Everything She Needs (The Everything Trilogy)

by Shandwick, K. L.

  I was so wrong about that, our friendship strengthened when there was just the two of us. I was surprised at how fantastic Holly was, when she found out I was brokenhearted.

  I couldn’t have asked for a better person to be there. She knew exactly what I needed and bent over backwards to keep me company. One afternoon when I was lying crying on my bed, she crept in and snuggled down beside me, just hugging me until I fell asleep.

  When I woke up, she’d downloaded some movies. She had popcorn and chocolate and sticky candy that got stuck in our teeth and made our mouths a fluorescent shade of green. It was still there the next day, so I didn’t smile much at college. Not that I felt like it anyway.

  “He ain’t worth it, honey. You need to get yourself out there and get some male attention. There’s nothing like that for taking your mind off a deadwood relationship,” she cooed as if she was talking from personal experience.

  Holly called Mandy and together they dragged me out dancing at the end of the third week since we broke up. I even forgot about him a few times during the night and the alcohol helped me to loosen up and enjoy myself for a while.

  I didn’t want for male attention, but dancing was as far as I was going to take it with anyone right now. Guys were still hitting on me, but they might as well have been breathing fire, juggling or whatever, I never really noticed what they looked like. No one could match Alfie’s appearance.

  My night out came to an abrupt end when Mandy mentioned that Alfie had gone to her place to say goodbye last week, and told her he hadn’t forgotten what he had promised her about singing at one of his gigs in the future.

  I asked how he looked, and she smiled. “I wish I could lie and tell you he looked like shit, but you’d know I wouldn’t be telling the truth,” she said with a pitying look.

  I smiled, but felt hurt, because I knew that like Mandy, women all over the world would be thinking how hot he looked and fawning over him soon.

  I wanted to ask if he mentioned me, but she didn’t volunteer that he did, and I wasn’t going to look like I was desperate to know how our break-up had affected him.

  I almost went into meltdown when my period was late. We’d had unprotected sex a couple of times. I bought multiple pregnancy kits and was peeing on sticks for days until I came on late.

  It turned out that it was all the stress I’d been feeling, and I came on a week after. It taught me that I was never having sex with anyone again, unless they had a condom on, if I ever did have sex again.

  I also went to see someone and went on the pill. It was the worst feeling to think I could have been pregnant by Alfie of all people, especially now.

  My relationship with Will still hadn’t recovered, but we still worked together. We were much less spontaneous in our banter and didn’t socialize much. We’d lost the closeness we once enjoyed and all because of that one night where we made a stupid decision.

  We couldn’t even cuddle each other in comfort any more. My support network of Will and Saffy were gone, and I had no one close to turn to except Holly. Mandy and Neil were great, but they weren’t friends that I spent a lot of time with, so they didn’t know me that well.

  It made me think about this whole situation I was in. When I had my friends in the UK, I managed Alfie perfectly well; they were there for me, and I could confide in them.

  They had closed ranks to protect me when I needed it, and that helped me to make my own mind up about everything. In Miami, I’ve never really had that. I was on unfamiliar ground with no one to shout “Whoa!”

  After a month of moping I began to feel like maybe I could survive, but it was going to take a lot of work on my part. I had asked Jack not to come over to visit in January as we’d planned, because I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for his witty charm, and I was trying to be strong.

  If he walked through my door, I think I would fall to pieces and wallow in self-pity again. So, we decided that he would come for Easter break with Elle instead. We’d go to the beach and have some fun together, without the worry of assignments and exams and the weather would be better.

  Besides, I might feel a little less raw by then. Jack was very understanding and told me, “Whatever you want, baby.” Why couldn’t everyone be as easygoing as Jack?

  By the end of February, I was fully immersed in my music. We had performed a few gigs, and I was getting used to singing much more during my performances. I even did a couple of solo gigs. Will asked me to stay for a drink one night and, because Mandy and Neil were around, I agreed.

