A Song For Us (Fallen Tuesday Book Two) (A Brothers of Rock Novel) (5 page)

BOOK: A Song For Us (Fallen Tuesday Book Two) (A Brothers of Rock Novel)
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“Or it could just be stuck,” Carina
said. “Happens to my door sometimes. Can I try?”

“By all means,” Gray said.

He backed up and pointed to the
door.

Carina stepped to the door and Gray
finally had his chance to really look at her. Her focus was on the door so Gray
could openly admire the way her jeans hugged her hips and cupped around her
backside. When she bent a little, her shirt threatened to pull up, but it never
went far enough to show skin. It was teasing the hell out of Gray, and he
suddenly realized that he hadn’t enjoyed himself in a long time.

“Sometimes you have to like push
down and turn,” Carina said.

Gray nodded and wasn’t really sure
if he heard what Carina just said.

Pieces of Carina’s hair fell over
her face as she pushed down on the handle and turned the key. There was a
pop
sound and the door opened.

Just like that.

“It worked,” Gray said.

“Yeah, it did,” Carina said. She
turned and smiled at Gray. “I learned the hard way a few times. If it gets
really stuck then you have to call the Super and wait. Good luck with that
around here.”

Gray could only stare. He saw the
pieces of Carina’s hair that had fallen from behind her ear. As he reached to
touch her, he told himself it was uncalled for. She was just trying to help him
with the door. He’d waited all day to get into the apartment. Now his focus was
elsewhere.

Gray moved the hair from Carina's
face back behind her ear.

“Sorry,” he said.

“Oh, that’s fine,” Carina said. She
touched her hair, making sure nothing else was out of place. “Your place is
open now.”

Gray looked at the apartment.
“Yeah, it is. Will that stick again if I lock it?”

“It might,” Carina said. “But you
know the trick now.”

“The trick. Yeah.”

Carina bent to grab her grocery
bags. Gray pulled the apartment door shut and turned the key. He put the key in
his pocket and set his sights back to Carina.

“Let me help you,” he said. “I’ll
carry some of these.”

“Oh, no,” Carina said. “You’ve been
waiting to go in there.”

“It’s fine,” Gray said. “You can’t
carry these by yourself. You’re going to drop something.”

Gray reached for the bag in Carina’s
arm. He touched her arm, then bag, and all he could think about was touching
her breast. He had to turn his head to control himself. He took the grocery bag
from Carina and then reached for the others.

“I can carry something,” Carina
said.

“No need,” Gray said. “Let me
help.”

Carina hesitated and stared at
Gray.

“What’s wrong?” Gray asked.

“This isn’t the… well, nicest
building. I don’t know if I…”

“Oh. Yeah. I get it. You think I’m
going to find out where you live and then rob you?”

Carina swallowed and looked
terrified. She didn’t nod, but her eyes gave Gray the definitive answer.

“I don’t mean to be like this,”
Gray said, “but do you recognize who I am?”

Carina shrugged her shoulders. “I
don’t know. You look familiar. Have you been here before?”

“Never in my life,” Gray said.

“I don’t know then.”

“Well, I’m not going to hurt you.
My brother lives in this apartment. He had a problem with addiction and is now
in the hospital. I’m here to help and figure out what happened. I’m taking a
break from recording…”

Gray put it out there and felt like
an ass doing so. He wasn’t used to the idea of telling people what he did and
who he was, but for some reason, he really wanted Carina to be impressed.

“Recording?”

“I play guitar,” Gray said. “In a
band.”

“Oh.”

“Called Fallen Tuesday.”

Carina stepped back and pointed at
Gray. “I’ve seen you television.”

“Yeah. They don’t really have music
videos anymore, but we’ve been on television a few times.”

“Wow. I can’t believe this. You’re
a rockstar. You’re in this building. You’re holding my groceries.”

“I’m hoping to help you carry these
groceries to your apartment,” Gray said. “Where I promise I won’t hurt you.”

“I hope not,” Carina said.

When she smiled, Gray decided that
he wanted to know about this woman.

 

*

 

Carina turned and felt her cheeks
burning. She causally touched her mouth as her mind screamed
oh my God!
She
opened the door to the steps and held it for Gray. He walked past her and
waited for her to take the lead again. Carina’s mind was scrambling. For a
second, she forgot where she lived. Of all the things she’d seen in this
building and all the people she’d met, never in her wildest dreams did she imagine
an actual rockstar would be here. A really good looking rockstar.

