Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story (46 page)

“I think he already left.  His room has been quiet for a few hours.  Why don’t you leave a note on his door or something,” he suggested, wanting to end their conversation.

“Would you mind if I waited in there with you?  I mean, I’m sure he’ll be back soon, right?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Jill.  I’m really tired and I’m not in the mood for company.”

Jill ran her fingers down his bare chest and smiled.  “What's the matter?  Worried I might jump
your
bones instead of Brian's?”

Before he could reply, Jill ducked beneath his extended arm on the door and entered the room.

“I promise I won’t stay long.  If he doesn’t show up soon, I’ll leave you alone.  Okay?”

Jill plunked herself down onto Michael’s bed and began clicking through the cable channels on the old motel’s television.  “Not much on tonight,” she commented.

He watched her from the door and rubbed his forehead.  The one time Brian decided to go out and Jill shows up, he thought, drifting across the room.  He sat at the table, purposely avoiding his bed and crossed his arms over his bare chest.

“So, what’s got you in such a rotten mood?” Jill asked.

“Life in general.”

“Rumor has it, you and Brian are at each other’s throats again.  Is that true?”

“Where do you hear this shit?” he asked, annoyed by her bluntness.

“I have my sources,” she smiled with a shrug.

She was pretty in a girl-next-door kind of way, very natural, and always cut to the chase.  On another night he might have engaged her in conversation but tonight he simply wanted to be alone.

“Ah, Jill, I’m gonna be heading to bed soon, so I think you should leave.”

She stood and pushed her short skirt down with her hands and crossed the room toward him.  “I know what you need,” she said, as she stepped behind him and placed her hands onto his shoulders.

He recoiled at her touch instantly.  “Jill, I don’t know what you’ve got planned but I’m telling you right now, it ain’t gonna happen.”

“What?  All I’m doing is rubbing your shoulders.  Is that so bad?” she whispered beside his ear.

“Things are different now,” he mumbled, his rigid muscles going limp beneath her expert touch.

“How so?” she asked, her hot breath tickling his neck.

“I’m married.”

Jill giggled.  “That never slowed you down before,” she answered, her fingers drifting down onto his pectorals.  “Come lay down, Mike, and I’ll rub your back,” she instructed, taking him by the hand.

He offered little resistance, as his body betrayed what his heart knew was wrong.  She straddled his butt and began to work her magic on his tensed muscles.  Up and down his spine, her fingers moved until he was almost asleep.  He hardly noticed when she rolled him over and began the same manipulations on his chest and abdomen.

“After all these years, you’re still a very beautiful man,” Jill exhaled against his belly button, flicking her tongue through the darkened hairline that disappeared beneath the waistband of his jeans.

Before his brain registered the fact his pants had been unzipped, he was in her mouth.  “Hey, what the hell are you doing?” he stuttered, attempting to sit up.

“Relax, Michael,” she said, pressing her hand against his chest to push him back onto the mattress.  “This was always one of your favorites and judging by your quick response, I’d say it still is,” she laughed.

“Ah, shit,” he sighed, succumbing to the pleasure rippling through his body.

His mind blurred the reality and magnified the euphoria making his skin sweat.  The one thought he had was release, and when it came, it was quick and blissful, but Jill wasn’t done.  She slid her skirt above her hips and positioned herself over his groin.

Michael shook his head.  “Jill, come on.  Stop it!  I’m done.  Nothing personal but, I don’t want to screw you.”

She sat back onto his lap and tried to push him inside her body but he quickly flipped her off of his groin and sat upright.

“I told you, I’m married.”

“Tell that to your dick.”

He zipped his pants up and rolled onto his stomach.  How could he have let that happen, he thought?  Now he was no different than Brian, and the thought of that sickened him.  When Jill mentioned sleeping in the empty bed in his room, his brain didn’t even register her request.  He drifted off to sleep and woke just before noon then disappeared into the shower.

Jill was in the process of dressing when she heard the knock on the door.

“Can I help you?” she asked.

“Ah, I’m looking for someone but I think I must have the wrong room,” the pregnant woman said.  “I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

“Wait.  Who are you looking for?” Jill asked the striking blonde.

“Never mind.”

