Once in a Lifetime: (Becky) (Unnamed Duo Book 1)

by Luana Ferraz

  “You’re great, by the way,” Patrick says, turning to me again. “If I’m being honest, when you said you were in a band, I did not expect you to be this good.”

  Oh, God. Oh, God.

  “She’s a rockstar,” Pete chimes in when it becomes clear I can’t find my voice.

  “Indeed,” he says, smiling again. Oh, God.

  “Sorry, guys, we need to go,” Neil interrupts our chat.

  “Well, Patrick, it was nice to meet you,” Pete reaches out a hand.

  “You, too,” he says politely, taking it.

  And, then, we’re alone for a second. He’s staring at me, with that smile, that hopeful smile, and I feel terrible because he’s most definitely not gonna get what he came here for. I never feel bad for turning guys down. Granted, they’re rarely as nice as he is.

  “Guess I’ll see you around, just Becky,” he reaches out a hand to me.

  “Thanks for coming,” I say idiotically. He laughs a little.

  “No problem,” he says. “You’ve just gained a new fan.”

  I can’t help but smile with that. I watch for a few seconds as he walks away. Then I wave when he looks over his shoulders.

  When I finally get to the van, both Pete and Lindsey look at me wide-eyed.

  “Oh my God!” he’s the first one to say something.

  “Stop!” I warn him immediately.

  “Was that a friend of yours?” Neil asks, curious about the exchange.

  “No,” I say. Then, since I remain silent, Pete fills him in.

  “Oh,” Neil nods. “It’s nice of him to come all the way from Alnwick.”

  “It’s not that far,” I argue.

  “And completely worth it,” Lindsey contributes. “I’d come all the way from anywhere to see Becky on stage.”

  She winks, making me smile.

  “Okay, so, tomorrow,” Neil changes the subject, for my relief, “the conference meeting is scheduled for noon. I reserved the conference room at the hotel.”

  I widen my eyes with this news. Then I look at Pete, who has the exact same expression on his face. Neil glances worriedly at both of us.

  “It’s just gonna be a call,” he continues. “And it won’t be long, as well. Like, fifteen minutes, tops. We’ll get right to the airport afterwards.”

  We both nod in agreement. Then we nod at each other. I had completely forgotten about this ‘meeting’. The meeting with the label. The one where they’ll probably offer us a record deal.

  Oh, God.

  ***

  We get to our floor at the hotel to be received with a racket. It comes from the last door in the corridor, which Neil opens to find a full-on party inside.

  “What the hell?” He stops at the sill and stares inside wide-eyed.

  “It’s a wrap!” Todd shouts. “Come on in, join us!”

  Neil sighs and steps inside a little hesitant. Pete and I follow him, and I’m impressed to find out that so many people fit inside one single room. It’s quite dark, but I recognize a few faces from backstage earlier. Mostly women.

  I’m also impressed to see how organized it is—clearly a Todd project. They somehow managed to disassemble the bed, putting the mattress over the window to possibly muff the noise. The nightstand is a snack table, with all sorts of chips and candy spread. The TV is the sound system, playing music videos from some random playlist online. The bathroom is transformed into a big refrigerator—the bathtub is filled with ice and multi-colored bottles.

  “Help yourself!” Todd grins when he walks past to close the door.

  I enter the bathroom, followed by Pete and Lindsey, and start to rummage through the colorful cans and bottles.

  “Wow, they have quite the selection,” I say. When did they have the time to get all this? Who had the time to get all this? I have to give it to Todd—I’m impressed. “What are you having?” I ask my friends.

  “Nothing for me,” Lindsey says. “Actually, I think I’m going to bed.”

  “Me, too,” Pete says eagerly.

  “No, you stay. You guys deserve to celebrate,” she smiles over his shoulder. I try to smile back. She still looks so sad.

  “How am I supposed to celebrate anything when you’re breaking up with me?” Pete blurts out and I drop the bottles that I was holding. I can’t even look down to see if they broke. What is happening???

  “I didn’t… I wasn’t…” Lindsey stutters, apparently as shocked as I am.

