Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series)

by Michelle Maness

  Kaitlyn,

  Sorry about the late notice, but I’m in town and I'd like to see you. Will you come to the show tonight?

  Miss You,

  Adam Ellington

  She picked up the concert ticket and an all access backstage pass that had been tucked into the envelope with the card and smiled. She knew she would be going. She had been expecting the invitation and had looked into a few recovery centers in the area. The news that had been reaching her hadn’t been good. She was hoping to talk some sense into him.

  “Hey, Katherine, I was…wow, Derrick sent you two bouquets of roses?” Diane asked.

  “No,” Katherine admitted.

  “Do tell? Who else is sending you roses?” Diane’s eyes were lit with curiosity.

  “The red ones are from Derrick and the pink ones are from an old friend.”

  “An old flame, you mean? Apparently a wealthy one. How many roses are there?”

  “I haven’t counted.”

  Diane counted and shook her head. “Two dozen. Are you sure you’re engaged to the right man?”

  “Yes.”

  “What’s that?” Diane nodded to the concert ticket that lay on the desk.

  “A concert ticket.”

  “Your old flame asked you out?” Diane quirked one brow.

  “No.”

  “But he wants you to go to a concert with him? Two people out, dinner, and entertainment… that’s a date.”

  “No, it would be me going alone, there would be no dinner, and he is the entertainment,” Katherine admitted. She handed her co-worker and friend the concert ticket and all access back stage pass and watched the woman’s mouth fall open as her eyes widened.

  “How many women would like to be you right now?” Diane demanded.

  “I don’t know,” Katherine admitted and she didn’t want to find out.

  “You dated him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wow! So are you going?”

  “I am,” she nodded.

  “If you change your mind, I’ll go for you,” Diane joked.

  “I won’t change my mind,” Katherine insisted.

  Her boss almost did it for her. He called a meeting right at the end of the day that went over. By the time she rushed home to change and made it back out the door, phone ringing, she was running very late.

  Katherine slipped into her front row seat and smoothed the sun dress she wore, self-consciously. She had thought the dress was nice, now she felt out of place. Apparently she was stuffy, that or these girls felt no compulsion to cover their bodies.

  Katherine glanced around, the stage was empty and people were shifting and getting resettled. She had made it just as intermission was starting.

  “Did you miss me?” Adam came bounding on stage a short time later. The crowd responded with a roar. The next number started, the noise was deafening; the crowd around her seemed to know every word. As the song ended, the lights dimmed and Adam approached the edge of the stage. She knew the moment he spotted her by the huge smile and wink he sent her way.

  “This next song is about a good friend of mine, it’s for anyone who ever wondered what might have been.”

  The crowd was going wild, they knew what was coming; it was the song that had launched his career. He walked back to where Katherine sat and smiled down at her.

  “This one is for you, Kaitlyn,” he told her. The girls on either side of her eyed her curiously and she thought the girl behind might have just fainted. Katherine, herself, felt as though someone had just turned her emotions into a tossed salad. She had seen many movies where the big star dedicated a song to the leading lady and thought it was terribly romantic. She wondered if it caused the same deep ache in those movie heroines?

  Katherine found her mind skimming through the memories that the words inspired as he paced the stage, the now familiar words caressing the audience. When the song ended, she eased out of the crowd and pulled her pass out of her pocket. She showed her pass to two large guards at the side stage door and waited while they looked it over. The taller of the two nodded and opened the door for her.

  The door closed with a thud behind her and Katherine stopped to let her eyes adjust. The roar of the crowd and the music were muffled back here and the overhead lights seemed dim after the glare of the stage lights. There was a short flight of stairs in front of her and she started up them. The music grew louder again as she topped the steps and she looked right to where Adam was on the stage. To her left, people were milling around everywhere. An older heavyset gentleman with a balding head finally spotted her.

  “You must be Kaitlyn,” he smiled and extended his hand to her. “I’m Sam, Ace’s manager. We’ve all heard a lot about you. Follow me, you can wait back here.” He led her down a corridor and into a comfortable room filled with couches and armchairs.

  Other people sat around chatting. They were all wearing media passes and watched her closely as she entered with Sam. She shifted so that her back was to them. There was a commotion at the door and a young man, no more than nineteen, came spilling into the room.

  “Your wait is over; I am here!” he announced and breezed into the middle of the waiting media. Katherine watched in fascination as he talked and joked with the reporters; he was obviously trying to make a good impression. He was tall with coffee and cream skin, black curly hair that looked incredibly soft and startling blue eyes. He turned his gaze on her and started toward her.

  “Hello, beautiful, I’m Freddie, but you can call me whatever you like,” he kissed her hand. Her brow winged up and a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Right now I’m opening for Ace but I’ll be headlining in no time,” he winked at her.

  “Watch your step, Freddie. This is Kaitlyn,” Sam said as he approached them.

  “Pardon me, miss,” he bowed and backed away.

  Katherine gave Sam a bemused grin. These people were crazy but she liked them.

  “Everyone is under strict orders not to mess with you. Are you comfortable?”

  “I’m fine,” she assured him.

  “We didn’t think you were coming.”