  It was the second time we’d socialized since we ruined our friendship, the only time before when Alfie was there. Will dropped the bombshell which took me out of my comfort zone. “I’ve been invited to join a band.”

  He went on to tell me they were serious musicians and worked full-time. They gigged around the state and when he mentioned their name, I vaguely remembered seeing them at some festival Will took me to one Sunday afternoon.

  They wanted him on a six month trial to see if he gelled with their personalities before offering something more permanent. Will had arranged with college to continue to attend classes when he could and complete assignments online when out of town.

  “I think it’s a great opportunity and you should take it.” I smiled. He shrugged, and looked concerned for me.

  “I feel so bad leaving you to fend for yourself,” he told me looking like he was telling me he had won the state lottery, and he’d wiped his ass with the ticket.

  I reassured him that I was happy for him. “Seriously Will, if I had been offered something like this, you wouldn’t see me for dust,” I lied. He relaxed when he realized that I really didn’t mind him going out on his own without me. To be fair, I was relieved. Our music wasn’t working this past month.

  CHAPTER 26 – SEEING POTENTIAL

  “Hey. Lily,” Nick shouted from the window of his beat-up old Ford, as I was walking across the parking lot on my way to class. I hadn’t seen him since the Christmas party.

  “How you doing, babe? Have you lost weight?” I wasn’t about to tell him that I was lovesick and not eating properly. “Yeah, thought I had better eat more healthy after the holidays. The portions you guys serve here are massive.” Nick wiggled his eyebrows at me, and I immediately realized the double entendre in my statement.

  Nick snickered at me. “Yeah, everything’s big in America, right?” I had to giggle. It was the first time someone had elicited a genuine laugh from me since Alfie left.

  He parked, and we walked to our classes, which were in the same building. “So Will isn’t working with you anymore?” I shook my head. “Why don’t you come to the ‘Open Mic’ at South Beach on Friday?”

  I hesitated, and he squeezed my hand. “Lily, life’s too important to waste a minute of it. Get brave honey, you’re gorgeous, sexy, and talented.” I flushed, embarrassed at his description of me.

  “Okay.”

  He smiled. “Good girl.” He gave me the details and offered to come by and pick me up, but I wanted to drive myself. I knew that Nick liked me, and he had flirted with me, but there was no way I wanted any male attention with the way I was feeling.

  Without Will I seemed to mix with the other students more easily. I hadn’t thought about how much being in such a close collaboration had prevented me from learning from other students.

  A lot of my peers were talented people. I spent some time going to gigs with Holly. It let me check out my fellow students and what they were contributing to the local music scene.

  Holly and I hadn’t spent much time together since the night we went dancing, so we made a pact that when her shifts allowed in her job at the local hospital, we’d have at least a few nights out.

  Brett, the guy she met in a restaurant last year, was still around, and they seemed very happy and uncomplicated together. They had a smoking chemistry going on and seemed to be getting more serious about each other by the day. I felt a teeny bit jealous about that.

  By the night of th
e ‘Open Mic’ I was ready to get up there and perform. I wore some dark blue skinny jeans and an electric blue satin sleeveless blouse. My fuck-me heels had been rebranded as ‘killer heels’, and I had my hair pulled into a side pony, the crown raised a little to give me a sexier look.

  The kohl made my eyes more dramatic, and I wore some dark wine-colored lipstick. I didn’t wear lipstick much, but I wanted to change that for tonight. If my singing wasn’t on par at least the mouth it was coming out of could look seductive.

  When I arrived, Nick and a few other students were already there. Nick bought me a vodka and cranberry for courage and told me I was fifth up to perform.

  It felt great to be out socializing again, especially with people that knew nothing about my history in Miami. We sat cheering and supporting one another, as each of us got up and performed.

  The guy who was now very famous around campus for his beat boxing skills was up first. It blew us away. We were in awe of his ability to get noises that sounded so authentic. He mimicked a guitar and drums, both of these sounded every bit as good as the original instruments.

