A single cord sounded from the lead guitar. The screams from the crowd grew louder and then all at once the lights came on and a familiar song began to pound. While her brain struggled to comprehend what she was seeing, Lexie stood dumbfounded and temporarily blinded by the sudden surge of light.
Survival of the Fittest was on the stage and directly in front of her was Oliver, not more than six feet away. She looked over at her treacherous best friend with murder in her eyes. Simone was already staring back at her. Lexie wanted to scream, but knew, considering the volume pouring from the speakers, there was no way Simone would be able to hear the insults she threw her way.
Lexie turned to run, but found the crowd too dense to move. When she pushed to try to break through, other fans pushed back leaving her stuck and unnoticed. As the song came to an end, her mind continued to reel. She couldn’t believe Simone would do this to her.
With nowhere else to go, she looked up at the stage and saw Bailey, Leo, and David playing together like they had so many times in the past, but this time, instead of enjoying the show she felt panicked. Her eyes darted back to Oliver. His smile was wide as he glanced at his brother. Oliver was in his element. Where he was meant to be.
The black T-shirt he wore showed off his arms. Arms which had once held her.
“Hello, L.A.,” boomed Oliver’s voice from the stage. “For being so supportive and patient with us over the past few months, we wanted you all to be the first ones to hear some of our new songs. This is our way of saying thank you and that you guys are the most kick-ass fans any band could have.”
The fans went wild around her.
“But first, if you guys will hang tight, I have something important to do.” As Oliver spoke to the crowd, some of the stage crew moved a large piano onto the stage. “There’s someone in the audience tonight who means a lot to me. Now, for some reason she won’t listen to reason. She’s stubborn, but sexy as hell.” The crowd cheered and there were some whistles throughout the audience as Oliver made his way to the piano.
Lexie’s heart flew to her throat.
Unable to breathe, she gripped Simone’s arm and felt her friend’s hand come to rest on top of hers and squeeze.
“Now, this girl, she seems to need some convincing that I love her. Would you guys mind helping me out?” Oliver struck the first keys on the piano and everyone cheered, not at all concerned that what was happening in front of them was highly unusual.
He played a few chords and the cheers died down as everyone waited to hear what Oliver would say next.
You don’t have to be strong all the time.
You don’t have to be afraid of loving me,
Cause I’ll stand by your side and
I won’t hurt your pride.
I want to be the man in your life.
You don’t have to be away from me,
You don’t have to stay in the dark.
Come out into the light and
Stand by my side.
I want to be the man in your life,
Let it be me.
Oh, please, let it be me that shares in your life.
Let it be me that shares in your dreams.
You don’t have to be strong all the time,
You don’t have to stay in the dark.
Stand by me,
Share in my dreams,
Oh Lexie, let it be me.
Tears streamed down her face as a sob stuck in her throat. She’d never loved anyone the way she loved him. Lexie looked over at Simone with a watery smile.
She mouthed the words, “He’s the one.”
Lexie nodded and began to clap as the rest of the crowd went wild. A spotlight swung across the front of the audience and stopped on the two of them.
“Orange really isn’t my color,” Simone half yelled into her ear, “but it sure is easy to spot in a crowd.”
Lexie laughed and as she did more tears slid down her face.
“Guys if you wouldn’t mind, could you help my friend up?”
When she looked up and saw Oliver at the edge of the stage with his hand outstretched, dozens of hands began to lift her up toward him. Her feet hit the stage with some help from a bouncer and then Oliver was there with his arm firmly around her waist.
She locked eyes with him and he kissed her, there on stage in front of thousands of people.
When he finally pulled away, he placed his lips against her ear. “Wait for me?”
She nodded and hurried off the stage where a member of the crew was signaling to her. Still overwhelmed she watched from the wing as the band continued to play, but her focus remained on Oliver. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him and every so often he smiled in her direction melting her heart over and over again. Survival sounded better than ever and Bailey, though perched on a stool for a lot of the show, seemed to be at the top of his game.
A while later as the concert wound down, a hand landed on her shoulder. Andy. She remembered how much she’d wanted to slap him the last time she saw him, but even he couldn’t ruin her mood. Oliver loved her and she him. Nothing else mattered.
“Lexie, I wanted to apologize for how I behaved in Atlanta. I was out of line.”
“Yes, you were. My relationship with Oliver is none of your business.”
“Of course, you’re right. For now on, I’ll stay out of your way. Please understand I was only looking out for him.”
She doubted that was true, but decided to let it go. This was her night, hers and Oliver’s. Holding a grudge against Andy was pointless.
He smiled and gestured to the hallway behind him. “If you’d like to come with me, I can take you back to the band’s backstage area. They’ll be joining us in just a few minutes, but this way we can avoid the onslaught of press and well-wishers.”
Lexie nodded. She’d go anywhere she needed to so she could spend more time with Oliver.