As Carina walked up the steps, she
was tempted to look back at Gray, just to see what he was looking at. She
decided against it knowing that if she looked back she would probably trip on
the steps and make an ass out of herself in front of him. At the landing to her
floor, she opened the door again.

“Third door on the right,” she
said.

Gray walked by her, carrying the
bags, smiling. Carina then thought about what she had purchased at the store.
The basic essentials of life were in there… milk, orange juice, and the high
end ice cream. Face it, some nights warranted a pint of ice cream to keep the
tears and self loathing at bay.

There were also ‘monthly’ items in
one of the bags too. Carina was just a week or so away, if she was on her
regular schedule. Her face turned a deep shade of red.

“Hey, can I ask something?” Gray
asked as he stopped at the door.

“I guess.”

“Why didn’t you take the elevator?”

Carina laughed. “You want to test
the elevator? Go right ahead. I’ll stand guard with the phone ready to call the
police… or ambulance.”

“Doesn’t work?”

“I don’t trust it,” Carina said.
“Scares me.”

“Does everything scare you?”

“Living here?”

“Ever think about leaving?”

Carina slid her key into the lock
and turned. It was stuck. She looked at Gray and smiled. “I think about leaving
all the time.”

Carina pushed down on the handle
and turned the key. It was the same move she used on Gray’s door and it worked.
The door opened, but Carina didn’t open it all the way. She glanced back at
Gray.

“If you’re worried, I can put
everything right here,” Gray said.

“It’s just… I know I’ve seen your
face before but we are strangers, right?”

“That we are,” Gray said.

He put the grocery bags right at
the threshold of the door. Carina took notice how close Gray stood to her. He
wasn’t threatening at all. He may have had a certain look to him, but it was obviously
the situation with his brother eating at him. For a moment, Carina felt bad for
making Gray stay right where he was, but then she thought about the robbery. Someone
had stepped into her apartment and invaded her privacy. They had stolen her
savings right from under her bed. The police told her there was nothing they
could do for her and they actually looked at her like it was her fault for not
having her money in a bank account.

“Thanks for your help,” Carina
said.

“Thanks for your help,” Gray said.
“I probably would have done something really stupid if it weren’t for you.”

“Stupid?”

“The guy that gave me the key… he’s
not the cleanest guy, if that makes sense. And if I thought he gave me the
wrong key…”

“Got it,” Carina said.

Gray had just implied that he was
capable of threatening actions, yet it didn’t bother Carina at all. He was looking
out for the welfare of his brother. He cared.

“I take it you’re not from around
here,” Carina said.

“Just here for my brother,” Gray
said. “I’m supposed to be in the studio. We’re recording the next album.”

The next album…

Carina suddenly had goose bumps.
She was in the presence of a real rockstar who played guitar, wrote music,
played shows, and made a living doing what he loved to do. Carina thought about
the keyboard in her bedroom. She thought about the songs she had written. The
music she worked hard on. She had her own dream of selling a song or two to
make a living in the background of the big stage.

“You okay?” Gray asked.

“Yeah. I’m just amazed right now.
There is a rockstar in my building, carrying my groceries. You know nobody’s
going to believe this, right?”

Gray smiled. “We can take a picture
if you’d like.”

Carina’s cheeks burned. “That’s
okay. I promise I won’t bother you for an autograph or anything.”

“What if I bother you?” Gray asked.

He smiled and Carina’s heart picked
up its pace. “Bother me? You want my autograph?”

“More like your phone number,” Gray
said.

“My number?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?” Carina asked. Her defensive
wall was going up and she couldn’t fight it. She felt dumb for asking such a
question to a handsome guy like Gray.

“Why? So we can continue this
conversation. You have ice cream in your grocery bag that’s probably starting
to melt.”

Carina wanted to disappear. “Oh,
yeah.”

“I have to meet with the band
tonight,” Gray said. “They’re in town. It’s a secret though. Don’t tell
anyone.”

“I won’t,” Carina said.

“Glad I can trust you then,” Gray
said.

His eyes had deeper meaning than Carina
could figure out at that moment. She thought about opening the apartment door all
the way and letting Gray inside. But she wondered if the apartment was clean
enough. If it looked good. If she left her bra on the bed. Or her panties on
the bathroom floor.

“Maybe you can pick a place for
tomorrow night,” Gray said. “I really don’t know anything around here except
for the hospital, my mother’s house, and this building.”

“The hospital probably has some
good food,” Carina said.

Gray laughed. “Is that your polite
way of telling me no?”

“That’s me trying to tell a
terrible joke.”

