Love of a Rockstar (19 page)

Twenty minutes later, the contents of my closet surrounded me. “Where could it be?” I asked out loud. The last time I’d seen the little red dress was a couple months ago when Camille convinced me to burn everything that reminded me of Luke. A bottle of wine later, we started a small fire in the backyard. Concert tickets, his old t-shirts, a condom wrapper all burned to ashes. But at the last minute, I saved the dress along with a photo booth picture strip of Luke and me the day we found out about Nil. If my memory served me correctly, I stashed them away in a box. A keepsake box as I drunkenly called it that night.

“Oh shit.” I buried my head in my hands. “I know where I put it.”

Grabbing a shovel from the tool shed, I broke through the hardened ground and dug a hole near a cherry blossom tree in my backyard where I unearthed a pink metal lunchbox. Inside the box lay the items in question. Although the dress smelled like damp dirt, it was still wearable. As I was about to close the box, the picture strip caught my eye. I gingerly removed it as if it was a precious piece of glass. It was like any generic photo booth strip, our faces pulled into ridiculous expressions until the last frame. Luke’s eyes were bright with wonder as he gazed at me. I remember his hand was on my out of frame stomach

I clasped the picture against my chest; grateful to have a keepsake of the love we shared. My trip down memory sealed my decision. Tonight I would attend Luke’s concert in the little red dress and remind him of the couple we used to be. His girlfriend was dust in the wind. Brushing the dirt off my knees, I picked up the lunchbox and went back inside. Faint voices came from the living room when I entered the kitchen.

“Hello?” I called out.

My grandmother’s head peeked around the doorway. Her normally gray curls were dyed a reddish blonde, which highlighted her green eyes. She looked decades younger.

“Hello, Sweet pea,” she said cheerfully.

“You look…”

I searched for the appropriate word, but my mind drew a blank.

My grandmother swept into the kitchen and did a twirl, her hand landing on her cocked hip “Twenty years old?”

I laughed. “Yes, you look twenty years old.”

As my eyes swept over her new look, I had to say, it wasn’t a lie. She did look twenty years old or at least a woman madly in love.

My grandmother grasped my arm and whispered in my ear, “It’s the sex.”

I shut my eyes against the offending image she painted in my head.

“He’s like a racehorse in the sack,” she continued, oblivious to my look of horror. A bath in bleach was in order to erase the feeling of disgust skittering across my skin. My gaze flitted to the freezer. While bathing in bleach wasn’t probable, a shot of vodka was. Camille left a whole bottle at my house the night of the trashcan fire. As I was about to step in that direction, my grandmother yanked me toward the living room.

“You’re going to love him,” my grandmother gushed.

“Who?”

She playfully smacked my forearm. “Ted, silly.”

Right. Ted, the man who was a racehorse in bed. How could I forget? When we stumbled into the room together, Nil ran over to me and stuck a picture in my face. A princess in a pink sparkly gown blocked my vision.

“Annalen drew horses, but I told her horses were ugly so I drew princesses,” Nil explained in one breath. She exhaled and barreled on, “Because princesses are prettier. Men fall in love with them wherever they go. Did you know Ted has a horse?”

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“I believe your precious daughter was saying I own a horse.”

Lowering the picture, I saw Ted, my grandmother’s lost love, sitting on the couch. He wore a fitted pair of Levi’s with a tucked-in checkered shirt, a thick head of gray hair, and a handlebar mustache. It was as if he stepped out of a western movie. I looked over at my grandmother, then back at him. Where the hell did they meet? At two-step lessons?

“Four horses actually, and a handful of livestock,” Ted continued.

“He owns a ranch,” my grandmother boasted.

No shit. That much was obvious. She went over and nestled underneath his arm, pleased as punch.

“He owns lots of millions and millions of acres,” Nil burst out.

The happy couple laughed, as I stood there, stupefied. Ted was the opposite of my gentle grandfather who never once set foot on a farm.

“Where did you two find each other again?” I asked.

“At the grocery store of all places,” Ted said.

My grandmother eyes twinkled with laughter. “We were both getting chicken for dinner.”

My breath caught in my throat as Ted gave her a tender look. As if he couldn’t believe his luck. It was the same look on Luke’s face on the photo strip. “As soon as I saw her, I knew my prayers had been answered. All my life I’ve waited to be back in her arms.

LOOKING OVER MY shoulder, I switched lanes to turn right. Safeco Field, the stadium where Luke was performing, also doubled as a baseball field for the Seattle Mariners and could fit over forty-five thousand people. According to the website, Luke’s show sold out mere minutes after the tickets had gone on sale.

I parked my car a couple blocks away and half stumbled, half walked to the theater. Back when Luke and I were together, my heels got more use. He had a show at least once a week, which required me to look my best. These days, the only reason I changed out of sweats was for work. The dress rose above my knees with every step I took. I yanked it down, only to have it shimmy back up again. My dress should’ve stayed buried in the ground where it belonged.

As I approached the theater, a line a mile along stretched around the block. What took me by surprise was the mix of people. Men, women, and young girls with their hair coiffed, faces painted, and dresses skankier than mine. Evil glares were shot my way as I went around back. A man with bulging muscles blocked the metal door from entry. Although I told Luke I wouldn’t come tonight, I crossed my fingers my name was still on the list.

“Hi,” I said perkily. The man’s expression remained impassive. “My name is Marlene.”

