Faith (My Misery Muse) (6 page)

“So I’m bitchy?” I murmured against his
lips.

He chuckled. “Out of all that all you heard
was me calling you bitchy?” he murmured back. He grabbed my hand
and started walking back towards the hotel. “Come on, let’s go get
the princess.”

Drake

The next morning I went across the hall to
talk to Seth about when the band would want me to take over the
manager duties, and what they wanted from a manger. I knew Sam and
Seth were both active in what happened with the band both musically
as well as on the business aspect but I wasn’t sure how involved
they really were on the business side of things.

I waited for someone to open the door while
thinking back to last night with Mags. I was still surprised that
she had kissed me. I didn’t want to push her too far or too fast,
this was Mags after all, and I knew she would bolt at any point
this became serious. I understood where she was coming from. I knew
she was raised by a single mom that was always on the lookout for
the one, and I knew Mags didn’t believe in the one. Not that I put
much stock into that nonsense either, but if I were to think of one
person I would be able to live with and deal with on a daily basis
it would be Mags.

Eli opened the door to Seth’s room and waved
me in, he was on the phone and it sounded like he was arguing with
whoever it was on the other end.

“I don’t give a fuck, Cin,” Eli yelled then
hung up.

I laughed, Cin was a handful and Eli was
always trying to pick up the pieces of her messes and I really
couldn’t blame him for not wanting her to get involved with one of
his band mates.

Eli sighed and ran his hands across his face.
“She’s mad at me.”

I nodded.

“She found out Mags came with Devi, and now
she’s pissed because I wouldn’t let her come out too.”

I nodded again.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea for her
and X to get into something, ya know, cause when one of them ends
up screwing over the other, I am in the middle no matter what.”

I nodded.

“You just going to bob your head up and
down?”

I nodded, I was so not getting into the
middle of that potential drama.

When I walked into the living area, I found
Seth teaching Jaks to play the guitar. We’ve all been teaching him
when we had time, he was taking to it quickly though, and would
need a steady teacher soon. Sam was on Devi’s table getting a
similar tattoo to Seth’s and X’s only his was on his forearm. Devi
glanced over at me, looking me over like she was searching for
something, nodded her head and went back to work—hmm strange.

“So I was wondering if you wanted to discuss
this new job of mine.”

“I will be working with one of our current
label guys for the rest of the tour, so you won’t have to worry
about taking anything over until after we finish and get back to
Dallas for a break,” said Sam.

“Okay, how long you guys got left?”

“Four weeks after here, then a two week break
for Christmas then another six weeks and were done with this go
around.”

“How long a break are you taking?”

“Not sure yet,” replied Sam quietly.

I glanced up and he looked away; I shot a
look at Seth and he just shrugged his shoulders he didn’t know
either. I reached over and grabbed another acoustic guitar sitting
on the side of the couch and started strumming, while talking with
the guys.

“Okay, so what do you need me to do to help
with the transition at the label?”

“There won’t be any management changes, we
want to bring on two new A&R guys and it would be great if you
could help with that,” said Sam.

I nodded. “I know a couple guys who would
work and I wouldn’t have to train them much.”

“Take a vacation,” Seth said while picking up
his own guitar and strumming along with me.

“What?”

“You heard him, take a vacation. You look
like crap, and I know for a fact you’ve been working with no real
time off for a year now,” replied Sam.

“I don’t need a vacation,” I stated while
Seth started to hum and Jaks tried to keep up with us.

“Yes you do, bro. Shut up and take the time
off, because once you start working as their manager you won’t get
many chances to take this time off again.”

“Fine,” I growled. “How long?”

“Six weeks,” replied Seth.

“What the fuck am I supposed to do for six
weeks?”

“Don’t care, just can’t go into the office or
do anything else for six weeks. We’ve already informed everyone
you're taking the time.”

“Okay, mind if I join you guys for the next
four weeks? I can’t sit at home staring at the walls, or I will be
in a padded cell before the end of the first day.”

“Yeah, you know you’re welcome,” replied Sam
who grimaced when Devi hit a sensitive spot.

I glanced over at Devi and she gave me a look
that said she understood exactly what I was doing. “I need time to
think, Devi.”

She nodded. “Yeah okay, I get that; but you
know how she is, and if you give her too much time it may blow up
in your face.”

“I know, but I think we both need to
think.”

“Okay, well we are leaving in tomorrow
afternoon after Thanksgiving lunch; go spend the day with her
then.”

I nodded at my sister, put the guitar down
and left to go find Mags.

Chapter 11

Mags

I was changing Quinn when Drake came back to
the room; he looked at me, shook his head and walked back in his
room. What the hell was that about? I scooped her up and started
rocking her, hoping she would take a nap. She was beginning to get
fussy and I hoped I could get her to sleep before she started
screaming again.

Drake came back in the room. “So is there
anywhere you would like to visit while we're here?”

“Uhm, hadn’t really thought about it
honestly.”

He plopped down beside me and ran his finger
along my arm. “Well think about it.”

“Uhm, I guess, what’s the place right on the
water?”

“Pike Place?”

“Yeah I guess that’s it, never been here
before.”

“Okay, well get her packed up and let’s
go.”

“Huh?”

“Get her packed up and let’s go; I want to
get out of this hotel room for a while.”

“Uhm okay, I guess,” I said completely
stunned by his sudden determination to get us away from here.

I got Quinn packed up and Drake called a cab,
then we were off exploring Seattle.

“So anything in particular you wanted to
see?” he asked.

“The ocean, I’ve heard it's very different
from California.”

He nodded. “It is, in California it's blue,
like really blue. here it’s more of a grey and just, well,
different, it’s hard to explain without seeing it.”

“I would also like to look around the craft
shops and see if I can find something for Quinn for her first
vacation memento.”

