Out of The Box Awakening

by Theriot, Jennifer

  “Well, son, if it’s meant to be, it will happen. I’m always here to talk if you need to.”

  I feel really bad for Tommy. Maybe I’ll call Todd and pick his brain.

  I do just that the next day.

  “Todd?”

  “Hey, Olivia, ready for your tat? Please tell me, ‘Yeah, something like that.’“

  “Uhhhh…no, nothing like that. Can I talk to you? Ask you something?”

  “Let me guess. You’re calling to get me to tell you what’s going on with the love birds, right?”

  “Yeah…some—” I’m cut off.

  “Yeah. ‘Something like that.’ Am I right?”

  “Yeah, something like that.”

  “Olivia, you are too much! Well, seems like the lovebirds have flown south. Tommy’s pretty fuckin’ bummed right now. She’s doing a number on his head. We don’t really say too much about it. I figure if he wants to talk about it with us he will, but he’s really been all about just music lately. We’ve been practicing lots lately.”

  I tell him that I asked Emily to come with Ash and I on Saturday.

  “Hmmmm, don’t know if that’s a good idea…anyways, she probably won’t come. But, just in case she does, we’ve been rehearsing a song that Tommy’s singing Saturday. It’s called “Emily” and it pretty much sums up their relationship. She may freak if she comes and he sings it. Just giving you fair warning.”

  “Well, I hope she does come. They need to work this out.”

  “Okay, Olivia, Miss Match.com, we’ll see you guys on Saturday.”

  “How’s the new tattoo?”

  “It fucking rocks! It’s pretty much healed. I’ll show you on Saturday. You’re gonna love it!”

  “Okay, then, see you on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed that Emily will come.”

  “My fingers? Hell, if she’ll come, I’ll keep my dick crossed. Tommy needs to get out of this funk!”

  Saturday gets here, and Emily has decided she will come with us to watch the guys play after all. Ash insists on going to pick her up, but I tell him that I already volunteered that.

  “Olivia, you just chill and let the kids work it out…promise?”

  “Of course!” I roll my eyes and he swats my head.

  “Seriously, Liv, they’ll work it out if it’s meant to be.”

  “Okay—Geez! I get it. I didn’t pressure her to come, I just offered her a ride if she wanted to come.”

  “Well, just back off a little, hon. I know you want this to work for them, but sometimes you just have to step back and let things work themselves out. I know you mean well, believe me. And that’s one of the things I love about you!” He kisses me and says, “Let’s just work on you and me for now…deal?”

  “Deal. I promise.”

  We get to Emily’s and I am surprised at how old the building is. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this! It’s in kind of a bad neighborhood, and I just hate to think of her coming and going after dark. I text her that we’re in the parking lot and she comes right out. She looks adorable! She has such natural beauty, and I can see exactly why Tommy likes her.

  Ash gets out and opens the back door for her. “Ready,” he asks.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

  He gives her a hug, helps her in, and we drive off. We get to the club early and walk in. The guys are sitting at our reserved table up front by the stage, drinking beer. Tommy is sitting with his back to us, the chair tilted back, with his foot propped up on the table. As we approach, the guys see us and all wave.

  When Tommy turns around and sees Emily, his face immediately lights up. He quickly gets out of his chair and walks up to us. Tommy and Emily just look at each other each doing nothing. God, I hope this wasn’t a bad idea! Ash looks at me and I can tell he’s thinking the exact same thing. Arghhhhh! I do not want to hear “I told you so” from Ash! After an uncomfortable amount of time, as I grappled with the uncertainty of whether I should have invited her, Tommy takes the lead, pulls her in to him, and kisses the top of her head. He whispers something in her ear and she nods.

  Boy, am I relieved! Maybe this night won’t be so bad after all. I wonder what he’s said, but she doesn’t appear upset. It must have been good. She seems to melt into him, but is still a bit reserved, which is okay.

  Ash motions me to sit by him, and I do. He puts his arm around me and pats my shoulder.

  “Seems to be okay, Miss Matchmaker!” he whispers in my ear.

