CHAPTER SIX
**
I handed over my ticket at the door, after giving Lucy’s to a pretty little rainbow haired girl with mascara smeared eyes, wet cheeks, and a cherry red nose I’d literally bumped into on the sidewalk out front. Right on my heels, she did the same—my new, loud bestie for the evening.
“Oh my god, oh my god, thank you sooo much! You’re an angel in disguise—I drove all the way down here from Conway, Arkansas, because my brother swore you can find scalpers on every corner, at every concert, anywhere you go, selling tickets—but no one was! I didn’t know what to do. I mean—drive all this way just to turn around and drive right back home? I just wanted a hole to open up beneath my feet and swallow me whole. I am totally in your debt.”
“It’s no problem. My friend had to cancel at the last minute. I know she’d have done the same thing.” I crossed my fingers and glanced at the ceiling, knowing I was probably going to be struck by lightning for lying.
“Well, let me pay you something for them—I insist. And you can give the money to her if it makes you feel better. Third row seats aren’t cheap.”
“I wouldn’t even know what they go for,” I protested, motioning for her to take the inside seat so I’d have a quick escape route. “She bought them as a surprise.”
She gaped at me. “Color me neon green! I need a friend like her!” Then, grabbing my hand, she wrapped my fingers around a wad of folded bills, and squeezed. “Anyway, here’s eighty bucks—I’m sorry I can’t give you the fair value for the ticket, but I still have to rent a room for the night, and get back home. I only budgeted for a seat in the nose bleed section—this is like manna from heaven.”
“Seriously, it’s no—“ The lights cycled, flashing a psychedelic rainbow of colors, and everyone around us chanted, drowning me out. My heart in my stomach, I stood with everyone else, stuffing the wad of money into my clutch bag as my eyes searching the darkened stage. The whole building shook with the shrieks of several hundred mouths all screaming Jessie. My ears were ringing and I was afraid I’d be deaf before the end of the night—then suddenly he appeared, lit by a single brilliant spotlight. The whole room went nuts, but I barely noticed.
All I saw was Jessie. He was breathtaking. Every emotion I’d been denying ever since he disappeared without a single text or call washed over me like a tidal wave. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I just stood there, frozen in place. I didn’t even realize everyone else had taken their seats until, like it was fated, the lights flashed on over the audience, lighting me up like a candle—our eyes met, I saw him mouth my name, and I panicked. Turning to flee, I stumbled over a chair leg and nearly face planted, caught my balance, and ran for the exit.
“Wait!” Rainbow Girl yelled, dashing out the door behind me. “What’s wrong? Where are you going? Oh my god, you’re crying…what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
“I-I-I can’t. I can’t be here. I have to go. Enjoy the concert.”
“What’s your name? Your number? I was hoping we could stay in touch after—“
“Callie! Stop!” Looking through the doors behind her, I saw him flying up the aisle, shrugging off the grasping fingers of adoring fans. “Callie—“
“I can’t—“ I shook my head. “Not now.”
Understanding filling her eyes, she nodded, “Then go…I’ll stall him. Look me up on Facebook—Julie Ryan.”
“I will.” The last thing I saw before I left was Rainbow Girl—Julie—turning to go back inside…deliberately stepping right in his path. I winced as she bounced off his chest, face first, but took full advantage of the opportunity she gave me. Dodging gawkers, I flew out the exit doors and ran. I didn’t stop or look back until I was on the hotel elevator and headed toward my floor.
Safe at last, I slid down the wall until my butt touched the floor—and burst into a gasping, heaving flood of tears, complete with snot bubbling out of my nose and hiccupping sobs that wracked my whole body. Jessie…I banged my head against the wall, attempting to knock the memories back into their respective shadows before they drove me out of my mind.
The doors opened on my floor and I crawled out, uncaring if anyone saw me. My heart ached, sending shards of agony through my entire body. I felt torn in half. My heart and soul wanted to run back until I was plastered against the stage, screaming out my love for him…but my head played the voice of reason, whispering of how he’d never called, never tried to find me. Robeline wasn’t that big—it wasn’t like I lived in Shreveport, or Lake Charles, or New Orleans, where I’d be a literal needle in a haystack. Robeline couldn’t even be considered a town. It was more of a village—a hole in the wall. Blink and you’d miss it. Everybody knows everybody and I’m the only Callie in the whole stinking place. Obviously, I was just a one night stand, a momentary blip on his radar.
Using the door as a crutch, I dragged myself to my feet and staggered into the room. Wallowing in self-pity, I polished off the rest of the wine, curled up in the comforter, and cried myself to sleep.
A tiny hangover and a glance into the vanity mirror chased me into the shower the next morning, and I exited in a cloud of steam, to a barrage of music. My phone was going off. Cold Hard Bitch…Lucy. Curious, I hurried across the room to answer.
“Hello?”
“Took you long enough to answer the freaking phone. Only had to call you three times.”
“Three—I was in the shower. What happened? Is James okay? Is Mom?”
“They’re fine. Worried about you.”
“About me? Why?”
“Haven’t turned on the television yet?”
“I just got up. Why? What did I miss?”
“Just your face, plastered all over a shit ton of channels. Hell, I bet the story even made CNN.”
“My face? I don’t understand.” I dropped to the bed, hugging the towel close.
“A local reporter was at The Blue Orchid, last night, filming the show for a human-interest story, and got more than she bargained for. She caught the whole thing on camera. Now the entire world knows who Jessie’s girl is.”
“No!”
“Oh, yes, sweet cheeks—like it or not, you’re famous.”
“But, I don’t want to be famous.” I collapsed against the mussed sheets.