Sheet Music - A Rock 'n' Roll Love Story (33 page)

She wiped the tears from her cheeks.  “This is a nightmare.”

“Only if you let it become one,” he replied.

They stood in silence.  Finally, he reached out to stroke the back of her neck.

Annie pulled away sharply.  “Don’t touch me!  You know the history I have with bullshit like this.  I won’t go down this road again - not with you.”

“Hey, Mike, we gotta head upstairs,” Brian yelled down the hall at them.

“I’ll be right there,” he answered Brian.  Then he turned back to Annie.  “I understand why you’re upset,” he spoke softly.  “But, I can’t change what happened.”  He studied her face thoughtfully.  “Listen, come with me and we’ll only stay for the photographs.  After that, we can go back to the hotel and talk this through properly.”

He started down the hall and paused when he realized she wasn’t following him.

“And if I refuse to go with you?” Annie asked.

A pained expression washed over Michael's face.  “Annie, please.  I can't deal with this now.  This is out of my control.  I
have
to go upstairs.  Can we talk about this later?”

“I’m perfectly capable of calling for a cab.  I don’t need you to take me back to the hotel.”

“Stop it!  You’re not leaving here without me.  Let’s get this press shit out of the way and then you can yell and scream at me all you want.”

He reached for her wrist and attempted to pull her down the hall.  She jerked him back hard and slapped his face.  “Fuck you.”

He touched his face and rubbed at the stinging skin.  “Annie, I love you.  Now stop acting like a…”

“Like a what?  A jealous bitch?”

“Those are your words, not mine.”

Her eyes burned into him.

“If you leave now, it will look like you’re running away because you can’t handle the heat.  If you stay, it will prove that you’re better than them and bullshit like this doesn’t bother you,” he said.

“That would be a lie.”

“But they don’t know that.”

Annie shifted her weight nervously.  She wished she had gone home instead of staying for the second concert.  Barbara was right, she thought.  She didn’t have the stomach for this.  So, why prolong the agony?  As soon as the party was over, she would head back to the Vineyard.

“Annie, please come upstairs with me.  I don’t want to go without you,” he pleaded.

In silence, she began to head down the hall.  Michael quickly fell into step beside her.  He reached out and took her by the hand.  She accepted it, but not out of affection.  She needed it to hold her up.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Annie made no attempt to reply.  Before they reached the door to the party, she wiped her cheeks dry and took a deep breath before entering.

The private party took place inside the FleetCenter VIP lounge.  Several buffet tables were set up around the room displaying everything from pasta to roast beef and lobster tail.  Michael and Annie were the last to arrive.  He quickly grabbed a plate to fill with food.

“Let’s eat before the press gets in here.  After that, there won’t be time.”

“I couldn’t possibly eat anything now,” she replied.

“Annie, you haven’t eaten since six o’clock and it’s midnight now.  You really should eat something.”

Michael rolled his eyes and continued filling his plate.  “Here.  Eat this,” he suggested, handing her a slice of turkey breast.

The band had less than ten minutes to eat before the press filled the room.  After that, all hell broke loose with camera flashes and noise.  The band posed for an official group photograph.  Then they had a second picture taken that included all the wives.  Annie stood awkwardly on the sidelines until Michael came and dragged her into the shot.

“You’re one of the family now, Annie, and this photograph makes it official,” Brian affirmed with a huge smile.

When the photo session was completed, the interviews began in earnest.  Then the management got involved, discussing the outcome of the tour and the future business contracts.  A few hours later, Annie was ready to head back to the hotel and then home.

“Can we leave now?” she asked Michael.

“Yeah, sure,” he replied.

Thirty minutes later, they were back inside the hotel room.  Annie quickly went about the task of packing her things into her backpack.

“What are you doing?” Michael asked, removing his coat and laying it over the back of a nearby chair.

“I’m getting ready to head home.”

He sat on the edge of the bed and faced her.  “I thought we were going to talk, Annie.”

“What’s the point?  It won’t change anything.”