“No entry,” he grunted.

Was this guy dense? I knew there was no entry or else he wouldn’t be standing here.

“I understand that, but you see, Luke told me to come to the show tonight,” I said.

The big brute had the audacity to raise his eyebrows at me as if I was lying. My fist curled at my side. “Swear to god he did.”

His eyebrows shot further into his hairline. “Is that so?”

This was ridiculous; I was wasting time arguing with this man about my legitimacy when I could be inside.

“Fine, I’ll call him.”

I punched in Luke’s number on my cell phone. After the sixth ring, it became abundantly clear he wasn’t going to answer. Shit to the third degree. The bodyguard crossed his tattooed arms over his chest and widened his stance. I dropped my cell phone back in my bag, embarrassed.

“Alright lady, move along,” the man said.

I tried to pull a solution to this conundrum from thin air. Except, there was none to be found. The best I could do was plead.

I pressed my hands together in a praying position. “Please, just talk to Luke. He knows me.”

“That’s what they all say,” the man grumbled.

“I understand, but they don’t have a kid with Luke. I do.” I grappled for the picture I kept of Nil in my wallet and showed it to the bodyguard. “See, isn’t their resemblance uncanny?”

His face hardened. “If you think I’m letting you inside so you can demand child support, you’re even crazier than I thought.” He pointed to the edge of the parking lot. “Leave,” he growled.

Not wanting to get arrested, I huffed out a frustrated breath and complied. How did tonight end up so badly? I checked my phone to see if Luke called, but he hadn’t. The show started in less than twenty minutes. He was probably doing a final sound check or whatever musicians do before a show.

I watched as three girls with matching blonde hairstyles sauntered up to the bodyguard. Although, it was difficult to hear what they said, their body language was clear. They wanted to get backstage. Good luck, I thought bitterly to myself. That door wasn’t going to open for anybody. The girl with the darker hair of the three, touched the burly man’s chest, threw her head back, and laughed, as if he was the funniest man in the universe, which he wasn’t. He had as much personality as a pencil. In amazement, I watched the bodyguard open the door for them.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I cursed.

The two girls sauntered inside while the other one got the bodyguard’s number, leaving the door ajar. This was my chance. I broke into a full on sprint toward the entrance praying my heels didn’t fail me and cause me to wipe out. With the bodyguard’s back to me, I slipped into the long narrow hallway unseen. Just as I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a stranger’s voice sounded out behind me.

“Hey, do you have permission to be in here?”

I looked over my shoulder to see a man dressed in jeans and a basketball cap, eyeing me suspiciously. Jesus, this place had tighter security than an airport. I ignored his question and quickened my pace. Luke had to be behind one of these doors.

“Hey, young lady!” the man yelled.

Being called young lady brightened my mood, but it didn’t remove the panic from my beating heart. If only Luke had given my name to the ogre outside, I wouldn’t have found myself in this situation. The sound of approaching footsteps turned my pace into a run.

“Hey!” the man yelled again.

“Luke!” I called out as I navigated the twisting hallway.

Glancing behind me, I saw the man close on my heels. His eyes lit with anger. If I were caught, there was no doubt I would see the inside of a jail cell tonight instead. My attention distracted, I ran straight into something hard, knocking the wind out of me.

“Ooof,” I said. A pair of male hands clamped around my upper arms. I tried to wiggle free but he was stronger than me. With nothing left to do, I gave into my fate.

BACKSTAGE, I STARED at the cement floors, scared to look up. My mind raced. Who was going to bail me out of jail? My mother wouldn’t, at least not without a lecture first. Camille had class tonight till ten, but she was the better choice over my mother. Several hours in jail wouldn’t be that bad. In that amount of time, I could make best friends with my jail mate, a big lady with a name like Rowanda, the man killer. Oh God, what did I get myself into?

“What’s going on here?”

At the sound of Luke’s voice, I glanced up, relieved to see his beautiful face. The rock hard object I had run into was his chest. Should have figured that one. He was built like a log.

“She isn’t suppose to be back here,” the guard said

Luke trained his gaze on the guy’s face. “Well, I say she is.”

The moron in question stood there, dumbfounded. “But—”

Luke let go of my arms and took a menacing step toward him. “Leave.”

Taking the hint, he skittered off down the hall with his tail between his legs. Luke looked over at me with concern.

“Are you alright?”

“A little winded but fine,” I replied.

“Sorry about that. You came running down the hallway like a bat out of hell. I couldn’t step out of the way fast enough.”

I scowled. “The stupid bodyguard wouldn’t let me through.”

“To be fair, you said you wouldn’t come tonight.”

“Yes, because you have a girlfriend you didn’t tell me about it.”

“Just like you didn’t tell me about Paris,” Luke shot back.

A thick tension coated the air as we stared angrily at each other. It was a mistake coming tonight; I didn’t know what I was thinking. His girlfriend could have him.

“This was a mistake,” I said. “I’m going home.”

As I turned around, he grabbed my upper arm. “God, I forgot how stubborn you are.”

I glanced back at him, annoyed. “I’m stubborn because you’re an ass.”

“No, you’ve always been this way.“ His eyes racked over my red dress with a cocky smile. “By the way, nice dress.”

Exasperated, I rolled my eyes and yanked my arm out of his hold. “Go run to your girlfriend. Hopefully, she doesn’t find you as annoying as I do.”