Chapter Thirty-Three
Nate
My phone was ringing. What fucking time was it? It was so early in the morning. I opened my eyes and saw Abby's sleeping body beside mine. I turned and looked at the bedside table where my phone was, next to the lamp. I slid out of the bed so I didn't wake her and went to the bathroom. Today was one of those rare mornings I seemed to be up first.
I squinted at the number, but didn't know whose it was. I put the phone to my ear, closing the bathroom door.
"Hello?" I asked, clearing my throat.
"Nate Stone?" the person asked. I frowned.
"Yeah?"
"My name is Wes Barry. I've been trying to reach you for weeks. I'm a producer here in LA." I narrowed my eyes.
"Well, you found me. What do you want?"
"I know some of the guys who worked on your last record," he said. "I was wondering if we could talk."
"What the fuck about?" I asked, running the water and splashing some on my face. I heard Wes Barry laugh over the phone.
"Everyone's talking about you, Nate. You wouldn't believe the rumors they're telling about you."
"If the rumor is that I ran away to Hawai'i to join a cult and I'm never coming back, they're true."
"I wanted to hear it from you, Nate. Are you ever going back to Remus?" he asked.
"Why do you care?"
"Because I think the answer is no. And if that is the case, I have an offer for you – if you're interested, of course." An offer, huh?
"What kind of offer?" I asked.
"Your own music, however you want it. I know your sound and I like it. I know what I heard off your second album with your band and that wasn't it."
"So what do you want to do about that?"
"I want to sell your music. I have a contract here for you I think you'll really like. Tell me where to send it and you can have it by tonight."
"I'm not looking at offers right now."
"You'll want to see this, Nate."
"How many records would I owe you?"
"How many do you want to give me?"
"Stop bullshitting."
"No bullshit, Nate," he said.
This sounded too good to be true. I wasn't about to make the same mistake that I had with Remus again with this guy. Even though I hadn't gotten out of my thing with Remus yet, I was interested in what this guy was saying. This could be my out. I was sure at this point that I was making music in the future – yes, one hundred percent – but it was not going to be with Remus. They could kiss my ass. I was done.
"I hope you didn't call me to hear a yes from me immediately," I said.
"Of course not. I can send you the contract and you can tell me what you think. Take your time," he said. I knew what that meant in music, and it didn't mean take your time. It meant get back to us before we lose interest and sign someone who's easier to work with than you.
"Awesome, I guess," I said.
"I'll be in touch," Wes Barry said before he hung up.
I looked at the phone. Now was as good a time as any to start thinking about my next move. It was just sort of unexpected, and it sounded like there might have been a catch. I was just talking about this with Abby, maybe it was a sign, but I wasn't dumb enough to go into it headfirst without making sure it wasn't another sham contract that would trap me into something I didn't want.
I walked back into the bathroom and saw Abby standing with her back to me, getting dressed.
"Morning, babe," I said, walking over and kissing her.
"I was wondering where you were. Was that your record company on the phone?" she asked.
"No, it was another producer," I said vaguely.
"He made you an offer? I heard, Nate, you can tell me."
"He's sending me a contract to look at for a deal I can start when I go back to LA."
"That's great. That is what you wanted, wasn't it?" she asked.
"It's good news, but I have to look at the contract first. I can't just sign it."
"But he's giving you what you want, right? A way to make your own music, exactly how you want?"
"If he really meant what he said, yeah." She smiled sadly.
"Then you're going to take it. You're going to start working with him when you go back to LA."
"I might, but that won't happen for a while, Abby."
"Tomorrow, in a few weeks, does it make a difference?" she asked.
"You're upset," I said.
"I'm happy for you, Nate. This is what you wanted."
"But it's not what you wanted."
"I want you to be happy," she said, walking past me into the bathroom. I heard the water running and the sound of her brushing her teeth.
It was getting real now. We couldn't pretend that my life in LA didn't exist anymore. I didn't want it to end either, but she was a lot more upset about what was happening than I was.
I walked over to the bathroom doorway, looking at her reflection in the mirror.
"Come with me," I said. She was patting her face dry with a towel. She turned to look at me.
"Come with you where?"
"To LA. This doesn't have to end when I have to go. You can come with me. We can stay together."
"I can't leave the island, Nate."
"Why not?"
