Page 45 of Revived

“Sometimes, life isn’t that cut and dry. I was offered the contract on the stipulation that I had to hop on the plane and leave that day. Kendra was at school, her dad wanted me gone. The plan was always to come back and get her once I had the signed contract in hand.”

“Okay, so what happened?”

“They didn’t want a solo act. Sure, the management wanted me as a songwriter, but they didn’t think I could carry a solo gig and take it to the top. So, the search was on for a few more guys to be a part of a group. Think boyband search for rock stars. John and I were thrown together immediately as roommates and hit it off. The rest came over the next few months. I went back to explain, once before, but she was on a date. Then, when I got the chance to go back and fight for her…” It was my turn to sigh like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. “Chevy, you need to know, that if I could go back and do it all over, I would have done everything so differently. Your mom and I would have been together, like we were meant to be, and all those years of you growing up would have been moments we spent together. Your mom, her love, you, it would have all been worth it. I would have given it all up. It’s something that I think about far too often.”

I stood there, tracing a scratch in the table near the floor to ceiling window. “I never want you to know the feeling left behind when the only woman you ever loved, the only one you think you’ll ever love in your life, is in another man’s arms. It does something to you, breaks you. Knowing that I could have avoided that, if I hadn’t made a rash decision, no matter the cost, I would go back and change it.” I didn’t think I’d change a thing now, looking back, because I had a successful band and Mel now. He needed to know the seriousness of his actions moving forward where Opal was concerned though. Kendra and I could have been happy. There was no doubt about that. While I would literally give anything to have been a part of my son’s life as he grew up, all that regret could offer was a bit of insight into what to do in his situation. I was about to tell him as much when I glanced up, to look out at the city beyond the window and caught sight of a wide-eyed Mel standing there with her hand pulled up to stifle the gasp she’d just made. Shit.

“Mel?” I called out, but I was too late, she was already on the move, dressed and heading toward the hotel room door. “Mel, wait,” I yelled out as the door slammed shut. “Shit!” I hissed between clenched teeth, forgetting I was even on the phone for just a moment.

“Dad! Please, tell me you didn’t just say all that where Mel could hear you?” I couldn’t answer his question, because I most certainly had, and she had no way of knowing where I was coming from or why. “No! Hang up! You have to go after her.”

I did just that, but she wasn’t in her assigned room when I got there. Instead, I managed to scare Ev and had her contacting security to see if they could track my woman down. “What did you do?” Ev asked, but there was nothing I could say to make up for the fact that she had heard me tell my son that I’d never love anyone other than his mother. After the night we had spent together, that was the last thing she needed to hear the morning after, when we promised to talk about our relationship in the morning.

14 – Bent & Bitten

Waking up, feeling like my life was finally back on track and maybe I could be happy again, maybe truly happy for the first time in my life, and then to find out it was all an illusion, is probably the worst feeling I’ve ever experienced.

I heard every single word. Well, not the beginning of his conversation, because I’d woken up alone and got dressed before I went to search Gabe out. I figured, by the tone and things being spoken of that he was talking to Chevy, but then… I choked on the emotion clogging my throat just thinking about it. He had admitted to his son that Kendra was the only woman he’d ever love. Despite my best efforts, I ended up making myself a tour toy after all, and now I felt as though I’d just be the laughing stock to everyone. Plenty of warnings had come my way, especially from the crew who knew what had gone on previously with Gabe and Kaylee – the makeup girl. Unlike that girl, I wasn’t about to turn myself into a full-blown nuisance though. I was soon to be 35 years old, had been through a shit divorce, lost my entire family, my job, and my peace of damn mind. I survived all that, this too would pass.

I ended up taking an Uber to Celebration Pointe for a little retail therapy. Not that I was ever much of a shopper, but I did only have a limited supply of clothing with me, and I’d already worn everything I brought with me so many times that even I was sick of seeing the same things on repeat. I tried to turn off that little reel inside my head where Gabe’s words were stuck on repeat, but it was difficult. Instead, I just sat down with some food for lunch, still having not found anything worthwhile to buy, and I really examined what he had been saying to his son. Maybe, I had overreacted a bit by running out. No.

Even if he had been trying to give his son a reason to work things out with Opal, or to explain again how he wished he could have been a father to Chevy as he grew up, it still hurt for me to hear that he considered Kendra to be the only woman he would ever love. That meant that there would never be any room for me in his heart. I had already been down that road with another man before, and it was one I wasn’t willing to take again. My cell rang again, this time, it was Chevy trying to reach me. For the first time since I met him, I thought about not answering, but then I worried that something might be wrong with him and realized that turning away his call could never be something I did.

“Hello?”

“Oh thank God! Mel, where are you?”

I laughed at the relief in his voice. “Shopping for something new to wear,” I told him bluntly.

“Oh,” was his immediate response.

“Is there something you needed, Chevy, because I haven’t quite found what I’m looking for and I need to be back before long in case anyone gets injured, or whatever.”

“No, I, um…” he tripped over his words for a minute, no doubt wondering about my calm and collected voice. “I just wanted to check in with you because it’s been a couple days.”

“I’m fine. Same old thing, different day. You know how it goes here,” I mentioned cheerfully, even though the falseness of it ate away at the food I’d tried to consume and made my stomach bubble up.

“Okay, but I thought…” he started to say.

“Is everything good with you and Opal?” I questioned before he could get it out.

“Not quite, but I finally got to see her yesterday. That was at least a step forward, I think.”

“Progress of any kind is always a good thing, honey. I’m glad you got to see her face to face. How is she looking?”

“Too skinny, too sad, but she’s gained her color back and from what her mom said, she’s finally eating again now. The feeling is gone from the tops of her thighs down, Mel. That’s better than what you talked to me about before, right?”

“That’s amazing, Chevy. It’ll help with her healing process tremendously.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” His mind seemed far away and preoccupied, and while I wanted to be there for him, I just needed a little space for myself too.

“Listen, Chevy, I really want to hear more about Opal, but I have to get going if I’m going to make it back to the venue before the concert starts, okay?”

“Are you alone?”

“Yes.”

“You know that’s not safe, Mel,” he scolded.

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