  Nick was a fantastic keyboard player. He had his own quirky style and sounded very contemporary. He also had a great singing voice. I wasn’t really surprised. I loved his talking tone, so it stood to reason that I would love his singing voice all the more.

  When my name was announced, I was told I had a slot that gave me two numbers. When I stood in front of the mic I swallowed noisily. It was a big bar, and there had to be a couple of hundred people in the venue.

  I could see every one of them. It was still daylight through the windows, but I really didn’t care this time. Normally, when Will and I performed, it was in low lit venues, and we could only make out the front row faces.

  I sang Fiona Apple’s ‘Paper Bag’, and although there had been a good reception for the other performers, the room erupted into rapturous applause when I was done.

  I felt great, and I hadn’t been that nervous at all. I looked over at Nick and the group and they were smiling and cheering for me. How could I have been nervous with the love I felt in the room? Everyone here wanted someone to do well.

  My second song was a safe choice, Janis Joplin’s ‘Piece of my Heart.’ By the last chorus everyone in the room was singing with me. I felt good, and Nick was right, life is too short.

  I came off the stage, and Nick grabbed my guitar helping me to set it against the window, near where we were sitting.

  A tall, good-looking guy of about thirty came over and asked to speak with me via Nick. “Lily, I think you have a groupie.” He smirked gesturing at the guy standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

  He was handsome, and his clothing looked expensive. I made my way over to him, and he smiled at me. He looked friendly. “Hey, great job there.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled shyly.

  “Louie.” He offered his hand out for me to shake. I slipped my hand in his, and he shook it vigorously, whilst he was appraising me. “I wanted to talk to you about performing at my club. Do you think that’s something you’d be interested in?” I was surprised to be asked to perform on my own somewhere.

  “Me? By myself?” He peered behind me.

  “I didn’t see anyone else up there with you.” He smirked. I pursed my lips, and blushed, feeling pretty stupid that my head hadn’t filtered that to my thinking voice.

  “Sorry, I’m used to playing with my partner, but this is new for me.” He nodded and smiled wider. “Well I guess you’re all grown up now, huh?” He grinned. I liked his playfulness. He handed me his business card and asked me to call him tomorrow if I was interested, then wandered back to the bar.

  Nick pushed his way over at stood beside me looking at the business card I was reading. He gave a low whistle. “Damn Lily, you know who that was?”

  I turned my head and looked up at him. “Nope.”

  He smirked. “Baby, he’s got three of the biggest clubs in Miami. His father made him controlling partner in them. That’s Louie Dyer. Remember the name, honey. He has the ability to help you in this business. His friends are all music or movie stars, directors or producers. His family has mega bucks.”

  I glanced across at the bar, but he was no longer there. “Well, I wonder what he wants from me then.” I flicked the card down the side of my hand.

  Nick swiped it off me. “I’m keeping this for you, this is way too important to lose. You can have it back when we’re done tonight.”

  We all went for late drinks to another bar after the open mic. Nick was very sweet and made sure that I was included in the group. His friends, Liz, Jill, and Mick, were a really great bunch of people.

  I was driving home, so I had stuck to drinking Coke, but they were all pretty hammered by the time I got up to leave. Jill climbed on the pool table and began swaying with her arms in the air when she heard ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ by Lynard Skynyrd play out of the bar’s speakers.

  Mick went to pull her down, but she swiped him away and Liz climbed up beside her, both of them giving a slow hot version of dirty dancing for the others present in the bar. Nick shook his head. “I’ll walk you to your car, I guess we’re gonna be here for some time yet.” He chuckled.

  Once we were outside, Nick asked me for a date. I told him I was just out of a relationship and not in a place to start anything new for a while.

  He respected my decision and hugged me. “Take it easy, honey. You’re welcome to come out with us anytime.” He closed the car door softly, and stepped back. I fired up the engine and drove slowly past him.

  Nick raised one arm to wave me off, and when I looked in the rearview mirror he turned and walked back to the bar with his head down. I like Nick a lot, but I wasn’t getting into another relationship any time soon.