“I laughed if that helps. Hey, do
you have a pen?”

Carina stepped over the groceries
and rushed into the apartment. A small table stood to the left where she kept
small containers for her keys, the mail, and junk. Sifting through the junk she
found a pen and took it to Gray.

“Listen, I…”

Gray bent down and opened the pen. Carina
watched Gray write on the side of the grocery bag. He then stood and put the
lid on the pen.

“There,” he said. “You have my
number.”

Carina looked down at the number on
the paper bag. Did the guitarist from Fallen Tuesday really just write down his
number for her?

“I’m not sure what the deal is with
this building,” Gray said. “But I don’t like it. I don’t like what happened to
my brother. And I don’t like how nervous you seem, Carina. I’ll be in town for
as long as I’m here. Give me a call if you want to have a night out. Again,
thanks for helping me with the door.”

Carina nodded but didn’t say a
word. She watched Gray walk away toward the steps and then disappear to the
stairwell.

Carina pinched herself. “Ouch!” she
whispered. She laughed as she asked herself a question.

Did I just pick up a rockstar?

(6)

 

Gray took a chance and went through
the front door of the hotel. He kept his head down, slithered by the front desk
and went straight to the elevators. The door opened a few seconds later and he
stepped in. As he turned, a younger man and woman joined him on the elevator.
He pressed the button for his floor, the couple did the same for their floor,
and then the doors shut.

The elevator didn’t move ten feet
before the man looked at Gray.

“Whoa. Are you…”

Gray looked at the man. “Can we
keep this quiet?”

“Sure, man, sure. You’re Gray from
Fallen Tuesday, right?”

“Yeah. What’s your name?”

“Jack. Wow. You see this? Oh, man.
This is amazing. You guys are my favorite band. I’m serious. I’m not just
saying that because you’re here, you know? I really mean it. Ask my girl Stacey
here.”

“He’s a big fan,” Stacey said. “A
really big fan.”

“That’s awesome,” Gray said. “Thank
you.”

He offered his hand and the man
took it. They shook hands for a few seconds.

“This is amazing,” Jack whispered.
“You can’t imagine the day I’ve had.”

Gray smiled.
You can’t imagine
the day I’ve had…

“Bad day?”

“Terrible day,” he said. “My
grandmother lost her battle with cancer.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Me too. Hey, can I get an
autograph real quick?”

“Sure,” Gray said. “You have
anything for me to sign?”

Jack wore a nice buttoned down
shirt. He unbuttoned the shirt and revealed a white Fallen Tuesday t-shirt. It
was a concert t-shirt. When Gray saw it, it really touched him. This was a fan
who didn’t just listen to the music. This was a fan that came to a show. He
paid for a ticket and a t-shirt. This man helped Gray become the rockstar he
was.

Stacey offered Gray a marker and
Gray signed the shirt.

“Oh, man, this is something. This
is really something. I needed this so bad…”

He looked like he was going to cry.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. They were still five floors from
where Gray was going.

“This is my stop,” Jack said.
“Thank you, Gray. Thank you.”

Gray shook his hand one more time.
“Take care of yourself, okay? Keep listening and we’ll keep playing.”

The couple got out of the elevator.
The doors began to shut and Gray heard the Jack say, “Holy fuc…”

The doors were shut and the
elevator moved again.

Gray looked at the blurry
reflection of himself in the doors. He felt sort of relieved in that moment.
The fans were the reason Fallen Tuesday became the band they were. After a long
day of visiting his mother, his brother, getting to the apartment, and all the
emotions of the day, it meant so much to meet a fan that needed him as much as
Gray needed it.

Gray’s whole purpose of the day was
to go in Peter’s apartment. But there had been quite a distraction, hadn’t
there? Gray had seen a lot of women in his life, a lot of pretty women. A lot
of beautiful women. But he never met someone like Carina. The color of her
eyes. The look on her face. The shape of her body. It had Gray making fists as
he thought about her. She looked terrified to be alone with him and to be in
the building. She even looked terrified to be in her own apartment. Gray
couldn’t blame her, considering his own brother lived there and was a user. He
could only imagine the kind of activity that went on in that building.

The elevator stopped again and Gray
went to the hotel room.

He knocked on the door.

“Yeah?” Mack’s voice boomed.

Gray didn’t say a word. He knocked
again.

“Who is it?”

Gray knocked and didn’t stop.
Knock,
knock, knock, knock, knock…

He started to laugh, knowing Mack
was probably ready to lose his mind.

“This better be good,” Mack growled.

