Drake's Rock

by Alex Riordan

  They ate dinner at this great little pizza place that Theresa had picked out. When she’d asked, Stephanie had told her that pizza was one of her favorite dishes. So, over beer and pizza, they’d talked and laughed until it was time to head over to The Blue Rose.

  When they got there, Theresa found a table set off in the corner where they could see the stage without being seen by everyone in the place. Mindful of the fact that Stephanie was a rather well known celebrity, she’d chosen the table on purpose. Situated in a corner, it was just dark enough to keep the actress out of sight of everyone in the place. So far, she and Jessie had done a decent job of keeping the press away from Stephanie. She wanted to make sure that they continued to keep it that way. Jessie would never forgive her for allowing Stephanie’s peace to be interrupted while she was out for a fun evening.

  They weren’t there long, before the band took the stage. As the lights went down, they both tensed up. Stephanie, because she was excited to see Jessie perform, and Theresa, because she was excited to finally see The Blue Rose. She knew Jessie was probably going to be nervous that Stephanie was there, but she didn’t care. The fact of the matter was that she and Stephanie were both looking forward to this evening.

  Suddenly, to the roar of the crowd, the lights came up on stage and Jessie strutted out to the strains of ‘I'm the Only One,’ by Melissa Etheridge. She was dressed in black leather pants so tight they looked like she’d been poured into them and a pair of knee high black leather boots. To complement the pants, she was sporting a white pirate shirt tucked in. She was wearing hoop earrings and a couple of long, dangly necklaces as well. And, to complete the look, she had heavy, dark black eyeliner on.

  To Stephanie, who felt her breath taken away as she watched, Jessie looked like the epitome of a rock singer. The woman up on stage looked nothing like the business suited woman she’d spent the last two weeks in the office with. In fact, Stephanie was beginning to feel as if she hadn’t even begun to scratch the surface of who Jessie was.

  As the band ran through their first set, filled with popular tunes from the 80’s and 90’s and even a few originals, Stephanie found herself more and more impressed. When Theresa had told her that Jessie was in a band, she’d never thought anything about it. But now, watching Jessie up on stage, Stephanie knew without a doubt that Jessie belonged up there. Wondering why someone with so much talent was still working a Monday through Friday job, she leaned over and asked Theresa about it.

  Sipping from her glass of Tequila, she asked, “Theresa, they’re so good, why don’t they have a recording contract yet?”

  Theresa set her bottle of Bud Light down and leaned closer so that Stephanie could hear her over the noise. “They almost did, once.”

  “What happened?” Stephanie asked, as she leaned in.

  “The night before they were supposed to sign their contract, their lead guitar player, Bobby, had…I don’t know, I guess you could call it a nervous breakdown.” She stopped talking and leaned back in her chair, taking another drink from her bottle. It wasn’t the truth, exactly. It was, however, the story they had told everyone. Even the other band members didn’t know the complete truth. The fact was, the truth was horrible, and only four people were privy to it. She, Brian and Jessie had decided years ago that the tale was for Jessie to tell when, and only when, she decided.

  “Oh, my God,” Stephanie said, shocked. “So, they couldn’t just find another lead guitar player?”

  Theresa shook her head. “No. The record exec said he didn’t want another band on their roster that was unstable.”

  “Unstable? Every band goes through changes like that,” Stephanie said, perplexed.

  Theresa nodded. “I know, but it wasn’t that easy. See, Jessie and Bobby were engaged. When he fell apart and left the band, he left her, too. Besides that, Bobby and Jessie were the main songwriters in the band. The exec wanted them together, or not at all.”

  Stephanie’s heart went out to Jessie when she heard that. It must have been horrible for her to have everything fall apart all at once like that. “So, what happened after that?”

  “Well, Bobby showed up a few days later and took his stuff while she was at work. He called her later and told her he just couldn’t do it anymore.” She set her empty beer bottle down and signaled for another one, then continued. “Last thing we heard, he was hiking it across Europe, trying to find himself.”

