front of the fire talking and just enjoying each other’s company. That’s what they both needed after such a long separation.

  “Hi, Cole. Do you mind if I sit down?”

  Glancing up, he stifled a groan as Lila rested a hip against the table. He’d come to the restaurant to get away from her but she’d obviously managed to locate him.

  “Yeah, sure,” he said as he picked up his fork and dug into his pie. “Do you need something?”

  “You’ve been down in the dumps lately,” she said as she bent over the table. Her eyes were made up demurely and her lips were painted a soft shade of pink. The scent of her perfume drifted to him, mixing with the spicy pumpkin scent of his pie and nearly sent him into a coughing fit. “Is something the matter?”

  “No,” he said as he forked the last piece of his pie and shoved it in his mouth. He used his napkin to wipe his face then pushed his plate away. “I just wanted to look over some information Rhys Redden sent me in a quiet place away from distractions.”

  She leaned back in her seat and lowered her lashes. “Am I a distraction?”

  He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wanted to tell her she was a large pain in the ass but he refrained. He liked Doug and thought he was a great tour manager, but his niece – not so much. Cole was beginning to think that Lila only feigned interest in her uncle’s career so she could meet people like Cole and it grated on his nerves.

  “I just wanted to go over this stuff before I go back to my room and call my girlfriend,” he said, throwing his relationship in her face like he’d done over and over since she’d joined their tour. He’d hoped she would have taken the hint by now but it seemed as if his words never penetrated her skull.

  “And how is this infamous girlfriend I hear so much about?” she asked.

  “Good,” Cole said as he motioned toward the waitress. She hurried over with his check and he paid it before she could walk away again. He gathered his papers, shoved them in his file and stood. “I need to get back to my room. Talk to you later.”

  He fled as a sultry smirk slipped on her lips. He could feel her eyes on him until he left the restaurant and found the elevator bank. He shuddered and pressed the button, wishing Lila would find someone else to torment for awhile because if Ally ever found out, there’d be hell to pay.

  ***

  Ally kicked at the crisp leaves that littered the sidewalk as Jamie complained about the amount of work they had to do that evening for their math class one Friday afternoon at the beginning of October. Ally just smiled, used to this sort of reaction from him. They’d all been decent students in high school – not genius material, but decent enough – and Jamie had always complained about homework or quizzes or tests.

  “Why don’t you come to my room and we can work on it together?” Ally asked.

  “Can’t,” he groaned. “Football practice.”

  “Well, come by afterwards,” she said.

  “Okay,” he said as he pressed a kiss to her temple then grinned. “You get started on it and I’ll catch up.” Waving, he dashed toward the athletic complex before she could protest.

  She laughed as she watched him go, then turned toward her dorm, her head bent against the gusts of October winds that kicked up whenever they felt the urge.

  She hurried, hoping she wouldn’t run in to Rosie before she reached her room. The other girl had attended the Fabulous Rivals/Out of Control concert the weekend before and had been nothing short of unbearable since. She’d shown up at breakfast Monday morning with photos and was especially proud of the picture of her with Out of Control. Ally had studied that one a little longer than the others as she drank in Cole’s features. Of course, Rosie had somehow maneuvered herself next to Cole and had wrapped an arm around his waist.

  Her face had softened when her eyes fell on RJ and the laughter and merriment shining in his hazel eyes. She missed him, too, so much – especially the knack he had for brightening any room. And then there was Parker with his rugged good lucks and Ren with all his youth, trying to be a man.

  “Hey, Ally,” Rosie had said, pulling Ally from her thoughts. “Are you done with that picture yet? Shannon wants to see it.”

  Ally remembered the smug, superior look in Rosie’s eyes as if she’d accomplished something Ally desperately wanted to do. It had been on the tip of Ally’s tongue to lau
gh at the other girl and tell her that she had a whole box full of pictures of those very guys – and she’d not only taken them but she’d been in them, too. But she’d held her tongue and had handed the picture to Shannon.

  When she reached her building, she glanced cautiously down the hall, searching for signs of Rosie or even Trudy, who’d become Rosie’s shadow. When she determined the hall to be empty, she ran to her room, and closed the door. She dropped to her bed and her eyes immediately went to her nightstand where a picture of Cole usually stood. But, since she’d discovered her roommate’s obsession with Out of Control, Ally had refrained from setting out any of her pictures and when questioned by Shannon, Ally had claimed she wasn’t sure how she wanted to hang them yet and she’d get to it sooner or later.

  She decided to get started on the homework and withdrew her book from her bag. She had just settled at her desk when Shannon burst into the room, her chest heaving. Ally jumped from her chair and gasped at Shannon’s appearance. The other girl’s eyes were wild with excitement and her cheeks flushed scarlet. One hand fisted a rolled up magazine while the other pressed her chest in a feeble attempt to calm her pounding heart.

  “Shannon, what is wrong?” Ally asked, alarmed. “Are you all right?”

  Shannon held up a finger, took a few breaths, and then smiled. She sank to the edge of her bed and unfurled the magazine while she eyed Ally with a smirk. “Ally, Ally, Ally,” she said, her voice still a bit husky. “I was a little mad at first but then I figured you would have told me sooner or later – maybe after we got to know each other a little better.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ally asked as her eyes dropped to the magazine. Her heart stopped as her legs gave out and she fell into her chair. Her hands clawed at her throat as she stared at the cover. “What is in there?”

