by Nora Crystal
“I know right, it’s almost like forgetting about the two hookers you got, and trying to bring a girl home to them,” I shot right back. We were laughing and joking until we reached the airport. It felt so good, but then we reached the airport.
“Yes, I need the plane ready, and I have one passenger,” Travis said into his phone.
“Which one are you taking, the blonde or the brunette?” I asked flippantly, “Because I liked the blonde’s tits, buhhh…mmm.”
Travis kissed me and took my breath away. It was electric. He took my hand and led me off the plane. We went through the private planes gates at the airport and we were on his private plane, before I even started to think about what I was doing again. What the hell was I doing?
Ch. 8 – Travis
“Kidnapping!” I laughed as the plane took off. “You walked under your own power.”
“But you dazzled me with your rock star ways,” Jean said as she tried to hide her smile.
I poured her a glass of champagne. “I thought you said it was spring break?” I asked as I filled her glass again. She gave me a little smile. “Just come and spend the break with me and then I can take you back when school starts.” I put my hand to my heart.
“What was that, the kidnappers’ pledge?”
“Yes, and as a kidnapper, who specializes in 24 year old law students, I have to honor this pledge.” Jean snuggled into my chest as I threw an arm out around her. I took her glass and I turned a bit so that she could be comfortable. It felt so perfect.
I knew that I couldn’t have this feeling with another girl. She knew me, knew everything about me, and it didn’t matter how long we were apart. As soon as she looked at me the real Travis came trickling out. I was about to ask Jean if she was comfortable, when I heard her breathing change. She was asleep.
I looked at my watch. It was 1 am, but I was wide awake. I held her tight and watched her sleep. She was an angel. Her face looked so sweet and angelic. I laid myself out on the couch so she could stretch out. I opened the cupboard underneath the couch and pulled out a blanket. Wrapping it around us.
I was looking right into her sleeping face. I wanted so badly to keep talking with her, but she was out. I wondered for a moment what Gil would do with this. Would he snap a picture of the two of us snuggling fully clothed. Nothing it seemed, could possibly be dirty about this situation. It was too pure, it was too perfect. She was beautiful, and yet, I wanted more than anything just to be with her. I hadn’t felt like this in so long.
I could hear the song playing in my head again. As I stared into Jean’s closed eyes. The lyrics started to come to me as we laid there. I didn’t want to move, but Jean almost decked me with her elbow as she tried to get comfortable on the plane. I moved away slowly and I got my piece of paper.
“Hair falls softly across her face,
My heart is beating out of pace,
She sees through the veil of stars,
I see the future, it is ours,” The pen flew across the page as I tried to keep up with my racing thoughts. I could hear the chorus playing in my head as I wrote the verses. I kept writing as I finished the song and moved on to another.
It was like the words were coming straight out of my heart. I leaned against the couch that she slept on to try and be as close as possible to my muse. Every little murmur that she made became a line in a song.
“Can you be true?” I said as I finished writing a third song and named it. It was like a challenge to myself. I had never been faithful, however, I had also never been in a real relationship. I was in a bunch of fake relationships set up to leverage fame into album sales. In my entire adult life though, I had never been in a real relationship.
I sat down at the keyboard and started to work out the music. I was not about to start playing all my songs on piano, but I worked out the music and it felt amazing. “Bob, I didn’t think you’d answer.”
“I wouldn’t normally, but you piqued my curiosity.” Bob sounded like he was a little tipsy. The grainy Skype connection just made him look old. I wanted to be mad at him for what he said, Bob was nothing before my band put his agency on the map. He had made millions off of me and then as soon as we started to have trouble he was gone.
“I just wrote a few songs, and I wanted to know what you thought of them.” I played the songs for Bob. It was agonizing. He stayed silent through the whole thing. He never did talk when I played new music for him. I felt horrible on display. It was worse than being naked. Bob and I had once signed a contract while tag-teaming a groupie in the back of the old tour bus. There were at least fifteen people on the bus with us. I felt more exposed now than I had then.