  “Jesus, Jessie must have been devastated,” Stephanie said. “I can’t imagine what she must have gone through.”

  “Yeah, it screwed her up pretty bad, for a while,” Theresa agreed, taking a drink from the full bottle of beer, which had just been dropped off. “He treated her like shit, walking out on her like that. She swore she’d never trust anyone again, which I told her was stupid…” she shrugged again. “She never listens to me, though.”

  “She’s been alone ever since?” Stephanie asked, feeling worse for Jessie by the minute.

  “For the most part. She had a hard time…getting over that,” Theresa said, nodding. “Actually, I shouldn’t even talk about it. Jessie’d kill me if she knew I told you any of this.”

  “Then why are you?” Stephanie asked, truly curious.

  “I don’t know,” Theresa answered. “I guess I just want you to understand why Jessie’s the way she is. She’s a really great person; she just has a hard time opening up and trusting people. Like I said yesterday, it’s not you.”

  “She seems to trust you,” the redhead said quietly, pointing out their obvious friendship.

  “Yeah well, we’ve known each other for years,” Theresa said. “And…we all lived together, back then. Jessie, Bobby, Me and Brian.”

  Just then, they heard Jessie announce that the band was taking a break. Within minutes, she was making her way toward their table. As she watched Jessie approach, Stephanie thought that she saw her facial expression change. The transformation was so fast, that she couldn’t be sure. One minute, the brunette was up on stage, open and baring her soul to the world. The next, she was cruising through the bar crowd like a hunter, single minded and closed to the outside world. It was a startling transformation to witness.

  When Jessie arrived at the table however, her behavior was open and friendly. Whatever she was thinking, she managed to hide it very well, or so Stephanie thought. She hugged Theresa and then stepped around the table and hugged Stephanie as well, which surprised the redhead. Jessie had never so much as touched her, not once, in the last two weeks. As a matter of fact, if she thought about it, she realized that the brunette had gone out of her way to make sure she didn’t touch her.

  “Hey T, finally made it out?” Jessie asked, leaning across the table and smiling at her best friend. She’d known they were coming of course, Theresa had told her last night. But, she wasn’t supposed to let Stephanie know that she knew.

  “Yeah,” Theresa said in answer, handing Jessie a pint of Guinness. “Brian had a guy’s night, so I decided to come out and see you. Stephanie hadn’t seen you perform yet, so I asked her to come along.”

  Jessie nodded. “Cool. I’m glad you guys came out. You having a good time, Stephanie?” she asked, as she took a drink from her pint.

  “This is fantastic,” Stephanie answered enthusiastically. “You’re really great up there!”

  Jessie smiled warmly. “Thanks!”

  Just then, a lithe brunette slid up to them and wrapped her arms around Jessie, pulling her into a deep kiss. “Hey, beautiful,” she said, when she finally released the singer.

  “Hey, Alex,” Jessie said, showing very little enthusiasm at the woman’s arrival.

  To Stephanie, who was watching the scene intently, it was obvious that 1) This was the Alex that Jessie and Theresa had been talking about last week, and 2) Jessie was not comfortable with what just happened. Whether it was because she didn’t like public displays, or because she hadn’t wanted Stephanie to know about that part of her life, the redhead wasn’t sure.

  She also n
oticed that Jessie glanced over at her to see if she was looking, and Stephanie wasn’t sure what to make of that. They’d spent almost every evening the last two weeks working out at the gym, going to movies or museums and eating out together. Still, the brunette had made no real attempt to open up to her, so there was no reason for her to worry about her approval one way or the other. She also realized that Jessie hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend, or anyone else in her life. She smiled at Jessie anyway, just to let her know that she was okay with the situation. She wasn’t sure, but it seemed that Jessie was a little embarrassed by the way Alex seemed to be clinging to her.