“Are you looking for Michael?”

“Yes, Michael Wade.”

“Come in.  He’s in the shower,” Jill stated, opening the door wider.  “You can wait if you want.  I’m on my way out.”

Jill glanced up from zipping her boot and saw tears trickling down the woman’s face.  “Are you okay?  What’s your name?”

“Annie.”

Jill’s eyes dropped to the woman’s belly.  “Is that Michael’s baby?”

Annie nodded and wiped at her cheeks.

Jill began to giggle.

“What the hell is so funny?” Annie asked, seeing no humor in the situation.

“A few hours ago, Michael was telling me he wasn’t a player anymore and now you show up, obviously very pregnant with his child.  I wonder what his wife must think.”

“
I'm
his wife!”

Jill stopped adjusting her clothing and spun around to face Annie.  “Oh shit!  I’m sorry.  I had no idea.  Really, I didn’t,” she babbled, slipping her purse over her shoulder.  “I thought maybe you were a jealous girlfriend or something.”

“Get the hell out of here!”

Michael came from the bathroom, freshly showered and shaved.  He pulled a clean t-shirt over his head and stepped into the bedroom area.  The curtains were still closed which made the place dark and quiet.  He hoped Jill was gone and reached down to finish zipping his jeans.  It was then that he smelt her perfume floating in the air and his heart immediately stopped.  Slowly, he lifted his head and saw her, almost cowering in the corner by the door.

“Annie?”

“You piece of shit,” she cried.  “How could you?”

His spine turned to liquid as he watched her reach for the doorknob.  “Annie, please don’t go.  Talk to me.”

“Fuck you!  I can’t believe I flew all the way up here to spend my day-off with you!  My God, I am such a fool.”

“No you’re not,” he answered, taking a few cautions steps toward her.

She turned the knob and flung open the door.  Instantly the room was flooded with sunshine.  Tears streamed down her face.  Her belly pouted with their growing baby, and yet, she looked like a child herself.

“You begged me to come up here and visit you.  Is this why?  Did you want me to catch you with her?  Did you want me to see this?”

He took a tentative step closer to her.  “It’s not what you think,” he said softly.

“I was a fool to think a marriage with you could work,” she said, her eyes locked onto him and filled with hate.

“Don’t say that, Annie.”

She studied his face with contempt.  This was the man that had slumbered in her arms professing his love and faithfulness.  He stood before her now with the scent of another woman still lingering on his skin.  Her stomach churned at the thought of it.

He moved closer and with each step he took, she backed away.

“Come back inside and we’ll talk,” he said quietly.  His eyes reflected apprehension, guilt, and dread.  She had never seen him appear more vulnerable and still she backed away.

Defiantly she shook her head.  “There is absolutely nothing you have to say right now that I want to hear.  You disgust me, Michael, and the thought of going anywhere with you makes me want to vomit.”  She turned on her heel and proceeded down the stairs to the parking lot.

“Annie!  Where are you going?” he called to her from the balcony.

“As far away from you as I can get!”

Annie quickly made her way to her rental car and headed back to the airport.  The flight back to Los Angeles was nothing more than a blur.  By the time she arrived at her hotel in Los Angeles, Michael had already left numerous phone messages at the front desk.

Inside her room, four dozen pink and white roses awaited her along with a simple note card that read: ‘I love you’.  She crumpled the card, called the front desk and demanded they stop taking his messages.

She felt queasy and dirty.  Her stomach churned with anger and morning sickness.  She darted into the bathroom and vomited.  When she was done, she sat on the edge of the tub.  Tears stung at her eyelids.  Exhaustion made her thoughts blur.

She tried to push the images of Michael and the girl from her head and lay on the bed.  A few hours later, Lacey was knocking at the door.

Annie sighed heavily and let her inside her room.

“Well, judging from all the flowers, I’d say your day with Michael was marvelous,” she teased, as she pressed her face into the fresh rose buds.

Without answering, Annie began to cry.

“My God, what happened?” Lacey asked, sitting on the bed beside Annie.  “Didn’t you see Michael?”

Annie nodded and wiped at her cheeks.

“Did you get into a fight?”

Annie continued to sob.

