by J. Bengtsson
The fortunate crowd I was with made their way back inside to the VIP area. The friendly guard who I’d spoken to earlier was no longer there. He’d been replaced by a new guy.
“Um…I’m…uh…I’m Jake’s girlfriend.” I said awkwardly. It felt like I was lying, or bragging, when I said those words. Jake and I had never discussed if I was his girlfriend or not but it seemed to be an accurate assessment of our relationship. Jake would not have invited me here if he wasn’t at least somewhat interested in me. But for a guy who could have anyone he wanted, maybe I was reaching for things when I identified myself as his girlfriend.
The suspicious guard looked my sweaty, disheveled self up and down. I could not have been real impressive looking at this point so I totally got why he wouldn’t believe me. “Where is your artist pass?”
“I don’t have one. I came with Jake.”
“Uh-huh but I can’t let you through…not without an artist pass. You actually shouldn’t be back here at all without, at the very least, a VIP badge,” the guard said gruffly. “I’m going to have to have you escorted out.”
“She’s Jake’s girlfriend,” Lauren stepped in for me.
“Well then he should have given her a proper pass,” the guard said sternly.
“He’s expecting me back there,” I tried.
“Look, maybe you’re his girlfriend, maybe you aren’t. It doesn’t matter. If you are his girlfriend than you’ll appreciate that my job tonight is to protect your boyfriend. And that means that no one goes back to see Jake McKallister without the appropriate authorization.”
What he said made sense but that didn’t solve my problem.
“Can you call Jake?” Lauren asked me.
“Good idea,” I said and took out my phone. I dialed Jake’s number but there was no answer. I hung up.
“He didn’t answer?” Lauren asked. I shook my head. The guard was on his phone now. I was starting to get a bit worried. Was he calling for backup to have me thrown out?
“What about Sean Wilson?” Angela suggested. “You can ask to have him paged. That’s Jake’s manager right?”
“Yeah.” I said thinking that, after what happened this morning, Sean would probably rather see me thrown out of the arena than let me back with Jake again. “I should do that.”
Just then my phone rang. I looked down and it was Jake. Thank God. “Hello.”
“Where are you?” Jake asked.
“In the VIP section. The guard won’t let me through. Apparently you were supposed to get me an artist pass or something…and now they want to throw me out of the joint.”
“Hold on. I’m coming to save you,” Jake said with an amused voice. He hung up. I stood there a couple of minutes before the door opened and Jake walked through it.
The VIP crowd saw him too and cheers went up. Jake waved at them as he walked up to the guard, who looked instantly worried.
“She’s with me,” he said.
“Oh sure…of course. I’m sorry about that. She didn’t have a pass. For your protection, I’m strictly forbidden from allowing anyone through without one, I hope you understand,” the guard stumbled, clearly trying to explain himself.
“No, I get it. You’re doing your job. It was my bad,” Jake said and patted the guard on the shoulder. A look of relief crossed the guard’s face. He let me through immediately. “She’s always wandering off. I can’t leave her alone for a second,” Jake said smiling mischievously at me.
“Oh shut up,” I replied laughing then I turned to Lauren and Angela and hugged them both. “Thanks for helping me.”
“Of course,” Angela said to me then turned to Jake. “This girl is a real sweetheart.”
“Yeah, she’s okay,” Jake joked.
I gasped like I was offended then started laughing. Lauren and her mom joined in.
“And thank you again for the opportunity to come backstage. It has just been such a special night,” Angela said.
“I’m glad you had fun. Are you coming again tomorrow?” Jake asked.
“If you don’t mind,” Angela said.
“No, not at all. I need someone to keep watch over Casey here,” Jake joked.
“I think someone better get his girlfriend a pass for tomorrow,” she countered.
“Thank you,” I grinned at Angela then turned to Jake. “This is all your fault.”
“Yeah. Yeah,” Jake smiled, nodding his head. “You ready?”
“Yep,” I said then turned to Lauren and Angela. “See you tomorrow.”
“Okay bye,” they both said.
Jake grabbed my hand and led me back to the dressing room.
“I’m going to have to keep better track of you,” Jake joked. “What were you doing on the other side anyway?”
“It was my first concert, remember? I wanted to really experience it.”
“And you couldn’t do that from the side of the stage?”
“Well, I couldn’t see your pretty face,” I giggled. Jake crossed his eyes and tried to make himself look ugly. He failed miserably but I laughed. “Oh and by the way your hair…that man bun thingy. Was that for my benefit?”
“Maybe,” Jake replied coyly. “Actually I was about to take a shower when you interrupted me with your whole ‘damsel in distress’ bit.”
“Again…your fault…not mine.”
“How was I to know you were going to wander off and get lost?”
I was going to argue with him some more but he was just too cute so I kissed him instead. “Get on with it then.”
“With what?”
“Your shower. I want to get you back to the room so I can do something special for my night in shining armor.”
“Okay, yeah…I like the way you’re thinking.”
Chapter Eighteen
Casey
I woke Sunday morning snuggled next to Jake. This fairytale weekend was going to come to a close soon and I wanted to squeeze in every last second with him.