They didn’t speak as they walked down the cinderblock hallway together. There was nothing she wanted to say to Andy. She supposed if she was going to have a relationship with Oliver she’d have to accept his presence, but she didn’t have to like him. She wasn’t sure she was capable of developing a fondness for someone like Andy. Someone who only saw the bottom line and who treated people like crap until he wanted something from them.
He held a door open for her and they stepped into a simple room not more than the size of her apartment living room. There were champagne bottles, sandwiches, and other assorted foods lined up on a table, and leaning against the wall were two guitars.
“Would you care for a drink?”
“No, thank you.” She went back to trying to imagine what went on in this room before the guys took the stage. Did they warm up? Use a secret handshake?
She flinched when a pop sounded from an opened champagne bottle, her nerves clearly on edge. It seemed Andy was celebrating the band’s return to the stage.
“Did you know Oliver’s going to move to Georgia?” Andy tipped back the glass in his hand and refilled it without looking at her. “That’s right. After tonight, he’s taking a break and moving east. I guess that makes you pretty happy, doesn’t it?”
Lexie shifted her weight from one foot to the other as Andy drained his glass, again. He wasn’t smiling the way he usually was, not even his fake salesman version of a smile. In fact, this time his mouth was pinched, his voice clipped.
“It doesn’t really matter to me, though. He’s free to do whatever he wants.” He refilled and drained his glass a third time. “You see, Lexie . . . I know your name now, don’t I . . . after tonight, I’m not managing Survival anymore.”
Lexie remained quiet, but sucked in a breath.
“That’s right, this is it for me. A decade of service, of slaving away for those guys and what happens
? One of them gets a hard on for you and now I’m out. That’s it. Finished.”
The hairs on her arms stood on end.
“It wasn’t enough for him to screw you, he had to screw me in the process.” He threw his glass against the wall where it exploded into a thousand pieces and fell to the floor.
Lexie jumped. “I need to go find my friend. She’ll be wondering where I’ve gone.”
When she made for the door and wrenched it open, Andy’s hands slammed it closed before she could escape.
“You can stay right here with me.”
She took a step back, then another. “To what end, Andy?”
He flipped the lock in the door handle and stalked toward her. “What would it take for me to get rid of you? How much?”
Her blood boiled. She, unlike her mother, couldn’t be bought. “There’s nothing you can give me that will make me turn away from Oliver. I love him.”
Andy threw his head back and laughed, but it was a harsh sound and too loud for their close quarters. “Everyone has a number.”
“Not this time,” she said through gritted teeth.
He narrowed his eyes. “You know what? I think you might be telling the truth.” He stepped toward her again and when she tried to move away, her back hit the wall. He placed one hand on the wall beside her head and the other on her throat. “If money won’t work, I’m sure there are other ways to get rid of you.”
He began to squeeze, the pain bearable at first, but as he continued to apply pressure her lips burned and her eyes watered. As she tried to pry his hand away from her throat he added his other, his fingers digging into her skin hard enough to leave bruises.
Her medical training kicked in as she tried to avoid freaking out. If she panicked, her body would use up the oxygen in her blood faster. In a matter of seconds, she would begin to lose vision as unconsciousness came for her. Suffocation was one thing, but the human brain couldn’t sustain a lack of oxygen.
“I think we’ll wait for Oliver here and show him that if you’re gone there’s no reason for him to leave. Without you, he can stay and go back to life as it should be.”
She tried to bring her knee to his groin, but he had her pinned.
Laughter and talking sounded outside the door and Andy glanced over his shoulder. In his own panic, he bore down on her windpipe. The door handle shook.
“Hey, is someone in there?”
It was Oliver.
Her eyes darted around as she searched for anything she could use against him until the champagne bottles caught her eye. She released his hands as black spots appeared at the corners of her vision and reached for the bottle. She hit it once, but it fell to the concrete floor and shattered.
“Lexie?” The door shook again and Oliver’s voice grew quieter as he spoke to someone she couldn’t see. Then the entire door shook on its hinges. Her body convulsed as it searched for air.
“Lexie!” Oliver’s voice was more urgent now, but she wasn’t sure she could hold on any longer. The door shook again, this time almost giving away at the center.
Andy’s face was only a few inches from her own and his pupils were dilated until they were all she could see. “That’s it, you money grubbing little whore, time to die.”
Her temper flared to life and cut through her fear. She wasn’t going die. Not today. Not when she’d come this close to happiness. She shot her hand out again in the direction of the table and this time she didn’t miss. She wrapped her fingers around the top of the cool glass and with all the strength she had left swung for Andy’s head.
At the same time the glass made contact, the door burst open and the band poured in along with what looked like half the crew and Simone.
Andy staggered and lost his grip on her, but before he could recover, Oliver hit him with enough force to send him to the ground.
Lexie sank against the wall as she coughed and wheezed the air back into her lungs.
Simone knelt beside her. “Oh my, God! Lexie. Are you all right? Someone call 911,” she called over her shoulder before returning her attention to Lexie’s neck.