"I've built a life here. I have no real family left; the people here are my family. There's a reason why I came to Lanai and not Oahu or the Big Island. Nobody knows about what happened to me here. They know me as Abby Terrell; they have no idea that I'm that girl from Texas – and I need it that way. I can't be back in a place where everyone wants something from me because they know about my past."
"We can get a place outside LA, and I can just go for work," I said. She shook her head.
"We have different homes and that's okay," she said. "It's not over yet; let's not worry about what we can't change. I don't want to spend the rest of the time we have together worrying," she said. She walked over and kissed me on the cheek before leaving.
How long has this been on her mind? I thought. Obviously longer than it had been on mine. I was the one leaving her after all. Why didn't she want to come with me, though?
There was long distance, I guess, but that wouldn't have been the same. I couldn't wake up next to her if we were long distance. That wasn't okay. I didn't want to give up on what we had because of the offer, but when the hell was something like this going to happen again?
I could stay here. That was an option, right? I'd have Abby, but what else? Would the offer still stand? Would they give me a contract even if I didn't live close enough for it to be convenient? I didn't want to live here and be traveling back to LA all the time anyway. What the hell would be the point if I stayed here to be with her, but never saw her?
I needed to get out of here. I wasn't figuring anything out on my own. There was only one person I could talk to about this besides Abby. By now, I basically knew that I could count on finding him at the bar when I needed to talk. I'd miss that when I had to leave. I didn't have any people I could really count on in LA. If anyone was left over from when I was using, I didn't want to be in contact with them anyway.
Keno waved from the bar as I approached.
"Hey, man," I said, sitting down.
"Hey. You haven't needed a drink from me in a while. What’s up?" he asked. I laughed.
"It's not that bad yet," I said.
"What happened?"
"Summer's almost over," I said.
"You're upset about that? Is it Abby?"
"Of course it's Abby. It's like we can't pretend anymore that I'm not leaving. I think she's becoming distant since she thinks she's losing me."
"Can you blame her?" he asked. I sighed, irritated.
"I told her I didn't want to break up."
"What are you going to do? Stay? Are you going to make her do long distance?"
"I told her she could come with me."
"You don't even have to tell me what she said. The fact that you're here now tells me everything I need to know."
"She doesn't want to leave Lanai," I said.
"A lot of people who live here never want to leave. I don't know that much about how she got here, but I know she has nobody on the mainland to go back to."
"She'd have me," I complained.
"That’s not enough, brother; she still wouldn't be home. Why do you want her to go with you? Why can't you stay?"
"I got an offer from a producer in LA for a new deal," I said. "If I take it, I can't stay here, I have to leave, but I don't want to leave her behind."
"You gotta choose," he said gravely.
"I don't want to choose. That's like asking me which one of my lungs I'd rather lose, left or right. I can't see a life in LA without music, but I can't see it without Abby, either."
"I can't tell you what to choose, but whatever it is, you have to find a way to be happy with it." I looked at Keno. He was saying the wrong thing to me. He was such a romantic guy; why wasn't he defending me for staying with Abby?
He was right, ultimately, but it wasn't what I wanted to hear. I was still going to lose something, whatever I picked. I told him I had to go and left. I didn't have to make the decision right now, but the clock was ticking. I knew the offer wasn't going to stay on the plate for long. What if I just refused to get back to Wes Barry and let him take his offer back? No, you didn't do that in business. I couldn't punk out like that.
I walked through the front lobby, looking over at the desk to see if Abby was there. She was, but her head was down. What did she want me to do? I felt like that would be the right thing to choose. I thought about going over there when I noticed a group walking towards the desk. They had cameras, but they weren't tourists. I could spot a herd of reporters from a mile away. I heard the flashbulbs going off and the guys shouting Abby's name.
Oh shit.
I rushed over there. Abby looked like a deer in headlights. Makani looked like she was trying to grab her and take her to the back. I could hear them asking her about her father. They weren't asking: they were yelling.
The girls were out from behind the desk, walking towards the door that went to the back. I got between them and the reporters.
"Out of the way, man," one of them yelled.
"Wait a minute, are you Nate Stone?" one guy asked.
"You guys looking for a story? I got one for you. I've been here all summer making plans to move here permanently," I said, grasping for the first thing I could think of. The guys exploded, all asking questions at once. I had them.
I glanced back at Abby. They were still at the door. I winked at her, and she smiled, letting Makani lead her away. The reporters were all still there. I started talking, anything to get them off of Abby.