Page 42 of When We Fell Again
I thought back to the dickhead at Exeter and how I’d stepped in when she would have been more than capable of dealing with him. But I still cared about her too much to let anything happen to her.
“I know that.”
“You’ve been moping about ever since we finished the tour. I thought it probably had something to do with Lex, and now you’ve confirmed it, what are you going to do?”
It was a great question.
“She hasn’t answered any of my messages.” I tapped my phone with the tip of my finger. “If I send her any more, I’m going to feel like a stalker.”
Levi laughed. “I’m sure she wouldn’t think of you like that. Well, at least I don’t think she would.”
“I feel like such an idiot for chasing her. Honestly, until she came back into our lives, I hadn’t really thought about her.” That much was true. I’d taken only a cursory interest in her career and our paths had rarely crossed.
“You guys have history. And maybe unfinished business judging by what happened on this tour. I know how much she meant to you back then.” Levi nodded. “And how much she clearly means to you now. You can’t give up on her if she’s the one who makes you happy.”
His words hit home. Any other woman I’d been with had always been compared to Alexis Jagger. Each time, they had always fallen short. It had taken until now for me to realise that.
“But if she won’t acknowledge me, how can I tell her?”
“Mate, you’ve just written an entire fucking album’s worth of songs about the woman. If that doesn’t give her a hint, then I don’t know what will.” Levi laughed.
The server arrived with our food, but suddenly I didn’t have much of an appetite. While Levi practically inhaled his meal, I picked at mine, feeling the need to drink more instead.
Thoughts of what we’d talked about swirled around in my brain. Levi had hit the nail on the head with what he’d said about the songs. Almost every one had some connection to Lex. I’d basically written a dozen love songs for her. But unless I reached out to her, tried to get her to answer me, she’d never hear any of them. I needed to come up with a plan to see her again.
Once we were back at home, I took myself off to my room, shutting the door firmly behind me. Pulling out my laptop, I sat on the bed and started some serious internet stalking. I made notes on the bands and artists Lex was working with, where they were touring, and plotted her travels for the next few weeks. A germ of an idea had come to me. Soon, it would be Levi and Jude’s birthdays—they had been born on the same day, albeit a few years apart. We always did something. This year, perhaps we could use a mini album launch as the opportunity for a party. If I invited Lex, she wouldn’t be able to turn it down unless she was working. I plotted the dates in her potential schedule against the weekends we could organise a get-together. Thankfully, the actual day of the brothers’ birthday was a Wednesday, which gave me the option of two weekends either side to work with. Surely at least one of them had to work.
After several beers and more weed than I should have smoked, I finally came up with something.
Now all I had to do was get everyone on board.
Particularly Lex.
CHAPTER18
Alexis
Theo:We need to meet. 9 am in the coffee shop in Covent Garden tomorrow.
Exhaustion seeped out of every pore as I scanned Theo’s latest message.
I stood at the bar in a club in Camden, listening to my latest charge, a solo male artist with an acoustic guitar. Having been in Europe with a girl band who had been performing in larger venues and at small festivals, this was the antidote I needed. Only one ego to manage, although to be fair to Joey, he was one of the most unassuming guys I’d ever worked with. In fact, when we’d arrived at one venue, they’d questioned whether he was actually the artist. It took me producing his socials and website to confirm he was who he said he was. Plus, he was doing smaller clubs and larger pubs in and around London, which meant I would at least manage to get home most nights, rather than having to stay in a hotel.
Alexis: Sure. I’ll see you there. What are we talking about?
I didn’t expect to get a reply. Theo usually only met me to give me another punishing schedule of tours. Chris was still out of the game and Theo had struggled to find someone else to take up some of the slack. If I didn’t love what I did, I would have walked away, but Theo could be extremely persuasive, with bonuses and increased per diems, which made it financially difficult for me to do so. Not that I had any time to spend any of this unexpected wealth. I barely had time to do my washing between tours, let alone take a holiday.
The one good thing about that night was that Sadie had been able to join me. We had barely seen each other over the past few months. I hadn’t even told her about everything that had happened with Jordan on tour. He still messaged me every so often, and I meant to reply, I really did. But when the opportunity came, too much time had passed, and I chickened out.
Sadie swatted me on the arm. “Put your phone down, Jagger, and get us more drinks. I didn’t come out with you tonight to watch you check your messages and ignore me.”
Her comment made me chuckle, and while I didn’t put the phone away, I did put it on the bar. “Sorry, I’m a shit friend. What do you want?”
“Vodka, lime, and soda. I’ve got a shoot tomorrow and need to be up early.” She grinned. “Vodka’s my safe drink, so I can have as much of it as I like!”
I waved at the barman and ordered two doubles. It was going to be a long night.
Sucking her drink through the straw she’d snagged from the jar on the side, Sadie tilted her head. “It’s been too long since we caught up.”