“I don’t want to leave you,” I said tilting my head and giving him a kiss. “I’m going to miss you so much.”
“Don’t then.”
I propped myself up on one elbow and looked at Jake. “Don’t what?”
“Don’t go. Stay with me.”
I stared at him a second then shook my head in shock and said, “Really?”
“Yeah, why not?”
God how I wanted to say yes but I had responsibilities back home that I couldn’t just walk away from. “I wish I could…I really do...but I have to get back.”
“Why?”
“I have to work, Jake. The money I make during the summer pays my rent and helps with my college all year long.”
“Okay, so what do you make working all summer?”
“You mean how much money do I make?”
“Yeah, for the entire summer.”
“I don’t know. If I’m lucky I get about 6.”
“Grand?” Jake asked in surprise.
“No dollars…of course, grand,” I answered, sarcastically.
“Wow.”
“Wow, what?”
“I’m just…uh…out of touch with how much people make.”
“What? Is that like nothing for you?”
Jake grinned and shrugged.
I smiled at his reaction to my shitty pay. “Why? How much do you make?”
“I don’t know. A lot,” Jake answered, casually. “I have an idea. What if I give you six thousand dollars to cover the summer and then you can stay with me?”
“You’re going to pay me to stay with you?” I smiled.
“Well when you put it that way, it makes me sound like a creeper.”
“I’m kidding,” I said laughing. “That is such a sweet offer, Jake. It really is but I can’t take that kind of money from you.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. It’s wrong. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to pay you back.”
“It’s not a loan. I don’t do loans,” Jake replied.
I loo
ked at him. Was he seriously offering to pay all my expenses?
“I want to say yes so bad, Jake, but I just can’t. I’ll get fired and I need that job once school starts.”
“If they fire you, I’ll personally go to the manager and beg for your job back. Tony and I are like this,” Jake said and intertwined his fingers together.
I smiled.
“I can be pretty convincing when I want to be.”
“I’m getting that,” I said.
“You can’t blame me for wanting to spend the summer with my girlfriend.”
“Am I?” I asked, my heart skipping a beat. It was the first time he’d called me that. “Your girlfriend?”
Jake smiled, “Seriously? Do you require a formal request?”
I shrugged, smiling.
Jake laughed. “Okay then. Casey Caldwell…will you be my girlfriend?”
I paused and hesitated, making him wait. “Well…I don’t know…” I then squealed and wrapped my arms around him. I gave him a long, lingering kiss before saying, “I would love to be your girlfriend. Nothing would make me happier.”
“Damn you were making me sweat there for a minute.”
“Yeah right,” I rolled my eyes.
“So what do you say…are you going to stay with me or what?”
“I would love to Jake but, seriously, I can’t.”
“Why not? What’s more important than us being together?”
That gave me pause.
“Just say yes…like you did when I asked you to come to London. ”
“That was for three days!” I laughed. “Do you have any idea what my parents would do to me if I stayed here with you all summer?”
“It’s nothing they won’t get over…eventually,” Jake said. “If I’d listened to everything my parents wanted me to do, I would not be here today.”
“Yeah, but I’m not brave like you.”
“Look Casey. I like you…a lot. This…what you and I have going here…it’s good…you can’t deny it.”
“I don’t deny it. It’s incredible Jake.”
“So then we owe it to ourselves to see where this goes. If we separate and live our own lives for the next three months…right now, at the very beginning of our relationship, can we really get it back to where it is now?”
“I…I don’t know,” I was now worried. I didn’t want to lose him. If I left would he move on?
“All I’m saying is there is an easy solution for us to be together. I have the money. We pay your rent for the summer and put the rest aside for college. I’ll beg your employer to give you your job back and your parents will eventually forgive you. If you don’t want to stay with me that is one thing…but if you do, there is no logical reason why you can’t,” Jake smiled, clearly pleased with his argument. I couldn’t help but smile back. What the hell was I thinking? The guy I was falling in love with was asking me to stay with him for the summer…to go on tour with him…any girl’s dream scenario. How could I say no to that?
“You’ll beg for me?” I asked coyly.
“Of everything I just laid out in my speech, THAT is the only thing you got out of it?” Jake laughed.
I nodded innocently.
He sighed. “Yes, Casey. I will beg for you.”
“Then how can I refuse?”
“You’ll stay then?” Jake’s face lit up. He looked so happy.
“I’ll stay,” I said and hugged him.
“God Dammit you didn’t make that easy.”
“Nothing in life worth fighting for is easy.”
Jake smiled then leaned over and kissed me. “No you’re right about that.”
We kissed for a few minutes before I pulled away and said, “I do have one condition.”
“You have conditions now?” Jake asked looking slightly worried.
“I only have clothes for three days. You’re going to have to take me shopping, ‘Pretty Woman’ style.”
Jake grinned. “Deal.”
I had to make the call to my parents. I was worried what their reaction would be. What I was doing…taking this chance with the guy I liked…it was totally out of character for me. I waited until I thought my parents would be awake before making the call. Thankfully my mom answered.