The door opened and Gray smiled.
“Can I have an autograph?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Mack bellowed.

“Hey to you too, man,” Gray said.

He walked into the hotel room and
saw the rest of Fallen Tuesday just hanging around. The hotel room instantly
became a sanctuary. A place to hide from the world. Nobody would be able to
find him. Under different circumstances Gray would have thrown his phone
somewhere, but his brother was in the hospital and there was a possibility that
Carina might call him so he kept his phone within reach in case it went off.

“There he is,” Luke said, standing
from the couch. He hugged Gray tight for a few seconds. “How’s everything?”

“Everything is the same,” Gray
said. “Peter is in the hospital and I can’t figure it out.”

“I don’t think there’s much to
figure out,” Luke said.

“I got the key to his apartment,”
Gray said. “I went there, but I didn’t go in.”

“Why not?”

Gray licked his lips.
Because I
met a beautiful woman and for a few minutes my life felt normal again.
“Just
didn’t feel like facing it. I’m almost afraid of what I’ll find in there.”

“What do you mean? Drugs?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. What’s it going
to prove? He paid for the apartment in cash for a year. That’s eating at me
right now. I’m almost wondering if he was doing more than just using.”

Luke ran a hand through his hair.
“Wow. That’s serious.”

“I’m sorry, brother,” Mack said as
he slammed a large hand to Gray’s back. “But if I can be honest, look at us
right here. The band is together in a hotel room. We don’t need to raise hell,
but we can have a drink and strum some six strings.”

“If he wants to talk,” Luke said.

“Actually, I don’t,” Gray said.
“I’m done talking for right now about my brother. He put himself in the
hospital. If he wakes up, then I can ask him questions. Right now, I can’t beat
myself up over this.”

“I agree,” Luke said.

“Yeah,” Mack said.

Trent stood from the couch and
grabbed a guitar. He held it out for Gray. Jake already had a guitar in his
hand. He started to pluck the strings, playing what probably was a new riff he
was working on.

“Before we get into this, I need a
favor,” Gray said.

“What’s up?” Luke asked.

“I need an autograph. All of us.
For a nurse at the hospital.”

“Whoa,” Mack said as he walked to
the bar in the room. He took the top off a vodka bottle and took a drink. “A
nurse at the hospital? Are you going down that path now?”

“What?” Gray asked. Then it hit
him. “Oh, no. It’s not like that. She’s a really nice woman. Her daughter is a
fan of the band. She’s been the only honest nurse and she asked me for an
autograph. I told her I’d get the band to sign something.”

“No sparks?” Luke asked with a
devilish grin on his face.

“No sparks,” Gray said.
But
there was the woman that lives in Peter’s apartment building…
“Speaking of
sparks, how’s Amy doing?”

“Busy,” Luke said. “I think she’s
busier than we are. She’s making me feel lazy.”

“You are lazy,” Gray said. “You
write lyrics and sing. Tough life.”

Mack clapped his hands together as
he laughed.

“What an ass,” Luke said. “Let’s
play something.”

The band got comfortable on the
couches. Luke sat on the arm of one of the couches with his notebook and pen in
hand, ready to write. Gray knew the look on Luke’s face. It was the grin he
only had when Luke talked about writing music and Amy.

“Lead us off,” Mack said to Gray.

Gray started strumming his guitar,
settling right into it. With each stroke of the guitar pick against the
strings, the world seemed to slip away. His left hand and fingers worked
together in perfect harmony. His hands knew just what to do. It was the magic
of music and it was happening right there in some random hotel.

Jake came in with Gray and Trent
followed. Trent wasn’t much of a guitar player, but he could hold a rhythm. As
a bassist though, Trent added a thick backing sound to each and every Fallen
Tuesday song. Mack nodded and waited for his turn to come in. It sounded really
good with four guitars playing at the same time. Having the four guitars
allowed the guys to mess around with different riffs played at different
octaves.

When it came time for the vocals to
come in, Gray swallowed and prepared to take the lead on it. He could sing a
little, but nothing like Luke. If the four of them - Gray, Mack, Trent, and
Jake - all started to sing together, they weren’t half bad. The surprise came
when Luke started to sing. Gray’s mouth was open and it remained open as the
song continued. The band all looked at each other, wondering what to do. The
song started to slow down, but Luke waved his hands, calling for the song to
keep going.

After the first verse, Luke called
out, “I’m fine!” over the song.

Gray looked at Mack, wondering what
they should really do. They weren’t sure if and when Luke was actually allowed
to sing again. But here he was, singing. He sounded amazing too. He sounded
like the old Luke, full of passion, losing himself in the song.