  Holly and Brett were home when I got back. They were cuddled up watching TV together. It was cute. She asked how my ‘Open Mic’ went, and I explained about the guy in the bar. Brett pushed himself away from Holly and sat on the edge of his seat.

  “Fuck, Louie Dyer? The club owner? Playboy?…Miami’s Mr. Popular?” I giggled at his reaction and took the card out to look at it.

  “Well… it doesn’t say all that here, just Louie Dyer, Proprietor of Blazers, D’mond and Eject. Is that the same guy?” I pretended that I hadn’t already had this conversation with Nick.

  “Holy Shit! Lily. You must have been smoking for him to scout you like that.” I smirked feeling pleased with myself.

  “Well, I don’t know about that. Maybe he just wanted to get into my panties, but Mr. Louie Dyer, if that’s the case, I don’t care if your cock is solid gold, it’s definitely never getting laid on this.”

  Brett laughed and threw his head back. Holly piped up, “Yeah, honey, that’s right, it better be your talent he’s after. Do you want me to come with you? When you go to see him, I mean.”

  My lips curved in a small smile, glad that Holly wanted to have my back with this guy. “Sure, let me find out what the deal is first, he may want to know if I’ll pole dance or something.” Brett was taking a swig of beer when I said that, and it sprayed out of his mouth.

  As he wiped himself down he groaned, “Hell, it better not be. I’d have to get myself a season ticket to his places.” Holly swatted his head.

  “You men, all l do is think with your dicks,” she retorted, knowing that Brett was only teasing me.

  I showered and headed to bed, and for the first night since I broke up with Alfie, I felt okay about waking up the next day. I tried not to think about all that, and imagined what this famous night club owner wanted from me. I wasn’t going to appear too keen though, so I wasn’t going to ring until after college tomorrow. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.

  Campus life without Will and Alfie around felt more than a little bit weird. I had become dependent on Will to a large degree, but didn’t realize it until he wasn’t there most days.

  I enjoyed the classes and threw myself more into my studies. There was onl
y one week left until the end of the semester before Jack and Elle would be arriving. Easter was late this year, so the holidays ran into the middle of April.

  I met Mandy and Neil at a small diner after college to grab an early dinner. Mandy was really excited about the Louie Dyer ‘thing’ and prompted me to call him whilst she was with me.

  She didn’t want to wait for the lowdown on why he had given me his card. I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about, maybe because I had no real clue about this guy.

  He was just a guy in a bar that asked me to perform for him. Sounds like a script for a poor porn movie when I thought about it like that. I smirked as I punched out the number.

  A woman with a thick New York accent answered the phone and when I asked for him, she took my name and left me with some bass heavy dance music for several minutes.

  When she came back she checked I was still there and told me that she was connecting me to his line. A deep velvety voice came over the line. “Hey there,” he said…nothing else.

  I squeaked out, “Hi, this is Lily from the ‘Open Mic.’”

  He chuckled softly. “I know who you are, you gave your name to get connected to me, remember?”

  Duh, I felt really stupid, but pressed on. “Sure, sorry, of course I did.” I wasn’t sure what to say next. “Your card.” Shit, this was getting worse, I became tongue-tied. “Sorry, let me start again.”

  He chuckled softly. “No, let’s not, I gave you my card, right? Lily from the ‘Open Mic,’ Janis Joplin and Fiona Apple numbers, right?”

  I sighed, but controlled my breathing. “Right.”

  “Here’s the deal, Lily. I like your voice. You have some good qualities, and you’re a talented musician. Plus, you look pretty damned hot, a very sexy girl.” I swallowed hard, blushing.

  As he continued, “I have a resident rock band that plays at my clubs. They are one female singer down, since theirs got herself hot for, and pregnant by, a US Marine. She’s leaving the band and moving across the country. So the guys in the band are looking for a replacement. I want you to audition for it.” I was floored, me in a rock band?