  Alex moved her arm down to wrap around Jessie’s waist, and smiled over at the others at the table. “Hi, Theresa, how’s it going?”

  “Hi Alex, everything’s good. How about you?” Theresa asked, smiling at her. She liked Alex, she really did. But tonight, of all nights, she really wished the woman would have stayed home.

  “Brian finally let you out?” Alex asked, taking a drink from her own bottle of Bud.

  Theresa nodded. “Yeah, looks like it.” Honestly, did everyone think he held her hostage or something?

  Suddenly noticing the redhead in the corner, Alex said, “So, who’s this back here in the corner? Theresa, you holding out on me? Are you stepping out on Brian?” Turning to look at Jessie, she said teasingly, “Maybe this is why she wouldn’t join us last night?”

  Jessie, to her credit, ignored the comment, and took another drink of her beer.

  Blushing at the reference to the offer of a threesome in the shower, Theresa shook her head. “No, actually this is Jessie’s intern from work, Stephanie.”

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Stephanie. I’m Alex,” the brunette said, grabbing Stephanie’s hand and shaking it excitedly. “I hope Jessie’s treating you right?” Eyeing the redhead appreciatively, she thought to herself, Okay, now I know why Jessie’s been so turned on lately. Forced to spend every day with that? Good God, I’d be turned on, too.

  Stephanie nodded, smiling. “Absolutely. Nice to meet you too, Alex.” She took a drink from her glass and joined in as the three talked about various things. Laughing and joking with them, for the first time in two weeks, she felt like she really fit in. She had to admit to herself that it was a good feeling. It wasn’t often that she had the chance to just hang out with friends in a public place like this.

  Eventually, Jessie looked at her watch and said, “Well, break’s over. I gotta go.” She leaned over and kissed Alex lightly on the cheek. Then she turned and headed for the stage, leaving the three to watch the show.

  Alex didn’t wait long, before she said, “Well, gotta run guys. Theresa, it’s been good to see you again. Stephanie, nice to meet you.”

  “Yeah, you too,” Stephanie replied as she watched the brunette saunter away through the crowd.

  Rolling her eyes, Theresa turned back to Stephanie. “Sorry about that. She’s really nice, but she can come on a little strong at first.”

  “That’s okay,” Stephanie said, shrugging. “I’m glad I got to meet Jessie’s girlfriend. They make a cute couple.”

  “Oh, no…” Theresa stammered. “They’re not…I mean they do…but they’re…” She stopped talking, drew in a deep breath to collect herself, and said, “What I mean to say is, they’re not a couple. I know it looks that way…but, like I said, Jess doesn’t open up to anyone like that.”

  Suddenly happy and not sure why, Stephanie asked, confused, “So, they’re…” Every signal coming from Alex looked like the two were a couple.

  “Oh, they sleep together on occasion,” Theresa clarified. “But they aren’t ‘together’ if you know what I mean.”

  Stephanie nodded, finally catching on. “Kind of a ‘friends with benefits’ sort of deal?”

  Theresa nodded, relieved. “That’s it, exactly. They’ve been playing this game for the last two years. I still can’t figure out why Jessie hasn’t made the leap. She says they don’t love each other, but…Every time I try to talk to her about it, she shuts down.” She shook her head, wondering for the umpteenth time about Jessie’s lack of initiative.

  Stephanie pursed her lips in thought for a minute before saying, “Maybe she knows that Alex isn’t the one?” She added the quotation marks in the air with her fingers for emphasis. “I mean, from what you told me earlier, I assumed that Bobby was a guy…so?”

  “It would explain a lot,” Theresa agreed, remembering Jessie saying that exact thing only last week. “And yeah, Bobby is a guy. She’s always been pretty open, you know, male or female, but after him? Well, she just gave up on guys altogether, I guess. So you think her ‘one’ could be a guy?”

  Stephanie shrugged, a tinge of disappointment edging its way in. “Maybe?”