He shook his head at this. “What is it with
you women and commemorating everything?”

“Dunno, just being able to show her things
that have been collected throughout her life make sense to me; my
mom never really did that with me.”

“Okay, I can kinda get that, I guess.”

I watched as he reached over and adjusted the
blanket covering Quinn, and I had to hide a smile. Drake really was
a great guy and would make someone a terrific partner and father.
So why did the thought of some nameless, faceless woman in his life
make me want to scratch her eyes out?

When we got to Pike Place Market, Drake paid
the cabbie then got out leaving me with getting Quinn and her car
seat out. When I walked around the back of the cab Drake already
had her stroller out and set up waiting her car seat. I don’t know
how he did it that quickly, that thing always took me forever to
figure out but he made it look simple.

After he had her secured, and readjusted her
blanket again, we were ready to explore. He started pushing Quinn’s
stroller with one hand and held mine with the other, running his
thumb over the back of my hand.

“Have you eaten yet?” he asked.

I shook my head no.

“All right, let’s get some lunch then we can
go from there.”

“That works for me.”

We found a small café that had outdoor
seating and waited for the waitress to come take our orders. I took
a deep breath of the salty sea air; I was beginning to truly relax
for the first time in what like forever.

“So we ever going to talk about what happened
last night?”

I jerked my head towards him. “Uhm, what
happened last night was a mistake?” I made it sound more like a
question than an actual answer.

He shook his head. “Uhm, no baby, you kissed
me, that’s not a mistake in my book.”

“Lapse of judgment?”

“Nope,” he said popping the p.

I sighed. “A moment of weakness, Drake;
nothing can happen between us.”

He sighed. “Why not, Mags? We would be good
together.”

I shook my head. “We would be a
disaster.”

“How so?”

“All we do is fight.”

“Sexual tension, next.”

“We don’t really know each other.”

“I know your favorite color
is pink, though you will never admit it and say green. I know your
favorite band is
Deathcab for
Cutie;
that you cry during the happy ending
in movies; that you say you don’t believe in marriage but would
have preferred having a kid after being married. I know that you
had a fucked up childhood, would do anything for my sister, and
that we would be great together, baby.”

He finished then grabbed my hand and kissed
the palm. This man would be the death of me.

“That doesn’t mean anything, Drake.”

“You are so damn stubborn.”

“Am not.”

“Oh and you have to get the final word in,
and you think you are always right.”

I shook my head and had to hide a smile.
“Okay, so let’s say all that is true, why would you want someone
with those issues.”

“Cause, baby, we all have issues, some of us
just hide them better.”

“Not you, your life is perfect.”

He scoffed. “Really, that’s how you see my
life?”

I nodded. “You have your dream job, money in
the bank, a nice home, a great family. What else do you need?”

“Someone to talk to at night, someone to hold
and whose favorite color I know; a job where I am not gone half the
year, and a babysitter the other half, a job where I like the
people I work with.”

“I thought you loved your job.”

“I do, but I am ready for something
different, something more.” he said giving me a look.

The waitress came, and I was grateful not to
have to answer that look, I didn’t know how.

We chatted during breakfast but never got
back on the topic we had before, which I was happy about. I
couldn’t give Drake what he was wanting from me, and the sooner he
realized that the better for both of us.

After breakfast, he paid the bill and we went
walking around looking at the different shops, some antiques, some
craft stores, some unique little shops. Every time we saw a toy
store, Drake would make us stop and go in, most of the time coming
out with something for each of the kids. We both had to look at the
record store, which sold actual records—just awesome. I found some
gifts for Devi, Seth, and a few others in there.

The entire time we were walking Drake held my
hand, and it was different, not bad, just different. I wasn’t used
to this, most of the time my relationships consisted of sex, not
intimacy like this. We passed a small store that made bracelets
with your name on them, and I decided Quinn and I needed one, so we
went in.

I ordered a cute bracelet for Quinn that had
white flowers and pink beads, it was hand woven on black cord, and
it was her perfect first vacation keepsake. I ordered myself a
matching one but with green beads instead.

Then Drake had one made for Jaks with the
name Taz, one for Cait with Angel and one for Quinn that said
Princess, it was the sweetest thing. Then he had a bracelet made
for Devi with both the kids name on it, she was going to love it.
She hadn’t gotten anything with both kids’ names on it yet.

After they were done, I found a place to
nurse Quinn, and we decided to head back to the hotel room.

When we were back in a cab heading to the
hotel, I looked over at Drake and found him playing with a sleeping
Quinn’s foot.

“I had a great day,” he said quietly.

“I did too.”

“You know we could have more like this.”

“Drake—” I started but he cut me off.

“Just think about it, okay, Mags?”

I nodded, but I knew I could never let it
happen.

Drake

I kissed Mags, just a light meeting of my
lips against hers then went to Devi’s door instead of ours. I
needed a few minutes, before I blurted out my revelation from last
night. I knocked and Devi answered holding a fussy Cait.

“Ah what’s the matter, Angel,” I said and she
started looking for me. I smiled. “Come see your Uncle Drake,
Angel.”

I took the baby and gave Devi the bag with of
stuff I had gotten for her and the kids while out today. She took
the bag and shook her head. “Really bro, more stuff?”

I shrugged. I liked buying them stuff. “There
is something in there for you too.”

She started rummaging through the bags until
she found the bag with the bracelets. She pulled them each out and
smiled, then she got to hers and she inhaled quickly. “Drake, it's
perfect.”

“I thought you would like it.”

“I love it,” she said then hugged me causing
Cait to fuss.

“All right, don’t squish the kid.”

She smiled and kissed me on the cheek then
moved back to her side of the couch.

“You have fun today?”

I nodded watching Cait’s eyes droop. “Yeah we
did.”