Through the chorus and the next
verse, Gray watched Luke closely. He wanted to make sure Luke wasn’t going to
strain his voice. The band had been through so much with Luke and they were
finally getting close to being able to release new music and get back on the
road.

Luke sang and he looked great doing
it. When it came time to solo, Gray looked at Jake and nodded. He smiled and
they both started to play the same solo. The backing of Mack and Trent on the
rhythm held the song together.

When the song finished up, Gray
couldn’t help but clap.

“That was amazing,” he said. “I needed
that so bad.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Luke said.
“And so I could finally sing in front of you guys.”

“Yeah,” Mack said. “Are you trying
to give me a heart attack?”

Luke laughed. “I didn’t want to
just tell you guys that I was doing better. That I wanted to show you.”

“So it doesn’t hurt?” Gray asked.

“Not at all. I mean, I haven’t sung
more than a few songs together, you know? But it’s small steps. It seems my
voice didn’t lose anything either.”

“Not at all, man,” Mack said. “You
sound great.”

“You guys sound great,” Luke said.
“I think we’re ready.”

“Are you sure?” Trent asked. “I
don’t want to rush anything. Recording is a bitch, you know that.”

“I’m thinking if we can get one
song recorded and get it to Frank and the record company, it’ll blow their minds
away,” Luke said.

“We could get it out to the fans,”
Jake said. “Show them we’re still here.”

“Exactly,” Luke said. “And if my
voice feels okay after recording that, maybe we can schedule some appearances.”

“Is that too much?” Gray asked.

Luke stood up. “No, I’m not talking
about a tour. I’m talking radio. Television. We can play a song or two just to
show we’re back. The fans have been so damn loyal.”

“They have,” Mack said. He reached
for the vodka and drank.

Mack passed the bottle to Gray. He
stared at the bottle for a few seconds, letting all the events of the day slip
through his mind one more time. He couldn’t change a thing now. Now it was time
to talk business. To talk about music, the band, and to enjoy the dream he had
worked so hard to create.

“To Luke,” Gray said. “To Fallen
Tuesday.”

Gray drank from the bottle and then
held it out. The vodka burned like hell, but it tasted so good. He took another
drink and then gave the bottle back to Mack.

“To all of us,” Luke said. “We can
do this.”

“Yeah,” Gray said. “So, why don’t
we work on that new song?”

“I’ve got lyrics,” Luke said. He
started to flip through his notebook.

“Wait a second,” Mack said. “Are we
positive?”

“I need this,” Gray said. “There’s
one of two things that’s going to happen with Peter. He’s going to die or be
messed up. If he dies, I’ll never know anything about him. How he felt. Why he
made these decisions. The other option is that he wakes up. I’ll get my hands
on him, say what I have to say, and then hope he will clean himself up once and
for all. While that sounds that like the better option, I can’t help but ask
myself if I want to know everything. What if he was dealing drugs? Does he owe
money to anyone? Is there a target on his back?”

Mack looked at Luke. Then Trent.
Then Jake. Finally, he looked at Gray. He put his fingers to his guitar and
strummed.

“All you had to say was
play the
damn song
.”

That was all Gray needed to hear.
It felt good to get all that off his chest, and the best part was that nobody
answered his questions. They knew Gray so well that they understood he wasn’t
looking for actual answers.

Mack continued to strum the chord
until the rest of the guys were ready and started to play too. In a matter of
four tries, one small argument, and twenty minutes later, Gray felt his breath
run short. They’d just played the new song all the way through without
stopping… and Gray knew it was going to be a hit.
A big hit.

 

*

 

The ice cream kept calling her
name, pulling her from the couch and the crummy reality shows she watched to chase
away the wild images of Gray walking from the bathroom to the bedroom wearing
nothing but a skimpy pink towel. The ice cream was real. Along with the
temptation for the ice cream, the crummy reality shows, and even the skimpy
pink towel. The only thing that wasn’t real was Gray walking around Carina’s
apartment in nothing but a towel.

A woman can dream though…

Carina laughed and forced herself
from the couch. She walked to the fridge and opened it.

“That’s not where the ice cream
is,” she whispered.

Carina closed the door and opened
the freezer. Cold air rushed to her face and through a chilly cloud she saw the
ice cream. There were two pints, but only one of Carina. That made it all that
much sadder for her.

BOOK: A Song For Us (Fallen Tuesday Book Two) (A Brothers of Rock Novel)
4.17Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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