“Hello?”
“Mom, it’s me Casey.”
“Oh thank God! I’ve tried to call you.”
“Yeah, sorry…I have it on airplane mode so I don’t get charged for calls. Is everything okay?”
“Oh yeah, of course. I was just so curious and I’m so happy to hear your voice. Your name didn’t come up on my phone.”
“Oh, that is because I’m actually calling from Jake’s phone. He has the international plan so it doesn’t cost me anything to call from it.”
“You’re calling from Jake McKallister’s cell phone?”
“Mom, you don’t have to use his full name,” I laughed even though I myself routinely used it.
“I know, it’s just weird for me to hear you say it so casually, like he isn’t some huge celebrity,” my mom said in awe.
“Well, he’s not just a celebrity anymore. He’s my boyfriend.”
“Your boyfriend?”
“Yep, I made him formally ask me then I accepted,” I announced proudly.
“That’s my girl.”
I laughed.
“Wow, I just can’t believe it,” she said with incredulity in her voice.
“Honestly…neither can I. It’s all so unreal. I keep asking myself how I got so lucky to snag a guy like him? I have to look around to see if I’m being punked or something. I seriously have no idea what he sees in me but I’m not complaining.”
“What do you mean ‘what he sees in you’? You’re a beautiful, funny, intelligent woman.”
“Ahh thanks mom.”
“Wow, you guys are moving really fast.”
“Not really…I mean I’ve already known him for about a month.”
“Yes but you’ve only spent 5 days together. Is that really enough time to know you want to date a person, Casey?”
“Mom, if Jake asked me today…I’d marry him tomorrow,” I said only half-joking. “He’s that amazing. You just have no idea.”
“But you can’t possibly know that much about him, Casey.”
“That is the thing mom. In other relationships I’ve had, we went on dates and slowly got to know each other but with Jake, because we couldn’t do anything else but talk, everything was accelerated. I literally spent hours upon hours just talking to him. I know way more about him at this stage of our relationship than I’ve ever known about any of my other boyfriends.”
“Have you talked about the kidnapping?”
“Mom, no, of course not.”
“He has never said anything?”
“No, why would he?”
“I’m just saying Casey, there is a whole huge chunk of his life that he hasn’t shared with you. And that isn’t small stuff. Trauma like that stays with you and has a tendency to surface later in a relationship.”
“And if it does, we will deal with it. But honestly mom, everything Jake has been through in life has made him the man he is today and he’s special. He has this extraordinary strength and wisdom that I’ve never seen in a guy his age. You’ll understand when you meet him. I’m telling you, Mom, Jake is the catch of a lifetime.”
“You sound head over heels for him.”
“I am. He’s so amazing and he has this incredible inner strength. He knows exactly who he is and who he wants to be. And despite everything he has been through in his life, he isn’t bitter or angry. I don’t know, mom, he’s just such a unique person. I’ve never met anyone like him.”
“You’re gushing, Casey,” my mom said laughing.
“I know. I can’t help it.”
“Well, he sounds amazing.”
“Oh, he is mom. I can’t wait for you to meet him. You’ll love him.”
“I know I will. I can only imagine how exciting it all is for you Casey bu
t here is what I’m worried about…you’re falling so hard so fast. Are you sure that he feels the same way? Otherwise your heart is going to be broken.”
“I know that scares me too…but I don’t want fear to keep me from taking a chance at love. Jake is worth the risk to my heart.”
“But does he feel the same way Casey?”
“I honestly think he does, mom. Jake isn’t shy about expressing to me how he feels. He has told me he’s falling for me. Jake acts like he’s the lucky one to be dating me and not the other way around. He just makes me feel so special.”
“Wow. He sounds…I don’t know…too good to be true.”
“I know. And maybe I am looking at him through rose-colored glasses but he’s a really good guy mom. I know you’d love him.”
“I hope I get a chance to meet him someday soon.”
“You will.”
“So, then you guys are talking about moving this relationship forward once he comes home from tour?”
“We really haven’t talked about it. I think it’s just assumed.”
“How could you make that work with him in LA and you in Arizona?”
“I don’t know but I think we will figure it out. This feels like a mature, grown-up relationship. We have great communication.”
“So I take it that the two of you have been…uh…romantic?”
“Mom? Geez.”
“Just tell me that you were smart and safe.”
“Mom? Of course.”
“Okay sorry. I had to ask.”
“No, really, you didn’t,” I scoffed.
“Oh don’t be such a prude,” my mom said dismissively, “So what time is your flight again? When do you leave London?”
“Um…actually that is why I called. I’m not flying home today.”
“What? Casey, you only got those three days off.”
“I know. I called my manager today and told him I wouldn’t be back this summer.”
“This summer?!? You quit?”
“Jake asked me to stay with him. I’ll get to tour with him and see Europe. It’s the chance of a lifetime, mom, with I guy I really like. I know this is totally out of character for me but I owe it to myself to see where this goes.”
“Oh Casey.”