  I nod and give him a kiss. Todd gets up and put his hands up in a “what the hell” motion.

  “Well?? Do I not get a hug, Sweet Em? Come here girl!”

  She laughs and gives him a big hug. “Hey Todd! I’ve missed you guys!”

  The rest of the guys stand and take turns giving her a hug. We all sit, then, and talk before the show starts.

  A girl casually, but not casually (if you get my drift), walks by the table. She’s overly made up and has on skimpy clothes. Skanky I believe is what the kids call that. She walks up to Tommy and whispers something in his ear.

  He rolls his eyes, as if disgusted, and shakes his head no, then waves her off. She looks pretty put out. He points over at Todd and nodding a firm yes. She goes up to Todd and sits on his lap. The rest of the guys crack up laughing, but Todd lightly pushes her off his lap, pats her butt and tells her that maybe he’ll talk with her later.

  “Who was that?” I ask.

  “Just another one of those groupies, Olivia. I’m telling you, they want me bad!”

  I tell Todd that I think she went up to Tommy first, and he laughs. “She went up to him to ask how to get to me!” he jokes.

  Emily doesn’t look bothered at all by it, and Tommy surely wasn’t interested in Miss Skank. We’re all surprised to see Ellen and David walk in. We wave for them to come to the table.

  “Hey, there! Surprise-surprise! We made it! Bet you thought we weren’t coming!” Ellen says with a bit smile.

  Ash rises and swoops her up in a huge hug.

  “Hey, baby sis! So glad you guys came! And David too? What a surprise! Grab a chair and I’ll get you guys a drink.”

  David and Ash go up to the bar and get drinks. Ellen sits in the seat next to me.

  “So good to see you, Olivia! David and I decided to do date night, and I told him we just had to come watch Tommy. Oh! Hey, Emily! Good to see you!” She gives Emily a hug, and Emily tells her how good it is to see her again. “So, are you and Tommy officially dating?”

  She looks rather sheepish. “Kinda-sorta? It’s kinda complicated, but yeah, yeah, we are.”

  “Awesome! So happy for you! Good to see you again!”

  The show is really good tonight. The guys sound great, and the house is packed. Emily is having a good time, and I think she’s really glad she decided to come. During their breaks, Tommy comes to our table and is very attentive to her. He makes no bones about the fact that she belongs to him. He is being rather demonstrative in his PDAs, but in a good way. I sense there are a lot of disappointed girls who wish to God they were in Emily’s place. Emily seems fine with his displays of affection, and she somewhat reciprocates, though I sense she is holding back.

  Sensing that he should spend some time talking to Ellen, Tommy scoots over to the chair next to her and gives her a hug and tells her that he’s really glad she and David came.

  “You guys are sooo good!” she says.

  “Thanks Aunt Ellen. Staying for the whole show?”

  “You bet. David said he’d make an exception tonight and stay up past midnight. Let’s see if he can do it!”

  David looks at them, rolls his eyes and jokingly looks at his watch. “Gonna try and stay up, my man! Ellen said I have to at least try, so I will. Gotta keep the wifey happy!”

  It’s so funny. The girls in this club keep walking back and forth by our table, hoping to get noticed—by anyone in the band or at the table, it seems. Ellen and I laugh at how they try to walk by nonchalantly while st
ill being really noticeable. I joke and say they are probably hoping that Ash or David will notice them. She laughs and tells me that’ll be the day!

  Two girls walk over to our table. They seem to know exactly where they are headed. Ash leans to me and whispers that they are with Brian and Steve. They are nice-looking girls. Probably college age and definitely not skanky, like some of the others. Brian and Steve stand when they get to the table, and politely introduce them to the rest of us at the table during the break. Emily scoots over beside them to talk, which tells me that she’s probably met them before, maybe at rehearsals.

  At the beginning of the third set, Tommy starts off with the song called “Emily.” Todd has told me about the song, and that Marc Broussard wrote and sings it. He mentioned that Tommy was planning on doing the piece tonight The guys all look at him, and approvingly give him the go ahead. Once he starts the song, Emily gets up to go to the restroom, totally unknowing that this song is about to be sung for her. Todd looks at me with a Where’s she going? look. I grab her arm.