“The point is: I didn’t ask Cherry to join me in the shower - she was put up to it as a joke by Frank and his crew.  And, if it weren’t for the blindfold…”

“Blindfold?”  Annie’s head spun around quickly to face him.

“Yes, she blindfolded me.  I thought it was
you
messing around until I touched her hair.”

“Oh God, I really don’t need to hear this!” she cried.

“I think you do.  I think you need to understand that sometimes shit like this happens in this business and I’m not always able to prevent it.  I don’t solicit it, it just happens.   You’ve played in bands most of your adult life, so why does this shit shock you?”

“Groupies have destroyed every relationship I’ve ever had and I refuse to put myself through that hell again!”

“I’m sorry.  If I had any idea it wasn’t you…” his voice trailed off.

Annie squeezed her eyes tight trying to erase the visual she had in her head of Michael and Cherry together.  She finished packing and zipped her backpack.

“I’m sorry too, but I can’t go through this again.  I can’t handle it.”  She tossed her bag over her shoulder.  “Barbara told me tonight that if I thought I couldn’t handle this lifestyle, I should walk away now while I still had my sanity.  I’m thinking she’s right.  I’d be crazy to think it would be different with you.”

“So, just like that, you’re going to walk away?”

Annie stepped toward the door to the bedroom.  “I love you but I just don’t think that’s enough.  I can’t share you, Michael.  It hurts too much.  Barbara may be able to justify this lifestyle, but I can’t.  I’m not strong enough.”

He approached her by the door.  “No one said anything about sharing, Annie.”

“You just told me that it’s a way of life in this business.  And what I’m saying is, I choose not to accept that.  I want more than that.  Maybe I’m being naïve or selfish - I don’t care.  That’s what I want, and I don’t think I should have to settle for anything less.”

“I want the same things you do, Annie.”

She shook her head.  “That’s what you say, but I’m not sure you’re capable of it.  For the past twenty years this is the life you’d led.  I’d be stupid to think it was possible for you to change now and I’d be crazy to ask you to. You are what you are and I’ll always love you.  Let it go with that.”

He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest.  “I don’t want you to leave.”

“And, I’m not strong enough to stay.  So where does that leave us?”

He pressed his face into the golden softness of her hair and inhaled deeply.  “Marry me.”

“Excuse me?”

He leaned back and gazed into her eyes.  “Marry me.”

Annie shook her head.  “Us getting married isn’t going to rid the music world of temptation and groupies, Michael.”

“I’m serious.  Let’s get married.”

“Why?”

“Because we love each other.”

“Sometimes that isn’t enough.”  She attempted to pull away and he tightened his grip around her waist. 

“Say you’ll marry me.  We can get the license tomorrow and be married before the end of the week.”

“Oh, my God!  Will you please be serious?”

“I am.”

Annie pushed him away and headed into the living room of the suite.  “Look, we’ve both been married before and it was disastrous.  Do you really want to put yourself through that again?”

“Yes, because it won’t be like that with you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I love you.”

She reached for the doorknob to the hallway and he stopped her hand.  “Will you at least stay the night and think about it?”

Their eyes met and he held her with his.  Gently he pressed her up against the door and found her mouth.  “Please, Annie.  I don’t want to lose you.  If you marry me, we can be together forever.”  He kissed her with tenderness, slowly disassembling her wall of resistance.

“Forever?” she sighed, wanting so much to believe it was possible.

“Forever,” he reassured.

The next morning Michael was snuggling contentedly in bed with Annie.  He sighed heavily, as good and bad thoughts of the weekend drifted through his head.  He watched her sleeping and his mood grew serious.

“Marry me,” he asked again, gently nudging Annie awake with the tip of his nose.

She turned to face him and ran her index finger across his eyebrow.  “Do you really think that’s the answer?”

“Yes, because I love you.”

“And loving me is going to keep you loyal?”

“Absolutely.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“Marry me and give me the chance to prove you’re wrong.”

Annie’s face relaxed into a smile.  “You’re relentless.”

“That I am.”

He rolled on top of her and his lips found her throat.  “Marry me and make me an honest man,” he whispered.