  “My boss called an emergency meeting and I didn’t think I was either,” she told him. Sam sat down on the couch and she sat down beside him.

  “This business wears at you after a while,” Sam told her. “I have a home here in Nashville and got to stay there last night. It was a nice change. So are you from Nashville?”

  “Jackson, actually,” she replied.

  “I’ve been through there. Why did you settle in Nashville?”

  “My work and my fiancé.”

  “You’re engaged huh? Good luck. I've been married twice, but don’t let that discourage you,” he offered her a wink. She couldn’t help but smile at him. “What does your fiancé say about your being here?”

  “He’s in London.”

  “So he doesn’t know?”

  “He doesn’t believe that I know Adam,” she confided.

  Sam laughed.

  “I’ll admit that we wondered about your existence as well, we’d seen pictures but no one had ever seen you in person,” he told her. Someone called for him and Sam excused himself.

  Katherine picked up a nearby magazine and was flipping through it when a reporter approached her.

  “Excuse me, I’m Jennifer Frost, a reporter with one of the local papers, and I was wondering who you are.”

  “I’m no one,” Katherine assured her. She had no intention of getting caught up in any speculation where she and Adam were concerned.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound contrary,” the sleek blonde’s smile was sharp, “but clearly you are someone. The last time I checked they didn’t let just anyone back stage to see Ace.”

  “I assure you, I’m no one who matters. Someone he knew a long time ago and he wanted to say hi. I’m sorry but that is all I intend to give you,” Katherine met her gaze head on and watched irritation fill the other woman’s eyes.

  “I’ll
get to the bottom of it,” Jennifer warned.

  “You do that, Ms. Frost,” Katherine’s smile was brittle.

  She watched the woman walk and sighed; she hoped she didn’t get to the bottom of who she was. The last thing she needed was something else to fight over with Derrick. She knew the moment Adam walked in by the flash of bulbs and the sudden hum of questions. He answered a few questions and smiled politely. Katherine told herself that there was absolutely no reason to be irritated when Jennifer Frost flirted mercilessly with Adam. She watched Adam turn and move her direction; she stood and smiled. He scooped her into a hug and she heard several cameras flash. She just hoped the reporters didn’t get a hold of her name.

  “Hey, Kaitlyn, let’s get out of here,” he led her through the hallways and into a dressing room. “How are you? You look good, though a little thin.”

  “I’m good but I don’t like what I’m hearing about you,” she responded honestly.

  “You mean about the drugs?” he sighed.

  “Yes,” she noted for the first time that his hair was still wet. She inhaled deeply; he still used the same soap and cologne he had worn when they were dating. The smell of him alone brought back memories.

  “It’s the only way I can get through a show and then sleep at night. Since the whole mess with Mia I’ve been a wreck,” he admitted.

  “You must have really loved her,” she offered empathetically.

  “No, I didn’t love her, Kaitlyn, and to be honest I wasn’t fair to her. Neither of us was in that relationship for the right reasons. Her friend even told me it was her manager’s idea.”

  “Adam, I’m sorry. I guess her miscarrying didn’t help.”

  “She aborted the baby, Kaitlyn; didn’t even need my consent to do so,” he said bitterly. “No one cares whether I wanted the baby with or without its mother. I guess I would have made a lousy father, though huh? What does a man without a father know about being a father?”

  “I think you would have learned to be a father or died trying,” Katherine told him. “I’m sorry, Adam; I’m sorry that she did that to you.”

  “Thanks, talking about it helps,” Adam smiled at her. He propped his elbows on his knees and hung his head, his hands wrapped around the back of his neck. “I’m a train wreck, Kaitlyn, and I can’t seem to straighten myself up.”

  “Get some help, Adam; you can’t do it alone,” she informed him.

  “I’ve been through two unsuccessful rounds of outpatient rehab,” he shared.

  “Check yourself in,” she recommended. “Look, I don’t want to make you angry but I looked into a couple of places around here. I thought if you needed a friend to be there for you I’d volunteer to be that friend.” She pulled a couple of flyers from her purse and laid them on the table.

  “Thanks, Kaitlyn, but I’m in the middle of a tour. I can’t just quit; my label would flip.”

  “And if you OD next time or you’re too screwed up to finish a show, then what will they do?” she countered.

  “If I end it all, purposely or accidentally, they’ll simply capitalize on it,” he shrugged.

  “Please don’t say that, Adam,” she pleaded around a tight throat.

  “When I called you at Christmas I was thinking about doing just that, Kaitlyn. I’m miserable. I got the music career I wanted, more money than I know what to do with, more stuff than any twenty people need, and women ready to fall in my bed and I just want to end it all,” his brown eyes were tortured when they met hers.

  “Check yourself in, I mean it, Adam; I will come see you and will stand by you all the way,” she couldn’t stop her tears.

  “What would Ken say about that?” he asked her.

  “Derrick would live with it,” she assured him.

  “Thank you, Kaitlyn, for caring and trying to help, but I couldn’t do it if I tried. They would never let me simply walk away,” he informed her.

  “Last I knew you were a pretty resourceful guy,” she reminded him.