  Pete fully pulls her into the bathroom and closes the door, locking us inside. The three of us. I shouldn’t be here.

  “What were you going to say, then?” he asks. “How was that conversation going to end?”

  What conversation?

  Lindsey bites her lip and even from a distance I can see her eyes well up. Oh, God. She’s actually gonna do it.

  “I just said I still love you,” Pete says, which almost makes me frown. If he did say it, he was lying. And that’s not cool. “We were gonna live together.”

  My heart breaks. Why is he doing this?

  “No, we weren’t.” Lindsey shakes her head. Her voice is wavering. “You asked and I said no, remember?”

  “Linds—”

  “Pete, please,” she interrupts him, holding his hand. “It was over before I came after you.”

  He shakes his head. In denial. It’s so hard to watch.

  “I know we have a lot more to say to each other, but let’s not do this tonight, okay?” she asks quietly.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

  “I know,” she sighs, as if tired of hearing it. She hugs him by the waist. When she lets go, she says, “He leaves tomorrow. You should make tonight count.”

  Oh, God. I don’t… I can’t… I don’t know what to think. I watch as Pete stares at the open door, after she leaves. I take a few tentative steps towards him. He jumps when I touch his arm. He turns to me, his eyes filling with horror when he realizes I’m still here. Then, he covers his face and lets himself slide down the wall to the floor.

  “Is everything okay?” someone asks. I turn around to find a girl I’ve never seen before staring at us.

  “Could you give us a moment?” I ask, already closing the door again on her frowning face.

  “I’m fine,” Pete mumbles from behind his hands. “I’ll be fine. You should be out there, with your pop star, making the most out of your last hours together.”

  His words tug at my chest, but I push my own feelings away.

  “You make it sound like he’s going to war or something,” I try to joke. “Plus, the booze is on this side of the door.”

  He removes his hands from his face, looking wistfully at the bathtub. I regret mentioning the alcohol. Getting wasted now isn’t a good idea.

  “I should have known this would happen, right?” he asks, more to himself than to me. “I should have seen it coming.”

  “Well, you did kiss someone else,” I say. He looks at me, offended at first, but then just defeated.

  “Jesus, I’m an asshole,” he sighs, covering his face again. I just sit there, unsure of what to do or say. “This is the part where you’re supposed to say I’m not.”

  “Sorry, I’m a terrible liar,” I joke. He kicks me. I wait until he looks at me again to continue. “What can I do?”

  He sighs, taking my hand in his. “You can go out, get that blond fellow of yours, and spend the rest of the night wide awake with his gentleness somewhere I can’t hear you.”

  “Why are you so gross?” I frown.

  “I can’t help it,” he shrugs.

  “What about you?” I insist.

  “I think I’m just gonna pass out,” he says. Then he widens his eyes. I bet he’s remembering he’s currently sharing a room with his girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend.

  “You can sleep in my room,” I offer.

  “I just said I want no part in your business with the blond one,” he argues, making me roll my eyes.

  “Come on,” I pull him off the floor.


  “Wait, I’m gonna grab something to drink,” he says before I can push him out of the bathroom. I watch as he picks up several random bottles and cans. “Dumped and drunk, that’s not how I pictured this tour ending.”

  “Shagging the lead singer, that’s not how I pictured it, either,” I joke.

  He looks up, that unreadable expression on his face. Then he follows me outside and into my room, silently.

  “Do you want me to stay with you?” I ask.

  “Absolutely not!” he exclaims. “Go find your prince charming.”

  “Pete—”

  “I’m serious,” he cuts me off, holding me by the shoulder after he drops all the booze on the bed. “I’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t have to be in a relationship to be happy, you know?” I say suddenly. I don’t know exactly why. Maybe because I’ve never seen him happy outside of one. “You can be happy on your own. You should be happy on your own.”

  He blinks, studying me. I know what he’s thinking. This is so not me to say.

  “Are you happy?” he asks after a while.

  I shrug. I don’t know. I’m just not sad anymore. “Something like it.”