“Who’s the girl behind you on the couch?” Bob asked when I finished the last song.
“Jean, she…”
“The famous Jean,” Bob sounded excited. “I had never met her before.”
“Famous?” I asked. I didn’t realize that Bob would even know Jean. He knew Sheila through the industry, so I assumed that was the connection.
“The one you talk about every time you get out of your head drunk,” Bob laughed. “So she fixed you.” I gave him an odd look in the video screen, but Bob seemed pretty sure of his answer. “I will buy those songs, but I want someone else to sing them.”
I was shocked and hurt. “I still have star power, I can be the face of these songs.”
“I wouldn’t argue against you,” Bob smiled. It wasn’t the smile of crazy Bob. He didn’t look like the manager that had taken They Might be Rock Hyenas to the top. He had genuine concern in his eyes. “I don’t want you going back on the road. I feel awful about all the crap I put you kids through. You need to make a clean break.” I didn’t have the words. “You go back on the road, and you will mess this all up. You have Jean, you have your inspiration back, and do you really want to risk that?”
I looked away. I looked over to Jean. I didn’t want to lose her, but I was a rock star. It was all that I knew. I didn’t need Bob, I had made him, and now he was too soft to help me. I started to feel the anger well up inside of me. I think Bob could see my answer.
“Let me know if you change your mind,” Bob disconnected.
“We are landing in LA,” the pilot said over the loud speaker. I lifted Jean’s head and wrapped my arms around her. She started to wake up, but I held her tight. “It’s okay,” I said as I ran my fingers through her hair. “I just wanted you to be ready for landing.”
I managed to get her into the limo asleep, and I carried her from there into my mansion. I always called it my mansion. It was too big to be a house, it was too cold and foreign feeling to be a home. “What’s going down yo?” Philly C came running up to me. “I’ll go get the adrenaline.” He turned to go to the bathroom.
“She didn’t OD,” I laughed. “She’s just sleeping.”
“Oh thank God,” my personal DJ said as he went back to the living room. I looked into the room on my way upstairs. It was crowded with people I didn’t recognize. I just shook my head. It was 7 am, who were these people, why were they in my house?
“Close the door,” a man yelled as I opened the door to my own bedroom. I could hear several bodies scrambling around the room.
“Who is in my damn room?” I whisper yelled as I came in the door. It was my butler Manse. His real name was Jeffrey, but he started going by Manse a few years ago, and I just went along with it. He did a great job keeping the house clean, and he was a great cook, but he was a party animal.
“I am so sorry sir, I wasn’t expecting you today,” He said as the angry tone completely left his voice. He bowed his head low and let the girls he was with leave before he bowed to me and left. I had never asked him to bow to me, but I had never stopped him from doing it either.
I took a minute to inspect the bed for fluids and other nonsense, but the sheets looked very clean considering. I laid Jean down on the bed and crawled in beside her. With her head on my arm I closed my eyes. I could hear the music stop and the people all fi
ling out of my mansion. I almost felt bad spoiling the party like this, but I needed to sleep.
Ch. 9 - Jean
“Oh, my God,” I said as I sat up in bed and looked around the room. I didn’t recognize anything except for Travis. I pulled my hand back off of his chest. It took me a minute to untangle myself from him. I was wrapped around him pretty good. “I’m still wearing my dress,” I said to myself as I tried to figure out the protocol. I didn’t know wat I was supposed to do.
Travis was just sleeping soundly like a man who woke up next to strange women every day. Meanwhile, I was having a mental break down. “What did I do?”
“Nothing while you were here, but you’ll have to talk to Tray about the plane, and the limo.” A man said as he walked in and set a tray in front of me. “I went with a western omelet. Usually a safe bet and great for a hangover.”
“I’m sorry, who are you?” I asked as the man tried to leave the room.