  It was Shannon’s turn to be alarmed as she eased off her bed to kneel in front of Ally. She patted her hand. “You haven’t seen this yet?” Ally shook her head, afraid to speak. Shannon sank her teeth into her bottom lip and rolled back on her heels. “Well, there’s an article in here – an interview with…um…Out of Control.”

  Ally felt the blood drain from her face and her heart seemed incapable of pumping more. “What does it say?” she asked, her voice a horrid scratchy mess.

  “It says,” Shannon said in a whisper. “Well, they say they know you. Um, maybe you should read it.”

  Ally nodded and took the magazine from Shannon with trembling fingers. She set it on top of her math book and carefully flipped through the pages until she found a photo of Out of Control. Her lips twitched into a small, involuntary smile – an automatic response when exposed to photos of her favorite people – but her eyes fell to the interview.

  She skimmed quickly through the introductory paragraphs about their history and their recent tour and slowed when she reached the actual interview.

  Rock News Weekly: So how’s it feel to be out on the road touring?

  RJ Shaw: Pretty good, even if we’re just the opening act.

  Parker Milten: It’s a rush to see people who’ve actually come to see us!

  RNW: Do you get a lot of fans coming out to see you just because of Tight Control, your fathers’ band?

  Cole Crawford: I think at first we did, you know, out of curiosity.

  Ren Shaw: But I think we’ve proved that we didn’t get a break just because of our dads.

  RNW: You four are still pretty young and I understand Ren would have been a senior in high school. How do you cope?

  RJS: It can be tough. All our friends and family are back home.

  RyS: I still have to do school work, which really sucks, but my mom insisted on it.

  CC: But our families are really supportive, especially since they’ve all been there. Parker’s dad used to manage a band in the 90’s.

  RNW: I know that you four went to the same boarding school and that’s where you met Parker. It seems to be common knowledge around Redden Records that Cole and RJ have been best friends since birth. Any truth to that?

  RJS: (Laughs) Yeah. We’ve been friends since the cradle, all four of us.

  RNW: All four of you? I thought you didn’t know Parker until boarding school?

  CC: He means James Winston and Ally Jones – they’re close friends of ours, too. The four of us grew up together and have been best friends since.

  RNW: Mark Winston’s son and Jay Jones’s daughter? Where are they and how come they’re not part of this band?

  RJS: (Laughs again) Are you kidding? They’re more into sports. They’re off at college.

  CC: We still talk to them all the time and get together whenever we can.

  RW: I’m glad you’ve brought up Ally Jones because I’ve heard a rumor that Cole and Ally are actually romantically involved. Is that true, Cole?

  CC: (He actually blushes) Yeah, it’s true. We’ve been dating for more than a year now.

  Ally closed her eyes and dropped her head to the desk, not bothering with the rest of the article. She covered her head with her arms and concentrated on keeping her tears at bay.

  “Ally?” Shannon’s frightened voice said. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “How could he do this?” she muttered, her heart breaking. “Oh, how could he do this?”

  “Do you need me to get the RA?” Shannon asked.

  Her question spurred Ally into action. She lifted her head, shut the magazine, and handed it absently to Shannon. She stood and started to pace, her eyes glazing over as she mumbled to herself. “How could he do this to me and Jamie? How?”

  “Are you mad at…me?” Shannon asked.

  Ally paused to gape at Shannon. “Not at all. You should be mad at me.” Ally sighed and dropped to her bed. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them. “I wanted to tell you the first day but I thought I’d wait, you know, to make sure that we could get along and that you wouldn’t hate me or anything. But then it got harder and harder to tell you – especially when I found out that you are a big fan of Out of Control.”

  “Why don’t you want anyone to know?” Shannon asked. “What’s the big deal?”

  A loud knock startled them both and Shannon jumped to her feet, eyes wide. She opened the door and was immediately pushed out of the way as Rosie, Trudy, and Sami strode into the room.

  “Ally Jones,” Rosie said, her lips twisting into a satisfied sneer. “You sly thing, you! How could you not tell us, huh?”

  “It’s not your business,” Ally muttered as she stood and grabbed her jacket. She cast a regretful look at Shannon and shrugged as if to tell her ‘this is way I didn’t say a word.’ Her phone rang and she dug it out of her bag, surprised to see Robby’s name on the screen. “Hey.”

  “Is that Cole?” Trudy asked eagerly.

  Ally stormed out the door, slamming it behind her.

  “I’ve been trying to call you all day,” Robby said. “But your phone kept going to voice mail. I guess I could have left a message but I thought it would be better if I talked to you in person.”

  “I’ve been in class and if you’re calling about the magazine interview, I just saw it,” she said as she shoved the dorm building door open and stepped out into the cool October air. She heaved a huge sigh as tears burned her eyes. “Now I have a bunch of girls in my room giggling like a bunch of idiots.”

  “I’m sorry, Ally,” Robby said.

  “It’s not your fault,” she said. “And do you mind if I call you back later? I’d like to call Cole now and give him a piece of my mind.”

  “Sure,” Robby said, concern lingering in his voice. “But don’t give him too big of a piece - you might need it someday.”