  “Aren’t you afraid, though?” he goes on. “Of ending up alone?”

  Oh, Pete.

  “Of course not!” I answer. “I have you.”

  ***

  I decide to follow his advice and get back to the party. As soon as I step inside, I spot Tristan hanging out alone by the snacks. He’s just watching people as they dance and chat, absentmindedly munching on some peanuts. Once again, as if he can sense my stare, he finds my eyes. He stands up straighter, waving a hand awkwardly in the air. I walk over to join him.

  I grab a handful of the same things he’s eating and stand there, watching people with him. It seems there are more now than when I first got here.

  “I’m sorry,” he says suddenly, near my ear. I turn around, curious.

  “For what?” I ask. He shrugs.

  My mind races in search of something to say. Anything. I have a list of all the speeches Pete used on me, all of them memorized, because he repeated himself so much. I could easily recite them to Tris now, word by word. But I don’t. I know it won’t help. At least, not right now.

  “I’m gonna miss you,” I say instead. I watch as that megawatt smile spread across his face, lighting up his dark eyes.

  “I’m gonna miss you, too,” he answers. Then, he adds, “I’m gonna miss you the most.”

  I smile back. “The invitation to join our band is still open,” I joke, half-wishing it was a real possibility.

  “Good,” he chuckles, “I might accept it.”

  We stare into each other’s eyes for another moment, and then he hugs me. It’s not so desperate as it was this morning, but it’s still tight. And then I realize what I said is true—I’m really gonna miss him.

  “He’s in my room,” I whisper into his ear. I don’t know why. He tenses up in my arms. “Alone.”

  He lets me go, looking at me with a frown and head tilted to the side. A genetic trait, it seems.

  I’m about to ask if he’s seen his brother—the blond one—when a voice interrupts us. A voice too close to my ear.

  “Hey, just Becky!”

  I turn around, suddenly dizzy. If I wasn’t sober, I’d think I might be hallucinating.

  “We meet again,” he grins.

  Oh, God.

  DAY TWELVE

  Patrick Donegan Crowley was originally born in South Shields three years before me and moved to Alnwick when he was five. He was a rugby player growing up, but always wanted to be a doctor. That is, until he found out what he really liked was taking care of people and not opening them up. So, he went to nursing school in Birmingham. He never planned to move out of Alnwick, though. He likes it there.

  He knows Evelyn—of course he does, everyone knows her—and is a bit too surprised upon learning she’s Pete’s sister. They’re not friends, he says, but he always passes on confidential information to her. He probably shouldn’t tell that to people, but alas.

  He lives alone in a flat near the hospital. Well, not totally alone—he has a dog named Bark Ruffalo and a goldfish named Thor. He comes to Glasgow on the regular, to watch rugby matches, go to concerts, meet with mates.

  “Where do you live?” he asks me.

  “London,” I say.

  “No, I know, I mean what part,” he explains, smiling.

  “North,” I say. And before he can make any more questions, I ask, “Have you ever been to London?”

  He has. He embarks on yet another long tale about whens and wheres that I only half-listen. I’m trapped. He’s been talking my ear off for what feels like hours. My lack of engagement doesn’t seem to turn him off, so I don’t really know how to get out of it. I mean, I could just let my bitch side take care of it, but he’s being so nice. So polite. So smiley. I can’t do that.

  “Where is your phone?” Someone rudely interrupts Patrick’s monologue.

  “What?” I turn to him. His hair is wet and he’s wearing his comfies. It causes my stomach to churn.

  “I’ve sent you a million texts,” Tyler continues.

  “I think my phone is dead,” I say, taking it out of my pocket. It isn’t. I just didn’t check it.

  “Tyler, right?” Patrick says and only then Tyler turns to him. His eyes widen. “Patrick, remember?”

  Tyler stares at him, mouth half-open. Patrick holds out a hand and then he stares at the hand, not taking it. Oh, God.

  “What are you doing here?” he asks. I don’t like his tone.

  “Erm…” Patrick recoils his hand. “I was at the concert.”

  Tyler narrows his eyes. Then turns to me. I don’t know what he’s thinking but I know I don’t like it.