  Theresa gave the idea some thought, but decided that Stephanie might be wrong. After all, she’d known Jessie for years, and Stephanie had only met her two weeks ago. Theresa mentally shook her head. No. Jessie’s ‘one’ was definitely a woman. Of that, she had no doubt. Now, if only Jessie would figure things out.

  Just then, the band took another break, and Jessie headed back toward their table. After being stopped by numerous fans on her way back through the crowd, she finally slid in next to them. “Alex leave?” she asked as she picked up a fresh Guinness and took a drink. Man, Theresa was a good friend, keeping the beer coming for her.

  Theresa nodded in answer. “Guess you’re flyin’ solo tonight, Jess.”

  Jessie shrugged. “Whatever,” she said, as if she couldn’t care less. “Alex has her own thing.” She took another drink of her beer. “So, you two up for a party after the show?”

  “Depends…where’s the party?” Theresa said, turning an interested eye toward her friend.

  “Mike’s house,” Jessie said in answer.

  “Mike? The bass player?”

  “Yeah. He just got a pool table, and there’s a hot tub that seats eight,” Jessie answered, looking over toward Stephanie from under a fall of hair that hid her eyes. The redhead hadn’t said anything yet, and she was wondering if she’d actually take her up on the offer.

  Jessie waited for Stephanie to decide. Theresa would go, no doubt. She was always up for a party. But Stephanie? Jessie wasn’t so sure about her. So far, the actress had proven herself to be kind and considerate, but she didn’t seem like much of a risk taker. Not at all what Jessie had expected from a celebrity. She shook her head slightly. She was trying not to have expectations where Stephanie was concerned.

  She didn’t have to wait long. Stephanie’s eyes lit up with happiness and her face split into a huge grin. “I’d love to go!” she said, happy to at last be included in something not related to work.

  “Great,” Jessie said, taking another drink of her Guinness. “Just wait here after the show and I’ll meet you guys. You can follow me to Mike’s.”

  “That sounds great, Jessie. Thanks for inviting me,” Stephanie said, taking a drink of her Vodka. She’d given up on Tequila a while ago, and moved on to the Stoli she was now nursing.

  Jessie shrugged. “Sure, my pleasure. You’ve been here for two weeks, working hard…You deserve a night out on the town and a little fun.”

  Theresa looked at Jessie, wondering what was prompting her to be so friendly all of a sudden. It was unlike Jessie to take to someone so easily. Especially since she hadn’t really shown any inclination in the last two weeks to do so. Sure, they’d spent a lot of time together, but Theresa had assumed it was because Jessie had been asked to basically ‘entertain’ the actress. Then again, she thought, maybe Jessie was just pretending to be indifferent toward Stephanie. The redhead was her favorite actress, after all, and Jessie had already admitted to being turned on by her. It wouldn’t really be a surprise if Jessie was trying to play her interest in the woman down. Maybe having Stephanie around was going to be more of a gift than they expected?

  After Jessie returned to the stage for the band’s final set, she pondered the question some more. After see
ing the two of them together this evening, she decided that she’d definitely be paying more attention to what was happening between them than she had before, starting right now.

  She had already noticed the outfit that Stephanie was wearing, when she picked her up at the hotel. Was she possibly dressing to attract Jessie? Now that she thought about it some more, she remembered Stephanie’s reaction to seeing Jessie on stage for the first time. The redhead had definitely shown some interest in the singer then. As a matter of fact, Stephanie hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Jessie all night. Could the redhead actually be interested in Jessie?

  She thought back further, to the last two weeks in the office. Neither woman had shown anything more than a professional face at work. Still…there did seem to be some sort of tension between them. Theresa just hadn’t been paying that much attention. She knew for a fact that Jessie thought Stephanie was extremely hot. She’d said so numerous times, watching her movies over and over. Theresa started to grin. Oh yeah…there was some definite ‘like’ going on here!