“Look, if you want to be alone, then I’ll leave, Annie.  But if you want to talk about it, I’m here to listen.”

Annie sighed loudly and walked to the window.  “I caught Michael with a girl,” she said, her voice no more than a whisper.

“Oh, Annie.  I’m so sorry,” Lacey consoled, as she slid an arm around her shoulder.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.  I mean, I should have known, considering the reputation he had when I met him.  I had heard rumors of him cheating after I had my accident, but he denied all of it then.  Seeing the truth for myself now is a completely different story.  But what really bothers me is, I truly believed he was a different man with me.  I thought he had changed.”

“Annie, I'd have to say 99% of the men in this business are cheating pigs.  On some level they think they're
entitled
because of who they are.”

Annie dropped her head.  “He says that he loves me, Lacey, and that he’s never felt that with anyone other than me.”

“I’m sure that’s all true.  But, I’m also willing to bet he believes what he does with other women has nothing to do with the relationship he shares with you.  Somehow they’re able to departmentalize it, keeping the relationships between the wives and the girlfriends separate.  Did you confront him about this?”

Annie forced a laugh.  “I called him a few choice names and left.  He wanted to talk but I didn’t want to.”

“Maybe you
should
talk to him, get it out in the open, so you can resolve it.”

Annie went back to the bed and lay down on top of the flowered quilt.  “I don’t think it would help.  When we got married, I only asked for two things from him, honesty and fidelity.  He’s failed at both.”

She rolled onto her side and faced Lacey.  “Truth is, I didn’t want to marry him.  I told him it wouldn’t work.  He’s been a player for too many years.  I’d be insane to think a man like that could change.  Now, here I am stuck in a situation that I don’t know how to get out of.  I love him so much, Lacey, but that obviously isn’t enough.  I don’t have the strength to play his games.  I’ve got to start thinking about my health and this baby.”

“You’re right about that, but I do think you should give him another chance before you go hiring a divorce lawyer.  At the very least, you need to talk it through.”

Annie shook her head.  “I’m not ready for that yet.  I need to put some space between us.”

“Well, the tour ends soon.  After that, you can head back to Boston or to the Vineyard with him and work on your relationship.”

Annie quickly shook her head.  “I’m not sure I want to go anywhere with him.  Maybe I’ll go back to New York and stay with Taylor.  I can take some time to figure out what I want to do.  Michael has several more weeks of recording left and I know he can’t leave those sessions, so I can take my time to sort through everything.”

“Yes, I suppose so, but sooner or later you know he will come looking for you.”

“Yes, I know.”

Over the next several days, Michael was relentless in his efforts to contact her, even flying to Los Angeles to see her.  Finally, Annie called Brian on his cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Brian, it’s Annie.”

“Are you looking for Mike?  I think he’s next door in his room.  I can get him for you, if you want.”

“No!  I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Okay,” he replied, shutting the door to his room, the angry texture to her voice unnerved him.  “What’s going on?”

“I want you to deliver a message for me,” Annie said, rage pitching her voice an octave.  “Tell him to to stop trying to contact me.  When and
if
I want to talk to him, he'll be the first to know!  In the meantime, if he doesn't leave me the hell alone, I'll have a restraining order slapped on his ass.”

“Jesus, Annie, what the fuck is going on?”

“You expect me to believe he hasn’t told you?  Get real, Brian.  I know how you two are!  One of you doesn’t piss without the other having to know about it.”

“Annie, I haven’t talked to Mike in about two days.  He told me he was sick and wouldn’t be able to record for a while.  So, even though it’s screwing up our schedule, I decided to leave him alone.  I figured he just needed a break or something.”

“Well, then, I guess you two have some catching up to do because Michael isn’t sick.  He’s been lying to you.”

“Then why don't
you
tell me what's going on.”

“Nope.  I’ll let him do the honors.  I’m sure he’ll make it sound much more colorful than I ever could.  Just deliver my message!”

Annie hung up the phone before Brian could respond.  Immediately, he went next door to Michael’s room and opened the door without bothering to knock.  Michael was stretched out on the bed, pillows propped up against the headboard, wearing nothing but a pair of worn jeans, aimlessly clicking through the television channels.