  “This is why you’ve been ignoring me?” he asks me. I don’t even know how to answer.

  “Are you two together?” Patrick asks suddenly.

  “No,” I say, at the same time Tyler says, “Yes.”

  This can’t be good, right? No. No, it can’t.

  “Okaaaay…” Patrick says awkwardly. “I’m gonna… go grab a drink.”

  “No?” Tyler immediately turns to me, irritated.

  “Yes?” I match his tone.

  “I thought it was pretty obvious from the last few days that we are together,” he argues, talking loudly. I notice people around us start to pay attention.

  “Yeah, for now,” I say. His eyebrows shoot up. “I mean, it’s not like an official thing.”

  “What does that even mean?” he asks exasperated.

  “I don’t know!” I exclaim. A lot of people are looking at us now.

  “You’re unbelievable!” he says, running both hands through his damp hair. “I thought… I thought…”

  “What?” I demand. He looks at me, frowning, angry, frustrated.

  “Never mind,” he ends up saying, turning away.

  “No, don’t do that,” I ask, grabbing his wrist.

  “What do you want?” he snaps. “Huh? What were you trying to prove by inviting him here?”

  What is he talking about? Does he think I told Patrick about the concerts to get to him somehow? How would I even know he’d turn into such a jealous bitch? We weren’t even together when it happened.

  “It was before you and me…” I say and stop myself. “And it was barely an invitation, you were there, you saw it.”

  “Don’t play dumb,” he scoffs, which leaves me livid. “I mean here here, to the party.”

  “First of all, if you ever call me dumb again, I’ll give you a black eye,” I say between gritted teeth. “Second of all, I didn’t invite him here here. I don’t even know how he knew about the party.”

  “Uh…” Patrick chimes in, then. I didn’t even notice he was back. “The other guy invited me.”

  “What other guy?” Tyler and I ask in unison.

  “Um…” He looks around, until he finds him and points. “That one.”

&nb
sp; Todd.

  “Todd?” Tyler snorts.

  “I didn’t know you knew each other,” Todd defends himself. He, too, had been watching our row.

  “Actually, you did,” Patrick busts him, turning to us. “We chatted briefly and I told him I was here for Becky.”

  For a second, I think Tyler is going to fly at his brother the same way he did when he commented on us sleeping together. He doesn’t, though. He laughs. It’s a bitter, evil laugh. I don’t like this one.

  “I’m sorry, Patrick,” Tyler turns to him then, a totally different look on his face. “I guess it was all a misunderstanding.”

  “Erm… no… no problem,” Patrick stutters.

  “What did you think of the concert?” Tyler continues, as people resume what they were doing before.

  Patrick glances at me nervously, but answers the question. They keep chatting for a few minutes while I glance back and forth between them, having absolutely no idea of what’s going on or what I should do.

  “Well, Patrick, thank you for coming,” Tyler ends the interaction. “Enjoy the rest of the party.”

  With that, he turns around and leaves the room. Patrick and I stand there, staring at the door, for several moments.

  “I’m sorry,” Patrick says.

  “Don’t be,” I find myself replying. “You did nothing wrong.”

  “I did have ulterior motives to come here, though,” he says. And that gorgeous smile is back on his face.

  “I-I noticed,” I stutter. “But it’s not gonna happen.”

  “I noticed, too,” he says, not even slightly disappointed. “It was nice getting to know you, anyway.”

  Know what? You didn’t even let me talk.

  “You, too,” I say. Then we stand there, staring at each other.

  “This is the part where you go after your boyfriend,” he jokes.

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” I blurt out.

  “Good to know,” he says. I feel myself blush.

  “I will go after him, though,” I say.

  “Okay,” he nods. “Guess I’ll see you around.”

  I don’t know how to respond to that, so I don’t. I turn on my heels, leaving the room after Tyler. Before I knock on his door, though, I wonder if I’m doing the right thing. I really, really disliked his attitude. But I don’t think that’s enough reason to ditch him for the next pretty face I see, right? I mean… we kind of are together.