“Oh, God help me,” she sighed.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He lifted his head from the warmth of her neck and stared down at her.  Then he lovingly ran his fingers across her cheek.  “I won’t let you down, Annie.  I promise.”

“You do realize we’ll have to live on the Vineyard for a while, right?”

He kissed her mouth.  “Yes.  We can live in my beach house.”

Annie sighed as Michael left a delicate trail of kisses down the length of her throat and between her breasts.

Annie shifted nervously beneath the sheets.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, sensing her tension.

Annie shook her head.

“Come on, babe.  If there’s a problem, let me know now.”

“Okay.  If we’re going to live together again, I want to feel like a roommate this time and not a house guest.”

Michael smiled. “Babe, this time you’ll be my wife!  And you can bring whatever you want, if that’s what you’re getting at.  If there isn’t enough room, I’ll make room.  I really don’t care, as long as you and I are together.”

“I don’t have much to bring, assuming you didn’t burn my stuff from Grafton after I left.  Did you?” she asked.

“Your stuff hasn’t been touched.  It’s still in storage.  Do you want me to have it delivered to the beach house?”

Annie pondered his suggestion for a few moments.  “No, I guess not.  If I've managed to live this long without the stuff, it couldn't mean
that
much to me.  Well, except for a few items.”

“Like what?”

Annie paused before answering and smiled.  “My bed and the living room couch.”

Michael propped his head up with the bed pillows.  “Why those two items?”

“Sentimental reasons.”

Michael skewed his face with uncertainty.  “I’m not sure I want to hear about the sentimental journey you took on your couch or your bed.”

Annie playfully smacked his bare chest with her hand.  “It’s sentimental because of you, you jerk!”

“Oh really?” he asked, smiling as he continued to block her intermittent slaps.  Then he grabbed her by the wrists, rolled on top of her again, and held her hands firmly above her head.

Annie stopped her struggle and grew serious.  “I can vividly remember the conversations we had on my couch,” she said, her eyes melting into his.  “Our bond was solidified there.”

Michael shifted his weight between her legs.  The tip of his arousal gently pressed against her.  “That’s one way to put it,” he teased, appreciating her choice of words.

“As for my bed, I think the memory of that is permanently burned into both our brains.  But if I'm ever lucky enough to get you back into that bed, I
will
hold you hostage.  So consider yourself warned.”

“Are you threatening me?” he asked, biting her bottom lip.

“Let’s call it a promise.”

Feeling his readiness, Annie’s body quickly flooded with desire.  “My bed was the first place we slept together,” she sighed, her voice a soft whisper.

“I don’t remember there being much sleeping,” he replied, easing himself inside her inner warmth.

“I guess we really weren’t tired,” she said between gasps of breath.  “God!  I wanted you so badly that night.  If you had changed your mind and gone home, I think I would have lost my mind.”

He kissed her deeply and then exhaled against her cheek.  “There was no way I was going home that night, Annie.” he teased.

He stopped his movement and stared into her eyes, as he lovingly brushed the long hair from her forehead.  Then he covered her mouth with his.

“I love you,” she said, feeling his movement again, then she closed her eyes.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A few hours later.  Michael dressed and made his way to Brian’s suite.  After five knocks, the door opened with a rush and a half-dressed woman in a waitress uniform nervously scurried past Michael.  Still holding onto her shoes, she deliberately avoided making eye contact with him, and made her way quickly toward the elevator.  Brian held the door open for Michael with a smile smeared across his face like cheap lipstick.

Michael entered the suite shaking his head in disgust.  “Wasn’t she one of the waitresses from the party last night?” he asked.

“One in the same, my friend,” Brian chuckled smugly.

“Someday you’re going to get your ass in deep shit.”

“You’ve been saying that for years and it ain’t happened yet!”

“I thought Barbara was with you last night?”

“Hell, she was the one that propositioned the girl, not me!  And, who am I to say no to Barbara?”

Michael flopped himself into a chair and shook his head again but couldn’t prevent the smile from inching across his freshly-shaven face.  “Some things never change, do they?”