  “I’ve missed you, Kaitlyn,” he offered her a smile; his eyes were studying hers.

  “I’ve missed you too,” she returned with a smile before she had to look away.

  “Have you and Ken set a date?”

  “Adam,” she shot him an impatient look.

  “I’m sorry, have you and Derrick set a date?”

  “We haven’t,” she admitted.

  “There’s something wrong with this guy,” Adam shook his head.

  “Derrick is a nice guy,” she insisted.

  “Good; you deserve a nice guy.”

  His gaze was studying her again, almost caressing her before it lingered on her mouth; her lips began to tingle.

  “I should probably go,” Katherine flew to her feet. She was engaged to a nice man, a stable man with a promising career and they had planned a future together. She needed to remember that.

  “Let me walk you out,” he volunteered. “Or better yet…” he grinned. He tracked down Sam and a moment later Adam, two body guards in tow, claimed a golf cart from security.

  “Where are you parked?” he asked her.

  Katherine smiled and climbed onto the seat before giving him the row and section she was parked in. She was rather relieved for the escort given how far away she was parked from the amphitheater. The lot was rather dark too.

  “You’re way out here, aren’t you?” Adam noted.

  “I was late,” she reminded him.

  Adam parked beside her car and hopped off the cart, the two guards stepped off to scan the area cautiously.

  Katherine stood and accepted the hug Adam offered.

  “Adam, promise me you will think about what I said?” she requested as she leaned back in his arms to look up at him.

  “I’ll think about it,” he nodded and then kissed her forehead. He pulled her back close and squeezed her.

  “Bye, Kaitlyn.”

  “I hate that word,” she informed him as she stepped from his arms and dug her keys out.

  “Me too,” he agreed.

  “Until next time, Adam. Call me if you need me.”

  Adam smiled and nodded.

  “Until next time; I like that.”

  Adam watched Kaitlyn leave and felt the darkness close back in on him; he wanted only to escape the reality of the life he’d built. He watched her taillights fade and then climbed back onto the cart to return back inside. His dressing room had already been cleared by the time he returned inside and he went to his bus to climb on board. It had been a long day and he was exhausted but he didn’t think he could sleep. He reached for a bottle of Jack Daniels and a medicine bottle from the cabinet above the sink. He shook a few pills into his hand and stared at them. All he had to do was pop them and follow them with a long drink of the whiskey so he could escape, at least for a little while. The oblivion would be welcome.

  Kaitlyn’s pleading eyes swam through his mind and he closed his eyes. The woman was everything that was goodness and kindness and even now she believed in his ability to be a better man than he was. Adam shook his head. The woman had to be the biggest optimist that ever lived and yet somehow knowing she believed he could do it made him want to believe it too. Adam opened his eyes and stared at the pills in his hand. He turned the sink on and washed them down the drain before dumping the rest of the bottle behind them. He emptied the remaining bottles in the cabinet and dug the stash from his luggage, each went down the drain. The alcohol followed; the empty pill bottles and alcohol bottles began pilling up in the floor.

  When the last of it was gone, he shoved a few things in a bag and glanced out the window at the crew where they were loading equipment. In a few minutes, his driver would be along to start the long drive to the next venue. He didn’t have long if he was going to do this. For a moment he almost backed out. It was now or never. He knew if he didn’t do this soon, he was going to burn out rather than fade away as the old song suggested. He hopped off the bus and rounded its front, away from where the crew was loading and surve
yed the area around him.

  He waited until the crew returned inside and darted around the side of the building away from the loading areas. Several minutes later he slipped quietly from the parking lot and chose to stay in the shadows. He walked to the nearest gas station, thankful that it was closed, and used the pay phone to call a cab. He had actually done it; he had walked away and no one had seen him. An hour later the cab stopped in front of the address Adam had given the driver and Adam paid the bill.

  Adam, his insides knotting painfully, stared at the building before him. He was about to find out if he could be a better man and that scared the hell out of him. If he failed this time…no, he couldn’t think that way. He pressed the buzzer for security and watched a guard come to the door.

  “Yes?” the man peered at him curiously.

  “I’m here to check myself in.”

  Twelve

  Katherine, her thoughts still troubled as they lingered on Adam, showered and dressed the next morning. She couldn’t help worrying over him. She was preparing to go to a friend’s baby shower when a knock sounded on her door. She opened it to find Sam on her doorstep; she blinked.

  “Sam, hi; is Adam okay?” she demanded.

  “I’m not sure, that’s why I’m here to see you. This man is a private detective and we have a few questions,” Sam nodded to the man next to him.

  “Come in,” she invited and turned to lead them into her apartment. She seated herself in an arm chair and watched as the men perched on the edge of the couch; her stomach was knotted painfully.

  “Ace is missing,” Sam came straight to the point. “Last night after he escorted you to your car he was seen climbing onto the bus. When his driver went to see if he was ready to roll out, Adam was gone and there was a large number of empty medicine and liquor bottles lying around. Needless to say we are very worried. We need to know what you two discussed and anything that might help us find him. We’re hoping he didn’t take all that…” Sam, his eyes hazel eyes concerned, broke off.