“Manse, butler, cook, bridge partner,” Manse gave a little wave and he was out the door.
The omelet was good, but it was gone too quickly and Travis was still asleep. I tried to wait for a bit, but there wasn’t even a TV in the room, as far as I could tell and I was afraid to walk through the house. I could hear people milling about. It looked like it had been a month since anybody had cleaned the place.
“Travis,” I said shaking his chest. He didn’t stir, Travis continued to breathe heavily. “Travis, I need you to wake up. Travis!” Nothing, Travis didn’t move or anything.
“Coke guy’s here!” A man with golden headphones around his neck yelled as he popped his head in the door. Travis shot up and was all the way out of bed in seconds.
“Where? What?” He yelled as he started walking out the door. The man patted Travis on the chest.
“I was just trying to help the lady get your attention,” The stranger point Travis back to me. Travis’ eyes lit up as he saw me on the bed. Travis and the man did a little handshake and a half hug. “You know I gotchya!”
“Thanks Philly,” Travis jumped on the bed and rolled over to me. “Last night was so amazing,” he said as he pulled me down into his arms. I pushed back so that I could look into his face.
“What happened?” I asked. I only remembered getting on the plane.
“You happened,” Travis said as he kissed me. I tried to talk to him, but it felt so good to be in his arms. You are on vacation after all, I thought to myself. “You fell asleep on the plane and we cuddled, and I wrote three songs. I mean they just flew out of me. I brought you back here and you stayed asleep. I fell asleep with your head on my arm,” He kissed my head. “And your hand on my heart,” he kissed my hand. “It was amazing.”
“And we didn’t…?” I tried to ask without saying the word. Travis shook his head no. I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt. Why didn’t this guy who sleeps with everybody want to sleep with me? I tried to stay cool, but Travis saw it right away. He saw what I was thinking.
“No, don’t even be like that,” Travis smiled. “I wanted to sleep with you more than I have ever wanted to do anything in my life. You remember the two hookers that I left in the back of the tour bus to hang out with you. You fell asleep and that was the end of that.”
“You promise that you wanted to sleep with me,” I asked. I was trying to be cute about it, but really I just felt so silly or getting upset about something like that.
“I still do,” Travis laughed as he pulled me in close for a kiss. “That was one of the most amazing nights of my entire life,” Travis said. It was absolutely amazing to feel his hands move along my skin and his lips press against mine. I was tingling all over, but a slight cough brought all of those feelings to a screaming halt.
“Ah, Manse,” Travis said like it was normal to have a man walk into you bedroom. Manse set down a tray and left.
“How did he know you needed breakfast?” I asked as Travis started having his breakfast.
“He has a camera right there so he can see when I wake up.” Travis had toast in his mouth, but I heard the words clearly and I was mortified. “Don’t worry he’s cool,” Travis said as he poured ketchup all over his omelet. “These are so good, I just also love ketchup. Did he get you something too?”
Travis took me on a tour of the house as soon as he finished his breakfast. “This is the Jacuzzi room,” Travis said as he opened the door to reveal a room that had more Jacuzzi than floor. There were fifteen Jacuzzis in the room. “It is a bitch to keep the mold under control.”
The next room was the stripper room. “I don’t remember why we had this put in. I think we just needed to do something with the space.” Travis wasn’t looking me in the eyes. “It very rarely gets used.” I gave him a sly little smile.
“So, you don’t ever like to see girls spin around on these poles?” I teased as I went to the nearest pole and did a little spin around the pole. I had only ever seen it done in movies and I almost fell backwards.
“I liked seeing you almost kill yourself there,” He laughed as he helped me get back to standing.
“Yeah, I don’t think I should do that anymore,” I said as I tried to let go of the pole. My hands came off, but they felt horrible. “It’s sticky,” I said with a horrified expression that had taken over my face.