Oliver’s eyes were wild when he joined them. “Lexie, are you okay? What am I saying? Of course you’re not okay.” He ran his hands down her arms and scanned her body for other injuries. “I’m so sorry this happened.” He moved her hair to the side in a manner gentler than she would’ve thought possible for a man of his size, and studied her neck. “I’ll kill him.”
Oliver’s voice was low and dangerous, leaving little doubt he meant what he said, but she’d had enough violence for one day. “Don’t,” she managed with some effort, “he isn’t worth it.” She laid her hand on his arm and then he scooped her up off the floor and carried her to the couch.
While she sat beside Oliver, he kept her hand firmly in his as though afraid to let go of her. Simone hung back with the rest of the guys from the band as several crew members kept Andy pinned to the ground. When the police entered the room, everyone waited in silence as Andy was handcuffed. As he was led away, his face bloody from Oliver’s fist and the side of his head bleeding from where she hit him with a bottle, Oliver’s shoulder’s tensed.
“It’s okay,” Lexie squeezed his hand to reassure him. She wasn’t scared of Andy, some silly desperate man, not when she had Oliver beside her. Almost losing him was scarier than anything Andy could potentially do to her.
As the police dragged the man away who had tried to take her life, she stood and stepped in front of him. With Oliver by her side and her eyes boring into Andy’s, she found her voice, “I’m not going anywhere, asshole.”
Simone and the guys cheered and then after wishing her well, left her and Oliver alone.
With her hands braced between his, he brought his head down to rest against hers. “Lexie, I’m so sorry.”
She stroked his cheek. “No. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for pushing you away and letting my fear get in the way of how I feel about you.”
“It’s in the past.” He turned his head to the side and kissed the palm of her hand. “Besides, I hadn’t given up. If you hadn’t come here, I was going to be on the next plane to Atlanta.”
“You’re a very determined man, Oliver Honeycutt.”
“I am when it comes to you.” He grinned and laced his fingers with hers. “Let’s get out of here.”
She glanced over her shoulder where the broken champagne bottle littered the floor and then let Oliver lead her out of the room. As he’d said, it was in the past. All of it. Donna, her fear, Andy. None of it mattered.
He didn’t stop until they were out on the stage. The house lights were still burning, but the crowd was gone. She could hear the crew moving the band’s equipment around behind the curtain and smell the fresh air where the large garage style door was open.
“Can you believe,” she started as she looked out on the empty space, “that not so long ago I was out there? Just another face in the crowd among thousands.”
He pulled her against him and she tilted her face up toward his. “You were never just a face in the crowd. You were the only one I saw.”
He kissed her then on the stage. The first place they’d met and the place where they’d come together to start again.
Encore
Lexie slipped a final pin in her hair to hold the flower tucked beside her braid in place. She couldn’t believe she’d been in California for the last three months and now she was about to get married. In the span of six months her life had turned upside down, or rather, life had started. Everything before seemed like limbo compared to the life she led now.
“Hey,” Simone said from beside her as she ran the mascara brush through her lashes a final time. “Did Oliver tell you about Andy?”
“No, what?” Lexie had barely thought of Andy since moving to L.A. He was no one to her.
“Bailey said they found out why he went so berserk. He was almost half a million dollars in debt.”
“Oh, my gosh. How?”
“Apparently, he has a major gambling problem and no one knew.” Simone stood and straightened her long skirt. “They’re sending him to jail. I thought you’d want to know.”
“Thanks.” So that was that. Andy was going away. Donna was somewhere down in Florida dating a man who owned a yacht and she, Lexie, was about to marry a man she loved beyond reason.
With a final glance in the full-length mirror she stood, ready to walk down the aisle and start the next part of her life.
“You look beautiful,” Cathy leaned in and air kissed her cheek.
“I second that,” Simone handed her the bridal bouquet and turned to leave the tent where they’d gotten ready. “Here we go.”
The sound of a guitar filled the air as the wedding music began. Simone exited first leaving Lexie alone with her future mother-in-law.
“Thank you for agreeing to walk me down the aisle,” suddenly nervous, she fiddled with the ribbon hanging off of her flowers. “I know this is unusual.”
Cathy beamed at her and held out her arm for Lexie to take as they stepped out of the tent to make their way to where Oliver and Bailey were waiting near the water’s edge.
“Sweet, Lexie, nothing in the world makes me happier than you marrying my son and joining our family. I will always be grateful to the woman who took care of both of my sons.”
They smiled at each other and continued on, bare feet digging into the sand as they made their way to the makeshift altar where Oliver was waiting. He smiled as she neared, dressed in khaki pants and a button up shirt open at the collar, looking more handsome than she’d ever seen him. She wasn’t sure if it was the outfit, the setting, or her own happiness at becoming his wife, but it was already the best day of her life.
A Face in the Crowd Page 24