  “Be right back…have to pee!” she tells me and she’s off to the restroom.

  I shrug my shoulders and nod my head toward the restroom. Todd gets it and acknowledges with a nod.

  Tommy starts singing and doesn’t miss a beat, even though he sees she’s gotten up. I really hope she’s not gone too long. After all, this song is both for and about her! He spots her as she’s walking back from the bathroom.

  When she hears her name being sung, she comes to a dead stop in the middle of the aisle, facing the stage. He’s looking straight at her. He points to her and cocks his head to the side, singing—asking her not to be mean to him, not fight the chemistry, asking what he can do to find a way to her heart.

  She looks completely stunned and just stands there staring at him. He’s staring back at her. The only difference is that he’s singing and she’s listening. It’s like they are the only two people in the room. Their eyes don’t leave one another.

  She finally makes her way back to the table. Tommy follows her all the way with his eyes. I can see that there are tears in her eyes, and Tommy looks concerned, like he’s afraid he’s upset her. She sits in the chair next to me, facing the stage. Tommy is still singing to her, looking straight, dead-on into her eyes. He’s serious—no smiles, just determined to get his point across in song.

  We both look up at him. Without a doubt, he’s hurting really bad, and is singing with every ounce of emotion he has

  We’re all equally stunned at the table. Ellen looks confused. Obviously, she doesn’t know what’s been going on between Tommy and Emily, and I don’t even think Ash has told her about the Tommy-and-Tony ordeal. I lean over and ask Ash if he knew anything about this song. He shakes his head.

  “No! I had no idea! I swear. All I know is that Tommy said they’ve practiced a lot of new songs over the past few weeks. Guess this was one of them, because I’ve never heard it before. Interesting choice…huh?”

  Emily is definitely drawn in by the words. She puts her head in her hands and looks straight at Tommy. When the song ends, she puts her fingers to her lips and then out to him. Then she smiles and he smiles. Without having said one word directly to one another, they’ve talked.

  It’s amazing what the power of music does—how much can be said in the simple words of a song. Songs can heal, they can hurt, they can inspire, they can soothe, they can relax, they make us remember, they make us forget, fantasize, they can romanticize; they can do just about anything. I am so in awe of those who write music. A songwriter’s gift of song can find its way into our lives and can fit exactly the mood or situation we are in. It’s like someone wrote it just for us.

  I think back to the night I had my meltdown, after Alan’s untimely phone call calling off our marriage. I think about being in the tub with Ash, having him comfort me in silence, and about just how soothing and apropos the words to “The Heart of Life” were to me. That song is on my playlist, and I listen to it often. It’s as if that song had been written just for me, to fill that very moment. The words depict every damn feeling I was having at the time.

  I’m so glad I’ve found someone who truly appreciates music as much as I do. Ash, Tommy, and the guys are all about music, and I just love that we have that in common and can share that. Even though I don’t play an instrument, I have a deep respect for artists and the music they write and play. And now Tommy picks this song to sing to Emily tonight. It’s profound.

  The crowd loves the song, too. Todd, being Todd, gets up and takes a bow as if to take credit for it all. He blows Emily a kiss as well, followed by the rest of the guys. They all send a big Muahhh! out to her. She covers her face in embarrassment, and then laughs. It’s good to see her laugh.

  Enough said, I think. Todd gives thumbs up from the stage and winks at me. Point taken, Todd!

  Chapter 23

  When the show ends, we all stay at the club. Ross tells Ash that we can stay as late as we want. Even David and Ellen stay. Geez! It’s after 1:00 a.m., and David is still going strong. He and Ash are having a great time, something they probably both need. Ellen says that David has been working and traveling a lot lately.

  Ash has put music on the jukebox as he always does. “Cherry Bomb,” by John Mellencamp comes on. Ellen and I throw up our hands, grab our dates, and head out to the dance floor. We all do our best jitterbug.

  God! Ash is such a good dancer and so easy to follow. We all sing to the song, word for word. The older folks are getting their groove on. Tommy and Emily come out to dance, as does Ross with one of the bartenders, Liz. Of course, Todd has to come cut in on Ash.