“Wet wipe?” Travis offered. I took the wipe and he showed me the dispenser. “I had them installed under every light switch in the house. Every room is sticky from time to time, so you have to be ready. I also use these instead of toilet paper. It just feels cleaner.” Travis shut off the lights and led me out of the room.
“Is this a dungeon?” I asked as we walked onto what looked like the set of a bad porno movie. “This was installed by the last owner, but I do rent it out, and open it up for parties. We had a freaky bachelorette party here for one of the neighbors. That got weird fast.”
“This is so weird,” I said as we walked through the house. Everything was so crazy, I felt like I was going to catch something if I sat down. “How do you live like this?” I felt bad as soon as I asked the question. It sounded so judge-y.
“I drink a lot,” Travis said as he opened a door and led me into a very normal looking living room. “This is the part of the house that I keep just for me. This is where I go to be alone.” I looked around the room. There was a piano, a guitar, a couch and a TV with an insanely complicated sound system hooked up. It looked like a very nice living room, but it was not a dungeon. It looked like a room that my friend Travis would enjoy.
I went and sat down on the couch. “I don’t show people this room,” Travis said as he sat down beside me, “But I want to share everything with you.” Travis even seemed to scare himself with that. “I mean, something that isn’t weird,” Travis said as he tried to cover for himself.
“I know what you mean,” I said. “It feels great to be here with you.”
“Yeah, see, something that isn’t weird to say,” Travis laughed. We sat in his private living room and talked about the night we had and the songs that he wrote. Travis played them for me from memory. He was absolutely glowing, and I felt alive for the first time in months, possibly years.
“I want you to stay here forever,” Travis said. He was staring deep into my eyes and stroking my hand. I didn’t know what to say. I had to finish law school, but this space made me feel differently about life in general. Life, and goals had seemed so important outside of this room. In our private living room I felt like the only thing that mattered was the two of us.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I have to finish Law school.”
“Remember, you’re talking to a man with a dungeon,” Travis teased. “If I want you to stay, you are going to stay.”
Ch. 10 – Travis
I had decided that I needed to get back on the road. I was not going to just be a song writer. I was a performer, and a guitarist. I was not just the writer. A lot of the power of my songs came from the emotions behind them, and I knew that the other singers would not be conne
cted to the songs like I was, and therefore they couldn’t bring the emotion that I brought to it.
I was not a homebody, I didn’t even really have a home. I had lived in this mansion for five years and I didn’t even know where everything was yet. I knew that there were rooms in the mansion that I had never been to even now. I just couldn’t see myself sitting around the house writing songs for a living.
I thought back on my road days. They were some of the most insane times of my life, but none of it was real. I couldn’t write on the road. There was always some sort of disconnect for me between life on the road and reality. On top of that I was always the star. It is impossible to ever be wrong when you are the star of a show that is currently on the road. Everyone was kissing my ass, and that only made my behavior worse.
I started going through my contacts. I wasn’t going to get any help from Bob, and I didn’t want any help from Gil, so I was going to have to set up the tour on my own. I looked at the list of people in my contacts and realized that most of them I had never talked to directly. This was going to be awkward.
“Why is nobody onboard with this?” I had talked to so many people about hitting the road with me. Or just the idea of me getting back on the road, and nobody seemed to think it was a good idea. Now even my butler seemed to have turned on me.
“You are happy,” Manse said. I was sitting on the counter while he made dinner. “You have been here with Jean for three days, and I have never seen you like this. It makes sense why you have been crying over this girl for so long. She is so good for you.” Apparently it wasn’t only Bob that I had told about Jean. “You should take the deal with Bob.”
“How do you know about the deal with Bob?” I stared accusingly at my butler. I had never mentioned the deal with Bob to anyone.
“He called to talk to you the other day, and he gave me the offer,” Manse said as he pointed to a note on the fridge. “I write down messages and then I never think to mention them. You should probably come in here and check this notepad more often.”