  “Scuse me, Mr. H., gotta cut in!”

  Ash eyes him down and turns me lose into Todd’s arms. He twirls me around and resumes the jitterbug without stopping. He’s really good dancer, too…who knew?

  “How do you know how to dance like this?” I ask.

  “My Grammy loved to dance. She’s the one who taught me. I’ve been known to cut a rug with the old folks from time to time. I’m cool!”

  “’Old folks’? Are you insinuating something? And to think I thought all you did was gyrate!”

  “Gyrate and jitterbug!”

  After several songs, Todd says he wants to go outside and smoke. I look surprised at him. “Wait…you still smoke?” I ask.

  “Yeah, somethin like that!”

  “Hey! You can’t steal my line, bucko!”

  “I just did! So, wanna go out and have one with me?”

  Ash looks at me and nods….

  “I’m going outside for a bit with Todd,” I say. “Be right back!”

  “Olivia, don’t think I don’t know you’re going to smoke,” he says.

  “Uh-oh! Busted, Olivia! The big guy knows. He’s onto you.”

  “Yeah, I know she smokes from time to time.”

  “You do? How did you know?”

  “I have my sources—go on, have one and enjoy!” He hands me a pack of gum. “Here…this will take the smell away.” He laughs, then. “I know your secret!” He winks that sexy wink at me and then Todd and I head out to the back parking lot.

  I wonder if Reba mentioned it to him. She did, after all, stop at the store so I could get a pack. I’ll have to ask her. Her loyalties surely don’t lie with me. Ash is her employer.

  In the parking lot we see Tommy leaning back against the wall to the building next door, with his knee up and Emily facing him. He’s keeping her warm and she’s snuggled inside his arms with her face against his chest. They’re talking and kissing. He strokes her face.

  “Well, well, well, look what we found.” Todd says.

  “Shhhhh…leave them alone. Let’s go over here.” I move us over to a spot away from them. I think they’re oblivious to us anyway, but they definitely don’t need us bugging them

  Todd gets out his pack of cigarettes. “We still haven’t squared up from the pack you gave me at Grammy’s. I haven’t forgotten, though. I know I owe you at least ten.�
��

  “Uh, there was more than a half a pack when I gave it to you, buddy!”

  “Uh, I so don’t think so.”

  We both laugh and light up. We stand, with our drinks in hand. It’s cold and windy out, but it feels so good to have a cigarette, even if it’s only going to be one! It’s been awhile.

  “You cold?” he asks.

  “No, I’m okay. It’s nice to just enjoy a cigarette. I pull my gloves out and put them on. “I miss smoking, sometimes, especially when I’m drinking.”

  He barks out a quick laugh. “Which is what…every day?“

  “Yeah, something like that!”

  We both laugh. Something in the right corner of the parking lot catches my eye and I let out a gasp.

  “Awww!”

  “What? What’s the matter?”

  “Look, see that black SUV over there? The one with blacked out windows?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Oh, my God! I swear that’s Tony’s car.”

  He throws down his cigarette, immediately in full defense mode. “Are you fucking serious?”

  “Unfortunately, yes. Dead serious.”

  About that time, the engine is killed and Tony gets out of the car. He walks toward us and sees Tommy and Emily over by the wall. He appears to be by himself, which relieves me somewhat.

  “Well, how fucking ass sweet!” he snarls. ”If it isn’t the whore of the century with her little boy toy!”

  Before he reaches them, I walk over and attempt to calm things. I stand in front of him with my arms crossed. “Look, son, you’re already in enough trouble. Why don’t you just get in your car and leave while you still can. It’s not worth you going to jail again.”

  I have my phone with me thank God, so I set it to record on the video. I inconspicuously hold the phone so it is recording everything he says and does.

  I’m startled when Tony shouts at me, “Shut the fuck up, bitch!”

  Todd immediately steps in front of me with his chest extended in defense mode. He rears back and tells Tony, “Oh, you did not just say that, you motherfucking guinea, did you?”